My martial arts have no bottlenecks.

Chapter 144 Nine Heavens Mountain-Slaying Blade

In the corridor, Liang Cheng had already swung his sword countless times.

Sweat dripped from his forehead, down his chin, and onto the white jade floor. His arms felt sore, numb, and heavy, and his internal energy was repeatedly depleted, only to be restored time and again by the aid of elixirs.

But there was no weariness in his eyes; instead, they grew brighter and brighter.

He gradually found his rhythm.

The knife is merely an extension.

Intention is the key!

Let the sword, carrying the resolute will of wind and thunder, fulfill the will of the mountain-severing blade!

Liang Cheng stopped swinging his knife and closed his eyes to concentrate.

Time passes little by little.

In the silent corridor, only Liang Cheng's long and steady breathing could be heard.

a moment.

He suddenly opened his eyes, and it seemed as if lightning and mountain shadows flashed in his eyes at the same time.

There was no power buildup.

He simply took a step forward, and with the swift blade in his hand moving at will, he slashed diagonally!

This strike didn't look fast.

On the blade, azure energy circulated, with faint, fine flashes of wind, thunder, and lightning visible within.

Weight and speed, two completely different qualities, are superimposed in this one strike, merging together in a strange rhythm.

The sword's intent was as imposing as a mountain, locking onto its target and suppressing all directions.

The blade strikes with the force of thunder; once it strikes, it arrives in an instant!

"It's done—"

Liang Cheng sheathed his sword and stood there, sensing the strange fluctuations left in the air from the previous strike. A smile finally appeared on his face.

Although it is still very rudimentary at this point, and the integration is not yet fully complete.

But he has already found this path.

Even a mayfly can only live for a day; it is worth seizing every moment.

Under the influence of the mayfly's fate, Liang Cheng finally broke through this barrier.

He did not immediately challenge the avatar again, but continued to wield his sword, consolidating this newly emerging sword realm.

One hundred times, three hundred times, five hundred times —

With each strike, he carefully savored the subtle interplay between the "intent of severing mountains" and the "momentum of wind and thunder," adjusting the rhythm of his internal energy circulation and correcting the angle of his strike.

Gradually, the swordplay became more and more fluid.

The deep rumble of thunder grew clearer, and the afterimage of the blade became increasingly solid.

Finally, [the heavens summoned wind and thunder, shattering mountains and settling the universe].

Above the nine heavens, wind and thunder are the guiding forces; below, mountains are cleaved in two with a single stroke!

This sword should be named Nine Heavens Severing Mountain!

[Nine Heavens Mountain-Slaying Blade: Grand Completion (1/40000)]

This sword was born from me, so it should follow my state of mind. It was already at the pinnacle of its creation. The next step is to refine it carefully until it becomes perfectly round and transparent. Liang Cheng stopped wielding the sword, took a moment to adjust his breathing, and restored himself to his peak condition.

He looked up at the empty corridor ahead, his gaze sharp as a knife.

"This time, I will definitely defeat you."

Then take a step!

Golden light converged in response, and the True Qi Incarnation condensed once more, its aura still flawless, even stronger than its current state.

Without any unnecessary words, the avatar appeared and immediately took action. The Strike Blade brought forth a fierce gale, and the Mountain-Slaying Blade Technique unfolded like flowing water, aiming straight for Liang Cheng's vitals.

This time, Liang Cheng neither dodged nor evaded, but raised his long sword.

The same strike, and the mountain is shattered.

But this time, the moment the sword was drawn, the sound of wind and thunder faintly echoed in the corridor!

The blade, though seemingly slow, carried an oppressive force as heavy as a mountain. Even the flawless blade aura was suppressed by this invisible blade intent, causing a very slight stagnation!

It's now!

A sharp glint flashed in Liang Cheng's eyes, and his sword strike suddenly accelerated!

The originally heavy and slow blade light transformed into a streak of azure lightning that tore through the field of vision in a fraction of a second, striking the blade that had been transformed into a parry at a speed several times greater than before!

"clang--!!!"

The sound of the collision was mixed with the booming of thunder.

The avatar was shaken and slid backward for the first time. Although it was only two steps, its perfect rhythm was completely broken.

Liang Cheng, having gained the upper hand, pressed on relentlessly, his figure moving like lightning, and his blade flashed once more!

Breaking Waves!

The sword strikes were like layers upon layers of waves, each layer containing a burst of wind and thunder.

It transformed into a sword to parry, but with each collision, its qi would scatter due to the explosive force, causing its movements to become sluggish.

Thirty moves!

Fifty moves!

Liang Cheng grew stronger with each battle, and his new swordsmanship was rapidly perfected and refined in actual combat.

He discovered that this integration was not a fixed routine, but rather a state of spontaneity.

With a thought, the enemy is locked down; with a thought, the blade strikes like thunder and lightning!

Sometimes heavy, sometimes fast, the shift between light and heavy only happens in the blink of an eye, and the perfect predictions of the past begin to fail.

"break!"

With a low shout, Liang Cheng seized the moment when his avatar was repeatedly knocked back, raised the Blade of Struggle high above his head, and gathered all his internal energy into this one strike.

The blade's azure light surged, silver lightning danced wildly, and the deep thunderous sound transformed into a roar!

The ultimate move of the Nine Heavens Mountain-Severing Blade.

Sever the Nine Heavens!

It is heavy enough to crush mountains, and swift as lightning!

He transformed into a perfect swordsman, parrying with his inner energy unleashed to its fullest extent.

However, with a "snap!"

The phantom of the "First Strike Blade" in his hand was actually severed by Liang Cheng's blade!

The blade's light dimmed slightly, but its momentum remained undiminished, slashing fiercely at the avatar's chest!

"boom-!!!"

The golden light around his body vibrated violently, and countless cracks spread out.

It looked down at the deep knife wound on its chest, then looked up at Liang Cheng, its indifferent eyes showing a hint of emotion.

Immediately, its entire body collapsed, turning into countless dazzling golden specks of light.

This time, the light spot did not disappear immediately.

Instead, it hovered and gathered in mid-air in the corridor, eventually condensing into a strange, golden liquid the size of a thumb.

A message flowed into Liang Cheng's mind:

Break through the mirror of perfection to reveal your true self.

[Divine Soul Liquid can refine the divine soul and strengthen its foundation.]

Liang Cheng reached out, and the drop of divine soul liquid slowly drifted down and merged into his palm.

A strange sensation, both cool and intense, rushed along the meridians in my arm straight to my brow and the sea of ​​consciousness.

"Buzz—!"

'

Liang Cheng suddenly looked into his sea of ​​consciousness, which emitted a faint golden glow. His soul seemed to have been cleansed, but in the blink of an eye, he saw nothing.

It felt like a dream.

However, the soul underwent a baptism. Although it had no memory, it was like a mirror that had been wiped clean of dust, reflecting the five senses more clearly.

To his even greater surprise, the Qi Seed seemed to have been nourished by the Divine Soul Liquid, spinning more powerfully and subtly improving the quality of the Qi.

Although he did not directly break through to a higher realm, his foundation was honed to be more solid.

[The Fourth Level of the Broken Wave Technique: Beginner (1855/10000)]

Liang Cheng sheathed his sword, exhaled a long breath, and his eyes shone brightly.

We've passed this hurdle.

He looked up at the corridor ahead, where the golden light still lingered, its depths seemingly endless.

Without the slightest hesitation, he strode forward.

After walking about ten feet, the scenery ahead changed again.

The jade walls on both sides of the corridor disappeared, replaced by a void of darkness.

Only a narrow stone bridge, barely wide enough for one person to pass, leads to the depths of darkness.

Beneath the stone bridge, the bottom was unfathomable, and the faint sound of wind howling like ghosts and wolves could be heard, chilling to the bone.

The moment Liang Cheng stepped onto the stone bridge, the bridge surface beneath his feet suddenly swayed!

At the same time, countless chaotic thoughts flooded his mind like a tidal wave: "You killed Shi Podang, the Penglai Sect will not let you go—"

"You come from humble beginnings, what makes you think you can compete with the prodigies of aristocratic families?!"

"The path of martial arts is arduous; why struggle so bitterly? It's better to return home—"

"Your mother is still waiting for you to come home—"

Illusions abound, inner demons whisper.

Liang Cheng paused, and his mind suddenly brightened, but he felt nothing and had no idea what was happening inside!

It was as if he had returned to the main hospital to seek answers to his inner demons, only this time, his distracting thoughts and inner demons were much stronger.

However, Liang Cheng remained steadfast in his martial arts path throughout his journey.

"My way is for mayflies to strive to be first."

"A mere inner demon dares to trouble me?"

His eyes were sharp as knives, and he moved forward steadily.

The stone bridge shook violently, and countless dark, ghostly hands reached out from the abyss below to claw and scratch, while the eerie wind howled like knives scraping bones.

Liang Cheng ignored it, his steps firm and neither fast nor slow.

Ten zhang, thirty zhang, fifty zhang —

Just as he reached the middle of the stone bridge, two crimson lights suddenly shone from the darkness ahead, accompanied by a roar filled with violence and madness that made the stone bridge tremble!

A monster with three heads and six arms, its body shrouded in dark demonic energy, leaped out of the darkness and blocked the stone bridge!

Its six arms each wield a knife, sword, axe, hammer, whip, and hook, and when it swings, it exudes a terrifying demonic aura and a foul stench.

The monster's aura of violence, slaughter, and despair was ten or even a hundred times stronger than the whispers of the inner demons earlier, relentlessly assaulting Liang Cheng's will.

To defeat external demons, one must also guard one's inner self!

The monster swung its six arms simultaneously, unleashing a destructive storm of swords, axes, and hammers that descended directly upon Liang Cheng!

A fierce glint flashed in Liang Cheng's eyes, and instead of retreating, he advanced!

The blade was drawn with a clang, and the wind and thunder that could shatter mountains erupted with a deafening roar!

The blade struck with the force of a mountain, causing the demonic energy to falter!

The blade fell like thunder, its azure blade energy, crackling with silver lightning, fiercely cleaving into the heart of the storm!

"Clang! Clang! Boom—!"

The sounds of metal exploding and energy blasting continued one after another.

The monster roared, its six arms flailing wildly, eroding the mind.

Liang Cheng pushed his Hunyuan Gang Body to its limit, a pale golden glass-like membrane flowing around him, resisting the erosion of demonic energy. His long sword slashed and hacked, making it difficult to break the stalemate with the demons.

Liang Cheng's sword strikes grew increasingly fierce, each strike faster and heavier than the last.

The fate of a mayfly is such that all things contend for it; what is there to fear?

The blade flashed like a thunderclap, striking the monster's neck on the left side of its head!

"Pfft!"

A head rolled into the abyss.

The monster let out a miserable howl and its attack became even more frenzied. Liang Cheng rushed forward, his blade flashing again. The power of breaking mountains suppressed the monster's movements, and the force of wind and thunder suddenly erupted!

"Swish! Swish!"

Two more heads flew off!

The monster's massive body froze, then collapsed, turning into black smoke and dissipating.

Liang Cheng leaned on the ground with his knife, breathing slightly heavily.

Golden light flowed within his brow, purifying and destroying all invading demonic energy. The golden light grew stronger and stronger, but Liang Cheng was unaware of this change.

He paused for a moment to catch his breath, then continued walking forward.

At the end of the bridge, the darkness gradually faded, and a soft golden light spread out.

He took the final step, feeling a solid, flat sensation beneath his feet.

Looking around, I found myself in a circular, enclosed space.

The space was not large, only about ten feet in circumference. The surrounding walls were still made of warm, smooth white jade, and were completely empty, without any patterns or designs.

Instead of the expected pedestal for inheritance, the center of the space was a tomb.

The tomb is simple and unadorned, built of gray bricks, and even somewhat crude, which is out of place in this magnificent and sacred Baiyu Secret Realm.

A stone tablet stands in front of the grave. The tablet is made of neither gold nor jade and is dull and lacks luster.

The inscription on the stone tablet was not any script he recognized, but a strange, distorted, and seemingly chaotic rune containing a certain rhythm.

He was completely baffled.

"Old Huang once said that there might be tombstones deep within the secret realm, engraved with strange runes, and that we need to help him make rubbings of the runes —"

Liang Cheng recalled Huang Lao's previous instructions, but he didn't think about them deeply at the time.

But right now, there really is a tombstone!

How did Master Huang know such specific details?

What does this tombstone represent?

A heavy weight of doubts weighed on his mind. He did not approach rashly, but instead held his breath and focused his mind, raising his perception to the limit. At the same time, he activated the Hunyuan Gang Body, and a pale golden glass membrane appeared and disappeared under his skin, preparing to deal with any unexpected situation.

His gaze was sharp as he scanned the entire circular space inch by inch.

Dome, jade wall, ground, low grave, tombstone —

He even carefully examined the flow of air and the subtle changes in spiritual energy.

A quarter of an hour, a quarter of an hour —

Time passed quietly, and the place remained eerily quiet, with no sound except for his own heartbeat and breathing.

There were no triggers, no array fluctuations, no hidden enemies, and no signs of inheritance appearing.

"It can't be without a reason," Liang Cheng thought to himself.

However, despite his repeated investigations, he ultimately found nothing.

Finally, his gaze returned to the dusty tombstone and the strange runes.

After hesitating for a moment, Liang Cheng took a deep breath, circulated his internal energy, and cautiously stepped forward.

He stopped in front of the tombstone, made sure there was no unusual activity around him, and then slowly stretched out his right hand, gently touching the twisted runes on the tombstone with his index finger.

The instant their fingertips touched the cold surface of the monument, "BOOM!!!"

A massive torrent of information, like a burst dam, violently crashed into Liang Cheng's sea of ​​consciousness without warning!

This information was too vast and too profound, interspersed with countless fragmented images, whispers, Daoist rhymes, and fragments of rules—

They surged and crashed wildly, making Liang Cheng's sea of ​​consciousness, which had just been nourished by the divine soul liquid, seem far too insignificant!

Before Liang Cheng could even react in shock, his consciousness was instantly overwhelmed, and then everything went black. Fortunately, the torrent of information suddenly stopped, then turned into a mark, sinking into the deepest part of Liang Cheng's sea of ​​consciousness, and then completely disappeared.

It was as if they had never existed.

But all of this happened too fast. From Liang Cheng touching the tombstone to the information flooding in and being voluntarily sealed, it all happened in almost the same instant.

Moreover, at the very moment Liang Cheng touched the runes with his fingertips, the geniuses on the first and second levels of the secret realm were still struggling against their respective "perfect mirror images".

But at this moment, the perfect embodiment of golden light and aura before them suddenly trembled, and then without warning, it exploded into countless lifeless golden specks of light that quickly dissipated into the air.

"Um?"

"What happened?"

"Is the legacy over?"

All the prodigies were stunned. Before they could react, an irresistible force of repulsion emanated from the surrounding space, and the scene before them blurred rapidly.

The next moment—

Golden lights flashed one after another on the open ground in the valley outside the entrance to the secret realm.

One after another, figures fell out, looking somewhat disheveled; these were all the prodigies who had persevered in the secret realm.

Most of them wore blank expressions, along with a hint of confusion.

What's going on?

Liang Cheng was among them. He shook his somewhat heavy head, his eyes filled with confusion.

My mind was empty, except for a slight stinging sensation from overusing my mental energy, there was nothing else unusual.

No memory was left of the terrifying impact of that information deluge, or of the process of sealing his consciousness.

The shape of the twisted runes on the tombstone was etched into his mind with exceptional clarity, as if carved with a knife, and he could not forget it even if he wanted to.

"Liang Cheng, Zhi Qiu, are you injured?"

Chen Xuanfeng's voice came through immediately.

Liu Jingtao also came to the disciples of Penglai Sect.

His expression was calm as he asked in a deep voice, "What happened? Why did the secret realm close prematurely? Has any of you touched the core?"

The group of prodigies looked at each other, unsure of what was going on. Ren Jingyu then spoke up and recounted the events in detail.

On the other side, Ye Zhi Qiu regulated his disordered breathing and spoke directly: "Master, disciple————"

Ye Zhi Qiu recounted the events in detail, concluding, "At that time, I was fighting against my own mirror image on the second level, suffering repeated defeats. I was pondering a way to break the deadlock when the mirror image suddenly disintegrated on its own, and I was then teleported out."

What he said was true, and he did not hide anything.

Upon hearing this, Liang Cheng's heart stirred, and he made a decision in an instant.

He suppressed the strange feeling brought on by the eerily clear rune pattern in his mind, and his face showed a similar confusion to that of those around him. Following Ye Zhi Qiu's words, he said, "My situation is similar to that of my senior brother. I was also suddenly teleported out during the fierce battle, and I don't know why."

The prodigies of Penglai Sect also spoke up, saying similar things: during the battle with the mirror image, the mirror image suddenly collapsed and was then kicked out of the secret realm.

No one admits to ever reaching any core area.

Liu Jingtao frowned slightly, his gaze sharp as he slowly swept across everyone's faces before speaking, "Shi Po's life tablet shattered. Do you know what happened to him?"

Ok?

Ren Jingyu and the others were unaware that Shi Po had died, and were stunned upon hearing this.

Ren Jingyu glanced at Liang Cheng subconsciously, then whispered a few words in Liu Jingtao's ear. Liu Jingtao's expression changed, and then he looked at Liang Cheng curiously.

Liang Cheng felt the other person's gaze, but remained calm and composed, maintaining his bewildered expression without revealing anything unusual.

On the other side, Huang Tiancheng, the sinister-looking elder of the Situ family, also glanced at Liang Cheng seemingly casually.

Deep within his eyes, a chilling killing intent was perfectly concealed, but his fingers, clenched in his sleeves, were white with clenching.

Situ Ming's life tablet had long been engraved with unique divine information, and at this moment, that divine information was focused on Liang Cheng.

So Situ Ming died at the hands of this kid!

However, with everyone watching and several elders from the main hospital nearby, this was definitely not the time for him to lash out, otherwise he might not be able to get revenge and would only end up in trouble.

The matter of revenge still requires careful planning, but now that we know who the murderer is, we just need to wait for the right opportunity to strike.

Liang Cheng kept his head down, searching for Old Huang out of the corner of his eye. He happened to see Old Huang still standing a little distance away, squinting his eyes.

However, when his gaze swept over Liang Cheng, a faint light flashed in his eyes before returning to their cloudiness. He then drank his tea alone, seemingly unmoved.

For a time, after the various forces inquired about the situation of their own prodigies, the atmosphere in the valley became subtle.

The secret realm closed unexpectedly ahead of schedule, and it seems that no one obtained the core inheritance, which was beyond everyone's expectations.

Liang Cheng stood quietly in the crowd, his eyes lowered, not daring to reveal anything about the tombstone runes.

Revealing such a secret will bring misfortune, not fortune!

>