115: Chapter 115, Second Form: The Human World

Wood splinters and a faint scent of blood drifted over the sea's surface.

Jiang Tao stepped on a floating plank, his chest heaving violently, and the blood leaking from the corner of his mouth appeared dark red under the moonlight.

He stared fixedly at Jiang Hanzhou, who stood suspended in mid-air; in those pale yellow pupils, the initial shock had transformed into deep horror.

"Two types of True Intent... You actually mastered both Tide and Pure Yang True Intent simultaneously!" Jiang Tao's voice was hoarse, carrying an unmistakable tremor of alarm. "How is this possible! It is incredibly difficult for an ordinary Martial Artist to condense even one type of True Intent, yet you have only just entered the Dragon Elephant..."

Jiang Hanzhou slowly descended from the sky, his feet stopping three inches above the sea. Crimson-gold and azure Qi and blood intertwined, circulating around his body like a deity treading upon the waves.

His expression was calm, but his gaze was like an abyss, swallowing all light.

"You aren't the first person to be so surprised," Jiang Hanzhou said indifferently. "And you won't be the last."

Jiang Tao's Adam's apple bobbed. He could feel that the black tortoise shell on his chest was already covered in cracks, its inherent protective power completely exhausted.

Had it not been for this treasure protecting him during that punch just now, he would likely have been blown apart like that fast boat.

The gap... was too large!

Both were in the Primal Form Realm, yet with just a single strike, his opponent had nearly driven him to a dead end!

Fear gnawed at Jiang Tao's heart like a poisonous snake, but he was the leader of the Prodigal Society after all. Having struggled for twenty years in the chaotic waters of Star Continent Anchorage, rising from a mere fisherman to the Primal Form Realm, he naturally had his extraordinary qualities.

He took a deep breath, forcibly suppressing his churning blood, a flash of decisiveness appearing in his eyes.

"Jiang Hanzhou!" Jiang Tao shouted in a low voice. "I know I am no match for you. Two types of True Intent... you already possess the talent of a Prodigy; your future is limitless!"

He paused, his fists clenched tightly. The pale blue River-Flipping Force around him reconsolidated; though not as solid as before, it carried a desperate resolve to burn his bridges.

"But I am not reconciled! I wasted fifteen years in the Burning Viscera realm, experiencing nine deaths to finally condense the Tidal True Intent and step into the Dragon Elephant. Today, I want to see exactly how large the gap is between me and a Prodigy like you!"

Jiang Tao abruptly looked up, a manic Battle Intent burning in his eyes.

"I want to have a fight with you! If I lose, I will be utterly convinced and become your subordinate, at your beck and call! If I am lucky enough to win by a move or half... then let me leave, how about it?"

As soon as these words were spoken, Liu Quan and the other two on the small fishing boat in the distance gasped.

Admitting defeat and becoming a servant!

For a Primal Form Realm Martial Artist, this was a humiliation even harder to accept than death!

Yet Jiang Tao had actually proposed it himself...

Hearing this, a look of interest finally appeared in Jiang Hanzhou's eyes.

He looked at Jiang Tao's pale yellow pupils, which burned with an unyielding flame, and suddenly smiled.

"Interesting," Jiang Hanzhou nodded slowly. "I accept."

Before his voice had even faded, his right hand brushed over the sumeru pouch at his waist.

"Zheng—!"

A low, heavy drone of a saber, sounding as if it came from the ancient wilderness, exploded over the night sea!

The dark, blood-colored blade with its natural, ferocious patterns shimmered with a heart-palpitating cold light under the moon.

The tiger soul saber was unsheathed!

The moment the blade appeared, the seawater within a hundred-zhang radius seemed to freeze. A fierce and overbearing Evil Qi permeated the air, faintly echoing with the crimson-gold and azure True Intent Qi and blood around Jiang Hanzhou, creating a strange harmony.

Jiang Tao's pupils constricted sharply!

"This saber is named 'tiger soul'," Jiang Hanzhou held the saber with one hand, its tip pointing diagonally toward the sea. "This next strike is called 'Slaying Clouds and Splitting Peaks'."

He paused, the crimson-gold and azure light in his eyes flashing alternately, his tone suddenly becoming ethereal.

"There is another strike, one I gained by chance during my secluded cultivation, which has not yet been named. Today, I will use you to test the blade and see if this 'The Mortal World' can sever the shackles of The Mortal World and catch a glimpse of my true self."

As soon as he finished speaking, Jiang Hanzhou's Aura changed abruptly!

If the "Great Sun Tide" punch from before was overbearing, fiery, and destructive in its raw power...

Then at this moment, as he stood with his saber, he seemed like a different person.

Quiet.

Profound.

Like an ancient well without ripples, or like a deep-sea undercurrent.

An indescribable "Intent" radiated from him.

Every hair on Jiang Tao's body stood on end!

He felt an unprecedented threat!

That saber, that person, that Intent... the three combined as if what they were about to cleave was not his body, but his Dao Heart, his Divine Soul, and all the obsessions and grievances of his life!

"I can't wait!" Jiang Tao roared, no longer hesitating!

He stomped his feet violently against the sea's surface!

"Boom!"

Seawater within a ten-zhang radius exploded upward, forming a towering column of water!

Jiang Tao used the momentum to soar into the sky, spreading his arms as he pushed the pale blue River-Flipping Force around him to its limit!

This time, he did not choose to defend. Instead, he concentrated all his power, all his insights, and all his understanding of the "Tidal True Intent" into his palms!

"Overturning Rivers and Seas: Ten Thousand Tides Become One!"

Jiang Tao roared, bringing his palms together and slashing downward violently!

Pale blue energy condensed between his palms, transforming into a massive water blade three zhangs long, composed entirely of seawater and True Intent compressed to the extreme!

The water blade was deep blue, with endless undercurrents and whirlpools surging within it. Its edges were as sharp as a knife, letting out a piercing shriek as it sliced through the air!

This was Jiang Tao's trump card, a strike that pushed the "violent," "powerful," and "tearing" aspects of the Tidal True Intent to their peak!

With this move, when he had first entered the Primal Elephant Realm, he had once split a thirty-zhang-long pirate ship clean in two!

The water blade tore through the air, slashing straight at Jiang Hanzhou!

And at this moment, Jiang Hanzhou finally moved.

He slowly raised the tiger soul saber.

The movement was very slow, as if he were lifting a mountain.

But along the trajectory of the rising blade—

"Buzz..."

A faint, ethereal hum echoed between heaven and earth.

It was not the ring of a blade, nor the sound of the wind, but a kind of... jumbled sound, as if countless people were whispering, weeping, laughing, and roaring.

Like the vast Mortal World, like the myriad aspects of human life.

Heaven's Blade, Second Form—The Mortal World!