Chapter 418: Sword Test?

Presumptuous!

The Gold-Armor Devouring Beast let out an angry howl, flipped its palm, and a special artifact resembling a Demon-Subduing Pestle appeared in its hand, shining in a striking pure‑gold hue, enveloped in dense demonic aura.

Seeing the Demon-Subduing Pestle, Yunhe's eyebrows twitched slightly.

Artifact?

Indeed, this Gold-Armor Devouring Beast differs from the Fourth Level beasts that live in the wilderness of Yao Shou Shijie.

Without any hesitation, the Gold-Armor Devouring Beast flew out of the Fan family's protective mountain formation and slammed fiercely toward Yunhe.

The artifact burst through the air, wrapped in rolling demonic aura, shaking forth waves of energy with a considerable roar.

Yunhe's expression hardened at that moment; his inner mana circulated, and as he raised his palm, a palm‑sized shield materialized before him.

Buzz—

Yunhe gave a faint smile.

The swirling sand around, and even the piled sand on the ground, were shaken apart at that instant.

Yunhe let out a light laugh and formed a finger seal with one hand.

Buzz—

The three Five Elements Heavenly Thunder Swords instantly formed the simplest Five Elements Sword Formation, merging into a brilliant great sword; with Yunhe's raised hand and a finger, it thrust again toward the Gold-Armor Devouring Beast's golden shield.

Upon close inspection, one can see outlines of golden armor on that shield.

This is what it truly excels at.

Like a bell being struck, a deep, massive rumble erupted the instant the Demon-Subduing Pestle collided with the Demon-Resisting Armor, unleashing a terrifying wave of pressure.

Clang!

Clang!

Clang!

Three sharp flying swords struck it, accompanied by sparks and bursts of lightning, producing a crisp sound.

Deafening metallic clangs rang out amid the eruption of countless golden thunder serpents.

Sensing the sword qi amplified several times, the Gold-Armor Devouring Beast's expression shifted slightly and, not daring to be careless, let out a long howl.

Heavenly Thunder Power?

That damned human cultivator... wouldn't he be using me to test his sword?

Human cultivator, I admit you're decent. I cannot defeat you, but you cannot defeat me! If you expend too much here and meet an opponent, what then? Perhaps we should just stop here!

The three Five Elements Heavenly Thunder Swords shot toward the Gold-Armor Devouring Beast from three different directions.

While the opponent was stunned, Yunhe snapped his fingers, and the three flying swords flew out from his sleeve.

Clang!!

As mana poured in, the Demon-Resisting Armor expanded rapidly, its radiant light swirling, and it enveloped Yunhe before the Demon-Subduing Pestle could strike.

"Fourth Level superior-quality artifact?!"

This 'Gold-Armor Demon-Subduing Pestle' is a Fourth Level medium-quality artifact; the Fan family spent a huge price, countless manpower and resources, just to forge it, aiming to compensate for its lack of killing power.

The Gold-Armor Devouring Beast immediately sensed the Heavenly Thunder Power on the Five Elements Heavenly Thunder Sword and couldn't help but furrow its brows.

Thud!!

Even though it's a Fourth Level medium-quality artifact, its effectiveness against a Fourth Level superior-quality defensive artifact is rather worrisome.

The Gold-Armor Devouring Beast snorted coldly, raised both palms to its sides, and with demonic energy surging, a faint golden shield quickly manifested around its body.

The Gold-Armor Devouring Beast set its face in a stern tone and said:

Yunhe gave no response to the sight, yet the Gold-Armor Devouring Beast broke into a smug, even disdainful smile and declared loudly:

"Human cultivator, the Heavenly Thunder Power you rely on is no more than this; if you withdraw now, I can consider that nothing has occurred!"

"Heh."

"A destined demonic weapon?"

For some reason, although it safely blocked Yunhe's two attacks, seeing Yunhe maintain that calm, unruffled demeanor made its heart uneasy.

The golden shield dimmed considerably in an instant, yet it was not shattered.

"Hmph!"

The Gold-Armor Devouring Beast saw the Demon-Resisting Armor, its pupils narrowing slightly, and it couldn't help exclaiming.

Swoosh swoosh swoosh—

Heavenly Thunder Power still poses a considerable threat to the beast.

And as the Gold-Armor Devouring Beast re‑infused demonic energy, it instantly recovered to its original state.

"Condense!"

Five‑colored light swirled, strands of golden lightning entwining.

He was already well‑versed in the defensive capabilities of the Demon-Resisting Armor, so he wasn't very concerned about the Gold-Armor Demon-Subduing Pestle.

Yunhe narrowed his eyes, recognizing that the hundreds of golden plates formed a single demonic weapon, likely forged by the Gold-Armor Devouring Beast using its own plates combined with various precious ores and gold‑iron.

Golden plates appeared on its body, surrounding the Gold-Armor Devouring Beast, and immediately merged with the golden shield.

For a moment, the golden shield solidified abruptly, as if it were material.

When that thought arose, it forcibly suppressed it.

It even couldn't help shaking its head.

But before it could fully suppress the thought, Yunhe's seal in his hand changed again.

Whoosh!

Three streams of sword qi rose from the Five Elements Heavenly Thunder Swords, soaring straight into the heavens!

"Hmm?"

The Gold-devouring Armored Beast stared at the three sword Qi; they looked imposing, but it clearly felt they were merely formidable in appearance.

"Hmph, I've crossed swords with true sword cultivators before; this three-sword Qi is strong, but the sword intent is ordinary—this person is certainly not a true sword cultivator!"

It thought to itself, yet still dared not be careless in the slightest.

It let out a sharp cry, surging demonic power bursting forth, its golden armor shining with a more solid golden light.

Just as Yunhe had thought, this golden armor was its foundation; after swallowing the vast ore and gold-iron collected by the Fan Clan, most of the metal was used to strengthen its armor plates.

It was confident that even a full-force strike from a mid-Nascent Soul cultivator could be blocked.

"Swift!"

Yunhe faced the radiant golden light barrier, merely smiled faintly, and formed a sword seal with his hand.

"Pff!!"

He saw the three massive sword Qi split from the sword tip, turning into countless tiny sword Qi too numerous to count, and even the Five Elements Thunderbolt Sword itself seemed to shatter under this seal into countless smaller flying swords.

Countless sword Qi flew through the air, like endless yellow sand.

It was merely replacing the yellow sand with sword Qi.

"Refine Sword into Silk!"

Seeing this, the Gold-devouring Armored Beast's expression changed drastically.

"How dare this half-baked sword cultivator master the Refine Sword into Silk divine ability—could he truly be a powerful sword cultivator?"

Under Yunhe's command, countless sword Qi rose and flew, sweeping toward the Gold-devouring Armored Beast.

The Gold-devouring Armored Beast's heart surged with alarm, and without thought it covered its barrier with all its demonic power.

Innumerable sparks of fire and lightning flashed instantly.

The Gold-devouring Armored Beast's proud golden barrier and golden armor flickered amid the endless onslaught, the relentless attack like waves, one after another, penetrating every gap, ceaseless.

"A sword formation?!"

What shocked the Gold-devouring Armored Beast even more was that the countless sword Qi actually condensed into a sword formation!

It was not a sword cultivator, but it also knew how difficult it was to form such a sword formation.

In fact, if it were a sword cultivator, or if the Purple Robe True Sovereign were present now, it would be even more shocked.

Because controlling so much sword Qi freely requires not only powerful spiritual sense but also extremely strong command over it; even a late-Nascent Soul Formless Sword Sovereign could not simultaneously wield so much sword Qi as effortlessly as Yunhe.

After all, the more swords, the stronger the sword Qi, and the more sword silk that splits off.

It is because Yunhe has cultivated the Thousand Insects Myriad Worms Art that he can minutely control so much sword Qi and sword silk, condensing them into a sword formation.

If the Gold-devouring Armored Beast had sufficient insight, it might recognize that the formation formed by these sword Qi and sword silk is not merely a Five Elements Sword Formation, but also bears a trace of the Formless Sword Formation.

Refine Sword into Silk combined with the Five Elements Sword Formation and the Formless Sword Formation—this sword technique divine ability may not be unrivaled in the world, but it should rank among the top five.

Yunhe now calling himself a sword cultivator is entirely unproblematic.

"Pff!"

"Suddenly."

On the Gold-devouring Armored Beast's body, a tearing sound suddenly rang out, accompanied by splattering blood threads.

It was greatly alarmed in its heart.

Although its defense was impeccably solid, it ultimately could not withstand the all-penetrating baptism of sword Qi.

"This guy is really using me as a sword-testing stone!"

At this point, the Gold-devouring Armored Beast finally had to accept this reality.

Yunhe's attacks grew stronger and fiercer each time, was he not gradually probing its defensive strength and its limit of endurance?

"Roar!!"

The Gold-devouring Armored Beast let out a roar, its form briefly twisted, and then it actually returned to its true form!

It was a huge demonic beast covered in golden armor plates, resembling a giant anteater by six or seven tenths.

The golden light barrier faded, and hundreds of golden armor plates further covered and wrapped it.

After glaring fiercely at Yunhe, its body suddenly curled into a ball, like a huge metal sphere, and it slammed heavily onto the ground.

"Human! You dare treat this king as a sword-testing stone!"

The Gold-devouring Armored Beast roared out with its Demon Sense.

Seeing this, Yunhe's eye twitched.

The words were indeed imposing, but if you have the ability, don't cling so round and plump.

At this moment, the Gold-devouring Armored Beast struck a pose saying, "I'll just shrink into a ball; if you have the ability, break my golden armor," which made Yunhe unable to help laughing.

It relied on its strong defense and sturdy demonic beast physique to hard-headedly endure the baptism of countless sword Qi and sword silk.

"Good!"

"Very good!"

He raised his hand again, and two more flying swords flew out of his sleeve.

Five Five Elements Thunderbolt Swords emerged together!

Seeing that Yunhe still had two flying swords hidden unused, the Gold-devouring Armored Beast's eyes nearly burst with rage, its heart trembling.

"Damn it! Just how many tricks does this damned human have left?"

The sword silk and sword formation from the three flying swords already caused it great pain; with five flying swords all out, can it still block them?

Who would have thought, Yunhe then pulled out a secret talisman, and with a flick of his finger ignited it.

"Wood Spirit Body Talisman!"

The greatest advantage of the Five Elements Spirit Body Talisman lies in how the more Five Elements Spirit Body phantoms Yunhe condenses, the stronger it becomes; against the earth-attributed Gold-devouring Armored Beast, the Wood Spirit Body is the best countermeasure.

"Roar!!!"

Countless sword Qi and sword silk condensed into a lifelike ferocious Wood Flood Dragon, its long howl like a drumbeat, frantically pounding the Gold-devouring Armored Beast's heart.

At this moment, the Gold-devouring Armored Beast really felt a bit numb.

Just how many tricks does this human cultivator still have? How many hidden cards does he still keep?

Actually, if it knew, if Yunhe truly wanted to take it down swiftly, the Divine Sense Secret Technique could completely breach its defenses—there would be no need for all this hassle; it estimates it could cry out.

Yunhe really is using the Gold-devouring Armored Beast to test his sword.

More accurately, he is testing his sword technique divine ability.

The Sword Qi Wood Dragon flicked its tail and lunged downward at the Gold-devouring Armored Beast.

As the Sword Qi Wood Dragon was about to tear it apart, a terrified sound came from the Gold-devouring Armored Beast.

Stop!!!

I concede! This king concedes!

———

PS: In a couple of days, two people at home will have surgery; I estimate I'll be too busy.

(End of chapter)