Martial Cultivator

The pillar of sword qi piercing through heaven and earth was gradually stripped away by the surrounding sword qi outside. Its form became increasingly slender, faintly resembling a flying sword standing between heaven and earth.

And the sword qi that fell off constantly formed new flying swords. At this moment, the entire world was densely packed with flying swords everywhere.

Like locusts passing through, blotting out heaven and earth.

The Divine Daughter stood amidst the wind and snow, slowly ascending to the heavens. Though it was only a projection, at this moment she still revealed her peerless grace that belonged to her alone.

There were some women in this world destined to be different from ordinary mortal women. Just like Xie Nandu and Autumn, and just like the Divine Daughter at this moment.

The Divine Daughter ascended to the heavens, her robes suffused with sword qi. Faintly, a wisp of snow-white aura could be seen flowing, like the white mist of morning mountains.

Arriving amidst the near-endless flying swords, the Divine Daughter gazed down at the demon race’s emperor. She merely curved her lips into a faint smile and then flicked her sleeve.

“Go.”

As the word left her vermilion lips, the countless flying swords that had been hovering between heaven and earth now all shot toward the Demon Emperor. Countless flying swords drew countless streaks through the air, as if tearing this world into strips of bleak cloth.

Yet no matter how the flying swords swept across heaven and earth, their final destination was still the Demon Emperor.

That emperor of the demon race had now become the target of countless flying swords.

Terrifying sword qi clung to the body of each flying sword, scattering wantonly as they streaked across the air, spilling everywhere without restraint.

It was as though a torrential rain of sword qi poured down upon the world.

This kind of reckless attitude made Liu Banbi inwardly call her a spendthrift, but such words he was destined never to speak aloud, for the woman before him was not merely a great sword immortal.

Who knew what realm the Sword Sect’s Sect Master, long in seclusion, had now reached? If he had not yet crossed that threshold, then was not the highest authority of Sword Dao in this world none other than this female sword immortal before him?

Hmm... no, that was not quite right. If such a woman sword immortal existed in this world, could it not also mean that elsewhere, unbeknownst to them, another such figure might exist?

In other words, the Demon Emperor had already crossed that threshold. But was the demon race truly limited to only the demon race?

In that instant, Liu Banbi gave rise to countless doubts. He had once thought he understood this world well, but now it seemed, that was not the case at all.

While Liu Banbi silently sighed on this side, the flying swords over there had already crashed toward the Demon Emperor. The flying swords surged forward without pause, swarming endlessly. Even the Demon Emperor had to face them with caution.

Demonic qi surged behind him, quickly enveloping even his own figure within it.

Half the sky had already turned as black as ink.

Endless flying swords plunged into it, ceaselessly tearing and roaming within that curtain of night. But those standing outside the dark curtain could only see the black mist constantly shifting in form, unable to discern what lay within.

As time passed, the number of flying swords in the wind and snow grew fewer and fewer, until nearly all of them were swallowed within, vanishing without a trace.

The Divine Daughter’s voice rang out once again. “Chen Chao, this fellow isn’t easy to kill. Shall I leave him to you?”

Hearing this, Chen Chao tilted his head back helplessly. After a brief moment of thought, he replied with his heart voice as well: “Elder Sister, how much longer do you think I’ll need?”

“Time? You’ve got plenty of it. What are you worried about? I may not be able to kill him today, but...”

The Divine Daughter left her words hanging, selling the mystery.

Chen Chao gave a helpless smile, then pressed his hand against the hilt of Cloud Mud at his waist. No matter how powerful the Demon Emperor was, no matter how much he resembled a towering mountain, for Great Liang, he would always be the one Chen Chao must face and contend with.

Other than Chen Chao, there was no one else.

This was the burden he bore, and also one of the driving forces that kept him moving forward.

Some pressures did not crush a man, instead, they spurred him to greater resolve.

The Demon Emperor’s boundless demonic qi resembled an endless giant pouch spanning heaven and earth, drawing in every one of those flying swords.

As the number of flying swords in the skies diminished, the expressions of the great demons improved greatly. Earlier, the aura displayed by that woman sword immortal had been far too overbearing, especially her attitude toward the Demon Emperor, which made it seem as though before her, the Demon Emperor was nothing of consequence.

Now, seeing all those flying swords absorbed by the Demon Emperor, the great demons finally breathed a sigh of relief. Their emperor was still the strongest existence in this world in the end.

The Divine Daughter watched her flying swords dissipate, gritted her teeth, and cursed under her breath. If her true body had been here, that Demon Emperor across from her would have genuinely feared her.

“Watch closely. I still have one more sword. How it rises, how it flows, all of it is of value. If you can grasp even a trace of it, it will be enough to carry you all the way to the end of Nepenthe.”

The Divine Daughter’s voice suddenly resounded in Xie Nandu’s heart. It was abrupt, yet it seemed to come at precisely the right moment.

Xie Nandu furrowed her brows slightly. She only felt the sword embryo at her brow center begin to faintly heat up. Looking inward, she saw radiance circulating upon it.

Both being sword cultivators, both being female sword cultivators, perhaps the Divine Daughter saw a reflection of herself in Xie Nandu.

But regardless, maybe because Chen Chao was involved, she still showed Xie Nandu the greatest goodwill.

“Many thanks, Senior.”

Xie Nandu spoke softly, though her emotions were still somewhat complicated. She was pondering something very important.

“Don’t call me senior, that makes me sound old. Just call me Elder Sister.”

As the Divine Daughter watched the flying swords between heaven and earth gradually dissipate, her hands kept moving before her chest, forming a dazzling sword seal that no one else could clearly see.

Strands of fine sword qi twined and flowed around her fair fingers, appearing like a clear spring. Yet this spring was only as thick as a finger.

When that spring finally appeared in the Divine Daughter’s palm, she slightly lifted her head, looked ahead into the distance, and revealed a faint smile.

Immediately after, she clenched her fist tightly. That spring instantly exploded in her palm, then spilled out between her fingers.

In the midst of wind and snow, an incomparably vast and terrifying sword qi arose once more. Liu Banbi’s eyes widened at once. As a sword cultivator, especially as a sword immortal who had already stepped into the realm of Nepenthe, when he sensed this sword qi, he was certain this was the most powerful sword he had ever felt in his life.

That sword intent and sword qi were both unrivaled under heaven.

In that instant, Liu Banbi even felt that if he could have such a sword strike in his lifetime, he would die without regret.

His eyes filled with tears. Only heaven knew what stormy waves his heart was enduring at this moment.

Yet such an experience carried both good and ill. Some might have their Dao heart shattered and never dare draw a sword again. But some might instead find their horizons broadened, and from then on, nurture a renewed yearning to seek the highest heights of the sword path - higher, and beyond the sky itself.

In truth, all things in this world, whether sword cultivators or not, ought to hold such a heart. When faced with a mountain ahead, no matter how tall, one should not give rise to fear. One should only think: climbing a mountain is just taking one step, then another.

Step by step, before you know it, you find yourself atop the summit. Only then, turning back to look upon the path you took, may you casually remark: climbing the mountain was not difficult.

But if, no matter what, you never reach the summit, then when descending you may still comfort yourself: you walked the path, only bad luck, poor timing, or a restless heart kept you from climbing it.

Yes, no matter what, it could never be that you lacked the ability.

In the blink of an eye, Liu Banbi had thought through many things. But in the end, no negative emotions managed to overwhelm this sword cultivator who hailed from the academy.

When he came back to his senses, there was already a newfound radiance in his eyes. Do not underestimate that trace of radiance, for cultivators of the same realm, one without it was most likely inferior to one who possessed it.

What seemed a subtle difference was in fact a gulf as vast as heaven and earth.

In the end, what truly allowed cultivators to pull ahead of one another, aside from birth, talent, and fortuitous encounters, was more often the difference in state of mind.

The first few depended on heaven, earth, and fate. But as for one’s disposition, only oneself could grasp it.

On the Great Dao, those who contended to the very end and stood at the summit were never merely the so-called lucky ones the world imagined.

It was just that most of the world only wished to believe what they wanted to believe.

The sword qi flowing from the Divine Daughter’s palm swiftly spread across heaven and earth. Its true target was not elsewhere, but that pillar of sword qi.

That sword qi pillar, after countless strands of sword qi had fallen from it to form flying swords, had already grown relatively slender.

Relatively.

It now resembled a flying sword even more.

At this moment, when those sword qi fell onto that enormous flying sword that stood between heaven and earth, the sword finally began to tremble.

The instant the flying sword trembled, all the cultivators present felt as if even heaven and earth themselves were quaking.

At this very moment, the feeling that flying sword gave them was that it had always been a sword thrust into heaven and earth. And now, it was about to break free from the soil and upheave the world.

Even the Demon Emperor furrowed his brows at this moment.

Because just then, he sensed an unprecedented sword intent. When he had trapped all those countless flying swords within his night curtain earlier, he had already realized that this Divine Daughter before him was no ordinary opponent.

Now, that flying sword piercing heaven and earth finally tore free from the ground and swept toward the sky. Its terrifying sword qi opened the way ahead, nearly shredding everything in existence.

Wind, snow, and demonic qi all collapsed upon contact.

The Demon Emperor’s expression grew grave as the demonic qi behind him gathered together continuously.

He had to meet that sword.

The Demon Emperor felt a certain familiar sensation, almost as if he had returned to that battle against the Great Liang Emperor.

But there was still a difference.

The woman before him was far more direct.

The Demon Emperor cast a glance at Autumn in the distance, reached out, and pulled her away from that place.

Then the Demon Emperor turned back to face the woman before him, prepared to receive that sword.