Chapter 594: The New Ten Great Terrors

The rain had gradually stopped.

After dispelling the Sword Intent for that disciple, Yu Liancheng arrived outside Baijian Villa and looked at the eight characters left behind by the Sword Saint.

——Seven days later, a meeting at Tianshan.

A moment later, he cast his gaze toward the Wushuang Sword above the final character, "meeting."

Yu Liancheng stood with his hands behind his back and smiled, "Xiaomeng, let me test you with a few questions. Tell me, why must the Sword Saint insist on a decisive battle with me at Tianshan in seven days?"

Di Er Meng blinked and pondered for a moment before saying, "It is said that the Sword Saint has traversed the martial arts world, invincible for half his life, glorious and brilliant, yet he has suffered two defeats, at the hands of the senior Wuming and Brother Yu respectively. If I am not mistaken, the Sword Saint must have clashed with senior Wuming before coming to Baijian Villa. Although he did not unleash the most terrifying 'Jian Twenty-Three,' they clearly exchanged blows. Once his Sword Qi was vented and he was no longer at his peak, he naturally needed seven days to recuperate his body and mind."

"Xiaomeng is truly as clever as ice and snow." Yu Liancheng rubbed Di Er Meng's small head and smiled, "However, these eight characters from the Sword Saint actually contain two other layers of profound meaning."

Di Er Meng shook her head: "I haven't figured them out."

"The Sword Saint is not a true Saint. His time is running out. By fighting me, he not only wants to defeat me but also wants the world to know that he, the Sword Saint, is still the peerless Sword Saint of the world. And this seven-day period is to let the whole world know about the battle at Tianshan, so that he may finally defeat me under the eyes of the masses and fulfill his regret."

Yu Liancheng smiled with his hands behind his back: "And the reason he chose Tianshan is, first, because ordinary places cannot accommodate the many martial artists who wish to witness it, and also because a duel between experts requires the right time, the right place, and the right people. If we were to fight in Baijian Villa, he would be less familiar with the terrain than I am, increasing his chance of defeat. Moreover, he once lost to me in Wushuang City, so his momentum is naturally a notch weaker. Thus, Tianshan is undoubtedly the best choice; neither of us has set foot on Tianshan before, so it is perfectly fair."

Di Er Meng nodded as if she had realized something.

She had not expected that these mere eight characters could have so many implications.

Yu Liancheng smiled: "Let me test you with another question. Why did the Sword Saint leave the 'Wushuang Sword' here?"

This time, Di Er Meng did not dare to be careless. She pondered carefully for a long time before parting her red lips: "If I guess wrong, Brother Yu must not laugh at Xiaomeng."

"Little girl, when have I ever laughed at you?" Yu Liancheng smiled and pinched Di Er Meng's smooth, soft cheek.

"Brother Yu is annoying."

Di Er Meng pouted and pushed away Yu Liancheng's hand.

"In martial arts duels, it is customary for one person to set the time and the other to set the location, but this time he set both. So, he preserved a trace of 'Jian Twenty-Three' Sword Intent within the Wushuang Sword to let Brother Yu familiarize himself with 'Jian Twenty-Three' in advance, as a gesture of fairness. Secondly, it is because the Sword Saint's 'Jian Twenty-Three' has reached the realm of not being hindered by objects; whether he has a sword in his hand or not, his strength will not be discounted in the slightest, so he does not care about leaving the Wushuang Sword here."

"This time, your thoughts coincide exactly with mine."

Yu Liancheng chuckled and walked to the Wushuang Sword: "Good, let me see just how terrifying this heaven-destroying and earth-extinguishing Sword Intent really is. Meng, you should step back two paces."

"I know."

Yu Liancheng reached out his hand. The moment his fingers touched the hilt, he immediately sensed a terrifying, heaven-destroying and earth-extinguishing Sword Intent. His expression tightened, and he abruptly pulled out the Wushuang Sword.

Crack! Crack!

The moment the sword was drawn, the Sword Intent erupted completely. Countless cracks immediately spread across the walls, and then, with a "Boom—," they collapsed abruptly, sending dust flying everywhere.

Yu Liancheng carefully felt this surge of Sword Intent. After a long while, he let out a long breath and muttered to himself: "What a terrifying Jian Twenty-Three, what a ruthless Jian Twenty-Three. Although it is similar to the Thirteen Swords of Death, the power is not just a little bit different."

Immediately, his eyes brightened.

"Perhaps at the moment of the decisive battle with him, I can use 'Jian Twenty-Three' to find the Six Extinctions Secret Manual that even 'Heaven's Weeping' and 'Jiukong Wujie' cannot locate."

"By the way, Brother Yu, earlier there appeared a person who looked very much like senior Wuming."

"Oh, is his name Mu Yingxiong?"

"Eh, Master, how did you know?"

"Hehe, Sword Saint Dugu Jian, Heavenly Sword Wuming, Absolute Sword Mu Yingxiong... plus me, perhaps we might be able to open the Sword Realm."

The night grew deeper.

In the brilliant lamplight, Yu Liancheng was hunched over his desk writing.

Just then, with a "creak," the door was pushed open, and a beautiful woman in a palace-style bun, dressed in bright, colorful robes, appeared in the room.

Her figure was graceful, and her face was covered by a light veil. The contours of her face, vaguely visible, were stunningly beautiful. That layer of light veil, originally intended to cover her face, gave her an extra touch of mystery, like a peony shrouded in mist.

The mature woman walked to the desk, placed a bowl of bird's nest soup on the table, leaned softly against Yu Liancheng, and looked up. She saw a scroll of silk filled with dense lines of text.

The first three characters were all too familiar; they had once stirred up bloody storms in the martial arts world, shocked countless people across the land, and were also written by Yu Liancheng's own hand.

It was exactly—the Ten Great Terrors list!

The beautiful woman was slightly startled, and her gaze continued to scan downward.

Yu Liancheng had already written to the end, and one could almost see the full picture.

I saw that after the three characters "Ten Great Terrors," it immediately followed with: "The winds and clouds of the world arise from our generation; once entering the martial arts world, the years hasten by.

The waves of the Changjiang push the waves ahead; each generation of newcomers replaces the old.

Terror, terror, the world is in terror. The martial arts world changes in an instant, and the winds and clouds are unpredictable. Because of these layers of change, I have compiled the Ten Great Terrors."

First Terror—Absolute Sword Mu Yingxiong.

A natural-born Sword Emperor, he was revered by ten thousand swords at birth. His life was full of hardships, and he sacrificed all his glory for his younger brother Wuming. Their brotherly bond was deep, yet he was determined to compete with Wuming to determine who was superior. He realized the "No Heaven Absolute Sword" from the Nameless Sword Art, basing his philosophy on heartlessness and pride, walking the opposite extreme to Wuming's Heavenly Sword; naturally, each has its own merits.

His strength is not below that of the Martial Arts Myth, Wuming.

Second Terror—Jian Twenty-Three, a peerless sword move that can make all things stop and wait to be slaughtered. It reflects the blade technique of the Peerless Love, but it is uncontrollable; once unleashed, it slaughters all living things in the world. There are even variations such as the Six Extinctions Sword Twenty-Three and the Sentient World Sword Twenty-Three...

Third Terror—Ten Thousand Ways Infinite, a Peerless Divine Weapon forged over several years using the Four Great Divine Stones and the Great Evil King as materials, becoming the number one divine weapon in the world. Once this weapon appears, the heavens weep blood, ghosts and gods howl, and the wind and thunder rage. It is precisely because of the birth of this sword that the battle of Baijian Villa was triggered, leading to the death of Di Shitian of the Heavenly Gate.

Fourth Terror—Sword Realm, a secret paradise and a world of swords, gathering all the wisdom of the world's Sword Dao. It even contains the only set of sword techniques in the world that possesses self-consciousness—the Mysterious Yin Twelve Swords. However, opening this secret paradise is no easy task.

Fifth Terror—No Heaven Purgatory, a sect founded by the Chihuo Yuanzu of that era, which has always been hidden in mountain forests and secret realms, unknown to outsiders. Within No Heaven Purgatory, there are three supreme arts left behind by the Chihuo Yuanzu: God Seizing Seven Voids, No Heaven Immovable Venerable, and Red Fire Divine Art. All three are top-tier supreme arts, especially the Red Fire Divine Art, which can be considered one of the strongest martial arts in the world today.

Sixth Terror—Xiao Aoshi, the second son of the former Ten Great Terrors list member Xiao Sanxiao. He possesses the bloodline of the Dragon Turtle and carries the supreme art of Ten Thousand Ways of the Universe. This supreme art can control people's hearts and accommodate various, even mutually exclusive, martial arts for his own use. In terms of the strength of his cultivation, few in the world can compare. Because he has always harbored resentment toward his father, Xiao Sanxiao, he has secretly worked to promote the Great Calamity of a Thousand Autumns under the pretext of following the will of heaven.

Although his cultivation is high, because he, like Di Shitian, has never encountered a true opponent in his life and has never truly suffered a setback, his character is extremely poor.

Seventh Terror—Xiao Jingtian. The eldest son of the former Ten Great Terrors list member Xiao Sanxiao. He possesses the bloodline of the Dragon Turtle and carries another of Xiao Sanxiao's supreme arts, the Mixed Heaven Four Absolutes. This is an overbearing and peerless external martial art that can refine essence by absorbing the heaven, earth, sun, and moon, elevating his power to an ancient and unprecedented realm.

His cultivation looks down upon all living beings; perhaps, apart from his father Xiao Sanxiao, he can be called the strongest expert in heaven and earth. Also due to his resentment toward Xiao Sanxiao, he secretly promotes the Great Calamity of a Thousand Autumns.

Eighth Terror—The Great Calamity of a Thousand Autumns. A calamity that spans a thousand years and is difficult to bring to an end. When the calamity begins, that island nation with the sun as its emblem will rise. When the power of Dongying reaches its zenith, the Central Plains Divine Prefecture will face a great disaster, and tens of millions of innocent lives will be slaughtered.

The strong of every generation in the Central Plains have seen this calamity and left behind preparations for future generations to resolve it. For example, the Dajianshi who founded the Sword Sect left behind the Hero Sword.

However, what they saw was merely a small calamity. Small calamities will continuously accumulate, eventually forming a true Great Calamity of a Thousand Autumns, affecting the Central Plains beyond the borders, and even the heavens and all living things may be extinguished as a result.

Of course, the true Great Calamity of a Thousand Autumns is still in the future, a thousand years from now, so there is no need to worry.

Ninth Terror—Banbian Shen. A genius who transcends the Great Calamity of a Thousand Autumns, a demon who intends to destroy all living things, and a madman who compares himself to a God. Yet, 'I' judge the future, the past, and the present; who can be my match?

The tenth terror—Great Sun Tathagata.

The beautiful woman happened to see Yu Liancheng write down the words Great Sun Tathagata, and it seemed he was about to add annotations for this Great Sun Tathagata, but his expression grew solemn.

The beautiful woman had known Yu Liancheng for several years, and she was well-acquainted with the temperament of the man before her. Not only was his martial arts attainment peerless in the world, but he was also a master strategist, and there was almost nothing he could not control.

She had almost never seen him look so solemn and furrow his brows like this.

After a moment, Yu Liancheng sighed slightly, set down the brush in his hand, and gently blew on the ink that had not yet dried; the new Terror List was thus produced.