Embers of Sword

Chapter 706 Condensing the Dao
"I?"

The woman hidden beneath the waterfall of swords looked visibly surprised.

"Do you still remember the day we became Daoist partners?"

Xie Xuanyi chuckled and said, "We left the Great Sui Sword Palace together and found a mountain and waterfall."

"Naturally remember."

The woman frowned and said, "That day should have been a grand banquet, but you neglected me... What was wrong with what I did?"

"You acted well."

Xie Xuanyi said, "It's a pity that too much talk leads to mistakes."

The woman silently recalled the conversation from five years ago, then suddenly froze.

"I met the Zen master once. The River of Destiny is currently in a state of chaos... Someone is manipulating the river, altering cause and effect. I suspect this world of wandering spirits has already been tampered with."

"You mean... the cause and effect here has been altered by the Paper Doll Path?"

Memories are frozen here.

"I see," the woman sighed softly. "Indeed, too much talk leads to mistakes."

"My junior sister's soul is weak, and she didn't have a chance to hear the conversation at the bottom of the North Sea clearly."

Xie Xuanyi said calmly, "Even if she knew that someone was interfering with the River of Destiny... how could she be so certain that it was the 'Paper Doll' who did it?"

"You know what? I hate sword cultivators the most."

The woman's clothes billowed in the wind as she said softly, "Even the slightest clue can be used by a sword cultivator to find a flaw. And you guessed it was me based on just that one sentence?"

"Why bother with that?"

Xie Xuanyi smiled and said, "We've met too many times already, haven't we? You know me. I don't need evidence to act; I only rely on my intuition."

"..."

The woman had nothing to say.

Because Xie Xuanyi is indeed that kind of person. If it were Chen Jingxuan, he would have to collect some evidence and clues, but Xie Xuanyi doesn't need to. He does many things based on intuition, and his intuition is extremely accurate and never makes a mistake.

"Okay, I admit... you guessed right, almost entirely."

The woman laughed and said, "But so what? What can you do about it?"

That sounds a bit like a scoundrel.

But that's the reality... and Lu Yuzhen's situation is even more shameless than he described.

The art of paper dolls has spread throughout this world of divine wandering.

Emperor Chu, King Yanle, and the high-ranking officials of Beijun all became members of the "Paper Man Path". The reason why the entire Great Chu Dynasty was so "peaceful" was because an invisible white paper barrier had already covered it.

Relying on repeated "shuttle backsliding".

Lu Yuzhen has become the ruler of this world.

Don't even mention that Xie Xuanyi is only a Yin spirit now, even if he were a Yang spirit... so what?
"The Paper Doll Path disappeared completely in the Southern Frontier overnight. You may be able to travel through the long river with the [Great Dao Brush], but what about the 'people' under your command?"

Xie Xuanyi didn't answer the question, but instead said to himself, "Although there are no realm requirements for spiritual travel, there are still other limitations... Even with Jiang Miaoyin's peak Yin Spirit soul, she couldn't withstand the erosion of her soul in this spiritual travel world..."

Even myself.

After five years of wandering the world in my mind, I'm almost "assimilated".

Lu Yuzhen has many other important "chess pieces" under her command.

Mirror 3, Ink 4, Pond 5, Qin 6, Xiao 7, Elephant 8, Tao 9.

Surely these people couldn't just be "refined" out of thin air, could they?

Lu Yuzhen is fundamentally different from Bai Gui and Chi Xian. Since he chose to establish the Paper Doll Path, take in these treasures, and nurture their transformation and spiritual awakening... he will not sacrifice them casually.

"Since you guessed so accurately, why don't you keep guessing?"

The woman spoke leisurely, showing no hurry.

"It's not hard to guess."

Xie Xuanyi said, "It is much more difficult for a magical artifact to take shape and awaken its spirit than for a great demon. The way of heaven is fair, and the 'divine souls' of these magical artifacts that have taken shape are many times stronger than those of mortals."

The treasures that have been stored in Beihailing have endured the ravages of wind and frost for hundreds and thousands of years.

Ordinary people cannot bear loneliness.

For these transforming magical artifacts... loneliness is nothing at all.

From this perspective.

These treasures are practically the best candidates for "divine travel." With their spiritual strength, they don't need to worry about their souls being unable to withstand the passage of time after entering the world of divine travel, thus decaying and assimilating, losing their "true self"... After all, in most unchanging causal lines, their "true self" is just a dead object without a divine sea.

"You cultivate these treasures, surely you intend to use them as 'anchors'?"

Xie Xuanyi said, "A magical artifact anchors a divine travel world. Transformation artifacts don't need to worry about the erosion of time. They are devoted to you. Even if your true self is not in this space-time, they can still take control of the overall situation for you and deploy the paper doll technique."

"Hehe...hehe..."

The woman opposite the sword waterfall suddenly chuckled softly. However, this laughter was no longer lighthearted; instead, it carried a hint of gloom.

"Once I understand this, what I need to do becomes very simple."

Xie Xuanyi said slowly, "Lu Yuzhen, if you lose your anchor point, you'll probably have a hard time returning to this world, right? How many times would it take to travel through the divine realm to build such a near-perfect Great Chu Dynasty, how many times would it require altering cause and effect..."

"Speaking of anchor points, shouldn't you be more worried about yourself?"

The woman replied softly, "If you lose your anchor, you'll be trapped here for life... Do you want to become the second 'Xiaoyaozi'?"

These words seem to have a profound meaning.

Xie Xuanyi keenly noticed the unusual tone.

After a moment's thought, Xie Xuanyi's eyes gleamed, and he coldly asked, "Are you the [Longevity Pool] in Pure White Mountain?"

Upon careful consideration, it makes perfect sense.

Although Lu Yuzhen was able to use the Great Dao Brush to travel through the long river, she was still entangled in a battle with the Zen Master. It seems that under many restrictions, her true self had no time to attend to this world.

That's the case.

The one who would manipulate Jiang Miaoyin with the paper doll technique would be a woman, so that she wouldn't be able to see through the deception.

"So what if it is, so what if it's not..."

The woman said in a cold voice, "You don't actually think you can kill me, do you?"

She is Lu Yuzhen's anchor.

Jiang Miaoyin is also Xie Xuanyi's anchor point.

Without its anchor point, Lu Yuzhen lost this world of fantasy, while Xie Xuanyi... lost the possibility of returning!
Having said all that, the woman no longer concealed her identity and finally revealed her killing intent. She took the initiative to attack, stepped forward, and raised her sleeves. In an instant, countless swords turned their tips and stabbed towards Xie Xuanyi!
Rumble.

The waterfall of swords rang out!

The myriad sword energies flowed seamlessly together, like a magnificent and vast ink painting.

Xie Xuanyi lightly touched the ground with his toes and stepped back. The thousands of silver-white sword energies in front of him were like a huge white paper painting, while his black clothes were a striking splash of ink.

The black robe billowed in the wind, its sleeves trailing behind it, and countless sword energies splashed out like wolf-hair brushes.

Xie Xuanyi directly unleashed the Dao of Annihilation, clashing with the Jade Screen Sword Waterfall—

boom!
This attack caused black and white fireworks to explode in mid-air.

Jiang Miaoyin's face suddenly turned pale, she spat out a mouthful of blood, and flew heavily backward.

Anyone in the Yin God Realm, except for reincarnated great demons like "Cui Zhen," is no match for Xie Xuanyi in the world.

Even exchanging a single move is difficult.

only……

This exchange of blows was clearly not about determining a winner or loser.

Bang!
The Jade Screen Peak formation shattered with a deafening roar, and countless sword cultivators witnessed the blood-stained white-clad figure fluttering about.

"Xie Xuanyi... attacked the Master of Miaoyin Mountain?"

"How could this be...aren't they Daoist partners?"

"what happened!"

A cacophony of noise erupted immediately.

The disciples who had been watching from Lotus Peak arrived at Jade Screen Peak just in time to witness this horrifying scene—

Sword energy mixed with blood fell.

All that could be seen were countless swords, hanging upside down, their black and white energies mingling and transforming into a horizontal waterfall suspended in mid-air.

Xie Xuanyi stood with his hands behind his back atop the waterfall, watching Jiang Miaoyin's falling figure, his face expressionless, his eyes filled with cold indifference. "He actually dared to make a move?!"

Chi Wu fell to the ground, creating a huge crater.

She lay amidst the billowing smoke and dust, coughing up a mouthful of blood, her face filled with disbelief.

That attack just now, even with all my Dao intent gathered, was still utterly defeated... This Xie guy really wanted to kill me!
This guy completely disregards Jiang Miaoyin's soul?

Aren't you afraid of losing your "anchor point" and never being able to return to your original world?!
buzzing.

There was no room for her to react further.

The sound of sword energy surging could be heard from the sky, and countless sword lights gathered above the horizontal waterfall.

Xie Xuanyi opened the Sword Qi Cave.

This means they're going to continue drawing their swords.

This sword strike... was like opening the gates of heaven, its momentum overwhelming and awe-inspiring.

"Spread out!"

"Retreat! Retreat! Retreat!"

The Sword Palace disciples who had surrounded Jade Screen Peak were filled with fear upon seeing the dazzling and dense sword light overhead. They hurriedly retreated, and the area within a radius of several hundred feet around Jade Screen Peak was enveloped by this blazing sword intent.

"He... he really wanted to kill me!"

Chi Wu, who was in the crater, looked pale.

Just as the sword energy reached its peak, a low shout suddenly rang out from the direction of Jin'ao Peak.

"You traitor! How dare you!"

In the distance, dark clouds surged and billowed, and countless golden rays of light rapidly converged.

This low shout, accompanied by a deep and powerful thunderous sound, resounded above Jin'ao Peak.

These years should have been very peaceful for the Great Sui Sword Palace.

Because of Xie Xuanyi's "five-year travels", Lotus Peak has been subjected to a lot of questioning for no reason.

If Xie Xuanyi doesn't show up soon, his title as one of the Ten Heroes of the World will probably be revoked.

After all the calls came out.

Today, Xie Xuanyi finally returned to the mountain gate, but who would have thought... After five years, the future Sword Palace Master made his first appearance, and the first thing he did was to kill his Daoist partner!

Although there has been no movement from the Lotus Forbidden Land for a long time.

But now that things have come to this point, Zhao Tongtian simply cannot let it go.

A bolt of lightning, carrying profound Dao intent, streaked across the sky and struck directly towards Xie Xuanyi—

The Xuanlei Dao of Jin'ao Peak possesses a righteous Dao intent and extremely strong killing power.

This blow.

Zhang Lu showed no mercy whatsoever.

Clearly, the goal is to destroy all the sword energy from the sky and stop this farce!

but……

This attack did not go as planned.

Xie Xuanyi stood above the Suspended Waterfall, thunder roared to his side, but he remained expressionless, not even moving his head. He simply flicked his sleeve and summoned the [Sickness] flying sword.

A glimmer of golden light flashed out.

With a deafening boom, the thunderclap shattered!

The [Mysterious Thunder Great Dao] unleashed by the Master of Laws was shattered directly from within.

The whole mountain erupted in uproar.

At this moment... those young Sword Palace disciples finally understood why Xie Xuanyi, the master of Lotus Peak, had not advanced to the Yang God realm, yet still enjoyed the title of "Ten Heroes".

Who in this world can break through the Palm Law Sword Thunder with a casual, effortless strike from a Yin God Realm cultivator?

The sword energy and profound lightning that controlled the laws were pierced by Chen Ke's sword with a single strike—

The once bustling and noisy palace of the Great Jade Sword suddenly fell into a deathly silence!

"go."

Xie Xuanyi gently waved his sleeve.

Countless sword energies poured down from the sky.

Chi Wu's face was ashen.

An overwhelming sense of impending death descended!
At that moment, she felt a sense of utter despair, as if there was no way to escape to heaven or earth... It turned out that the Dao Lord was right; this guy surnamed Xie really was a madman.

crucial moment.

A tall figure draped in a golden robe stepped out from the summit of Jin'ao Peak.

Zhao Tongtian stood in front of the majestic waterfall of sword energy, moving the entire Golden Turtle Peak and transforming it into a long sword, which stood between heaven and earth.

"Dang Dang Dang!"

The clash of metal was deafening and piercing.

Countless sword energies slashed down, but were all blocked by Jin'ao Peak.

"Xie Xuanyi, what's wrong with you!"

Holding the Golden Turtle Peak, the Master of Laws, his face filled with rage and heartache, questioned, "Do you know what you're doing?!"

"..."

Xie Xuanyi did not respond, but coldly looked at the ground beneath him. His gaze passed over the palm and locked onto the woman in the crater in the ground.

This blocked attack gave Chi Wu a great chance to catch his breath.

Having confirmed the other party's murderous intent, Chi Wu disregarded her disheveled appearance, gritted her teeth, stood up, and stumbled away towards the gates of the Sword Palace...

escape.

At this moment, Chi Wu had only one thought in his mind.

If Xie Xuanyi catches up with me... I really will die.

Jiang Miaoyin's figure transformed into a long, snow-white rainbow, wobbling as she rose from the ground and sped off towards the north.

Seeing this, Xie Xuanyi felt a little more at ease.

He then looked away and calmly replied, "Uncle Attorney Zhang, I know very well what I'm doing."

"you……"

The judge choked on his words and instinctively wanted to reprimand him.

But the next moment.

Zhao Tongtian finally sighed and said with disappointment, "You can still put away your sword and go back to Lotus Peak for confinement. I will plead with your master on your behalf."

"Master..."

Xie Xuanyi remained silent for a few moments, then said softly, "Uncle-Master, you should know, right? Master isn't here."

"?!"

Zhao Tongtian's pupils contracted slightly.

"Uncle Lawyer, I apologize for the offense."

Xie Xuanyi paused for a moment, then said seriously, "Today I will condense my Dao and advance to the next level, and kill all those who deserve to die."

The words fell.

A vague sense of unease rose in Zhao Tongtian's heart.

The dark Dao intent emanating from Xie Xuanyi's sleeves gradually coalesced, transforming into a black-clad divine avatar.

The "Destruction Intent," which had long been in the nascent stage, filled the final gap at this moment.

For Xie Xuanyi.

If one advances to the Yang God realm solely through the "Path of Annihilation," there is no difficulty whatsoever.

Just one breath.

And so... a moment later, the chilling domain emanating from the black-robed deity's avatar enveloped the entire Sword Palace gate.

(End of this chapter)