Chapter 246: The Strongest Have Their Own Masters

The sword’s body was a pale gray, and it shimmered with a flowing light under the sun, a faint hum coming from it.

“Haha, rogue cultivators are so poor. They don’t even have a Talisman Sword, yet they dare to use a sword! Since you don’t want a complete corpse, we brothers will grant your wish. Get him!” the Twentieth-Leaf Taichu disciple ordered, commanding his Talisman Beast to pounce.

The light on the rogue cultivator’s sword grew brighter, its hum louder. As the three Talisman Beasts pounced, his sword finally moved. With a single wave, a light swirled around his body, like a full moon under the sun, and a sharp sword qi shot out.

SLASH!

All three Talisman Beasts were simultaneously split in two.

The rogue cultivator stood quietly, his sword pointing diagonally at the ground. He and the sword seemed to have merged into one. He was the sword, and the sword was him. A killing intent burst forth, unstoppable.

The three Taichu disciples were stunned. To slay three Talisman Beasts with a single strike, what kind of strength was that?

The Twentieth-Leaf disciple seemed to have thought of something. His voice trembled as he said, “You are Jian Chen. You are Jian Chen?”

The rogue cultivator slowly nodded. “I am.”

Then, his figure moved again, approaching the Twentieth-Leaf disciple with extreme speed. The longsword in his hand drew several lotus flowers, and sword qi pierced through the air. In the disciple’s disbelieving eyes, the sword pierced his throat. His protective spiritual energy was as thin as paper. With a turn of his blade, Jian Chen lopped off his head.

The other two disciples were dumbfounded. Even their Twentieth-Leaf senior brother had been slain. How could they have any will to fight? They immediately slapped protective talismans on themselves, and at the same time, a Godspeed Talisman. But they were still too slow. After killing the first, Jian Chen flashed in front of them and swung his sword. A vast and mighty sword qi erupted. The space itself seemed to be torn, and yet it seemed to have completely merged with the air. The sword qi was the air, and the air was the sword qi. It was everywhere, killing the enemy from all directions.

The protective talismans on the two disciples were broken, their spiritual energy barriers were broken, and their bodies were cut in two at the waist. Their bodies were covered in countless sword wounds, blood and organs spraying out as they died instantly.

Hiding in the bushes, Qin Haoxuan seemed to also feel that compelling sword qi. His heart was filled with an indescribable horror. What a powerful sword.

After collecting his spoils of war, Jian Chen looked towards Qin Haoxuan’s position, his gaze like a torch.

Knowing his cover had been blown, Qin Haoxuan unhesitatingly activated the Thousand-Mile Talisman and fled.

He ran for a long distance before he finally stopped, his eyes filled with disbelief. That rogue cultivator, Jian Chen, had only used three strikes. The first had slain three Talisman Beasts, the second had killed a Twentieth-Leaf cultivator one leaf stronger than himself, and the third had killed two people. Three Taichu disciples had been cut down like vegetables, without even a chance to resist or escape.

With his own eye, Qin Haoxuan had also seen the difference in his swordsmanship. When other swordsmen used their swords, their intent was stiff, out of tune with the surrounding space. But before this Jian Chen had drawn his sword, there was not the slightest trace of sword qi on his body; it was completely restrained. After he drew his sword, it was as if he were the sword and the sword was him. The sword intent that pierced from his body was compelling, yet it was also completely integrated with nature.

He also noticed that for the strike that had killed the three beasts, his right foot had taken a slight half-step forward, and then his longsword had circled his body, unleashing a sword qi like a full moon. The moment it appeared, it was as cold and desolate as a full moon. The longsword, which was not even as good as a Talisman Sword, had actually slain three Talisman Beasts directly. A Talisman Beast was not made of tofu; unless one’s strength was far superior, it was not easy to injure it.

One could imagine how terrifying his sword intent and sword qi were. And his footwork greatly enhanced the power of his sword. If one wanted to defeat him, one would have to see through his next move and his footwork completely, to block his next strike. Only then could one be sure of victory. But to do that, how difficult it was.

Qin Haoxuan sighed. His previously full confidence had been completely destroyed by Master Liuyun and Jian Chen. “Master Liuyun and Jian Chen are so formidable, far surpassing cultivators of the same level. I’m afraid that Jian Chen also has the combat strength of a Twenty-Fifth-Leaf cultivator.”

Xing, in his soft armor form, also said in an admiring tone, “They are not like you. They don’t have so many offensive methods, so they have practiced their most proficient ones to the extreme. Master Liuyun has perfected the release speed of his low-level spiritual arts and his coordination with his Talisman Beast. And Jian Chen has brought a single sword to its peak, coordinating his footwork with exquisite skill.”

“These rogue cultivators are truly strong,” Qin Haoxuan lamented.

Xing laughed. “But of course. These rogue cultivators are not like you sect disciples, who have the sect’s protection and have nothing to worry about. They are bullied all day by powerful cultivation sects and by other, stronger rogue cultivators. Anyone who can survive in this harsh environment has a few tricks up their sleeve. Everyone has their own proficient killing moves and life-saving methods; otherwise, they wouldn’t have survived until now. If you hadn’t used a sneak attack yesterday, it would have been very difficult to kill those few rogue cultivators in a direct confrontation.”

Qin Haoxuan nodded. “I have also realized my own problem. I rely too much on external objects. I’ve been killing my way through with my spiritual sense attacks, the Advent of the Ghost God, and your protection. If I were to fight with my own true abilities, I am still far too lacking.”

Xing laughed heartily. “Rogue cultivators have been through hundreds of battles and have rich combat experience. Compared to them, your combat experience and fighting skills are indeed too weak.”

Qin Haoxuan nodded blankly. “What should I do?”

“What else can you do? Fight hard. Combat experience and fighting skills are honed in actual combat. The more dangerous the battle, the more it will temper you.”

Qin Haoxuan pouted. “Like today? The weak ones aren’t even enough for me to punch once, and I can’t win against the strong ones. And my life is in danger. A single misstep and I’m a goner.”

Xing grinned mysteriously. “You have Lan Yan. Her Illusory Sea of Consciousness can help you.”

Qin Haoxuan’s eyes lit up. “That’s right! The battles in the Illusory Sea of Consciousness are exactly the same as real battles. The only difference is that if I die there, I won’t really die. Even the consumption of spiritual energy, the physical fatigue, and the pain are all the same. Although it costs one hundred low third-grade spirit stones each time, and my head hurts a lot after I die, it can indeed temper my fighting skills. If I fight real-life experts like Master Liuyun and Jian Chen in the sea of consciousness, it doesn’t matter if I’m killed. Over time, my combat level will greatly improve. I have a mission for you now. Go and find the hair of Master Liuyun and Jian Chen immediately. I want to fight them in the sea of consciousness.”

Xing, in his soft armor form, was helpless. He had no choice but to turn back into a dog and begin to search in the places where the two had appeared.

…

Back in the tent, after Qin Haoxuan explained the situation to Lan Yan, she did not act coy and quickly helped him set up the formation for the Illusory Sea of Consciousness, letting him fight Master Liuyun.

In the sea of consciousness, Master Liuyun was still riding his Flowing Cloud Leopard, a playful smile on his lips. The moment he saw Qin Haoxuan, he immediately began to move, and at the same time, his spiritual arts rained down on him.

In the sea of consciousness, he did not have Xing’s armor to protect him. He had to rely on his own body to endure. Although his physical quality was tough, he couldn’t withstand such a barrage. And he couldn’t even get close to him. In the end, he was cruelly slaughtered.

After being cruelly slaughtered, he returned to reality. He clutched his head and screamed, his face pale, breaking out in a cold sweat. The spiritual energy in his body was almost depleted. It took him a long time to recover, and he was extremely weak.

Once the pain had subsided, he sat cross-legged and began to absorb spiritual energy to recover. After his energy was restored, he closed his eyes and replayed the battle, summarizing his strengths and weaknesses.

“Without Xing’s protection, and enduring with my physical body, every one of his spiritual arts could hurt me. And I panicked and completely lost my composure, so I was caught off guard and directly slaughtered.” After summarizing his weaknesses, he began to summarize his strengths. “Actually, my physical quality is already very strong. The body of a demon cultivator is far stronger than a cultivator’s. They can reach this level through high-intensity practice, but my advantage is that I don’t need to temper my body; it’s already stronger than theirs. Right now, I just need to practice my coordination.”

“If their understanding of their bodies has reached the point of perfection, then my understanding and coordinated use of my body is only just learning to walk. That’s right, practice my coordination more. As long as I do that, I can reach their level, and even far surpass them.”

After summarizing, Qin Haoxuan opened his eyes, completely forgetting the pain from being killed. He said to Lan Yan, “Continue, continue!”

Lan Yan looked at him with surprise but said no more and continued to set up the spiritual array. The array flashed with a light, and this time, Jian Chen appeared in his sea of consciousness.

Jian Chen in the sea of consciousness was exactly the same as the real him, even the restraint of the sword qi on his body was completely identical. Qin Haoxuan was secretly surprised. To what extent had his sword intent reached? An ordinary swordsman, even when not drawing their sword, would have sword intent leaking from their body. But the sword intent on this Jian Chen was completely restrained. This terrifying fusion with the sword was beyond his comprehension. It could be said that it had opened a new world for him. “So, a sword can be used like this. It can be this strong.”

Swish!

Jian Chen’s cold eyes were like frost. Seeing Qin Haoxuan, he directly drew his sword. The moment he did, a heaven-soaring sword intent emanated from his body, as if he were the sword and the sword were him. A streak of sword qi slashed out. Startled by the sword intent, Qin Haoxuan was stunned for a moment. He frantically released the Red-Blood Ape Talisman Beast. The beast was seriously injured by the single strike, but Qin Haoxuan had also escaped a disaster.

Jian Chen looked at him with cold eyes, and Qin Haoxuan moved slowly, cautiously. He knew that if he was careless and Jian Chen found a flaw, he would be instantly killed by the sword qi.

He circled around him, but Jian Chen still stood in the same spot, motionless, like a divine weapon plunged into the earth, unshakable by anything, undisturbed by any external object.

He moved behind him, his body like a bolt of lightning, following the close-quarters combat footwork recorded by the Pink Immortal. Although it was extremely clumsy, it was still much better than before. If he were to fight Master Liuyun again, he was certain he could dodge one-tenth of his spiritual art attacks. But that was only one-tenth. At this moment, with his clumsy footwork, it was simply impossible for him to completely dodge his ghostly attacks, unless he could figure out a set of footwork of his own.

After he pounced at him, Jian Chen still did not move. His entire qi seemed to have merged with the heavens and the earth. The moment he came within ten feet of him, the longsword in his hand slashed diagonally.

Hiss!

Qin Haoxuan looked in disbelief at the sword qi that had suddenly appeared before his eyes, and then he was split in two.

“Ah!” After being killed in the sea of consciousness, he once again clutched his head and cried out in pain. But having already experienced this pain once today, he no longer screamed. It wasn’t that it wasn’t as painful as before; it was that he no longer had the strength to scream.

After the pain subsided, he sat up cross-legged and immediately began to recover his spiritual energy.

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