Chapter 1343: Chapter 1341: The Sword Emperor Finally Appears
The Supreme Lords who had seen Shi Xiaole were all amazed at the robustness of his life force, which seemed unaffected by the drastic changes in the universal rules.
In fact, this was not the case.
Every time Shi Xiaole detached himself from the cycle of reincarnation, he could distinctly feel an incomparably terrifying force converging on him from all directions, desperately extracting the essence of his soul.
For one, his true self appeared for only a brief duration.
Secondly, his method of reincarnation was derived from Wu Xuanyu.
With the former’s successful experience, coupled with Shi Xiaole’s assimilation of the experiences of many exceptional talents from various worlds in this universe, including Shi Xuanzhong and the Oblivion Blade Ancestor, he ultimately created an even more profound and comprehensive method.
It not only helped him evade the universal rules but also allowed him to see through the myriad of human emotions and experience the joys, angers, sorrows, and pleasures of all kinds of characters and destinies amid the endless mortal world.
Shi Xiaole’s experiences, insights, and perspectives on the universe were all undergoing subtle and profound changes.
It is worth noting that in the previous fifty thousand years, ninety-nine percent of the characters into whom Shi Xiaole reincarnated were swordsmen, or had connections to swordsmen. He, as countless swordsmen, comprehended innumerable types of swordsmanship,
and as time went on, each reincarnation lasted longer and achieved higher accomplishments. In the last ten thousand years, he was almost always reincarnated as a Taboo Sword Emperor!
The sixtieth millennium seemed to have reached a limit.
In this lifetime, Shi Xiaole made a sensational entrance with his stunning talent, surpassing the swordsmanship aptitudes of many historically renowned Sword Venerables and hailed as the foremost person after the great village chief and the Carefree Sword Venerable!
Although the current universal conditions still accommodated both Semi-Broken Level powerhouses and Supreme Lords, the difficulty of breaking through had increased significantly compared to the past.
However, embodied as Jie Jianhui, Shi Xiaole still managed to break into the realm of the Supreme Lords at the age of five hundred eighty-six!
The moment he broke through, the numerous kinds of swordsmanship understanding from the past sixty thousand years, which had vanished, suddenly surged into Jie Jianhui’s sea of consciousness like a wild storm.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
In a series of colossal sounds perceptible only to Shi Xiaole, countless swordsmanship insights transformed into numerous thunderclaps, violently battering the small swords within the sea of consciousness.
They were the insights of the Chaos Sword Way he had comprehended in this life.
Just like the birth of an unrivaled divine sword must first go through trials, these swordsmanship insights were the most terrifying thunder trials of the age, intending to destroy the Chaos Sword Way!
But Jie Jianhui distinctly found that with every strike, a massive amount of swordsmanship essence actively integrated into the Chaos Sword Way, and gradually, it began to appear mixed, as if containing thousands of swordsmanships from the world, all-encompassing and all-embracing.
Bang...
Jie Jianhui’s soul could not withstand it all; cracks began appearing on its surface. He did not understand why such a mutation would occur in him.
The aura emanating from the swordsmanship at this moment bore some resemblance to the Supreme Sword Way he had felt in the land of Fate, and it was becoming increasingly similar.
"How could a mortal possess the Supreme Sword Way? Even with my talent, it’s impossible, unless it’s..."
Jie Jianhui’s expression underwent a drastic change.
He recalled an ancient legend from the Martial World, which claimed that in a certain era, an unparalleled genius would descend, ultimately becoming a Sword Emperor that even the great village chief could not match.
"So, am I that unparalleled genius? The reincarnation vessel for the Sword Emperor?"
Crack, crack, crack.
As his soul body shattered on a large scale, in the last moment of his life, Jie Jianhui suddenly caught glimpses of certain images and finally understood everything.
"So it turns out, who would have thought... that I actually am..."
The voice abruptly halted.
Inside the exploding soul of Jie Jianhui, a new soul emerged, many times more pure and powerful than his own.
At the same time, Jie Jianhui’s physical body turned into specks of light, rain, and on the spot where he stood, another silhouette appeared, seeming to trample all the paths of the universe underfoot. Merely one glance induces an unbeatable sensation.
"My soul has developed cracks,"
Shi Xiaole examined himself, inevitably falling silent.
In the recent tens of thousands of years, with the refinement of the reincarnation method, his reincarnations had high qualifications, and he had nearly comprehended all swordsmanships in the world through countless years of cultivation.
Even more fascinating was that his reincarnation method shielded him from the universal rules, so much so that the swordsmanship essence he comprehended did not merge with the Supreme Sword Way of the world!
Thus, after a myriad of lives converged, Shi Xiaole’s swordsmanship was the Supreme Sword Way. This was the path of the Sword Emperor he had realized during his years in Nine Heavens Mountain!
But man’s calculations are no match for heaven’s, and Shi Xiaole had not anticipated a major flaw in his method; his soul had developed numerous cracks from bearing the Supreme Sword Way, and if not treated in time, it was bound to collapse on its own.
Whiz!!
Before he had a chance to contemplate a solution, a piercing light suddenly exploded from the infinite cloudscape, as if thousands of swords were crying in unison, each sword representing a type of swordsmanship, shaking the entire East Victory world!
In an instant, all warriors in the world looked up feeling the hair on their bodies stand on end, as if even the air had turned into Sword Qi, crazily intruding their pores, and the higher one’s cultivation, the deeper the sensation.
Some Forbidden Martial Emperors were even exuding streaks of blood, while several newly ascended Supreme Lords were utterly shocked, hurriedly operating their supreme power to protect themselves and looking up at the sky in astonishment.
"Supreme Sword Way!"
"What exactly is going on, what happened?"
Just as these Supreme Lords were contemplating this question, a scene unfolded that they—and all the people of East Victory—would never forget.
A sound of resonating clinks echoed uniformly, yet it was the vibration of thousands of sword paths resonating together. It turned the skies of East Victory pitch-black as countless void torrents swept through.
The might of the Supreme Sword Way was terrifying to such an extent; a single wave of sword resonance pulverized and created boundless void in an entire world!
The next moment!
Thousands of sword paths coalesced into an eternal and undying sea of sword currents, nearly piercing through the endless void, aimed at a distant target.
There, a figure shrouded in light was visible.
"What?!"
The Supreme Lords were greatly alarmed, their souls almost shaken out of their bodies.
What kind of being could be the target of the Supreme Sword Way, to provoke such an unprecedented fury? How could such a terrifying master exist in this world?
Just when everyone thought the figure would be punctured into nothingness, he brazenly countered with a finger as his sword. Thousands of sword paths chimed in unison, turning into endless rainbows of light.
Clang!!
People around the world were left dumbfounded.
The sound wave did not reach their ears because the Supreme Sword Way and the figure were separated by the endless void; otherwise, if they truly clashed, East Victory would cease to exist.
"This, this, that person, how can that person master the Supreme Sword Way? How can a human wield the Supreme Sword Way?"
Countless people were dumbstruck on the spot, their thoughts grinding to a halt.
Many swordsmen, their faces flushed with excitement, looked at the figure battling with the Supreme Sword Way. They were shocked and full of admiration and envy, with no trace of jealousy, for his power made jealousy an impossibility.
The endless void continued to fluctuate. The void torrents within millions of miles were shredded into fragments by the Sword Qi. Shi Xiaole walked forward through the divine glow, using his arm as his sword, forcefully clashing with the Supreme Sword Way!
Sssssss...
It seemed to infuriate the Supreme Sword Way, whose indescribably sharp aura erupted like a volcano, shattering stars, sweeping down on Shi Xiaole in a magnificent cascade.
In the skies of East Victory, the sound of Dao reverberated endlessly, akin to an apocalypse, all triggered by the Supreme Sword Way!
"The Supreme Sword Way automatically absorbs a trace of the essence of the sword path realized by all swordsmen in the world. It sounds intimidating, but without the appearance of a sword path prodigy surpassing the ages, without new sword path achievements to integrate, it is difficult for you to advance."
"And I, an unremarkable talent, am that sword path prodigy surpassing the ages. It took me sixty thousand years to forge my own Supreme Sword Way. Today, I shall see who is superior."
Shi Xiaole smiled casually, without a trace of arrogance, simply stating a fact calmly. With each step he took, he unleashed a slash, as if it contained countless supreme sword techniques.
In Shi Xiaole’s eyes, flashes of his past friends and family appeared. He was not fighting for himself, nor to become the Sword Emperor. He was fighting simply to reunite with them, and that was all.
The two Supreme Sword Ways clashed wildly, causing the endless void to show imperceptible cracks. At this moment, Shi Xiaole’s strength had completely surpassed Shi Xuanzhong’s from sixty thousand years ago; he was a true Semi-Broken Level powerhouse.
After a fierce battle, thousands of sword paths suddenly merged into a colossal sword, surrounded by a whirlwind of Sword Qi.
A giant tree, taller than heaven itself, seemed to appear at the end, shaking its countless branches. It empowered the colossal sword increasingly. Just as people thought East Victory would burst apart, the colossal sword swiftly thrust towards the opposing figure.
"Slash!"
A sonorous cry echoed through heavens and earth. Shi Xiaole likewise swung out his sword, the culmination of his life’s work. With one stroke, the cosmos overturned, and the starry sky paled.
Slash!
This was a sword destined to enter the annals of history, shining through the ages.
The sword light pierced the long night, and from then on, the world witnessed the rise of the first—and throughout the vast rivers of history, the only universally acknowledged—Sword Emperor!
At that moment, the sheathed swords of all swordsmen in East Victory world drew themselves half a foot, as if worshipping an emperor, expressing their devotion and submission to the distant figure.
"Sword Emperor, my lord!"
"The prophecy is true; it’s actually true!"
East Victory world erupted in excitement.
Nobody knew the true identity of the Sword Emperor.
Some said he was an unknown powerhouse who existed since ancient times and lived until now with incomparable prowess.
Others asserted he was Jie Jianhui, the Sword Emperor from before the annals of history, reborn through him. And some speculated he was the mysterious owner of that vast estate who once overshadowed the heavens and then vanished without a trace...
In the countless years that followed, the legend of the Sword Emperor echoed throughout East Victory world, enduring and adored by myriad worshippers.
But after that incident, the Sword Emperor never appeared again. People could only remember that peerless and invincible existence, who had outshined the Holy Monarchs, by retelling the tale of that battle.
