37: Chapter 37 The Terrifying Sword Cultivator

Su Ming had no time to spare a glance at the external Prodigy Rankings right now. Along with Ganie, Sargalian, and the others, he was on high alert, locking his gaze firmly on the lone sword cultivator standing quietly in the distance.

"The Ninth Stage of Transcendence Perfection, just half a step away from stepping into the Demi-God realm... Do we really have the strength to fight an opponent of this caliber?"

After probing the opponent's cultivation, massive waves churned within Su Ming's heart, filled with shock.

He turned to look at Ganie and the rest of the retainers, asking in a deep voice, "Ganie, if we join forces, can we contend with him?"

Ganie, Wawan, Ada, and Sargalian exchanged glances, briefly communicating their thoughts, before solemnly nodding. "We can give it a try."

"Good." Determination flashed in Su Ming's eyes. "In that case, let us fight with all our might!"

Seeing that Su Ming and his group not only did not retreat or give up, but instead assumed a posture of encirclement, a faint smile involuntarily curled on the sword cultivator's indifferent face.

"Interesting."

Hearing this, Su Ming was slightly startled, and alarm bells rang loudly in his heart.

The mimicked monsters, alien deities from the previous few trials, and even the three sword dao phantoms just now, although they possessed intelligence, their intelligence was not high, and they were completely unable to communicate verbally or generate autonomous emotions.

The person before him had a complete consciousness and could even converse normally with people, which was truly too abnormal.

The gaze he directed toward the other party grew a few degrees heavier with vigilance.

Seeing Su Ming's tense and vigilant appearance, the sword cultivator waved a hand casually, speaking in a calm tone, "Little fellow, there is no need to be nervous. My true body fell countless years ago. What remains here is merely a wisp of surviving consciousness."

"Senior, may I ask, are you a predecessor of the human race?" Su Ming asked cautiously.

These words were by no means a redundant probing.

Now that the myriad races of the universe stood tall, countless humanoid races looked almost identical to humans. It was simply impossible to distinguish their origin based solely on physique and appearance, so Su Ming did not dare to easily judge the other party's identity as a fellow clansman.

The sword cultivator nodded gently, his gaze distant, "What year of the Federal Calendar has it reached now?"

"The ninety-nine million nine hundred ninety thousandth year of the Federal Calendar."

As the words fell, deep sighs and melancholy welled up in the ancient sword cultivator's eyes. "In the blink of an eye, it has been ninety million years. As the years flow, time truly passes without leaving a trace."

Su Ming clicked his tongue in extreme amazement inwardly.

Ninety million years ago, the human race had just initially stepped into the starry sea, and it was also their first encounter with the Mechanical Race, opening that era of extreme darkness and chaos.

The human race in that era walked on thin ice; countless children could not even wait for the natural awakening of their Divine Realms. As long as they condensed transcendent power, they had to immediately rush to the Outer Realm Battlefield to fight for their lives.

It could be said that every human in those days grew up amidst blood and fire.

Thinking of the past when their predecessors fought bloody battles against adversity, a heavy sense of respect involuntarily arose in Su Ming's gaze toward the sword cultivator.

"Junior, does the Mechanical Race still exist today? Has my human race gained a firm foothold in the vast universe?"

"The Mechanical Race was completely annexed by our human race as early as the sixty-six million six hundred sixty-sixth year of the Federal Calendar. Not just the Mechanical Race, but many other alien races such as the Netherworld, Desolate, and Shadow have all merged into the human race's origin." Su Ming answered truthfully, a hint of pride in his tone. "Today, the human race is already a top-tier powerful race in the universe; among the myriad realms and races, no one dares to easily look down upon us anymore."

Hearing this, the sword cultivator laughed heartily, his brows filled with heartfelt joy. "Good! What a fine human race! How exhilarating! How exhilarating!"

After a while, he withdrew his smile, his expression suddenly turning serious and sharp as his gaze fell upon Su Ming and his group. "Kid, I am the final trial of the Hanging Pagoda. Bring out all your strength and let me see the standard of the new generation of humans today."

"Senior, please bestow your guidance!" Su Ming bowed in salute, his posture respectful.

Clang—!

A clear sword cry tore through the sky, and Ganie took the lead. The yuanhong longsword surged with pure and condensed cyan sword qi, without a single superfluous move, pointing straight at the vital center of the sword cultivator's brow.

The sword cultivator glanced indifferently and judged softly, "Too slow."

Before the words fell, the longsword at his waist suddenly left its sheath, a flash of sword light bursting forth.

Clang!

The two longswords clashed fiercely, and a violent, immense force was transmitted along the blade to the yuanhong. Ganie's tiger's mouth went numb, and his heart was filled with shock.

Competing in brute force solely on pure physical body and sword dao foundation, he was completely no match.

He no longer met the force head-on, his figure swiftly sweeping backward to widen the distance and wait for an opportunity to fight again.

The sword cultivator did not pursue the advantage; instead, waves churned in his heart, and he was secretly startled. "The foundation of the current human descendants is actually this terrifying? This young man's attainments in sword dao even surpass myself back in the demi-god realm. If we fought at the same cultivation stage, I wouldn't last ten moves."

Roar—!

Seeing this, Sargalian spread its wings and spat out billows of world-destroying black flames from its huge mouth. The entire space was completely enveloped by the scorching, destructive dragon breath, firmly trapping the sword cultivator in the center of the raging flames.

Yet the sword cultivator didn't even have the thought of dodging, standing quietly in place and letting the all-inclusive dragon flames swallow him up, his robes fluttering slightly in the black flames.

"The Dragon Race indeed has a few tricks."

On the flank of the battlefield, Ada launched an attack simultaneously. Rich, pitch-black nether fiendish ghost qi wrapped around his body, and his hands tightly gripped the Buhui long saber, as endless netherworld fiendish qi stacked layer upon layer to gather on the blade body.

"Buhui Slash!"

Boundless, dead silence fiendish qi burst out with a bang, and a heavy, fierce pitch-black saber radiance carrying the netherworld corrosive power cleaved directly at the sword cultivator's body.

The sword cultivator's eyes narrowed slightly, intending to dodge to the side, but at that exact instant, all-inclusive crimson ribbons appeared out of thin air.

Wawan activated the Scarlet Attire Binding secret art, and thousands of crimson silks flew out from her sleeves, crisscrossing to weave a boundless soul-locking giant net. A treacherous binding force instantly enveloped the entire area, briefly interfering with divine soul perception.

The sword cultivator's mind suddenly experienced a momentary trance. With just this brief hesitation, the red silks wrapped around him, and Ada's Buhui Slash was already close at hand, impossible to avoid.

He could only take this blade head-on.

Bang!

A dull collision sound exploded, and the powerful impact forced the sword cultivator to take several steps back, the ground beneath his feet cracking with fine lines.

Before he could steady his figure, Su Ming had already utilized the gap created by the retainers' encirclement to quietly sneak behind him. The Death Scythe in his hand, carrying the heavy Law of Death, slashed down with full force, its blade tearing through the void and bringing forth a chilling wind of annihilation.

It was a pity that Su Ming's comprehension of the Law of Death was still shallow at present, and his foundation was insufficient.

Crack—

In just a single collision, the pitch-black Death Scythe shattered inch by inch, turning into dissipating yin qi.

After the four of them pulled off this whole maneuver, the result was that the sword cultivator's robes were merely slightly soiled.

It truly fit the saying: all that fierce maneuvering like a roaring tiger, only to check the score and see zero kills and five deaths.

Mid-air, the yuanhong suddenly left a hand and broke through the air, tearing through the void and carrying fierce sword light straight to pierce the sword cultivator's face.

Facing the rapidly approaching lethal sword, the sword cultivator's expression remained indifferent, without the slightest ripple rising in his eyes.

He slowly raised two slender index fingers and brought them together lightly.

Clang——!

A piercing metallic clash resounded through the sky! The incomparably sharp yuanhong was actually steadily clamped by him with just two fingers, locked down inch by inch.

The sword body vibrated violently, and the sword dao origin surged frantically. The yuanhong struggled and hummed desperately, yet it was ultimately unable to move even a fraction of an inch, all its strength sinking into the sea like a stone.

Ganie's eyes flickered, and his expression suddenly turned solemn.

At this moment, he finally fully recognized that the sword cultivator's strength had long far exceeded his estimation; the two were simply not in the same dimension.

The next instant, the sword cultivator flicked his fingertip lightly.

Hum!

An extremely condensed rebound force erupted, and the yuanhong flew backward out of control, landing heavily back into Ganie's hand and jarring his arm numb.

The sword cultivator raised his right hand and pointed his fingertip into the air.

A wisp of crystal-clear, pure-to-the-extreme origin sword intent slowly flowed out from his fingertip, transforming into a slender sword radiance as thin as a hair.

Ting——!

A clear sword cry shook all directions. Though not grand in momentum, it carried a sense of suppressing all things.

Sargalian's world-destroying dragon breath exhaled with all its dragon power and the churning pitch-black flames were actually cleaved down the middle by this wisp of sword radiance, scattering and collapsing in an instant, melting into nothingness.

After breaking through the dragon breath, the sword radiance did not diminish in momentum, speeding through the air and heading straight to kill Sargalian.

Feeling the destructive slaughter contained within the sword radiance, Sargalian's spine went cold; how could it still dare to meet it head-on?

Its dragon wings vibrated violently, and its huge body dodged to the side to the utmost of its ability.

Swish!

The sword radiance brushed past its dragon scales, the air-breaking explosion extremely piercing.

Sargalian hovered in mid-air, looking at the void slashed to pieces by a single sword behind it. Its scarlet dragon pupils were filled with lingering fear, and its whole body's dragon scales trembled slightly.

The sword cultivator did not stop, lightly waving his wrist. Four slender sword radiances split apart, shooting separately toward Ada, Wawan, Ganie, and Su Ming. The angles were tricky, sealing off all paths of retreat.

Facing the incoming fatal move, Ada's expression was exceptionally solemn.

His body was heavy, and his movement technique was not as swift as the others'. Knowing that it was impossible to avoid, he could only take the offensive head-on.

A heaven-shaking roar resounded across the battlefield, and towering netherworld yin qi gathered before him, condensing layer upon layer into a heavy, pitch-black ghost armor with ferocious armor patterns, as solid as a golden pond.

Crack!

The seemingly indestructible ghost armor was like thin paper before that sword radiance, instantly shattering and falling apart.

The remaining force slammed into Ada's chest, forcefully blasting him flying dozens of meters. When he landed, his steps staggered, his blood qi churned, and he had already suffered heavy injuries.

On the other side, Wawan's pretty face changed drastically, and she hurriedly gathered the all-inclusive crimson ribbons, collecting thousands of red silks before her to weave a dense soul-locking barrier.

Yet the treacherous ribbons entangling the divine soul were easily cut by a wisp of the sword edge, shattering inch by inch as the all-inclusive crimson turned into flying ash.

Fortunately, the red silks delayed a split second of time, and Wawan took advantage of the gap to slip away and dodge, barely escaping the fatal move.

But even so, her already frail divine soul suffered the shock of the sword intent, her face turning as pale as paper and her breath chaotic.

She was not as physically robust as Ada; if she had been hit squarely in the body by this sword radiance, she would have perished in an instant.

Ganie's movement technique was the swiftest. The moment the sword radiance split, he stepped through the air to dodge, calmly evading it with extreme sword speed and coming out completely unharmed.

Su Ming's positioning was further back, and his reaction was extremely fast. He shifted to the side, barely avoiding the life-taking strike.

The five of them joined forces in offense and defense with meticulous cooperation, yet before this sword cultivator, they were still as vulnerable as paper.