Chapter 221: 214 Mastery

Tang Zhao had once wondered, when the Sword Manual opened and such miraculous things as "Simulated Holding" could occur, what exactly had changed?

Was it the Dharma Artifact?

Perhaps.

A mere Dharma Artifact, its appearance and essence changing simultaneously to become a powerful sword capable of unleashing earth-shattering Sword Techniques—was this not a heaven-defying miracle?

But besides that?

For example, what about the person?

The person holding the sword, which is to say himself—did he not undergo any changes when the Sword Manual appeared?

When all sorts of swords descended, how could he, a mediocre youth with at most a bit of Spirit Talent, have the virtue and ability to hold those swords without any obstacles?

This doubt had not been too intense when he was simulating the holding of the Yanggu Sword, because his talent was naturally suited to picking up the Yanggu Sword. But when he picked up the Sumeru Sword through the Vessel Artifact sent by Ping Jiangqiu and used the Can Cang Sword Technique as he pleased, this doubt became impossible to shake off.

With his talent, could he really pick up the Sumeru Sword?

Yet he had indeed picked it up, as if his talent had been there all along.

Could it be that when he flipped to a page of the Sword Manual, he simultaneously possessed the qualifications to hold that sword?

This was too miraculous, and also too excessive.

For those who spent their whole lives bitterly seeking their own sword and failing to find it, it was truly excessive. Tang Zhao felt a little bit of unease in his heart.

Tang Zhao had never confirmed this crazy conjecture, but when he saw the Kun Sword above his head, this conjecture was the source of his courage to dare to rush into the sky and control that sword which was beyond the reach of all Sword Heroes and Sword Guests.

Under the page of the "Kun Sword," he used neither the Array Eye nor a Dharma Artifact, skipping the standard action of "Simulated Holding" to directly hold that sword!

If he could succeed, he would put an end to this catastrophe.

If he could not—he would do his human duty and leave the rest to fate!

The lenses of his Glasses scrolled with layers of glowing characters; Tang Zhao's mind was blank at this moment, and his gaze held only the sword before him. He did not look closely at these annotations, but instead reached out to grasp the hilt of that sword.

At this moment, he did not even notice that the heavy, irresistible feeling was dissipating. At least, it was moving away from him.

"What is he trying to do?"

When Tang Zhao activated the doubled "Compulsion," almost everyone's gaze was drawn over, and they almost lost the ability to think. Ordinary people could only wait for the "Compulsion" to expire before recovering, but those powerful Sword Heroes and Sword Guests, such as Beichen, or "non-ordinary people" who possessed treasures to dispel Mysterious Sword Technique attacks, gradually shook off the restrictions of the "Compulsion" after being initially attracted.

In the mountains of Jianzhou, which had already turned into the Ten Thousand Great Mountains, a snow sculpture weathered away with a rustling sound, revealing a seventeen or eighteen-year-old youth in magnificent clothes inside. He patted his cheeks and said, "Good fellow, what is so powerful that it actually triggered my treasure of tranquility? What on earth is going on?"

A tall woman carrying a sword beside him had sobered up a step earlier than him; she was looking at the sky and said, "Look at the sky!"

She was none other than Yun Xiyan, who had formed a team to enter the mountains to search for swords, and beside her was the Snow Mountain Prince, Wang Fei.

Yes, Wang Fei had also ended up with her.

Wang Fei had originally only looked at Yun Xiyan's sword-seeking lecture to open up his train of thought, thereby deducing that the goal of the Turtle Bandits might be the Kun Sword. But Tang Zhao had told him with a grave expression that Zhang Shousong had problems and might harm him. The generals of the Wangfu immediately suggested he not risk attending, that General Mei should disguise himself to replace him, and that the Prince should hide in a safe place to observe the situation.

As a Prince, although Wang Fei was not lacking in courage, he was not someone who loved to court death. Knowing his own strength might not be enough to protect himself, he naturally followed the advice.

But where to hide? On Jianzhou Island, or even on Kungang, where was there a safe place that wouldn't attract attention?

Wang Fei thought about it and really thought of one place: Yun Xiyan's treasure-hunting team. They set off the night before the Rune Assembly and plunged into the mountains, not even attending the last day of the Rune Assembly. Except for Yun Xiyan, the team members were all insignificant Martial Artists or academic-failure-type Talisman Sword Masters—wasn't that the best place to take refuge?

The enemy would also not expect Wang Fei to go into the mountains to take risks a day early.

Wang Fei was also a Sword Student and a relatively high-level expert, so Yun Xiyan naturally welcomed him into the team. The two of them, along with seven or eight Martial Artists, hurried into the mountains without attracting anyone's attention.

Who would have known that after searching for a night with no gains, they searched for another morning the next day. Just as their hopes were greatly diminished and they intended to turn back, they looked up and saw their target, the Kun Sword, hanging above their heads.

This confirmed that the whole night had been a waste of effort. Even Yun Xiyan was dejected. The group packed their things to leave the mountains, but they caught up with the major movements on Jianzhou Island. Under the ravages of successive Sword Techniques, the team was scattered in all directions. Only Yun Xiyan and Wang Fei managed to stay together, only to be attracted by Tang Zhao's "Compulsion" and left unable to move, forcing them to each use their treasures to wake themselves up.

Just as they sobered up, they saw Tang Zhao going to grab the Kun Sword, and both were shocked.

They were both Sword Students; how could they not know the trouble of forcibly holding a sword? Let alone such a powerful sword? That sword could dominate the life and death of all living beings on the island just by hanging in the air, let alone being touched by force?

A thought flashed through both their minds: He's going to die!

Wang Fei cursed, "Damn it, it's too late. The sword is suppressed, and I can't fly. Even if I rush over, I can't save him—"

Yun Xiyan said, "Why, if you could make it in time, you could save him?"

Wang Fei stamped his feet and said, "As long as I have a breath! It's a pity my sword can't move, and I can't fly on my sword. Sigh, why didn't he give me that luxury car earlier? Now that he's gone, my car is gone too."

Yun Xiyan's eyes turned, and she said, "Then I'll send you up."

Wang Fei said, "How will you send me? Your sword—"

Yun Xiyan said, "I'll throw you up."

Wang Fei let out a "Huh?", and Yun Xiyan reached out, grabbed his collar, and said, "If I didn't have this strength, how could I have gained the favor of this sword? Here you go—"

Beichen had just shaken off his state of being unable to control himself when he saw Tang Zhao reaching out with one hand to grab the Kun Sword.

There was not even the brilliance of Sword Art in his hands.

His thoughts, which had just begun to run, almost stopped running again.

He blurted out, "Madman—"

However, a sound of shattering came from behind him.

He turned his head abruptly and stood up sharply.

Behind him was a massive ice sculpture, which was the Black Tortoise frozen by the Solid Ice of the Kun Sword.

Originally, this ice sculpture was frozen on the sea, but after the expansion of the Kun Sword and a series of inversions and shifts, Jianzhou Island had swallowed the surrounding sea area, and the ice sculpture had already connected to the land. Beichen had also been caught in the ravages of the Kun Sword and naturally could not pay attention to this statue for a moment—a statue that had appeared with earth-shattering power, only to be solved by the Kun Sword in a single encounter and now lay silent.

But when he looked again, the ice sculpture was full of cracks.

Moreover, the cracks were spreading, and it looked like it was about to shatter into powder. Through the ice shell, one could see it was filled with ominous shadows.

"Something is coming out!"

Beichen looked up slightly and realized he could not connect to his Sword Image stars hanging in the sky. The people he could see around him were still as dumb as wooden chickens under the "Compulsion." Without time to think, a Scroll flew out of his sleeve:

"Beidou Array, seal!"

From the Scroll, which was an Array Diagram, a star flew out first, as bright as Beichen, pinning the top of the ice sculpture. Immediately after, with Beichen as the crosshair, seven rays of starlight flew out, turning into seven light locks that firmly locked the ice sculpture, vaguely maintaining the formation of the Beidou ladle.

However, it was still a step too slow.

Crack—

The ice layer shattered, and several figures flew out from within; the leader was a sturdy man in a Golden Helmet and golden armor. Everyone behind him wore black robes and armor, resembling elite soldiers from an army.

They emerged one by one through the gaps in the starlight bindings. However, the starlight was equally agile, turning back to meet them; one beam of starlight transformed into dozens of rays, binding everyone tightly. Those black-robed armored soldiers struggled at first, but the starlight bound them tighter and tighter, and soon they were unable to move; this was an Array specifically used by Beichen to bind enemies, and once trapped within, it was not so easy to escape.

However, there was one exception!

The sturdy man in the lead, filled with the aura of a general, had the Momentum of a fierce tiger, flying the fastest and the highest! His speed was actually faster than the starlight, and in the blink of an eye, he had already flown into the sky; the main star behind could not catch up, and a few small stars turned into meteors, barely catching up to strike his armor, emitting a few sounds of metallic collision before immediately dissipating.

The sturdy man did not care at all about the force pursuing him from behind, continuing forward the whole way. At this moment, he was not even flying, but walking; his feet alternated, stepping and kicking, striding forward in the sky, treading upon the Void as if stepping on solid ground.

In three steps he covered the distance of two, and in the blink of an eye, he had arrived before Tang Zhao. That intent of thick earth, which had even pressed Beichen to the ground unable to move, could not stop his advance either.

In truth, the thick earth did have an effect; the plates of his armor were pressed until they creaked, and finally fell silent, as the plates had been firmly pressed together and stuck, as if they had been compressed into plate armor. His footsteps were also extremely heavy; although he was treading on air, he produced "thud-thud" sounds, as if moving mountains. But his body felt nothing, and his movements were not even slightly sluggish, just like another mountain.

He also possessed the Momentum of the earth!

The sturdy man arrived before Tang Zhao, one hand clenched into a fist—a fist the size of a sandbag—which seemed to be wrapped in a layer of gray smoke, and he grinned hideously: "Little bastard, what did you do to my sword?"

Having said that, he threw a punch, as if a meteorite were crashing down!

Tang Zhao's fingers finally gripped the hilt of the sword; in that instant, his face turned pale, and his breathing became heavy. The sword fell into his hand and almost plummeted straight down, and even his figure followed it as it fell.

Those who were conscious below were all horrified—had he really failed?

But immediately after, his hand tightened, gripping the sword in a standard sword-holding posture, just as Xing Ji had taught him to hold a sword for the first time all those years ago.

The Kun Sword had finally fallen into Tang Zhao's grasp.

He raised his head, looking at the incoming fist and that hideous, beast-like face, and for a moment, he curiously decided to Ask: "Who are you?"

Immediately after, he realized that this question was meaningless.

The opponent would not answer, and even if he did, what meaning would it have?

The one who had come was an enemy!

So he swung the sword, a single strike erupting forth, and shouted: "Get lost!"

Sword Technique—Dragon Fighting in the Wild!

Black and yellow colors, filling the sky and covering the fields!