Armored in dark robes, the six finest flying swords from the Wu family’s tomb, named Xuanjia, Emei, Pifu, Huangtong, Jinlu, Chaolu, were severed by the fingertip of the newly crowned Sword Master, Xu Fengnian, with his technique “Severing Immortality.” They pierced through the monk Yang Taishui’s palm artistry, the “Mustard Seed within Mount Sumeru, Vastness within a Sleeve,” breaking the cage and soaring into the sky.
Yang Taishui, whose hand had stuck to the remaining six swords, gently overturned his palm, as if reversing heaven and earth. The swords Qingmei, Zhuma, Chunshui, Taohua, Zhuque, and Tai’e were forced to whirl rapidly within two chi of his palm. Despite their sword energies forming radiant arcs, they could not escape immediately. However, the monk’s robe was slashed by the swords, threads floating in the air.
As Yang Taishui flipped his palm again, the range of the swords’ rebellion shrank from two chi to one and a half. After several such flips, the six swords were nearly immobilized, bound tightly in place. The black-robed monk spoke calmly, “Prince, you were originally endowed with the Buddha’s essence and Dao’s roots, a rare talent unlike ordinary martial cultivators of outstanding brilliance. Why do you refuse to proceed methodically to pursue the great Dao, always resorting to extreme measures? In this way, how many times can you afford to squander your potential? The Grand Yellow Court pond painstakingly cultivated by the late Wudang Sect Leader Wang Chonglou only needed careful nurturing and expansion to transform from a small pond into a vast lake. Eventually, one hundred and eight golden lotuses would revolve endlessly, achieving immortality. A sea of energy swirling with one thousand and eighty petals—what a celestial spectacle! Because you do not cherish it and defy the heavens, now the pond is dry, the golden lotuses withered, leaving only one solitary bloom. Yet you still refuse to repent and turn back?!”
With the final words “turn back,” Yang Taishui unleashed a lion’s roar of Buddhist power. Xu Fengnian’s warhorse, as if struck by a hurricane, staggered backward and finally dropped to its knees. Xu Fengnian gracefully dismounted, his palm striking the Qiuchun sword scabbard. The scabbard arced outward, and the Qiuchun sword slid forth, drawing a wide circle before halting midair in front of Xu Fengnian. Stepping forward, Xu blocked the horse’s line of sight. The steed quickly regained its footing. This golden warhorse, already somewhat attuned to the mystical after this long gallop, lightly stepped away, glancing back repeatedly with reluctance.
Far away, Yuan Zuozong, riding slowly on the edge of the great circle, sheathed the Beiliang saber, which had already been drawn a few inches.
Xu Fengnian coldly said, “The two Sword Immortals before me, Li Chungan and Deng Ta’e, both broke new ground. Yet you sages of the three schools shut your doors and sealed the mountains, fearing karma and dreading karmic obstacles. Once entangled, it is like planting a seed into a stone wall—it will eventually split the cliff. The monk Longshu refused to enter Buddhahood because he willed it so; the abbot of Liangchan Temple has already achieved perfection but is more concerned with spreading the Buddhist realm and universal compassion. Though you, Yang Taishui, have shaved your head and donned the monk’s robe, you remain essentially a Legalist, practicing the arts of intrigue and manipulation. If you were to become a Buddha, that would be the greatest joke of all.”
Yang Taishui laughed, “Indeed, I cannot become a Buddha or attain Bodhisattva fruit. But to hinder you a little is not difficult. When Han Shengxuan arrives at Tiemen Pass, it will be a case of the mantis stalking the cicada, unaware of the oriole behind. If you persist blindly, dragging yourself further at the cost of your cultivation and life, then the silently ascended Beiliang general Chen Zhibao will arrive like a slingshot poised beneath, fulfilling the prophecy of Huang Longshi—that you end up making clothes for another, toiling for whom? Your Highness possesses great wisdom; you are a rare intelligent one. You should know that it is better for Zhao Kai to be the Shu King than for Chen Zhibao to become the second non-clan king. The reason Beiliang stands alongside Liyang and Beiman as three equal powers is because of its low internal strife. Once divided, it will be hard to say what will happen. In my eyes, Beiliang’s true great enemies are the future Shu King Zhao Kai and the current Chen Zhibao. Weighing the pros and cons, Your Highness should know how to choose!”
Xu Fengnian shook his head, “That’s not how the calculation should be made.”
The black-robed monk, using great Buddhist power to bind the six swords Zhuma, Zhuque, and others, seemed effortless on the surface, but in reality, it was no easy feat. The swords hissed like thunder in the clouds. At this moment, within the confines of his palm, every inch was a deadly trap.
As Yang Taishui was about to speak, Xu Fengnian raised his hand, “Your Buddhist sect emphasizes teaching according to circumstances. Though you are my senior, our connection was exhausted long ago during that drinking session. If that is the case, do not feign here any longer. Today, we must settle this cleanly and thoroughly.”
Yang Taishui, his emaciated body barely holding up the black robe, shouted fiercely, “Xu Fengnian, do you truly believe I cannot slay demons and eliminate obstacles?!”
Xu Fengnian smiled, “Didn’t the Imperial Observatory once use those very words—demons and obstacles—to describe me to the Zhao Emperor before I was even born?”
With that, Xu Fengnian took two steps forward, planting the Qiuchun sword as the core of the Thunder Pool Formation. He brought his two fingers together and brushed them along the blade’s edge!
Qiuchun pierced deep into the earth’s sands.
Xu Fengnian murmured, “With Qiuchun, I sever Qiuchun!”
Yang Taishui roared, “Audacious!”
Could this youth truly be so foolish as to attempt to seize the celestial fate through this sword alone?
This was the true ambush!
Xu Fengnian’s aura, visible only to those like Tao Manwu who possessed spiritual insight, surged upward in a golden-purple brilliance.
The black-robed monk flipped his palm, yet could no longer control the six swords. They broke free, skimming low across the ground before halting at a height of one zhang above the sands.
The six swords, long waiting in the sky, revealed their true forms, aligning with the Qiuchun sword to form the Great Dipper Formation.
The twelve swords, together with Qiuchun, formed the Yin-Yang Taiji Formation.
Each of the twelve swords formed their own Thunder Pool Formation.
Guided by the profound insights imparted by Hong Xixiang, the young Wudang patriarch, each sword formed a perfect circle upon itself.
Yuan Zuozong turned his horse and retreated.
This battle no longer concerned him.
After a moment’s hesitation, Yuan Zuozong glanced at Xu Fengnian, then spurred his horse forward, charging across the battlefield littered with corpses. He reached out, grasping a long spear, and charged directly at the white-robed female Bodhisattva.
As Yuan advanced, the red-cloaked spirit retreated.
Yang Taishui gazed at the sky, shaking his head with a smile. “Indeed, quite a grand display. But boy of the Xu family, do you truly think I subsist on vegetarian fare?”
The black-robed monk stamped his foot, though his foot never touched the ground nor stirred the sand. He roared, “A Hundred Zhang of Compassion!”
He crushed the jade pendant at his chest and tore off the thick, ink-black robe. With a flick of his finger, the wide robe soared into the sky like a black cloud.
Like a canopy rising from the earth.
Ancient texts once spoke of an immortal in Zhongnan Mountain who planted a treasure tree soaring a hundred zhang into the sky, branchless and leafless.
This was one of Yang Taishui’s secret techniques, meant to withstand heavenly tribulations in his final century. For the greatest talents under heaven, who among them does not possess great fortune and hidden strengths?
The robe, no more than a zhang in length and width, ascended and summoned hundreds of zhangs of rolling black clouds, covering Tiemen Pass.
Yang Taishui glanced at the young man standing tall in the distance. Even this former tiger monk, who had once reached the pinnacle of power and then withdrawn, could not help but feel a surge of emotions. He had underestimated him before. Born into wealth, it often dulls the sharpness of the young generation. Once their fortune wanes, they often falter. When Xu Shao leveled six nations, his achievements overshadowed all, forming the first deadly knot. When that woman, bearing Xu Fengnian, entered the palace in white robes, attaining the false realm of a terrestrial immortal and slaying a sword immortal in a single night, that was another knot. When Xu Fengnian refused to be a spoiled noble, that was another knot. When he spent twenty years in restraint and now, having mastered martial arts with a heart full of resentment and hatred, he only tightened the knots that had never been untied.
Yang Taishui slowly closed his eyes, clasping his hands. “Dead knots can only be severed by death. But today, it must be you, Xu Fengnian, who dies first. Amitabha!”
Xu Fengnian let the heavens and earth draw upon his entire fortune.
Blood slowly trickled from his seven orifices.
Since he began cultivating the saber and martial arts, and later nurturing swords, how many battles and dangers had he faced? Even he himself could no longer recall. He had sent sword qi rolling like dragons against walls. He had single-handedly shaken Kunlun. He had guarded a city gate with a single sword. He had slain a Zhi Xuan expert with a single saber strike.
The heavens and earth were split and compressed by multiple sword arrays and the black clouds of the robe.
Whether in Liyang or Beiman, none could rival the thunderous winter storm that erupted early at Tiemen Pass.
Unmoved by the terrifying spectacle above, Yang Taishui stepped forward into the sword array where the thunderous sword qi clashed with the stars. This single step covered two zhang, shaking heaven and earth, causing the iron-hard cliffs of Tiemen Pass to crumble and roll away.
The second step shortened slightly, still covering one and a half zhang.
He took six steps in total, each leaving behind a lotus mark of the Buddha imprinted upon the earth.
The black-robed monk gazed sorrowfully at the young man within arm’s reach. These six steps, combined with the earlier stomp, formed the ultimate Buddhist technique: the Seven Steps of the Lotus.
Within the sword formation, besides the six visible large lotuses, countless smaller ones appeared upon the earth as if scattered by celestial maidens or blessed by five hundred Arhats.
The great sword formation trembled, and the heavens and earth seemed as if shaken by a giant bucket wielded by a celestial being, rippling endlessly.
The seventh step, the seventh lotus, erupted beneath Xu Fengnian’s feet at the edge of the sword formation.
Yang Taishui’s face turned yellowish-gold, showing signs of weariness, yet he persisted, extending a palm through the Thunder Pool Formation. Ignoring the sword that slashed his arm, he struck Xu Fengnian’s chest.
No one noticed a red-cloaked figure weaving a great arc, arriving silently behind Xu Fengnian as he flew backward.
The two figures passed through each other seamlessly!
As if two celestial beings had projected their souls into the heavens.
Xu Fengnian grinned. Within him, the purple-gold bud erupted into full bloom, then withered petal by petal, falling into the dry pond.
In his left hand, the Spring Thunder saber.
He had painstakingly constructed the Thunder Pool Formation.
Only to wait for this moment—to sever it with a single slash!
Since becoming the abundant bait for the red-cloaked spirit, he had awaited this moment of “reciprocation.”
He had lost the Grand Yellow Court cultivation, like sweeping a house clean to welcome a guest. Only then could the small temple receive the great Bodhisattva of the Dan Yin.
Within an arm’s length.
Xu Fengnian slashed open the Heavens!
He and the unmoving black-robed monk slowly passed each other.
The Thunder Pool was destroyed.
The robe drifted down.
The infant soul before Yang Taishui opened its mouth, drawing in the energy, its once-impure golden eyes becoming clearer.
Another pair of arms sprouted beneath his armpits!
Xu Fengnian raised his hand to his mouth, blood flowing between his fingers, as he slowly walked forward. First, the false realm of Zhi Xuan, then the worsening condition of borrowing strength to reach the false realm of Heaven’s Will. Unless he stumbled upon an immense stroke of fortune and directly ascended to the realm of terrestrial immortals, he could no longer dream of becoming a peak expert.
Xu Fengnian turned his gaze toward Zhao Kai, who staggered backward into the carriage. Kill this brat, then eliminate Chen Zhibao, who seeks to profit from the chaos. Everything would be worth it.
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