Walking alone with a sword, slaying ghosts and gods

Chapter 508 Striving for First Place on the Jade Platform, Testing the Sword's Brilliance with Water and Fire Stars (I've been feeling a bit unwell these past two days, trying my best to adjust)
Inside Chengtian Hall, spiritual energy flowed as if it were tangible. The successor of Xuanji Sect Leader and the elders of the sect sat high above, watching the sword duel.

The black jade altar in front of the hall exudes a cool and clear light, with an atmosphere of suppressing the ages settling within it.

As the gaze of the female cultivator, carrying a long sword and possessing an aura like a lotus just beginning to bloom, fell upon him, the young cultivator in red robes, who was being watched, had no room to dodge. His figure transformed into a flame and flew down onto the Xuan Yu Dharma Platform.

Ripples spread through the space, engulfing Jin Shayu's figure. When he reappeared, he was standing on a wide arena, with the mysterious and unpredictable Observatory above him, reflecting all things in the world.

The seven great teachings of Taiqing are all exquisite and unique, each with its own strengths.

The two cultivators before them both practiced the Taiqing True Transmission "Primordial Qi Wonderful Technique", which can be called the foundation of all methods. However, due to the difference in their talents and temperaments, the paths they took were completely different.

Mu Xuechan entered the Dao through water, taking its extreme yin and gentleness, and its continuous nature; Jin Shayu, on the other hand, walked the Great Dao through fire.

The five elements have a natural cycle of mutual generation and restraint, with water overcoming fire. Therefore, Mu Xuechan chose him with the intention of using her Daoist attributes to suppress him and gain a greater chance of victory.

Jin Shayu was the one with the deepest background among the six cultivators present.

Similar to Wan Shuang'er and Duan Tianyan, who belong to aristocratic families, Mu Xuechan is a native cultivator of the Spirit Realm. She entered the Taiqing Sect from the Xuantian Pavilion and spent a thousand years to become a true disciple of a major sect. Naturally, she has a sense of rejection towards cultivators like Jin Shayu.

'This is the perfect opportunity to knock you down and cut off your chance!'

Mu Xuechan stood firmly on the altar, her eyelids slightly lowered. The next moment, a profound and vast aura of the water elemental law emanated from her body!
"The vast sea ripples, and the ice becomes a prison!"

Without a sound, a deep, cold blue suddenly spread out from Mu Xuechan's center!
That was no ordinary stream of water, but rather Daoist water imbued with the true essence of Yin. Each drop seemed to carry immense weight, compressing a bone-chilling cold. The water spread so rapidly that it became a vast ocean stretching for thousands of miles in the blink of an eye. Had it not been for the special space above this altar, it would have long since been crushed into dust.

Within this "domain" formed by the pure laws of water, everything is frozen in place.

Frost and snow appeared out of nowhere, swirling and dancing in the air. Ice crystals refracted the brilliance of the celestial mirror, a magnificent spectacle tinged with a lifeless stillness. The surface of the sea froze instantly, layers of mysterious ice cracking with a teeth-grinding sound as they thickened, the chill penetrating to the bone. The biting wind, like invisible blades, relentlessly sliced ​​through the space of the altar, freezing spiritual energy and extinguishing life.

“It’s the Nine Abyss Cold Domain!” One of the elders watching from the high seat nodded slightly, a hint of approval in their eyes.

This woman's future is limitless, having cultivated the Water Element of the "Primordial Chaos Secret Technique" to such a level through self-study, self-enlightenment, and arduous self-cultivation.

Faced with the overwhelming cold tide and water-based laws surging towards him, Jin Shayu on the other side of the platform let out a long roar, a roar filled with wildness and indomitable spirit!

"The blazing sun burns away the abyss!"

"If the sunlight cannot reach us, will it not be a world in darkness forever!"

boom--!
Crimson flames burst forth from every pore of his body; they were no ordinary fire, but pure yang fire, the source of true fire!

The flames, also centered around him, violently expanded into a domain belonging to the raging fire!

Crimson flames blazed across the sky, their intense light piercing through the ice, soaring into the heavens as if to melt the azure sky; the raging flames fell, burning the earth, determined to penetrate the nine netherworlds!

Within the fiery domain, the true fire burned eternally, each flame seemingly possessing its own independent will, leaping, roaring, and solidifying, conjuring the image and phantom of a colossal Vermilion Bird, spewing divine flames capable of incinerating all things. This was precisely the state of "the art possessing a primordial spirit" achieved through the highest level of fire magic cultivation!
The water and fire domains collided violently in the void above the Xuan Yu Dharma Platform, like two enormous stars!
Chi Chi Chi -!
The ice melted and rose under the raging flames, forming a cloud of water vapor that blotted out the sky.

The flames encountered resistance in the cold air, emitting a harsh, grinding sound.

Two diametrically opposed ultimate principles erode, annihilate, and vie for dominance over space. A thousand miles of frozen ice clashes with a raging inferno; the ultimate yin and softness collide with the ultimate yang and hardness!

Visible ripples of law spread and tore through the air. Mu Xuechan transformed into a flowing, endless stream of azure light, merging into the frigid domain, omnipresent, covering thousands of miles in an instant.

She stirred up a vast expanse of waves, transforming them into a hundred-foot-tall ice whale and a thousand-pound ice mountain, carrying with them the chilling Yin energy that freezes everything, surging towards the core of the fire domain like a tidal wave.

Jinsha Yu then transformed into an inextinguishable stream of crimson gold flame, riding thousands of fire-shaped spirit birds, and launched a fierce counterattack with the force of burning rivers and boiling seas.

His fire magic was indeed slightly superior to Mu Xuechan's; his flames possessed an overwhelming spirituality, even causing subtle folds to appear in the scorching space.

However, the natural principle that water overcomes fire is like an invisible shackle.

No matter how exquisite and fierce Jin Shayu's fire magic was, or how powerful and explosive it was, his fire domain was constantly compressed and weakened under the suppression of Mu Xuechan's endless cold air and gentle water power.

The cold current, like a bone-deep sore, entangled and seeped in, attempting to freeze his flowing, fiery body.

The Vermilion Bird's mournful cry faded away, its illusory form dimming. The crimson-gold domain visibly shrank, gradually being suppressed to within a circumference of three hundred miles around the Golden Sand Feather!
"Sha Yu's fire-based cultivation is quite good!"

"That's just not bad. Mu Xuechan mostly cultivated and comprehended on her own, and then became a disciple of a master. That old Taoist Chi Yun even perished outside. On the other hand, Jin Shayu has had a constant supply of famous teachers and spiritual medicines since he was a child. How much resources has the entire Jin family invested in him?"
Even so, he was only slightly better than Mu Xuechan. This shows that in the end, a cultivator's path to enlightenment depends on themselves.

On the Xuan Yu Dharma Platform, things changed in an instant, and the two sect elders whispered to each other.

Everyone present could see that Jin Shayu had fully displayed the profound mysteries of his fire element techniques. Even though his cultivation level was higher, he could not reverse the disadvantage caused by the mutual restraint of their respective Dao techniques.

His flames consumed far more water than his opponent's during the battle, and if this continued, defeat was only a matter of time.

On the Xuan Yu Dharma Platform, Mu Xuechan's expression remained aloof. In her left hand, she held a jade ruyi magic weapon, her incantations fluttering like butterflies. She drew upon the endless Taiyin True Water in the Frosty Domain, layer upon layer, transforming it into nine massive ice walls inscribed with ancient runes. Like the Xuanbing Great Wall, these walls stretched between her and Jin Shayu, further blocking the fire elemental energy, compressing the opponent's fire escape space, and pressing forward step by step, aiming to freeze and seal him completely!
Those nine ice walls, towering tens of thousands of feet high, were bone-chillingly cold. Not only were they unparalleled in defense, but they also continuously emitted cold air to freeze Jin Shayu's protective fire domain.

His protective flames grew dimmer, and his own aura seemed to be becoming chaotic. Defeat seemed inevitable!

Just as Jin Shayu was on the verge of his limit, and some even foresaw that he would be completely frozen!
The crimson-gold fire domain at the center of the altar suddenly contracted inward, its originally raging and boiling flames!
It was as if all the energy was concentrated in a single instant.

Behind the ice wall, there was no despair or panic in those bright eyes, only an absolute calm that had been tempered by countless trials and tribulations, and a sharpness that had been dormant for a long time and was waiting to be unleashed!

"The Taiqing Sect is capable of much more than just fire magic?" A deep voice pierced through the clamor of ice and flames, clearly reaching the senses of everyone present.

Zheng——!
A sword cry, never before heard in this battle, was high-pitched and clear, like the cry of a golden crow to the sun, suddenly tearing apart the heavy, oppressive chill that surged from all around.

The sound did not come from elsewhere, but from Jin Shayu's body!

A golden light shot out from between his eyebrows at an incredible speed!

At first it was like a thread, then it transformed into a rainbow, and in the blink of an eye it expanded into a blazing sword rainbow that stretched across half of the altar.

It radiates golden light, yet at its core lies a pure Yang sword intent powerful enough to melt and pierce the stars!
The moment this sword was drawn, the temperature of the entire altar soared once again, even rivaling Mu Xuechan's Netherworld Chill!
"Sword and fire united, it is the Flowing Fire Unfettered Flying Sword!" Xuanjizi, who was in charge of the Heavenly Observation Mirror, recognized this inheritance with a glint in his eyes.

This sword technique is recorded in the "Primordial Chaos Technique". It requires extremely strong swordsmanship talent and fire element cultivation to achieve mastery.

No one present today would have expected that Jin Shayu, who was famous for his fire magic and seemed arrogant, actually possessed such superb swordsmanship!
The fire-based magic he had painstakingly maintained was merely a decoy technique used to build up momentum for this earth-shattering sword strike, to pave the way for his opponent's all-out attack!
The sword light instantly transformed into a rainbow and slashed down.

No longer pursuing the method of controlling fire to form a domain, he instead concentrated all his life's pure fire sword intent and pure yang energy into a single point and slashed down vertically!

The sword light flashed like lightning, transcending spatial limitations and discarding all the ornate appearance of flames, leaving only the purest, most concentrated, fastest, and most ruthless killing intent.

Mu Xuechan reacted extremely quickly, and in a very short time, the nine ice walls combined with her own escape technique to change from offense to defense.

Time seemed to freeze where the sword flashed.

bang...bang...bang...bang...bang...bang...

The first wall of ice runes, like ice and snow under the scorching sun, melted through instantly, leaving a smooth, mirror-like, scorched hole.

The second ice wall shattered with a bang, turning into countless ice crystals.

The third... the fourth... the fifth... utterly devastating!
That sword light was extremely fast and extremely ruthless. It broke through the surface with a single point, transforming the blazing sun sword fire, which had been condensed to its extreme, into the sharpest drill bit, piercing through the most solid point of the ice.

A hint of undisguised astonishment finally surfaced on Mu Xuechan's usually cold face. She truly hadn't expected that Jin Shayu possessed such a sharp and terrifying sword technique!
In her haste, she also wanted to activate the sheathed magic sword she carried. She had once obtained this water-based flying sword through a fortuitous encounter, and she was confident that it was no less powerful than Jin Shayu's Flowing Fire Unfettered Flying Sword.

However, it was too late! *Puff puff puff puff*
Layers of defense were as thin as paper in the face of absolute speed and an attack concentrated to its limit. Eight of the nine ice walls were pierced in the blink of an eye!

Before the ninth ice wall, the sword light seemed to pause slightly. But this momentary pause was only for an even more violent eruption!

"crack!"

Jin Shayu held the incantation and shouted softly. The final sword momentum erupted like a volcano, and the condensed sword light exploded, transforming into billions of incredibly fine fire lines, changing from extreme condensation to extreme explosion!
scoff!

The ninth ice wall, along with the hastily placed water shield and ice mirror behind it, was blasted into dust and vaporized like bubbles!
Mu Xuechan's figure flashed in the bursting storm of fire. Water flowed rapidly around her, trying to dissipate the force by turning into water. However, the bursting flames of the blazing sun sword, carrying the will to burn souls and destroy spirits, had already invaded the gaps in her protective water-based magic.

A touch of crimson appeared in the center of her smooth, jade-like brow.

Time seemed to stand still at this moment.

The next moment——

Boom! ! !

The entire Water Element Cold Domain lost its core support and collapsed like a glacier!

Mu Xuechan's Water Elemental Body, sculpted from pure water elemental power and nearly indestructible under the enhancement of her own domain, began to shatter inch by inch from the center of her brow! Like an exquisite ice sculpture struck by an invisible giant hammer, cracks instantly spread throughout her entire body.

boom!
Its azure body exploded, transforming into billions of shimmering blue specks of light, twinkling like stars.

A soft, mysterious light descended, enveloping her before she was completely annihilated and teleporting her back to the altar of the Chengtian Hall.

As the light faded, Mu Xuechan's true form appeared, her face as pale as snow, her soul violently shaken, and she was momentarily unable to control herself.

The faint bloodstain between her brows was the final mark of the Flowing Fire Sword—she had indeed been "killed".

There was silence.

She's lost! Mu Xuechan, who uses water to overcome fire, has actually been defeated! Defeated by Jin Shayu's deadly sword strike!
"Hiss... not bad, he does have some cunning!"

"This victory wasn't won by a bit of cunning. Such swordsmanship can only be achieved through diligent practice. Moreover, he was able to conceal the sword technique under fire magic, deceiving everyone... Nephew Sha Yu's mental cultivation is extraordinary. Elder Jin, congratulations! Nephew Sha Yu truly lives up to the name of the Jin family's prodigy."

"Flowing Fire Without Regret... This sword strike has already grasped its essence! Incredible!"

The three elders present exchanged telepathic messages, all expressing shock and admiration. The elder in the middle, surnamed Jin, stroked his beard, repeatedly expressing humility, but was clearly satisfied.

With the outcome decided, Jin Shayu bowed to the sect leaders and then transformed into a streak of fire, landing in mid-air and securing one of the three seats for himself.

"Who's next?" The one who spoke was An Xiaoyue, the girl in the Taoist robe whose body was surrounded by flowing array diagrams.

She was petite and delicate, with bright eyes and white teeth. She stood on the Xuan Yu Dharma Platform as if she were a delicate and fragile porcelain doll.

However, the mysterious array patterns emanating from her body, and the slightly billowing Taoist robe that seemed to be suppressing violent power, all indicated that she was not as harmless as she appeared.

"Senior Sister An's array formations are unparalleled. I, Bai Feng, am not talented enough, but I humbly request your guidance." Just then, a gentle and calm voice responded.

Everyone looked in the direction of the voice and saw a young cultivator standing up. He was dressed in an ordinary, faded white Taoist robe and had such an ordinary face that he would be hard to distinguish if thrown into a crowd. It was Xu Baifeng.

He possessed nothing of value, lacked any dazzling magical artifacts or spiritual light, and deliberately concealed his aura, making him almost unnoticeable unless he made a sound.

However, in his deep and calm eyes, there was a faint glimmer of stars, as deep as the night sky, carrying a sense of profound contemplation as if he had seen it all.

After comparing the difference in magical abilities between An Xiaoyue and Lu Cheng in his mind, Xu Baifeng finally decided to compete with An Xiaoyue.

As a fellow ascended cultivator, Xu Baifeng knew in his heart that the magical power he displayed was often a notch or two lower than his true magical abilities. As for that Senior Brother Lu, there was no need to overestimate him. If he truly possessed the legendary magical abilities of the sect, Xu Baifeng would find it extremely difficult to be his opponent and would rather avoid him if possible.

Xu Baifeng cultivates the "Secret Technique of Qi Circulation of the Celestial Stars," one of the Seven True Transmissions of Taiqing!
This is the supreme and wondrous technique for drawing the power of the stars into the body and evolving the myriad laws of the stars.

As a cultivator who ascended from the lower realm, Xu Baifeng was able to break through the fierce competition and scarce resources of the lower realm and ascend to this place. His fighting ability and mental fortitude should not be underestimated.

With his Starry Sky Talisman, he condenses starlight into the power of heaven and earth; with his Starry Sky Sword Technique, he draws upon the sharpness of the Milky Way to defeat his enemies. Therefore, people have high expectations for him.

Xu Baifeng gracefully landed on the altar, standing opposite the petite An Xiaoyue.

"please!"

"please!"

Without further ado, Xu Baifeng unleashed a powerful technique from the "Secret Manual of Qi Circulation of the Celestial Stars."

He treaded the mysterious steps, chanting incantations in a deep and resonant voice, as if reciting the mantras of an ancient star god.

With a flick of his hand, countless talismans, as fine as grains of rice yet shimmering with the light of stars, condensed from the void!

"Starlight Talismans"! Each starlight talisman contains different stellar power: Seven Kills Sharpness, Broken Army Might, Greedy Wolf Deceptive Transformation, Purple Star Emperor's Might, Taiyin True Cold... The talismans intertwine and shimmer, forming a magnificent miniature starry river domain around him!

Swords clash, rise!

A magical sword, neither gold nor jade, with a blade as dark as the night sky yet densely covered with dazzling stars, was drawn from its sheath—the "Gathering Stars and Attracting Spirits Sword"!
"Stars illuminate the universe, the sword draws the Milky Way!"

Xu Baifeng shouted and slashed the void with the Star Gathering and Spirit Guiding Sword.

The starlight talismans responded instantly, like billions of locusts or the Milky Way falling from the heavens, transforming into a violent torrent of star power, carrying a sharp sound that pierced the void and an immeasurable weight, surging towards An Xiaoyue!
The starlight, though seemingly insignificant, possesses immense power; the sword's beam can tear the heavens apart!

The perfect combination of talisman and sword, combining offense and defense, with the talisman providing cover and disruption, and the sword energy seeking out openings to strike, is truly a masterpiece of exquisite skill!

It showcases the refined swordsmanship honed by cultivators in the battles of the lower realms.

Even Jin Shayu, who was watching from below, couldn't help but exclaim, "What a brilliant Star Rune Sword Technique!"

However, facing the torrent of stars that was enough to make ordinary Nascent Soul cultivators flustered, An Xiaoyue neither dodged nor avoided it.

Her petite frame stood ramrod straight as she took a step forward!
Boom!
This step seemed to strike the very pulse of the entire altar space! A visible ripple of earthy yellow light spread out from her center.

There was no earth-shattering light, yet the entire void trembled!
"Array pivot, activate!" she uttered three short but powerful words.

Om-!
A blinding light suddenly burst forth from her delicate body.

The previously hidden array patterns now manifested and flowed wildly. They were not inanimate objects engraved on her Taoist robe, but real array patterns that emanated from her skin, bones, and even every inch of her meridians!
Amidst the intertwining of various colored lights—blue, red, yellow, white, and black—a "Dao Diagram Robe" composed of countless intricate runes instantly formed on her body.

Even more terrifying was that within her body, it seemed as if countless lit stars were spinning and resonating wildly! A boundless power that made the heavens and earth lose their color and the laws of nature bow down erupted like a sleeping ancient ferocious god being awakened.

The "Secret Manual of Refining the Body with Elixir" is one of the Seven True Transmissions of Taiqing, and it is a unique cultivation method that involves refining the body into an array!

Using the body as a furnace and the formation as a method, it contains the workings of heaven and earth, nurturing an indestructible battle body!
This method is extremely dangerous. The physical body is the array plate, the meridians are the array patterns, and the internal organs are the array eyes. Setting up the array requires drawing upon the immense power of heaven and earth into the body. If one is not careful, the array foundation will become disordered and backfire, leading to utter destruction and death by explosion.

However, if successful, during the battle, there is no need to set up an array to draw in qi. With every move, a vast and mighty power that can move heaven and earth will be bestowed upon oneself!

(End of this chapter)