Chapter 037 - One Swordstroke, One Kill! White Robes Stained in Blood! (2)
"This lad is truly a swordsmanship genius!" Grandpa Qin exclaimed, a trace of madness dancing in his excited eyes. His words barely faded when the Conclave Mountain once more erupted with shouts of awe, shifting from shock to exclamation. It was all because Yun Xiao, who was masterfully controlling the Sovereign Sword, uttered a single phrase—
"Have you had enough? Is it my turn now?"
VROOM! Executing Leisurely Wander, Yun Xiao dodged hundreds of sword strikes, becoming one with his sword. In a flash, he appeared before a woman. This was the tenth disciple of the First Sword Venerable, Qi Yuxuan!
"Return, Flying Sword!" Qi Yuxuan's face changed drastically as she hurriedly recalled her Flying Swords, her cultivation at the Early Divine Sea Realm apparent in her control. But, it was too late!
Yun Xiao reached her, and in the moment he stepped off the Sovereign Sword the Sword Soul reverted to a Palm Sword, transforming into a three-foot azure blade, which he held firmly in his grip.
With a soft thud, a white shadow darted by, a severed head soared through the air. Another disciple of the First Sword Venerable met their demise.
"Tenth Junior Sister!!" Ye Tianyuan and the others bellowed, their eyes nearly bursting from their sockets.
"Yun Xiao!!" Their rage seemed to engulf the heavens, as they launched forward once again, Flying Swords shooting at Yun Xiao, while some employed Palm Swords in their relentless pursuit.
Yun Xiao’s Swallow Tail Flash could scatter and nullify the assaults. But his Leisurely Wander technique became the real nightmare haunting the prided disciples of the First Sword Peak.
Yun Xiao at this moment surpassed even Zhao Xuanran from a year ago, harboring greater strength and a wider array of techniques, his Sword Aura and Sword Soul manifested even more fiercely.
"Getting angry now, are we? Sorry, but I've just begun my killing spree!" Yun Xiao’s eyes harbored a ruthless determination, showing no signs of retreat. Instead, he turned his riding sword around to dive back into the fray.
His Leisurely Wander allowed him to transition fluidly to using a Flying Sword. The white-clad figure darted by, releasing the Swallow Tail Flash from his Flying Sword.
THUD! Tao Liang, the sixth disciple of the First Sword Venerable, had his forehead pierced as he dropped dead.
"Three Swords as One!"
"He's executing it so perfectly in battle! Not even many Sword Venerables can achieve this, can they?"
"What kind of monster is he?"
The unity of the three Sword Soul forms! This was the seamless transition and use of the Flying sword, Palm Sword, and Sovereign Sword; a swift, fierce, and precise display at every step, unrivaled in accuracy.
Yun Xiao, a mere sixteen-year-old disciple, was showcasing a level of swordsmanship talent that was akin to a visual feast for the spectators!
"He’s massacring them!" Azure streaks and white shadows! A single figure was dancing and slashing amidst a group of over a hundred First Sword Peak disciples. Yun Xiao could slay a person with a single stroke of his sword! Yet, the hundred people and their hundred swords couldn’t touch a hair on him.
Even Ye Tianyuan, the only one at the Mid Divine Sea Realm who had been chasing him all this time, was eating dust, forced to watch as Yun Xiao mercilessly slaughtered his fellow disciples in the First Sword Peak..
"Xu Qian!" Ye Tianyuan cried out.
Another disciple of the First Sword Venerable met their end during the clash, her Sword Soul shattered by a single strike from Yun Xiao. THUD! She coughed up blood, her soul scattering. She had just collapsed to her knees when a hole appeared in her throat. A death even more abrupt! Another disciple of the First Sword Venerable lost.
"Fifth Senior Brother!" Now only Ye Tianyuan, Xia Huai, and Jiang Yue, the three Sword Venerable disciples remained. Xia Huai was clearly petrified. He was at the Early Divine Sea Realm, the same as Jiang Yue.
"Come, let's join forces!" Ye Tianyuan's heart was pounding furiously in his chest.
"Yes!" Xia Huai shouted, desperation fueling his sprint towards Ye Tianyuan. Before another breath could be taken, a sword streaked by with a sickening sound. Xia Huai's head flew off, landing at Ye Tianyuan's feet, while his body continued its forward momentum for a few more tragic steps before collapsing.
"Sixth Junior Brother!" Ye Tianyuan roared, his eyes ablaze with a rage that seemed capable of igniting the heavens themselves.
"Sixth Senior Brother..." Jiang Yue murmured, her voice tinged with disbelief and sorrow. Another individual she revered had been slaughtered by Yun Xiao, as helpless as a lamb at the altar.
Jiang Yue's mind buzzed, her thoughts blank, as she stared at the decapitated head before her. From this point on, all of the First Sword Venerable's disciples between the fifth, Ye Tianyuan, and the thirteenth, Jiang Yue, had met their end at the hands of Yun Xiao.
Wang Feng was the first. Yun Tianyi and Lan Xiao were the second group. Today, four more had been added to the grim tally.
Each had possessed a Comet grade Sword Soul, each a top-tier talent within the Azure Spirit Sword Sect. Such individuals were rare in other Sword Peaks, yet Ye Tiance had thirteen personally mentored disciples of this caliber.
"How has Yun Xiao become so strong?" the Second Sword Venerable, Shangguan Yu, exclaimed, unable to contain her astonishment, her heart pounding wildly.
"Did Ye Tiance really unleash the Sword Sealing Formation only to shoot himself in the foot?" Qian Kun of the Sword Treasure Pavilion remarked, his face a picture of shock and disbelief.
"Junior Brother Yun!" The disciples of the Sword Pavilion, already frenzied, were shouting at the top of their lungs outside the Sword Sealing Formation, their cheers filled with a mixture of exhilaration and desperation. The elders behind them had tears streaming down their faces, letting out years of pent-up frustrations and regrets. Even Zhao Xuanran, standing amongst them, had tears twinkling in her eyes.
"Yun Xiao is doomed!" the Seventh Sword Venerable, Zhang Jian, declared slapping his seat, his face pale.
"Indeed, he single-handedly killed six Sword Venerable disciples! Once the Sword Sealing Formation is broken, the First Sword Venerable will surely take his life," Yu Xuanzhou quickly agreed, nodding fervently.
"He won't need to wait for the formation to break. Yun Xiao can't keep this up forever. Riding the Sovereign Sword is draining his power fast. Soon, he'll be torn to shreds by a barrage of blades!" Zhang Jian asserted coldly, visibly irritated that Yun Xiao's reckless slaughter was making a mockery of his recent pledge of loyalty to Ye Tiance.
"That's true, with Ye Tianyuan still standing and over ninety others with him," Yu Xuanzhou nodded in agreement, though he seemed to be finding Yun Xiao's defiance increasingly baffling. Still, he maintained, "Reality's cruelty will soon set in. There are some people we simply cannot afford to offend."
"The people in the Sword Pavilion are celebrating now, but once Yun Xiao falls, their years of effort will be in vain. Their cries of despair will be the ugliest sight," Zhang Jian sneered.
Within a fleeting moment, the high platform showcased the myriad faces of humanity—from hope to despair, from arrogance to fear. Yet, Yun Xiao paid no heed to their judgments.
In his eyes, there were only swords and blood, only the pursuit of his fervent desires. Amidst the scrutinizing gaze of the masses, he spun around fiercely, his figure poised upon the azure Sovereign Sword. His white robes fluttered wildly, and his long hair danced in the wind. His eyes, reminiscent of the dazzling cosmic seas, swept across the group that had dwindled to less than a hundred.
Of the people left, only Ye Tianyuan and Jiang Yue were at the Divine Sea Realm, the majority being in the Late Dragon Spring Realm, and a few at the Perfect or Establishment stage. Clutching their Sword Souls tightly, they stared back at Yun Xiao with a mix of fury and terror.
"He's been riding the Sovereign Sword for too long. His power must be nearly depleted!" Ye Tianyuan shouted, his voice echoing with a cold fury.
"A single person's strength is always limited. Now he's nothing but a dimming lantern running on fumes," Jiang Yue added, her voice grim but resolute.
"Don't be intimidated by his bluster!" Ye Tianyuan yelled. Amid mutual encouragement, the prideful disciples from the First Sword Peak of the Azure Spirit Sword Sect showed signs of renewed vigor.
"We have numbers on our side. We can wear him down..." Jiang Xue muttered fiercely under her breath.
The sight of Yun Xiao's slightly dimmed Sword Soul stirred a rising tide of brutality in them, reigniting their murderous intent. Edges gleamed anew, the symphony of sword resonances filling the air. With cold, determined eyes and firm grips on their Sword Souls, they inched closer to him, step by unfaltering step.
The audience atop the Conclave Mountain was a sea of bated breaths and racing hearts, their gazes locked onto the youth in white robes. As his Divine Sea Realm power depleted, how would he retaliate?
The young man, his gaze as indifferent as the highest heavens, landed gracefully. His Sword Soul transformed into a blade of azure, three feet in length. He stood defiantly, his sword horizontally poised against nearly a hundred Sword Cultivators.
"I have one principle," Yun Xiao declared, his voice echoing with a chilling resolve. "Anyone who seeks to kill me, I won't consider morals, cause and effect, good or evil. I will kill them first."
With that, Yun Xiao pointed his three-foot azure blade towards the crowd of Sword Cultivators. "I advise you all, one step forward, and you enter hell!"
The words sent a tremor through the surrounding Sword Sealing Formation. The killing intent and conviction rolling off him in waves overshadowed the prideful disciples from the First Sword Peak once again. A lone figure, with a sword to match, his spirit shook the heavens. His white robe fluttered wildly, his azure sword demonic in its presence.
"He's definitely out of magic power. He's just bluffing!"
"Think about the hundred Divine Sea Pills...!"
In the eyes of the advancing Sword Cultivators, greed and murderous intent danced wildly. Yun Xiao wasn't a living being to them but a corpse, a treasure trove of a hundred Divine Sea Pills. Swords in hand, they moved forward. One step. Two steps. Ten steps.
"Yun Xiao, you've got it wrong. It's not a matter of you sparing us, but us not wanting to spare you!" Ye Tianyuan sneered.
"Excellent! If there is a next time, I won't waste a word!"
With that, Yun Xiao produced five dark-red beads from his bosom. Aside from him, no one knew what these were—a deliberate move on his part. Since the beginning, his audacious decision to fight against a hundred and twenty people wasn't a reckless impulse. It was a course of action forged from an utter certainty deep within him.
Yun Xiao believed, without a shadow of doubt, he would prevail in this battle. He placed the Heavenly Dao Sariras into his mouth, feeling the magic power of his Divine Sea swell robustly once more! BOOM! His Sword Soul erupted, emanating a dazzle that rivaled the sun's brilliance.
"What the—!" Ye Tianyuan was momentarily blinded, unable to open his eyes amidst the intense glare.
"Kill him!" Oblivious to the actual threat Yun Xiao posed, the brash young elites from the First Sword Peak charged at him anew, wielding Flying Swords and Palm Swords with reckless determination.
Within the cerulean blaze, the resonant voice of the young man echoed throughout the Sword Sealing Formation.
"I am a wanderer of the mortal world."
"Traversing through the worldly chaos with a flask of wine at my side!"
"With my three-foot azure blade in hand."
"I slay all who dare to hinder my path!"
Azure light infiltrated dreams, White shadows flickered uncertainly, Swords swept across mercilessly, Blood sprayed into the heavens. It was nothing more than... a festival of murder. Within the Sword Sealing Formation, cries of anguish filled with despair, regret, and fear abruptly ceased.
THUD...! THUD...! THUD...! One by one, mutilated corpses slammed against the Sword Sealing Formation, staining the luminous shield a gruesome hue of blood. There was no sign of depleted magic power, only a massacre resembling divine judgement, orchestrated by a butcher in the guise of an Immortal.
"You claimed that a year ago, not a single place on my Senior Sister Zhao's gown was without a bloodstain?" Yun Xiao remarked, his eyes gleaming ferociously. "Today, my white robes are also soaking red with blood...
"—However, not a single drop of that blood belongs to me!" Yun Xiao roared. As the voice of the young man, mingled with the sounds of weeping and wailing, reverberated through the Sword Sealing Formation, every individual on the Conclave Mountain felt as though a sword had cleaved their minds.
Even the elders, witnessing this scene, felt a chilling sensation crawling across their scalps. From the Sword Pavilion, a lone hero emerged. Yet, that single person drove a hundred and twenty geniuses of the First Sword Peak into a frantic retreat, their cries echoing like lost spirits in the wind.
His presence, his prowess—it sent shivers down the spines of those who bore witness. An eerie silence settled over the stunned crowd, a silence so profound it mirrored death itself.
The Seventh Sword Venerable, Zhang Jian, and his elder Yu Xuanzhou, among others, had their mouths agape, wide enough to harbor an egg.
The members of the Sword Pavilion clenched their fists tightly, their eyes reddened with tears streaming down uncontrollably. Even the bystanders found their visions blurred at this moment.
Yun Xiao's declaration had unleashed all the raging inferno harbored within his heart and ignited those of others. Anyone could see for whom he battled for, for whom his fury burned!
Amidst the azure streaks and sword shadows, Yun Xiao fought a relentless battle, leaving countless corpses in his wake, but his sword heart remained invincible and unextinguished!
"Stop!!" Finally, someone couldn't bear it any longer. Finally, fear settled in! Finally, hearts bled! Roars of rage echoed from the high platform. The elders leading the First, Third, and Sixth Sword Peaks, spearheaded by Ye Tiance and Yao Manxue, dashed towards the Sword Sealing Formation.
HUM! Hundreds of flying swords soared, slamming onto the Sword Sealing Formation.
BOOM BOOM BOOM! The formation trembled mightily, yet remained unbroken. Inside, the young man continued his slaughter.
KLANG!! Ye Tiance personally brandished his sword, fury blazing in his eyes, hacking down upon the formation. But instead, the formation reflected the assault, sending him flying!
The others were in a state of frantic urgency, trying to break the formation but finding themselves even more disgracefully retreating than Ye Tiance. Their faces were distorted with rage!
These were a hundred and twenty of the strongest disciples from the First Sword Peak! If this group perished, the First Sword Peak would suffer a crippling blow, the magnitude of the loss unimaginable.
"Ha ha ha..." From the Sword Pavilion's side, Grandpa Qin's laughter rang out, piercing and mocking. "A year ago, the one desperately trying to break this formation was me, Old Blind Qin! And today, it seems the shoe is on the other foot, huh? How wonderful the cycle of fate is, who can escape the judgment of the heavens?"
"The funniest part is that the Sword Sealing Formation was personally activated by a certain someone earlier." Zhao Xuanran chimed in with a cold sneer.
Hearing this, a vein seemed ready to burst on Ye Tiance's face. Inside him, a volcano threatened to erupt.
"Senior Sister Zhao is right..."
"The First Sword Venerable here has really shot himself in the foot."
"He's really lost face this time! Tsk, tsk!"
...
Surrounding them, whispers and murmurs of such comments filled the air. Sardonic glances pierced Ye Tiance's heart like swords! The grandiose manner with which he had set up the Sword Sealing Formation earlier now seemed a monumental joke.
"Sword Venerable Ye!" Qian Kun, the chubby figure from the Spirit Treasure Pavilion, appeared before Ye Tiance at some point. With a grave tone, he declared aloud in front of everyone, "You must not act rashly! The outcome of this Grand Conclave battle affects the bets placed at my Spirit Treasure Pavilion. Fairness and justice are the primary principles! Our reputation is the foundation of Spirit Treasure Pavilion and also the face of the Azure Spirit Sword Sect! You must not act impulsively, reducing the Eight Swords Conclave to a laughingstock in the eyes of all our esteemed guests following the Immortal Dao!"
"Yes, exactly! I placed bets too! Oh no... I bet on the First Sword Peak!"
"Dang it! Just yesterday, that Yun Xiao, dumped a bunch of Senior Sister Zhao's Spirit Stones in the Sword Pavilion's betting pool! I thought he was giving out gifts!"
"Shameless brat! You..."
...
In the gathering throng, debates flared and voices clashed, echoing like the chaotic melody of a misdirected orchestra.
“Not to worry! Fair play, that's the heart of it all, isn't it? I believe the Chief Steward of the Spirit Treasure Pavilion has a point!” a voice piped up, carrying a subtle undertone of mockery. “If the dignified Azure Spirit starts playing dirty, who would want to be friends with us, eh?”
Each word pierced like a dagger, twisting in Ye Tiance's heart. The criticism was relentless, leaving no room for counterargument. Even if he could dismantle the Sword Sealing Formation, Ye Tiance would find himself facing a sea of accusing fingers, potentially severing ties with the influential Spirit Treasure Pavilion. Moreover, Qian Kun, the speaker, was a distinguished guest whom he himself had invited.
A sudden realization dawned on Ye Tiance amidst the storm of verbal assaults. "Elder Fan is still here!" he exclaimed, his voice edged with desperation. A tremor ran through him as he hastily instructed Yao Manxue, "Quick, find Elder Fan and put in a good word for us."
"Understood!" Yao Manxue hurried off, her heart pounding like a frenzied drumbeat. But as she glanced back, she noted the devastating scene within the formation—a sea of lifeless bodies, the breath of life almost entirely extinguished from the area.
"The First Sword Peak it's nearly annihilated," she murmured, a haze of disbelief clouding her mind. She knew, deep down, that Ye Tiance was on the verge of an explosive outburst.
"Yun Xiao, if you cease this madness now, there might still be a chance for the Sword Pavilion to survive!" Ye Tiance yelled, his voice a frigid tempest echoing beyond the confines of the formation.
"Cease?" A boisterous laughter erupted from within, the sound mocking and cruel.
THUD! Ye Tiance's eyes widened in horror as the mangled and dying body of his son, Ye Tianyuan, was hurled before him, a gruesome sight marking the boundary that separated them.
"Father..." Tianyuan's face bore an expression of sheer terror, his eyes dimming as he slowly sank to the ground, life fleeting from his once vibrant self.
A grim tableau unfolded before Ye Tiance. Inside the formation, a young man garbed in blood-soaked robes dragged a terrified girl by the hair, her face a canvas of fear and desperation.
"Ah, Sword Venerable Ye," Yun Xiao taunted with an eerie calmness that sent shivers down the spines of the onlookers. He dragged the girl closer, her whimpers piercing the tense silence. "Your First Sword Peak's geniuses seem to lack a certain... resilience, don't you think? How about we add another three hundred more to the party?"
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