Walking alone with a sword, slaying ghosts and gods

Chapter 484 Advancement to the Seventh Level of the Nascent Soul Realm, A Profound Sword Slays the Inner Demon (Seeking Rewards and Subscriptions!)

The Dharma Realm of Fierce Fire, the mountain behind Wan Lei Haidao Palace.

At this moment, the two figures each hovered a hundred feet in the void, their presence as still and imposing as mountains, their auras stirring up the entire realm.

The man on the left, dressed in a black robe stained with blood, with a sinister face, was none other than Yang Xiao, the ancestor of the Chaotic Evil Sect who once held sway over the demonic path.

He exuded a calm and profound aura, like the chaos returning to nothingness, which was the "Five Fiends Primordial Qi" he had cultivated for thousands of years.

This aura was no longer as weak as it had been when it was broken by Yu Yangzi's restriction at the Cloud-top Golden Summit. Instead, it was more refined and restrained, faintly revealing a return to simplicity and authenticity. It was obviously nourished by the elixir given by Lu Cheng and the abundant primordial energy of this place.

The Pure Spirit Nine Aperture Pill not only healed the cracks in his Dao foundation, but also allowed a trace of clarity to settle in his fierce magical power, removing old wounds and reigniting his demonic flames.

The man on the right, dressed in a plain robe with long hair, exuded an air of composure and tranquility; he was none other than Lu Cheng, the master of this place.

His body was surrounded by a swirling aura of five colors, like five ancient celestial dragons guarding him, their interactions creating a cycle of mutual generation and restraint, forming a world of its own.

As the five elements of immortal energy evolve and flow, it seems to be demonstrating the infinite mysteries of the Great Dao of the Five Elements.

According to ancient records, ancient immortals had three flowers on their heads and five kinds of energy in their chests. Now, Yang Xiao and Lu Cheng can be said to have grasped some of the essence of these qualities.

Especially the evil master Yang Xiao, who once used evil thoughts, calamities, and resentment to condense the three evil eyes of fire calamity, cold evil, and erosion, seemingly in order to imitate the Three Flowers Gathering at the Top.

However, it was an evil flower.

Without any unnecessary formalities, the two completely different yet equally powerful magical forces, both having reached the pinnacle of the mortal realm, collided violently!
Ten-colored rays of light ripped through the sky, their power overwhelming mountains and rivers.

In a mere instant, the world changed color.

Yang Xiao's Five Fiends Mixed Qi was no longer a simple gray-black evil energy, but presented a chaotic color that intertwined dark gold, dark green, filth, blood red, and deathly stillness, as if it had condensed the deepest, most filthy, and most primal evil energy in the universe.

This powerful energy swept out, resembling a colossal, chaotic hand that blotted out the sky and the sun, carrying the intent to devour all things and destroy the universe, and pressed down fiercely.

Wherever the qi passed, the void groaned under its unbearable weight, leaving behind trails of pitch black as it was silently annihilated. The surrounding spiritual springs steamed, and the branches and leaves of the trees trembled violently, as if their life force was about to be extinguished!
Lu Cheng Daoist remained calm, showing no sign of emotion. He pointed his fingers like a sword and uttered a profound syllable.

The five elements of immortal energy surrounding him suddenly shone brightly, like five surging and roaring rivers of magical power, intertwining, rotating, and generating each other.

Metal generates water, water nourishes wood, wood ignites fire, fire melts earth, and earth contains metal. A huge, complex, and dazzling five-element light wheel rapidly condenses and expands in front of him.

Boom - boom -! ! !
The Five Fiends Primordial Chaos Great Handprint slammed down on the ever-flowing Five Elements Light Wheel. There was no ear-piercing explosion, only a terrifying, muffled roar, as if two small worlds were colliding and destroying each other.

The shockwave, visible to the naked eye, exploded outwards in a ring from the point of impact, spreading out with incredible ferocity.

The light flashed wildly, then vanished and annihilated in the explosion.

The corrosive power of the Five Fiends Qi desperately tried to penetrate and dismantle the stable structure of the Five Elements Light Wheel, while the Five Elements Light Wheel, with its boundless and ever-renewing power, continuously eroded and transformed the domineering and ferocious fiendish Qi.

The rosy light and chaos clashed and fought, their colors flickering and changing, each pulsation of light foreshadowing the release and spread of terrifying magical power.

A sinister glint flashed in Yang Xiao's eyes, and he was also shocked.

He had immersed himself in the Five Fiends Primordial Dao for thousands of years, and believed that he had already reached the pinnacle and should be invincible in the mortal realm.

If it weren't for Yu Yangzi's insidious tricks left behind, how could he have lost to Huai Zhenzi's wisp of spirit in that sword fight at Yunxiao Golden Summit?
The Taoist priest Lu Cheng before me had far fewer years of cultivation than I had, yet he had managed to deduce the Five Elements Dao to such a refined, vast, and ever-renewing level.

This level of skill is something that cannot be achieved through arduous practice; it is simply unbelievable!

Yang Xiao was naturally incredulous. Lu Cheng's avatar had read through all the Five Elements Daoist books and classics in the Earthly Immortal Realm, and his understanding of the Five Elements principles was advancing by leaps and bounds every day. His Myriad Tribulations Divine Pill had further helped Lu Cheng improve his magical power, and he had already reached the seventh level of the Primordial Spirit Realm.

Lu Cheng nodded slightly. Yang Xiao was indeed a giant of the demonic path. Even though his path was severed and his foundation was damaged, he recovered seventy or eighty percent of his strength with the help of pills. His Five Fiends Primordial Qi still had the power to devour the heavens and the earth. His understanding and comprehension of the Dao was extremely profound.

This exchange also greatly benefited him in verifying his own understanding of the Five Elements theory.

Ten beams of light shone in the sky as the two fought fiercely, causing the earth to shake and mountains to tremble.

After a tentative exchange, the two suddenly sped up their movements!
"Go!"

Yang Xiao let out a sharp whistle and raised his hand. A dark, almost ethereal light, capable of absorbing all other light, shot out silently from his sleeve. It was the Seventh-Rank Treasure from the Earthly Immortal Realm: the Nine Netherworld God-Slaying Shuttle.

What the mortal realm lacks is a peerless master cultivator who can rival Sheng Yang and Kong Ji, not a seventh-tier magic weapon. Therefore, as long as Yang Xiao can help him fulfill his long-cherished wish, Lu Cheng will spare no expense in providing treasures.

As soon as this shuttle was launched, the temperature of the entire area within a radius of a thousand miles seemed to drop by billions of times, and a deathly aura that froze the soul and annihilated the origin spread out.

It appeared slow but was actually fast, ignoring spatial distance. One moment it was in front of Yang Xiao, and the next it was already three feet in front of Lu Cheng's brow.

Wherever the dark light passed, even the turbulent spiritual energy and dust were instantly "annihilated" into nothingness, leaving behind an absolute vacuum passage.

It does not pierce the physical body, but specifically targets the primordial spirit and its origin, directly pointing to the true spirit!
Lu Cheng's eyes narrowed; he was prepared. Facing this vicious treasure specifically designed to counter the primordial spirit, he neither dodged nor evaded, but instead let out a low shout:
"Certainly!"

The three-colored immortal energy surrounding him—green (wood), blue (water), and yellow (earth)—suddenly contracted inward, instantly transforming into a mysterious triple-layered immortal talisman of "trapping, stagnation, and defense," blocking the dark light.

hum.

The dark light of the God-Breaking Shuttle pierced the three-colored light shield, emitting a sharp buzzing sound that could penetrate one's very soul.

The light shield trembled violently, the Xuan Water froze, the Wu Earth collapsed, and the Yi Wood withered. The tip of the Divine Shuttle had almost pierced through three layers of defense, and the deathly chill had reached Lu Cheng's protective magic power.

"Turn!" Lu Cheng's second clear shout rang out.

The five-element light wheel that had been hovering in front of him, dominated by the two elements of metal (Geng metal) and red (Bing fire), instantly reversed.

The destructive sharpness of Geng metal and the burning flames of Bing fire, like two raging dragons of destruction, fiercely attacked the God-Breaking Shuttle that had pierced through three layers of defense.

Clang.

Amidst the ear-piercing clang of metal clashing, the three were locked in a fierce battle, and a storm containing terrifying magical power erupted at the point of attack!
The invincible, all-consuming dark light of the Nine Netherworld God-Breaking Shuttle was forcibly stopped and extinguished for the first time.

The shuttle trembled violently, emitting an unbearable wail, and was violently knocked back by the raging fire of Geng metal, causing its dark light to dim considerably.

This retreat and advance happened in the blink of an eye. Yang Xiao's eye twitched almost imperceptibly.

Lu Cheng's reaction speed and application of the Five Elements Divine Power were simply exquisite. The Nine Netherworld God-Breaking Shuttle returned empty-handed, which also had a slight impact on his mind. He did not hesitate to use his magic weapon again.

"Thunder and fire roar together, burning mountains and boiling seas! Behold the spectacle!"

He held an ancient and heavy bronze mirror high above his head. On the mirror surface, the ancient thunder patterns and crimson fire spells instantly lit up. It was a seventh-grade high-quality magic weapon: the Heavenly Thunderfire Mirror.

Rumble.

The mirror shone brightly, and countless thick, deep purple divine lightning bolts, as thick as giant dragons, intertwined with crimson heavenly tribulation fire that could melt gold and scorch stone, forming a world-destroying sea of ​​lightning and fire!

This is no ordinary lightning or flame, but a tribulation lightning containing the intent of a seventh-order Dharma and a Dharma fire that incinerates the rules!

The thunder and fire erupted with a deafening roar, more terrifying than all the thunder in the entire Ten Thousand Thunder Sea combined, as if it would directly turn Lu Cheng and the space he was in into ashes.

Upon seeing this, Lu Cheng made a hand seal with one hand and focused it on his forehead. A phantom image of an ancient, heavy pagoda, engraved with the characters "Xuan" and "Huang," silently appeared three inches above Lu Cheng's head.

The tower exudes a vast and powerful aura that suppresses all laws. It is one of the three seventh-tier magic treasures presented by Daoist Yanxiao of the Earthly Immortal Realm—the Xuanhuang Prison Suppressing Tower.

This tower is not primarily for offense, but specializes in defense. It is an anomaly among Taoist magical treasures, capable of absorbing divine power to a certain extent. It was chosen by Lu Cheng to collect because in his hands, this tower can unleash power that subtly surpasses that of a seventh-tier defensive magical treasure.

boom!
The lightning bolt slammed into the phantom of the Xuanhuang Pagoda, causing the pagoda to tremble violently. Ripples of divine light spread out, creating a deafening roar.

The shadow of the Xuan Guang Tower dimmed slightly, but remained unmoved. A vicious blood arrow that followed closely behind struck the shadow of the tower, but it disappeared without a trace, only causing a ripple.

Yang Xiao's two deadly attacks were effortlessly blocked by Lu Cheng using a seventh-tier defensive magic weapon that had been concealed beforehand.

After using the power of thunder and fire, the thunder patterns and fire spells on the ancient and heavy bronze treasure mirror gradually faded away, transforming into an ancient mirror with a murky surface and a relief of five ancient evil beasts of different shapes and ferocious roars carved on the back. This was Yang Xiao's natal magic treasure, the Five Fiends Primordial Treasure Mirror, which he had nurtured for thousands of years.

He actually used his superior magic to devour all the precious light and spiritual energy of the Heavenly Thunderfire Mirror with the Five Fiends Primordial Treasure Mirror.

Not only did it restore the power of its own natal magic weapon in a short period of time, but it even subtly enhanced it to a higher level.

To sacrifice a seventh-tier magic weapon just for this slight increase in power, one wonders if Yang Xiao is magnanimous or simply doesn't care about the cost of selling off his family's property.

His actions caused even Lu Cheng Daoist, who knew the price of the Heavenly Thunderfire Mirror, to twitch slightly; though he suppressed his pain, he was also heartbroken.

The Five Fiends Primordial Treasure Mirror devoured and refined the Heavenly Thunderfire Mirror, allowing the power of thunder and fire to be controlled by demonic arts. In a short time, its power surged, with thunder roaring like a tide and fire like a prison. At this moment, when thunder and fire intertwined and divine light shone brightly, the power of both magic forces reached their peak.

In Lu Cheng's heart, which was like a mirror reflecting all things, a faint yet chilling ripple suddenly appeared.

That wasn't the ferocity of a magical artifact, nor a fierce clash of Daoist techniques, but rather a perception originating from a wisp of extremely concealed yet chillingly resolute killing intent deep within Yang Xiao's primordial spirit:

"If we can seize this opportunity to kill Lu Cheng... then the Netherworld Blood Pact... will... allow us to no longer face the two demons, Sheng Yang and Kong Ji..."

"This person must have obtained the inheritance of an immortal abode in the upper realm. If I were to obtain such a predestined opportunity... rebuilding my sect and ascending to the upper realm would be a piece of cake..."

A vague yet malevolent thought was keenly captured by Lu Cheng through the intense clash of magical power and mental pull between the two.

In that instant, the demonic intent in Yang Xiao's heart overwhelmed his judgment, and he saw the gap in Lu Cheng's full control of the Xuanhuang Prison Tower to resist the lightning tribulation and fierce fire.

I saw this excellent, almost perfect opportunity:
By seizing this opportune moment to kill Lu Cheng, one can not only break free from the blood pact shackles that are like a leech, but also seize his unpredictable immortal destiny and the lineage of the Myriad Thunder Sea.

Although this thought was suppressed by his millennia-old demonic cunning, it was only a fleeting moment, but it was enough:
Faced with this sudden killing intent, Lu Cheng felt no panic or fear, but rather a chilling mockery rose within him.

"Indeed, he has the nature of a jackal, wild and untamed." The thought flashed through his mind like lightning.

Deep within Lu Cheng's eyes, the golden-red light suddenly condensed into a single point, reflecting the destructive thunder and fire waves surging forward, and the near-perfect counterattack point of Yang Xiao at the center of the thunder and fire.

Instead of confronting or dodging the deadly trap, he made a move that Yang Xiao never expected.

He raised his right arm, his index and middle fingers joined together like a sword. He didn't aim at the surging torrent of thunder and fire before him, nor at Yang Xiao's body, but rather at the core of the chaotic thunder and fire energy—the point where a torrent of magical power poured forth from a seventh-tier magic weapon. He lightly slashed at it:
My innate divine power: the Profound Sword.

This sword strike, seemingly casual and devoid of any worldly concerns, actually contains the supreme Dharma meaning of the cycle of birth and death of the five elements.

Swish!
The trail traced by the fingertips left a slender yet incomparably dazzling five-colored sword thread in the void.

The next moment, an unbelievable scene unfolded!

The destructive beam of light, composed of lightning tribulation and fierce fire, which was enough to incinerate ordinary Nascent Soul cultivators, suddenly stopped as if a river had encountered an invisible dam the moment it touched this slender five-colored thread!
Immediately afterwards, the violent energy flow, like fuel thrown into a furnace of heaven and earth, was frantically guided, decomposed, devoured, and transformed along the trajectory of the five-colored thread!

He poured the Five Elements Immortal Qi into his natal magic weapon, the Five Elements Flying Sword, and then used it to unleash the Profound Sword Technique. The sword transformed into Five Elements sword lines, like the most exquisite art of myriad transformations, instantly turned this pillar of destruction into a part of Lu Cheng's magical power cycle.

"What?!" Yang Xiao's pupils suddenly dilated! This was completely beyond his comprehension.

The decisive opportunity he had been preparing, along with the full force of his seventh-tier magic weapon, was so easily turned into a borrowed force by someone else.

Could the opponent's control over magical power and understanding of the five elements have truly reached the realm of "all things are born from the five elements" and "all forces return to their source"?

Just as his mind trembled violently and his killing intent was backfired, causing a slight disorder and stiffness to appear.

Lu Cheng drew his sword again.

Without the slightest hesitation, his right index finger, which was held together, guided and devoured that terrifying energy. At the same moment, it carried the immense power of the five elements that had just been condensed and transformed, as well as a trace of will that understood the origin of the operation of magic power, and pointed with unparalleled precision at the node on Yang Xiao's chest that represented the core operation of the Five Fiends Primordial Qi.

The Tongxuan Sword is divided into two parts: the outer sword cultivates the spirit, and the inner sword cultivates the qi.

The first sword strike used mostly external sword power, while this strike uses mostly internal sword power, yet it still maintains Lu Cheng's extremely high level of swordsmanship, breaking through all techniques with a single strike.

The sword finger was not emitting sharp sword energy, but rather a chaotic and elusive sword energy containing the meaning of the five elements' mutual generation and destruction—the sword energy of the five elements' mutual generation and destruction!
It ignored the distance in space, ignored Yang Xiao's instinctive resistance to his protective magic, and ignored the old demon's fighting instincts accumulated over thousands of years!

As if guided by an invisible force, Lu Cheng was able to pinpoint its core location with unparalleled clarity.

laugh.

A soft, yet chilling sound, as if it could pierce the soul.

The Five Elements of Life and Death Sword Qi struck Yang Xiao's chest with pinpoint accuracy!
hum.

Yang Xiao's solid, heavy, and incredibly defensive Five Fiends Primordial Qi trembled violently, like a giant airbag that had been punctured.

Countless pure baleful energies surged and scattered uncontrollably! He groaned, as if struck by an invisible giant hammer, and flew backward hundreds of feet like a meteorite.

While he was in mid-air, a wisp of dark golden blood, carrying the scent of decay, uncontrollably spilled from the corner of his mouth.

He abruptly cast a spell, forcibly stabilizing his body, standing in mid-air, his face deathly pale, and for the first time clearly showing disbelief, horror, and deep fear in his sinister eyes.

It wasn't just because Lu Cheng effortlessly defused his deadly trap and instantly countered, but also because the moment he was struck, the pitch-black, soul-binding Netherworld Blood Pact chain deep within his soul suddenly emitted a scorching, icy heat. A punitive pressure originating from a higher-dimensional law clearly warned him—to rebel was tantamount to suicide!

The surging blood tide brought by the Netherworld Blood Pact should have brought him hellish pain, but it was blocked by Lu Cheng's divine sense and magical intent before that pain arrived:

For a peerless demon like him, pain will only give him strength, not weakness. Either use him or kill him; humiliating him is meaningless.

Behind the Qingyu Dao Palace, the turbulent flow of spiritual energy gradually subsided after Yang Xiao was repelled, but the shattered spatial rifts continued to slowly repair themselves, emitting a hissing sound.

Both Lu Cheng and Yang Xiao have reached the pinnacle of their Daoist power and magical strength in the mortal realm. They are getting closer and closer to leaving this realm in terms of time, karma, and consequences.

Lu Cheng slowly withdrew his pointed sword finger. The Five Elements Immortal Qi surrounding him continued to flow endlessly, like an ancient star ring, neither increasing nor decreasing, untouched by dust.

He quietly watched Yang Xiao, who was hundreds of feet away, barely managing to steady himself with blood at the corner of his mouth. His expression returned to its usual calm, but deep in his eyes, it seemed as if an icy pool had been formed.

"Fellow Daoist Yang, the Pure Spirit Nine Aperture Pill strengthens the primordial spirit and nourishes the soul, with endless wondrous uses. However, although the primordial spirit is healed, the inner demons are not yet gone, and the anger and attachments follow like a shadow. Just now, your primordial spirit was clear, and your resentment grew, triggering the thought of 'anger and evil.' Fortunately, your foundation is deep, and you were still able to suppress it for a moment."

"Wanleihai has its own laws and regulations, and is not a place for violence and sword fighting. If you wish to be free, you should uphold the blood pact with your true heart, rather than being bound by obsessions and inviting the calamity of war upon yourself."

(End of this chapter)