Chapter 402 - 220: Heart-Slaying Sword of the Mortal World, Descent of the Bone Demon God

Chapter 402: Chapter 220: Heart-Slaying Sword of the Mortal World, Descent of the Bone Demon God

A battle of techniques was not a mere contest of strength! Xuzhuang had only resisted the Celestial Demon Intent Sword for a moment before casting the Tai Su False Form Method. He executed a feint, allowing his true self to escape at the cost of only a little Magical Power. The Celestial Demon Child’s full-powered strike hit nothing but empty air.

Of course, without Xuzhuang fully channeling his power, the lightning in the sky began to fade. The members of the Tai Su Sect, led by Feng Yuanliu, charged forward bravely. But Xuzhuang had no time to spare for them. He trusted that they no longer needed his concern and focused all his attention on the opponent before him.

’Celestial Demon Child.’ The demon wanted to slay him, the Tai Su Daozi, but why wouldn’t he want to kill the man rumored to carry the very destiny of the Demon Sect?

"It would be rude not to return the favor, Celestial Demon Child. Have a taste of my sword."

The Celestial Demon Child’s sword strike met only empty air. Suddenly, he heard Xuzhuang’s voice carried on the wind. Xuzhuang swept aside the Smoke Mist with his wide sleeves, a cold light flashing in his eyes.

The Celestial Demon Child wondered if it was a hallucination. He seemed to see a Daoist journeying through deep mountains, the Martial World, and the imperial court. He saw him slay bandits, enemies, corrupt officials, and inept rulers, ignoring all sentiment and longing...

He saw a white-robed figure on a galloping horse charge out from the tumultuous mortal world, sword in hand. The tip of the blade was like a shooting star that, in an instant, tapped the point between his brows.

The Mind-Killing Sword!

"You damn scoundrel! Using my own methods against me?" The Celestial Demon Child’s face went pale. He knew that in that instant, his spiritual soul had been wounded.

He was a fiend who practiced the Celestial Demon Intent Sword, a master at wounding and killing spiritual souls. How could he not have a way to defend his own? But Xuzhuang’s Mind-Killing Sword had been honed through long practice and was anything but ordinary. In truth, had the Celestial Demon Child not possessed a method for defending his soul, his mind would have been annihilated by that single strike.

At least for now, it was just a minor wound.

A savage expression appeared on the Celestial Demon Child’s face. A wound to the spiritual soul was excruciating, but his daily cultivation involved fighting Celestial Demons. He was long accustomed to such injuries.

’I can still fight!’

He let out a wild roar, the sound from his throat like the shriek of a demon. Then, he stomped his foot. A flash of pain crossed the toxic flood dragon’s eyes as it bared its fangs and claws and lunged at Xuzhuang. At the same time, the Gangyun above the Celestial Demon Child’s head spun into a ceaseless vortex, as if some Great Divine Technique was being forged within.

Xuzhuang, however, paid it no mind. With a flick of his sleeve, a flood dragon flew out. It revealed its true form as it rode the wind and, with a roar, charged straight for the toxic flood dragon!

Although Lieyun’s cultivation was a realm lower, it was, after all, a great demon that had once wreaked havoc across the East Sea. It fought with incredible ferocity. Moreover, treasured pills for nourishing life within its belly provided a constant supply of primordial energy. Though it was at a disadvantage from the first clash, dripping blood, it ultimately managed to tie up the toxic flood dragon!

After releasing Lieyun, Xuzhuang roused his spirit and gave a great shout. His Gangyun parted, and the Innate Tai Su Grand Capture shot out, aiming to seize the Celestial Demon Child!

The Celestial Demon Child’s expression changed slightly when he saw his toxic flood dragon had failed to tie up Xuzhuang.

He had been wounded after only one or two exchanges, and he had a feeling this might be the most dangerous battle of his entire life as a cultivator.

That was why he had made a snap decision, resolving to have his toxic flood dragon—a third-realm beast, no less—delay Xuzhuang for just a moment. As long as it bought him enough time to forge his Divine Technique and secure victory, even sacrificing it was a price he was willing to pay!

But he had never expected the toxic flood dragon he had personally raised to be so easily intercepted by that small flood dragon. Now, Xuzhuang was coming straight for him.

His gaze was fixed on the technique forming above. He knew he had no choice but to abandon his Divine Technique and first evade the attack’s spearhead.

’But doing this will lower my chances of victory significantly. Is defeat truly the only path I face today?’

He had no time to think. Just as the Celestial Demon Child was about to retract his Divine Technique, a look of joy flashed in his eyes. "Han Fashou!"

At the same time, Xuzhuang sensed something. His Innate Tai Su Grand Capture shot upward to block!

The rolling thunderclouds, which had already begun to quiet, were suddenly blown apart as if by some terrifying Divine Technique. A ten-li-wide hole was blasted open, and a sky-covering hand of white bone—the color of fine white jade, each knuckle sharply defined—pressed down from the clouds.

BOOM! With a thunderous boom, the Innate Tai Su Grand Capture smashed into the sky-covering white bone hand!

This single strike shook a thousand li of the ocean’s surface. Waves crested to the height of the clouds, roaring endlessly.

This single strike scattered a hundred li of heavy clouds, and the Gang Wind blew for an unknown distance.

This single strike changed the very colors of heaven and earth!

On the Tai Su Altar, Dao Soldiers were thrown to the ground, and the Warriors had to brace themselves against the equipment to keep from falling. On the sea below, the battling Tai Su Sect members and the dozen or so Demon Sect cultivators who had barely survived the lightning all looked on in horror.

"’Han Fashou?’ Xuzhuang narrowed his eyes and looked up.

He saw a figure descending from the sky, his brilliant red robes whipping in the wind and a Skull Bone Bead Chain floating slightly from his neck. He was a Daoist with the handsome features and ethereal bearing of an immortal, and his gaze shot out like lightning. "Xuzhuang."

The sky-covering white bone hand had emerged from the Gangyun above his head!

"You know me?" Xuzhuang was not surprised. Although he didn’t know that he and Han Fashou had once brushed past each other outside the Guangyuan Realm, he had learned of this man from a register. He was one of the Liu Zhuo, the person with the greatest mastery of Daoist arts in the Bone Sect in a thousand years.

He just hadn’t quite expected that this Han Fashou’s strength seemed to surpass even the Celestial Demon Child’s.

"Hmph, hmph." A cold sneer touched Han Fashou’s lips. With no apparent movement from him, the white bone hand in the Gangyun above suddenly extended, followed by a bony arm, a skull, and a bony torso. A terrifying, all-white Bone Demon God pushed the upper half of its body out and pressed down with all its might.

The Innate Tai Su Grand Capture immediately sank, pushed down by the white bone hand. Xuzhuang’s gaze hardened as he channeled boundless Magical Power into his technique. The Innate Tai Su Grand Capture instantly held firm against the white bone hand and began slowly pushing it back toward the heavens!

"Impressive!" Seeing that he was on the verge of losing the contest of strength, Han Fashou showed no alarm. Instead, he sneered coldly, "A person of your caliber is worth the risk of coming to kill you, even when I only have a sixty-percent chance of success."

"Sixty-percent chance? How arrogant!" Xuzhuang’s brows shot up. "Sword, come!" he roared.

At his call, a brilliant beam of sword light shot up from the Magic Altar, rushing toward Han Fashou like a bolt of lightning. Though the blade’s edge was still a thousand zhang away, Han Fashou could already feel a tearing pain across his body.

Ever since Xuzhuang had refined his Slaughter Sword Qi, his Taiyi Rainbow Sword had, to a certain extent, possessed a might approaching that of a slaughter-type magic treasure. It could be activated in two ways.

The first was the strike Xuzhuang had once tested in the void beyond the heavens, an attack powerful enough to leave a scar like an Abyssal Gorge across a continent. In terms of sheer power and area of effect, it was arguably Xuzhuang’s deadliest move.

However, this move required his Slaughter Sword Qi, had to be charged for several breaths, and could not be used consecutively.

The second method was a strike unleashed the moment the Taiyi Rainbow Sword was unsheathed. It could carry a sliver of Slaughter Sword Qi, making it as fast as a meteor and as quick as a flash of lightning. Its power was also extraordinary.

Of course, this technique was only effective at the moment the sword was drawn; it couldn’t be launched as a surprise attack in the middle of a swordsmanship exchange. Compared to the first move, however, it was much better suited for Xuzhuang to use in a duel against a master.

Han Fashou had arrived in a hurry and had not witnessed the speed of this sword strike. His expression finally changed slightly. But he was, after all, a master far beyond the ordinary and reacted instantly. A Bone Pearl from the chain around his neck suddenly came loose and flew thirty feet away. At a soft incantation from Han Fashou, the Bone Pearl violently exploded!

The force of the blast was like the self-detonation of a Nascent Soul Cultivator. Han Fashou showed no fear of being caught in the explosion at such close range, brazenly unleashing the attack. The effect was remarkable.

The instant the Bone Pearl exploded, the shockwave knocked the Taiyi Rainbow Sword back several hundred feet. Although the sword circled around to strike again just a moment later, it had lost its astonishing speed.

’It slowed down?’ Han Fashou’s eyes narrowed. ’Then it’s nothing to fear!’

With a flick of his finger, a White Bone Sword flew out. It slashed through the air with the rumble of thunder and immense killing power. To Xuzhuang’s surprise, Han Fashou was also a master of Swordsmanship!

At the same time, he didn’t forget to shout, "Celestial Demon Child, attack with me!"

"Enough nonsense!" the Celestial Demon Child roared. He pointed a hand at his Gangyun, and the demonic light he had been forging for so long coalesced into a pitch-black Fire Lotus that landed on his fingertip. "Kill him!" he said grimly.

"Hahaha!" Xuzhuang burst into a long, loud laugh. "You’re digging your own graves and you don’t even know it!"