Detonating the Sword Seed

At this moment, the sixteen Seven Kill Sect death soldiers who had integrated the Sword Seed were each rushing toward the locations of the sixteen Formation Flags, converging with the Seven Kill Sect disciples guarding them and quietly waiting for their prey to arrive.

In the east of the city, beside a collapsed bell tower.

A man in black with a blood-red sword mark between his brows stepped out from the shadows.

The Seven Kill Sect leader guarding this spot glanced at him, his gaze lingering for a moment on the sword mark between the man's brows. A flicker of wariness flashed in his eyes, but it was quickly replaced by excitement.

"The Sword Seed has arrived," the leader whispered, a hint of madness appearing in his eyes. "Let's wait for the people from the Three Great Sects."

The man in black did not speak; he simply stood silently beside the Formation Flag, like a mute statue.

But in his eyes, a flame of madness was burning.

In the south of the city, in front of a land god temple stained red with blood.

Another man in black with a sword mark between his brows arrived here.

The Formation Flag here was planted on the roof of the land god temple, and there were six people guarding it, making it the location with the most guards among all the flag sites.

"The people from the Three Great Sects have entered," a cultist with a scar on his face licked his lips. "I wonder if they'll find their way to us."

"And what if they do?" another cultist sneered. "With the Sword Seed here, we'll kill as many as come."

The man in black remained silent, simply standing beneath the Formation Flag, closing his eyes and waiting for that moment to arrive.

Similar scenes were playing out simultaneously at the sixteen Formation Flag locations throughout the city.

The sixteen death soldiers with sword marks between their brows were like sixteen time bombs, lurking in the shadows, waiting for their prey to arrive.

In the south of the city, at the ruins of an ancestral hall.

Tian Wei led his small team through two streets, cutting down seven or eight scattered Seven Kill Sect cultists, before coming to a halt in front of a collapsed ancestral hall.

"The blood mist is thickest here; the Formation Flag must be nearby," Tian Wei said, scanning his surroundings. "Everyone, search together. Don't spread out too far. If you encounter any situation, signal immediately. Do not engage recklessly."

"Understood!"

The six team members acknowledged and fanned out.

Chen Xuan walked in the middle-rear of the formation, his Hanfeng Sword hanging at his waist.

"Junior Brother Chen, this is your first mission, isn't it? No need to be too nervous," Tian Wei patted him on the shoulder. "It'll be fine. With so many of us together, even if we run into experts at the fifth or sixth level of Qi Casting, we can handle it."

"Understood!"

Chen Xuan nodded.

The six of them slowed their pace, cautiously creeping forward.

At the end of the alley was a relatively open clearing.

In the center of the clearing stood a large blood-colored flag, its pole covered in strange runes, emitting an eerie red light.

"The Formation Flag!" Han Song, who was walking at the front, eyes lit up. "Found it!"

Tian Wei raised a hand to signal everyone to stop, hiding behind a ruined wall while his gaze swept across the clearing.

In the clearing stood six people.

The leader was a middle-aged man in his forties with a cultivation at the third level of Qi Casting. Behind him were four others: two at the second level of Qi Casting and three at the first level.

And at the entrance of a dilapidated house on the edge of the clearing stood one more person.

That man wore black, had an ordinary face, and his cultivation was only at the ninth level of Body Tempering.

However, there was a thin, blood-red sword mark between his brows that looked like a third eye, emitting a strange glow.

The skin around the sword mark was slightly flushed, as if something were stirring restlessly beneath it.

Chen Xuan's gaze remained fixed on that ninth-level Body Tempering martial artist; the man gave him an incredibly dangerous feeling.

"Seven people," Tian Wei whispered. "Just enough for each of us to take one."

"A ninth-level Body Tempering cultivator dares to guard a Formation Flag?" Han Song laughed disdainfully. "He's just here to die."

"Don't be careless," Chen Xuan suddenly spoke up. "That ninth-level Body Tempering martial artist is a bit strange. There is an... indescribable pressure coming from him that makes one feel uneasy."

Han Song glanced at Chen Xuan but didn't take it to heart.

What kind of pressure could a ninth-level Body Tempering cultivator possibly have?

"Since you're here, stop hiding."

The middle-aged man sneered, raised his hand, and flicked his wrist. A streak of blood-red true energy shot from his palm, slamming into the ruined wall where they were hiding.

"BOOM—"

The ruined wall exploded on impact, sending rubble flying.

"Attack!"

Seeing that their hiding spot was exposed, Tian Wei did not hesitate; he drew his broadsword and charged out first.

Han Song and the other four also drew their swords and followed.

"Die!"

At that moment, the man in black with the sword scar on his forehead moved.

His body began to tremble violently, and the blood-red sword scar between his brows suddenly lit up, emitting an eerie crimson glow that made his face look like a ghost.

Then, an invisible force erupted from that sword scar, spreading in all directions.

It was the power of the mind.

It was not the kind of mental attack used by experts at the seventh level of Qi Casting that could crush an opponent, but a faint yet bizarre ripple, spreading silently like ripples on the surface of water.

Chen Xuan felt a tightness between his brows, and his mind went blank for a brief moment.

But it was only for an instant.

His Vajra True Qi circulated automatically, dispelling the force that had invaded his spirit. The Vajra Technique cultivated both the internal and external, and his fifth-level Qi Casting cultivation combined with his powerful physique made his spirit far more stable than other martial artists of the same rank.

But the others were not so lucky.

A flash of daze crossed the eyes of Tian Wei, Han Song, and the other four, and their forward charge came to a halt, as if they had been frozen in place by something.

It was only for an instant.

Less than a single breath of time.

But in a life-or-death struggle, a moment of distraction is enough to be fatal.

"For the Young Master, for the Seven Kill Sect!"

The man in black shouted, his eyes filled with fanaticism.

Then, his forehead exploded.

It was not that the Sword Seed had been detonated, but that he had detonated the Sword Seed himself.

The blood-red sword scar on his forehead split open violently, and a crimson sword qi shot out from within, soaring into the sky like a blood-red dragon.

It was not an ordinary explosion, but an eruption of sword qi.

The blood-red sword qi surged from his forehead, spreading in all directions and transforming into countless tiny crimson sword beams that poured down like a torrential rain.

Each beam of sword qi carried a sharp edge, tearing through the air with a shrill whistling sound.

Those sword beams were not merely attacks of true qi; each one contained a strand of mental power, piercing not just the body, but the soul as well.

Tian Wei's daze lasted only an instant, but by the time he regained his senses, the blood-red sword qi was already right before him.

He instinctively raised his broadsword to block, but that mental power struck again, and his mind went blank once more.

"Pfft—"

A beam of blood-red sword qi pierced through his shoulder.

"Pfft, pfft, pfft—"

Six more beams of sword qi struck Tian Wei, hitting his right arm, left leg, abdomen, and chest respectively.

More importantly, one of the sword beams pierced his heart.

Tian Wei let out a muffled groan, his massive body swaying twice before his broadsword clattered onto the bluestone floor, and his body collapsed to the ground.