Chapter 360: Soul Infant Sword (Requesting Monthly Tickets)

Luanjian Reef.

Whoosh!

Furious waves crash against the shore, towering torrents rage across the sky.

Amidst the shriek of swords, two blades descended midair, revealing figures gazing at the jagged, blade-like rocks.

"Hm? This place seems subtly arrayed with a killing formation?"

Fang Xing swept his spiritual sense across the area, slightly surprised: "It seems this 'Taibai Sword Immortal' has grand designs indeed…"

"The Killing Sword lineage produces mostly madmen. If not for my uncle's company, I would never dare come here alone to meet this Taibai Sword Immortal."

Fire Dragon True Man silently transmitted a message.

After all, sword cultivators often die dueling on the Death Platform.

Who knows what kind of personality the heir of the Killing Sword lineage might be?

"Hm… indeed very arrogant."

Fang Xing sensed an unrestrained spiritual force spreading outward, brimming with piercing sharpness and murderous intent, rushing straight toward him.

He smiled faintly; within his dantian, the Ten Thousand Methods Ghost Infant opened its eyes, releasing a spiritual force like a net that enveloped and instantly dissolved the incoming assault.

"Hmph!"

The owner of the spiritual force grunted, clearly suffering a minor setback under Fang Xing's "Ten Thousand Hearts" secret art.

Shhh!

A blade of light shot up from the center of the chaotic reef, arriving before Fire Dragon True Man and Fang Xing, revealing a Taibai Sword Immortal with snow-white hair and a crimson scar across his brow.

"I never expected the Wanyiao lineage could produce a mid-stage Nascent Soul sword cultivator."

Upon seeing Fang Xing, the Taibai Sword Immortal immediately reined in his thoughts.

'Mid-stage Nascent Soul? When did the Lord of Mingkun Island ascend to mid-stage Nascent Soul?'

Fire Dragon True Man's heart jolted; he immediately assumed a solemn expression, forming a sword seal: "Wanyiao lineage, Fire Dragon, greets Elder Brother Taibai. This is the Lord of Mingkun Island from the Golden Sword lineage! Hearing of your plight, he came specially to rescue you."

"Golden Sword lineage? The Great Freedom Mystic Golden Sword Scripture is famed for supreme sword speed—I look forward to testing it someday."

The Taibai Sword Immortal gazed at Fang Xing, his eyes brimming with battle lust.

"I originally thought you might be injured or refining some treasure or pill…" Fang Xing scanned the surrounding killing array: "But now it seems… you deliberately leaked your whereabouts, with grand designs."

"What? Deliberately leaked your whereabouts?"

Fire Dragon True Man was startled: "Elder Brother Taibai… you…"

"Enough. Since you've come, Mingkun, you're qualified to sit at the table. Good. My location was indeed leaked on purpose."

The Taibai Sword Immortal smiled faintly, a touch of madness in it: "My goal? To lure in numerous Nascent Soul True Masters to sacrifice their blood for my sword!"

"Sacrifice for a sword? With the blood of Nascent Soul True Masters? Does that mean Elder Brother Taibai intends to cultivate that secret art?" Fire Dragon True Man seemed to realize something, his eyes bulging.

"Precisely—the Nine Sons Mother Ghost Infant Sword Refining Art! Only this secret art can help me break through my Nascent Soul mid-stage bottleneck and ascend to Nascent Soul late-stage!"

The Taibai Sword Immortal declared proudly.

Fang Xing immediately transmitted a message, urging Fire Dragon True Man to explain—only then did he understand.

The "Nine Sons Mother Ghost Infant Sword Refining Art" was a secret technique passed down by the Divine Spirit Sword Sect, with miraculous effects for breaking through bottlenecks.

It required at least a Nascent Soul Sword Master whose soul blade was a Spirit Artifact to cultivate.

Its essence bore some resemblance to Fang Xing's own "Devouring Infant Art"—both required consuming the Nascent Soul essence of True Masters to enhance the soul blade's origin, even pushing its rank upward!

But it demanded even more: at least nine Nascent Soul essences had to be sacrificed to have any hope of elevating a Rank Four Mid-grade Spirit Artifact to Rank Four High-grade.

The Taibai Sword Immortal had already reached the peak of Nascent Soul mid-stage; if his soul blade advanced first, he could use the secret technique of Sword-Person Unity, leveraging the soul blade's breakthrough to stimulate his own Nascent Soul to break through the mid-stage bottleneck and ascend to late-stage!

'The Divine Spirit Sword Sect truly lives up to its status as a holy site—they can even produce such secret arts to assist Great True Masters in breakthroughs…'

'Though… sacrificing nine Nascent Soul essences is undeniably a demonic practice, but sword cultivators walk the deviant path—they clearly don't care…'

'And this method clearly carries far less risk than my Devouring Infant Art—using the soul blade as an intermediary to absorb the Nascent Soul essence creates a buffer, greatly reducing the chance of demonic deviation… though, of course, after filtering out impurities, the usable energy is also significantly reduced. Such trade-offs are unavoidable.'

Fang Xing felt profound contemplation, then his eyes brightened.

He too was trapped in a bottleneck—this method might well allow him to break through.

Even just breaking his early-stage bottleneck might require sacrificing only three to six Nascent Soul essences from early-stage Nascent Soul cultivators, enough to elevate the Rusty Sword to Rank Four Mid-grade.

"So you plan to slaughter nine Nascent Soul True Masters in one battle… Elder Brother Taibai truly lives up to your status as heir of the Killing Sword lineage."

Fire Dragon True Man sighed bitterly: "Even when our sect still stood, very few Great Sword Masters ever used this art to break through—too much heavenly retribution, and it inevitably drew mass attacks… Now, with no sect to back us, the situation is far worse."

"I set this trap because I have confidence."

The Taibai Sword Immortal declared proudly: "Brother, would you care to join?"

As for Fire Dragon True Man, he wasn't even worth his consideration.

"What is your exact plan? And… I require copies of both the 'Nine Sons Mother Ghost Infant Sword Refining Art' and the 'Grand Void Sword Art.'"

Fang Xing spoke.

"Hah! You're from the Golden Sword lineage, a rightful heir of the Divine Spirit Sword Sect—you're naturally entitled to learn all these secret arts… As for the plan? It's simple enough: I'll go out first, duel, kill as many as I can, then lure them into the White Tiger Seven Killing Sword Array, kill as close to nine as possible, then flee…"

The Taibai Sword Immortal handed over two jade slips, then glanced at Fire Dragon True Man: "At the core of this array, I've repaired an ancient teleportation array capable of transporting us to safety. Fire Dragon, your cultivation is too low—stay here and guard the array's core."

"Elder Brother Taibai, what boldness! Let's do it." Fang Xing took the jade slips, scanned them with his spiritual sense, and stored them satisfied in his storage pouch: "Since we're doing this, let's make it bigger—lure in a few Great True Masters too… the more we kill, the fewer opponents we'll face when we eventually explore the Divine Spirit Sword Sect's mountain domain."

"Cough… cough…"

The Taibai Sword Immortal coughed, staring at Fang Xing in surprise, then at Fire Dragon True Man.

'Who exactly is the heir of the Killing Sword lineage? Why is this Golden Sword cultivator so bloodthirsty?'

Fire Dragon True Man was speechless, sighing deeply, uncertain whether bringing the Lord of Mingkun Island to seek out the Killing Sword heir had been wise.

He felt as if he'd just paired two murderous monsters together.

…

Moments later.

Fang Xing and Fire Dragon True Man stood atop a reef, watching the Taibai Sword Immortal depart.

"I've checked the teleportation array—it's fully repaired and ready to activate at any moment."

Fire Dragon True Man lowered his voice: "Before leaving, Elder Brother Taibai gave us two 'Qiankun Mirrors' for communication…"

"One man, one sword, going out alone to lure enemies… truly formidable."

Fang Xing marveled: "Is this the caliber of the Killing Sword lineage?"

"Handing over all our vital points to him—isn't that too trusting?" Fire Dragon True Man hesitated.

"The control core of the White Tiger Seven Killing Sword Array remains in his hands. Besides… how do you know this is truly their vital point or escape route?"

Fang Xing gazed at the Qiankun Mirror in his hand, a hint of anticipation in his eyes.

Fire Dragon True Man pulled out a blood-red spiritual pearl: "We're enemies to all—better to be cautious. Elder Brother Taibai's 'Blood Storage Pearl' has excellent concealment—we should use it quickly."

Fang Xing nodded, and a similar blood-red spiritual pearl materialized in his hand.

After channeling spiritual energy, a crimson aura enveloped his body, blocking all forms of detection.

Even more remarkably, this crimson light could cloak artifacts, masking their true appearance—remarkably potent.

Having completed this, he focused his attention on the Qiankun Mirror, filled with anticipation.

…

Somewhere in the Red Algae Sea.

An early-stage Nascent Soul cultivator clad in a robe embroidered with countless golden coins, stout and prosperous, was riding a peculiar treasure.

He continuously chanted incantations, combining hand seals that transformed into streams of light, striking a bronze coin before him.

The coin hummed faintly, releasing countless golden rays.

These rays rapidly coalesced in midair, forming dozens of tiger-headed bees that flew in all directions.

This was the Nascent Soul cultivator of the Ten Thousand Treasures Guild—'Bai Bao True Master'!

His round, plump face bore a warm, affable smile; now, watching the golden bees scatter, his eyes gleamed with anticipation: "The Divine Spirit Sword Sect heir—how many treasures does he carry?"

"Sigh… the Killing Sword lineage is full of monsters. Old Wan must be cautious—just obtaining his whereabouts is enough. I can trade it to major factions, perhaps even get pills to break my early-stage Nascent Soul bottleneck…"

"Hmph, when did the outer seas become so crowded? Yu Huadian, An Yun Palace, Bai Cao Mountain… Thousand Feather Tower, Split Earth Alliance, Moonlight Island, Heaven's Blade Courtyard… at least dozens of Nascent Soul True Masters gathered here—no holy sect behind this? Who'd believe it?"

As Bai Bao True Master pondered, his expression suddenly changed.

His spiritual sense, divided into countless fragments and attached to the golden bees, discovered several had vanished without a trace.

Before destruction, he'd glimpsed a brilliant sword light.

"Found him."

Bai Bao True Master's eyes lit up: "Hah… fortune! The opportunity for a mid-stage Nascent Soul breakthrough is mine! Huh? That sword light isn't fleeing—it's charging straight at Old Wan? Bad! How is his speed so fast?"

Moments later, the Taibai Sword Immortal gazed at Bai Bao True Master, a cold smirk on his lips.

In the void, countless chilling sword qi surged forth, brimming with mad, murderous intent, forming a river of sword energy that roared toward Bai Bao True Master.

"Ah… Taibai, don't overreach! I've already sent word to my friends—in a few incense sticks' time, you'll be surrounded! Retreat now while you still can!"

Bai Bao True Master stood within a golden pavilion, his expression grim.

Internally, he was relieved: 'Thank heavens I just acquired this 'Duo Bao Tower' treasure—otherwise, I'd never dare face a mid-stage Nascent Soul sword cultivator…'

Generally, a mid-stage Nascent Soul cultivator might overpower an early-stage one, but rarely could he completely annihilate him.

Among Nascent Soul True Masters, defeating an opponent was difficult; killing one was even harder.

Yet in the next instant!

A blade of light shot skyward, impossibly sharp—it cleaved the Duo Bao Tower cleanly in two!

The sword light didn't stop; it swept past Bai Bao True Master's neck.

His protective aura, as feeble as paper, was instantly torn open; his headless corpse tumbled from midair into the sea.

A flash of spiritual light appeared hundreds of zhang away—Bai Bao True Master's Nascent Soul emerged, too terrified to even curse, immediately activating Nascent Soul teleportation techniques and fleeing.

(End of chapter)