Secular Immortal of the Nine Realms - Chapter 242
Chapter 242: The Might of a Single Sword
The Eight Barrens Immortal Subjugation Peerless Swordsmanship was a swordsmanship manual, but it had nothing to do with one’s cultivation. All it taught was the art of killing.
All in all, there were seven sword arts, each one stronger and more vicious than the previous. These seven sword arts could be combined into a single move called ‘Immortal Subjugation’.
“I’m unable to execute Immortal Subjugation. In fact, I am only able to use the first sword art because my cultivation is too low… but now that I have this swordsmanship manual, I can at least pit my life against others now.
“Little sword, if the Empyrean Immortal Sword Sect learns that you’re with me, won’t I have an army of sword cultivators on my back?” Fang Chen looked at little sword as he muttered.
He had no idea how Enlightenment Heaven Supreme managed to steal little sword from the Empyrean Immortal Sword Sect, but the latter had to be searching for it. If they ever get their hands on Enlightenment Heaven Supreme, they would learn the whereabouts of the sword embryo…
“You are a sword cultivator. That explains why you dared to kill our sect members.” A chuckle pulled Fang Chen out of his thoughts.
Liu Mu nervously looked at the sky. A person was riding on a flying sword, gazing down on them from above.
“Foundation Establishment?” Fang Chen looked at Xue Fenggui, and his face turned grim.
There was a huge gap between tenth stage Ki Refinement and Foundation Establishment.
“May I know your background?” Xue Fenggui asked with a smile.
“Why bother asking about that when you know that I’m a sword cultivator?” Fang Chen replied with a smile. “You arrived faster than I thought. How did you know I’m here?”
“Our Sea Dragon Sect is not closed off from the rest of the world. We have connections all over the world. Naturally, someone told me your whereabouts,” Xue Fenggui calmly replied.
“I intentionally took another path in front of them,” Fang Chen replied with a smile.
Xue Fenggui casually waved his hand, and a chubby little worm appeared between his fingers. This worm had a pair of thin wings reminiscent of a cicada’s fluttering nonstop.
“One of the Bai Clan’s cultivators practices gu art. He planted it on you,” Xue Fenggui replied.
Fang Chen nodded in realization before asking, “So, what do you plan to do? Exact vengeance for your young sect master?”
“I would have to exact vengeance…” Xue Fenggui agreed.
“Why aren’t you making a move? Are you worried that my backing might go after your Sea Dragon Sect if they learn about this?” Fang Chen smiled.
Xue Fenggui assessed Fang Chen before suddenly bursting into laughter. “You wouldn’t have said that if you had someone to back you. Now I can put my heart at ease. Ordinary cultivators believe that sword cultivators are untouchable, but in truth, most sword cultivators don’t have any backing.”
Fang Chen could see that Xue Fenggui’s hesitation had faded due to the gap in his words.
“Those who survive to Foundation Establishment are all wily foxes,” Fang Chen remarked.
“You’re flattering me.” Xue Fenggui laughed.
“What are you waiting for? Are you worried I might have an ace up my sleeves?” Fang Chen chuckled.
Xue Fenggui nodded. Even though he was a Foundation Establishment cultivator, it was still best to tread carefully since he was up against a sword cultivator.
He circled Fang Chen while assessing the latter’s expression.
All of a sudden, Fang Chen sensed something grabbing his feet. It was two arms conjured out of the ground.
Before he could break free, the surrounding earth swiftly morphed into shackles that trapped him in place.
But this much still wasn’t enough to put Xue Fenggui’s worries to rest. He waved his sleeves, and a fiery inferno rushed at Fang Chen. Should this attack land, both Fang Chen and Liu Mu would surely die.
Boom!
The fiery inferno engulfed Fang Chen and Liu Mu.
Xue Fenggui smiled, but seconds later, he sensed that something was amiss. He quickly dissipated the flames, only to realize that the area was empty. Fang Chen and Liu Mu were nowhere to be seen.
“Five Elements Art? His grasp of it is even deeper than mine?” Xue Fenggui frowned.
He could tell that Fang Chen had used the Five Elements Art to escape underground. To easily break free from his earth shackles and escape showed that his mastery of the Five Elements Art was above his.
“Do you think you can really escape?” Xue Fenggui smirked as he eyed the ground.
Fang Chen had already escaped 300 meters away underground with Liu Mu when he suddenly sensed some kind of energy rushing at him. He hurriedly rushed out of the ground with Liu Mu.
The area where he previously was had been turned into a pit of over 30 meters deep!
Xue Fenggui had used his Five Elements Art to compress the soil. If Fang Chen didn’t escape in time, the two of them would have been reduced to meat paste.
“You’re a sword cultivator, but you tried to escape from me instead of brandishing your sword… I’ll have to overthrow my previous conjecture. You aren’t a sword cultivator at all,” Xue Fenggui sneered.
“Are you sure you want mutual destruction?” Fang Chen earnestly asked.
“Mutual destruction?” Xue Fenggui stared at Fang Chen in ridicule. “I wouldn’t have crossed blows with you if you were at Foundation Establishment, but you’re only at Ki Refinement. The gap between us cannot be bridged with just the sword in your hands.”
He paused before adding, “You should use whatever aces you have while you have the chance.”
“I’ll satisfy your wish.” Fang Chen nodded.
The Eight Barrens Immortal Subjugation Peerless Swordsmanship’s first form!
All of Fang Chen’s spirit ki was depleted in the blink of an eye. In fact, he couldn’t replenish his spirit ki in time, such that it was beginning to consume his blood essence instead.
His face began to cave in as his blood level plummeted. Fortunately, his spirit ki began recovering in time, so his condition didn’t continue to deteriorate. That being said, his recovered spirit ki was immediately sapped away, so it remained in a dry state.
Emanating a brilliant light reminiscent of a comet, little sword charged at Xue Fenggui.
“This is impossible!” Xue Fenggui was horrified.
How could a Ki Refinement sword cultivator’s attack wield such destructive prowess?!
He quickly put up his spirit ki barrier while channeling the flying sword under his feet to attack little sword in hopes of surviving this attack.
Bam!
Xue Fenggui’s flying sword shattered, and his spirit ki barrier was swiftly punctured too.
Little sword easily pierced through Xue Fenggui’s chest.
Xue Fenggui glared at Fang Chen, unable to utter a word at all. His body began scattering into the surroundings at specks of light before vanishing altogether.
The fragments of his flying sword and the storage ring he wore on his finger dissipated as well.
Fang Chen had exhausted himself so much in that attack that he had to immediately sit down and condition himself. Two hours later, he finally recovered his spirit ki, and his spirit ki capacity even grew by a fair bit.
However, his depleted blood essence would take more time to recover.
“That was only the first form. If I tried to execute the second form in my current state, not only will I deplete all my spirit ki, but my blood essence will dry up too, reducing me into a skeleton. Executing the second form before I become strong enough is as good as committing suicide.”
Fang Chen was fearful. Until he advanced to Foundation Establishment and gained sufficient spirit ki, he decided to avoid using even the first form unless he truly needed to.
He got up and double confirmed that Xue Fenggui had indeed been erased from the face of the world. It was a pity that Xue Fenggui’s flying sword and storage ring were destroyed in his attack too…