Chapter 597: A Single Thought Becomes the Lei Ting Sword Array

"My sword is still not strong enough…"

Amid the black wind on all sides, Jiang Ding murmured.

The power of the Void Bone-Eroding Black Wind, though bizarre and imbued with a certain highly penetrating variant of spatial force, still could not compare to the Sword Intent of Destruction—one sword strike cut away ninety-nine parts of it, nearly annihilating it entirely.

Unfortunately, his main body was far too fragile; even the remaining one part was rather hard to bear, and that became a weakness.

"Die!"

"Die for me!"

The worry about the General Heishi clan's future fate and the dread for his own life that Divine Crow Master Dinghai Zhenjun had been harboring in his heart now burst forth completely. While still keeping his reason intact, he wildly vented his emotions, saying with brutal savagery: "You lowly rogue cultivator, having some fortune on the sword dao, and you dare to oppose the Heaven-Born Immortal Seed of the Northern Plains!"

"The entire Northern Plains belongs to the bloodline of our ancestors."

"It was in the past, it is now, and it will be in the future!"

"All of you who fantasize about overturning this are chasing empty dreams! You must all die!"

"Fantasy?"

Jiang Ding within the Bone-Eroding Black Wind raised his head, looked at him, and seemed to harbor no worry at all.

Clang!

Among the myriad yin fog and the myriad black-feather blades, those blue-gold sword qi that had already been suppressed, withered, and were rapidly dwindling in number suddenly blazed with great light, erupting explosively out of the impossible. The sword qi was dazzlingly brilliant, and in an instant pierced through one spiritual qi node after another occupied by the black-feather blades.

Effortless beyond belief!

As natural as the sun rising or a river flowing.

The numerous spiritual qi nodes were suddenly seized. The dozens-of-li Gong Li De Fa and the Thousand-Feather Black Killing Array upon it became rootless wood on a sandy beach, collapsing with a rumble. The black fog that had blotted out divine sense and vision across the sky lost its foundation for existence and vanished in patches.

The Void Bone-Eroding Black Wind that was about to blow against his body and grind soul and shatter bone swayed unsteadily, then abruptly collapsed, turning into a true gentle breeze that stirred a few strands of jet-black hair into flight.

"Puh!"

"No…"

The sudden breaking of the array caused Divine Crow Master Dinghai Zhenjun to immediately suffer a terrible backlash. He coughed blood and retreated, fragments of his internal organs turning to bloody foam that scattered in all directions. His aura dropped sharply once more, and his body swayed as if about to fall.

The Taiqing Flying Sword hummed softly, buzzing and trembling, beginning to catch the scent of Nascent Soul blood.

"Impossible!"

Divine Crow Master Dinghai Zhenjun's face was deathly pale: "I already controlled every node of the array—it's impossible for it to be so easily seized. What kind of demonic art is this?!"

"Demonic art?"

"It's not demonic art. It's simply that your array dao level is too weak."

Jiang Ding pressed his hand on the sword hilt, building momentum bit by bit, drawing it out bit by bit, and said calmly: "It doesn't even reach the level of a lower-grade fourth-tier; it merely wavers around quasi-fourth-tier, only managing to achieve this by relying on a fa bao he had cultivated for Duo Nian De Fa."

"Just as meaningless as that Yaojin statue."

"Who gave you the confidence to deploy such clumsy, wretched arrays before me?"

Clang!

Clang clang!

Within dozens of li, the light of the myriad blue-gold sword qi suddenly blazed forth. The hum of swords rang out sharply, shattering the surrounding black-feather blades and completely seizing control of all nearby spiritual qi nodes. Like a tsunami, it inhaled and exhaled the spiritual qi of heaven and earth in all directions, which surged in and merged into the sword qi.

Dao patterns formed on their own, doubling the might of the sword array!

All of Divine Crow Master Dinghai Zhenjun's previous efforts had been completely seized and turned into nourishment for this brand-new sword array—a wedding dress!

Crackle…

Under the pouring of the spiritual qi storm, currents of Lei Chong Guang surged, bolts of Lei Ting welled forth, and Lei patterns coiled around everywhere, turning the area within dozens of li into an ocean of thunderous sword qi.

A terrifying, violent force was rapidly taking shape, continuously converging toward the hand of the blue-robed youth in the center of the sword array as he slowly drew his sword.

Fourth-tier Array · Myriad Magnet Lei Yun Array!

This array he had comprehended for over a hundred years and mastered to perfection was, in his hands, effortlessly transformed into a sword array!

"Strike!"

Jiang Ding murmured. The sword in his hand was finally drawn to its limit, and with one swing it became endless, dazzling rumbling Lei Chong Guang that hacked down toward its target!

The flying sword's speed was already incomparably swift to begin with, and under the augmentation of the Myriad Magnet Lei Yun Sword Array it became terrifyingly fast—almost the instant it was swung it struck home, leaving a Nascent Soul cultivator no time or space to dodge at all.

"Array dao?"

"Such a level of array dao! You're no rogue cultivator—you're from the East Sea!"

Divine Crow Master Dinghai Zhenjun stared in near-horror at the blue-robed youth in the distance, and at the countless Lei Chong Guang array patterns that had suddenly appeared around him between breaths.

It seemed as though he was drawing his sword slowly, giving the enemy ample time to respond, but in truth this was nothing more than a trick of divine sense beneath the Lei Ting.

In but an instant,

everything had already taken shape, beyond recovery.

Suddenly, the Thousand-Feather Black Killing Array was broken and a new, stronger Lei Ting sword array took its place. He felt a life-and-death crisis he had rarely encountered even on the Dari Sect battlefield. His divine soul was utterly still, trembling ceaselessly.

"Kill!"

A thousand years of battle, a thousand years of tempering had not been spent in vain. The omen of death did not rob him of his reason; instead it made him clearer-headed and more rational, and his churning heart turned ice-cold.

"Heavenly Crow True Flame!"

Divine Crow Master Dinghai Zhenjun's body crouched low. A haze enveloped him, and he abruptly transformed into a vast black crow, no longer bearing any human shape at all. His eyes were cold, and atop his head a golden-crown-like flame blazed Xiong Xiong, as if a demon god who had roamed the four seas and the starry skies in ancient times had once again descended upon the world, making one unable to resist trembling.

Cangyan Jin Wu!

This was the origin of the bloodline cultivated by the beast-taming General Heishi clan—the name of that demon god. It came from a gift bestowed by an invincible powerhouse ten thousand years ago, who had hunted and slain a Canghai Tianjun of the demon race, stripped its essence blood, and merged it into one branch of his descendants, making it their foundation.

The Cangyan Jin Wu—its Cangyan True Flame was said to be able to burn through the boundaries of realms and slaughter Soul Transformation cultivators. In many eras of history it had served as the divine sovereign of the demon race, dominating the entire world.

At this moment, under the threat to his life, Divine Crow Master Dinghai Zhenjun burned his essence blood. The golden-crown flame atop his head swayed, and astonishingly transformed into a lotus of flame that detached from his head, rotating once or twice from time to time, and slowly flew toward the approaching sword of Lei Chong Guang.

Like the Lei Chong Guang itself, it was wrapped in terrifying power that spread outward, creating a certain illusion of sight and divine sense!

In truth, within Jiang Ding's perception, the space around this flame lotus had been solidified, enveloped by an even more powerful force and hardened several hundredfold. Even gathering the power of the entire sword array, combined with the supreme law-breaking sharpness of the Taiqing Flying Sword, he could not cleave open this space. He could only, at its pace, approach slowly and unshakably.

The two drew ever closer.

Gradually making contact.

Shen Ya Master Dinghai Zhenjun stared fixedly at that blue-gold flying sword.

Cangyan True Fire, and also General General Heishi's Tianya True Fire — the power of this flame was terrifyingly extreme. In history, there had been peak-grade Nascent Soul treasures wrapped within it, reduced to a pile of scrap iron, their array patterns utterly ground away.

He had absolute confidence that this flying sword, which looked somewhat strange, would be no exception.

Once the flying sword shattered, the sword cultivator would die as well — die without a fight!

Sizzle sizzle sizzle…

A red lotus flame and a bolt of Lei Chong Guang flying sword that arrived the instant it was seen — the two made contact under his gaze. The red lotus flame swayed; the Lei Chong Guang exploded with a roar, rippling outward in a circle of several tens of zhang. Within that range, space itself dissolved in a large patch, revealing pitch-black void.

In another instant, the Lei Chong Guang collapsed, unable to withstand it, scattering down in fragments. The red lotus flame still had a small portion left, which wound its way up along the blue-gold sword body, wrapping and drowning everything.

"It's done."

Shen Ya Master Dinghai Zhenjun gently exhaled, straightened his body, and relaxed completely.

No Nascent Soul treasure

could survive contact with Tianya True Fire without any protection!

This was the judgment of many of the Liezulie Sect ancestors of the General Heishi clan — even that invincible forefather — that one could dodge in advance, could cleave it apart with vast quantities of sword Qi,

but one simply could not make direct contact!

Cangyan True Fire burned everything!

Immediately after, Shen Ya Master Dinghai Zhenjun's body stiffened, trembling uncontrollably.

Under his wide-eyed gaze, the Cangyan True Fire that had already wrapped around the entire blue-gold sword body wavered once — and went out.

Went out.

Out.

Just as naturally as flame touching ice, it simply went out like that.

It failed to cause any effect.

"Monster!"

"A monster's sword!"

Shen Ya Master Dinghai Zhenjun roared, without the slightest hesitation instantly burning the vast majority of his essence blood. His body shrank bizarrely by a size, his wings spread, and he fled frantically toward the distant Tushan Xiancheng clan lands.

Behind him, the void grew hazy.

A terrifying silver-white giant warship broke free from the deepest part of space; the over-a-hundred-meter-caliber cannon muzzle began to flicker with azure light, gathering the spiritual Qi of heaven and earth.

(End of chapter)