Chapter 403: Chapter 357: Don’t Want to Die
The transformation of Sword Qi is the hallmark of a Silver Sword Hero.
The transformation of a Sword Artifact, however, has nothing to do with personal cultivation; it’s entirely due to the supernatural marvel of the Sword Artifact itself.
The Golden Crow Sword is a powerful marvel inherited from the Odin lineage. The Golden Crow is known as the pet of the Death God, inherently representing death.
Hodder’s gloomy nature matches the characteristics of the Golden Crow Sword exceptionally well. This sword artifact has always been his weapon.
Previously, his cultivation was insufficient to truly unleash the power of the Golden Crow Sword.
With the World Tree Leaves, Hodder’s Source Power surged several times. Combined with the enhancement of Droprunir’s Golden Ring, he finally triggered the transformation of the Golden Crow Sword.
Droprunir’s Golden Ring can replicate ninefold power, making it a very powerful marvel. However, replicating ninefold power has its limits; for Golden Powerhouses, having ever greater power is not necessarily beneficial.
Without sufficient Spiritual Power, forcibly wielding overly powerful Source Power could result in oneself being overwhelmed by the Source Power first.
Hodder’s Spiritual Power barely reaches 27 points, which, compared to peers, is already considered extraordinarily talented. Even so, he has no way to wield the ninefold power replicated by Droprunir.
Fortunately, the World Tree Leaves can temporarily enhance Spiritual Power, and Hodder’s Spiritual Power is now about 29 points.
The enhanced Spiritual Power allowed Hodder to enter a whole new world.
He seemed able to grasp every Source Power particle, observe all the details, and gain a deeper understanding of his own spirit, body, and sword artifact.
In this state, Hodder could even clearly perceive the Source Power fluctuations of several Golden Powerhouses in the audience.
The originally extremely powerful Golden Powerhouses could also be seen through in various details under his perception.
Song Muyang’s Source Power was pure and fierce. His chest seemed like a blazing sun, releasing strong light and heat, yet such powerful energy was not released outward but circulated within his body.
Liu Zhong’s Source Power was solid and heavy like the earth, appearing less domineering than Song Muyang, but his aura was more stable and powerful than Song Muyang.
Qin Ken and Qin Xuan both had deep auras. Qin Xuan’s cultivation was undoubtedly stronger.
Then there was his elder, Tifeng, whose Source Power core resembled a great tree, with the trunk at the heart, the roots and branches spreading throughout the body.
This kind of Source Power operation was very unique, very different from other Golden Powerhouses.
Hodder knew this was the World Tree Secret Technique passed down in their Odin lineage. It’s also their family’s strongest secret technique.
It’s a pity that he was innately incompatible with this secret technique, making it difficult to cultivate.
From the Golden Powerhouses present, without a doubt, his elder Tifeng was the strongest.
Being able to clearly assess the strength and weakness among the Golden Powerhouses made Hodder proud and deepened his understanding of Golden Level power.
Hodder had a strong premonition that after this battle, he would be able to advance to the Gold level.
Reaching this stage, geniuses like Song Yunxi and Yuan Wuxian of the same generation no longer matter to him.
These individuals, although having a deep cultivation foundation, all had their own issues. Song Yunxi was too gentle, Yuan Wuxian too rigid, Liu Po too elusive...
Jin Yutang, this narrow-minded good friend, humph, is just so-so.
In this special state, Hodder instantly received numerous complex pieces of information. His powerful Spiritual Power allowed him to easily process this information and make corresponding judgments.
Hodder felt in control of everything, at this moment, he seemed omnipotent.
He couldn’t help but feel prideful—how dare a mere commoner like Gao Xuan fight against him!
At this thought, Hodder suddenly realized he had overlooked the most crucial person—Gao Xuan, which was inexplicable and somewhat abnormal.
Hodder hastily focused his Spiritual Power on Gao Xuan. Even under the perception of potent Spiritual Power, Gao Xuan’s appearance was so handsome, flawless.
Instinctively boiling with envy, he wondered how a person could be so perfect. It was too abnormal.
What kind of beauty, under a tenfold magnifying glass, would reveal numerous flaws? Rough skin, poor facial lines, unseemly muscle lines, and so on.
Hodder’s Spiritual Power was equivalent to observing Gao Xuan under a microscope; he could even delve down to the cellular level to observe Gao Xuan.
Even so, Gao Xuan appeared flawless in his eyes, devoid of any issues. Something even Golden Powerhouses couldn’t compare.
Hodder couldn’t believe a human could evolve to such perfection. As he envied, he was also a bit puzzled.
Why couldn’t he see any fluctuations in Gao Xuan’s power?
Even with Golden Powerhouses, Hodder could perceive various layers from body to spirit.
Yet Gao Xuan had no layers; his body inside and out were in high unity. Hodder could only see Gao Xuan’s nearly perfect exterior. Beyond that, he couldn’t see any other information.
No spiritual fluctuations, no Source Power operation, none of these he could observe.
This result puzzled Hodder. What power was Gao Xuan using, so strange.
Unable to see through Gao Xuan’s truth, Hodder felt a bit uneasy in his mind.
Gao Xuan’s state was also too abnormal. As long as Source Power operates, it will interact with the Sea of Source Power, producing various Source Power fluctuations—how could no breath be revealed.
Hodder’s complex thoughts actually happened within a moment.
This didn’t affect him from urging the Golden Crow to attack Gao Xuan at all.
The Golden Crow Sword transformed into a Golden Crow; its strongest power lies in releasing Death Power, capable of directly striking Gao Xuan’s spirit.
The Golden Crow was not swift, but its direct attack on the spirit could maximize limiting Gao Xuan’s Quick Sword.
Tifeng, with discerning eyes, specially formulated a battle plan targeting Gao Xuan’s Quick Sword.
Hodder was uneasy because, under the Golden Crow’s Death Power attack, Gao Xuan had no reaction. This was too abnormal.
Before Hodder could figure out the key, he saw a blazing silver light erupt explosively from Gao Xuan’s heart.
The extremely brilliant silver light, like a detonating nuclear bomb, unleashed violently intense Sword Qi.
Gao Xuan drew his sword and slashed directly, the silver sword light transformed into a long rainbow, striking straight ahead.
The crimson-eyed Golden Crow paused briefly in the vast and majestic silver sword rainbow before disintegrating into specks of golden light.
Hodder’s heart sank to the bottom; it was over. The opponent’s Sword Qi was too strong, stronger than his ninefold Source Power.
Watching from below, Tifeng also sensed something amiss. Without hesitation, he pointed a finger, and a sphere of dark green light enveloped Hodder.
The shield made of dark green light only blocked for a moment before being pierced by the silver sword rainbow.
Hodder swung his sword horizontally, but the silver sword rainbow was incomparably fierce. The Golden Crow Sword in Hodder’s hand suddenly bent, and the Sword Qi he invoked completely collapsed.
The silver sword rainbow blasted through Hodder, penetrating him from front to back.
The fierce transformation of the Celestial Spirit Sword Qi shattered Hodder along with his armor into fragments.
Hodder exploded like a lit firecracker, scattering into pieces of flesh that flew into the air.
Only now did the thunderously falling sword rainbow gradually dissipate.
The many Golden Powerhouses were somewhat astonished that Gao Xuan actually killed Hodder in public, and Tifeng’s intervention failed to stop him? What was going on?
Tifeng was furious; Gao Xuan was too arrogant, daring to kill Hodder in front of him! He absolutely could not tolerate this.
Tifeng didn’t care about the finals; Gao Xuan must die.
But several nearby Golden Powerhouses’ powerful Sword Intent simultaneously locked onto Tifeng.
Hodder was dead, and that was that, but they couldn’t let Tifeng disrupt the Sword Dao finals.
This was the Alliance’s most valuable competition. Let alone anything else, its commercial value was immeasurable, not to mention the tremendous hidden value.
Many of the Golden Powerhouses felt some sympathy for Hodder, but that was all. The deceased Hodder wasn’t worth tarnishing the finals’ reputation.
Let alone one Hodder, even a hundred or a thousand Hodders weren’t worth the price.
So when the Golden Powerhouses noticed Tifeng’s movements, they unanimously joined forces to suppress him.
This banquet was too valuable to let Tifeng overturn the table.
Qin Ken, Qin Xuan, Liu Zhong, Yuan Ancheng, Song Muyang, the strong Sword Intent of these five Golden Powerhouses fell on Tifeng, forcibly suppressing his powerful Source Power fluctuations.
This was equivalent to Tifeng just standing up with his sword, only for five swords to be placed against his neck, forcing him back down.
Tifeng struggled several times, but how could he possibly fight against five Golden Powerhouses?
Tifeng was about to burst with rage. His junior was killed on the spot, and not only did these Golden Bloodline Family Powerhouses not help, they actually teamed up to suppress him.
Seeing Tifeng on the verge of exploding, Qin Ken hurriedly placated, "Don’t be agitated. After the competition, you can do whatever you wish. Just not now."
Song Muyang also firmly stated, "There must be no disturbance on the field. Sir, please give our Song Family some face."
The others remained silent; they couldn’t let Tifeng act recklessly.
The Odin Family had long been in decline, and they weren’t afraid to offend Tifeng.
Tifeng was forcibly restrained by the five powerhouses, and he really had no better solution.
He was not a child; his anger swiftly gave way to calmness.
Killing Gao Xuan was not a problem, but smashing the finals’ brand would offend too many people. That price was something they could not afford to bear.
Tifeng retracted his aura, his face stern and silent. This attitude amounted to acquiescing to the crowd’s proposal.
The few Golden Powerhouses didn’t want to push their advantage too far, and they all withdrew their Sword Intent.
The spiritual exchange among the Golden Powerhouses was covert and swift, the entire process very brief.
Song Yunxi and the other genius Sword Heroes were most shocked. Hodder, who was so formidable, was slain by a single strike from Gao Xuan!
Song Yunxi couldn’t help but ask Song Muyang, "Big brother, Gao Xuan’s Sword Qi intensity reached two million degrees, right?"
Song Muyang pondered for a moment, then said, "Even higher than that."
"..."
Song Yunxi was shocked, "Is Gao Xuan at the Golden level?"
"It should be the power of some Marvels."
Song Muyang shook his head, "Gao Xuan is too wild. Killing Hodder is satisfying, but he’s cornered himself."
He truly didn’t agree with Gao Xuan’s actions when Gao Xuan could have handled things better.
Liu Po, Yuan Wuxian, and Qin Jian secretly felt fortunate.
Luckily, luckily Gao Xuan didn’t lose control when they confronted him. Otherwise, it would have been them who died...
The surrounding audience was completely unaware of Tifeng’s attempted disruption; they all foolishly stared at the flying flesh in the arena.
Occasionally, someone would be killed in a sword competition, but scenes of people being blown into pieces were exceedingly rare. Especially during the finals, such a scene was too impactful.
The millions of spectators on-site, and the tens of billions watching online, were all stunned.
Everyone was dumbfounded for over ten seconds, and no one knew who first let out a cry of shock, followed by a chorus of exclamations filling the arena. Among them, not a few emitted gloating cries of glee. The scene was rather chaotic.
The online barrage was uniformly filled with "Wow!". Only this word could convey the audience’s complex emotions.
The most shocked and terrified were the Thousand Mechanism Sword Team and Jin Yutang.
Jin Yutang looked weakly at the coach, a plea already visible in his eyes; he didn’t want to go on stage, he didn’t want to die!