Chapter 438: Sword Battle
A burst of thunderous rumbling rang out incessantly as the crimson light barrier trembled violently, quivering under the weight of the black waterfall.
Situated directly under the enormous torrent of heavy water, Xiong Shan could see the black waterfall crashing down onto the crimson light barrier, and he could also clearly sense the tremendous pressure that was weighing down the light barrier from above.
A series of massive indentations had appeared all over the crimson light barrier in the face of the heavy water torrent's immeasurable weight, and the golden draconic patterns on it were also flashing incessantly, indicating that the light barrier wasn't going to be able to withstand the assault for much longer.
Xiong Shan's brows were tightly furrowed as he took a glance at the metal scripture that was hovering in mid-air, and he made a beckoning motion to draw it back into his grasp.
He then extended his index finger, and a burst of golden light flashed over his fingertip, resulting in a tiny bleeding gash.
Using his finger as a brush and his blood as ink, he began to quickly inscribe a peculiar dark red rune onto the metal scripture.
As soon as the rune took shape, the golden patterns on the metal scripture began to take on a bright red hue, resembling a system of blood vessels and meridians.
Xiong Shan held the metal scripture in both hands as a determined look appeared on his face, and he brought the metal scripture to his own chest like a breastplate.
Red and black light flashed over his chest, and the metal scripture vanished into his body in a flash, fusing as one with him.
The metal scripture was serving as the core of the entire array, and with its disappearance, the array instantly ceased to operate.
The sea of fire beneath the floating altar subsided, gradually reverting back into a scorching fiery cloud, while the crimson light barrier up above also disintegrated into a vast expanse of translucent red light.
All of the golden projections up above also vanished, but the flying swords that had been drawn toward the array didn't descend back down onto the meadow. Instead, they continued to hover in mid-air, remaining locked into place by a burst of invisible force.
The black waterfall in the sky was nothing more than an illusion conjured up by Han Li's Mantra Domain, and it had also faded away, restoring heaven and earth to their original state.
Without the obstruction posed by the golden projections and the fiery dragons, Han Li was able to ascend into the heavens at a rapid speed, and in the blink of an eye, he had already fallen upon the floating altar.
He cast his gaze toward Xiong Shan to find that the latter's entire body had been encased in a suit of black scale armor, and there was also a layer of crimson light around him.
The layer of crimson light was formed by countless wisps of extremely pure sword qi that were so incredibly sharp that even the space around them had been completely shredded, and even the golden ripples released by Han Li's Mantra Treasured Axis were unable to infiltrate them.
"To think that you would use such a precious treasure in such a suboptimal fashion. Don't you think this is a massive waste?" Han Li asked with a forlorn shake of his head.
"It's fine. I'm only using up some of the sword qi within it. As long as I can kill you, it'll all be worth it," Xiong Shan replied as he strode over to the center of the altar, where he grabbed onto the hilt of his golden longsword.
As soon as his hand closed around his longsword, the dark red patterns on his suit of black armor instantly lit up, and the layer of crimson light around his body surged forth to encompass his bonded flying sword as well.
His aura remained at the late-True Immortal Stage, but it had become indescribably sharp, as if he had transformed into a peerlessly sharp immortal sword.
Han Li's pupils contracted slightly upon seeing this, but he remained unfazed.
Instead of immediately lashing out at Han Li, Xiong Shan said in an unhurried manner, "There's something that I've never been able to wrap my head around: how were you able to control my Thousand Edge Spirit Gathering Sword Array back then? Could it be that you're the heir to some side branch of the Boundless Sword Sect?"
"Didn't the Boundless Sword Sect disappear over a million years ago? How could I be a side branch heir of the sect?" Han Li asked with a puzzled expression.
"So you're not a member of the sect... No matter, you've shown yourself to be worthy of facing me," Xiong Shan said as a hint of disappointment flashed through his eyes, following which he launched himself directly at Han Li with his longsword pointed forward.
Han Li immediately drifted up into the air, and even after retreating all the way to the edge of the altar, he still showed no sign of stopping as he continued to fly back in retreat.
A burst of dark red light flashed over Xiong Shan's longsword, and a streak of crimson swordlight erupted out of its tip, instantly covering a distance of over 1,000 feet.
Only upon reaching within several feet of Han Li's chest was the streak of crimson swordlight finally slowed down by the golden ripples released by his Mantra Treasured Axis.
Han Li took advantage of this opportunity to retreat several dozen feet further before stopping again.
The streak of crimson swordlight then slowly disintegrated as he looked on with a hint of lingering fear in his eyes. If he hadn't retreated in a timely fashion just now, that sword strike would've definitely been fast enough to counteract the Mantra Treasured Axis's time-slow effect and pierce straight through his chest.
If only all of the Time Dao Runes were recovered...
As this thought flashed through Han Li's mind, he swooped down toward all of the flying swords that were hovering mid-air.
However, before he was able to reach his Azure Bamboo Cloudswarm Swords, he felt a burst of formidable sword qi sweeping toward him from behind, and a chill immediately ran down his spine.
He hurriedly reversed his Mantra Treasured Axis before dodging to the right, thereby allowing him to evade the attack.
A streak of crimson light flew past him in a flash before piercing straight into the vast array of flying swords up ahead, and a string of sharp clangs rang out as several dozen flying swords were shattered by the streak of swordlight.
Finally, Han Li was able to pounce on this opportunity to arrive beside his 72 Azure Bamboo Cloudswarm Swords.
He reached out to grab onto one of them before tugging on it with all his might, only to find that it remained completely unmoved, seemingly locked into place by some type of tremendous force.
Before he had a chance to do anything, Xiong Shan arrived on the scene, then slashed his longsword viciously through the air.
However, Han Li paid no heed to the attack as he continued to hold tightly onto the hilt of his flying sword while injecting a wisp of his spiritual sense into it.
The sword in his grasp abruptly shuddered before letting loose a crisp ringing sound, as if it were elated to have had its spiritual connection with Han Li restored.
At the same time, a longsword that was enveloped in a layer of crimson light swept through the air toward the back of his neck.
The dozen or so active Time Dao Runes on Han Li's Mantra Treasured Axis lit up in unison, and the golden ripples radiating from the axis took on a slightly more substantial form.
However, the oncoming longsword was able to largely ignore the Mantra Treasured Axis's time-slowing effect thanks to the formidable sword qi that it was enshrouded within, and the sword wasn't slowed down to a sufficient degree for Han Li to evade the attack.
In this dire situation, Han Li's Heavy Water True Axis flew onto the scene as a streak of black light, positioning itself in the path of Xiong Shan's sword like a giant black shield.
A sharp clang rang out as Xiong Shan's longsword pierced straight through the black light around the Heavy Water True Axis before striking the axis itself.
The Heavy Water True Axis shuddered violently as a large section of the black light radiating from it was shredded by the sword qi erupting out of Xiong Shan's sword, inflicting a deep sword mark onto its surface.
Han Li could sense the power of that sword strike through his spiritual connection with his Heavy Water True Axis, and he was greatly alarmed.
He immediately pulled out the Azure Bamboo Cloudswarm Sword that he had grabbed onto, and at the same time, blue light flashed within his eyes as he released 71 wisps of spiritual sense at once, with each one entering one of the remaining 71 Azure Bamboo Cloudswarm Swords.
At this point, Xiong Shan had already made his way around the Heavy Water True Axis and was slashing his sword at Han Li from his right.
This time, Han Li didn't take any evasive measures. Instead, he met Xiong Shan directly retaliating with his own Azure Bamboo Cloudswarm Sword.
The two swords clashed, and a layer of dark red swordlight erupted out of Xiong Shan's bonded flying sword, immediately following which a burst of golden lightning erupted out of Han Li's Azure Bamboo Cloudswarm Sword as well.
The dark red swordlight glanced over Han Li's sword-wielding arm, instantly slicing through his sleeve, but thankfully, his True Extreme Film remained resolute, so he didn't sustain any injuries.
However, the sword qi imbued within the swordlight was extremely penetrative, and it felt as if it were slicing over the bones in his arm, causing him to wince in pain.
He ignored the pain as he made a beckoning motion with his other hand, and the Heavy Water True Axis behind him immediately shrank down to the size of a normal shield before hurtling directly toward Xiong Shan.
The armor on Xiong Shan's arm flashed with black light, scattering the Divine Devilbane Lightning released by the Azure Bamboo Cloudswarm Sword, following which the blade of the sword made direct contact with the armor itself.
At the same time, the Heavy Water True Axis crashed into Xiong Shan's longsword, and the impact sent him flying back over 100 feet.
Right at this moment, Han Li made a hand seal before pointing a finger forward, and all of the remaining 71 Azure Bamboo Cloudswarm Swords flew out in unison alongside the sword in Han Li's grasp, hurtling directly toward Xiong Shan as a wave of azure light.
As the flying swords raced through the air, countless streaks of azure swordlight intertwined and converged in the same spot to form a massive ball of azure light.
As it approached Xiong Shan, a thunderous draconic roar suddenly erupted out of the ball of azure light, ringing out across the entire sky.
Immediately thereafter, the giant ball of light exploded violently, and an azure coiled dragon sprang out from within with tremendous force before swallowing Xiong Shan whole.
At the same time, Han Li reversed his Mantra Treasured Axis while simultaneously summoning his Heavy Water True Axis back to him as he sprang forward in pursuit.
He was flying through the air far faster than the azure dragon sword array, and upon catching up to the head of the dragon, he focused his gaze downward, upon which a hint of surprise flashed through his eyes.
As it turned out, Xiong Shan was standing in the dragon's maw in a relaxed and composed manner, and there were hundreds of streaks of swordlight attempting to pierce into his body, but his suit of black armor was keeping him completely unscathed.
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