176: Chapter 176 Counterattack

The golden sword shadow hung above the green-robed scholar's head, its sword intent causing the surrounding space to distort slightly.

"Immortal-Slaughtering Rule." Elder Yuan's voice echoed in your sea of consciousness, carrying a hint of gravity for the first time. "What is sealed within the sword talisman is a genuine Immortal-Slaughtering Sword Intent; anything below a Golden Immortal will be slain upon contact. Retreat behind me."

You did not retreat.

It was not out of bravado; it was because the Causality Tracing talent in your sea of consciousness was running wildly, automatically analyzing the composition of that sword shadow.

The core of the sword shadow was a mass of extremely condensed primordial sword intent, wrapped in at least twelve layers of array-pattern chains, each layer acting as an independent triggering and restraining mechanism.

This was not a simple sealing of a sword aura; it was an entire miniature sword array.

"Elder Yuan," you quickly transmitted your voice, "This sword talisman has an array structure. There are twelve layers of core array patterns; the outermost layer is the trigger lock, and the innermost is a self-destruction restraint. Give me three breaths, and I can find its weak point."

Elder Yuan's grey robes fluttered as he turned to look at you. There was no doubt in that glance, only a momentary assessment, and then he nodded.

"Three breaths," he said.

First breath. Elder Yuan raised his hand, and his Half-step Golden Immortal immortal power condensed into a massive, dark, phantom tortoise shell before him.

The patterns on the tortoise shell were not array patterns, but the innate defensive divine ability of the Black Tortoise clan, "Black Tortoise Guard."

Every scale pattern was breathing, inhaling and exhaling the surrounding spiritual energy of the sea and sky, bringing the space within a thousand zhang into its defensive range.

The golden sword shadow moved. It did not fly; it leaped directly. One moment it was above the green-robed scholar's head, and the next, it struck the very center of the phantom tortoise shell.

Clang!

It was not the sound of metal colliding, but a tearing at the level of laws.

The phantom tortoise shell shuddered violently, and fine cracks appeared on the first layer of scale patterns the moment of contact.

Elder Yuan's feet sank, and the surface of the sea was compressed into a depression several dozen zhang deep beneath his feet.

But he did not retreat half a step. He formed hand seals, and the second and third layers of scale patterns lit up simultaneously, forcefully bracing against the momentum of the sword shadow.

"Black Tortoise Guard..." The green-robed scholar gritted his teeth and spat a mouthful of essence blood onto the ancient book, which flipped to another page. "Slay!"

The golden light on the sword shadow surged, doubling in intensity, and the cracks on the phantom tortoise shell spread rapidly.

Second breath. Your Array Master peak perception operated at full power, and in coordination with the Causality Tracing talent, you had already locked onto the array structure of the sword talisman.

The twelve layers of array patterns were peeled back one by one in your sea of consciousness: the outer layer for trigger logic, the middle layer for energy amplification, the inner layer for rule manifestation, and the core for sword intent storage.

Each layer of array patterns had intersecting nodes, and all these nodes ultimately converged at one location: the most inconspicuous fine line at the base of the sword shadow.

"Found it." The Burning Heaven Phoenix Wings behind you unfurled abruptly, the crimson-gold flames imbued with the sharpness that everything in the world could be a sword.

But you did not attack the sword shadow directly. Instead, you spread out your Array Master techniques, shooting hundreds of extremely fine array-pattern threads from your fingertips. They bypassed the front of the sword shadow and bit into the intersecting nodes of the sword talisman's twelve layers of array patterns from the side.

Third breath. Elder Yuan let out a low shout. The innermost layer of the Black Tortoise Guard's scale patterns exploded with a burst of mysterious light, forcefully grinding away ten percent of the sword shadow's sharpness. The sword shadow dimmed slightly for an instant.

That was the moment.

Your array-pattern threads exerted force simultaneously, and the intersecting nodes of the twelve layers of array patterns were severed in that very instant.

The sword talisman's array structure instantly lost its integrity. The chains restraining the sword intent snapped, and the self-destruction mechanism was dismantled from within by your array patterns before it could even trigger.

The golden sword shadow trembled violently and then shattered.

Like a mirror struck by a hammer in the center, the sword shadow turned into countless golden fragments, each dissipating into points of light as they fell.

As those points of light scattered, the green-robed scholar's expression was as if he had swallowed a live toad.

"Impossible... The Immortal-Execution Sword Talisman..." His voice trembled.

"What?" You retracted your array-pattern threads, your Burning Heaven Phoenix Wings flapping slowly behind you. "What do you think the Immortal-Execution Sword Talisman is? A divine artifact? Sorry, anything with an array structure doesn't work in front of me."

The green-robed scholar's face went completely pale.

It was not because of what you said, but because the Immortal-Execution Sword Talisman was his final trump card.

His trump card was exhausted, and standing before him was a Half-step Golden Immortal and a Mid-stage True Immortal Array Master at the peak.

The outcome was decided.

But before he could order a retreat, you had already moved.

Your target was not him. It was the purple-robed female cultivator.

Fragments of space-time secret techniques were activated simultaneously in your sea of consciousness, though not a complete inheritance.

However, accelerating your own perception, slightly influencing the flow of time, and folding space to shorten distances—combined, these three fragments were enough for you to achieve a near-teleportation effect at the Mid-stage True Immortal level.

The purple-robed female cultivator's pupils had only just managed to constrict when you appeared three zhang behind her.

Her reaction was not slow; she thrust her narrow-bladed longsword backhand, blood-colored runes exploding with light on the blade simultaneously.

But your array patterns were faster. Before she could strike, you had already scattered seven array patterns around her, each one precisely biting into her possible paths of retreat.

It was not an attack array, but a sealing array. She had only one path before you, and at the end of that path, was you.

"Didn't you say 'remnant' just now?"

The flames of the Burning Heaven Phoenix Wings surged from your right arm, condensing into a crimson-gold flame longsword. The ancient sword dao realm where "everything can be a sword" made the sharpness of this flame sword inferior to no immortal artifact.

"This is the remnant's reply."

One sword strike.

The flame sword aura pierced through the purple-robed female cultivator's chest, exiting from her back and bringing out a spray of golden blood mist.

Her protective immortal power was non-existent before your Array Master peak perception; you had calculated the weakest point in her protective immortal power a breath ago.

She looked down at the hole in her chest, her lips moving as if to say something, but nothing came out.

A True Immortal's vitality is extremely strong, but the flame sword aura of the ancient sword dao, combined with the primordial flames of the Burning Heaven Phoenix Wings, burned away vitality itself.

The golden flames spread from within her body, and her form turned to ash within half a breath, leaving only the narrow-bladed longsword to fall from the sky and plummet into the sea.

The battlefield was silent for a full breath.

Then the white-robed elder was the first to react. He did not speak, did not act fiercely; he simply tore open a spatial rift and flashed inside.

The green-robed scholar reacted only half a beat slower than him. The phantom of the ancient book suddenly expanded and exploded, turning into a cloud of light that obscured divine sense to cover his retreat.

Those Tribulation Transcendence Stage cultivators who had just broken free from the containment Killing Array saw that the situation was bad and scattered in all directions to flee.

Elder Yuan did not pursue. He waved his sleeve to disperse the light mist and, watching the direction where the green-robed scholar had vanished into the spatial rift, spoke coldly.

"Go back and tell your master: Guixu has never lacked guardians."

The green-robed scholar's voice came from the closing spatial rift, weak but venomous: "The Listening Heaven Pavilion of the Nine Heavens Domain has already set its sights on Guixu... Your good days are numbered!"

The rift closed. Only the lingering light of scattered array patterns and evaporated white mist remained on the sea surface. You retracted your Burning Heaven Phoenix Wings, the flames dissipated, and the sea returned to calm.

You looked down at your right hand. That sword strike just now was the first time you had killed a True Immortal in actual combat.

You did not feel guilty; you only felt it was real.

"Well killed," Elder Yuan said, walking to your side, his tone as casual as if he were commenting on the weather. "That woman was known for her bloodthirstiness at Xingzhi Academy. She forged a Blood Rune Sword, and every rune on it was carved with the essence blood of the living."

"Then I suppose I've acted on behalf of heaven?" You tugged at the corner of your mouth.

"Yes," Elder Yuan said, turning to look at you, his ice-like eyes holding warmth for the first time. "Let's go, Young Master. An entire battalion of old bones that have waited for you for ten thousand years, along with the things they have hoarded for ten thousand years, should all be handed over to you now."