Chapter 1124

Jiumo Zhi, Gusu Murong Fu, and others sensed the martial qi of Hearing Gai Nie and immediately glared over with displeasure.

Hearing Gai Nie paid no mind.

After a brief exchange of qi, he had already sensed it.

Within this hall, there were no fewer than ten masters stronger than himself, including Jiumo Zhi and Gusu Murong Fu.

The Shanzhuang's lord upon the dais was even more unfathomable.

Hearing Gai Nie vaguely felt this man's cultivation had reached the Mythical Realm.

But which specific stage of the Mythical Realm he was in, Hearing Gai Nie himself, not being of the Mythical Realm, could not know.

No wonder the Shanzhuang's lord had such grand ambitions—he was a Mythical Realm master!

But did this lord underestimate the world's talents?

Not to mention the Qinglong Society, even the Great Qin likely had many Mythical Realm masters.

There were also no few supreme experts far beyond the Mythical Realm.

Did he not know?

"Enough. Mr. Hearing Gai Nie has fully recovered—congratulations. You may begin."

The Shanzhuang's lord did not blame Hearing Gai Nie for sensing his qi; the hundreds of masters in the hall dared not speak out.

Only after Hearing Gai Nie finished sensing did the lord speak calmly.

"Lord, forgive the intrusion."

Hearing Gai Nie bowed and apologized.

Regardless, this lord was at least a man of his word.

After assuming a starting stance with his Yuan Hong sword, Hearing Gai Nie immediately gathered his true energy and charged forward.

Though the lord's cultivation surpassed Hearing Gai Nie's and likely reached the Mythical Realm.

Yet Hearing Gai Nie believed his own learning, coupled with years of honed sword heart,

gave him at least a sliver of chance in this battle.

Taking the initiative, Hearing Gai Nie thrust his sword straight out.

This strike was the first technique of the Long Sword Art: Reckless Charge!

This technique was not only swift as lightning but also contained the essence of the Guiguzi Long Sword Art.

It appeared to be a direct, unadorned thrust.

In truth, it concealed over three hundred variations following in sequence.

No matter how the enemy responded, this strike would catch them off guard.

"Your Reckless Charge is executed with perfect mastery—had Wang Xu been alive, he might not have surpassed you!"

The lord watched the strike approach but did not immediately counter; instead, he praised it aloud.

Hearing Gai Nie's mind remained utterly still at these words.

In a master's duel, nothing is more forbidden than a restless, agitated heart.

Moreover, Hearing Gai Nie did not believe he could defeat the lord with just one strike.

Indeed, when Reckless Charge reached three feet before the lord,

the lord suddenly extended a hand, forming a finger-sword, and struck back directly.

His technique was also a straight thrust, with no variation whatsoever.

"Is this Reckless Charge?"

Hearing Gai Nie's mind trembled—he never expected the lord would use the Long Sword Art against the Long Sword Art.

Why did it bear a touch of Gusu Murong Fu's style?

Thinking of this, Hearing Gai Nie involuntarily glanced back at Gusu Murong Fu.

To his surprise, Gusu Murong Fu looked equally astonished.

Clearly, Gusu Murong Fu, who had only recently joined the Despair Shanzhuang, did not know the lord's abilities.

"Focus your spirit—I dislike opponents who are distracted during combat."

The lord noticed Hearing Gai Nie's distraction and rebuked him.

Unbeknownst to him, as the lord's anger stirred, Hearing Gai Nie suddenly activated his sword heart.

Seizing the moment of the lord's slight anger, Hearing Gai Nie's sword heart surged into the lord's battle spirit.

For any martial artist, cultivation is certainly vital.

For example, the Twelve Realms—each realm is vastly superior to the one before.

And the gap grows ever wider as one ascends.

Yet a martial artist with only cultivation cannot fully unleash his true power.

Every martial artist, upon entering the Earthly Immortal Realm, must forge his battle spirit!

The battle spirit is the martial artist's will fused with his martial Dao.

Only an unbreakable battle spirit can unleash one's full potential.

This is why many martial artists, though Mythical Realm masters, are not listed on the Heavenly Dao Battle Power Celestial List.

Yet some, like Bai Qi and the Five Dragon Heads, though their cultivation is slightly lower,

due to their fierce battle spirit, their power multiplies, allowing them to rank on the Heavenly Dao Battle Power Celestial List.

Hearing Gai Nie's battle spirit—his sword heart—is what he is most proud of.

This sword heart has been forged and tempered since the day he first learned the sword.

No matter how great the storm, how many setbacks, Hearing Gai Nie never yielded easily.

Coupled with his exceptional sword talent, his sword heart is in fact far stronger than that of ordinary martial artists.

Although he had just lost a bout outside the Despair Shanzhuang to Wei Zhuang, because Wei Zhuang knew the Hundred-Step Flying Sword.

But Hearing Gai Nie was not discouraged in his heart, confident that with his own Sword Heart, he could surely defeat the Shanzhuang Lord!

"906, you think your Battle Heart can crush me?"

"Hmph!"

The Shanzhuang Lord had not expected that Hearing Gai Nie's true killing move was not unrestrained galloping, but his Sword Heart.

It was just that a Sword Heart clash was in truth extremely dangerous between martial artists.

If the Sword Heart were damaged, the light case was a drop in realm, the heavy case was direct paralysis.

For example, the previous Guiguzi Wang Xu, upon seeing the half-sword of Great Longshouxi Sect's Ximen Wudi.

Not only was his gall bladder shattered, his Battle Heart even collapsed.

Thereafter a shadow was left in his heart, his martial arts realm not advancing but retreating.

It could be said that the Battle Heart, compared to the martial arts realm, was more important to a martial artist.

After all, if the Battle Heart were damaged and one wished to make up for it, apart from divine pills bestowed by Heaven's Dao, no other method had yet been heard of.

Conversely, methods to raise the martial arts realm, however, were not too many.

"Good! Since you rely on your Sword Heart being strong and fierce, I shall let you know what despair means!"

The Shanzhuang Lord's face was full of mockery, he let go of his Battle Heart's defense, allowing Hearing Gai Nie's Sword Heart to attack straight in.

Hearing Gai Nie felt strange in his heart — this Shanzhuang Lord clearly could resist, so why did he choose to give up?

Unless his Battle Heart was very strong, or ahead lay a trap.

But Hearing Gai Nie's Battle Heart stressed precisely charging forward without retreat!

Even if ahead lay an abyss, Hearing Gai Nie would not retreat half a step!

Kill!

Hearing Gai Nie gave a low shout in his heart, his Sword Heart held nothing back, killing into the Shanzhuang Lord's Battle Heart.

The instant he entered, Hearing Gai Nie only felt a bout of dizziness.

The next moment, he saw that this Shanzhuang Lord's Battle Heart world was actually densely covered with many scriptural talismans.

Every single talisman possessed unfathomable might.

Hearing Gai Nie's Sword Heart had not yet touched any one talisman, yet he felt a strange trembling of the heart.

"Hearing Gai Nie, you truly think your Battle Heart can crush me?"

Just as Hearing Gai Nie's mind-spirit was surging, the phantom formed by the Shanzhuang Lord's Battle Heart gradually appeared.

At this time the Shanzhuang Lord's face naturally wore no mask of any kind.

At the back-of-head position of the Shanzhuang Lord's phantom, there was actually a ring of light.