Chapter 840: Dredging the Past, Three Bodies Severing Karma (6000)

The daylight was dim; the sun had already gradually set.

Within the base of the Hook-Deep Sword Sect, sounds of explosions, gunfire, and shouting erupted everywhere.

The Martial Dao Domains of several Grandmasters unfurled, rays of light shooting into the sky, illuminating the entire base in patches of white, blue, and green.

Suddenly, a point of red light ignited in this area of intersecting light and shadow, and then, like a volcanic eruption, it exploded!

The dazzling red radiance dyed half the sky above the Hook-Deep Sword Sect base red.

"Shi Caiming!"

The sudden turn of events broke the balance on the field.

Just as Li Fei and the others had never thought Bo Chen could "return from the dead," Bo Chen had likewise never thought Shi Caiming would appear here to strike at him.

Bo Chen knew better than anyone how severe the injuries on Shi Caiming's body were.

Even if a Martial Dao Grandmaster with healing-type divine abilities were to intervene, Shi Caiming would still need at least several months of recuperation before he could fight.

Because when he fought for his life, he had damaged his very source of life!

If he hadn't burned through everything, Shi Caiming would never have been able to hold on for so long within Bo Chen's Green Lotus Heaven and Earth back then.

This kind of injury could not be directly healed by healing-type divine abilities.

Moreover, Shi Caiming had already damaged his life source due to a failed breakthrough previously; now, with injury upon injury, it was even harder to recover.

Yet, Shi Caiming had suddenly appeared now to strike at Bo Chen!

And the timing chosen was impeccable, occurring exactly when Li Fei was pinning down more and more of Bo Chen's power, just as the "Great Thousand" sword technique reached a critical juncture.

In this instant, Bo Chen's strength and divine abilities were difficult to shift, making it impossible to switch from offense to defense immediately.

If it weren't for the fact that Shi Caiming had fought Bo Chen before and was also a Sword Dao Grandmaster who had mastered the Creation Sword Technique,

it would have been very difficult for any other Grandmaster to seize such a precise moment.

Shi Caiming charged forward with his sword, triggering a sonic boom; the crimson sword aura descended like a falling meteorite, the scorching flames splitting the firmament, and the air waves overturning a thousand layers of clouds!

The Green Wave River surrounding Bo Chen was instantly cut off, the sound of water roaring deafeningly, and the three small emerald swords shattered like jade, their fragments splashing into a sky full of fluorescence.

The 【Jade Sword】 ultimately bought Bo Chen a moment of time; he immediately withdrew the power directed at Li Fei, and layers of mountains and rivers pressed down toward Shi Caiming.

Shi Caiming's sword light was blocked by the power of the Great Thousand.

But the brief "gap" still allowed a portion of the sword light to strike Bo Chen, making him pay a heavy price:

A bloody hole was pierced through Bo Chen's back!

He had shifted his body slightly at the last moment, barely protecting his heart, but his heart meridians were severely damaged.

With a Grandmaster's powerful vitality, one could still live for a period even without a heart, so such an injury was not yet fatal.

But Shi Caiming's strike had created an excellent combat opportunity for the others!

Bo Chen spat out blood, and his Martial Dao Domain became chaotic.

Seeing this, Huo Hansi, not far away, finally stopped holding back.

Even if he had reservations about the Hook-Deep Sword Master, he would not miss such a good opportunity.

He thrust his long spear forward, driving the power of his own Martial Dao Domain to converge rapidly.

Huo Hansi's Martial Dao Domain collapsed with a roar, streams of starlight flowing backward like a waterfall, ninety-nine stars biting at each other at the tip of the spear, until finally, the star cores exploded, and the scorching light swallowed everything.

Huo Family Spear Technique—【Star Meteor Light Split】!

This move injured the enemy by a thousand while damaging oneself by five hundred; Huo Hansi's own Martial Dao Domain was also damaged in this explosion.

However, he possessed divine abilities that allowed for rapid recovery, so he could treat this move as a finishing blow.

In an instant, Bo Chen's already unstable Martial Dao Domain became riddled with holes!

He spat out another mouthful of blood, voluntarily dispersed his own Martial Dao Domain, and pointed his long sword repeatedly, thousands of sword qi transforming into blooming green lotuses.

Countless green lotuses wrapped around him, forming a new Martial Dao Domain to protect him within.

The Creation Sword Technique "Green Lotus," combined with the divine ability derivation of the Divine Derivation Realm, allowed Bo Chen to incredibly reconstruct a Martial Dao Domain in an instant!

Last time, Bo Chen used this move for offense, but this time, he could only use it to save his life.

Once the outer Martial Dao Domain was broken, Shi Caiming easily shattered the "Great Thousand" sword technique and, without hesitation, thrust his sword toward the green lotuses in front.

At the same time, a figure appeared above the green lotuses, raising a blade with both hands to hack downward.

It was Li Fei, no longer suppressed, who had arrived; with a strike of 【Heaven and Earth Single Blade】, the blade mark fell like a chasm, the molten golden flames carrying a frenzy of power, crashing directly onto the canopy of the green lotus world!

Qiu Zi'an's purple flame blade aura followed closely behind, the purple fire coiling around the green vines like a ferocious python, the flames scorching and intense, instantly burning through three thousand lotus leaves!

A black dragon of baleful energy also roared in, the raging waves behind it condensing into nine chains, dragging the scattered green lotus petals into its bloody maw.

Under the multi-pronged attack, the green lotuses withered, and the small world was about to collapse completely.

After all, it was not a true Martial Dao Domain.

However, Bo Chen's strength was a bit greater than last time, and his control over the Green Lotus Heaven and Earth had also become stronger.

Before the Green Lotus Heaven and Earth could completely shatter, he voluntarily dissolved this small Martial Dao Domain to avoid backlash.

Li Fei immediately teleported behind him and raised his blade to hack down.

Huo Hansi's Martial Dao Domain pressed down, temporarily preventing Bo Chen from using divine abilities!

Bo Chen did not turn around; without divine abilities, he still had the Creation Sword Technique to use.

The sword qi was like a waterfall, transforming into countless rivers, using softness to overcome hardness, dissolving the power on the Ghost-Slashing Blade layer by layer to buy himself time.

After a brief pause, Bo Chen expanded his Martial Dao Domain again, forming a counter-clash with Huo Hansi's Martial Dao Domain, and then used divine abilities to augment his sword technique.

It was just that the power of this Martial Dao Domain was clearly a large chunk weaker than before.

Once a Martial Dao Domain is damaged, it is not so easy to recover.

On the other side, Shi Caiming, who had unleashed two swords, did not continue the attack, his aura already fading.

"So that's how it is..."

Bo Chen looked at this scene, a realization forming in his heart.

Shi Caiming must have used some secret technique, obtaining a large amount of vitality from somewhere, which allowed him to hold on by a single breath and barely strike while his injuries were unhealed.

It was just that, after all, it was borrowed external force; after a few bursts, he was spent.

The layers of sword qi disintegrated.

Li Fei slashed through the river before him, using force to break skill, shattering this sword technique of Bo Chen's!

He was not at all surprised that Shi Caiming's aura had weakened, because it was he who had used the 【Refining Matter】 divine ability to refine his own vitality and give it to the other party.

If it were any other Martial Dao Grandmaster, even if they had the heart, they would lack the power, but Li Fei had 【Blood Breath】, which could refine over 200 blood souls per minute for Shi Caiming!

It was just a pity that this vitality was only temporary; it could not fundamentally resolve the damage to Shi Caiming's source, nor could it be stored for long, only enough to support the other party in forcibly bursting out a few times.

Upon learning that there might still be another Grandmaster in the Hook-Deep Sword Sect, Li Fei had formulated this plan:

He would consume blood souls to provide Shi Caiming with a portion of vitality, letting the other party hide in the shadows to strike at a critical moment.

And Shi Caiming had not disappointed; the timing he seized was almost perfect, and his single strike had severely wounded Bo Chen!

Li Fei slashed his blade horizontally at Bo Chen; Bo Chen turned and pointed his sword at the middle of the Ghost-Slashing Blade's body. This sword prevented the power on the blade from fully exploding, and immediately after, waves of sword qi erupted, transforming into a raging tide that rushed toward Li Fei.

Li Fei ignored this, letting the sword qi strike him; he simply continued to swing the Ghost-Slashing Blade in his hand, shattering the thousand-fold waves!

Countless sword qi collapsed, and the power of heaven and earth carried by the sword moves was torn apart and slashed through by an even more violent force!

Bo Chen's long sword vibrated, and his figure suddenly became blurred.

In Li Fei's eyes, Bo Chen, who was clearly within arm's reach, suddenly became extremely distant, separated by countless mountains and rivers, separated by an entire world.

Li Fei's expression remained unchanged; a bright moon appeared in the sky above his head, cold moonlight spilling down, and the mountains and rivers before him dissipated like phantoms.

【Eternal Fixation】 breaks illusions!

Li Fei stepped forward and swung his blade.

Clang—

The blade edge slashed onto the long sword, as if slashing onto a continuous mountain range spanning between heaven and earth, and was blocked.

Li Fei's expression remained unchanged, and he continued to swing his blade.

Under the augmentation of the 【Dragon-Elephant】 divine ability, his strength was growing stronger every second!

The blade and sword collided dozens of times in an instant, sparks flying everywhere, sword qi and blade radiance intersecting.

Sonic booms followed one after another, the agitated gale sweeping toward the surroundings.

Bo Chen's sword technique was peerless; in an instant, he performed dozens of exquisite deflections and leverage maneuvers, his sword tip pointing repeatedly, the sword momentum rising and falling like a tidal wave, swallowing Li Fei's power and then spitting it back out, conversely breaking Li Fei's blade momentum!

However, Li Fei was not alone.

Bo Chen had only exchanged one move with him before voluntarily taking a step back, turning to point his sword at the blade aura Qiu Zi'an had slashed over, shattering it.

Before he could continue attacking Qiu Zi'an, a long spear swept over like a swimming dragon; it was Huo Hansi who had also joined the siege against him!

Bo Chen withdrew his sword, and countless rays of light suddenly bloomed from the body of the long sword, simultaneously attacking Li Fei, Qiu Zi'an, and Huo Hansi.

At the same time, his Martial Dao Domain seemed to transform into light as well, shuttling back and forth between Huo Hansi's Martial Dao Domain and Li Fei's 【Mixed Origin Sword Realm】, carrying out destruction!

It was that he had suddenly changed his sword technique from "Great Thousand" to "Departing Light."

Unfortunately, his Martial Dao Domain was no longer at its peak, and this "Departing Light" sword technique could not last for long.

Taking advantage of the three being affected, Bo Chen flew into the air.

He had suddenly switched to "Departing Light," not for offense, but to create an opportunity for himself to escape.

But just as he made a move, a sea of fire shrouded the surroundings, and a fire cloud appeared in the sky, just happening to block Bo Chen's path.

It was Shi Caiming who had activated his Martial Dao Domain in time!

Bo Chen was obstructed; before he could swing his sword to break Shi Caiming's Martial Dao Domain, Li Fei had already teleported behind him, covering him with the 【Mixed Origin Sword Realm】.

Immediately after, Huo Hansi's Martial Dao Domain also covered down.

Bo Chen sighed in his heart.

Shi Caiming could actually have unleashed more than two sword strikes; he had intentionally held back just to cut off his retreat at the critical moment!

After all, a powerhouse like him, if he is determined to flee for his life, is not so easy to kill.

He once again fell into the encirclement of Li Fei, Hao Yi, and Qiu Zi'an.

After exchanging a few moves, a sword light appeared abruptly, seizing the opportunity to leave a wound on Bai Chen's left arm.

Xiao Ruihang has arrived!

Under the protection of Xiao Tao, he piloted a flying sword to attack Bai Chen.

Meanwhile, Xiao Tao fully activated all his divine abilities to form a Bodhisattva Dharma image, creating interference for Bai Chen's Martial Domain.

He is a Martial Arts Master of the Six Divine Abilities; for the current Bai Chen, this is equivalent to having one more heavy burden!

Bai Chen had completely entered a defensive stance, relying on his superb swordsmanship to fend off the attacks of the few.

His Martial Domain was being suppressed more and more weakly, causing the power his own divine abilities could exert to become weaker and weaker, and the power of his swordsmanship naturally weakened along with it.

As one wanes and the other waxes, the divine abilities of Li Fei and the others could exert more and more power.

Especially Li Fei; as time passed, his strength had reached an astonishing level.

With a casual slash, the shockwave alone could leave a deep gully on the ground, or shatter a great hall in the distance!

At first, Bai Chen could still block Li Fei's blade edge by relying on his soft-overcoming-hard swordsmanship, but with others attacking him, he gradually had to rely mainly on evasion.

Xiao Tao, guarding beside Xiao Ruihang, felt his heart and mind become more agitated the more he watched!

He follows the "Dao of Strength," so he was the most deeply stimulated.

Even if he boosted his 【Dragon Elephant】 divine ability to the level of "Ten Dragons and Ten Elephants," the power he erupted with was like that of a three-year-old child in front of the current Li Fei!

"No wonder he could reverse-slay a Grandmaster."

Xiao Tao only felt that his previous defeat was not unjust in the slightest.

When Li Fei's strength amplification reached six times, the 【Primordial Sword Realm】 reached its limit of endurance.

He did not continue to refine blood souls to reinforce the sword realm to raise the upper limit. He paused the boost of the Dragon Elephant strength and continuously swung his blade to strike with a vigorous power equivalent to 16, 00 units of Blood Rage strength!

Qiu Zi'an, Xiao Ruihang, and even Hao Yi, this Grandmaster, were consciously cooperating with Li Fei, creating offensive opportunities for him.

Because in terms of killing power alone, Li Fei is now the best on the field!

The wounds on Bai Chen's body became more numerous, and his injuries became more severe.

If not for Li Fei, he might not have lacked the opportunity to turn defeat into victory; after all, Shi Caiming could not make many moves.

But the ever-strengthening Li Fei completely cut off Bai Chen's path to survival!

At one moment, he was forced back by the joint efforts of Hao Yi and Qiu Zi'an, and in the direction he retreated, Li Fei appeared instantly, raising his blade to slash down.

Nine small jade swords appeared out of thin air, blocking the blade's edge.

It was Bai Chen's 【Jade Sword】 that had recovered.

However, under the suppression of the Martial Domain, its power was far inferior to before.

The golden blade light slashed down, and the nine small swords were severed one by one!

The blade light slashed straight down along the top of Bai Chen's head, finally striking the earth beneath his feet; the resulting shockwave mixed with force reached over ten meters high, like a golden tide, pushing and slashing forward all the way.

BOOM!!!!

The earth shook, as if a dozen shells had landed simultaneously and then exploded; the ground cracked, and gravel shot out in all directions like bullets.

The golden tide spread forward for hundreds of meters, encountering several great halls along the way, which collapsed completely as if they were rubble!

The golden tide spread all the way to the front of the main hall used by the Gouchen Sword Sect for meetings.

With a series of crackling sounds, this majestic main hall also collapsed, turning into a ruin.

Dust filled the air, and a huge gully hundreds of meters long appeared on the ground; the Gouchen Sword Sect's base seemed to have been split in two by a single slash!

As for Bai Chen, this Gouchen Sword Master, he was also turned into two halves under Li Fei's blade, and died once again!

As Li Fei's blade slashed down, a figure just happened to turn into a white firefly and disappear into the horizon.

It was Hong Zhi, the Supreme Elder of Mount Baituo; he had fled.

Seeing that Bai Chen had failed to come to his aid for so long, Hong Zhi realized the situation was dire.

He had no need to sacrifice his own life here for the Gouchen Sword Sect, so he risked being heavily injured by Liu Changwen to forcibly create an opportunity to break through the encirclement and quickly escape.

Although Liu Changwen led a group of Martial Arts Masters to besiege them and had gained the upper hand, few were willing to risk their lives, and they all fought very conservatively, so they failed to keep Hong Zhi.

"According to the plan, continue to clear out the Gouchen Sword Sect!"

Li Fei ordered.

After witnessing his terrifying power just now, even Hao Yi, a Grandmaster, felt a bit more awe toward him and obediently carried out his orders, continuing to throw himself into the battle.

As Hong Zhi fled, the powerhouses who came to reinforce from Mount Baituo also began to withdraw one after another.

Relying solely on the people of the Gouchen Sword Sect, they could not stop the coming slaughter!

After everyone scattered, Li Fei looked at Bai Chen's corpse on the ground.

For some reason, he always felt that this Gouchen Sword Master probably hadn't died completely!

"Principal, why is he able to come back to life after death?"

Li Fei turned his head to ask Shi Caiming, who was walking over.

Shi Caiming looked at Bai Chen's corpse and frowned slightly:

"His Martial Domain is clearly composed of five divine abilities, but whether it was last time or this time, he only used four divine abilities from beginning to end; that last divine ability has never been used, which is clearly abnormal.

I suspect that the reason he can come back to life after death is related to this last unused divine ability."

Li Fei narrowed his eyes: "So, it's possible he can still resurrect?"

Shi Caiming: "It's possible. However, I don't believe there is a means in this world to resurrect without limit; he must have restrictions as well."

Li Fei nodded and stopped looking at the corpse on the ground:

"If he can still live, then we'll just kill him again."

The setting sun in the distance was like blood, and the last bit of afterglow was slowly disappearing.

The 49th year of Hongguang, July 18th.

Marquis of Jing'an Li Fei led a surprise force to support Baisha Province and raided the Gouchen Sword Sect's base.

Together with everyone, he once again slew the Gouchen Sword Master Bai Chen.

One of the "Three Mountains, Four Sects, and Seven Great Families," the top-tier Jianghu sect, the Gouchen Sword Sect—

Annihilated!

Hundreds of years of foundation, all turned to nothing.

In the pitch-black darkness, there was silence.

Suddenly, two points of light lit up in the darkness, followed by the sound of light breathing.

Hu—xi—hu—xi—

As the breathing grew heavier, the air began to flow.

Then, the sound of flowing water "huala lala" rang out.

This was the sound of blood flowing within a human body!

A sharp sword intent appeared in the darkness, splitting the darkness—

This was an underground cave of unknown depth.

The stone walls around the cave were covered with complex incantations, and these incantations were glowing at this moment.

In the center of the cave was a stone platform, and on the platform lay a person who was completely naked.

When this person opened his eyes, the Gouchen Sword Master was resurrected here!

Bai Chen stood up from the stone platform; his face looked younger, and the aura on his body was even more powerful.

Only his eyes were gloomy and filled with hatred!

Not many people knew what his fifth divine ability was, because he had never displayed it in front of others.

This divine ability is called—【Three-Body Buddha】.

It is a top-tier Buddhist divine ability, taking the Buddhist "Three Bodies" as its core, allowing a martial artist to construct three different avatars: the "Response Body," the "Reward Body," and the "Dharma Body."

However, unlike ordinary avatar divine abilities, 【Three-Body Buddha】 does not allow a martial artist to control three avatars simultaneously.

Only after one avatar dies can the martial artist "resurrect" in another avatar, and their strength will advance further!

This divine ability is equivalent to giving a martial artist two extra lives and can also enhance their strength; it is indeed very powerful, but the cost is also very high.

For Bai Chen to nurture the "Three Bodies," he needs to pay three times the resources.

That is to say, over these years, he has already consumed enough resources to cultivate three Divine Derivation Realm Grandmasters!

This is a terrifying number.

After becoming a Grandmaster, although there is no need to incorporate implants, one needs to ingest a large amount of energy to maintain oneself and the daily consumption of the implants.

Not to mention cultivating divine abilities, cultivating the Martial Domain, or exchanging moves with others; the consumption is even greater.

Even if one can absorb the spiritual energy of heaven and earth with a Dao foundation, it is still not enough to maintain the needs of a Grandmaster.

Even if a Grandmaster never fights anyone, if they do not rely on elixirs to replenish energy and only rely on absorbing the spiritual energy of heaven and earth, their cultivation efficiency will be very low, and they can almost forget about breaking through realms.

Even with a divine ability like 【Primordial Golden Palace】 that accelerates the absorption of the spiritual energy of heaven and earth, it is not as efficient as taking elixirs directly; after all, divine abilities also have consumption.

Therefore, Grandmasters also need elixirs, and they must be high-quality elixirs!

Only major powers can afford to support a Grandmaster.

For Bai Chen to nurture the "Three Bodies," the resources consumed are three times that of cultivating one Grandmaster, and the resources for daily maintenance are also several times higher.

Relying solely on the resources held by the Gouchen Sword Sect, supporting two Grandmasters was already the limit.

The extra portion of resources was provided secretly by the Third Imperial Prince.

From the perspective of divine ability combinations, the 【Three-Body Buddha】 divine ability cannot be efficiently combined with Bai Chen's other divine abilities, nor can it enhance his sword Dao cultivation.

This divine ability is not even that compatible with Bai Chen's Martial Domain; not only did this divine ability fail to enhance his combat power, but it actually affected the performance of his swordsmanship.

If he were to switch to a more compatible divine ability, his combat power could certainly rise to another level, even rivaling a Grandmaster of the Dao Establishment realm!

But back then, Bai Chen resolutely chose the 【Three-Body Buddha】, simply because his gaze had never stopped merely at the realm of a Grandmaster.

From Grandmaster to Martial Saint, the most crucial step is to determine one's own "Dao," and then "attain the Dao."

For example, the "Dao" of Bai Yan is the military path of slaughter.

If he leads troops to charge into the Northern Barbarians and can ultimately succeed in slaying the Northern Barbarian King, and then wipe out a few more Northern Barbarian tribes, he will have a certain chance to break through and become a Martial Saint!

Or take Qiming, whose "Dao" is the cursing of a nation; if the national fortune of the Great Lan Dynasty were weakened under his influence, he could take advantage of the momentum to attain the Dao.

In the end, he utilized a once-in-a-century great snow disaster to "attain the Dao" through the power of resentment from five provinces.

As for Bai Chen, the 【Three-Body Buddha】 divine ability is his "opportunity to attain the Dao."

Among the twelve Creation Sword Arts of the Gouchen Sword Sect, there is a sword art named "Severing Karma."

This is a sword art that combines the Daoist theory of "Severing the Three Corpses" with the Buddhist concept of "karmic obstacles."

Among the twelve Creation Sword Arts, only this sword art's Creation realm exists merely in theory, because the person who created this sword art was also unable to cultivate it to the Creation realm.

Bai Chen did it!

When he took over the position of Sect Master more than forty years ago, he had already mastered four Creation Sword Arts and cultivated them all to the Creation realm.

Over the past forty-plus years, he cultivated another sword art and brought it to the Creation realm—this very "Severing Karma."

By combining "Severing Karma" with the 【Three-Body Buddha】, the "Dao" Bai Chen chose is to sever his own body to attain the Dao—

First, sever the "Response Body" to break through to the Dao Establishment realm.

Then, sever the "Reward Body" to reach the peak of the Dao Establishment realm, a half-step Martial Saint.

Finally, use the "Dharma Body" to sever karma, eliminating all karmic obstacles to attain the Dao and achieve the realm of a Martial Saint!

To achieve all this, the person who kills Bai Chen must be sufficiently strong, preferably a Martial Saint, and ideally possess karma related to karmic obstacles!

After the "Response Body" and "Reward Body" are severed, Bai Chen must finally use the "Dharma Body" to turn the tables and kill his opponent, resolving the karma and eliminating the karmic obstacles; only then would he have a chance to break through.

The difficulty in this is naturally immense; even if he could join forces with others to kill the opponent in the end, how could a Martial Saint be so easily killed?

But before meeting the Third Imperial Prince, Bai Chen already harbored such ambition.

The appearance of the Third Imperial Prince simply gave his ambition a greater chance to be realized!

Originally, everything was proceeding according to plan, but then accidents occurred one after another.

First, the "Response Body" was severed by Li Fei, Shi Caiming, and others working together, causing the enhancement gained by the "Reward Body" to fall short of expectations, failing to break through to the Dao Establishment realm in one go.

As a result, before Bai Chen could make up for the defect, the "Reward Body" was also severed.

"Li Fei!"

In the cave, Bai Chen's gaze was icy as he whispered this name.

Li Fei had severed him twice in a row and led people to destroy the Gouchen Sword Sect.

In the dark, the karma had been formed, and the karmic obstacles had been born.

Seeking monthly votes.

(End of this chapter)