Chapter 320 - Fifth Form, Formation God!
"Poppycock!" Ku Xuan bellowed, his anger boiling over. "Exile Ling has obtained the Heavenly Land, how could he possibly be dead?"
Even for the ordinary Sword Cultivators, the idea that an Exiled Sword Immortal like Ling Chen could be dead was hard for anyone to swallow!
"Has Overseer Sikong gone mad, spouting such nonsense?"
"Wasn't he a man of the Withered Bone Keeper? Why'd he suddenly turn coat?"
The Sword Cultivators buzzed with confusion, their minds swirling with doubts.
As the situation grew chaotic, the Sword Warden spoke up, his voice grand and solemn, "Recently, the Withered Bone Keeper and others have stolen the Heavenly Mirror, leading to its destruction. According to the laws of the Sword Ruins, this is a crime punishable by death, with no room for mercy!"
With each word he spoke, the atmosphere in the Sword Ruins grew heavier by the minute!
It was clear to everyone that from this moment on, master and disciple had irreparably fallen out.
"Hahaha!" Ku Xuan suddenly burst into laughter, scoffing, "Oh, Sword Warden, you sure have a knack for making mountains out of molehills! Who do you think you are? Without my father, would you be where you are today? So eager to judge your own benefactor, you're nothing but a contemptible ingrate!"
The Sword Warden, upon hearing this, just shook his head and sighed.
Emboldened, Ku Xuan continued loudly, "As for the Heavenly Mirror, don't listen to this ingrate's slander, my fellow Sword Cultivators! Exile Ling, equal in rank to the Sword Warden, had every right to use the Heavenly Mirror. More importantly, he used it to secure the Calamity Seal Sword for us! We, in league with Exile Ling, have achieved a feat for the ages. How dare this ungrateful wretch judge us?"
His words stirred some, who now looked at the Sword Warden with suspicion. Still, most remained silent, pondering and watching quietly to see how things would unfold.
"Ku Xuan, then pray tell... where is the Calamity Seal Sword?" the Sword Warden suddenly asked.
In contrast to Ku Xuan's aggressive stance, his demeanor remained calm.
"Of course, it's with Exile Ling! When he returns..." But before Ku Xuan could finish, a tingling sound from within the Exile Palace interrupted him!
He looked around, bewildered, to see a young man in white casually waving a two-foot peach wooden sword in the air, cheerfully saying, "Are you talking about this one?"
The surroundings fell into an eerie silence!
Ku Xuan's eyes bulged, bloodshot with disbelief. The Calamity Seal Sword belonged to his son-in-law, the Talisman Emperor, there was no way he wouldn't recognize it! He knew it, and so did Withered Bone Keeper and the other elders of the Sword Ruins.
"How did the Calamity Seal Sword end up in Exile Yun's hands?"
After the silence, the crowd erupted. Everyone was deeply unsettled. The atmosphere in the Exile Palace turned explosive in an instant!
Considering the bond between master and disciple, the Sword Warden hesitated, but Yun Xiao wasn't one to coddle them!
Holding the Calamity Seal Sword, he stepped out of the Exile Palace, pulling out a black Bag of Holding from his robes.
"Whose is this, Withered Bone Keeper?" Yun Xiao asked, casually swinging the Bag of Holding.
The Withered Bone Keeper's face twisted grotesquely, his skin crinkling until only a leather mask remained.
This Bag of Holding, a personal treasure he had offered Ling Chen, was filled with an abundance of resources they had gathered. Now, both the precious bag and the Calamity Seal Sword were in Yun Xiao's possession... What did that imply?
A sneer suddenly echoed through the crowd. Everyone turned to see Du Zhongyuan, Mu Daxiong, and over seventy Sword Cultivators in the Fate Ocean Realm who had ventured into the Demon Continent with Yun Xiao.
"Think hard, folks, who was it that spread the news about Ling Chen obtaining the Heavenly Land?" Mu Daxiong's voice boomed, leaving countless minds reeling.
Ku Xuan, his blood boiling in reverse, turned his gaze to the seemingly harmless Du Zhongyuan!
With a smirk, Du Zhongyuan said, "Ling Chen, a mere sword slave, dared to offend Exile Yun and was slain by him! And as for the coveted Heavenly Land Sigil, I presume it's easy to guess whose hands it's in now?"
His words pierced like thousands of sharp swords through the hearts of the Withered Bone Keeper and others. Their exhilaration and schemes of the past half day had become a complete farce. Each of them was a perfect clown.
"All eyes on Exile Yun..."
Millions of gazes once again fell on the young man in white. This time, the reverence in their eyes was tenfold compared to during the Immortal Sword Rankings.
It was one thing to have terrifying talent, but quite another to play everyone like a fiddle—using the recently deceased Ling Chen as bait and luring the Withered Bone Keeper and the others into a trap!
The realization of the truth sent shivers down everyone's spine.
"It can't be! Exile Ling, a true Immortal reincarnated, he wouldn't..." Ku Xuan's mind shattered, and he roared in denial. Before he could finish, the young man in white, as serene as a passing cloud, touched a spot on his forehead.
Only then did people notice the sigil on his brow!
BUZZ! A violet Life Sigil suddenly appeared before a million eyes!
On it was a nine-headed dragon, resembling kings of the abyssal hell, coiling in the void. The dragon was entwined with countless runes, forming numerous miniature formations that enriched the content of the Life Sigil!
"The Life Sigil! The Heavenly Land Sigil!" The shout reverberated through the entire place.
A million Sword Cultivators gasped, holding their breath, their minds a blank slate.
"Look, everyone! This Life Sigil has at least 8,000 Runes!"
"Exile Yun just got the Heavenly Land Sigil, and he's already drawn 8,000 Runes..."
Everyone was stunned. They had anticipated the appearance of the Heavenly Land Sigil, but 8,000 Runes? That was beyond anyone's wildest imaginations, piercing through their limits of belief.
"8,000..." The Withered Bone Keeper and the other Overseers staggered back, their faces ashen, as if trampled by iron boots, a deep, soul-tearing fear etched into their expressions.
With the appearance of the Heavenly Land Sigil adorned with 8,000 Runes, all their stubborn defiance turned into a joke, their resistance into submission.
"Father, is this... real?" Ku Xuan clutched his father's arm, his voice trembling.
The Withered Bone Keeper's eyes were dull. He first glanced at the indifferent Yun Xiao, then towards the Sword Warden at his back.
"Master, you must concede!" the Sword Warden said solemnly.
THUD! Before the Withered Bone Keeper and Ku Xuan could react, Feng Buhui, Yun Xinghe, and the other Overseers fell to their knees, prostrating themselves!
"We were blind to the true Immortal, and committed great sins! We wish to follow Exile Yun for the rest of our lives as atonement!" Feng Buhui's voice shook.
"We wish to atone!" The other four Overseers, all trembling and fearful, knelt down.
They were terrified! Never did they imagine a genius could instill such fear. Their hearts were now filled with nothing but dread! They weren't of the Ku Family; they still had a chance to live. If they didn't switch sides now, they would be truly on a path to ruin.
"Feng Buhui! Yun Xinghe! You traitors!" Ku Xuan burst out in fury.
"May I ask Exile Yun, do you need us to capture these two traitors of the Ku Family?" Feng Buhui coldly eyed Ku Xuan.
This scene unfolded before the eyes of a million Sword Cultivators. First trembling in their hearts, they soon gazed at Yun Xiao with a mixture of intense admiration and obsession.
"Traitors of the Ku Family?" Upon hearing these words, Ku Xuan spat out a mouthful of black blood. In the Sword Ruins, it had come down to just him and his father standing together!
"You cling to delusion, desiring to disturb the peace of our ancestors, stealing the Sword Relic for your own life. Are you not traitors?" Shuang Jiang declared sternly.
"Exile Yun, please give us five a chance to redeem ourselves through deeds! Let's capture these traitors and unite the Sword Ruins!" Yun Xinghe spoke with fervor.
"No need," Yun Xiao said indifferently. "There's no talk of redemption here. Make a mistake, and you must pay with your life."
The faces of Feng Buhui and the other four paled, and they collapsed to the ground.
A collective gasp of shock rippled through the million Sword Cultivators.
They realized Yun Xiao was no saint...
"With the other eight hells watching closely like tigers, Exile Yun's thunderous methods serve as a warning to those with ill intentions. Oppose him, and there's only death!"
This realization fired up the blood of the million Sword Cultivators.
"Sword Warden, hand me the heart of the Ruination Sword Array." As Yun Xiao spoke, all eyes were on him as he rose into the air.
"Kill him!" The Withered Bone Keeper, who had been silent and twisted, suddenly shouted with a chilling voice.
Ku Xuan, Feng Buhui, and the other Overseers snapped to action! Only by killing Yun Xiao could they have a chance to live. It was their only shot, and they were willing to stake their lives on it!
BUZZ! Above in the heavens, the Sword Warden appeared beside Yun Xiao, holding a white sphere about a foot in diameter.
BOOM! A total of 99 streams of sword energy surged from this sphere, connecting to the ninety-nine nodes of the Sword Ruins Formation.
This was the array heart, the true control center of the Ruination Sword Array. Only the Sword Warden could wield it.
"Be careful!"
As the seven powerhouses charged, countless Sword Cultivators worried for Yun Xiao.
Yun Xiao, without even a glance at the seven, pressed the Prison Warden Sigil against the array heart!
"It actually has a fifth form, Formation God!"
Soul Origin, Runic Umbrella, Dao Dragon, Prison Ward, and Formation God—a perfect, multifunctional battle medium.
"Controlling the array heart with Formation God, the power of the Ruination Sword Array skyrockets... With this in the Sword Ruins, I am invincible!" The moment the Prison Warden Sigil touched the array heart, the white spherical core abruptly turned violet, revealing a nine-headed dragon!
BOOM! The streams of sword energy connecting the 99 nodes of the array also turned violet!
Finally, the entire Ruination Sword Array in the sky morphed into a majestic violet hue!
ROAR! Each stream of Immortal sword energy was entwined with a violet dragon, embodying the power of the soul and purification!
This was a ferocious, fearsome power. Yet, when it pressed down upon the Withered Bone Keeper and Ku Xuan, their deathly swordsmanship felt as if it was being exercised and purified!
"Father, hold off Mu Tianjian, I'll kill him!" Ku Xuan suddenly charged into the sky, sword in hand!
As the third strongest in the Sword Ruins, his Sword Aura numbered 8,000 layers, and his sword boasted Hell Demon Sword Rings!
BOOM! His strike seemed to create a river of death between heaven and earth. The dense Sword Aura surged skyward, pressing down on the young man in white!
"You're overestimating your abilities." Yun Xiao glanced at him coldly, the Prison Warden Sigil in his hand stirring to life!
BOOM! The violet nine-headed dragon made out of sword energy in the sky descended like a vast ocean, overwhelming everything in its path!
This violet ocean of sword energy clashed with Ku Xuan's river. The victor was clear as day!
"UGH!?" Ku Xuan could only withstand it for a mere moment before he was swallowed by the violet ocean of sword energy!
SIZZLE SIZZLE SIZZLE! His body was instantly purified into vapor by this force, leaving only his skeleton standing dumbstruck in the sky!
"He's strengthened the Ruination Sword Array..." Feng Buhui and the other four were utterly petrified!
BOOM! Then, five more streams of sword energy pierced through the sky. In a matter of moments, these five Overseers were vaporized!
In less than ten breaths, only the Withered Bone Keeper remained standing!
"It's a massacre!"
This was Yun Xiao's first trial of the devastating power of the Prison Warden Sigil, and it was terrifyingly effective. Six Overseers were annihilated in an instant! Without the Ruination Sword Array, he couldn't have achieved this!
"The array kills with the power of money; you might want to ease up a bit. That attack just now must've cost about 20 million Immortal Jades," Blue Star commented wryly.
"Dammit...!" Yun Xiao realized the importance of money all too well!
And now, only one man remained before him—the Withered Bone Keeper, utterly isolated. A man who feared death more than anything! He drew his sword, looking around at his younger counterparts, all now gone.
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