Brahma's Seven Sin Blades

The system notification hadn't even finished when a streak of azure sword energy tore through the air! Li Chen Zhou leaned back three inches, the sword energy grazing his nose and carving a ten-yard-long furrow in the stone wall behind him.

"A good sword." Li Chen Zhou licked his cheek where the sword energy had cut him, the taste of blood blossoming on his tongue. "Pity about the person wielding it—"

The Blood Demon Blade suddenly emitted a shrill, ghostly wail!

"—Too filthy!"

Blade energy swept out, severing twelve bronze lamps at the edge of the arena at waist height. Jian Wu Dao lightly tapped the broken lamps with his toes, his white robes fluttering as he landed gracefully in front of Xuan Ye. The jade plaque at his waist, inscribed with "Hidden Dragon Seventeen," struck against his scabbard, the clear sound somehow overpowering the clamor of the crowd.

"Easy there, Brother Li." Jian Wu Dao ran a finger along the spine of his sword, the venomous blood instantly vaporizing. "Killing a brutish monk only nets you ten years of cultivation... Spare his life, and we won't have to tear face with Shaolin."

Li Chen Zhou narrowed his eyes, sizing up the seemingly gentle swordsman—that sword energy he used to "save" the monk clearly contained seven layers of hidden force. If he'd been truly struck, his collarbones would have been pierced through by now.

"The Sword King City's Dual Polarity Sword Sutra..." Li Chen Zhou suddenly erupted, the Blood Demon Blade cleaving straight at his opponent's face. "Is used like this!"

The moment the blade and sword collided, Jian Wu Dao's pupils constricted. This was clearly the Sword King City's secret opening stance, yet the blade's momentum contained the devouring power of the Soul Absorption Art!

"Shred—"

Jian Wu Dao's left sleeve instantly disintegrated, revealing an arm covered in sword scars. A fresh, bleeding cut seeped blood, and strangely—the droplets flowed backward toward the Blood Demon Blade!

"Brother Li's talent for stealing techniques..." Jian Wu Dao suddenly chuckled, using his sword tip to flick up Xuan Ye's prayer beads. "Is even more terrifying than your blade."

The prayer beads exploded, and in the shower of golden dust, Li Chen Zhou's blade suddenly faltered for a split second.

In that instant, Jian Wu Dao had already retreated ten yards with Xuan Ye. Azure bricks beneath his feet revealed a Big Dipper pattern, each step backward illuminating a star.

"Celestial Pivot Steps?" Li Chen Zhou sheathed his blade with a cold laugh. "No wonder you dared to come and save him."

The sound of orderly hooves suddenly came from outside the arena.

Everyone turned to see three hundred black-armored cavalry blocking the street, the leader holding aloft a gilded arrow:

"By order of the Commander! The south training grounds are hereby sealed off!"

Jian Wu Dao sighed and sheathed his sword. "Looks like this is all for today."

Li Chen Zhou raised his blade, pointing it at Jian Wu Dao. "Tomorrow, I'll be waiting for you."

The third watch drum had just sounded when three ghostly figures flitted across the glazed tiles of Duke Zhen's Estate. The leader, his toes perched on the eaves' beast-head ornaments, wore a jade plaque at his waist that gleamed eerily in the moonlight, marked with "Heaven Ranking Forty-Three."

"Are you sure the little devil lives in the west wing?" His hoarse voice carried a Lingnan accent, three blue-glowing poison darts glinting between his fingers.

"Can't be wrong." His companion pulled down his mask, revealing a familiar scar from the Six Doors' wanted poster. "The Soul Absorption Art manual must be hidden in—"

Before he could finish, the entire Duke's Estate suddenly shook violently! The copper bells on the eaves rang without wind, startling a flock of crows from the trees. Before the three could react, a black shadow had shot into the sky like a demon descending upon the world!

"Who's there—"

The question was cut short. In the moonlight, Li Qing Shan stood in mid-air, a thirty-foot-tall Vajra demon image floating behind him. The demon's left eye was compassionate like a Buddha, its right eye savage like a demon, and the Falling Devil pestle in its hand was wreathed in crimson karmic fire, dyeing half the night sky a bizarre purple-red.

"G... Grandmaster?!" The Lingnan guest's poison dart clattered to the ground. They never dreamed that breaking in at night would lead them to stumble upon the Buddha-demon dual cultivator, Duke Zhen Guo!

Li Qing Shan was in an extremely strange state. The right side of his face was stern and dignified, while the left was covered in demonic tattoos, and a subhuman growl escaped his throat: "Intruders... Die!"

The Vajra demon image's Falling Devil pestle crashed down, and the three scrambled to meet it with their weapons. The scar-faced man's twin hooks shattered the moment they touched the pestle's shadow, and the Lingnan guest's poison needles vaporized directly in the karmic fire. The last man's thirteen money darts melted into copper liquid in mid-air!

"Boom—"

The Falling Devil pestle's momentum didn't diminish, smashing a ten-foot-deep pit into the bluestone ground. The three flew out like broken rags, smashing through seven corridor pillars before stopping, spitting up blood.

Li Qing Shan's demon image changed again, the Falling Devil pestle transforming into a giant blade wreathed in black flames. Seven bloody inscriptions appeared on the blade, the opening stance of Brahma's Seven Sin Blades!

"Greed, hatred, delusion, resentment, love, malice, desire..."

With each word, the blade energy increased threefold. When the seventh word left his mouth, the giant blade blotted out the sky and the moon. Before the blade even arrived, the three men's clothes were torn to shreds, and bizarre runes corresponding to the seven sins appeared on their skin!

Just as the blade energy was about to devour the three, a bloody figure suddenly inserted itself into the battle. Li Chen Zhou's hands moved like butterflies flitting through flowers, drawing mysterious trajectories in the air—the "Cosmic Shift" that the system had just unlocked!

"It's too wasteful for them to die like this."

The three heavily injured martial artists were sucked into the air like puppets on strings. A black hole-like vortex appeared in Li Chen Zhou's palm, and the three were struck as if by lightning, their life essence leaking out of their pores!

"Ah—" The Lingnan guest's scream turned into a hoarse croak. His body withered at a visible rate, his skin rapidly turning gray, cracked, and ultimately transforming into three hideous mummified corpses.

"Ding—Absorbed 45 years of internal energy"

"Current cultivation: 192 years"

"Ding—Congratulations, Host, for successfully entering the mid-fifth rank"

"Warning! Abnormal energy fluctuations detected"

Before Li Chen Zhou could even check the system notifications, he felt a chill run down his spine—his father's scarlet demon eyes were staring straight at him!

"Dad?" Li Chen Zhou tentatively took a half-step back, the Blood Demon Blade unsheathing itself by three inches. Li Qing Shan's state was extremely unstable at the moment, the demonic energy around him boiling like water, sometimes solidifying into the dignified image of a Buddha, sometimes transforming into the Asura.

"Chen... Zhou..." Li Qing Shan's voice was sometimes solemn, sometimes violent. "Quick... Leave..."

Before he could finish, the demonic energy suddenly surged! Li Chen Zhou was caught off guard and blown away by the blast wave, crashing through three layers of courtyard walls before stabilizing himself. Through the dust and rubble, he saw his father clutching his head in pain, the left Buddha and right demon aspects of the demon image behind him twisting violently.

"System! Scan Father's condition!"

The light screen flashed rapidly:

"Scanning target: Li Qing Shan"

"Status: Buddha-Demon Imbalance (Demonic energy accounts for 78%)"

"Suggestion: Immediately channel the demonic energy."

Li Chen Zhou gritted his teeth and leaped up, the Soul Absorption Art operating at full power. This time, he was no longer absorbing internal energy, but specifically targeting that rampaging demonic energy!

The instant the demonic energy entered his body, Li Chen Zhou felt as if he were being torn apart by a thousand knives. The pure demonic energy rampaged through his meridians, causing hallucinations to bloom before his eyes—battlefields of mountains of corpses and seas of blood, hellscapes filled with wails of agony.

"Ugh, ah—"

Black blood seeped from his seven orifices, and it seemed as if countless small snakes were slithering beneath his skin. Just as he was about to collapse, the Blood Demon Blade at his waist suddenly emitted a hungry hum!

"That's right... I still have you!"

Li Chen Zhou struggled to guide the demonic energy within his body toward the sword. The dark red纹路 on the blade were like parched land meeting sweet rain, greedily devouring the surging demonic energy. The纹路 gradually turned purplish-black, and the Taotie纹 at the hilt actually opened its third eye!

Ding—Demonic energy infusion detected. Blood Demon Blade has triggered its advancement mechanism.

Current Rank: Heaven-Tier High-Grade

Demonic Energy Infusion: 1%

When the last wisp of demonic energy was channeled into the blade, Li Qing Shan finally regained clarity. He looked at the eerie longsword in his son's hand with a complex expression.

Li Chen Zhou looked at his system screen:

Host: Li Chen Zhou

Realm: Fifth Rank Mid-Stage (192/240)

Martial Arts:

Thirteen Guardian Golden Bell Shield (Mastery)

Three Abyssal Slashes (Mastery)

Soul Absorption Art (Mastery) Divine Attribute 20% (Unlocks Cosmic Shift)

Thousand Faces (Mastery)

Soaring Illusionary Steps (Mastery)

Hell Soul Exchange Scripture (Mastery)

Wind God Kick (Mastery)

Internal Energy Cultivation: 192 Years (Calculated based on an average person cultivating basic techniques for one year)

Lifespan: 37 Years

Weapon: Blood Demon Blade (Charging: Current Progress 1%)

"System, didn't you say that Father would have another half a year before he completely lost control?"