Chapter 38 - 36: A World-Shocking Sword Strike, Martial Soul Manifests

Chapter 38: Chapter 36: A World-Shocking Sword Strike, Martial Soul Manifests

Just as everyone was fraught with suspicion, a soft shout rang out. "Qinghe Sword Technique!"

Suddenly, a BOOM echoed.

An even more terrifying sword might erupted from within the boundless shroud of Sword Qi. A figure in white shattered the Sword Qi, charging out of the vortex of sword power and soaring upward against the heavens.

At this moment, Jiang Hao held nothing back. For the first time, he pushed the Qinghe Sword Technique to its absolute limit, sending overwhelming Sword Qi slashing toward Qi Tianyang.

"What?"

"He didn’t die from that strike either?"

As countless Cultivators turned pale in shock, Jiang Hao’s Sword Qi was already closing in on Qi Tianyang.

The latter’s eyes were filled with even greater disbelief, looking as though he had suffered an endless blow. However, upon noticing the trace of blood that had quietly appeared at the corner of Jiang Hao’s mouth, Qi Tianyang’s assault grew even more ferocious.

Unfortunately, while each strike of the Seven Heaven-Defying Demonic Swords was more terrifying than the last, they required time to build up power. It was obvious that Jiang Hao knew this as well, and he had absolutely no intention of giving his opponent the chance to gather strength.

In an instant, the two clashed once more. Their terrifying Sword Qi utterly stunned countless Cultivators.

As time passed, countless bloody sword wounds appeared on both Qi Tianyang and Jiang Hao.

"Heavens, what am I seeing? That piece of trash actually managed to wound the Qilin Child?"

"But compared to the Qilin Child’s injuries, his own are far more severe."

"Unbelievable, simply unbelievable! Is this person truly the universally recognized number one trash of Xingyue City?"

"To execute such a terrifying Sword Technique... he is undoubtedly a Sword Dao Celestial Pride."

"Still, he’s losing the upper hand. In the end, he’s no match for the Qilin Child."

"You’re wrong. His talent in the Sword Dao is likely even higher than the Qi Family’s Qi Tianyang. Though he’s at a disadvantage at every turn right now, it isn’t because his mastery of the Sword Technique is inferior. Rather... it seems he only knows this single Sword Technique."

"What did you say?"

As the battle reached a fever pitch, countless Cultivators also began to notice the underlying issue.

Although Jiang Hao’s Sword Qi was fiercely terrifying, his weakness lay in only knowing one Sword Technique. Meanwhile, as the Qilin Child of the Qi Family, the last thing Qi Tianyang lacked was Cultivation Techniques and martial arts.

In just a short quarter of an hour, the latter had executed an unknown number of Sword Techniques, whereas Jiang Hao only ever unleashed the Qinghe Sword Technique. Gradually, Qi Tianyang figured out the trajectory of the Qinghe Sword Technique’s execution. This was undoubtedly a fatal blow.

Then, at a critical moment!

"Die!"

BOOM!

Having fully grasped the pattern of Jiang Hao’s Sword Technique, Qi Tianyang seized the perfect opportunity. As boundless Sword Qi locked onto his target, he unleashed a terrifying strike.

SPURT!

In the end, Jiang Hao couldn’t dodge this strike. He was sent flying by the slash as a shocking wound tore across his chest. The impact was so severe that he coughed up blood.

Qi Tianyang seized this opening, finally gaining the brief moment he needed to gather his strength.

"Seventh Sword of the Seven Heaven-Defying Demonic Swords—Sword Radiance Over the Nine Provinces!"

BOOM!

As the Qi Family’s Qilin Child unleashed his strongest strike, dazzling sword light engulfed the area above the Battle Platform, blinding the onlookers so fiercely they could barely keep their eyes open.

The most earth-shattering wave of Sword Qi cleaved downward, falling directly toward Jiang Hao’s head. Wherever the Sword Qi passed, the void physically distorted, as if aiming to split heaven and earth apart.

Sensing that fatal strike, even Jiang Hao revealed a look of despair.

This sword was simply too terrifying. It was the ultimate attack of an eighth-tier martial art.

It was absolutely not something his seventh-tier Qinghe Sword Technique could withstand. This was no longer merely a clash of cultivation bases, but a life-and-death struggle of martial arts and Sword Dao. Even before the Sword Qi descended, Jiang Hao could already feel an unprecedented turbulence of Spiritual Power within his body.

He thought, "I can’t block it!"

That was Jiang Hao’s first reaction. The Qinghe Sword Technique simply couldn’t block this strike!

This was the first time in his life that he had faced death so directly. The sheer despair of impending doom was enough to shatter a person’s state of mind.

Countless Cultivators stared at that apocalyptic strike, terrified to the extreme.

"What a terrifying sword. It’s truly worthy of being the eighth-tier martial art, the Seven Heaven-Defying Demonic Swords."

"It’s over. This time it’s really over. He can’t block this strike."

Numerous older generation figures voiced their thoughts, deeply feeling the horror of that attack. Yet, even so, the hundreds of thousands of Cultivators across the Xingyue City Earth Realm were already shocked to their limits. Even if that figure in white fell to this strike, his performance was enough to be forever etched into everyone’s memories.

On the eve of the heaven-shaking Sword Qi’s descent, Ye Qingxian cried out in agony. "Jiang Hao!" She ran frantically toward the crowd, tears streaming down from her beautiful, sorrowful eyes.

Gu Qingyan also turned pale with fright. Even she hadn’t received any intelligence that Qi Tianyang had mastered the seventh sword of the Seven Heaven-Defying Demonic Swords. Clearly, this was a martial art that the Qi Family’s Qilin Child had only recently broken through.

"Miss, what do we do?" Beside Gu Qingyan, Bai Wufeng was panicking.

Even he recognized the sheer lethality of this strike, knowing it was impossible for Jiang Hao to withstand. After all, the gap between the two wasn’t just in cultivation time, but also a fatal disparity in martial arts. A mere three months was far too little time for the youth in white to catch up.

A flash of anxiety appeared in Gu Qingyan’s beautiful eyes, but it quickly dissipated. She immediately took a step forward, Spiritual Power surging around her body as she spoke, her voice carrying like a thousand-mile telepathy technique.

"Jiang Hao, the enemies who killed your father are Zhao Wuji and the others from the Celestial Sword Sect! The enmity of your father’s murder remains unavenged! Are you really going to just die like this?"

BOOM!

As soon as these words were spoken, the entire Xingyue City Earth Realm was shaken. This was especially true on the Qi Family’s spectator stands.

Hearing the voice, Zhao Wuji abruptly raised his head, shock written all over his face. "What did she say? Could this boy be...?"

Before Zhao Wuji had time to fully react, Gu Qingyan’s voice rang out again.

"The vengeance for a murdered father is irreconcilable! A sea of blood debts remains unpaid! How can you just die and let your Dao vanish here?

"Jiang Hao, if you die, who will avenge Father Jiang?"

BOOM!

As those rapid words pierced into Jiang Hao’s ears, his body trembled violently.

He thought, "Father?"

At this moment, the image of his father surfaced in Jiang Hao’s mind. He only knew that his father had disappeared suddenly back then, leaving no news behind for all these years. To hear news of his father now... only to find out they were separated by heaven and earth?

Yet Gu Qingyan’s voice continued.

"Jiang Hao, Father Jiang died such a tragic death! It was all the Celestial Sword Sect! The people from the Celestial Sword Sect did it! And the Qi Family—the Qi Family’s Qi Yun Mountain also played a part!

"If you die, how can Father Jiang rest in peace?

"And what about Little Sister Qingxian? She waited for you for three years. Do you really have the heart to let her die of grief?"

Listening to Gu Qingyan’s words, Bai Wufeng was completely dumbfounded.

The Young Master really dared to spout nonsense. Even they had only managed to uncover that Father Jiang’s disappearance was related to the Celestial Sword Sect; they hadn’t actually found proof that Father Jiang had died by their hands.

However, Bai Wufeng quickly understood, seemingly guessing her intentions.

Having finished speaking, Gu Qingyan suddenly looked toward Ye Tiannan. The latter seemed to half-understand in an instant, but he still immediately spoke up. "Hao’Er, your father was indeed murdered by the Celestial Sword Sect all those years ago. Child, you cannot die!"

Every word that escaped Gu Qingyan’s lips felt like silver needles ruthlessly piercing Jiang Hao’s heart. And when Ye Tiannan spoke up, his soul quaked even more.

"The Celestial Sword Sect? Qi Yun Mountain?

"Father—AH!!!"

At this moment, the fury in Jiang Hao’s heart burned to the absolute limit. Grief and rage intertwined, and his physical body seemed to be pushed to its very extremes as endless Spiritual Power surged madly.

Spotting the perfect opportunity, Gu Qingyan immediately called out, "Heaven Breaking!"

Those two resounding words instantly spread across the sky.

Hearing this shocking shout, Qi Yun Mountain and the others immediately reacted.

"Yang’Er, kill him quickly!"

BOOM!

Hearing this, Qi Tianyang fiercely accelerated the speed of his strike.

But it was already too late.

In this moment, the strike that Gu Qingyan had once imparted to him surfaced in Jiang Hao’s mind. The terrifying sword scar that still remained on Wuyang Mountain seemed to reflect directly into his consciousness.

Those various sword moves evolved madly, ultimately combining into a single strike.

"Heaven—Breaking!"

As he fell amidst the Sword Qi, a single tear traced the corner of Jiang Hao’s eye while the veins on his body bulged.

At this moment, all of his limits seemed to be unchained. His innate Sword Dao talent was unleashed to its maximum potential.

Relying on physical instinct, he deduced the Heaven Breaking technique. And then, he unleashed a slash.

In an instant, a terrifying Sword Intent surged against the heavens.

There was no dazzlingly radiant sword light, nor was there any jaw-dropping Sword Qi. Everything happened silently and without a trace. Yet, this invisible and intangible Sword Intent cleaved through heaven and earth, rushing up to meet the incoming strike.

The moment the Sword Intent and Sword Qi collided, a massive BOOM resonated.

Qi Tianyang’s world-shocking strike disintegrated in an instant. His entire body was sent flying by the Sword Intent as he coughed up mouthfuls of blood.

"What?"

"Heavens!"

Suddenly, the hundreds of thousands of Cultivators felt as though they had been struck by ten thousand bolts of lightning, their faces paling in horror.

Having unleashed his strike, Jiang Hao soared up against the heavens and launched a fierce attack at Qi Tianyang.

Seeing this, the latter’s Dao Heart completely collapsed. He shook his head frantically. "Impossible! This isn’t real! How could you defeat me? Impossible! Impossible!"

As his Dao Heart crumbled away, Qi Tianyang descended entirely into madness. His body gradually began to turn pitch black. Not only that, but a terrifying undulation suddenly emanated from within him. A blackened flood dragon burst forth from his body, and waves of dragon roars echoed across the world.

"Not good, his Dao Heart has collapsed!"

"This person has succumbed to Qi Deviation!"

Suddenly, Bai Wufeng’s expression changed drastically. "Oh no! Is he trying to detonate his Martial Soul so he can perish together with Jiang Hao?"

It wasn’t just Bai Wufeng who turned pale with fright; even Zhao Wuji and the others underwent a dramatic change in expression. If a Celestial Tier Martial Soul detonated, even Zhao Wuji and Qi Yun Mountain wouldn’t dare casually step into the blast radius.

The moment Qi Tianyang’s blackened Martial Soul appeared, the True Dragon Martial Soul within Jiang Hao’s body also sensed it.

The phantom of the true dragon coiling within his Xuanhai suddenly opened its eyes, soaring into the sky and bursting out of his body.