One Sword Suppresses Three Foes

Luo Heng stood with his sword in hand. Though the Rudimentary Sword Intent had not fully revealed itself, its invisible sharpness seemed to freeze the very air.

Yue Feng, Yue Ling, and Jiang Li all radiated violent auras. Empowered by secret arts, their strength had surged, and the killing intent in their eyes had nearly taken physical form.

"Kill!"

Yue Feng struck first. His blood-red spear carried a shrill wolf's howl as his entire body nearly fused with it, transforming into a streak of crimson lightning that shot straight for Luo Heng's throat! Its speed and power were several times greater than before!

The Blood Datura Flower phantom behind Yue Ling suddenly spun. Countless blood-red petals, more solid than before and edged with a metallic gleam, shot out like a torrential downpour, sealing off every possible route of escape.

Jiang Li prowled about like a ghost, his palms blackened as he searched for an opening in Luo Heng's defenses, ready to deliver a fatal strike.

Faced with this nearly inescapable three-pronged assault, a cold smile finally flashed through Luo Heng's eyes.

"It's time to end this."

He murmured softly, and the Silver Feather Sword in his hand suddenly lit up!

The illusory sword shadow on the blade instantly solidified by another degree, and an even purer, sharper intent erupted!

Lesser Sword Intent!

Under these circumstances, Luo Heng's Half-Formed Sword Intent, already on the verge of Lesser Sword Intent, naturally crossed that threshold and fully entered the lesser stage!

Lesser Sword Intent!

"Slash!"

Luo Heng stepped forward, and the Silver Feather Sword in his hand turned into a gray line too fast for the naked eye to catch, lightly sweeping forward.

There was no earth-shattering explosion of Primal Energy, nor any dazzling sword light.

There was only an exceedingly faint, exceedingly thin gray sword mark, as though it could slice through space itself.

The instant that sword mark appeared, time itself seemed to slow.

The spear that had been like crimson lightning melted and snapped soundlessly the moment it touched the sword mark, like snow beneath the blazing sun.

The madness and killing intent in Yue Feng's eyes were instantly replaced by boundless terror. He tried to retract his spear and retreat, only to discover that he could not move at all. He could only watch helplessly as the gray sword mark traveled along the spear shaft and spread to his arm, shoulder, and neck...

"No—!"

His shriek lasted only halfway before abruptly cutting off.

Yue Feng's body split down the middle into two halves, blood and organs splashing across the ground.

Instant kill!

Immediately afterward, the gray sword mark continued onward, lightly sweeping past the enormous Blood Datura Flower phantom.

The strangely spinning flower suddenly froze, then split apart from the center and turned into countless motes of crimson light that vanished into nothingness.

Yue Ling suffered a heavy blow and spat out a mouthful of blood. Her pretty face instantly turned pale as paper, her eyes filled with disbelief and despair.

Her strongest secret-art killing move had been broken by one casual stroke of his sword...?

At the instant Luo Heng drew his sword, Jiang Li sensed deadly danger. He desperately drove the remnants of his Primal Energy, trying to retreat, but Luo Heng's Spiritual Power had already silently locked onto him.

Within his Niwan Palace, the Myriad Law Seal turned slightly.

Formation of Life · First Stage · Life-Generating Light!

A pale golden beam struck after the others yet arrived first, instantly sinking into Jiang Li's brow!

Jiang Li's body suddenly stiffened, the light in his eyes rapidly fading. His Niwan Palace had suffered severe damage, and before he could even scream, he fell straight backward, devoid of all breath.

From the moment Luo Heng drew his sword to the moment two of the three were dead and one severely injured, only a single breath had passed!

The entire scene fell deathly silent!

Xia Wanjin, Xuan Su, Xia Zhilan, and everyone from the Myriad Gold Merchant Guild stood dumbstruck.

On the Blood Wolf Gang's side, everyone besides Yue Shan seemed to have turned to stone.

Yue Ling collapsed limply to the ground. Looking at her brother's shattered corpse, then at Jiang Li's dead body with his eyes still open, and finally at Luo Heng standing with his sword in hand and an icy gaze, boundless terror completely swallowed her.

"No... don't kill me... I surrender! I surrender!" Her voice trembled as tears and snot streamed down her face, leaving not a trace of her former arrogance.

Luo Heng swept an indifferent gaze over her, then raised the Silver Feather Sword again.

He never left enemies alive, especially enemies like these, vicious by nature and backed by powerful forces.

"Stop!!!"

A roar filled with endless rage and madness exploded like thunder!

Yue Shan's eyes were bloodshot as he watched his son get cut in half by a single sword strike and his daughter hang by a thread. The killing intent and grief in his heart erupted like a volcano!

"You little bastard! I'll tear you into ten thousand pieces!!!"

The terrifying aura of the Great Perfection of the Core Formation Realm erupted without reservation! Blood-red Primal Energy surged into the sky like wolf smoke, forming the phantom of a massive crimson wolf dozens of meters tall. It threw back its head and howled, its roar shaking the surroundings!

Loose stones on the mountain shook and tumbled down under the pressure of that aura.

Xia Wanjin's expression changed drastically as he shouted, "Yue Shan! Are you trying to break the agreement?!"

"Agreement?! My son is dead! Who gives a damn about any agreement?!" Yue Shan's eyes were crimson, and he looked utterly deranged. He stared fixedly at Luo Heng, his voice hoarse like an evil ghost as he roared, "Xia Wanjin, if you dare stop me today, my Blood Wolf Gang will fight your Myriad Gold Merchant Guild to the death!"

Before his words even faded, he shot forward like a cannonball, heading straight for Luo Heng!

"Yue Shan, you're courting death!" Xia Wanjin roared. His body also shot forward, his Great Perfection of the Core Formation Realm aura erupting as he punched toward Yue Shan in an attempt to stop him.

"Get lost!"

Yue Shan roared and threw a backhanded punch!

Mountain Crushing Fist: Mountain Overthrow!

Blood-red Primal Energy condensed into a fist seal the size of a small mountain. Carrying the force to suppress all things, it smashed viciously toward Xia Wanjin!

Xia Wanjin did not dare be careless and unleashed his own ultimate technique to meet it.

"BOOM!!!"

The full-force collision between two Great Perfection of the Core Formation Realm experts erupted with a world-shaking blast!

A violent shockwave swept outward, forcing the surrounding spectators to stagger back again and again. Even the mountain seemed to tremble.

Xia Wanjin let out a muffled groan and was actually forced back three steps, a flush flashing across his face.

Shock filled his heart. Yue Shan's rage-fueled blow was actually this powerful! And Yue Shan seemed... even closer to the Form Creation Stage?!

Taking advantage of that opening, Yue Shan broke through the interception and lunged at Luo Heng like a blood-red fiend. His right hand clenched into a fist as blood-red Primal Energy crazily gathered around it. Veins bulged along his arm, and a savage blood-wolf tattoo could faintly be seen glowing red!

"Little bastard! Pay for my son's life!"

True Mountain Crushing Fist!

As he threw the punch, the air along its path was compressed to the extreme, producing a piercing sonic boom!

Blood-red Primal Energy transformed into an enormous, lifelike wolf head. It opened its bloody maw in a soundless roar, carrying the terrifying power to crush mountains and shatter peaks as it devoured Luo Heng!

This punch contained Yue Shan's lifelong cultivation and towering killing intent. Its power was enough to severely wound an ordinary Small Perfection of the Core Formation Realm cultivator!

"Nephew, watch out!" Xia Wanjin shouted urgently. He wanted to rush in to help again, but it was already too late.

Xuan Su, Xia Zhilan, and the others all felt their hearts leap into their throats.

Yet Luo Heng, facing that heaven-destroying punch head-on, showed no fear in his eyes. Instead, a trace of... excitement flashed within them?

He had been worrying that he lacked a suitable opponent to test the power of his newly attained Lesser Sword Intent!

Yue Shan, at the Great Perfection of the Core Formation Realm, was perfect!

"Excellent!"

Luo Heng let out a long cry. Rather than retreating, he advanced, and the Silver Feather Sword in his hand erupted with unprecedented, dazzling radiance!

Lesser Sword Intent poured into it without reserve!

At his dantian, the dark gold Yuan Core Phantom spun wildly as the Great Devouring Art operated at full force, crazily swallowing the Heaven and Earth Origin Energy made violent by the battle!

His Spiritual Power also stirred silently, the Myriad Law Seal poised to strike.

Facing the incoming wolf-head fist phantom, Luo Heng gripped his sword with both hands, raised it over his head, and then slashed down fiercely!

There was no flashy move, only the purest and most extreme slash!

Tai Xu Swordplay: Void Blade!

A gray sword aura, infused with Sword Intent and condensed to the utmost limit, burst from the sword tip!

The sword aura was only three feet long, yet it was solid as a physical object. Within it, countless tiny cracks faintly formed and vanished, exuding a terrifying intent!

The sword aura and the blood-red wolf-head fist phantom collided violently in midair!

"Screech—!!!"

There was no earth-shattering explosion as expected.

The seemingly invincible crimson wolf head, powerful enough to shatter mountains, was split in two the instant it came into contact with the gray sword aura, like a hot knife through butter!

The sword aura weakened slightly, but it remained incomparably sharp as it slashed toward Yue Shan behind it!

"How is that possible?!" Yue Shan's pupils shrank to pinpoints as monstrous waves rose in his heart!

His full-powered True Mountain Crushing Fist had actually been broken by one strike of the other party's sword?!

How could this kid's Sword Intent be so powerful?! This was definitely not ordinary Lesser Sword Intent!

In his haste, Yue Shan crossed his arms before his chest. Blood-red Primal Energy surged out wildly, forming a thick shield covered in blood-wolf patterns before him!

Blood Wolf Body Protection!

"Clang—!!!"

The sword aura struck the crimson shield, producing an ear-splitting clash of metal!

The shield shook violently, and countless fine cracks appeared across its surface, but it ultimately did not shatter.

Yue Shan was sent flying backward more than thirty meters by the enormous force. His feet plowed two deep furrows into the ground before he barely stabilized himself. Both arms went numb, and his blood and energy churned violently.

He lowered his head to look at the cracks on the shield before his chest, his eyes filled with disbelief.

His Great Perfection of the Core Formation Realm defense had nearly been broken by a junior in the Late Heaven Yuan Realm?!

Meanwhile, Luo Heng merely took three steps back with his sword in hand before standing firm. His aura remained steady, and his gaze was as sharp as a blade.

The difference between them was obvious!

The entire scene once again fell into dead silence.

Everyone looked as though they had been immobilized, staring blankly at the scene before them.

Xia Wanjin's mouth hung slightly open, and he nearly believed he was hallucinating.

Xuan Su's beautiful eyes widened as she covered her red lips with one delicate hand.

Xia Zhilan was completely dumbfounded. Who am I? Where am I? Am I dreaming?

Everyone from the Myriad Gold Merchant Guild, along with the remaining members of the Blood Wolf Gang, was utterly stunned.

A Late Heaven Yuan Realm cultivator had forced back Yue Shan, a Great Perfection of the Core Formation Realm expert, with one sword strike?! He had even nearly broken through Yue Shan's defenses?!

This... this was simply a myth!

"Impossible! This is absolutely impossible!" Yue Shan let out an unwilling roar. The blood-red glow in his eyes deepened. He refused to believe that after decades of arduous cultivation, he could be inferior to a youth of sixteen or seventeen!

"You must have used some secret treasure or forbidden art! I refuse to believe you can maintain this state forever!" Yue Shan howled as he charged again, throwing both fists out at once!

Mountain Crushing Fist: Double Peaks Piercing Ears!

Two somewhat smaller but more solid blood-red fist seals attacked from the left and right, pinching Luo Heng between them and sealing all routes of escape.

Luo Heng's expression did not change. He used the Flowing Cloud and Soaring Goose Steps, slipping like a phantom through the narrow gap between the two fist seals while swinging his sword backhandedly toward Yue Shan's ribs.

The sword light flashed like lightning, striking from a tricky angle.

Yue Shan had abundant combat experience. He twisted aside to dodge, then swept his right leg toward Luo Heng's lower body like an iron whip.

Luo Heng leaped lightly into the air, and the Silver Feather Sword slashed downward with the motion.

The two instantly clashed.

Yue Shan's punches were fierce and tyrannical. Every punch carried the weight of a mountain and the force to split rock and shatter stone. His blood-red Primal Energy surged wildly, blasting the surrounding ground full of craters and sending broken rocks flying.

Luo Heng's swordsmanship, however, was nimble and unpredictable, his movement erratic and elusive. Lesser Sword Intent granted him unmatched offensive force. Every sword strike carried a sharpness capable of tearing through all things, forcing Yue Shan to avoid direct clashes and rely on his deeper reserves of Primal Energy and richer combat experience to hold on.

What shocked Yue Shan even more was that Luo Heng's Primal Energy recovered at an astonishing rate! Despite such an intense confrontation, the other party's aura showed no sign of weakening. Instead, he only grew braver as the battle went on, and his Sword Intent became increasingly condensed!

Meanwhile, Yue Shan's own Primal Energy was being drained faster and faster!

He did not know how abnormal Luo Heng's Great Devouring Art was. Even in battle, it could crazily devour Heaven and Earth Origin Energy and an opponent's Primal Energy to replenish consumption, granting him endurance far beyond others of the same realm.

And Luo Heng was not relying on swordsmanship alone.

Within his Niwan Palace, the Myriad Law Seal operated constantly. His Spiritual Power spread like invisible tentacles, sensing every circulation of Yue Shan's Primal Energy and every contraction of his muscles, predicting the path of each incoming attack.

The Formation of Life was also secretly gathering power, ready at any moment to deliver a fatal strike against Yue Shan's mind.

The longer Yue Shan fought, the more stifled and alarmed he became.

He realized that he, a dignified Great Perfection of the Core Formation Realm expert, was actually being completely suppressed by a junior in the Late Heaven Yuan Realm!

That strange Sword Intent of his opponent was not only peerless in offense; it also possessed a trait capable of annihilating all techniques, greatly diminishing the power of Yue Shan's protective Primal Energy and martial arts!

His opponent's movement technique was even more slippery than an eel. Of the ten punches Yue Shan was most proud of, seven or eight struck nothing but empty air.

I can't let this continue! A vicious glint flashed through Yue Shan's eyes.

He suddenly retreated several meters and formed a complex hand seal. The Yuan Core within him shook wildly as an even more violent and ferocious aura erupted from his body!

The blood-red Primal Energy around him was no longer merely wolf-shaped. It began collapsing inward and condensing, faintly showing signs of transforming into some higher form!

The blood-wolf markings on his skin seemed to come alive, slowly writhing as they emitted an unsettling pulse.

"Is he... trying to force his way into the Form Creation Stage?!" Xia Wanjin's face changed drastically.

At a time like this, Yue Shan was actually attempting to use rage and pressure to forcibly break through that final barrier!

If he successfully entered the Form Creation Stage, his strength would undergo a heaven-shaking transformation. No one present would be able to stop him!

"We can't let him succeed!" Xia Wanjin was about to step forward and interrupt him.

But Luo Heng moved even faster!

"Trying to break through? Have you asked my sword?"

A cold light exploded in Luo Heng's eyes. He knew he could not drag this out any longer.

Within his Niwan Palace, the Myriad Law Seal shone brilliantly!

Formation of Life · Third Stage · Myriad Transformation Flame!

An invisible, intangible Spiritual Power attack containing a terrifying fluctuation capable of incinerating spiritual consciousness crossed space and instantly entered Yue Shan's brow!

At the same time, Luo Heng poured all of his Primal Energy into the Silver Feather Sword without reservation!

Lesser Sword Intent was pushed to its absolute limit!

Fine sword-shaped patterns emerged across the surface of the dark gold Yuan Core Phantom within his dantian!

Sword Intent: Slash!

Gripping his sword with both hands, Luo Heng seemed to merge into one with it, transforming into a gray sword rainbow that pierced through heaven and earth as he slashed fiercely toward Yue Shan, who was at the critical moment of his breakthrough and whose mind had suffered severe damage!

This sword contained all of his essence, energy, and spirit. It contained the ultimate sharpness of Lesser Sword Intent, as well as the true meaning of Tai Xu Swordplay's ability to cleave through the void!

Wherever the sword rainbow passed, space itself seemed to be cut apart, leaving behind a faint black trace!

Yue Shan was caught in the dual agony of a breakthrough and a wounded mind. As he sensed the deadly sword strike coming, terror and despair finally appeared in his eyes.

He frantically drove his remaining Primal Energy, trying to form a defense, trying to dodge.

But the Myriad Transformation Flame of the Formation of Life was ravaging his Niwan Palace, burning away his mental will and slowing his reactions by more than a beat.

And that gray sword arc was too fast, too sharp!

"No—!!!"

Amid his despairing howl, the gray sword arc swept across Yue Shan's neck without the slightest obstruction.

Time seemed to freeze at that instant.

Yue Shan's burly body suddenly stiffened. Madness, unwillingness, and a trace of disbelief still lingered in his wide-open eyes.

The next moment, his head separated from his body.

Blood shot into the sky like a fountain!

Yue Shan, Great Perfection of the Core Formation Realm and leader of the Blood Wolf Gang, was dead!