One Sword Kill—You're the Strongest Sequence

The sound of the mountain collapsing suddenly rang out. The cliff face Su Xing had pierced began to crack with a series of sharp, grating sounds.

Cracks spread outward from the point Su Xing had struck, branching in every direction. The entire mountain seemed to collapse completely as it suddenly split into two halves.

The upper half toppled backward in an instant, falling dozens of meters before smashing violently into the barren ground below. It shattered into pieces, kicking up a huge cloud of dust and scattering rocks of all sizes across the ground.

Su Xing stared at the result of his strike in surprise. Even he had not expected White Blade to be this powerful.

One sword had directly flattened an entire mountaintop... Was this really the same Piercing that could only leave a massive crater in a cliff face before?!

Su Xing calmed himself down.

Then, holding the black sword, he flicked it through a flourish.

Mid-flourish, the black sword abruptly dispersed into tiny specks of dark light. Under the sunlight, they appeared unexpectedly distinct. The White Blade surrounding the black sword also rapidly dimmed as the sword vanished.

Su Xing returned to being empty-handed, but he could not stop a smile from spreading across his lips.

White Blade's power was simply too astonishing.

It also confirmed just how massive an improvement he had gained this time.

Aside from White Blade's enhancement, Su Xing had also figured out the advancement pattern of the Sword Saint System. It improved and advanced a sword technique according to the system owner's thoughts—in other words, Su Xing's own ideas.

When advancing sword techniques in the future,

as long as he felt that a technique had some flaw, he could alter and correct it through its next advancement.

Having completed the breakthrough of Draw-Sword Stance, it was time to consider which sword technique to prioritize next. With that thought, Su Xing opened the system panel and studied the profession skills section in contemplation.

Of the three fundamentals—sword moves, stances, and Breath Rhythm—only sword moves had yet to reach Tier Three.

The targets for his next points would certainly be the two remaining sword moves, White-Line Slash and Piercing. But deciding which one to prioritize did make Su Xing hesitate.

White-Line Slash had obvious advantages: area attacks, multi-stage damage, and high power.

Piercing, on the other hand, was more of a targeted skill. It dealt single-target damage and was slightly more powerful than White-Line Slash when used as an area attack. However, if White-Line Slash concentrated every white line onto one point, Piercing was somewhat inferior in power. Beyond that, Piercing also carried the effect of grievous wounds.

Su Xing thought it over carefully.

For now, Piercing was already sufficient as a targeted sword technique.

White-Line Slash, on the other hand, had a higher potential ceiling. In terms of maximum damage alone, White-Line Slash clearly surpassed Piercing by a considerable margin.

Su Xing needed a sword technique powerful enough to make him completely invincible within Tier Three, while also giving him some ability to fight even Tier Four Sequence users.

With that, Su Xing settled on his decision.

White-Line Slash would be his first choice for the next round of point allocation. As for Piercing, he could invest points into it whenever it became necessary.

"Whew."

Having determined his upgrade strategy, Su Xing exhaled a breath of hot air and prepared to turn around and leave.

Just then, a series of fighting sounds suddenly came from not far below the foot of the mountain. The battle noises drew closer and closer, clearly moving from somewhere else toward the mountain foot. At one point, they even seemed to be making their way up the mountain.

Su Xing looked in the direction of the sounds and saw three figures locked in combat. Energies of different colors surged from their bodies, allowing Su Xing to immediately determine that all three were peak Tier Three Sequence users.

Two wore the white robes of the Spirit Cult. The other was someone Su Xing knew well: Liu Ming, the man in charge of the special department in southern Cang City.

Liu Ming was clearly being surrounded by the two Spirit Cult priests.

This is troublesome...

There was only one path down the mountain. With them fighting at its base, it would be nearly impossible for him to avoid them. Su Xing narrowed his eyes, killing intent blazing within them, and said,

"Since I can't avoid them, I'll help Liu Ming kill them all."

As soon as he finished speaking, he clenched his right hand in the air. The black sword that had already vanished reformed in his palm, glinting with cold light.

At the foot of the mountain, the three were engaged in fierce battle.

Liu Ming was fending off two peak Tier Three opponents by himself, leaving him unable to react in time on many occasions. Their blades frequently struck him, leaving wounds across his body.

Liu Ming was covered in injuries, and his stamina was gradually failing. If his strength had not been so formidable, his head would have fallen long ago.

This time,

Liu Ming had fallen into the Spirit Cult's trap.

The special organization had first discovered traces of a Spirit Cult priest. After investigating from multiple angles, they determined that the Spirit Cult had sent only one priest. To be safe, Liu Ming had hidden alone near the sword school, intending to capture that priest the moment he made a move.

But unexpectedly... the Spirit Cult had concealed a backup plan as well. This time, they had sent no fewer than three peak Tier Three priests.

During the earlier battle, Liu Ming had successfully killed one of them in a one-against-three fight. But that had left him seriously wounded, and facing the remaining two priests was becoming increasingly difficult.

Sweat covered his forehead, and exhaustion filled his eyes. Yet Liu Ming still gritted his teeth and focused on withstanding the two Spirit Cult priests' furious assault. As long as... as long as he held on until the special organization's reinforcements arrived, everything here would be over.

Then Liu Ming suddenly said, "Surrender. Once our people arrive, no matter how you resist, death will be your only outcome."

He was obviously short of breath, and his voice was hoarse. His injuries were clearly severe.

"Hahaha, Group Leader Liu, you're quite the comedian. Your special organization has killed so many members of our Spirit Cult, and now you're telling us to surrender?"

"Surrender my ass! Whether it's a dead end or not, we'll talk after your people get here! But... we're worried that Group Leader Liu won't be able to hold on until the special organization arrives!"

One of the Spirit Cult priests, pale-faced and holding a longsword, let out a sinister chuckle.

The other man, whose hands were covered in blood-red claw blades, darkened his expression and said in a deep, buzzing voice,

"Stop wasting words on him. Kill him quickly, then get out of here!"

"Heh, like you needed to tell me!"

The pale-faced Spirit Cult priest shouted hoarsely, "I am the Sword Priest. Today, I will take the head of Group Leader Liu and offer it to the Dirty Ritual!"

After the Sword Priest said this, translucent blue sequence energy immediately spread around his body.

The silver-white sword in his hand, which was half a man's height long, suddenly extended by another section. This was his Sequence, Enhancement. Under the golden sunlight, the enhanced silver-white sword reflected glimmers of cold light.

At this moment,

the Sword Priest finally bared his true fangs!

Liu Ming narrowed his eyes. There was not a trace of color on his face, and blood was still seeping from wound after wound across his body. He clenched both fists tightly, dim yellow light gleaming over them, and said in a grave voice,

"Are you sure you want to fight me to the death?"

"Fight to the death?" The Sword Priest gave Liu Ming a disdainful look and said mockingly, "I admit that you're not weak. You fought the three great priests alone and even killed one of us. But now, you should be at the end of your rope, shouldn't you?"

"Someone at the end of his rope is nothing but trash."

"As for the special organization... they probably still have quite a ways to come from their building, right?"

"Group Leader Liu, surely you aren't expecting those little brats from the sword school to save you? Let me guess... are you expecting Su Yu, Shen Ruyun, or that ordinary person, Su Xing?"

"Why are you talking so much nonsense?!"

"Kill him already! That mysterious expert might show up at any moment!"

At the words "mysterious expert," the Sword Priest's contemptuous expression vanished. The mysterious expert had killed far too many members of the Spirit Cult. No matter how arrogant the Sword Priest was, he could not afford to disregard such a person.

The Sword Priest narrowed his eyes and twisted his neck, producing a series of cracking sounds. But when he looked up the mountain, his entire body suddenly froze.

Because he seemed to have seen a head appear for an instant amid the dense forest before quickly disappearing.

The Sword Priest stood there in a daze for a moment, then rubbed his eyes in confusion and seemed to ask himself, "Was there someone above our heads just now?"

"What?"

The man with the blood-red claw blades asked in confusion.

The instant he asked that question, the Sword Priest immediately snapped out of it. He shouted, "Fuck, there's someone on the mountain! Identity unknown! Hurry up and kill Liu Ming!"

He merely enjoyed toying with people who were bound to die.

But that did not mean that someone who had climbed all the way to the rank of priest would be an idiot!

Someone who had clearly discovered something wrong here yet still dared to come alone was either incredibly confident or genuinely brain-dead. The Sword Priest was unwilling to bet on the latter, so the person on the mountain had to be an expert!

As that thought settled in his mind, the sequence energy around his body grew thicker, almost tangible. This time, he charged straight at Liu Ming with his silver-white sword without saying another word.

The Sword Priest was extremely fast. Translucent blue sequence energy wrapped around his body, drawing a faint blue line through the air as he swung his sword. Faced with such a fierce attack, Liu Ming narrowed his eyes slightly and raised his fists into a fighting stance.

Although Liu Ming's stamina was nearly depleted,

his battle-hardened instincts still led him to make the correct choice at once. He tilted his head and twisted aside as his right fist shot upward from below.

In almost an instant, the Sword Priest's blade stabbed straight through the air roughly a millimeter above Liu Ming's shoulder. But Liu Ming's fist also slammed into the Sword Priest's body. The Sword Priest's blood and energy surged, forcing him to stagger back several steps before he managed to suppress the urge to vomit blood.

In a one-on-one fight,

Liu Ming was indeed far stronger than the Sword Priest.

But this had never been a one-on-one battle. Just as Liu Ming's fist sent the Sword Priest reeling, the other Spirit Cult priest reached Liu Ming's side and drove a fist directly into his abdomen.

A heavy, muffled impact rang out.

Liu Ming felt sweetness rise in his throat as intense pain erupted from his abdomen, finally igniting the exhaustion throughout his body. His entire body went limp, and he dropped to one knee. Supporting himself on his knee, he looked unwillingly at the two men before him.

"Heh, I finally hit you."

"Group Leader Liu, I hope you remember my name even after you go to hell. I am the Insect Priest."