247: Chapter 29: The Sword Offering 247: Chapter 29: The Sword Offering “Madness!
Madness!”
Qing Sun abruptly stood up, his face full of astonishment.
He could never have imagined.
That Xie Zhen would choose such a crazy, such an aggressive course of action… to sabotage the Cloud Ship and crash land together with these Evil Cultivators?
A Qi Control Realm cultivator, although capable of flying with the wind, requires Primordial Energy!
Outside the Northern Border Great Wall.
Primordial Energy is sparse!
The higher one goes, the harder it is to fly!
Besides, this realm imposes a physical pressure on “Cultivators,” and to ascend higher, more Primordial Energy is needed to maintain physical stability… This is the reason why the Northern Hunt must use Cloud Ships, to travel long distances outside the Northern Borders requires an extremely profound accumulation of Primordial Energy, as well as a strong physical body!
“…”
You Yuan’s expression turned incredibly grim as he watched the descending Cloud Ship, unable to help himself from wanting to leap down after it.
But everything happened too swiftly.
Jiageng was already at the tail end of the raid formation, and from the moment the explosion sounded to the moment it turned into a meteor, brutally smashing into the ground, only a fraction of a breath had passed.
The other Cloud Ships didn’t even have time to “hit the brakes.”
In just an instant, they had already missed the opportunity.
There was no time for a rescue.
And Qing Sun forcefully pressed down on his shoulder.
“You can’t go.”
Qing Sun reminded, “Don’t forget, your mission is to escort the Northern Hunt… as the ship examiner.”
You Yuan coldly spoke up, “This Cloud Ship incident, the Imperial City’s office must take full responsibility.”
“Of course.”
Qing Sun smiled and said, “The Cloud Ship’s misfortune is all Yuan Jimo’s fault.
If he had not arranged for these Evil Cultivators to ride with Xie Zhen, how could such an accident have happened?”
You Yuan was taken aback.
“The sabotage of the Cloud Ship was an accident and has nothing to do with you.”
Qing Sun spoke with profound meaning, “Of course… Xie Zhen’s fall is also an accident.
Do you understand what I mean?”
“Wait!”
You Yuan hastily said, “You can’t be planning to go find him, can you?”
Given the terrifying speed at which the Cloud Ship lost control just now, trying to catch up would likely be impossible.
But to locate the crash site and follow the trail of Qi was not difficult.
Before You Yuan’s words were even finished.
Qing Sun had already soared out, his figure, clad in the flame-patterned heavy armor, shooting forth like an arrow, turning into a blazing fireball in the sky, plummeting toward the ground!
“Madness… they’ve all gone mad…”
You Yuan’s expression was complex as he promptly took out a message token to notify the Imperial City of the accident.
He felt that everything that had occurred during this Northern Hunt was outright absurd.
…
…
The moment the Cloud Ship lost its balance.
Xie Xuanyi drew his sword from its sheath.
The entire big ship, bow downwards, plunged head-first toward the ground in a nosedive.
Xie Xuanyi stood on the stern, his clothes billowing, as he crossed toward the bow.
In his left hand was the Gentle Breeze, and in his right, Wild Grass.
Two streams of Sword Qi, one pitch black and the other snow white, erupted amidst the chaos on the big ship, while the Evil Cultivators aboard were still in a state of shock and disbelief.
In just an instant.
Xie Xuanyi took eight steps, beheading eight figures, and as the ship hammered into the ground, heads were sent flying, soaring into the sky.
“Kill!”
“Kill!!!”
The Evil Cultivators from South Border who regained their senses howled, as they all unleashed their magic.
Some transformed into blood light, others retreated to cast Grotto Heaven spells.
In a moment, a multitude of disordered auras burst forth from the Jiageng.
Xie Xuanyi did not take out his Flying Sword to quickly end this battle, but instead confronted them head-on with Gentle Breeze and Wild Grass.
One reason was that Jiageng had just broken free from the control of the chief examiner of the supervision ship, and at this moment, it was possibly still within Da Chu’s sensory range.
Xie Xuanyi did not wish for any “accidents” to occur.
There was another, more important reason.
He was practicing the second Sword Dao!
The path of the Sword Cultivator is always forged with blood…
This entire ship of Evil Cultivators was just what he needed to sharpen Gentle Breeze and Wild Grass!
Array Patterns and Talismans were flying everywhere.
The Evil Cultivators from South Border also had their own way of array patterns, and the weaker cultivators aboard resorted to “unconventional methods.”
Xie Xuanyi was initially making swift progress but was now impeded at this moment.
In just an instant.
He felt attacks coming at him from three different directions, targeting his Divine Soul!
Beyond that, hundreds of talismans were thrown recklessly, locking down the Qi of the big ship and trapping the Primordial Energy within him.
These people were no mere rabble.
Of course…
In Xie Xuanyi’s eyes, they weren’t considered an elite force either.
What they did could at most be described as “well-trained” or “premeditated.”
If they wanted to overthrow a stronger power from below or to kill a few with many, they needed to make good use of array patterns, talismans, and the weaknesses of cultivators.
In the world today, there indeed are examples of cavalry charges that have trampled over the esteemed Yin God, and Xie Xuanyi had previously confronted the iron cavalry charge of the Da Chu Imperial Family head-on.
However, that charge was resolved by him in the most perfect manner; a great array that locks down Primordial Energy may seem without a solution, but as long as he could break through the array and tear a gap before the Primordial Energy was exhausted, all troubles would be easily resolved.
Sword Cultivators actually fear the locking of Primordial Energy.
Because the power of the Flying Sword technique depends on how abundant the Primordial Energy within the Sword Cultivator’s Grotto Heaven is.
But the second Sword Dao does not have this concern.
Xie Xuanyi gripped Gentle Breeze and Wild Grass, chopping down talismans as easily as slicing vegetables, shattering them into pieces in one fluid motion, barely expending much effort, only storing a breath of Sword Qi along the sword’s edge.
The second Sword Dao requires the cultivator to have an extremely strong physique capable of withstanding the recoil of Sword Intent.
The “breath” mentioned here refers to the energy of the physique.
The locking effect of the array patterns and talismans is greatly reduced.
Similarly.
The powerful Martial Artists who specialize in physique, when facing tremendous armies or swarm tactics, hardly need to worry about the constraints of energy-locking arrays, as long as the Qi within their bodies remains unyielding, they can fight across a thousand miles in one breath!
When Jiageng crashed into Snow Mountain.
The entire Cloud Ship had been massacred almost entirely.
More than twenty evil cultivators from the South Border were slaughtered and toppled to the deck by the breeze and the wild grass, the whole deck smeared with blood.
Xie Xuanyi had fought from the stern to the bow, then back again to the stern, killing back and forth numerous times.
In the end.
The great ship tilted and stabbed into the Snow Mountain like a sword, with only the stern part exposed.
Xie Xuanyi returned to the end of the mast.
He held an umbrella in one hand and a sword in the other, silently watching the last “person” remaining on the ship.
Wu Qiong.
Wu Qiong hadn’t lifted a finger during this slaughter…
He simply watched in silence, as if he were just a streak of cloud descending along with the Cloud Ship.
The three Vajra Realm Earth Puppets also quietly served beside their master, enveloping him within their circle, using their bodies to bear the pressure of the falling Cloud Ship as well as the shockwave residue from the final crash onto the Snow Mountain!
With a bang.
The Jiageng fell silent, like a chunk of precipice lodged into the Snow Mountain.
All around there was only the whining of the wind.
Shortly after.
The pitter-patter of raindrops falling sounded on the ship, it was actually the heads and limbs that Xie Xuanyi had previously hacked off, falling back and hitting the hull, like hailstones and raindrops.
This ghastly and miserable sight made Wu Qiong, who had been watching in silence, light up with admiration in his eyes.
This pride of the Heavenly Puppet Sect stretched out his hands and gently clapped.
“Splendid.”
He looked at Xie Zhen and smiled, “So this is the Sword Dao you cultivate…
It’s not quite what I had imagined.”
“…”
Xie Xuanyi glanced at Wu Qiong, ignored him, and focused on the trembling sword edge instead.
The breeze and wild grass, having drunk fresh blood, were cheering and ringing.
This was the positive feedback the sword spirit was giving to its master.
They were very satisfied with the battle that had just occurred.
However, Xie Xuanyi was not quite satisfied.
Just now…
there were several flaws in his own moves; if he could adjust his path and the angle of his sword strikes, he might have been able to kill even faster.
He closed his eyes slightly.
The scenes of killing aboard the falling ship were instantaneously reflected in reverse.
Slow motion, freeze frame, restore.
A few breaths later, Xie Xuanyi opened his eyes, as the replay of the battle was over.
Hm.
Next time he unsheathed his sword, it should be a little faster.
Having done all this, Xie Xuanyi still chose to ignore Wu Qiong.
He began to survey the environment around him.
The Jiageng had crashed into a Snow Mountain.
This was actually good news.
Seeing the Snow Mountain meant that the place he chose to land wasn’t too far from Li Lan Mountain.
Before setting off, Xie Xuanyi had obtained as comprehensive a “Northern Hunting Map” as possible from Fang Yuan Fang.
If all went well, based on the path of the Cloud Ship, he should soon be able to determine the exact location of the Snow Mountain in front of him…
He hoped everything would go smoothly, and that he would be able to find the location of the “Divine Fruit.”
“Hey!?”
Finally.
Wu Qiong’s voice pulled Xie Xuanyi back to reality.
The voice of this pride of the Heavenly Puppet Sect carried a hint of anger as he said coldly, “So…
you really weren’t listening to a word I said, were you?”
“…”
Xie Xuanyi came back to his senses.
He looked expressionlessly at the young man in front of him, his mind brushing over a few irrelevant pieces of verbal information.
This cultivator from the Heavenly Puppet Sect had explained to him why he chose to watch from the sidelines.
There was no need for an explanation.
Xie Xuanyi was very clear about the nature of these evil cultivators from the South Border…
They never cared about any life, even the lives of their “fellow sect” members.
In their eyes, there was no such thing as camaraderie.
For Wu Qiong, this hunting mission was about successful hunting, not minimizing the cost.
Therefore, he chose to watch.
To be precise…
he chose to “observe.”
He had given up the lives of the evil cultivators on this ship.
At such a cost, Wu Qiong had clearly perceived every sword strike made by Xie Zhen.
“If I’m not wrong, Yuan Jimo must have given you a talisman,” Xie Xuanyi said quietly.
“This talisman can ensure you can extract yourself at any time…
Even if you can’t beat me, you can still leave with a hundred percent certainty.
The Great Chu Imperial City must be thinking of negotiating with the South Border, and for a genius of your caliber, they should probably give some ‘protection.’ With these Earth Puppets by your side, you truly are in an invincible position.”
Wu Qiong was taken aback for a moment.
For some unknown reason.
A bad omen suddenly arose in his heart.
“It’s just that…
the Array Patterns and Talismans crafted by the Da Chu Imperial Family’s Array Masters are incredibly precious, extremely rare.”
Xie Xuanyi said reflectively, “You should have used it earlier.”
As the words fell.
Wu Qiong felt something was wrong.
This pride of the Heavenly Puppet Sect felt a chill at his brow.
The moment he sensed danger in his Heart Lake, he abruptly retreated, while the three Earth Puppets roared and stepped forward to shield their young master.
At the same time, Wu Qiong took out the Da Chu transmission array talisman and, without any hesitation, was about to ignite it with Primordial Power.
Unfortunately.
It was too late, too slow.
Without any forewarning, a strand of golden light shot out from Xie Xuanyi’s brow at the moment he began to speak.
This strand of golden light instantly transformed into a long line, piercing through all three Earth Puppets!
And it pierced through Wu Qiong’s head!