Chapter 323: 332 Changjie Sword Technique

In the sky, a streak of red suddenly appeared.

That kind of red was not the brilliance of sunset clouds, nor did it have the fishy stench of fresh blood; it was a pure, ultimate, true red.

That was—the color of cinnabar.

Since ancient times, all death sentences have been marked with a cinnabar brush, using the purest cinnabar. A single stroke over a criminal's name strips away their qualification to exist as a human in the world of the living.

When the cinnabar brush falls, a head hits the ground!

Amidst the sky full of cinnabar, a thin line swept across the neck of the Summer Pillar of State, lighter than a brush passing by.

And then—

A head with graying hair fell down.

There was no sound, nor any destruction; it was as if it were the Yama's whip, the Judge's Book of Life and Death, or the soul-locking chain of Black and White Impermanence. There was no need for any world-shattering move; it was one's fate. When it arrived, one was meant to die.

Pfft—

Fresh blood shot into the sky. As the head fell, a massive amount of bright red plasma sprayed from the neck, more violent than a fountain. The blood color mixed with the yet-to-dissipate cinnabar shadow, making the red even redder.

When the head fell, the giant flower and the chirping cicadas suddenly stalled; time seemed to freeze at this moment.

That giant flower had already opened above Xing Ji's head, and the next moment it was about to snap shut like a wild beast to bite off his head, but at this moment, it stopped completely. It just hovered above Xing Ji's head; seen from afar, it looked like an extremely gorgeous floral crown on him.

Xing Ji maintained a calm posture, as if performing in a play rehearsed many times, or like an experienced execution supervisor silently watching another batch of criminals face justice.

Tang Zhao watched from below, instinctively feeling that although this pose was cool, there was really no need to be so reckless and risk his own safety just for this final moment of nonchalance. It was just that he couldn't control Chief Xing; if he were the Lord and saw this scene, he would definitely scold Xing Ji regardless of the cost.

But he only thought that; most of his focus was still immersed in that unreasonable stroke.

Just now... was that a Sword Technique?

What kind of Sword Technique was it? What kind of attack?

A Sword Hero, just like that, was killed? Written off by a Sword Hero of the same rank with a single stroke? Without even a chance to resist?

That was a Sword Hero! Upon reaching that realm, one would certainly have developed Sword Arts for self-preservation and escape. Even if one couldn't win, one could at least run. How could it be so easy to be killed? And in a battle between peers, without even being touched by a sword?

That Sword Technique... death upon contact... is it a rule-based Sword Technique?

It's too unreasonable!

Very few Sword Techniques can touch the level of rules. Some special cases are tricks, relying on infinitely approaching Sword Intent, borrowing the rules within "Sword Intent," and unleashing them through some form, but the limitations are also immense.

For example, the Judge's "Xiezhi Sword" can judge right and wrong and has a strong suppression on evil. This is a rule, but to use it, one still needs to strike; only by being hit by the sword is life or death decided. It doesn't mean that just by standing there, the evil person dies. Similarly, Mai Shiyu's "Substitution" can swap misfortune and good luck, but it still requires a strike, and one needs to prepare a substitute beforehand.

There is no Sword Technique rule that doesn't require action, doesn't require fighting, and even while in a disadvantageous position, one just looks at the enemy, and then the enemy's head falls off on its own.

What a terrifying Sword Technique this is...

"Did you see it? Did you see it?" Chi Deputy Envoy became excited beside him, grabbing Tang Zhao and saying, "This is the legendary Changjie Sword Technique. It's worth it for him to have the ability to stack these steps. You haven't seen it, right? It's my first time seeing it too. What an eye-opener! It really is Xing Ji. I'd long heard he was one of the top geniuses in the Land Inspection Division. It's damn spectacular..."

Changjie... Sword Technique?

Tang Zhao had vaguely heard of this kind of Sword Technique.

The 'jie' in Changjie does not mean realm or level; it means steps, implying building steps in front of a high threshold. It seems to mean that if one wants a Sword Technique to achieve an astonishing effect that exceeds one's own realm, it would waste a massive amount of Sword Essence and might be impossible to comprehend at all. If one insists on it, one can take a shortcut by setting strict conditions and Sword Techniques that act as stepping stones before the Sword Technique. Some powerful Sword Techniques even require several preceding Sword Arts or even Sword Techniques to trigger.

Although Changjie Sword Technique is not easy to activate, its power is astonishing. Once activated, it even has the possibility of "killing enemies across ranks" and can serve as a trump card for an individual or even a faction. Therefore, the training method of setting steps for a Sword Technique and even the concept of Changjie Sword Technique itself are closely guarded secrets. Tang Zhao had only heard of it.

But to say this Changjie Sword Technique is invincible is not necessarily true. After all, if the steps set are too many or too harsh, achieving it depends somewhat on luck. It requires the enemy to be just right, and one must proceed cautiously, step by step, luring the opponent into a trap, and it can only be completed in an encounter. It kills strangers but not acquaintances; anyone who knows the specific intelligence basically won't fall for the trap.

For example, this set of Xing Ji's follows the process of pursuing and arresting criminals, starting the steps from the Sword Art of 'Tong Qi', link by link, until finally, he can "mark the verdict." Dealing with someone as heinous as the Pillar of State is called 'matching the case', but how does one judge someone who acts reasonably? How does one know what crimes a stranger has committed? How does one get a "full confession" from a Heavenly Demon? Thinking about it carefully, creating such a Sword Technique is a bit not worth the effort.

Tang Zhao even thought: What was the opportunity for Xing Ji to create this set of Sword Techniques?

It certainly wasn't prepared for today...

Just as he was thinking, he suddenly saw Xing Ji close his eyes and drift down from the sky.

Tang Zhao was startled and hurried to catch up, only to see the Xie Zhi squeeze out of the stagnant flower cluster, catch him, and carry him on its back, sliding down along the mostly withered flower tree.

Upon reaching the Sword Hero realm, the Sword Image manifests and persists, unaffected by the Sword Guest's state.

Tang Zhao immediately understood that Xing Ji was exhausted. With so many steps in that move just now and such harsh requirements, the power it had must have consumed an astonishing amount of energy, right?

So he wasn't acting cool just now, but was too tired to move...

He drew his sword, intending to use "One Day's Plan Lies in the Morning" on Xing Ji. Although the recovery effect of the Sword Art might not be effective on a Sword Hero, it should have some effect, right?

After all, the battle was over, and he only needed to recover a little...

"Holy crap—"

Behind him, Chi Deputy Envoy suddenly let out an exclamation, the sound squeezed out from his throat, almost out of control.

Tang Zhao turned his head abruptly, his Eye Beads almost flying out of their sockets.

He saw that in mid-air, the torso of the Summer Pillar of State suddenly moved, two large hands grabbing wildly in the air, grabbing the head that had almost fallen and placing it on the neck cavity.

Holy crap... Xing Tian?!

Immediately after, the head fell off on its own.

Clearly, the neck was broken; even the original head couldn't be put back on so easily.

Those hands tried several times to place the head on the neck, but it could never be placed steadily. After the attempts failed, he simply held it in his hand.

This series of actions made Tang Zhao's hair stand on end, his mind going blank. Since he started practicing martial arts, his courage had grown day by day, and he had now developed true grit, but seeing this situation, he found the feeling of hiding under the covers while listening to ghost stories as a child, feeling only his hands and feet go cold.

At the same time, the giant flower and the big tree that had already withered moved again. The giant flower bared its fangs and brandished its claws, its flower stems dancing wildly, and the big tree grew frantically, its branches whipping in all directions like whips. The forest around them, swept by flames, was also stirring. In an instant, the grass and trees on all sides became soldiers.

Alive! It was truly alive!

Tang Zhao felt his mouth dry, and Chi Deputy Envoy shouted: "Damn it—run!"

Tang Zhao's first thought was also to run, but immediately after, he turned back to look for the unconscious Xing Ji.

However, he was worrying in vain; the Xie Zhi was still conscious, running wildly in the air with its four legs as if it had eight, running away like a gust of wind.

Since the Xie Zhi had run first, Tang Zhao was relieved. While controlling his sword, he shouted: "Deputy Envoy, let's go East together."

He had just scouted it out; the forest to the East was the sparsest, and the escape route was the shortest. Now, just moving away from that big tree was not enough; they had to run out of this forest to be safer.

Chi Deputy Envoy agreed, and the two of them flew their swords together to rush out, escaping this forest that was visibly becoming hysterical.

Just after rushing out a few zhang, Chi Deputy Envoy suddenly paused and shouted: "You go first, don't worry about me." He turned around and headed back.

How could Tang Zhao truly ignore him? He turned back and saw him dodging the wildly dancing branches, rushing toward the cage placed on the ground.

Zhou Chengzhi, the Pillar of State with red hair, was still there!

After seeing clearly, Tang Zhao was slightly stunned, yet felt it was only right.

At this moment, the great tree seemed to have taken a stimulant, expanding incessantly; its roots pushed the earth forward like a plow, leveling everything in their path, and in the blink of an eye, they had reached the edge of the cage.

Chi Deputy Envoy saw this from afar, and seeing that the cage was about to be swallowed while Zhou Chengzhi sat inside without any reaction, he spat out a mouthful of alcoholic breath, causing flames to soar, instantly igniting the approaching branches and forcing back this assault.

Zhou Chengzhi was still in the cage, appearing to have been singed by the fire. But it did not matter; he was not afraid of fire anyway.

Chi Deputy Envoy rushed to the cage, intending to pick it up, but at that moment, several more branches frantically approached; unable to reach the mechanism, he had no choice but to use extra strength to drag the entire cage away.

Zhou Chengzhi suddenly seemed to wake from a dream, shouting hoarsely, "I don't need you to save me! Stop putting on an act! If you weren't the one keeping me locked up, why would I need you to save my life?"

Chi Deputy Envoy could not be bothered to pay him any mind, desperately controlling his sword to move forward, weaving through layers of branches and the cicadas that collided with them from time to time.

Zhou Chengzhi continued to shout, "Hypocrite! You come quickly today, why didn't you come sooner back then?"

Chi Deputy Envoy was focused on moving forward, but finally replied, "Not coming at that time was wrong. No matter what, I should have come."

Zhou Chengzhi was stunned, then heard someone shout:

"Sword Art—Morning Light!"

A beam of light shot over from the front, piercing through the Shadow blocked by the heavy tree shade, accurately enveloping the two of them.

Chi Deputy Envoy breathed a sigh of relief and said, "They're here, they're here!"

Zhou Chengzhi could not help but curl his lip, saying, "This move again!"

Then, with a flash of brilliance, the two of them vanished on the spot.

At the same time, the Pillar of State in the sky, holding his own head, seemed to have no intention of pursuing the enemies; instead, he abandoned the mad flowering tree and burst forth with unprecedented speed, heading in another direction.