Chapter 189

Su Fan looked at the tiny sword emerging on the Jade Stele, his heart surging with excitement.

Sword intent churned around him.

He unleashed every forbidden art he knew.

His lifespan burned away madly.

Since it was the Forbidden Sword, forbidden arts could be said to be of the same kind as it.

Perhaps he could subdue this sword.

The sword had no physical form.

It seemed to have been condensed from pure Sword Dao resonance.

It contained some sort of law.

Sure enough, the sword upon the Jade Stele was drawn toward him.

It was emerging from within the Jade Stele.

Buzz!

The nine swords surrounding the Jade Stele began to hum.

Streams of terrifying sword intent poured into the Jade Stele, nourishing the tiny sword while also preventing it from leaving.

At the same time, every sword within the Sword Abyss surged with sword intent and poured it into the Jade Stele.

Meanwhile, the tiny sword on the Jade Stele also emitted waves of Sword Dao resonance, feeding them back into every sword.

A unique cycle formed.

Su Fan pressed his palm against the Jade Stele.

Sword intent surged without end, while the aura of forbidden arts coiled around him.

His lifespan poured madly into the Jade Stele.

One hour, two hours...

Even Su Fan no longer knew how much lifespan he had consumed.

Until, at a certain moment, that Forbidden Sword seemed to gain a physical form and suddenly drilled out of the Jade Stele.

It entered through his palm.

Boom!

A forbidden aura surged.

At that moment, his lifespan began burning away even faster.

Within Su Fan's consciousness, a river of swords seemed to appear.

"Terrifying!"

Su Fan hurriedly focused his mind, burning his lifespan madly as he began subduing the Forbidden Sword that had entered his body.

As the Dao Sword—or rather, the Forbidden Sword—left, the Jade Stele's suction force that drained vitality and lifespan immediately plummeted.

It became much weaker.

Yet the nine swords surrounding the Jade Stele continued pouring in sword intent.

Sword resonance still flowed from within the Jade Stele in return.

Su Fan's lifespan drained away wildly, while the Forbidden Sword within him continuously devoured it.

It seemed as though it would never be satisfied!

It truly possessed a demonic nature!

And it was greedy by nature.

"I have to subdue it!"

Su Fan drew a deep breath.

His condition was not good at the moment, and he could not unleash the strength of the Emperor Sword Realm!

The main reason was that most of the lifespan he had consumed had been taken by the Forbidden Sword.

The lifespan burned to cast forbidden arts had been snatched away by the Forbidden Sword, causing the power of those arts to drop sharply!

"Looks like I can't go down the mountain right away!"

Su Fan felt helpless.

He had to subdue the Forbidden Sword before he could descend the mountain.

Otherwise, the Forbidden Sword would keep stealing the lifespan he burned when casting forbidden arts, and his strength would be greatly diminished!

"This Jade Stele..."

Su Fan looked toward the Jade Stele.

Although he had taken the Forbidden Sword away.

The Jade Stele had, after all, nurtured Dao Swords for countless years and had long formed the rudiments of a Dao Sword.

"Perhaps it will nurture another Dao Sword in the future!"

Of course, the Dao Sword nurtured later would be far inferior to the Forbidden Sword.

Yet it would still be immensely powerful.

The Forbidden Sword had sought to carve out a Sword Dao upon the Great Dao.

That was precisely why it had suffered backlash from the Great Dao and become the Forbidden Sword.

When Su Fan took the Forbidden Sword, ripples appeared in the Sword Abyss. Every sword released sword intent, as though they felt a sense of liberation.

Yet there was also a trace of sorrow.

These God Swords had long since developed spirits.

Especially the nine swords surrounding the Jade Stele, which had surpassed even the category of God Swords.

"This is the core of Sword God Mountain, its true foundation!"

Su Fan sighed.

How powerful had Sword God Mountain once been?

One only needed to look at the swords in the Sword Abyss to know.

Any one of the swords here, if passed into the outside world, would spark a scramble among countless powerful cultivators.

"Now that the Sword Abyss's force of draining lifespan and vitality has greatly weakened, those above the Void Sword Realm can come in and gain some insight."

Spending a day here would cost one year of lifespan.

If one's talent was sufficient, one or two days would be enough to gain insight, perhaps even inherit a God Sword.

It was worth it!

However, entering the Sword Abyss was not easy.

Besides sufficient talent, one also had to be a true disciple of Sword God Mountain.

Everything Su Fan cultivated was a forbidden art of Sword God Mountain.

He was a true disciple among true disciples. Since he had even cultivated such secret forbidden arts, he was already beyond comparison with ordinary true disciples.

"If Sword God Mountain is to rise again, it will depend on this place!"

Su Fan turned and left the Sword Abyss.

By coming to take the Forbidden Sword, he had effectively unlocked this part of Sword God Mountain's foundation within the Sword Abyss.

This allowed others to enter it briefly.

He returned to the Cliff of Reflection.

Su Fan sat beneath that great tree and began subduing the Forbidden Sword.

Since the Forbidden Sword wanted to devour lifespan, he would begin with lifespan and subdue it!

It possessed a demonic nature?

Su Fan would let this sword know who possessed the greater demonic nature!

Sword Testing Platform.

The battle between Bai Shaokong and Jian Qiu continued.

Chen Cang, however, could neither sit nor stand at ease. What exactly had happened in the Sword Abyss?

Could something have gone wrong?

Ling Rushuang was cultivating in seclusion within the Sword Abyss. Would she be affected?

Could the disturbance at the bottom of the Sword Abyss even be related to her?

Chen Cang was suffering inwardly, wishing he could leave at once and investigate the Sword Abyss.

Yet!

Bai Shaokong and Jian Qiu had still not determined a victor.

Dawn was nearly here.

"Sword Demon, there is no need to continue this battle, is there?"

Chen Cang spoke in a deep voice.

No matter how he looked at it, this battle should end in a draw.

"Indeed, there is no need to continue."

Sword Demon chuckled.

Chen Cang let out a breath of relief. Once the sparring ended, he would immediately send Sword Demon away.

As long as Sword Demon left, he would go investigate the Sword Abyss at once!

Yet Sword Demon said, "Jian Qiu, stop holding back!"

Chen Cang's pupils contracted!

Sure enough, Jian Qiu had not used his full strength!

Everyone from Sword God Mountain felt their hearts tighten.

Could Senior Brother lose?

The sword cultivators watching around them were all shocked and doubtful. Could the Devil Palace truly suppress Sword God Mountain this time?

Would it seize the throne as the orthodox lineage of swordsmanship beneath heaven?

"Yes, Master!"

Jian Qiu nodded.

At that moment, a bleak air suddenly surfaced upon his cold face.

The wind stirred.

It was as though autumn had arrived, with fallen leaves drifting through the air!

A desolate chill spread, like a gentle autumn wind!

That was sword intent!

Although Chen Cang had anticipated it, he was still utterly shocked.

Jian Qiu had already comprehended sword intent!

He was only at the Spirit Sword Realm.

His talent in the Sword Dao was even three parts stronger than Bai Shaokong's!

Of course, he still could not compare with Ling Rushuang!

Comprehending sword intent at the Spirit Sword Realm already made one a swordsmanship prodigy rarely seen in a thousand years.

Yet Ling Rushuang had comprehended sword intent when she was at the Profound Sword Realm!

"Last autumn, I gained enlightenment among the fallen leaves, so I call it Autumn Wind Sword Intent!"

Jian Qiu spoke.

Bai Shaokong's expression became exceedingly grave.

He had yet to comprehend sword intent. He was only a tiny step away.

Without any surprises, he would only comprehend sword intent after breaking through to the Void Sword Realm.

Yet Jian Qiu had already comprehended it.

"You should admit defeat."

Jian Qiu spoke calmly.

Under normal circumstances, Bai Shaokong, who had not comprehended sword intent, would undoubtedly lose.

Yet Bai Shaokong did not admit defeat.

Instead, his fighting spirit soared.

"I was just about to experience your sword intent!"

Bai Shaokong smiled. "I would like to see whether you can break my Man-Sword Unity!"