Chapter 30: The Table-Flipping Sword, Luo'an Opens Its Gates

A thousand li of sword light fell upon Luo'an.

That was not Jiang Che's sword alone.

It was the response surging from the Northern Border Sword Vein, all the way from Han Zhou, White Bone Pass, and Tian Duan Cliff.

Green light pierced the sky, illuminating Luo'an City until countless commoners wept with faces streaming with tears.

They did not know what that was.

They only knew that when the Emperor demanded their deaths, a blade of sword light had rushed from the north.

The gray-robed National Preceptor's expression finally changed.

"You can actually draw upon the Sword Vein across a thousand li?"

Jiang Che gripped the Green Bamboo Sword, his robes snapping loudly in the wind.

"You can use National Fate to suppress the Human Realm."

"Naturally, the Human Realm can also use Sword Qi to question National Fate."

The eight Golden Pillars on the Altar trembled simultaneously.

The gray-robed National Preceptor roared in anger, "Suppress!"

The illusory Heavenly Seal slowly pressed downward.

An immensely heavy pressure landed upon Jiang Che.

That was the National Fate accumulated by Great Yin over hundreds of years.

Mountains and rivers, the state, hundreds of officials, soldiers and armor, laws, and imperial power.

It ought to have protected the myriad people.

Yet now, it was being used by the Emperor and the National Preceptor to crush the sword that sought to save the people.

Jiang Che's knees sank slightly.

The Altar beneath his feet cracked open.

Within the city, the commoners were once again forced to their knees in droves by the crushing pressure.

The gray-robed National Preceptor sneered, "Jiang Che, with National Fate here, what do you have to resist it?"

Jiang Che lifted his head, staring at that golden seal.

"National Fate?"

He suddenly asked, "Do the people of Luo'an wish for this seal to represent them?"

The commoners driven below the Altar froze in bewilderment.

At first, no one dared to answer.

The Imperial Guard still stood nearby, blades in hand.

But an old man with a face smeared in blood suddenly shouted, "We do not!"

The voice was weak.

Yet it was like a spark.

Immediately after, a woman clutching a child cried out, "We do not!"

A scholar struggled to his feet, shouting, "Using the people as sacrifices, this is not National Fate; it is a demonic seal!"

More and more voices rose up.

"We do not!"

"We do not!"

"We do not!"

The voices merged into a tidal wave, rushing toward the Altar.

The patterns of mountains and rivers on that golden seal suddenly began to twist.

The gray-robed National Preceptor's face turned iron-green, "Silence! You lowly commoners, what do you know of National Fate!"

Jiang Che smiled.

"You see."

"It does not acknowledge you."

Green light erupted violently on the Green Bamboo Sword.

Jiang Che slashed his sword toward the golden seal.

The gray-robed National Preceptor roared in fury, forming seals with both hands as a phantom image of a Heavenly Gate appeared behind him.

"Heavenly Seal Suppressing the World!"

The golden seal crashed down with a boom.

Sword light surged upward against heaven.

The two collided.

A blinding light exploded above Luo'an City.

Around the Altar, Xie Tingxue finally severed the talismanic runes at the southeast corner.

"Break!"

One corner of the formation collapsed.

Sword Cultivators of the Green Blade Camp seized the opportunity to rescue a great number of commoners, shielding them as they withdrew from the Altar's range.

Jiang Che's pressure suddenly lessened.

He stepped forward.

The golden seal was pushed back three feet by the sword light.

Blood overflowed from the gray-robed National Preceptor's mouth, while golden light in his eyes flickered bright and dim.

"Jiang Che, you have ruined the Heavenly Gate Grand Plan; the Upper Realm will not let you go!"

Jiang Che said, "Let them queue up."

He drew his sword again.

This strike landed on the center of the golden seal.

Crack.

The golden seal split open.

The gray-robed National Preceptor's pupils shrank sharply: "Impossible! This is the manifestation of Great Yin's National Fate!"

Jiang Che said coldly, "Wrong."

"If National Fate protects the people, it is unbreakable."

"If National Fate kills the people, one sword can shatter it."

The third strike fell.

The Nation-Suppressing Heavenly Seal exploded with a boom.

Golden light scattered across Luo'an.

The wounds on many commoners' bodies slowly stopped bleeding.

The stolen vitality returned to their bodies.

The gray-robed National Preceptor suffered a backlash, his body flying backward and crashing heavily onto the edge of the Altar.

Jiang Che walked toward him step by step.

The gray-robed National Preceptor coughed blood, yet a strange smile appeared on his face.

"You think you have won?"

Jiang Che stopped.

The gray-robed National Preceptor said in a low voice, "The Heavenly Seal is only the first layer."

"The true sacrifice has already begun."

Jiang Che's expression changed.

In the next instant, a roar came from beneath Luo'an City.

Countless black Runes lit up from the streets and alleys.

The blood qi of the dead Imperial Guards, Array Masters, and even livestock buried long ago within the city all converged toward the underground.

Xie Tingxue cried out in alarm, "There is another Array underground!"

The gray-robed National Preceptor laughed loudly, "Jiang Che, you can save the living, but you cannot save this city!"

The ground of Luo'an began to collapse.

The commoners screamed in terror.

Jiang Che closed his eyes and drove the Green Bamboo Sword into the ground.

He sensed a Black Array beneath the earth, like a giant mouth, about to swallow the entire Luo'an.

His Sword Vein was thousands of li away; the previous strike had already consumed a great deal.

Drawing on it again would be too late.

What to do?

Just then, a familiar and lazy voice suddenly sounded deep within the lake of his heart.

"Tsk."

"Without me here, it truly doesn't work, kid."

Jiang Che opened his eyes sharply.

"Senior?"

Beside the Green Bamboo Sword, a wisp of green residual light appeared.

Extremely faint.

Extremely weak.

Yet it carried that familiar scent of wine and smile.

"Don't just stand there."

The Sword Spirit chuckled lightly.

"I only have a tiny bit left."

"I'll teach you a move that truly flips the table."

Jiang Che's throat tightened: "Didn't you scatter?"

"For a Sword Cultivator, not dying completely is normal."

That voice gradually grew serious.

"Listen closely."

"The earth is about to swallow the city."

"So you make this city stand up on its own."

Jiang Che looked down at the thousands of commoners of Luo'an.

He understood.

He raised his sword and shouted:

"People of Luo'an!"

"If you do not wish to die, then shout with me."

"City Exists, People Exist!"

After a brief silence, the old man was the first to shout.

"City Exists, People Exist!"

Immediately after came the women, the scholars, the merchants, and the children.

"City Exists, People Exist!"

Ten thousand voices as one.

One hundred thousand voices as one.

All of Luo'an was shouting.

Jiang Che thrust his sword into the earth.

The Green Bamboo Sword Intent connected with the hearts of the entire city.

The collapsing ground actually halted by sheer force.

The Black Array was pushed back underground inch by inch.

The gray-robed National Preceptor stared in stupor: "This is impossible..."

Jiang Che drew his sword and slashed backward.

The Black Array shattered.

Luo'an opened its gates.