Sacrifice, Breakthrough

Fifth Master Cao of the Cao Family was killed when Li Ye pierced his throat with a single sword strike. The Cao Family people were overcome with grief and fury.

Then they sensed that something was terribly wrong.

After Li Ye killed Fifth Master Cao, his sword flashed, and his entire body became a frigid gust of wind rushing toward them.

"So what if you sent word?"

"Before the Cao Family's masters rush over, every last one of you will die beneath my sword."

Li Ye said coldly as he charged into the crowd.

Then he swept his sword sideways.

Puff! Puff! Puff!

The snow-bright longsword reflected a cold gleam beneath the moonlight. In this height of summer, several snowflakes eerily appeared in the void.

Yet these snowflakes were not real, but condensed from light.

Several crimson lines of blood trailed from beneath Li Ye's sword, stretching into long threads that intertwined with the snowflakes in the air.

The pure white snowflakes were instantly stained a bewitching crimson.

"Ah!"

Several screams rang out. No fewer than four people had their throats slit by Li Ye's sword, collapsing dead to the ground.

The remaining Cao Family people were generally between the second and sixth levels of Qi Gathering. To the current Li Ye, they were no more than earthen chickens and porcelain dogs.

"Go, quickly!"

There were still three left. The leader shouted urgently, turned, and ran.

Seeing this, Li Ye turned and thrust through the air.

Screech!

A thin, elongated strand of Sword Qi shot from the sword tip, piercing through all three bodies in succession and raising clouds of Blood Mist.

"Ah!"

The three screamed. Their bodies froze in place for a moment before they collapsed to the ground, never to rise again.

The first form of the Immortal Slaying Devil Sword: Dripping Water.

As the saying went, dripping water could pierce stone. This form of the Immortal Slaying Devil Sword emphasized penetration.

That was why Li Ye could make a single strand of Sword Qi pierce through three bodies in a row.

The Immortal Slaying Devil Sword had four forms in total. The first form, Dripping Water, contained the variations of dozens of sword moves. Its sword force was sharp and fierce, made especially to break armor and divine robes.

The second form: Falling Snow. The mystery of this move could be summed up in one word—"fast."

The third form: Cloud Movement.

Clouds were mysterious and ethereal, far beyond reach. Thus, this form of the Immortal Slaying Devil Sword was the most complex, with three hundred and sixty variations in its moves.

Because time was pressing, and because his strength far surpassed Fifth Master Cao's, Li Ye had used Falling Snow just now to decide victory with one sword.

If he had used Cloud Movement to break his opponent's Sky Water Sword Technique, it would have been no more difficult than blowing dust away.

The fourth form: River Crossing Slash. This form was grand and majestic, vast and magnificent, fierce and domineering. One sword strike possessed the power to sever a river.

It was also currently the strongest move of the Immortal Slaying Devil Sword, though it consumed the most energy as well.

The first three forms focused primarily on variations in technique, while this fourth form was a brutal style of breaking ten thousand techniques with sheer force. There was no trick to it.

After killing these eight Cao Family people, Li Ye began to sense strands of Killing Intent rapidly closing in from the distant place.

He guessed that the Cao Family masters nearby had arrived.

The Cao Family really has plenty of masters. They're everywhere.

Li Ye thought.

The Golden Ginseng was already in his hands. He was undoubtedly the greatest winner this time.

There was no need to stay and entangle himself with others any longer.

Thus, Li Ye swiftly cleaned up the battlefield.

He obtained eight corpses and eight Spirit Swords, all of which he placed into the Spatial Storage Bag.

Not long afterward, a group of people appeared here.

There were roughly several dozen of them. Aside from the Cao Family people, many had rushed over simply to watch the excitement.

"It's here!"

A middle-aged man with a mole on his face spoke with absolute certainty that this was where the signal had been sent from.

But Li Ye had long since vanished.

There was not a single person at the scene, not even a corpse.

Only the wreckage of a battlefield remained.

Quite a few people were drawn over by the lingering aura in the area.

"Sword Intent!"

A tall Middle-aged Man spoke with a grave expression.

Sword Intent was the mark of practicing the sword until one had Entered the Dao.

It meant one had truly grasped the essence of the Sword Dao.

Such people were one in Ten thousand li, impossible to seek and only found by chance.

Yet traces of Sword Intent had actually been left at the scene.

People guessed that the Cao Family members who had been here earlier had likely met with a grim fate.

"Who? Who was it?!"

An important figure of the Cao Family threw back his head and roared.

"The Cao Family has suffered a devastating loss in this battle. I'm afraid it'll damage their very foundations."

"Isn't that so? Eldest Young Master Cao Bing was killed, an Object Manipulation Realm Elder was slain by a Devil Sect Elder, another Object Manipulation Realm expert is critically injured, and who knows how many more died here."

"Can any of you tell what kind of Sword Intent it was? It feels incredibly overbearing. The person who commands such Sword Intent should be very young. I wonder which sect's Genius he is."

People discussed among themselves.

The reason why they judged Li Ye to be young was simple. If someone who had mastered such tyrannical Sword Intent were an Old Monster, he should have already Attained Enlightenment.

The Cao Family's people would not even be worthy to carry his shoes.

Yet many sword marks remained at the scene, showing that the opponent was not overwhelmingly strong and had been unable to wipe out the Cao Family's people without leaving a trace.

"But if he was going to kill them, why did he take the bodies?"

Someone asked in confusion.

"Destructive Sword Intent."

A certain Strong expert with exceptional eyesight repeatedly sensed the lingering aura in the surroundings before reaching a conclusion.

What?

Destructive Sword Intent—the legendary Destructive Sword Intent with the strongest Killing Power?

The scene was Silent as a Cicada, and everyone wore expressions of disbelief.

Before long, Things concerning a Genius who wielded tyrannical Sword Intent rapidly spread.

Flower Demon, whose power had recovered, Appeared as well after hearing of the matter.

Could it have been him?

Flower Demon instinctively thought of someone—Li Ye.

But then she felt it was unlikely.

How did that guy possess even a shred of a Genius's bearing?

He was full of rotten tricks, bad to the core.

Could someone with such a cluttered mind cultivate the Sword Dao to such a pure realm?

"Flower Demon girl!"

"Girl, is the Golden Spirit Ginseng still intact? Quickly, let us have a look."

Suddenly, a group of old men Rushed over from afar, Arriving In front of Flower Demon In the Blink of an Eye.

They were the Devil Sect's Elders.

But the Elders were in terrible condition at the moment—one could call them miserable.

Among them, the Elder who had claimed he would stay behind for Li Ye had lost an arm. His face was pale, and his breath was as faint as gossamer.

Another Elder had been stabbed through the lung by a single sword strike. His Injuries did not look promising.

One more was being carried on a companion's back, Covered in Blood and seemingly unlikely to survive.

With one sweep of her eyes, Flower Demon's Keen Senses detected that two Elders were missing.

Without any surprise, those two were dead, their bodies placed in a certain Elder's spatial pouch.

The Others had suffered injuries of varying severity. Not one of them had escaped unscathed.

A miserable, bloody aura filled the entire scene.

The Devil Sect had suffered a tremendous loss this time.

"Eh, where is that Youngster who was with you? Whose Disciple is he? Why isn't he here?"

An Elder who was still in relatively good condition asked.

Flower Demon's expression stiffened. She truly could not bear to deliver this crushing news, yet she had no choice but to say it.

"He stole the Golden Ginseng. He isn't one of us at all."

"At the time, he had me under his control."

Flower Demon said.

The Old Fellows' vision went black, and they nearly fainted on the spot.

So after risking their lives against the Masters of five or six Righteous Path families, they had merely been making wedding clothes for someone else?

The Old Fellows wanted to spit blood.

"Flower Sister!"

A shout resounded through the void.

Mad Devil had come looking.

Seeing that Flower Demon was completely unharmed, he quietly let out a breath of relief.

But when he learned of the shameless thing Li Ye had done, his gums nearly started bleeding.

He was on the verge of going berserk.

"Beast!"

Mad Devil cursed loudly.

By then, Li Ye had already arrived at a desolate mountain a hundred li away.

He silently called out in his heart, "Corpse Incineration Furnace!"

Buzz!

A crimson furnace appeared.

Li Ye brought out nine corpses from Flower Demon's Spatial Storage Bag.

One was at the Qi Gathering Ninth Layer, and one at the Qi Gathering Eighth Layer.

The rest were between the Qi Gathering Second and Sixth Layers.

Moreover, they had only been dead for a short time.

"Though there are only nine of them, in terms of quality, they should far surpass the sacrifice from the Iron Saber Society, shouldn't they?"

Li Ye's heart brimmed with anticipation as he decisively tossed all the corpses inside.

Before long, the nine corpses merged with the flames.

Then, their Life Imprints began to break apart.

Scene after scene blossomed forth—far too many.

Li Ye's eyes were dazzled. He simply could not take them all in at once, so he stopped watching altogether.

A moment later, the Life Imprints of the nine people ceased blooming.

Buzz!

The Corpse Incineration Furnace shone, releasing streams of Light Mist that burrowed into Li Ye's body.

Every stream was immensely vast.

Li Ye's body crackled and boomed as though it had undergone decades of Tempering.

The strength of his fleshly body surged violently.

Blinding Crimson Electric Arcs continuously burst from his body.

Thirty-eight thousand jin, thirty-nine thousand jin, forty thousand jin...

Boom!

In just a few blinks, Li Ye's fleshly body erupted with dazzling radiance. A thunderous boom rang out within him as an oppressive aura burst forth.

Body Tempering... Fourteenth Layer.