Mortal Sword Ultimate Realm-Ten Steps, One Kill

Apart from the Heaven and Earth Bag, Mount Yang Daoist had owned three talisman artifacts.

They were the Five-Color Pendant, the Six-Yin Heavenly Ghost Banner, and the Thunderfire Thunderclap Bead.

Although the Five-Color Pendant and the Six-Yin Heavenly Ghost Banner were low-grade talisman artifacts, the Thunderfire Thunderclap Bead ranked among mid-grade talisman artifacts!

That day, after they opened Mount Yang Daoist's Heaven and Earth Bag.

Besides two hundred talisman coins, it contained two bottles of Detoxification Pills, an Inferior Qi Cultivation Art, and a bottle of Yellow Treasure Pills for nourishing the body.

Chen Heng had intended to take only the Thunderfire Thunderclap Bead to protect himself, leaving everything else to Xu Zhi.

Even so, he would have gained an enormous bargain.

After all, a mid-grade talisman artifact was rarely seen on the market. Although three low-grade talisman artifacts were roughly equal in value to one mid-grade talisman artifact, the accounts were not settled that way; a premium of several tenths was usually required.

Yet Xu Zhi insisted on taking only the Six-Yin Heavenly Ghost Banner before saying his farewells.

After much persuasion and another round of each trying to yield to the other, Chen Heng finally took the bead and the Heaven and Earth Bag, along with a bottle of body-nourishing Yellow Treasure Pills. Xu Zhi accepted the Six-Yin Heavenly Ghost Banner, the Five-Color Pendant, the talisman coins, and the remaining odds and ends.

Afterward, Xu Zhi stayed no longer. He rested for just one night before taking his leave and returning to Little Sweet Mountain.

The mountain's original disciples and the countless women Mount Yang Daoist had abducted for his carnal pleasures were also sent away, scattering in all directions with gold and silver.

In the blink of an eye.

This Qi Refining sect, once among the foremost in the territory of Lanliang City, had scattered like birds and beasts, leaving only Chen Heng on the mountain, cultivating alone.

It's a pity I couldn't find Mount Yang Daoist's Body-Refining Dao Art. It wasn't in his Heaven and Earth Bag, and even after searching all of Blazing Mountain, I found no trace of it.

At that thought, Chen Heng could not help feeling regret.

Mount Yang Daoist's Body-Refining Dao Art had been extraordinary. Not only had it made him supremely resilient, but even Xu Zhi's sword strikes had failed to shake him in the slightest.

In the end, it was only because Mount Yang Daoist's mastery of the Dao Art was inadequate, leaving his vulnerable neck less thoroughly refined than his chest and abdomen, that Xu Zhi had severed it with his superb swordsmanship and taken half his life.

Moreover, that Dao Art not only rendered the body imperishable, but also bestowed boundless, overwhelming strength. Every palm strike and thrust of a finger shook the earth like thunderous punishment, terrifying beyond measure.

How could an ordinary Qi Refining cultivator possess strength like his?

He was scarcely inferior to a Savage Elephant Ancient Monster! Indeed, he seemed faintly stronger still.

And Mount Yang Daoist had been an unaffiliated Daoist without an orthodox method, ignorant of every other Dao Art.

It was solely through his flesh and immense strength that he had managed to hold out against Xu Zhi for so long.

Without that Dao Art to rely on, Xu Zhi would probably have beheaded him with a single stroke the moment they met.

The Little Scarlet Dragon Sword Manual contains thirteen sword moves. Senior brother not only mastered them all, but also drew fresh insights from the old, gathered the best of a hundred schools, and comprehended the ultimate realm of mortal swordsmanship-Ten Steps, One Kill.

Chen Heng tucked the Thunderfire Thunderclap Bead back into his sleeve, deep in thought.

Before leaving, senior brother specifically urged me to study the Little Scarlet Dragon Sword Manual more closely. If I comprehend its ultimate realm-Ten Steps, One Kill-then wielding flying-sword talisman artifacts will become as natural as moving my own arms and fingers. Killing ordinary cultivators of the same realm will be like slaughtering dogs...

Mortal Sword Ultimate Realm-Ten Steps, One Kill.

This was the highest realm of a warrior's killing swordsmanship, regardless of whether the opponent wore armor, carried a weapon, or fought in greater numbers.

Within ten steps, blood would inevitably fall from the sword's edge!

But even Xu Zhi himself did not know that Ten Steps, One Kill, which he called the Mortal Sword Ultimate Realm.

In fact.

Like Sword Qi Thunderclap, Sword-Light Differentiation, and Refining Sword into Threads in the legends of immortal cultivation, it was a name for one of the different levels of attainment in swordsmanship.

And within Eastern Hun Province.

The Zhongyi Sword Sect, one of the Eight Great Mystic Sects, even had an explicit sect rule:

Anyone who failed to comprehend Ten Steps, One Kill before sixteen could not enter their sect.

Since I still haven't grasped the rudiments of that Qi Refining art, I might as well practice the Little Scarlet Dragon Sword Manual in the One True Dharma Realm.

Chen Heng took out a Small White Sun Pill, dissolved it in water, and swallowed it. He sat in meditation to regulate his breathing, waiting until its gentle warmth had circulated throughout his body.

He grasped a longsword and connected his mind to the Golden Cicada, instantly entering the One True Dharma Realm.

As before, there was no sky, sun, moon, or stars above, nor vegetation or loose earth below.

Within the utterly empty One True Dharma Realm, Chen Heng pointed at himself. Soon, a ray of golden light shone upon him, condensing in the void into a page of the Golden Book covered in writing.

[Great Secrecy Radiance Concentration]

[Name]: Chen Heng.

[Arts]: Little Scarlet Dragon Sword Manual (--), Green Satchel Medicine Manual (--), Chen Clan Archery (major attainment).

[Magical treasures]: Thunderfire Thunderclap Bead (mid-grade talisman artifact), Heaven and Earth Bag (low-grade talisman artifact).

[Cultivation]: Embryonic Breathing.

I've discovered another use for [Great Secrecy Radiance Concentration]. If I encounter a magical artifact of uncertain grade outside, I can simply bring it into the One True Dharma Realm and let [Great Secrecy Radiance Concentration] shine upon it.

I've often heard that black markets lurk in the shadows of immortal cultivation marketplaces, teeming with ox demons and snake spirits, fish and dragons all jumbled together. With [Great Secrecy Radiance Concentration] to identify things, perhaps I really might pick up an overlooked treasure someday...

Chen Heng smiled faintly and dismissed the Golden Book.

He raised his longsword and began practicing the thirteen sword moves step by step, following the illustrations and explanations in the Little Scarlet Dragon Sword Manual.

Whirling Wind Draws Fire.

Three Suns' First Rising.

Broken Rainbow Guards the One.

Pear Blossoms Reflecting Snow...

Within this Dharma Realm without sun, moon, or stars, Chen Heng practiced ceaselessly, day and night. At first, he occasionally stopped to drink some water and rest briefly.

But later.

Whenever his body felt hungry, thirsty, or exhausted, Chen Heng simply drew his sword across his throat and replaced his mind image with a new one.

The new mind image reset his entire condition, naturally sparing him hunger, thirst, exhaustion, and all the bodily strains caused by sword practice.

It was an extraordinarily self-punishing course-

Others might have found such endless repetition dull and tedious, even unbearable.

But Chen Heng's Dao Heart was cold and hard as iron. He enjoyed it, and even found a peculiar charm in it.

And so.

He poured all his energy into it.

Until one day, four months later.

Chen Heng's wrist suddenly quivered slightly. With that movement, his sword tip transformed into seven points of cold light at once, shooting out fiercely like seven flying nails before finally converging.

"Seven Stars Illuminate the Sun, the final move in the Little Scarlet Dragon Sword Manual. I've mastered it..."

Only after a long while did Chen Heng slowly withdraw his sword and sigh.

Having refined his swordsmanship to this level, he could no longer maintain his previous rate of progress through relentless practice alone. Only deadly combat would suffice!

This was also why swordsmen in the mortal martial world so often tested their swords against all under heaven.

A flash of insight on the razor's edge between life and death could equal ten years spent pondering alone.

But sword duels were vicious beyond measure. The slightest mistake meant a shattered sword and a dead swordsman. That was why, though swordsmen abounded in the martial world, scarcely one in ten thousand comprehended Ten Steps, One Kill.

"Senior brother, please instruct me."

Chen Heng summoned Xu Zhi's mind image and gave a slight cupped-hand salute.

Xu Zhi's mind image did not reply.

Holding his sword in his left hand, he thrust straight forward. His movement was utterly natural, without the slightest trace of contrivance, like an antelope hanging by its horns.

"Well struck!"

Laughing heartily, Chen Heng raised his sword to meet him.

When their duel reached the fortieth exchange, Xu Zhi abruptly changed his move. Unable to dodge in time, Chen Heng had half his head sliced away.

"Good!"

Within moments, Chen Heng was reborn on the spot. More delighted than ever, he charged at Xu Zhi again, sword in hand.

This time, although he lasted forty-seven moves, he still lost. Xu Zhi cut him in half at the waist with a single stroke, leaving two perfectly neat pieces.

The third round.

The fourth round.

The fifth round.

The sixth round.

Chen Heng no longer knew how many times he had died at Xu Zhi's hands, but not once had he lasted beyond fifty moves.

Xu Zhi's swordsmanship was already beyond human.

Ten Steps, One Kill!

At this point, he scarcely seemed like a man wielding a sword. The sword in his hand seemed to have developed a spirit of its own-it was the sword wielding the man!

"Whirling Wind Draws Fire!"

Turning offense into defense, he narrowly parried Xu Zhi's sword as it swept upward toward his groin.

Already showing signs of defeat, Chen Heng stopped stubbornly holding on as before and instead retreated several dozen steps.

"Senior brother, let's fight a different way."

Chen Heng flicked his sleeve, and a bead flashing red and white fell into the air, circling gently.

"Please appraise my Thunderfire Thunderclap Bead."

He smiled faintly.

In midair, the sounds of roaring thunder and blazing fire instantly erupted.