C594 Struggle out of the Shackles
The swordsman adhered to no fixed pattern.
His consciousness, akin to a specter taking residence within him, transformed Yu Yuan into a sword bearer. He faced the extraterrestrial beings, the Sky Fiend, and the colossal giant beasts, abiding by the cosmic laws and the ultimate truths of swordsmanship.
Yu Yuan barely sensed the sword in his grasp.
His arms became the most formidable and sharp swords!
The sword spirit, with an excitement it had never known before, resonated with his sword spell. It aided him in navigating the currents of spiritual energy, vitality, and spiritual sense, allowing him to fully express the sword spell.
Suddenly, he felt as though he was deep within the Star River of the extraterrestrial realm, on a brutal battlefield, embodying the Grand Sword Immortal.
He stood alone against the endless Sky Fiends!
With a mere thought, he unleashed his sword.
Swoosh!
Threads of spiritual sense coalesced into luminescent streams of sword light and sword's will, swirling with stars of deep red, dark green, or pitch black.
The stars of the Nine Heavens fell like pebbles into the resplendent river of sword light and will that emanated from his heart.
These dazzling rivers of sword's will transformed into celestial star rivers, with stars as their shimmering pebbles, aligning with the forces of creation, the cycle of life and death, and the celestial bodies' eternal dance.
Each river of sword's will carried its own ultimate truths.
Yet, wherever these rivers flowed, the monstrous Sky Fiends and towering, golden-armored warriors were obliterated upon contact with the radiant streams.
In this realm, the swordsman stood his ground, as if he could remain unyielding for millennia.
Meanwhile.
As Yu Yuan delved into the intricacies of swordsmanship, sword lights from the Sword Prison streaked towards his vacant cave like lightning.
Occasionally, a sword light would vanish.
The sword sheath in his hand alternated between brightness and shadow, exuding an air of mystery.
The silver mountain was riddled with countless caves, yet no more sword's will or sword light spilled forth to rend the fabric of space.
Only at the mouths of the caves did webs of sword's will and light persist, steadfastly guarding the entrance.
The sword light and sword's will between the stone paths had loosened, the gaps between them widening steadily.
Yu Yuan and Chen Qingyan first came upon Xi Quan, a practitioner of the Withered Sword. She sat quietly in a corner, her gaze lowered, shrouded in an aura of deathly silence.
"Swoosh! Swoosh!"
The dense sword light and sword's will nearest to her were drawn away by Yu Yuan, scattering into the distance.
Xi Quan began to rouse slowly.
Her hair was white as snow, yet her face remained youthful. However, her vitality was nearly depleted, her spiritual energy a mere 1%, and her remnant soul was frail.
She adjusted her breathing in silence, harnessing the Withered Sword to transform her lingering strength.
Her once youthful and beautiful visage grew increasingly wrinkled and ashen.
The power she had used to preserve her beauty was now seeping from her face, quietly coursing through her parched veins.
"My meridians haven't circulated spiritual energy in so long; they're not accustomed to it anymore."
She chuckled at herself, her voice rough and raspy.
As the power reached her right palm, her hand, once gnarled like a bird's claw, began to glow.
She reached for the sword case before her, grasping the fearsome Withered Sword. The blade, forged from White Bone, was drawn slowly from its case by her grip.
"It's been too long; even you are on the brink of withering."
Xi Quan gazed at the sword in her hand with the tenderness one reserves for a lover, her fingertips gently caressing the blade.
The Withered Sword burst forth with a ghostly white radiance!
Only a select few knew that the Withered Sword was crafted from the remains of her cherished partner.
He, too, was a member of the Sword Sect, and together they were the epitome of a golden couple, a match made in heaven.
Her lifelong love, whom she had slain by her own hand, became the material for the Withered Sword, leading her down a path of extremity.
Swoosh!
Accompanied by her sword, Xi Quan passed through the rift in the sword light and sword's will, entering the nearby cave.
A Lunarphite, previously withered from depleted vitality and now as gaunt as a wolf, lay curled in a corner until it was abruptly startled awake.
The eighth-level Lunarphite gazed at its infamous neighbor, and for the first time in centuries, it dashed past the sword light seal on the stone path to confront it, its fur standing on end from sheer terror.
"How can you do this?"
The Lunarphite, trembling and speaking in human tongue, was utterly bewildered.
Since its confinement in the Sword Prison, it had been aware that its neighbor was none other than the Withered Sword, Xi Quan. The Lunarphite, once a force on par with the Solar Spirit, leading the evilkind's army out of the Everlands, had been restless ever since.
Xi Quan had attempted to penetrate the sword light seal to strike at it, but was always repelled.
In time, the Lunarphite settled down, living obediently without dwelling on the past.
But now, with Xi Quan standing before it, wielding the Withered Sword, the eighth-level Lunarphite sensed impending doom.
"As an archdemon, you fled in the midst of battle against the Otherkin. You were already marked for death."
Xi Quan, aged and weathered, gently held the White Bone of her lover and scoffed at the Lunarphite, "Your life was spared because of your significant contributions to the Shadow's Keep in the Everlands. But I am no longer affiliated with the Shadow's Keep, and I've been expelled from the Sword Sect. Now, I must live for myself."
She and the White Bone of her lover merged in a mysterious union, transforming into a beam of pale sword light.
The sword light blossomed into a Death Blossom, a chilling white flower exuding an aura of withering, engulfing the Lunarphite.
The bud of sword light sealed the Lunarphite's fate, consuming its life essence.
Within the Death Blossom of sword light, the Lunarphite wailed and shrieked.
Its life force, flesh, fur, and demon soul all rapidly decayed, as it experienced the entirety of its life cycle in mere moments.
The Lunarphite, a Mutant of the evilkind, had been detained in the Sword Prison, its demon soul stripped of power. Upon its arrival, all its vitality had been drained away.
The Sword Prison was crafted from Moon Soul, and the Lunarphite Ape, with its innate bloodline talent, had stealthily harnessed the power of moonlight to bolster its strength.
This Lunarphite Ape was among the rare Mutants capable of retaining a measure of vitality within the Sword Prison.
Thus, it became Xi Quan's target.
Moments later, the once-eighth-level Lunarphite Ape was ejected from the sword light-formed flower bud, discarded like a piece of trash.
Bang!
Upon landing, the Lunarphite Ape's bones were shattered, its body devoid of any remaining vitality.
Xi Quan emerged from the ghostly white flower bud, her steps light and graceful.
Her visage was restored to youthful beauty, her features as exquisite as a painting, and her neck and hands glowed with the sheen of white jade.
Xi Quan's eyes sparkled with renewed life, yet the flower bud behind her was saturated with a heavy presence of death.
With a soft smile, the flower bud transformed into the Withered Sword, which she delicately slid into her small box.
"Next," she murmured softly.
...
Whoosh!
The former patriarch of the dragon clan, his skin purplish-red, shrank his bones and slipped through the seal of sword light.
"Zhongli Dapan!"
Loong Jie's face was seething with rage. He slammed his foot down, and hundreds of slender, purple dragon whelps, formed from dragon's breath, surged toward the Forgeroses' giant-palmed warrior.
Zhongli Dapan, broad and short in stature, seemed to have anticipated the attack, laughing heartily as he swept his sleeve and raised his fist.
The barrage of purple lightning was effortlessly shattered by Zhongli Dapan's powerful fist intent.
"Why the anger, Loong Jie?" he asked while striking.
"While you fight, consider this: isn't it just a drop of dragon blood you've lost? Thanks to that drop, the lad has broken through to the Subtlety Realm, his spiritual sense finally solidified. It's only with a formed spiritual sense that one can gather the lingering power within the Sword Prison."
"Loong Jie, we all owe you a debt of gratitude for your generosity."
"Without you, we'd still be trapped here, unable to escape the Sword Prison and forever deprived of the outside world's light."
The savage and bloodthirsty old dragon, having his dragon's breaths pulverized by the force of Zhongli Dapan's fists, sensed a power that rivaled his own and swiftly regained his composure.
"The Ancient Echoes of the Void mantra is truly formidable, allowing you to still have energy to spare," Loong Jie said with a somber expression.
He realized that continuing the battle would be futile; they wouldn't be able to overcome Zhongli Dapan, and he would merely be squandering his strength. "Your desire to leave is your own affair. I'm content here in the Sword Prison. I have no wish to leave!"
"Loong Jie, what are you so afraid of? I'm aware," Zhongli Dapan said with a wide grin, bursting into hearty laughter. "How many years has it been? The one you fear has long been dead! You're out of the loop inside here, but I've heard that the Sword Prison's creator, the first warden, is no more."
"How could he possibly be dead?" Loong Jie was both elated and stunned. "He was the Grand Sword Immortal of the Primordial Spirit Realm, the mightiest in the history of the Sword Sect!"
Loong Jie's reluctance to leave the Sword Prison stemmed from a deep-seated fear of that individual. He believed that revealing their intentions would lead to their demise.
"He's definitely dead. Without his death, I wouldn't dare step out of the Sword Prison with all the sword's will and sword light around," Zhongli Dapan said, laughing boisterously. "And he wasn't slain by the Star-Spawned Terror or the Otherkin from the Star River. His demise came about through a vile plot within the Everlands."
