Chapter 426: Shadow Twenty-Nine

One month later.

A deep blue flying sword darted up and down, sometimes thrusting, sometimes slashing diagonally, sometimes cleaving with a sword strike, sometimes wiping with a sword edge, moving with agility through the sky; every movement began to follow a method.

Sword thrust: sword qi condensed at the sword tip, with a small portion of sword qi dispersing along the blade body, forming a water-drop shape—one of the forms with the least air resistance.

Sword slash: sword qi condensed on one side of the sword, especially gathering at the front half of the blade edge where the force was strongest.

Sword point: all sword qi condensed into a single point, then suddenly exploded.

Sword wipe: emphasizing lightness, agility, and sharpness...

Such were the various techniques; although the Qingse Jianzong's Sword Lineage had no discipline called aerodynamics, their exploration in this area had reached an extremely deep level, forming a systematic system of immortal sword dao science based on their own chaotic Heavenly Dao, techniques, and metaphysical concepts.

"This kind of talent..."

Zhou Tian felt somewhat uneasy in his heart.

Although it was easy for a Foundation Establishment cultivator to learn basic sword-flying techniques, this was merely learning; yet in just one short month, the other party had almost caught up to eighty percent of his own skill in basic sword-flying techniques, as if the previous hundred-plus years of uninterrupted sword practice and sweat shed were merely a dream, of little value.

As for concealing or falsifying one's skill in basic sword-flying techniques, he dared not, nor did he deign to do so.

"The sword dao is indeed vast and profound."

Jiang Ding controlled the flying sword, darting and pointing in the sky, feeling exhilarated in his heart.

Clearly, the magic power and the sharpness of the flying sword were the same, yet the speed had spontaneously increased by two or three tenths; he only felt that his previous methods of controlling the flying sword had been extremely clumsy, and aside from being fast and accurate, there was nothing worthy of praise.

"Daoist friend Zhou Tian, I take my leave here."

Jiang Ding sheathed the sword, glanced for a moment at the Wuxingtian Sect's Wheel Sword Disciple, and amidst the other's wary gaze, his body transformed into a beam of deep blue sword light, flying toward the distance.

He was still very interested in the sword dao of the Wuxingtian Sect.

Alas, this person performed well in all aspects; he simply could not find any excuse to kill him.

As for a duel, since they were not from the same sect, it was better not to duel; hiding and concealing, maintaining a twelvefold vigilance and defense in sword techniques, was meaningless.

After flying over a hundred kilometers, Jiang Ding stopped beside a scorching river of molten lava and flame.

Here, the scorching and sharp sword qi was oppressive, with the pressure of the Great Sun Sword Intent spreading vaguely; even a sword cultivator of the Foundation Establishment realm could hardly endure it for long.

"Descend."

Jiang Ding lightly tapped his finger.

The Taqing Flying Sword entered the molten lava river in a standard thrusting stance; a clear stinging sensation arose as scorching and sharp flames eroded the divine consciousness seal forged upon the sword over a hundred years.

After a short while, it was fully adapted, and there was no sensation anymore.

"There is some effect."

Jiang Ding closed his eyes to sense for a moment, then opened them: "In the past, forging for a hundred years, I always felt that one or two subtle formation patterns could not be fully forged, affecting the overall strength and power; yet in just this short while, I clearly located these weak points without the slightest effort."

"A holy land for sword cultivators."

"No wonder the sword dao branches of the Badaxian Sect all gathered at the Taiyin Qingse Jianzong; regarding the exploration of sword dao in this realm, it must be the Great Sun Sword Pavilion; the other Qitaxian Sects fall short by more than a segment."

His eyes held awe.

The Taqing Flying Sword continued flying deeper into the molten lava river until it almost touched the riverbed thousands of meters deep; only then did a continuous stream of obvious stinging sensations arise.

Jiang Ding was not in a hurry; as the molten lava flame containing the creation of sword dao burned a formation pattern and a relatively fragile part of the sword body, he would pour magic power into it, repairing while constantly tempering, strengthening this formation pattern and sword body bit by bit, grinding the insufficiently hard components into powder to expel them, and tempering the relatively fragile parts to make them hard.

As for the Sword Disciples of the Brother Brother Xuanwu Heavenly Palace and the Ten Thousand Beasts Immortal Sect, they were not worth mentioning in the face of an opportunity to enhance a flying sword.

If there is time, simply deal with them on the side.

The molten lava river surged ceaselessly, carrying the scorching scent of swords, flowing in from the distance and flowing onward toward the distance.

Through ten thousand years of time, it has always been so, never ceasing.

Time passed unknowingly for three months; the young man in green robes by the molten lava river still sat cross-legged, concealing his form as if he had never appeared.

A wisp of shadow.

Hidden within the half-space layer, it slowly approached.

Moving inch by inch, inch by inch, without affecting the surrounding heavenly and earthly spiritual qi and air even a fraction; they continued to flow in their original manner, unchanged.

Even the sword intent could be concealed.

Approaching inch by inch.

Ten kilometers, nine kilometers... five kilometers.

The faint shadow stopped its steps.

A wisp of invisible sword light flew out of the body, inching closer to that figure in the distance like a mosquito, extremely slow, extremely slow, without stirring up any fluctuations.

"Great Sun Sword Disciple..."

"Become the stepping stone for Shadow Twenty-One; kill him, and I can become Shadow Twenty-One."

He whispered in his heart, yet his mind was calm as a lake, without a shred of killing intent; it was merely like a carpenter planing wood or a butcher cutting pork; everything was an ordinary matter.

Pfft!

A faint sound of a hard object piercing flesh and blood interrupted his inner thoughts.

"... Im... possible..."

Shadow Twenty-Nine felt a pain in his heart; he looked down to see a tip of blue-gold sword protruding from his heart, its sword intent of law-breaking destruction chilling and grim.

"Dun Fa!"

He barely spat out one word; his body collapsed into a sky-full of shadows fleeing in all directions, taking bizarre forms: shadows of birds, shadows of oxen and horses, shadows of pigs and dogs, shadows of humans; touching the ground, they merged with the ground and vanished without a trace.

Shadow Demon Abyss Dun Fa, the Thousand-Change Shadow Splitting Dun Fa!

Legend has it that this technique is one of the foundational Dun Fa techniques of the Shadow Demon Abyss assassins; in the hands of a great master, it could even escape causality, vanishing in the blink of an eye; no soul-hunting or life-seeking curses, no heaven-searching or earth-seeking methods were of any use; many cultivators within the Badaxian Sect gnashed their teeth in hatred but could do nothing about it.

"Not a bad Dun Fa."

"Courage is not bad either."

The young man in green robes, who had concealed his form in the distance, collapsed and dispersed; behind the shadow assassin, Jiang Ding's figure appeared, clapping lightly in praise: "Merely a peak Foundation Establishment cultivator, yet you dared to come assassinate me; truly unexpected. There are indeed many heroes in the world."

This was not sarcasm.

This person's strength is formidable — they were only detected upon entering the six-kilometer range of his sword intent.

One must understand that even a peak Jin Dan cultivator might not necessarily be able to achieve such a feat.

This concealment ability could only be called terrifying.

"What sword intent is this?!!"

From all directions, from the surrounding ground and sky, terrified screams rang out. Dense, countless shadows reappeared — oxen, horses, pigs, dogs, flying birds, and other shadows, strange and bizarre.

They shared only one common point.

On their chests, a blue-gold sword intent rapidly spread to every part of their bodies, and their bodies crumbled into piece after piece of lifeless white ash.

No matter how they employed the Mi Fa shadow-cloning technique, how they cut, how they severed — it was all useless.

Even if one cut out a clump of shadow from an undamaged spot and split it into thumb-sized shadow-people or shadow-dogs, a blue-gold sword scar would still appear on the chest, rapidly spreading to every part of the body and destroying all life.

"What are you called, Shadow Two-something?"

Jiang Ding asked, somewhat curious.

Shadow Demon Abyss is very different from the Badaxian Sect — among them there are no Dao titles, no names, no identities, no appearances, and no one knows where Shadow Demon Abyss is.

There are only designations: Qi Training is One, Foundation Establishment is Two, Jin Dan is Three — rank determines strength.

Legends within the realm hold that Shadow Demon Abyss exists within the Jiudaxian Sect, including the Eastern Extreme Demon Sect — it is everywhere, holding all manner of overt identities, and even they themselves do not know, and soul-searching is likewise useless.

Only at certain specific moments, when awakened, can they remember their own identities.

"Great Sun Sword Son, spare me…"

"I am willing to reveal the location of Shadow Demon Abyss."

In an instant, the destructive sword qi spread to the skulls, and from among the countless shadows came pleading voices, layered one upon another, offering extremely tempting bargaining chips.

"You don't have the ability to leak the location of Shadow Demon Abyss."

Jiang Ding shook his head, unmoved: "Besides, I have never seen a person who, after having their heart and chest pierced by a Taiqing flying sword, could still survive. Die in peace — what's the point of struggling?"

"The location of Shadow Demon Abyss — in the future, I will find it myself."

Bang!

The countless shadows' bodies froze, letting out a final wail, and their bodies crumbled into a skyful of gray-white fragments, with not the slightest trace of life remaining.

(End of chapter)