453: Sword practice

Lu Xingchen was slightly stunned.

"Huh? That works? Isn't this chixiao sword too easy to fool?"

Immediately, he exerted slight force, and the chixiao sword slid out of its sheath, a cold light flashing.

Lu Xingchen swung it a few times and felt it handled very well.

But he kept complaining internally.

"The sword is a good sword, but I already have the immortal slaying sword. Although this chixiao sword is awesome, it can't compare to a Divine Artifact. The chixiao sword has already recognized me as its master. Wouldn't it be too heartless if I handed it over to the Human Emperor Hall?"

"Does this sword only get to gather dust inside a Storage Ring?"

Despite these thoughts, Lu Xingchen's expression remained unchanged, showing only pleasant surprise.

Immediately, he put the chixiao sword into his Storage Ring, cupped his hands, and bowed to Wu Tao.

"Thank you, Senior Brother Wu Tao!"

Wu Tao said softly, "You don't need to thank me; this is what you deserve! To find the next master for the chixiao sword and allow it to display its brilliance again, I can die without regrets."

"Alright, this is all I can give you. There is a Teleportation Array in the Sword Nurturing Pool that can transport Disciples to other locations where subsidiary arrays have been set up. Go back where you came from!"

Lu Xingchen quickly said, "Senior Brother Wu Tao, this Junior still has something to ask of you!"

Hearing this, Wu Tao frowned and said in a deep voice, "You're still not satisfied? Have you taken a fancy to these Natal spirit swords? But these spirit swords are only Earth Rank, which is not very useful to you. How many can you control by yourself?"

Lu Xingchen nodded slightly and chuckled, "Senior Brother Wu Tao truly is a smart person; he guessed my thoughts so quickly. Others cannot control these thousand-plus spirit swords, but I, Lu Dazhuang, can!"

"Senior Brother Wu Tao might not know this, but I come from the Lingyun Sect in Central State. Our Sect's Legacy is the Word Spirit Power. There is a Word Spirit Power technique that can control a large number of spirit swords, named 'Sword Control'."

"Although I currently can't control all the spirit swords, if my Soul Power achieves a Breakthrough to the Heaven Realm, I definitely can."

Hearing this, Wu Tao was greatly astonished.

"Word Spirit Power? I saw it mentioned in ancient texts before, but I never expected someone could truly master it and even found a Sect! Since that is the case, I can give you another Opportunity."

Hearing this, Lu Xingchen was delighted.

"Is it related to these Natal spirit swords? Can I only obtain it if I take all the spirit swords?"

Wu Tao nodded heavily.

"Smart! Our Chixiao Sect has a Sect-protecting Grand Formation named the Scarlet Firmament Sword Formation. It requires the chixiao sword as the array core, and a thousand Natal spirit swords must exert power simultaneously for it to be successfully constructed. Its power is comparable to a Ninth-Grade Spirit Formation."

Hearing this, Lu Xingchen was greatly astonished.

"What? Comparable to a Ninth-Grade Spirit Formation? Doesn't that mean it can contend against a Saint?"

Wu Tao said softly, "That's right. Our Chixiao Sect is also an established Ninth-Rank Sect, so it's reasonable to have a Sect-protecting Grand Formation that can contend against a Saint, right? Because the Scarlet Firmament Sword Formation requires a thousand Disciples to exert power simultaneously to be constructed successfully, I didn't mention it to you before. But if you can truly control a thousand spirit swords at once, there might be a chance of success!"

A look of joy appeared on Lu Xingchen's face, and he said with a smile, "Since that's the case, Senior Brother Wu Tao, can you let me take these Natal spirit swords? And also give me the formation diagram for the Scarlet Firmament Sword Formation."

Wu Tao said softly, "I can give you the formation diagram for the Scarlet Firmament Sword Formation right now. But whether you can take these Natal spirit swords depends on your ability."

"What do you mean by that?"

"I mentioned before that these Natal spirit swords all bear a Soul Imprint from an Inner Sect Disciple. If you want to control these spirit swords, you must either gain the Soul Imprint's recognition or erase all the Soul Imprints!"

Hearing this, Lu Xingchen shook his head repeatedly and said with a wry smile, "Erase them all? How is that possible? The masters of these spirit swords were all Martial Venerable Experts when they were alive, so their Soul Power certainly won't be weak. Erasing a dozen or twenty is fine, but erasing them all—how much time would that take?"

After speaking, Lu Xingchen flashed a flattering smile at Wu Tao, patted his shoulder, and whispered, "Senior Brother Wu Tao, please communicate with these Natal spirit swords and give me a test. Just something symbolic, no need to be too serious."

Wu Tao nodded slightly and said softly, "I'll give it a try!"

With that, he used his Soul Power to cover the entire Sword Nurturing Pool and communicate with the Natal spirit swords.

Not long after, he retracted his power and said softly, "I have communicated with the Soul Imprints of my Junior Brothers and Junior Sisters. They also want the Scarlet Firmament Sword Formation to display its brilliance again, but they need you to prove you have the ability. The Chixiao Sect was founded upon the Dao of the Sword. As long as you can defeat all of them in swordsmanship, they will be willing to hand over their Natal spirit swords to you."

Lu Xingchen smiled wryly, "No way? Defeat over a thousand Great Masters of the Sword Dao? That's almost the same difficulty as forcibly erasing the Soul Imprints! But I have no other choice now. Compared to brutally erasing the Soul Imprints, I am willing to fight all of you."

With that, Lu Xingchen jumped onto an open space in the center of the Sword Nurturing Pool, cupped his hands to the surrounding spirit swords, and said in a deep voice, "Seniors, draw your swords!"

The surrounding Natal spirit swords simultaneously let out a sword cry. Immediately, a spirit sword in the corner flew up from the weapon rack and arrived in front of Lu Xingchen.

A flash of white light passed, and the Soul Imprint materialized into a human figure, holding the spirit sword and confronting Lu Xingchen.

"Chixiao Sect, Li Chen, please enlighten me!"

"Lingyun Sect, Lu Xingchen, please enlighten me!"

Immediately, Lu Xingchen drew his shadow sword, and Li Chen also drew his Natal spirit sword, and the two sides began to fight.

There is a special Spirit Formation inside the Sword Nurturing Pool that can nourish the Soul Imprints, allowing them to exist continuously.

However, the materialization of this Imprint requires a large amount of energy, and Li Chen's Soul Imprint will quickly dissipate once the battle ends.

The shadow sword cannot harm a Soul body, but it doesn't matter; the two sides are competing in swordsmanship. As long as Lu Xingchen can deliver a fatal strike, Li Chen will voluntarily concede defeat.

As for Lu Xingchen being defeated?

Sorry, he hadn't considered that possibility at all!

Lu Xingchen and Li Chen exchanged hundreds of moves, gradually sensing the terrifying aspects of the Chixiao Sect's Inner Sect Disciple.

His swordsmanship was so superb that it was no weaker than his own, who possessed the Shadow Sword Art.

But Lu Xingchen was not a pushover either!

During the exchange, he continuously learned the opponent's swordsmanship to strengthen his own.

After the two sides clashed for over a thousand moves, Lu Xingchen finally found Li Chen's flaw and pierced his chest with a single sword strike.

Li Chen chuckled lightly.

"Indeed, heroes often emerge from the youth! You win. My Natal spirit sword can be commanded by you!"

With that, Li Chen sheathed the Blade Edge and handed the Natal spirit sword to Lu Xingchen.

Lu Xingchen was delighted, placed it into his Storage Ring, and once again cupped his hands in greeting toward Li Chen.

"Thank you for your recognition, Senior Li Chen. I will certainly allow the Scarlet Firmament Sword Formation to display its brilliance again!"

Li Chen smiled faintly and said nothing more.

As a streak of white light flowed into Lu Xingchen's body, his figure slowly dissipated, and the Soul Imprint completely vanished.