149: Your sword is not fast enough.

Dust and powder drifted and scattered through the air.

That black stone tablet, which had carried the glory and resentment of eternal Sword Cultivators, was simply gone.

The wind blew, kicking up dust and blurring everyone's vision.

The edge of the Burial Sword Heavenly Pit fell into a silence as if the God of Death had descended.

Hundreds of Sword Cultivators, whether they were sitting cross-legged in meditation or watching from a distance, were now frozen in place as if a petrification spell had been cast upon them.

Their mouths were open wide enough to fit a duck egg.

Their eyes bulged so much they seemed about to fall out of their sockets.

That was the [ten thousand swords stele]!

Forged from Extraterrestrial Divine Iron, it had been soaked in the Sword Intent of the Emperor's Dao for countless tens of thousands of years.

Never mind a finger, even a full-force strike from a High Grade Immortal Artifact could not hope to leave even a white mark on it.

But now...

It was shattered.

A man in green robes at the Early Stage of the Heavenly Immortal realm had shattered it into flying ash with a gentle swipe of a single finger.

This scene overturned their understanding of the world.

It crushed their pride as Sword Cultivators.

"Gulp."

Someone, with great difficulty, swallowed their saliva.

This soft sound was like a stone thrown into a dead-still lake.

"I'm crazy... I must be going crazy..."

A Sword Cultivator in the True Immortal Realm muttered to himself and gave himself a hard slap across the face.

His face stung with a burning pain.

It wasn't a dream.

The expressions on the faces of the two Golden Immortal guards from Absolute Sword Valley were even more spectacular.

From their initial contempt to warning, and now to an indescribable horror and fear.

They looked at Ye Chenfeng as if they were looking at a prehistoric monster that had crawled out of the Nine Nether Abyss.

And atop the emperor fall stone...

Heartless Sword's handsome and aloof face had also completely frozen.

His eyes, which seemed to contain endless sword shadows, stared fixedly at Ye Chenfeng's unremarkable index finger, which had already been withdrawn.

He could feel it.

In that moment just now, a supreme Sword Dao Law that he could neither understand nor imagine had flashed by.

It wasn't a crushing of power.

It was the absolute suppression of the Dao.

It was the judgment of a sovereign over a subject.

"You..."

Heartless Sword slowly stood up.

The aloof and sharp Sword Intent surrounding him became uncontrollably chaotic for the first time.

He was no longer the high-and-mighty Young Lord of Absolute Sword Valley.

He was a devout seeker of the Dao who had seen a higher peak.

The contempt and playfulness in his eyes had long since disappeared.

In its place was a Battle Intent so intense it was almost frenzied!

"You are not a Heavenly Immortal."

Heartless Sword's voice was raspy, yet incredibly certain.

Ye Chenfeng turned his head and looked at him calmly.

"I am."

Two simple words, yet more powerful than any explanation.

"Good."

Heartless Sword took a deep breath, his chest heaving violently.

"Very good!"

He laughed.

It was the extreme excitement of meeting a worthy opponent, perhaps even a natural predator!

"This stone is yours."

He leapt down from the emperor fall stone.

"However!"

His tone shifted, and a blazing fire of the Sword Dao ignited in his eyes!

"Before that, I want to experience your sword!"

"Young Lord!"

The expressions of the two Golden Immortal guards changed drastically, and they immediately blocked Heartless Sword's path.

"This person's Origins are unknown and his methods are bizarre, you must not..."

"Get out of the way."

Heartless Sword's voice was not loud, but it carried an unquestionable authority.

The two guards' bodies stiffened, and they eventually retreated to the side unwillingly.

Ye Chenfeng's brow furrowed slightly.

"I'm not interested."

He came here to temper his sword and comprehend the Emperor's Dao, not to fight for dominance with others.

"It's not up to you."

Heartless Sword shook his head.

"In the Burial Sword Heavenly Pit, the sword is the only language."

Clang—!

A clear, resonant ring of a sword!

The ornate longsword at his waist unsheathed itself and fell into his hand.

The sword's name was [Heartless].

"Draw your sword."

Heartless Sword pointed at Ye Chenfeng from afar, his Aura climbing steadily!

The majestic sword pressure of an Early Stage Golden Immortal swept toward Ye Chenfeng without reservation!

Ye Chenfeng sighed.

He knew this battle was unavoidable.

He slowly reached out his hand, and the simple longsword given to him by his Revered Master appeared in his palm.

It had no name.

It was just a sword.

The moment he gripped the hilt...

His entire temperament changed.

If he had been a bottomless ancient well just moments ago...

Then now, he was the peerless, malevolent weapon hidden within that well, capable of severing eternity!

"Come."

Ye Chenfeng looked at Heartless Sword and softly uttered a single word.

"Good!"

Heartless Sword moved!

His figure instantly transformed into thousands of afterimages!

Every afterimage struck out with a sword!

Sword light fell like a gale, like a rainstorm, like falling stars!

It sealed off all space within a hundred feet of Ye Chenfeng!

[Heartless Sword Dao · All Thoughts Turn to Ash]!

This was the signature ultimate technique of Absolute Sword Valley!

When the sword is struck, ten thousand thoughts arise, and every thought is a killing intent, making it impossible to defend against. Eventually, amidst the endless sword shadows, one's mind collapses, and they are left to be slaughtered!

The surrounding Sword Cultivators felt their scalps tingle!

"Is this the Young Lord of Absolute Sword Valley? Too terrifying!"

"I can't even see this sword strike clearly, how can it be blocked?"

However, at the center of those sky-filling sword shadows...

Ye Chenfeng didn't even blink.

Under his [Chaos Sword Pupils]...

Those thousands of sword shadows were nothing more than illusory appearances.

All the variations and all the killing intent ultimately pointed to a single, original sword move.

"Flashy."

Ye Chenfeng shook his head.

He didn't retreat, nor did he even parry.

He simply thrust his sword forward into the sky-filling shadows in an unremarkable manner.

Simple and direct.

Just like the first thrust of a child who had just started learning the sword.

Yet this thrust seemed to contain some kind of fundamental truth of heaven and earth.

It ignored space and ignored time.

It precisely struck the most inconspicuous yet core point among those thousands of sword shadows.

Ting!

A soft sound rang out.

The sky-filling sword shadows suddenly froze.

Then, like popped bubbles, they burst and dissipated!

All that remained was Heartless Sword's [Heartless Sword], its tip barely three inches from Ye Chenfeng's brow.

Yet it could no longer advance a single fraction of an inch.

Heartless Sword's pupils violently contracted to the size of pinpricks!

How is this possible?!

His proud [All Thoughts Turn to Ash] was so easily broken by the opponent's single sword strike?!

He hadn't even seen how the opponent had struck!

"Your sword is too slow."

Ye Chenfeng's voice rang in his ear.

At the same time...

An irresistible force surged from the sword tip!

Bang!

Heartless Sword felt a violent shock in his palm, and his whole body was sent flying back uncontrollably!

He retreated more than a dozen steps in mid-air before he could barely stabilize himself.

He looked down at his slightly trembling hand, then at the man in green opposite him, whose clothes weren't even ruffled.

A solemn expression appeared on his face for the first time.

"Again!"

He was not discouraged; on the contrary, his Battle Intent soared even higher!

He held his sword with both hands and raised it high!

A Sword Intent even more terrifying and pure than before erupted from within him!

"[Heartless Sword Dao · Heaven and Earth Co-Silence]!"

He slashed down!

There was no sword light, no sword shadow.

Only a patch of deathly void!

It was as if this sword strike wanted to pull this piece of heaven and earth, along with all the living beings within it, into eternal silence!

Under this Sword Intent, the surrounding Sword Cultivators felt as if their Divine Souls were being frozen!

This was the true strength of a Golden Immortal Expert!

Ye Chenfeng watched the spreading deathly void, and his expression finally changed slightly.

"A bit interesting."

He slowly raised the longsword in his hand.

A Chaos Aura, similarly silent and vast yet containing infinite vitality, spread from the tip of his sword.

"Revered Master once said that the sword is an instrument of killing, but also a path of protection."

"Life and death are but two sides of the same coin of Chaos."

He murmured softly.

"This sword of mine is named Heaven-Opening."

As his voice fell...

He swung his sword!

A gray, seemingly unremarkable sword light flashed from the sword tip.

It did not strike toward that deathly void.

Instead, it struck toward the source of the void.

It struck toward Heartless Sword!

Heartless Sword's expression changed drastically!

From that gray sword light, he smelled a deathly Aura that made his very Soul tremble!

He wanted to dodge, wanted to defend.

But he found to his horror...

His body, his sword, and the space he was in were all deathly locked by that sword light!

Nowhere to hide!

Nothing could block it!

He could only watch helplessly as that deathly grayness expanded infinitely in his pupils!

"No—!"

He let out the most unwilling roar of his life!

However, just as that gray sword light was about to strike his brow...

It stopped.

Then, it silently dissipated.

As if it had never appeared.

Heartless Sword was frozen in place.

Cold sweat instantly drenched his back.

He looked down.

A tiny bloodstain spread from his forehead all the way down to his chest.

His High Grade Immortal garment, woven from Heavenly Silkworm Silk and impervious to water and fire, had been silently sliced open.

If that sword light had advanced one fraction more... he didn't dare think about it.

"You lost."

Ye Chenfeng sheathed his sword and turned around.

He didn't spare another glance at Heartless Sword and walked straight toward the [emperor fall stone].

The entire area was dead silent.

Everyone looked at that green-robed figure walking toward the emperor fall stone with eyes as if they were seeing a monster.

One sword.

Just one sword.

He had defeated the Golden Immortal Realm Young Lord of Absolute Sword Valley, Heartless Sword!

Is this guy really just a Heavenly Immortal?

Heartless Sword stood where he was, his spirit crushed.

He looked at the [Heartless Sword] in his hand, then at the shallow cut on his chest, a bitter smile appearing on his face.

He lost.

He had been utterly defeated.

"Young Lord!"

The two Golden Immortal guards finally reacted and rushed forward, looking anxious.

"Are you alright?"

Heartless Sword waved his hand.

He looked up at the back of the figure already sitting cross-legged on the emperor fall stone, his gaze incredibly complex.

There was resentment and shock, but even more so, a kind of clarity as if he had suddenly been enlightened.

"I... think I understand a little now."

He muttered to himself... Ye Chenfeng sat cross-legged on the emperor fall stone.

The stone felt ice-cold to the touch, yet it contained a domineering Sword Intent that scorched the Divine Soul.

He gently pressed his hand against the stone.

His mind sank into it.

Buzz—!

In his mind, a vast sword ring as if the heavens were being opened sounded out!

Immediately following that...

Image after image flashed rapidly before his eyes.

It was a towering figure holding a giant sword that pierced through the sun and moon, fighting frenziedly against endless Extraterrestrial Demons!

Every sword strike brought down stars!

Every sword strike shattered the void!

Those were the combat memories belonging to the Sword Emperor!

Ye Chenfeng's entire mind was immersed in this vast and boundless Sword Dao comprehension.

His Chaos Sword Body was crazily absorbing and digesting this power from the same source!

However...

Just as he was about to touch the most core Sword Dao Origin of the Sword Emperor...

A completely different, cold will, filled with endless hunger and greed, quietly awakened from the deepest part of that Sword Emperor Origin!

Like a venomous snake that had been lurking for billions of years, it instantly coiled around Ye Chenfeng's Divine Soul!

A raspy voice filled with endless temptation quietly rang out in the depths of his Soul.

"Finally... I've waited..."

"Chaos Sword Body... such fresh flesh and blood..."

"Come... merge with me..."