Chapter 425: Sword Dao New World, Explosive Confrontation

Chapter 426

"Expression?"

Gu Qingsan felt as if he had heard the most hilarious joke, nearly falling out of the sky from laughter.

"Xu Xiaoshou, are you joking?"

"You want to kill me with your gaze? With your current injuries, that's probably the only attack you can manage!"

"Received suspicion, Passive value, 1."

"Received suspicion, Passive value, 894."

The crowd below was equally bewildered by Xu Xiaoshou's words.

Suddenly, someone with sharp eyes focused on Xu Xiaoshou's chest, their pupils contracting sharply.

"Something's wrong, look! This guy's injury..."

Earlier, when he climbed out of the pit, Xu Xiaoshou had a gaping bloody hole in his body.

But in just this short time, that wound had almost completely healed.

"What on earth is happening?"

"What kind of Lingji has such terrifying effects?"

"Or did Xu Xiaoshou take some Danyao in the pit?"

Among the audience, there were plenty of alchemists, given that the upcoming matches included the Dao of Alchemy.

Someone immediately refuted, "It can't be Danyao; there's no trace of medicinal energy at all."

"Besides, to heal that fast, you'd need something like Xiaofu Qu Dan, but that... would be way too extravagant!"

"Zongshi Zhishen?"

A sudden voice rang out, silencing everyone.

"Perhaps that's the only explanation?"

Even though Xiantian flesh bodies were rare, people still had some idea about them. At that level, such injuries couldn't heal this quickly.

The only possibility...

Xu Xiaoshou wasn't just at Xiantian flesh body; he was at Zongshi Zhishen!

"I told you, I said it from the start - his flesh body is way stronger than a fully developed Xiantian one, and you didn't believe me!"

"But this..."

"Zongshi Zhishen? Am I dreaming?"

Everyone who finally accepted the truth felt their worldview shatter in an instant.

Jianzong, Zongshi Zhishen, Yuanting Jing with ultra-powerful Lingji that could instantly kill a Zongshi...

Was this something one person could achieve?

Xu Xiaoshou was still so young!

"Received awe, Passive value, 1212."

"Received admiration, Passive value, 1000."

While some were shocked, others gritted their teeth in frustration.

At the banquet table, Zhang Taiying had ground his back molars so hard they nearly shattered.

He couldn't imagine how gruesome Zhang Xinxiong's death would have been if he had faced Xu Xiaoshou like this.

How could anyone fight him?

Among the younger generation, how could anyone reach such heights?

"You shouldn't be alive..."

Zhang Taiying narrowed his eyes, murmuring softly.

In that moment, his resolve to bury Xu Xiaoshou in the city lord's mansion firmed completely.

This guy had to be eliminated!

Xu Xiaoshou sensed another wave of Passive values flooding in for no apparent reason and knew these people had misunderstood.

Zongshi Zhishen was strong, but to have such recovery power, you needed something like Zongshi-level "Sheng Sheng Bu Xi" - without it, it was impossible.

Still, this worked in his favor.

If exposing just Zongshi Zhishen could hide his other passive skills and keep anomalies under wraps, it might be a good thing.

"Gu Qingsan, right?"

He looked up at the man ahead.

Though it was still a person, in Xu Xiaoshou's pupils, the other had become a human-shaped sword.

"Wanwu Jiejian..."

"Renji Shijian..."

Though he hadn't upgraded "Jiandao Jingtong," Xu Xiaoshou suddenly felt enlightened.

The insights about Jiandao in his mind, triggered by Gu Qingsan's switch to "Wuyou Jianliu," were like a door to a new world swinging open.

One foot was already inside.

The other half, Xu Xiaoshou figured, was likely limited by the level of "Jianshu Jingtong."

Perhaps, after Zongshi level, upgrading "Jianshu Jingtong" would lead to "Sanqian Jiandao," "Shiba Jianliu," or even the "Jiujian Shu" that Gu Qingsan had mentioned?

If so, Xu Xiaoshou felt he could see his future path clearly.

Even vividly!

"My Dao doesn't need teaching; it's already clear!"

After observing Gu Qingsan, he turned his gaze to the massive pupil in the sky.

The chaotic, violent Jianqi churned within it, and that vividly outlined giant eye from "Huanjianshu" was reflected in Xu Xiaoshou's pupils as the shape of a sword.

"Jian has no fixed form!"

Xu Xiaoshou's eyes sparkled even more.

"If stones and leaves can carry Jianyi, why can't Jian itself be just a carrier?"

"And Gu Qingsan... his 'Wu' and 'You' use the human body as a carrier for Jiandao."

"Heaven and earth have no Jian, but because it's needed, it exists."

"But I don't need it, so even the name 'Jian' should vanish instantly!"

Everyone listened to Xu Xiaoshou's increasingly intense murmurs, utterly confused.

Only Gu Qingsan opposite him sensed something seriously wrong.

When someone got this manic, they were either truly mad or truly enlightened.

Anyone else in battle would interrupt the enlightenment right away.

But Gu Qingsan didn't.

As a true swordsman, he craved battling stronger sword cultivators, even if Xu Xiaoshou's enlightenment might surpass him!

Pure Jiandao intent swirled around Xu Xiaoshou, and everyone felt the presence of the great Dao rules.

This was something only Zongshi cultivation could touch, yet Xu Xiaoshou, at Yuanting Jing, was already grasping it.

As the true understanding gathered, a sharp light exploded in Xu Xiaoshou's eyes.

"I've got it!"

He threw his head back and laughed, soaring up alone into the void and charging into the giant pupil.

"Holy crap, has he gone mad?"

Everyone was startled. The Shura Jianqi shooting from that giant pupil was already terrifying, and Xu Xiaoshou was rushing straight into its core?

Sure enough, after a booming explosion, the giant pupil was instantly tainted with blood.

The blood splattering everywhere made people's scalps tingle.

Even Gu Qingsan hesitated about whether to retract his divine ability.

"I knew it - enlightenment can't be that simple. Clearly, Xu Xiaoshou has gone down the path of madness."

Inside the giant pupil, after the initial boom, "keng keng" sounds of sword clashing erupted, as if countless spirit swords were dueling within.

"What's happening?"

"Those sword sounds... Didn't Xu Xiaoshou put away his spirit sword when he went in?"

"Of course he did. If he hadn't, it would have been shredded instantly!"

"But then, what's causing those sounds?"

This question had no answer.

After all, no one could imagine that a human body could be as sharp as a sword blade.

In just a short moment, the clanging sword sounds inside suddenly dropped - from constant to sporadic - until everything fell silent.

"Is he dead?"

This was clearly the state after a body had been cut to nothing.

"Received suspicion, Passive value, 1234."

Gu Qingsan stared at the blood-red giant pupil, equally stunned.

Suddenly, he realized something.

"No, he might not be dead."

"If he truly grasped the shift between 'Wu' and 'You,' and could control everything in 'Tiandao Zhenyan,' even assimilating it..."

"So he went in to enlighten himself?"

"No!"

"How could assimilation be that easy to grasp?"

Gu Qingsan's eyes turned bloodshot.

He refused to believe that just from one battle, Xu Xiaoshou could understand so much.

But the next second, a voice from inside Tiandao Zhenyan shocked everyone.

"Gu Qingsan, your 'Wujian Shu' is nothing special!"

"So your transparency is just turning yourself into a sword and merging with this endless Jianqi?"

"Ha ha ha..."

With a laugh, Xu Xiaoshou shot out.

Having never fought ancient sword cultivators before, he hadn't thought "Renji Shijian" could apply to his own body.

But once the idea clicked, with his "Jianshu Jingtong," Xu Xiaoshou grasped it effortlessly.

If a person can be a sword, why can't I?

Xu Xiaoshou burst from the giant pupil but didn't fully leave; he halted in the void.

The next second, he twisted his body and thrust his hand into Tiandao Zhenyan.

"Gu Qingsan, is it like this?"

Gu Qingsan's whole body trembled.

That starting move was clearly the "Wuyou Jianliu's" "Wuyou Switching"!

Earlier, when he broke free from Xu Xiaoshou's "Renji Shijian" control and turned it into his own sword, he had used this exact technique!

Outside the arena, Gu Qingyi and Gu Qinger could no longer sit still.

"This..."

After just one fight, had Xu Xiaoshou stolen a solution from their Zang Jianzhong's "Wuyou Jianliu"?

"Impossible!"

Gu Qinger shouted.

But soon, despair filled his eyes.

With a massive boom, the Tiandao Zhenyan embedded in the void was yanked out by Xu Xiaoshou's right hand.

Another explosion followed.

The space fragments on its surface shattered and fell from the void.

Without its cover, the surging Jianchao inside burst out uncontrollably, Jianyi extending for miles.

In that instant, even forces far outside the city lord's mansion felt the sudden Jianqi eruption.

"The battle at the city lord's mansion has reached this level?"

Everyone looked up in awe.

"Is this thing that terrifying?"

The crowd at the banquet shrank back.

The inside of Tiandao Zhenyan was such a horrific Jianchao?

So, what had Xu Xiaoshou endured when he went in?

Seeing the blood-soaked Xu Xiaoshou in the sky, everyone thought he was truly insane.

Perhaps both of them, reaching such heights in Jiandao, were utterly obsessive.

"Just to verify his idea? Not afraid of death..."

The crowd fell silent, then a soft sigh echoed.

"Unfortunately, he succeeded."

Yes.

Xu Xiaoshou succeeded.

Under Gu Qingsan's shocked gaze, he raised his right hand high.

"Boom!"

The violent spherical Jianqi, assimilated by him, severed its connection to Gu Qingsan and transformed into a brilliant Qijian, pointing straight to the heavens.

A beam of light connected to the nine skies, and half the city heard the sword's cry.

This was Xu Xiaoshou's Jian!

Wujian, yet also Youjian!

"Assimilated...?"

Gu Qingsan's eyes still couldn't believe it, even as he witnessed it.

He had taken a full year to grasp "Wuyou Jianliu," and his master said it surpassed 99.9% of swordsmen.

But Xu Xiaoshou? In one night?

No, in just one battle!

"I gave you the chance, but you actually succeeded?"

Gu Qingsan felt tears welling up.

He was overwhelmed with grievance, wanting to turn and run into his senior brothers' arms.

This fight was too hard!

Exhausting and frustrating!

Xu Xiaoshou had grasped one solution of his "Wuyou Jianliu," yet he couldn't see through Xu Xiaoshou's exquisite "Bojian Shi."

"Damn it..."

"Received curse, Passive value, 1."

"It's over!"

Everyone watched Xu Xiaoshou with anticipation.

Once he struck with that Jian, having understood "Wu" and "You," he could seize the moment Gu Qingsan assimilated Jianqi and split him apart.

But as all eyes were on him, Xu Xiaoshou casually crushed the Qijian in his hand.

"Sizzle—"

Like a deflating ball.

The once-fierce Tiandao Zhenyan, after being comprehended, met an anticlimactic end.

No dazzling explosion, no deafening roar.

Just like Xu Xiaoshou's calm words, devoid of any fluctuation.

"You're defeated."

"My idea was correct, so you can't escape my eyes anymore."

Xu Xiaoshou spread his hands, his tattered sleeves unable to hide the blood covering his body.

Yet his relaxed demeanor left everyone in the audience in utter admiration.

He lowered his eyelids, then lifted them.

"Keng—"

A resonant sword cry echoed from an unknown source, jolting everyone's spirits.

Gu Qingsan suddenly convulsed.

He looked down in shock, opening his hands as if feeling a Jianqi that wasn't his own birthing inside his body.

"Jiannian?"

He was terrified.

Suddenly, he recalled that Jiannian his senior brothers had chased outside Tiansang City.

It entered the city and encountered Xu Xiaoshou.

It went into the inn and again encountered Xu Xiaoshou.

Yet each time, he had hidden it well.

Now, when that Jiannian reappeared, it was birthing from inside his own body?

"Sizzle—"

His body began to crack, blood spurting out. Not only was Gu Qingsan stunned, but the crowd below was too.

"What kind of Jianji is this?"

This question had crossed everyone's minds tonight more than ten times.

But each time, it still felt fresh.

"No contact at all, just a glance, and Gu Qingsan's body is cracking?"

"Has Xu Xiaoshou cheated or something?"

In that moment, everyone remembered Xu Xiaoshou's earlier words.

"I can kill you with my gaze."

A chill ran through them, leaving them horrified.

"Xu Xiaoshou... he wasn't joking; he's really killing with his eyes!"

"Oh my god, what is this world coming to?"

"Can a joke turn into reality?"

"Holy crap! This is impossible!"

"Using a gaze?"

Even the elders in the audience felt they had learned something new.

Even Shou Ye was completely baffled.

Because Xu Xiaoshou hadn't moved at all.

His Jian was sheathed, his Lingyuan calm, not even his fingers trembled.

"Urgh!"

Gu Qingsan's pupils dilated, his eye sockets seeming to split open.

It was as if he endured the most unbearable pain in the world, his body spurting blood like a leaking pipe.

His condition worsened with time, his body on the verge of shattering.

"Stop..."

Gu Qingyi watched his junior brother still resisting and wanted to call it off, but hesitated out of reluctance.

After all, if he could persist, he might gain something from Xu Xiaoshou's mysterious technique.

But when he caught that whiff of Jiannian scent,

Gu Qingyi couldn't hold back.

"Jiannian?"

He sharply turned to Xu Xiaoshou's eyes. In those eyes, the pupils had vanished, replaced by a black sword scar like a crack.

"Guanjian?"

Gu Qingyi felt like he had been struck by lightning, completely dumbfounded.

Xu Xiaoshou knew Guanjian?

Wasn't that Canyue Xiancheng's exclusive secret technique?

Hadn't Xu Xiaoshou said he had no background and cultivated alone?

Liar!

This guy must have someone behind him!

"Stop! We concede!"

The moment Gu Qingyi saw the "Guanjian Tong," he knew his junior brother couldn't handle it.

He had never experienced the agony of "Guanjian Zhishu," but from hearsay, it was clear.

That thing wasn't humanly bearable.

Legend said even in Canyue Xiancheng, few dared or could cultivate it.

As the foundation of "Wujin Jianti," without the resolve to tear and rebuild, anyone would choose immediate death under that extreme pain!

"Junior brother..."

"He's not enlightening himself; he's in so much pain he can't speak or even struggle!"

Xu Xiaoshou saw Gu Qingsan, who had been so spirited, change in an instant under his "Guanjian Dian."

Those bulging eyes, twitching mouth, trembling body...

"No way?"

"Has he already given up?"

"This is just the beginning..."

Suddenly, Xu Xiaoshou paused.

He had indeed channeled that Jiannian into his body the first time he cultivated "Guanjian Dian."

But even he had given up when it barely reached his elbow from the pain.

Gu Qingsan, without Zongshi Zhishen or "Sheng Sheng Bu Xi," and never facing Sang Lao's sadistic "Jinzhao Huozhong" trials,

In this state, subjecting him to top-tier torment could kill him on the spot!

"Damn it, sorry!"

"I didn't think you'd be this weak and couldn't handle my gaze kill..."

Xu Xiaoshou quickly retracted his ability.

But the Jiannian already born in Gu Qingsan's body wouldn't dissipate.

"Urgh urgh urgh..."

His suspended body shook like a sieve, blood vomiting from his mouth, teeth chattering as if an electric saw ripped through his heart.

"Crap!"

Xu Xiaoshou panicked. How could a perfectly fine person collapse so suddenly, not even withstanding a single glance?

"Transform!"

"I've retracted it; quickly turn to 'Wu'!"

No use.

Gu Qingsan seemed deaf to everything.

Only then did Xu Xiaoshou realize the true power of Jiannian.

Once invoked, it gained an indestructible property, constantly strengthening and regenerating with a sword body as carrier and Jianyi as fuel.

Coincidentally, Gu Qingsan cultivated "Wujian Shu."

And Wujian Shu essentially turned oneself into a Jian.

Right now, Gu Qingsan was the carrier of Jiannian.

As for Jianyi...

The scale on him was no less than Xu Xiaoshou's - perhaps even greater!

One was a mature Jianzong, the other initial Zongshi-level "Jianshu Jingtong."

So, once Jiannian formed and lost control, its rampage in Gu Qingsan was even worse than in Xu Xiaoshou.

"Swoosh!"

A figure dashed over; the referee caught Gu Qingsan first.

But as soon as his hand touched the chest,

"Sizzle!"

The fierce Jianqi pierced through his hand, not only cutting but also drawing blood.

The referee's face turned green.

"Xu Xiaoshou, stop!"

"I've already stopped..."

Xu Xiaoshou wanted to cry; he rushed forward, hesitant.

He could invoke Jiannian, but he always released it at his limit.

He had no idea how to retract it!

"Give it a try?"

"Maybe it recognizes its owner?"

Xu Xiaoshou thought, slapping his hand on Gu Qingsan's chest.

"Keng—"

A clear sword cry rang out.

The "sharpness" and "Fanzhen" suppressed the surging Jianqi.

Xu Xiaoshou's hand was unharmed, but the rebound nearly split Gu Qingsan apart on the spot.

"Pfft!"

He opened his mouth, spewing fragments of internal organs mixed with blood, splattering the referee's face.

Referee: ???

Xu Xiaoshou: ...

"Received curse, Passive value, 1."

The crowd below was shocked.

"Holy crap, is Xu Xiaoshou a demon? The guy's like that, and you still land another blow?"

"My god, I thought Gu Qingsan was strong enough to knock Xu Xiaoshou off the stage, but in the end, he lost - and might even be ruined by Xu Xiaoshou."

"This is brutal; someone put him out of his misery!"

"Received shock, Passive value, 1111."

"Received awe, Passive value, 898."

"Received curse, Passive value, 232."

"Move aside!"

A cold voice came from the side.

Xu Xiaoshou turned; it was the leader of the three swordsmen, Gu Qingyi.

"Save him!"

Xu Xiaoshou felt Gu Qingsan shouldn't die. "I tried my best; he's a good guy."

"Nonsense."

Gu Qingyi's face darkened.

Did I need you to tell me to save my junior brother?