Chapter 318: 327 The Sword Hero's Battle

In the midst of a deathly silent forest, iron bars rose from thin air, one by one, enclosing a deep, massive prison.

The prison was bottomless; a single glance revealed it to be pitch-black, eerie, and shrouded in mist.

What swirled and spiraled within those iron bars was the "mold-Qi" inherent to the prison, another form of punishment suffered by the prisoners. To be within this mold-Qi was to feel a despair like falling into hell, never to see the light of day again.

However, the sky-prison was not so oppressive at this moment; on the contrary, it was full of vitality.

When Tang Zhao rushed to the battlefield, he thought he had seen wrong: at a glance, everything was lush green.

That prison was actually filled with trees. It was another forest.

Trees, cages, trees—they formed a structure of rings within rings. The two dueling Sword Heroes were hidden in the innermost thicket, their combat situation unknown.

"Very oppressive."

Tang Zhao said this from the heart.

This oppression was not for the prison, but for the forest within it.

The forest outside, with its shade, was already oppressive; apart from trees that were lush to the point of excess, there were no birds or beasts, no insects or ants, no living creatures at all, looking just like a green desert. But at least the species were the same, the heights were similar, and there was a neat, sparse clarity. But the forest inside the prison, perhaps because of the cramped space, had trees pressed one against another, branches tightly intertwined, green leaves packed so densely that not a breath of air could pass through. It was tighter than those iron bars, looking like a more solid cage, making one feel doubly oppressed.

But oppression did not mean these trees were lifeless; on the contrary, they were exceptionally vibrant, filled with explosive vitality. Although the iron bars of the prison blocked most of the view, Tang Zhao felt they were still growing, constantly shooting upward; if not for the lid on the cage, they might have grown high enough to pierce through the walls.

This sight... one can only say, as expected of a Summer Pillar of State, right?

Although Tang Zhao had heard from Shi Chunqing that the Pillar of State inside was the Summer of the Four Seasons, not the same style as those Pillars of State representing the Eight Directions.

Spring planting, summer growth, autumn harvest, winter storage.

The sword of the Summer Pillar of State should be able to make trees grow, creating lush shade. But this growth clearly did not include animals or even other plants; only the trees he recognized could grow in such a focused, extreme manner.

Chi Deputy Envoy also looked at the cage with a grave expression, suddenly sighing: "Azhao, we are late. This is no longer a battle we can participate in."

Tang Zhao was startled. Chi Deputy Envoy instructed him: "This battle has now reached the stage of Sword Law attrition. The combat has turned from motion to stillness, making it extremely difficult to intervene. Sword Guests and Sword Heroes are on different levels, you know that, right?"

Tang Zhao said: "That is natural."

Compared to ordinary people, a Sword Guest is reborn; compared to a Sword Guest, a Sword Hero is an essential leap. Not to mention anything else, even in terms of lifespan, they are vastly different. A Sword Guest lives at most to a hundred, while a Sword Hero can live to two or three hundred. From this point of view, a Sword Hero is a true leap in life—as if they have changed species.

Chi Deputy Envoy said: "The battle between Sword Heroes is peerless in power, earth-shaking. We generally cannot intervene. But there are exceptions. Although a Sword Hero has refined his body and can be called Steel-Reinforced Iron Bones, he has not reached the level of being indestructible. When he is off-guard, or when someone is attracting his attention head-on, if we use a powerful Sword Art to strike him by surprise, it can have some effect. Even if he doesn't die, Lao Xing can take the opportunity to break through head-on. It's a pity—once they enter the stage of Sword Law attrition, they are both within their Sword Laws, protected by them. Unless you break the protective Sword Law head-on, it is impossible to harm them. Only Sword Law can counter Sword Law; let's not even think about it. Instead, we must be careful not to get dragged in."

Tang Zhao knew this was Chi Deputy Envoy's experience talking, and he agreed in his heart.

In truth, he lacked understanding of Sword Hero battles. He could simulate some high-level swords based on Sword Manuals and even release Sword Laws, but he had never truly fought a master at the Sword Hero level. After all, he wasn't even a Sword Guest before; fighting above his level was already powerful, but who could fight two levels above? A mortal body could cheat against a Sword Guest, but even if he smoked his cheats, it wouldn't work against a Sword Hero.

The so-called "Sword Guest of the Human World, Sword Hero of the world beyond"—Sword Guests still walk in the human world, while Sword Heroes have already left the mundane world behind. They are not meant to be ranked with mortals; the common people and even general martial artists have never heard the great names of those Sword Heroes. Even an organization as wealthy and profound as the Inspection Division has Town Guardians who are "approachable" Sword Guests, while Sword Heroes serve as Inspection Envoys who are like dragons that see their heads but never their tails.

Tang Zhao was a bit special; he knew Sword Heroes when he was a mortal, but that did not mean he truly understood them, nor did it mean he could not revere them. Neither Xing Ji nor Ping Jiangqiu had shown their powerful side in front of him. Xing Ji had not fought in front of him since becoming a Sword Hero, and before that, Ping Jiangqiu was trapped in a Time Jar, maintaining a state of neither living nor dead, letting that White-haired Swordsman manipulate him, pitifully begging Tang Zhao for help, which seemed to confirm the title of "Disgrace of the Sword Heroes." But once he escaped that state and returned to normal, sitting alone in the Reception Hall, imprisoning everyone in jars, no one could escape. Even the life and death of a Sword Guest like Yun Xiyan were in his thoughts; could one say he was not powerful?

Look at the scene before him: this forest, the massive prison that abruptly carved out a space in the forest, the jungle growing stubbornly inside the prison—which of these could be created by mere Sword Art?

Tang Zhao pondered: "The effects of these Sword Laws are all without blind spots."

Chi Deputy Envoy nodded. Now that he knew he couldn't intervene, he relaxed slightly and continued: "Isn't that so? Let me teach you a way to distinguish them. Sword Arts are all a single action; regardless of strength, it's a matter of an instant, and the outcome is decided in an instant. But Sword Laws tend toward a state, a long-lasting manifestation. It's not that there are no Sword Laws that rise and fall in an instant, but anything that can exist continuously is at least at the level of Sword Law. The contest between Sword Laws can continue to consume."

Tang Zhao nodded repeatedly, pretending to hear these principles for the first time to give his superior face.

In fact, he had known this method long ago; after all, no one understood the analysis of Sword Arts and Sword Laws better than a Talisman Sword Master. They not only had to study the mysteries of Sword Laws but also reproduce them using Rune Formulas. He knew more about the difference between Sword Art and Sword Law than Chi Deputy Envoy. Not to mention he had used Sword Law himself.

He asked again: "As things stand, can we really not do anything?"

Chi Deputy Envoy said: "We can stay further away... look at the situation. After they decide the winner, no matter who wins or loses, it's impossible for them to just settle life and death; there should be a period of pursuit and struggle. That 'A Year's Plan Starts in the Morning' of yours is useful; you can use it on Lao Xing later, it should be useful against a Sword Hero too, right?"

Tang Zhao wanted to say "It's a day's plan," but it didn't seem necessary. He frowned: "It's useful, but the effect won't be that good. Look at the battlefield situation, can General Xing always win in a Sword Law confrontation?"

Chi Deputy Envoy said: "Hard to say. Of course, I hope Lao Xing can win. It's just that he only recently became a Sword Hero, his accumulation is limited, and he can't be considered very strong among Sword Heroes. But it doesn't matter if he loses the attrition. He has a Dharma Artifact bestowed by the Lord, and other Dharma Artifacts; he is a wealthy man, after all. I still believe..."

Before he could finish, a loud "Boom—" was heard!

Countless towering trees broke through the roof of the prison, growing upward.

The trees that were originally blocked were suddenly freed, growing wildly upward. In an instant, they pierced the clouds, and the trunks thickened simultaneously. The trees were already dense, but now they pressed tightly together, merging into one giant tree, shooting straight up. Countless branches extended outward like dark clouds.

In an instant, the canopy was like clouds, blotting out the sun!

Chi Deputy Envoy and Tang Zhao had already retreated a few steps, but they were still nearly swept into the thicket of branches. Those leaves did not look hard, yet they were as sharp as knives. Wherever they extended, they were unstoppable, scraping three feet deep like a razor, leveling all the trees and rocks on the surface.

Tang Zhao dodged the spreading branches, his heart burning with anxiety: the Sword Law of that Turtle Bandit Pillar of State was coming on aggressively and had already broken through the prison. Could it be that General Xing had lost?

Fortunately, the next moment, several iron bars shot into the sky, following the trees upward. Those iron bars did not extend straight up but wound around the trunks layer by layer like ropes. As high as the trunks grew, the iron bars coiled.

If the iron bars were a prison just a moment ago, now they were shackles. The giant tree was like a soaring dragon, and the iron bars were the dragon-binding ropes, meant to bind the dragon!

The struggle continued!

The giant tree kept thickening, while the iron ropes outside kept tightening. It was just a matter of whether the tree would burst the shackles or the shackles would confine the tree.

Tang Zhao saw the situation clearly and felt a sense of suffocation.

"Where is General Xing?"

In a flash, Tang Zhao saw two figures standing in a grave standoff between the treetops and the iron bars.

Although they held their swords in front of them, they were not fighting but were relatively still. Meanwhile, the giant tree and the iron bars were exerting extreme force, making "creak, creak" sounds. Clearly, in this situation, the swords in their hands were not the real swords; the giant tree and the iron ropes were.

"Roar—"

A roar sounded, and a fire-red Bi'an appeared beside Xing Ji. After a great roar, it jumped onto the iron bars and merged into them. A relief sculpture of a Bi'an head immediately appeared on the iron bars. As the lifelike tiger head appeared, the iron bars tightened instantly, like a winch strangling the giant tree.

Immediately after, heat steamed, as if the summer heat that had disappeared for over a month was sweeping back. Waves of heat surged from all directions, and the giant tree grew even more vigorously, its leaves turning a dark green, and its branches prying at the gaps in the bars like vines.

Is this heat the Sword Image of the Pillar of State?

At this very moment, both sides should have summoned their Sword Images; this was a double-strength contest. It seemed they were about to abandon other Sword Laws and Sword Arts, intending to decide life and death solely with these two Sword Laws.

Tang Zhao was sweating profusely, anxious in his heart: Has General Xing lost his head? This kind of contest excludes the wisdom and cleverness of tactics and counters; in the end, isn't it just a contest of Sword Essence foundation? General Xing is young, and Sword Essence is not his strong suit; why attack the enemy's strength with his own weakness?

Could it be that he has other plans in mind?

Then... what if he doesn't?

Because he hadn't had time to update his Sword Manual, Tang Zhao didn't know what other trump cards Xing Ji had, and for a moment, he felt unsettled.

Tang Zhao gritted his teeth and said: "Deputy Envoy, just in case, I'd better go prepare something. How about... setting a fire?"