Chapter 498: Chapter 473: Thunder Sword as One
Mr. World waved the array flag, and the ninety-nine array flags merged with the one in his hands, bringing forth a majestic energy that assaulted the elder.
Around the array flags, various attributes of energy rolled and collided with each other, capable of unleashing a terrifying destructive force.
But the elder disregarded this, directly swinging his palm towards the array flags.
Clang clang...
As he swung his palm, the elder’s entire arm turned white-gold and emitted a clanging sound, as if a divine weapon was unsheathed.
With a thud, the elder’s palm struck the array flags, causing a massive tremor, and the energy on them disintegrated with one blow. Mr. World was sent flying backwards, crashing heavily against the cave’s rock wall and spitting out fresh blood.
A dent appeared on his array flags, and the flagpole was covered in cracks.
Swish!
After injuring Mr. World, the elder moved like a ghost and charged at Lu Yan with another palm strike.
Lu Yan felt as if he was being slashed at by a peerless heavenly saber.
"Be careful, his physical body is extremely formidable."
Mr. World warned.
Lu Yan wanted to retreat, but could not; Shen Yinuo was behind him.
All he could do was to block the opponent.
Lu Yan dared not be careless, mobilizing all his strength and swinging the Thunder Sword with all his might, colliding with the elder’s palm.
Clang!
Like the collision of two peerless precious swords, countless sharp forces scattered in all directions.
Lu Yan felt as if he had been struck by a mountain; his arm trembled violently, and he couldn’t help but be forced backwards.
"Can’t retreat, can’t retreat..."
Lu Yan roared inwardly, muscles bulging with power in his legs, and after staggering back three steps, he forcefully stopped his retreat.
But the tremendous force was fully borne by him, causing him to spit out a mouthful of fresh blood.
"Merely at the Immortal First Layer, aside from a strong soul, the physical strength is also so formidable, and even two types of rules can be fused. You cannot be left alive."
The elder’s gaze turned icy as he continued to strike with both hands.
The right hand like a palm-knife, the left a finger-sword.
His hands seemed to be divine weapons.
However, his attack was only half-completed when from deep within the Five Elements Mountain Range, a sword cry echoed, and the elder’s body trembled. Sword Qi burst from his wound, threatening to tear his body apart.
"Damn it, still not giving up, thinking these wastes could save you, Saint Soldier’s Formula, refine for me."
The elder growled, his face twisted in agony; his entire body erupted in dazzling metallic light, as if he had transformed into a weapon.
The Sword Qi in his wound was forcefully suppressed by the metallic aura from his body, and the gap in the wound narrowed somewhat.
"Hmm?"
At this moment, Lu Yan felt the Thunder Sword in his hand trembling slightly.
"Lu Yan, my connection with the other half of the sword’s body is getting closer; it’s trying to break free. Hold on, you should be able to get out."
Jin Ming’s voice sounded in Lu Yan’s mind.
Lu Yan was invigorated.
He knew that Shen Yinuo’s success in assimilating the fan’s Artifact Spirit and breaking the Five Elements Formation was the reason why the Thunder Sword and its other half were sensing each other more closely.
"Die, old man."
The elder saw the Artifact Spirit within the Great Sun Melting Furnace dimming and with increased killing intent in his eyes, attacked Lu Yan once more.
Lu Yan parried with his sword.
At the same time, Mr. World swung his array flag and joined the fight.
This time, instead of clashing directly with the elder, he used formations to fight his enemy.
But the elder’s physical body was immensely powerful, his every motion like that of a divine weapon, capable of unleashing a fearsome force, breaking Mr. World’s formation and exchanging several blows with Lu Yan.
Splat!
After withstanding several strikes, Lu Yan was eventually overpowered, struck by the elder’s finger-sword in the shoulder, leaving a through-and-through bloody hole.
Lu Yan’s face turned pale.
He operated several divine-level Body Cultivating Martial Arts simultaneously, but they were completely unable to block the opponent’s attack.
"Lu Yan, fall back, don’t clash with him head-on."
Shen Yinuo’s anxious voice reached Lu Yan’s ears.
"Yinuo, don’t be distracted, focus on assimilating the fan’s Artifact Spirit, leave the rest to us."
Lu Yan responded, suppressing his injury, standing firm as a mountain, not retreating an inch.
"Let’s see how long you can last..."
The elder’s eyes gleamed with a cold, murderous light as he launched a frenzied assault.
But just then, another sound of a sword’s cry came from deep within the Five Elements Mountain Range, and the wound on the elder’s body split open a bit more, with Sword Qi spilling out.
"Damn broken sword, still resisting me even when half destroyed..."
The elder roared in fury.
He had to stop to counter the Sword Qi.
Lu Yan and Mr. World took advantage of this opportunity, striking with all their might, launching a fierce attack.
But the elder’s cultivation level was indeed profound, and it was unknown how strong he was at his peak. Even while suppressing his wounds, he effortlessly countered Lu Yan and Mr. World’s attacks.
Furthermore, after a few breaths, the elder suppressed the Sword Qi at his wound and launched a counterattack.
Splat!
Mr. World was nearly cleaved in two by the elder’s palm-knife.
A cut appeared on Lu Yan’s abdomen from the elder’s finger-sword.
"It’s here, it’s here, the other half of my blade has arrived,"
suddenly, Jin Ming exclaimed excitedly.
Whoosh!
From deep within the Five Elements Mountain Range, a bolt of lightning streaked towards the elderly man, attempting to strike him down.
The elderly man’s complexion changed as he swung his palm to meet the attack, and with a clang, the lightning was repelled and flew back.
Lu Yan saw it clearly, it was half a blade, specifically the tip, shrouded in dense thunderous power.
As the half-blade retreated, it then flew towards Lu Yan.
Lu Yan sensed something and with a thought, a Thunder Knife Fragment flew out and merged seamlessly into a notch on the half-blade.
Once the Thunder Knife Fragment merged with the half-blade, the aura of the blade clearly increased by a notch.
Following that, the half-blade attached itself to the Thunder Sword in Lu Yan’s hand.
Boom!
A terrifying aura erupted from the Thunder Sword, filling the entire cave with lightning; strings of golden lightning struck the elderly man.
The elderly man’s complexion changed as he continuously waved his hand, blocking the golden lightning.
"Kill!"
Lu Yan held the sword with both hands, fully channeling the Thunder Sword, and his Immortal Power surged into it like a tide.
In that instant, Lu Yan felt all the Immortal Power inside him depleted, completely drained.
Lu Yan swung the sword at the elderly man.
Spurt!
The elderly man’s arm was severed, his chest struck by the Thunder Sword, half of his body split apart; the fearsome thunderous energy exploded inside him.
The elderly man screamed in agony, stumbling backward while radiating blinding light in an attempt to suppress the power of the lightning.
However, the effect was clearly not strong, as dense lightning wriggled out of his body like little snakes.
The elderly man’s body turned to char, emitting waves of foul odor.
"Remember this..."
The elderly man left these words in hatred, turned into a beam of light, and burst out. Mr. World tried to stop him but was repelled. In a blink, the elderly man’s figure completely vanished.
Lu Yan breathed a sigh of relief and slumped to the ground, feeling utterly drained.
The strike he had just executed had completely sapped his Immortal Power; should a formidable enemy arrive now, he would have no strength to resist.
Lu Yan ingested several elixirs for refinement, then lifted the Thunder Sword in his hand.
The Thunder Sword was now complete.
However, one could still clearly see the cracks where the two halves of the blade were joined.
But Lu Yan could sense that the Artifact Spirit within the Thunder Sword had merged together, making Jin Ming even stronger.
"The complete Thunder Sword is truly astonishing; my Cultivation Level is far too low. If I exert its full power, I can only unleash one strike. It must not be used lightly unless absolutely necessary,"
Lu Yan thought to himself.
He then communicated with Jin Ming to inquire how he felt.
There was still some unease in Lu Yan’s heart.
After all, the two halves of the blade had been separated for too long, each with its own Artifact Spirit. After merging, there was concern that Jin Ming’s temperament might change drastically.
Fortunately, the concerns Lu Yan had did not come to pass.
After merging, Jin Ming just gained many memories and his mood did not change drastically. Moreover, since the Thunder Sword could merge and Lu Yan had made many contributions, the Artifact Spirit of the other half of the blade was grateful to Lu Yan, naturally accepting him willingly.
"Jin Ming, do you know what the background of that elderly man is?"
Lu Yan asked.
Since he now had the memories of the other half of the blade, he should have some understanding of the elderly man.
"I can’t speak to the specifics of his background, but I know that more than ten thousand years ago, he came to the Grave of the Fallen Arms. His strength was extremely formidable, and at his peak, his Cultivation Level reached Immortal Ninth Layer. Moreover, the Cultivation Technique he practiced was very unique, capable of absorbing the Atmosphere of Arms from weapons and tempering his own body, making it stronger than an Immortal Treasure."
"He cultivated in the Grave of the Fallen Arms for a thousand years, absorbing a vast amount of the Atmosphere of Arms. Eventually, he set his sights on some of the strongest weapons of the Grave, such as Jian, myself, and the Ox Axe,"
Jin Ming elaborated.
"Jian? Ox Axe?"
Lu Yan was surprised.
"Jian is a broken war sword, incredibly formidable, and it’s the highest-ranked weapon in the Grave of the Fallen Arms. Many weapons have gathered here because of Jian. It’s the ’Elder Brother’ of the Grave of the Fallen Arms, and all the other weapons call it Jian,"
Jin Ming explained.
Lu Yan suddenly understood.
"So, that old man targeted Jian. His Cultivation Technique is unique, enabling him to control some weapons and set up a Formation. He wanted to trap us with the Formation to refine us and absorb our power for his cultivation. Consequently, Jian fought a fierce battle with him, resulting in both sides suffering losses,"
"Jian’s Artifact Spirit almost dissipated, but the old man was also struck by Jian’s sword and almost perished. Although he survived in the end, his combat prowess was greatly diminished, only one percent remained."
Jin Ming continued.
Lu Yan recalled the sword wound on the elder’s body that ran from his glabella to his abdomen, realizing it was left by Jian.
At the same time, he was startled.
That elderly man was actually a mighty being of Immortal Ninth Layer.
This was the pinnacle of the Immortal Realm, and the disparity between them was like heaven and earth. If he were at his full strength, killing them would likely be as easy as waving his hand.
"Jian’s strike must have injured not just his physical body but also his soul; otherwise, with such a vast gap, even if my soul were special, I definitely couldn’t have withstood it,"
Lu Yan thought to himself.
Lu Yan shared the information he obtained from Jin Ming with Mr. World.
"Elder, the opponent was at his peak in Immortal Ninth Layer. If he regains some of his strength, we will all be in danger. Do you have a plan to deal with this?"
Lu Yan inquired.
