Yun Chaoxian

Tiger King died peacefully.

When Chu Liang unleashed his divine ability, he had indeed believed he was casting the Hundred Swords Art.

But the instant the Red Light Sword was sent forth, he sensed something strange.

It was an emotion suppressed for who knew how many years—rage, loathing, urgency... It was the wild joy of a sword of justice, sealed away for ages, finally able to strike at evil once more.

This was the awakening of the Sword of Justice!

Whoosh—

At a thought from him, the Red Light Sword began to divide: one became ten, ten became a hundred, a hundred became a thousand, a thousand became ten thousand...

A force from nowhere suddenly erupted, like a green wind lending its strength and helping one soar straight into the clouds.

Boom!

A mass of Sword Qi suddenly erupted in the air with a thunderous blast.

Ten thousand swords hung in the sky, boundless as the eye could see!

Even Chu Liang himself was utterly shaken by the sight.

Was this the Ten Thousand Swords Art?

Probably not just that. Ordinary Ten Thousand Swords Art should not have such power in every strand of Sword Qi. The Red Light Swords blotted out the sky as they surged toward the enormous black tiger.

Whoosh whoosh whoosh whoosh whoosh...

A single sword gleam swept past, cutting only a shallow wound. Demon Qi spilled out, but not even blood splashed down.

But when there were tens of thousands of such swords, the scale became entirely different.

The first volley alone made Tiger King let out a pained howl. "Awoo awoo—"

The burly man seized the chance to leap back, not forgetting to snatch up the Mountain-Subduing River-Suppressing Halberd from the ground. With the halberd in hand, his entire bearing changed at once, his aura five parts stronger than before!

But there was no longer any need for him to act.

The overwhelming sword light began its second round of slicing.

Whoosh whoosh whoosh whoosh whoosh...

The sword gleams whirled chaotically, like bees returning to their hive, darting in and out around the black tiger's enormous body. They shuttled back and forth, like a radiant halo enveloping it.

It sounded complicated, but it all happened in the blink of an eye. The ten thousand swords had already completed who knew how many volleys, and Tiger King's eyes shone brightly as an eerie light spread across its body.

"Aaah—" it let out a strange roar.

Rumble!

After being pierced through by ten thousand swords, it suddenly exploded in a blast, raining blood across the sky! It came pattering down!

Not even bones remained.

It had been shot to pieces.

Only a golden phantom entered Chu Liang's body.

Right after that, the Red Light Sword flew back before him, flickering with bloodthirsty red light.

Chu Liang suddenly recalled its previous description... This was a sword of justice. When facing an enemy steeped in evil and wrapped in blood-soaked karma, it would gain a tremendous increase in power.

That was what it said, but this power boost... wasn't it a little too tremendous?

From the Hundred Swords Art to the Ten Thousand Swords Art, that was at least a hundredfold increase!

He had never seen those legendary divine swords, but among all the treasured swords he had seen in the Shushan Sect, not one could compare to this.

It was simply outrageous.

Even he himself had been stunned, let alone anyone else.

The bare-chested burly fellow was shocked beyond measure.

He stood there staring for quite a while before finally walking over, holding his great halberd upside down. Light flickered in his eyes as he said, "I am Yun Chaoxian of the Heavenly Gang Sect. Thank you for lending a hand, sir!"

"Chu Liang of the Shushan Sect," Chu Liang replied.

"So you are a disciple of Shushan. I have long admired you, long admired you." The burly man cupped his hands, speaking with great politeness.

"So you are from the Heavenly Gang Sect. No wonder you are so mighty," Chu Liang promptly returned courteously.

Only then did he get a clear look at the burly man's face. Not only was he tall and imposing, he was also rather handsome, with swordlike brows, round eyes, and sharply defined features.

The way he looked at Chu Liang was filled with awe.

Just as Chu Liang was about to exchange a few pleasantries with him, he suddenly seemed to remember something. His expression changed. "Wait!"

With that, he immediately turned and ran off.

Not knowing why, Yun Chaoxian picked up his great halberd and followed.

Chu Liang rushed out of the cave and saw that the mountains and plains outside were empty. There was not even the shadow of a demon in sight.

Those lesser demons cherished their lives most of all. The moment they saw their king dead, they scattered like birds and beasts, terrified that they might be even a fraction too slow. Chu Liang had delayed by only the slightest bit, yet as expected, he could no longer catch a single one.

"Alas..." Only then did Chu Liang let out an empty sigh. "They ran. They all ran..."

Yun Chaoxian asked curiously, "Brother Chu, why concern yourself with those lesser demons? They cannot amount to much. By slaying this black tiger demon, you have already quelled the demon scourge in the area."

"I..." Chu Liang paused, then said, "One must root out evil completely."

Yun Chaoxian cupped his hands again. "Brother Chu is righteousness incarnate. Admirable, truly admirable."

Since the lesser demons had already fled, Chu Liang and Yun Chaoxian simply traveled down the mountain together, chatting along the way.

Chu Liang had actually had some impression of him before. He had once read in the Seven Star Gazette that the Heavenly Gang Sect's most outstanding core disciples of this generation numbered four, cultivating the saber, spear, sword, and halberd respectively.

The most famous was naturally the Heavenly Gang Sect's senior disciple, Ren Hongdao.

And Yun Chaoxian was the one who trained with the halberd.

"Our Heavenly Gang Sect is located in the northwest. When those four divine envoys entered Yu Dynasty territory from the far west this time, they caught our sect's attention."

"The sect ordered the four of us disciples to each pursue and kill one divine envoy."

"Who knew the man I pursued would be so cunning..." At this point, Yun Chaoxian was full of indignation. "He proposed a wager with me, drew a circle on the ground, and said that neither of us could bring a weapon into the circle. Whoever stepped out first would lose and be at the other's disposal."

"I agreed and entered the circle to wager with him."

"I had only punched him once, but who knew he would use the momentum to fly out of the circle, hoist my Mountain-Subduing River-Suppressing Halberd onto his shoulder, and run!"

"I said he had lost, but he said that as long as I could catch him, he would be at my disposal."

"No martial virtue!"

"..." Chu Liang fell silent for a moment.

He recalled how that divine envoy had said earlier that he had encountered a disciple of the Heavenly Gang Sect.

His skills were not weak, but his brain did not work very well.

That really was an objective assessment.

Judging by cultivation alone, Yun Chaoxian truly could fight.

He had been able to clash fiercely with a fifth-realm Demon King in its true form without falling behind.

And one had to know that he had practiced the halberd since childhood, with all his skill resting upon that great halberd. Yet when he battled Tiger King, he had been bare-handed!

For martial cultivators, weapons were of utmost importance. Without a weapon that suited him, he could at most bring out sixty percent of his strength, yet he had already displayed such divine might.

Now that he held the Mountain-Subduing River-Suppressing Halberd, he was likely no weaker than the ordinary geniuses of immortal sects.

If they compared cultivation alone, even Senior Sister Jiang Yuebo might not be able to defeat him with complete certainty; after all, they ran on different tracks. But... if they truly fought, Senior Sister Jiang could probably find a hundred ways to beat him.

All one could say was that this thing called a brain was still quite important for cultivators.

"Brother Chu, would you be willing to accompany me and hunt down that scoundrel?" Yun Chaoxian suddenly invited him.

"Hm?" Chu Liang was surprised. "Why does Brother Yun want me to come with you?"

"That divine envoy of the Demon Race is treacherous and cunning, devoted to plotting harm against our human race. Every man has the right to kill him. With my strength alone, I may not be able to deal with him." Yun Chaoxian looked at Chu Liang with a face full of admiration. "But Brother Chu, your cultivation is exceptional—you can be called a heaven's chosen. If I can have your help, we will surely kill this villain!"

"My cultivation is exceptional..." Chu Liang hesitated.

"Yes! From childhood until now, I have never admired anyone, but after seeing your divine ability today, I am truly convinced!" Yun Chaoxian nodded heavily, his eyes shining with worship. "Actually, Brother Chu, your aura seems ordinary, as though you are utterly unremarkable. If I had not seen you perform the Ten Thousand Swords Art with my own eyes, I never would have imagined you were this formidable!"

Yes.

Chu Liang smiled.

Not just you... even I never imagined I was this formidable.