Chapter 374 - 372: The Du Family’s Secret, Refining a Sword with One’s Body

Chapter 374: Chapter 372: The Du Family’s Secret, Refining a Sword with One’s Body

"Sword Light Division! Senior Tang Fei has been at the realm of One Sword Breaks Ten Thousand Laws for so many years. To think he would grasp the mysteries of Sword Light Division at this very moment..."

Bai Zichen’s eyes flashed with a brilliant light. Of the several Sword Cultivators on the field, Yann Yuanzai and Kong Bai were in the heat of battle, leaving only him to witness the entire process.

Although he had seen countless demonstrations of Sword Light Division in the visual inheritance of the *True Understanding of Sword Dao*, this was the first time he had seen it in person.

Sword Light Division could be considered the path to the pinnacle of the Sword Dao.

Except for the last Banished Immortal, there were no clear records of any Sword Cultivator in this realm who had truly achieved True Intent Fusion—the level where every sword strike carried the Power of the Great Dao.

At most, they only brushed against it, using clever tricks to temporarily imbue their Sword Light with the Power of the Great Dao.

This complete scene was deeply imprinted in Bai Zichen’s mind. It overlapped and merged with the visual inheritance from the *True Understanding of Sword Dao*, eventually becoming one and the same.

The figures of the Sea-Facing Swordsman from the visual inheritance and True Monarch Tang Fei overlapped. The Sword Light he unleashed seemed to carry a phantom image, constantly deviating and then correcting itself.

It might not have an immediate effect, but a seed had been planted in his heart.

When he attempted to break through to the Fourth Realm of Sword Dao, this seed might sprout and grow, making it far easier for him to master Sword Light Division than it would be for anyone else.

Outside the Wind and Snow Array, Du Heng, who had been silent for a long time, lifted his gaze, a look of surprise showing on his face for the first time.

His gaunt right hand gripped the Demon Dragon Awl. The giant, indigo Demon Body behind him mirrored the motion, clenching its fist in the void.

Every profound and complex Demon Pattern lit up. On both his true self and the Outer Body Incarnation, the flames enveloping the Demon Body danced even more wildly.

A Heaven-Reaching Spiritual Treasure was in a different league from a Tier Four Spiritual Treasure. It possessed more than enough Spirituality and a much stronger independent consciousness.

As a Demon Treasure brought from the Demon Realm, the Demon Dragon Awl had awakened further after devouring the flesh, blood, and Primordial Spirits of two Nascent Soul True Monarchs.

As its power surged, its Artifact Spirit had also awakened—and it no longer acknowledged Du Heng as its master.

This was something he hadn’t anticipated. He was momentarily locked in a stalemate, completely unable to use the Demon Dragon Awl.

He even had to use most of his True Essence to suppress the Artifact Spirit; otherwise, the Demon Dragon Awl could shatter the void and escape at any moment.

Even Tier Four Flying Swords possessed enough Spirituality to choose their own masters and could even decide to withhold their full power. This was even more true for a Heaven-Reaching Spiritual Treasure, which was on a completely different level.

If not for Du Heng’s Demon Body avatar and his refined True Demon Holy Body, the Demon Dragon Awl would have been even less willing to submit.

It would have unleashed its Origin Power long ago and simply flown away.

It could only be said that the Zengguang Du Family’s history lacked detailed records on Heaven-Reaching Spiritual Treasures. This caused Du Heng, who had devised a meticulous plan spanning a century, to miscalculate for the first time, as events failed to unfold as he had envisioned.

If his loss of control over the Demon Dragon Awl was the first problem, then Tang Fei’s epiphany and mastery of Sword Light Division was the second.

A Mid-Stage Nascent Soul Sword Cultivator who had mastered Sword Light Division was now powerful enough to be an even match for his True Demon Holy Body avatar.

Without the combined power of his true self and his Outer Body Incarnation, he couldn’t possibly use the Demon Dragon Awl repeatedly to unleash the Demon Realm Divine Techniques granted by the True Demon Holy Body.

Using a Mid-Stage Nascent Soul Cultivation to power a Heaven-Reaching Spiritual Treasure was already like a calf pulling a heavy cart; activating it just once pushed him to his absolute limit.

That is, unless he could make the Artifact Spirit submit willingly and cooperate, thus lowering the activation requirements, or even get it to use its own Power of Origin.

It was just like Bai Zichen during his Foundation Establishment Stage. Before he had even activated the Supreme Qingwei Sword Box, the Moon Xuan Sword had cooperated with him so completely that he could unleash a strike two full tiers above his own power.

’These people in the array are all geniuses of their generation. Without the Demon Dragon Awl and my True Demon Avatar, I would be no match for Xiang Ji or Tang Fei... Even that junior, Ge Cang, might have a slight edge over me. The only one I could fight to a draw is Yann Yuanzai.’

Du Heng had ruled the Immortal City for several hundred years. The Cultivation Resources he had amassed were equal to, if not greater than, those of some Nascent Soul Major Sects.

After using a Celestial Dust Pill to break through to the Mid-Stage Nascent Soul a century ago, he had used a Concealing Breath Technique to hide his Cultivation and never announced his advancement.

He realized that with his remaining lifespan, he had no hope of reaching the Late-Stage Nascent Soul, let alone catching a glimpse of the Divinity Transformation Realm. To make matters worse, not a single one of his Clan’s descendants showed any promise of reaching the Nascent Soul Realm.

Seeing that the legend of the Zengguang Du Family might end with his generation, Du Heng steeled his resolve. He brought out the Magic Key passed down by his ancestors and loosened the Ancient Restriction in the Burial Immortal Valley.

During a demon-sealing campaign in Ancient Times, a Great Power had been responsible for setting up the restriction. It was designed to imprison the Ancient Demon while constantly eroding its True Demon Qi.

That Divinity Transformation Array Master had been injured in the great war. Not long after setting up the Forbidden Array, his injuries worsened, and he passed away in meditation.

His entire Array Dao inheritance and a Magic Key, which could control the Ancient Restriction to a limited extent, were all left to the Daoist Child who attended him.

After receiving the inheritance, the Daoist Child was targeted by Cultivators coveting the Array Master’s legacy. He fled and eventually arrived near the Burial Immortal Valley.

He had just finished setting up a concealment Array when the injuries he sustained during his escape flared up, and he died.

The Du Family’s ancestor had accidentally stumbled into the Daoist Child’s concealment Array, obtained the entire inheritance, and built Zengguang Immortal City upon that very foundation.

In addition to the secret about the Ancient Demon in the Burial Immortal Valley, every Nascent Soul True Monarch of the Du Family was also an Array Grandmaster—a fact they kept deeply hidden, unknown to outsiders.

Just like Du Heng. Even the members of the Du Clan themselves didn’t know that their Ancestor was actually a Tier Four Peak Array Master.

This was how he had been able to secretly and silently set up a Tier Four Array on Meili Snow Peak.

And by leveraging the power of the wind and snow, he had managed to deceive all the other Nascent Soul True Monarchs.

The idea of using the Magic Key to loosen the restriction, draw out the Ancient Demon’s True Demon Qi, and use it to transform one’s own body to gain power—that had been the Daoist Child’s plan.

The boy was hunted to death by greedy Tribulation Cultivators. He spent the last moments of his life hidden in the Array, devising a method for revenge, and it was then that he developed this Secret Technique.

Ultimately, it fell into the hands of the Du Family along with the other inheritances, but no one had ever dared to act on it.

This lasted until Du Heng realized his Clan had no worthy successors. After his own death, the Du Family would face certain doom, completely unable to defend the ever-expanding Zengguang Immortal City.

Only then did he resolve to walk this forbidden path.

And he had solved its greatest problem: the loss of self-awareness that came with Demonization when True Demon Qi entered the body.

He would use an Outer Body Incarnation to withstand the True Demon Qi, refining it into a True Demon Holy Body.

When the avatar was eroded by the True Demon Qi and his control began to fail, he just had to re-refine the Outer Body Incarnation to regain full command.

Du Heng took advantage of his position in the Immortal City to hold the Ten Thousand Immortals Ceremony, where he successfully gathered a massive amount of top-level Spiritual Materials for refining the Outer Body Incarnation. He even used several Tier Five Spiritual Objects from the Immortal City’s treasury. Only then, by arduously tearing a piece of his Divine Sense, did he manage to refine the most suitable Outer Body Incarnation.

From that point on, this Demon Body started from nothing and grew rapidly through various means.

In Beiyuan, it posed as a Tribulation Cultivator, slaughtering several merchant caravans over a few years and growing to the Core Formation Realm.

In Frost Country, with the help of Fang Tiancheng, it lured in multiple Core Formation True Men, devoured their Essence and Divine Souls, and broke through directly to Core Formation Perfection.

A few years ago, it even infiltrated the Central Domain and, under the pretext of offering a Celestial Dust Pill as tribute, used the Demon Dragon Awl to assassinate a Nascent Soul True Monarch.

Its most recent achievement was killing Blood God True Monarch, turning the very being who feasted on the Essence Blood of others into its own nourishment.

The Hundred Demons Blood Sea Technique was truly worthy of being a top-level Cultivation Technique. Even after gaining the upper hand and trapping Blood God True Monarch, and even after the Demon Dragon Awl tore apart his Blood River and destroyed all his means of Blood Rebirth...

...even under those conditions, the battle raged for more than half a year, as it had to destroy one Blood Shadow after another.

It was only when the crimson light became as faint as water, no longer able to split into more Blood Shadows, that Blood God True Monarch was finally and utterly slain.

After that, the Demon Body avatar had also reached the Mid-Stage Nascent Soul.

’Even talents like Xiang Ji and Tang Fei have no hope of reaching Divinity Transformation. This step I’ve taken was not a mistake... If I hadn’t done this, in three hundred years, when I die, my entire Clan would be annihilated. The foundation of the Immortal City would be handed over to others. It’s better to pay the price of demonization and risk it all on this one gamble!’

Du Heng had no desire to delay any longer, fearing that another one of them might have a breakthrough.

Even the Core Formation youth next to Ge Cang gave him a faint sense of threat, adding to the urgency in his heart.

Three pitch-black Demon Crystals instantly appeared in the Demon Body’s massive hand. With a forceful squeeze, the Demon Crystals shattered, and three streams of True Demon Qi bored into its body.

The Demon Dragon Awl, which had been struggling moments ago, was seized from the void by the Demon Body as it swelled another size larger. The awl grew much quieter, gradually settling in Du Heng’s hand.

...

"Sword Light Division! It’s actually Sword Light Division!"

Xiang Ji was stunned for a moment, then burst into hearty laughter, as if he himself were the one who had achieved the breakthrough.

"Now *this* is a worthy lifelong rival for me, Xiang Ji! I was worried my Life-Killing Sword was lacking nourishment, but now it seems there’s more than enough!"

He violently ripped off his sleeve, revealing a bare, severed arm. Gripping the Life-Killing Demon Sword in his right hand, he slammed it forcefully onto the stump.

The hilt plunged directly into his severed arm, sending blood flying. A trace of glee mixed with the agony on his face.

"Heaven’s Killing Intent! Moving Stars and Changing Constellations!"

Xiang Ji’s pitch-black, pupil-less eyes burst, becoming two black holes that streamed tears of blood.

He once again sacrificed the Refining Sword into Silk Realm he had just mastered. The Life-Killing Demon Sword erupted with a gray light several feet long, which devoured all surrounding light and created a zone of absolute silence.

"Xiang Ji, you’ve completely lost your mind!"

Tang Fei felt the Slaughter True Intent rapidly converging on the Life-Killing Demon Sword. It had already risen a level higher than before and was faintly showing signs of a qualitative transformation.

At first, he thought Xiang Ji had merely sacrificed his Sword Dao Realm. But he soon realized something was wrong with the sheer power of it all. The Slaughter True Intent was climbing relentlessly, as if it had no limit.

Where the hilt of the Life-Killing Demon Sword connected to his severed arm, flesh and blood began to wither. The decay spread from his shoulder, across half his body, and was even threatening to consume him entirely.

To kill with killing, one must first kill oneself!

The Slaughter True Intent ravaged Xiang Ji’s body, growing stronger and stronger. In just a few breaths, it transformed into a black dragon that shattered the Tier Four Array.

Stimulated by the Slaughter True Intent, the very stars overhead began to shift their positions, as if truly trying to flee from this peerless killing intent.

"I’ve lived in vain for hundreds of years and still couldn’t reach Divinity Transformation, so what does it matter!"

Xiang Ji’s flesh and blood rapidly dissolved, annihilated into nothingness by the Slaughter True Intent. After uttering those words, only a skeleton of White Bone remained.

"With my body, I will forge a Tier Five Flying Sword! So long as the Life-Killing Sword remains, I will exist forever!"

The White Bone crumbled into dust. His Nascent Soul had barely appeared before its life force was extinguished. The Life-Killing Demon Sword absorbed all the power he had sacrificed. The Black Dragon roared and dove, and the myriad rays of Sword Light were instantly extinguished.

Even though he had just achieved an epiphany, mastering the Fourth Realm of Sword Dao and Sword Light Division, Tang Fei still felt the chilling aura of impending death.

The Black Dragon merely glanced at him, and he could feel his life force draining away at an alarming rate.

No matter his Supreme Sword Technique or his ever-changing Sword Light, they all withered into nothing before the Black Dragon.