Grand Return System

Chapter 321: The Sword That Silenced the Sky

The Sword That Silenced the Sky

"Alright! Since Young Master Caelan is so free, I can only embarrass myself..."

A faint smile rested on Leon’s lips as he stepped forward. His midnight robes, embroidered with thin amethyst patterns, fluttered gently in the violent wind. His expression remained calm, almost relaxed, as if the monstrous Inferno Swift Bird before him was nothing more than a passing inconvenience.

Behind him, Anna quietly folded her arms beneath her chest. Her pink eyes never left Leon’s back. There was no anxiety in them—only quiet anticipation.

Caelan Everwind narrowed his eyes, a cold grin creeping onto his face.

Keep acting... Let’s see how long that confidence lasts.

Seeing that Leon had finally accepted the challenge, Caelan couldn’t hide the satisfaction in his heart.

Hmph, ignorant fool. Keep smiling. We’ll see who’s embarrassed in a moment. I refuse to believe you can kill the Inferno Swift Bird with a single strike.

He simply refused to believe Leon could accomplish such an impossible feat. The Inferno Swift Bird possessed terrifying regenerative abilities. Even his strongest sword strike had failed to destroy it completely.

So how could Leon possibly succeed?

He wanted everyone present to witness Leon’s failure.

More importantly...

He wanted Anna to witness it.

An elder standing nearby slowly stroked his beard.

"Interesting... Young Master Everwind is deliberately provoking him."

Another cultivator chuckled softly.

"Then let us see whether this unknown genius truly possesses the qualifications to stand beside Lady Anna."

Not far away, Eldric Northwind remained silent.

His sharp, observant gaze never left Leon’s figure.

Show me... What exactly are you hiding?

As the crowd watched in complete silence...

Leon calmly walked several steps forward.

Each footstep was light.

Steady.

Unhurried.

There wasn’t even the slightest trace of hesitation.

He slowly raised his right hand toward the sky.

In that instant...

The entire battlefield seemed to fall silent.

Even the violent winds appeared to lose their fury.

"Hmph."

Caelan let out a cold snort.

"Putting on airs won’t help you. After all this time... you don’t even have a sword."

Leon didn’t answer.

Instead...

A faint purple radiance bloomed around his fingertips.

Buzz—

The surrounding Mana trembled.

Grass across hundreds of miles suddenly bent in the same direction.

The air became unimaginably sharp.

Everyone instinctively took half a step backward.

"...What is this pressure?"

"My sword..."

A young swordsman looked down in horror.

His own blade had begun trembling violently inside its sheath.

"It... it refuses to obey me."

One after another...

Swords throughout the battlefield let out soft cries, as though greeting their true sovereign.

Anna’s beautiful eyes curved into a faint smile.

"So... you’re finally serious."

Leon lowered his gaze slightly.

"Watch carefully."

The purple light intensified.

Endless blades of wild grass rose from the earth.

Each blade glowed with dazzling sword intent.

Streams of emerald light converged from every direction, gathering above the sky.

The entire battlefield transformed into an ocean of swords.

Within moments...

A colossal sword stretching across the heavens condensed from countless strands of sword intent.

Its edge seemed capable of splitting heaven and earth.

Its mere presence caused space itself to distort.

The Inferno Swift Bird froze.

Its scarlet eyes widened.

It remembered.

It remembered this sword.

The last time...

This very attack had nearly ended its life.

But now...

The pressure was hundreds of times greater.

Its instincts screamed.

Run.

The enormous beast let out a panicked shriek.

"Keeeeeeeeee!"

It frantically beat its wings, trying to escape beyond the sword’s reach.

Caelan’s confident smile disappeared.

His pupils shrank violently.

"H-How...?"

His breathing became uneven.

The pressure pouring from that sword was beyond anything he had ever witnessed.

His own sword intent...

Compared to this...

Was nothing.

A nearby cultivator swallowed hard.

"This can’t be..."

"A Sacred Art..."

"No..."

"It’s even more terrifying than an ordinary Sacred Art."

Even Eldric Northwind’s expression changed slightly.

"What extraordinary sword intent..."

Anna quietly watched Leon’s back.

A gentle smile unknowingly appeared on her face.

Just as I expected...

Caelan clenched his fists until his nails pierced his palms.

Impossible...

How could an unknown cultivator possess such terrifying mastery?

Leon slowly turned his head just enough for Caelan to hear him.

A calm smile appeared on his face.

"Young Master Caelan..."

"Watch carefully."

"This..."

"...is called sword intent."

His voice wasn’t loud.

Yet every person on the battlefield heard it clearly.

Leon gently lowered two fingers.

There were no flashy movements.

No exaggerated gestures.

Just one simple motion.

The colossal heavenly sword answered.

BOOM!

The sword descended.

The sky split apart.

Countless clouds exploded into nothingness.

The Inferno Swift Bird shrieked in terror.

Its wings beat frantically as it attempted to flee.

Realizing escape was impossible, it immediately opened its enormous beak.

A terrifying black vortex erupted.

Everything nearby was dragged toward it.

Mountains cracked.

Trees were uprooted.

Even scattered boulders disappeared into its devouring maw.

"Again?"

Leon merely smiled.

"You never learn."

The Inferno Swift Bird desperately attempted to swallow the descending sword.

The devouring force wrapped around the blade.

For a heartbeat...

Nothing happened.

Then—

Crack!

The vortex shattered.

The terrifying sword intent pierced through the devouring power as though cutting paper.

"This... impossible!"

Caelan whispered in disbelief.

The dimensional difference between ordinary techniques and a Sacred Art was absolute.

No amount of devouring could bridge that gap.

The Inferno Swift Bird’s eyes filled with despair.

It let out one final desperate cry.

The heavenly sword descended without mercy.

Boom.

The colossal sword fell from the heavens like divine judgment itself.

For one impossibly brief heartbeat, it felt as though the entire world had frozen. The wind stopped. The flames flickering across the battlefield seemed to lose their strength. Even the clouds overhead appeared to hang motionless, as if the heavens themselves were holding their breath.

Then everything erupted.

The Inferno Swift Bird disappeared beneath an endless torrent of dazzling sword intent.

Countless razor-sharp strands of sword energy burst forth, weaving together into a devastating storm that engulfed its massive body from every direction. There was no escape. No opening. No chance to resist.

Its desperate cry tore through the battlefield, filled with panic and disbelief.

It lasted only an instant.

The next moment, the deafening scream was cut short.

Blood exploded into the sky like a crimson firework, painting the clouds in shades of scarlet. Torn feathers drifted downward, glowing faintly as they spun through the air like burning embers carried by the wind.

The overwhelming pressure that had weighed upon everyone’s hearts gradually faded.

Silence followed.

Not the silence of peace...

But the suffocating silence left behind after witnessing something beyond comprehension.

Nobody spoke and moved.

Some didn’t even realize they had stopped breathing until their lungs began to ache.

Time seemed to stretch endlessly before reality finally settled over the battlefield once more.

"Oh... my f*cking god..."