C729 It Was Just a Sword!
Yu Yuan gripped the scabbard, and a wave of tranquility washed over his mind.
"Hmm!"
His eyebrows lifted, a sparkle of understanding flickered in his eyes, and his face registered mild surprise.
For some reason, holding the scabbard now, he felt for the first time that it truly belonged to him, that he could wield it effectively.
This was a sensation he had never experienced before.
Regardless of how long he had been in possession of the scabbard, he had always felt incapable of harnessing its power, unable to master the intricate sword's will contained within.
But now, things had changed. He could faintly sense that he could command the scabbard!
The next moment, wisps of spiritual sense surged into the scabbard.
Instantly, he sensed the sword's will at the base of the scabbard, like slender boas undulating!
The sword's will was alive, in harmony with the Cosmic Order, now accessible to his spiritual sense for perception and insight.
Simultaneously, more threads of thought converged on the sword scar etched into his arm bone.
Whoosh!
Suddenly, Yu Yuan's arms turned a fiery crimson.
Within the bones deep in his veins, streaks of crimson sword light shone like radiant rainbows and Divine Thunder, as if immortals were soaring on the wind, and mythical beasts thundered through his bloodstream, signaling the transformation and emergence of all life.
The sword spirit roared within his arm bones!
It was as though it had finally gained liberation and was now ready to join him in his quest to conquer the world!
He could feel the sword spirit's exuberance and agitation, and he could almost grasp its desire, after being confined for so long, to spread its wings and soar through the Star River!
Yu Yuan was thunderstruck!
Since acquiring the enigmatic sword spirit at the Moonfall Sanctuary and the scabbard from the Forgotten Ruins, he had never felt truly in sync with the sword spirit and its will.
It was only recently, under the duress of Zhongli Dapan in the Sword Prison of the Godsblight Marsh, that he had broken through to the state of Subtlety. By engaging his spiritual sense with the arm bone sword spell, he had begun to grasp its essence.
Afterward...
He could distinctly feel a profound spiritual connection between his heaven, earth, and man soul, his consciousness, and the sword spirit, sword seal, and the sword's will contained within the scabbard.
In his Mindscape, an array of intricate sword spells arose from the overlapping of his heaven soul and dominant soul.
As he advanced to the state of Subtlety, his spiritual sense would solidify into a sword, enabling him to vanquish his foes!
Whoosh!
The Shadowblade, charged with new energy, slashed out again, its blade light transforming into a Shadow Stream capable of refining ghosts.
Within the blade light, a chilling, somber aura pervaded, with ghosts surging forth as if the Styx itself had materialized, seeking to shepherd souls back to life.
A single slash brought forth an array of astonishing transformations, leaving many ghosts and souls deeply shaken.
Cuion watched the Shadowblade's miraculous change with a drastically altered expression.
The image of the Ghost King, allied with the Devil Palace, flashed through her mind.
She realized that the Shadowblade, having absorbed the pure and thick Yin Qi at the Ghost King's Shadow Mountain and nurtured by numerous feeble souls, had undergone a wondrous transformation.
The artifact soul of the Devil Blade must have experienced a novel metamorphosis.
As a result, the blade light from the Shadowblade subtly aligned with the Land of Terror, as if it had almost merged with the very essence of this world.
"Thank goodness I restrained myself and didn't provoke Mo Yan," Cuion thought with relief.
"Now, without your beast skin garment, let's see how you'll survive," Mo Yan murmured.
The blade light then bore down on the Crucible of Evil.
"Yu Yuan!"
Yuan Lianyao's cry echoed from the fiery pool.
Onboard the Cloud Cruiser, Lin Yue and Faang Yingzi watched Mo Yan's strike against Yu Yuan with eager anticipation and satisfaction, almost wishing for Yu Yuan's immediate demise.
"What a shame," sighed Ma Jianjiang, who had just arrived from Afnetalos and had taken a liking to Yu Yuan.
As a deacon in the merchants' association, he was all too aware of Mo Yan's background, his level of cultivation, and his combat prowess.
Mo Yan had indeed reached the Spirit Walk realm!
With the cultivation of Spirit Walk, Mo Yan wielded the Shadowblade, intent on assassinating Yu Yuan in the Land of Terror. There seemed to be no possibility of his defeat.
White Bone, hovering like a deity among the massive stones, radiating a holy and bright light, was taken aback and spared a moment to glance at the Crucible of Evil.
Deep within the emerald pupils of White Bone, a flicker of terror unexpectedly emerged.
His astonishment was not due to the sword light emitted by the Shadowblade, nor its harmony with the Way of Heaven in the Land of Terror, nor the multitude of ghosts it contained.
Rather, it was the horrifying activity emanating from Yu Yuan's arms that alarmed him!
Suddenly, a scene that astonished everyone unfolded.
Yu Yuan stood within the Crucible of Evil, shrouded in dark demonic light. With one hand gripping the sword sheath and the other bare, he managed to penetrate the dark shield, revealing himself.
Yu Yuan's arms were a vivid crimson, with peculiar sounds echoing from within, reminiscent of countless troops surging through his veins.
Upon closer inspection, one could see crimson electric currents shooting from Yu Yuan's arms into the sword sheath.
White Bone, listening to the odd noises, envisioned scenes of extraterrestrial Evil Gods and Sky Fiends being decimated by the awe-inspiring sword light, witnessing their successive falls and explosive demises.
Faang Yingzi, Lin Yue, and the others, upon hearing the eerie sounds, were horrified to see images of ninth-level archdemons being dismembered by the sword light.
Cuion, attuned to the strange sounds, imagined witnessing a Ghost King, older and more formidable than the current ones, who dared to confront Dark Deities and human cultivators with primordial spirits, being eradicated by the crimson Divine Thunder.
It was said that this Ghost King, upon escaping the Everlands to wander the extraterrestrial Star River, perished as his soul dissipated.
"How can this be? How can this be? Is what I'm seeing real or an illusion?" Cuion's spirit was in turmoil.
Whoosh!
A dazzling crimson sword light, forged from countless sword's wills, burst forth from the mouth of the sword sheath.
In the instant the sword light was unleashed, the gloomy Land of Terror was illuminated as if a divine rainbow had ascended to the heavens! The brilliance was so intense that even the ghosts and souls felt a subtle sting of pain.
A bitter cold wind, laden with billions of tiny, unawakened souls, swept towards Yu Yuan's arms, instantly reducing them to ash.
The Earth Specter-level souls that were in close proximity to Yu Yuan, merely grazed by the fierce aura of the crimson sword light, vanished in the blink of an eye.
The space before Yu Yuan began to collapse and twist in a bizarre fashion, with streaks of flowing light briefly appearing.
The crimson sword light seemed to carve a pathway through space, a passage that should not exist, piercing through the Land of Terror and stretching into the unknown.
Puff! Puff! Puff!
The blade light from the Shadowblade burst forth like ignited firecrackers, fragmenting rapidly in the air.
The blade, body, and hilt of the Shadowblade exploded in succession!
The Shadowblade vibrated in the void, emitting a low hum as it wobbled towards Mo Yan's Lunar Spirit, appearing as though it might plummet to the ground at any moment.
A swath of crimson sword light, akin to a waterfall spanning the sky, unleashed a fearsome sword's will capable of rending the heavens, unbridled in its release.
The power within the sword light began to wane.
Yet the essence of the sword light, that supreme sword's will exclusive to a Grand Sword Immortal, continued to awe all beings present.
Both humans and ghosts found their hearts and souls quaking in its presence.
Eyes lingered on Yu Yuan, their gazes piercing through the diminishing glow, watching as the sword's force was spent.
Yu Yuan, standing within the Crucible of Evil, his hand that held the sword sheath, gently dropped to his side.
In that moment, his other hand, previously empty, slowly retracted.
His arm, exposed to the piercing cold yet untouched as if painted with crimson dye, remained unscathed—hair, flesh, and skin impervious to the wind's bone-chilling assault.
In that instant, Yu Yuan came to a profound realization.
When one's strength reaches a peak and an invincible sword's will is forged, all things must shatter. At that point, the so-called bitter cold wind of the Land of Terror becomes nothing more than a jest.
Deep within the cold wind, countless ghosts, still devoid of spiritual wisdom, were reduced to dust by the mere sweep of the sword.
The biting chill of the wind paled in comparison to the piercing intensity of the sword's will. Consequently, the two arms enshrouded in the crimson sword's will bore not a single drop of blood.
"Upon reaching the Subtlety state, spiritual sense is born, acting as the bond between my three souls of heaven, earth, and man, the sword spirit, and the sword's will within the scabbard. The sword spell I've comprehended can now be truly executed, with me at the helm, no longer dictated by the sword spirit."
"This sword has drawn upon more than half of my spiritual energy and the purity of my vitality, concentrating my spiritual sense!"
"This seemingly insignificant sword has depleted over half of my strength! Yet, it is this sword that is truly mine, wielded by my own hand!"
Following the sword strike, Yu Yuan was filled with vigor, tilting his head back to let out a triumphant howl. The sound resonated in every direction from the Crucible of Evil, causing the hearts and souls of all who heard it—ghosts and Lunar Spirits alike—to tremble with awe.
Yu Yuan's resounding cry had unexpectedly stirred the dormant sword's will within the remnants of the crimson sword light, hinting at a resurgence of its formidable power.
"What an impressive sword spell!" Ma Jianjiang murmured in admiration.
Without a word, Yuan Lianyao seized the moment to completely purify Lu Yuqin's lingering soul from the Taintborn, unswayed by her desperate cries for mercy.
Lin Yue and Faang Yingzi, both harboring a death wish for Yu Yuan, discreetly withdrew their Lunar Spirits into the Cloud Cruiser. They positioned themselves amidst the ship's central pillars, which offered sanctuary for their souls.
The two exchanged glances, each recognizing the discomfort and awkwardness reflected in the other's expression.
