Chapter 616: How About This Sword?

Gou Wuyue's eyes burst with a fierce light as he gripped the famous sword, Nu Lan Zhi Sheng, in reverse.

In that moment, everyone could sense that the final barrier between the sword and the sword immortal had finally vanished. At the very least, it was harmonious—the only word anyone present could use to describe the bond between this sword immortal and his blade.

"Ba Zun'an!"

Gou Wuyue held the sword firmly, his gaze blazing with battle intent as his aura climbed higher and higher.

"In the past, I didn't know Bai Ku was you, so I brought many people here."

"You killed my subordinates and used that as an excuse to hold me back at every turn."

"The actions of Chang Yi reminded me, and Yu Ling Di enlightened me..."

"This fight must end now. At the very least, I won't let you continue to do as you please."

With each step he took, his words grew more intense, closing in relentlessly. Everyone felt as if the air in the entire area was about to be crushed under his overwhelming presence.

Sizzle...

Hiss...

Within the Hua Xiang Gu Li domain, one vibrant flower bud after another split open and turned to dust. The energy that should have fed back was instantly shattered by the sword immortal's intent. Strands of sword energy rose from the wreckage of the flowers.

Far from feeding back, every petal in the area withered and crumbled in an instant under Gou Wuyue's surging aura.

Where the sword immortal went, all things were destroyed!

Haitang'er's expression shifted slightly. The Bei Yu Qi Duan Jin had never seen a sword immortal in person, and he had never witnessed their true power. So, within this domain, he had even considered provoking Gou Wuyue to draw his sword and test the limits of his own realm.

But now, it was clear that was unnecessary.

As Gou Wuyue had said, his true opponent was never himself. Haitang'er was still one step away from Taixu, and no matter how strong his domain was, breaking it wouldn't require a sword from a sword immortal—just a single thought.

Gou Wuyue's mind was never on breaking domains. Even with the white-robed crowd completely trapped, his only opponent had always been Ba Zun'an alone.

"You want to kill me?" Ba Zun'an asked.

"You've really changed..."

Disappointment filled Gou Wuyue's eyes. He looked at the wine gourd lying abandoned on the ground and sighed, "You've abandoned your old beliefs, lost your will to fight to the death, and now you just use favors and excuses to hedge your bets..."

"You!"

Gou Wuyue's voice rose sharply: "You may bear the name of Ba Zun'an, but you no longer have the soul of Ba Zun'an!"

Ba Zun'an smiled faintly, neither confirming nor denying.

"The world holds me in high regard, but I am who I am..."

"How can you know the joy of a fish if you're not a fish? You're not me, so how dare you claim I've lost my old soul?"

"But the Ba Zun'an of the past wouldn't waste words on a swordsman's challenge like this!" Gou Wuyue was furious, pointing Nu Lan Zhi Sheng at the man before him as sword energy rippled through the void.

Boom!

With a thunderous explosion, the Hua Xiang Gu Li domain erupted amid the churning sword energy. That so-called replica of the Qi Duan Jin throne domain crumbled like a joke under the sword immortal's rage, vanishing in the blink of an eye.

Space shattered into glittering fragments as the domain collapsed.

Pfft!

Haitang'er's body lurched backward, spitting out a mouthful of blood. As the blood sprayed, sword energy swirled chaotically. The sword intent, manifesting from thought, backfired through the domain and exploded on Haitang'er.

Hiss... Hiss... Hiss...

In his fury, Gou Wuyue hadn't even struck yet, but Haitang'er, at the peak of Zhan Dao, was already turned into a bloodied figure by the sword intent alone.

"Haitang'er brother!"

Shuo Shu Ren cried out in alarm and lunged forward to help.

But as soon as he moved, his steps halted abruptly.

"Sword energy?"

A grave look crossed his face as Shuo Shu Ren quickly formed seals with his fingers.

It was too late. The white sword energy erupting from his qi sea had already burst forth, growing fiercely from the start. In an instant, like a seedling turning into a towering ancient tree, it pierced straight through his entire body from below.

"Ugh!"

Shuo Shu Ren arched his back, his body lifted into the air by the sword energy, his face a mix of confusion and pain.

"It hurts... It hurts..."

"Be gentle..."

Gou Wuyue seemed to have just begun his attack, his famous sword not even shifting an inch toward Ba Zun'an as he muttered incantations:

"Mo Jian Shu, Mo Jian!"

Nu Lan Zhi Sheng suddenly glowed with a green hue. Below the blade, a faint green sword shadow emerged. Gou Wuyue lightly twisted the hilt, and the sword shadow traced faint trails in the air as it followed the sword's rotation.

When the tip pointed downward and steadied, the shadow merged heavily into the blade, rippling through the void.

"Wuwei Stream, Dao Cheng Zhang One!"

With a soft whoosh, Gou Wuyue simply drew the famous sword back without much fanfare.

Shuo Shu Ren's eyes rolled back, his body convulsing violently, as if in severe spasms—worse than if Xu Xiao Shou had overdosed!

"Ugh—"

As he let out a high-pitched cry, with Gou Wuyue's sword draw, the white sword energy exploding from Shuo Shu Ren's body was forcibly pulled back into him. Then, following Gou Wuyue's direction, it was stripped away thread by thread.

Sizzle... Sizzle... Sizzle...

The sword energy shifted from white to green, slowing from fast to steady, rushing back toward the famous sword in Gou Wuyue's hand. As it burst from Shuo Shu Ren's body, his form shook like chaff, drenched in a web of bloodlines.

The green sword threads dragged blood with them, returning straight to Nu Lan Zhi Sheng and being absorbed by the sword shadow below it. The shadow grew even more indistinct and dim.

"Mo Jian Shu?"

Xu Xiao Shou was stunned.

Ever since his harsh lesson from Gu Qing San about ancient sword cultivation at the city lord's mansion, he had studied up on it. Even though records of the ancient sword cultivation system were scarce, the renowned Nine Great Sword Techniques were still widely known.

Mo Jian Shu was one of them.

This sword technique was extremely difficult to master; even entering it required using sword intent to form a half-real, half-illusory "Mo Jian"—that green sword shadow.

In essence, for most ancient sword cultivators, this initial step alone could stump them for half a lifetime. Because forming substantial sword intent was akin to creating sword thoughts, which was incredibly challenging—only the eighth sword immortal, who dominated ancient and modern times, had managed to innovate it.

To achieve this, one needed at least a master-level sword intent, and even then, it required exceptional sword dao talent and comprehension. For many, even after reaching the sword dao throne, they might still fail to grasp this first step of Mo Jian Shu.

As one of the Nine Great Sword Techniques, all its subsequent variations built upon the Mo Jian. Without that foundation, everything else was pointless.

Thus, hailed as one of the most difficult techniques to cultivate, Mo Jian Shu was something few ancient sword cultivators would even attempt.

It was just too hard!

Xu Xiao Shou never imagined that the Wuyue Sword Immortal would be proficient in this rare technique.

"Mo Jian..."

His gaze fixed on the green sword shadow. Xu Xiao Shou understood that the power of Mo Jian was terrifying—it existed between reality and illusion, allowing it to ignore all physical and mental defenses while delivering double-layered attacks.

Who could withstand that?

A simple sword intent embodiment turned a person into a sword, then stripped the sword energy away...

What Gou Wuyue had done, Xu Xiao Shou could imagine himself attempting. But he had no confidence in injuring Shuo Shu Ren to that extent with such a minor trick.

"Old Gou..."

Shuo Shu Ren's body disintegrated into fragments in the void.

On the other side, the external avatars that had been blasted away earlier were cursing breathlessly.

But none dared approach!

Shuo Shu Ren knew all too well that the terror of Mo Jian Shu lay not in its remote green sword energy attacks, but in close-range strikes.

A sword immortal with absolute, undefendable attacks—who could fathom the devastating damage it would cause?

Gou Wuyue withdrew his gaze from the fading external avatars, not bothering to deal with the other versions of Shuo Shu Ren. The guy was too troublesome; even with extra effort, he might never find the real body.

Those external avatars were far too mysterious—a technique typically mastered only by semi-saints. Since Shuo Shu Ren truly possessed it, he shouldn't be the first target to eliminate.

"You, Ba Zun'an, dared to strike at my valued subordinates and use that to force me not to draw my sword, but have you ever thought?"

Gou Wuyue looked at the man before him, his voice icy: "What you value, in my eyes, is worth nothing!"

With that, he flicked his sword tip, pulling open overlapping green sword shadows in the void, pointing straight at Cen Qiao Fu.

"Gou Wuyue, have you forgotten what you still owe me?" Ba Zun'an's eyes turned cold at the words.

"Official matters are official, personal ones are personal."

Gou Wuyue's resolve was unshakable, without a ripple: "My task today is to capture Sheng Nu and bring him to justice. As for the personal favor I owe you... at the very least, I can save you from the Sheng Shen Dian Tang prison afterward."

"Are you throwing your life away?" Ba Zun'an's four fingers trembled slightly, curling up.

Gou Wuyue shifted his gaze, noticing the subtle movement. A smile curved his lips.

"Ba Zun'an, if your chosen path is to seal your sword, do you think I would believe... you could even draw your sword right now?"

With that, Gou Wuyue pushed off with his toes and glided past Ba Zun'an's side with ease. He didn't even bother with defense as he thrust his sword toward Cen Qiao Fu.

"Haitang'er, escort the leader away first."

"This old one will hold the rear!"

Cen Qiao Fu roared, charging forward with his axe.

Raising the axe high, he faced Gou Wuyue's incoming sword without a hint of fear, striking down like splitting Mount Hua.

A sword immortal was, after all, just at the Taixu level. No matter how legendary they were, they were merely Taixu with stronger attacks—nothing more.

And in terms of Taixu...

Cen Qiao Fu feared no one!

After all, there were few in the world at his age and level.

In his eyes, this Gou Wuyue was merely a great-grandson in generations!

"Pan Xian Fu, Yin Yang Ge Xiao!"

The sky darkened instantly under that axe, turning day into night. The onlookers could barely make out the battlefield.

But the darkness lasted less than a moment before a flash of golden light shot upward, piercing the clouds from below.

"This is..."

Xu Xiao Shou felt as if he were seeing a golden heavenly ladder rising into the sky. Layer upon layer of ladder illusions stacked up, each step several yards high, connecting to the heavens in the darkness, as if leading to the immortal realm.

"Tiao Ti Shi!"

Excitement erupted in the crowd, and someone in white robes shouted, "It's Senior Wuyue's Tiao Ti Shi!"

"Wait, what's that?"

Some were thrilled, others puzzled.

"You idiot, you don't even know 'Tiao Ti Shi'? No wonder you're just carrying a sword and not a true sword cultivator."

"Listen up, our headquarters at Gui Zhe Sheng Mountain has a super forbidden zone called 'Tian Ti'—you know that?"

"Hmm?"

"'Tian Ti' connects to the divine realm, but it's also under immense divine pressure."

"That place is so tough, even thrones can't move freely, and even Zhan Dao might only manage a few steps."

"At least, whatever you do there is visible to all in the human world."

"But back then, when Senior Wuyue first entered the sword immortal realm, he went to Tian Ti to train and even created 'Tiao Ti Shi,' shattering the myriad pressures below the clouds and stepping into that unreachable realm."

"No one knows where he ended up, because that might have been the domain of the gods."

"Yet 'Tiao Ti Shi' has endured through the ages!"

The white-robed people chattered excitedly, and Xu Xiao Shou listened with growing fascination.

But soon, his attention snapped back to the battle.

After all, he was one of the few who could glimpse parts of the fight even in this darkness.

He saw Cen Qiao Fu's axe, which upended the natural order, being effortlessly deflected by Gou Wuyue's light "Tiao Ti Shi," redirecting all its force like the heavy pressures of Tian Ti being flipped back.

In the style of Taiji, it countered and surged upward.

As the golden ladder rose step by step, Cen Qiao Fu lost control of his entire body's power. Both his form and Pan Xian Fu were flung away, and he couldn't even hold his weapon.

The technique was broken.

The natural order restored, light returned.

Everyone turned to see Gou Wuyue casually thrusting his sword.

Clang!

A black silk line cracked open in the void.

Xu Xiao Shou's pupils contracted.

Dian Dao!

He might not know "Tiao Ti Shi," but "Dian Dao" from the Three Thousand Sword Paths, he had experienced firsthand on Gu Qing San.

Back then, that guy couldn't contain his power, and even a bucket-thick Dian Dao had sent Xu Xiao Shou scrambling.

Now...

Gou Wuyue's Dian Dao was so subtle that, without his perceptive insight, Xu Xiao Shou might not have even noticed that faint line.

In that fluid flick and thrust, how many years of skill were hidden?

Xu Xiao Shou was awestruck.

Fights among the innate were always earth-shattering and grandiose.

But watching Taixu battles...

Either Yu Ling Di was shattered in one move, or Gou Wuyue defeated enemies with two strikes.

This was true subtlety, like silent nourishment!

Indeed, the battles of the weak were all thunder without rain.

The battles of the strong were fleeting storms that cleared the sky!

Without surprise, Cen Qiao Fu's airborne body spun out of control. In his horrified expression, he suddenly felt a stab of pain at his brow.

The next second, his entire head exploded.

Boom!

Along with Cen Qiao Fu's head, the surrounding void for several miles shattered.

Gou Wuyue slowly sheathed his sword. The fragments of the exploded void had already been pre-strung with green Mo Jian energy, and as he sheathed, they were pulled back together.

He destroyed the sky, then mended it!

A person of quality left no battle debris behind. That precisely controlled power was like the result of multiple calculations.

As the green Mo Jian energy flowed back, it shot straight into Cen Qiao Fu's body, which was on the verge of escaping with its Taixu force, and yanked it back at light speed toward Gou Wuyue's sheathing motion.

Gou Wuyue turned, facing Ba Zun'an with an expressionless face. He twisted his famous sword in midair, drawing multiple green afterimages, then held it inverted, blade along his elbow, tip pointing back.

Sizzle... Sizzle... Sizzle...

The green Mo Jian energy returned to Nu Lan Zhi Sheng, dragging Cen Qiao Fu's body behind it.

"How was that sword?"

Gou Wuyue kept his eyes on Ba Zun'an, asking softly as he leaned back slightly.

Squelch!

With that lean, the sword tip pierced into the heart of Cen Qiao Fu's headless body.