The man standing on the sword certainly possessed the appearance of a true cultivator, with sharp, striking features that made him seem even more so than Luo Yinglong, given his attire. But upon hearing the words, he erupted in fury: "Shut up! My aptitude and potential are tens of thousands of times greater than yours, so why would he only accept you and not me as a disciple? Why? It must be that narrow-minded nationalism of you Chinese people at work, dismissing me because I'm mixed-race, right? Damn it!" "Oh, oh, oh..." Luo Yinglong offered no quarter, nodding in agreement: "Exactly, that is the sole reason. If you wish to argue the point, then perhaps you should go back to the nation you consider your homeland and demand they release their most advanced technology to the entire world, freely and without cost—remember, without cost. Then, I might be willing to speak with my sect elders about accepting another. But do you think that's possible? I hardly need to explain the principle that the Dao is not lightly transmitted, do I? A laughable reason—narrow nationalism? Then every person applying for a patent worldwide must be motivated by such a mindset."

The swordsman's face flushed crimson with anger.

He roared, "Words alone prove nothing. If you have the ability, let us settle this with our hands! Heh, just like it often happens with you Chinese—things you invent rarely reach their peak potential until they fall into our hands and are truly developed. I want to see just how strong you, the sole cultivator, truly are? Are you really a hundred times superior to me, a self-taught practitioner?" Luo Yinglong merely sneered repeatedly. He stepped onto a slender, azure longsword, then extended a hand in invitation.

This azure longsword instantly manifested a blade which he grasped, while his feet remained planted on the original sword beneath him.

He flicked the blade in a flourish: "I've been saying we should just get to it! If we had started earlier, I could be further on my journey by now. Damn it, the strongest members of the Central Continent team are single-mindedly focused on the final battle with the Demon team, ignoring Adam and the others. And Chu Xuan from your Demon team is a madman! Don't they realize the danger Adam is in right now? No. They know, but they simply do not care! Blast it, in the end, I'm the one who has to face it all. Hurry up and finish you off; I have a journey to make!" The swordsman's face had turned ashen with rage. He bellowed, "Then let's resolve this quickly!" As his voice faded, the azure longsword beneath his feet also manifested a blade in his hand, while he continued to stand upon an identical longsword.

"Not bad. You've already mastered the Illusionary Sword Technique yourself. But you don't seem to have reached the Nascent Soul stage yet, have you?" Luo Yinglong scoffed coldly.

He glanced sideways at the swordsman, but as he looked closer, astonishment began to dawn on his face.

The azure longsword held by the swordsman was not similar to the one manifested in Luo Yinglong's hand. To be precise, the sword held by the swordsman appeared almost spectral, lacking the substance of the one in Luo Yinglong's grip. Furthermore, if one looked closely, this illusory sword was actually composed of countless minute electronic symbols—or, more accurately, electronic symbols formed from pure True Essence energy. These symbols were densely packed to construct an illusory longsword, though the density of the True Essence was indeed inferior to Luo Yinglong’s, making it appear somewhat ethereal.

This particular spell, which transformed True Essence into an illusory sword, was a subset of the Immortal Sword Arts, one of the techniques that most clearly displayed the user's strength. The weakest cultivators often could not even condense an illusory sword, while the strongest could affect an area spanning several miles with a mere sweep of their blade. At this moment, Luo Yinglong was at the Great Perfection stage of Nascent Soul, and his densely packed illusory sword held immense power. Yet, even he had never witnessed an instance where True Essence was first converted into electronic symbols, and then those symbols were assembled into a sword. Weren't these swords supposed to be formed purely from True Essence? The purer the essence, the greater the power.

"...The purer it is, the greater the power, right?" The swordsman burst into loud laughter. Seeing Luo Yinglong's slightly startled expression, he seemed quite pleased: "My cultivation manuals told me the same thing: the purer the True Essence, the greater the power... Nonsense! This is how you Chinese are—sticking rigidly to tradition, yet afraid to change what you create! Often, outsiders unlock their true potential! The compass was like this, gunpowder was like this, and now cultivation is the same! Haha..." Luo Yinglong's expression gradually chilled. With a gentle wave of his sword, an invisible pressure instantly enveloped the surroundings. He then spoke, "This is the rune technology modified by Chu Xuan, isn't it? Although my cultivation method originated from the orthodox path, it has a significant flaw: it lacks the most crucial component—the rune technology section. That part is held by Chu Xuan of the Central Continent team. I didn't expect the clone Chu Xuan to possess it as well... Come on, you've piqued my interest! I await to see if a true and complete cultivation method can truly possess the power to shatter heaven and earth!" The swordsman had actually taken a shortcut. His Immortal Sword Art had indeed been modified by the clone Chu Xuan, but it wasn't Rune Technology; it was purely technology, modifications based on the advanced future technology available through the 'Main God' system. Although both involved technology, the missing word 'Rune' made a vast difference, especially in terms of power output and endurance. The swordsman himself understood this deeply. Moreover, the super-plague in the city was rapidly spreading nearby. He had not reached the Fourth Stage of the Gene Lock, nor had he attained the immunity of the Nascent Soul stage against all evils, meaning a prolonged fight would be disadvantageous for him. Thus, he spoke no further. He immediately tossed the electronic rune sword in his hand forcefully toward the sky. Instantly, the sword disintegrated, scattering countless electronic runes everywhere. Though seemingly chaotic, their flight paths followed a unique route. Within seconds, these scattered electronic symbols had formed a massive True Essence web, nearly a thousand meters in diameter, with thirteen bizarre electronic creatures stationed at the edges of the net. However, the swordsman's True Essence was somewhat weaker, making the net array look palpably insubstantial. "Oh, oh, oh, not yet at the Nascent Soul stage, yet you can deploy the Thirteen Blood Witch Formation? I underestimated you earlier..." Luo Yinglong felt a measure of disdain. Although he had long heard that cultivation methods were merely a tiny fraction of the greater system of cultivation—beyond which lay various series of cultivation rune technology, such as artifact refining, alchemy, rune arrays, and so on. Compared to cultivation methods, which only enhanced one's personal strength, the rune technology represented the true embodiment of cultivation. Yet, what surprised Luo Yinglong was that this array, enhanced with rune technology, was the relatively low-level Thirteen Blood Witch Formation, inferior even to the Eight Trigram Formation, the Four Directions Formation, or the Taiji Formation, let alone arrays requiring dedicated artifacts like the Doushuai Eight Trigram Furnace or the Dreadnought Fiend Array. In his view, breaking this formation wouldn't even require using his Qiankun techniques.

Just as Luo Yinglong raised his longsword, ready to attack, the swordsman suddenly spat out a mouthful of blood. He bit his own tongue until it bled and began stamping his feet with his hair flying wildly—this fellow intended to fight with his life on the line right from the start! This posture startled Luo Yinglong, who immediately dared not remain complacent. He switched tactics, throwing out a small, palm-sized flag. The flag grew instantly upon catching the air, expanding to several zhang high and enveloping him within its protection. (What a shame. This flag is not comparable to the eight flags from the Doushuai Eight Trigram Furnace. Speaking of which, those eight flags seem to be with Zheng Zha, right?) Luo Yinglong’s thoughts raced. At that moment, crackling sounds of electricity began emanating from the flag protecting him. Streams of static current zipped across its surface. Within this array composed of electronic runes, fierce electrical currents became visible to the naked eye. This Thirteen Blood Witch Formation was almost entirely different from the one Luo Yinglong knew. Pure True Essence had been replaced by electrical current. The original array was meant to summon thirteen distinct Blood Witches using True Essence to attack the enemy, but now it had transformed into electricity—and he had no idea what level of power this transformation yielded.

The swordsman ignored the protective flag Luo Yinglong had thrown. He moved his feet in the Eight Trigram Steps while constantly executing various hand seals. A faint cyan light gradually enveloped his body. As this light shone forth, the thirteen Blood Witches surrounding them abruptly took shape. One of them, resembling a giant bat, shrieked first, then flapped its wings and lunged toward Luo Yinglong. Electrical surges flickered across the materialized Blood Witch’s body, where crimson and bright white colors constantly intermingled, lending it an added aura of menace.

Luo Yinglong remained within the protection of the great flag, intending to test this True Cultivation spell complemented by Rune Technology. He stood his ground, not attempting to dodge the attack. When the giant bat collided with the flag, a violent burst of crimson light and electrical discharge erupted. However, the giant bat was immediately shattered back into electronic symbols, while the flag remained completely unscathed, not even singed at the edges. It appeared that the Thirteen Blood Witch Formation, even enhanced with Rune Technology, was not overwhelmingly powerful.

Luo Yinglong felt a surge of confidence and was about to mock the swordsman, but then the remaining twelve Blood Witches also pounced, preventing him from having time to speak. Simultaneously, the swordsman backed away from the center of the formation, focusing his attention entirely on another direction. He pulled out more than ten dark-gold metal plates from his embrace and casually flung them toward the zenith of the sky.

Luo Yinglong busily swung his longsword, continuously slaying the charging Blood Witches. Although the great flag protected him from harm, slaying these witches still required a significant expenditure of his True Essence. He couldn't simply collide with every one. Thus, he became entangled with the twelve witches for a time. Though he noticed the swordsman's actions, he couldn't discern what the man was planning.

"Borrowing the strength of Qiankun, the Heavenly Dao manifests as Thunder..." the swordsman chanted loudly and urgently. The cyan glow emanating from his body had faded from strong to weak, indicating his True Essence was nearly depleted. Besides the Blood Witch Array, his other major killing move must be the metal plates he just threw. In a mere moment, Luo Yinglong had finished slaying all thirteen Blood Witches. Without hesitation, he swept and soared with his great flag, instantly breaking the formation of the Thirteen Blood Witch Array. Just as he prepared to use the flag to capture the swordsman, the man suddenly spat out another mouthful of blood essence. Instantly, the dim cyan light brightened again. At the same time, intensely brilliant golden light flared in the sky, as if more than ten suns had appeared simultaneously.

"Luo Yinglong, do you dare receive my eighteen Purple Gold Heavenly Thunders?" the swordsman inquired weakly.

"Go to hell... Do you take me for an idiot? To just stand there and take your hits like those righteous characters in books?" Luo Yinglong glanced at the swordsman, then hurled his azure longsword out—it shot towards the man's head like a bolt of cyan lightning. But it was still a sword, not actual lightning. Before the sword could reach the swordsman, a golden light mixed with purple thunder descended from the sky, violently striking the azure longsword. With a loud pa, the sword, formed of True Essence, was blasted into nothingness by the thunderclap. Now, eighteen glittering golden mechanisms had appeared in the sky. These were all satellite-shaped, positioned in a bizarre formation, constantly shifting their locations. Traces of electronic text were visible on these eighteen small satellites; they too were composed of True Essence rendered as electronic characters.

"Damn it, what is that... That's not Rune Technology! That's mechanical technology! You..." Luo Yinglong stared blankly at the sky for a long moment before suddenly shouting, but before he could utter a complete thought, the swordsman fiercely beckoned downwards. All eighteen small satellites began absorbing lightning from the surrounding clouds while simultaneously firing golden-purple thunderbolts downwards. Eighteen massive bolts, as thick as water barrels, merged into a single column in mid-air. This colossal pillar of lightning slammed onto Luo Yinglong's protective great flag. In the blink of an eye—faster than the mind could process—Luo Yinglong was blasted deep into the earth. This was karma in motion: previously, he had blasted Luo Gan Dao into the ground; now, the same fate befell him.

The swordsman gasped for breath, recalling the words Chu Xuan had once told him... "You lack a complete cultivation method, nor do you have a proper teacher. Therefore, your cultivation can only be considered a skill, not a true system. In other words, you can never surpass Luo Yinglong through cultivation alone... There is only one way: you must distill your cultivation into a pure skill, treating it as a mere tool. For instance, if you treat True Essence as energy, it becomes an incredibly powerful super-energy source. If you use your mind and consciousness as the master control unit, it becomes an artificial intelligence vastly superior to any computer... I will forge a set of cultivation weaponry for you, similar to magical artifacts, but constructed using scientific methods. True Essence will be the fundamental activation energy, your consciousness the main processor, absorbing the power of nature to strike enemies, and then..."

"...Using yourself as the receptor to deliver a fatal blow to the enemy!" The swordsman tilted his head back to the sky and sighed softly. He muttered, "Little sister, you will receive the medicine I left for you soon. With Chu Xuan's help, your illness might be cured... Live well, live happily in that real world, little sister..."

"Luo Yinglong! Even if I haven't obtained the orthodox cultivation method, I absolutely will not lose to you! A life for a life!" The swordsman pointed to the sky again, and the eighteen satellites began gathering electrical energy once more. However, the direction of the thunderbolts was now aimed at the swordsman himself. All of this happened in a single second. From the deep crater where Luo Yinglong had been blasted, an immense cyan light suddenly erupted, while the golden-purple lightning in the sky descended upon the swordsman's head. He made no attempt to dodge, allowing his body to absorb the strike. The immensely powerful golden-purple lightning was drawn into his body like flowing water. Simultaneously, the swordsman mounted his sword and charged toward the subterranean pit where the blinding cyan light was rising...

"My task is complete, Chu Xuan! Fulfill your promise!" A deafening roar exploded from the pit, resembling a nuclear missile detonating, shrouding the area for several miles in its aftermath...

Jump to