74: Guixu First Trial
Holding the broken guixu sword, Ye Chen stepped out of the range of the Sword Tomb.
Behind him, the grave composed of countless broken swords returned to silence, with only the wind moaning, as if recounting an ancient desolation.
Compared to when he entered, Ye Chen's aura was now restrained like an abyss, yet his footsteps carried a rhythm that subtly resonated with this Secret Realm.
The Legacy of the Nirvana Sword Venerable was like a bright lamp lit within his Soul, illuminating the path ahead and giving him a clearer understanding of his own Dao of the sword.
He did not rush to search for the hidden "carrier" or other Opportunities, but instead chose a relatively secluded ruin constructed from several toppled giant stone pillars to begin consolidating his gains and familiarizing himself with this reborn guixu sword.
Holding the guixu sword in his hand, it felt as light as nothingness, yet as heavy as a mountain.
The sensation of a connection of flesh and blood was incredibly clear; he could even feel the faint yet incomparably resilient spirituality within the blade slowly breathing, resonating in sync with his own Nirvana Sword Intent.
He attempted to inject a trace of Qi into the sword.
Hum—
The guixu sword emitted a low, soft hum, and upon the dark, dull blade, the flowing Chaos luster seemed to brighten by an imperceptible fraction.
The air around the tip of the sword spontaneously produced a tiny, inward-collapsing distortion, as if even light was being devoured by it.
With a thought, Ye Chen casually swung the sword at a broken stone pillar beside him that required several people to embrace.
There was no dazzling sword light, no sharp sound of tearing through the air.
The guixu sword sank into the hard stone pillar silently, as if cutting through tofu.
Where the blade passed, the stone was not cut apart, but directly turned into the finest powder, falling down with a rustling sound; the cross-section was smooth as a mirror, yet it carried a sense of deathly silence, as if all things were ending and returning to nothingness.
Ye Chen withdrew his sword, looking at the smooth cross-section, a trace of shock flashing in his eyes.
This did not rely on sharpness, but the Nirvana Dao rules contained within the guixu sword itself, which directly disintegrated the structure of matter!
Its power far exceeded the previous qingfeng sword, and it was even purer, even more... essential than the "Nirvana Guixu" Move he executed with his full strength!
"What a great Guixu!" Ye Chen was delighted in his heart.
With this sword in hand, his strength had increased by at least thirty percent!
More importantly, holding the Guixu, his comprehension and application of the Nirvana Sword Intent were deepening at every moment.
He began to practice sword techniques in the ruins.
It was no longer fixed Moves, but rather acting as he wished, swinging freely.
In his hand, the guixu sword was at times like a hidden Dragon emerging from the abyss, carrying an overbearingness that devoured everything; at times like a gentle breeze brushing against a willow, inducing annihilation in silence; and at other times like an ancient well without ripples, yet concealing the terror of ending all things.
He attempted to fuse the several different Sword Intents he had comprehended in the Sword Tomb with his own Nirvana Devouring Sword Intent.
At first, it was somewhat sluggish, but under the mediation of the guixu sword and the guidance of the Nirvana Sword Venerable's Legacy philosophy, it gradually showed a trend of Fusion.
His Sword Intent was no longer merely dark gold, but presented a strange scene with dark gold as the core, surrounded by flowing Chaos currents, dotted with starlight representing different sword Dao philosophies, appearing increasingly profound and unfathomable.
Just as he was immersed in practicing the sword, his mind and the guixu sword becoming increasingly in sync—
"Swish! Swish! Swish!"
Three sharp sounds of tearing through the air suddenly rang out, attacking him in a 'pin' formation!
Those were three black arrows entirely condensed from pure Yin Evil Death Qi, their speed astonishingly fast; as the arrows streaked through the air, even the chaotic Sword Intent field was briefly torn apart!
An ambush! And it came from three different directions!
Ye Chen's eyes turned cold; he was no longer the novice he once was.
Almost the moment the sound of tearing air rang out, his figure vanished from the spot like a ghost, the Grand Void Roaming Dragon Steps appearing even more untraceable under the augmentation of the Nirvana Sword Intent.
The three black arrows pierced through the afterimage he left behind and violently nailed themselves into the stone pillar behind, the Yin Evil Death Qi contained within the arrows erupting, instantly corroding three huge holes into the hard stone pillar!
"Hmph! As expected, you have some tricks; no wonder you could kill my Dark Hall Emissary!"
A cold voice rang out, and three figures dressed in blood-colored tight-fitting clothes, wearing ghost masks on their faces, slowly walked out from the shadows in three directions.
Their auras were connected, surprisingly forming a simple battle formation, with each person's cultivation at around the Kaiyuan Realm Seventh Level, and the leader even reaching the Peak of the seventh level!
Their auras were more condensed and their Evil Qi heavier than the previous assassins!
"An elite squad of the Blood Blade?" Ye Chen stood holding his sword, his gaze sweeping over the three, understanding dawning in his heart.
The Dark Hall's revenge had come very quickly, and the force was getting stronger each time.
"Kid, hand over what you obtained in the Sword Tomb and cripple your own cultivation, and you might be left with an intact corpse!"
The leader of the Blood Blade squad had a hoarse voice, carrying unquestionable killing intent.
Ye Chen curled his lips into a cold arc: "You want it? Come and take it yourself."
"Court death! Form up, kill!"
The Blood Blade squad leader shouted sharply, and the three attacked simultaneously!
Their figures intertwined like three streaks of blood-colored lightning, their curved blades drawing out shrill blood-colored arcs, slashing at Ye Chen from different angles!
Before the blade light arrived, the fierce Evil Qi gathered together had already turned into invisible shackles, attempting to bind Ye Chen's movements.
If it were before, facing three opponents of the same or even higher rank who coordinated well and formed a formation, Ye Chen would inevitably have fallen into a bitter battle.
But at this moment—
He moved.
He did not use exquisite footwork to dodge, but simply took a step forward.
At the same time, the guixu sword in his hand drew a seemingly plain and unremarkable arc from bottom to top.
"Guixu... Draw."
Following his low whisper, the space along the trajectory where the guixu sword passed seemed to slightly cave inward.
Those three incoming blood-colored blade lights, as if pulled by an invisible force, involuntarily deviated from their original trajectories and converged toward the tip of the guixu sword!
Not only that, even the fierce Evil Qi that attempted to bind Ye Chen was torn and devoured by this invisible gravitational force!
The expressions of the three Blood Blade Assassins changed drastically; they felt their strength like mud cows entering the sea, and a terrifying suction force came from the opponent's strange broken sword, wanting to devour them, people and blades alike!
"Scatter!" The leader was experienced and, in shock, immediately ordered a change in formation.
However, it was too late.
Ye Chen slightly turned his wrist, and the guixu sword changed from drawing to slashing.
"Chi—!"
A faint gray sword ray, as if from the beginning of Chaos, broke away from the guixu sword and instantly swept across the bodies of the three assassins.
There was no blood splattering, no screams or wails.
The three Blood Blade Assassins remained in their forward-charging and formation-changing postures, standing stiffly on the spot.
The next moment, their bodies, along with the curved blades in their hands and the protective Evil Qi around them, were like a pencil drawing erased by an eraser, starting from their feet, silently turning into nothingness and dissipating into the air.
In their place, only three slowly calming spatial ripples remained.
The guixu sword showed its edge for the first time, and three Kaiyuan Realm Seventh Level Dark Hall elites were instantly annihilated!
Ye Chen slowly withdrew his sword, feeling the slight, satisfied tremor coming from the guixu sword, as well as the wisp of pure energy fed back, nourishing himself.
This was not active devouring, but a little bit of Origin spontaneously absorbed by the guixu sword after annihilating the enemy, pure and without any Impurities.
"Guixu... Draw... Slash..." Ye Chen savored that sword Move just now.
This was not a fixed Move in the Legacy, but an application he naturally executed while holding the Guixu, with a feeling in his heart.
It perfectly displayed the devouring and annihilation characteristics of the Nirvana Sword Intent through the guixu sword.
He looked up toward the deeper, darker direction of the Secret Realm, where the Sword Intent fluctuations were more ancient and violent.
"The small fry of the Dark Hall have been cleaned up; it's time to go see the real master."
He had a premonition that the hidden "carrier," or rather, the Dark Hall's greater plot here, was in that direction.
His figure moved, and Ye Chen turned into a blurry stream of light, holding the broken guixu sword, and charged straight toward the core area of the Secret Realm.
Not long after he left, in the shadows of the ruins, a phantom almost integrated with the darkness slowly solidified, looking at the place where the three subordinates disappeared and the direction Ye Chen left, the gaze under the hood filled with gravity and a trace of disbelief.
"The fluctuation of the Moment of Nirvana... and that sword... must report to the Elder immediately!"
The phantom shattered silently, turning into a wisp of black smoke, merging into the ground, and disappearing.