Journey of the Fate Destroying Emperor

Chapter 1599: Monument of Remembrance

[Domain: Monument of Remembrance]

There are certain techniques that Yan Hai created that are impractical. While they are brilliant in concept, they are ineffective in practice due to the high stamina cost. Today, she chose one of those techniques and decided to pay the price no matter what.

A towering monument more than 10 meters high, with the character for [swords] written in bold materialized behind her. The character trembled before numerous spiritual beings manifested on the battlefield. These spirits or phantoms varied immensely; there were men, women, humanoid creatures, children, youth, the elderly, sages, vagabonds, handsome and ugly, and more. Their variety made it seem random, but upon closer observation, it was easy to detect that they all had one thing in common: a sword.

These phantoms were created from all the swordsmen that Yan Hai has ever defeated; to be specific, it was all the swordsmen she has defeated whose swordsmanship left an impression on her. Through this domain technique, she recreated their best and most memorable moves, even updating them to perfection.

”Old Red, you’re first,” Yan Hai said. A phantom of an elderly man with one arm nodded before flying toward the monster. His sword hung on his hips, and he immediately took the sword drawing pose. Sword drawing is a common technique among swordsmen. People on that path usually focus on unparalleled speed.

Another approach is spirit-nourishing. A swordsman will sheathe their sword to nourish it with their energy and spirit, and once they draw it, they can unleash a devastating attack. Usually, the longer the sword is sheathed, the more powerful the blow. Old Man Red is a swordsman whom Yan Hai encountered, who elevated the spirit nourishing technique to the next level, as he could unleash three attacks instead of one, with the same strength.

The secret behind this skill is that if you compress something and release it, it will expand beyond its initial state. Then, could you capture the large size after the explosion and re-compress it again? The second explosion would be much more extensive and devastating.

After years of studying, Old Man Red learned how to recapture the power released from the spirit-nourishing strike, condensed it, and re-released it. He first fought Yan Hai when she was in the Void Shattered Realm, and her reputation as the best swordsman had already been established through blood. He wanted to challenge her — not for the title — but to show the world he was not useless after what happened to him.

The Sword Empress appreciated his technique and elevated it to a higher form. She has long surpassed the limit of three strikes and can continue to nourish her sword for an eternity if needed. So, when the phantom of Old Man Red swung his swords, he unleashed the most devastating form of this attack — the one on par with a 6-tier Grand Construct Skill.

But this was not the end. Yan Hai knew no amount of this level of skill would hurt this creature, so she also used the only thing that successfully did: the power of nothingness. The sword strike was laced with this power, making it even more deadly than it already was.

The raging beast sensed a bit of danger, and his instinct immediately kicked in and teleported away. Unfortunately, that was the wrong choice. Old Man Red’s attack had one of the largest areas of attack in all of Yan Hai’s arsenal. After all, his strike could be described as releasing a nuclear bomb and, after the explosion, condensing its power into a small ball before releasing it, and finally repeating the process for trillions of years.

Dugu Baitian roared after the explosion ended. His body was full of holes — looking like a cheese that had been chewed through by a few rats — with no blood, as if these parts had disappeared, returning to nothingness. He look

”Huang Ji’er,” Yan Hai yelled. A woman flew above the beast and released a torrent of swords. This phantom moved gracefully as if she were as soft as water. However, her attack was like the wrath of the ocean condensed into each strike, and that’s not even the most interesting aspect of her swordsmanship.

Whenever the beast tried to retaliate to stop these flurries of attacks, his punches or kicks appeared useless. The brilliance of Huang Ji’er’s swordsmanship lies in her unparalleled passive defense, which allowed her to continue attacking without worrying about being injured or needing to stop and defend. Her defense could be described as a mortal trying to find a tsunami or the entire ocean. And how could a mortal fight water?

Failure can be rage-inducing, and this beast did not appreciate his hit failing. However, rage was the highest form of delicacy in the world. So, it adhered to his bestial nature and roared. Mortals could not fight water, but he was not a mortal; he was more than that, more than even a cultivator.

After stretching his vocal nerves, the creature’s body released an intense red energy wave that spread in all directions. Poor Huang Ji’er could not resist for more than a few seconds before she was extinguished. The wave spread across the domain, attempting to eliminate everyone with a single move.

”Unbreakable,” Yan Hai said. A young and suave-looking swordsman appeared in the front, knelt, and calmly inserted his sword into the void to form a golden shield that surrounded the vortex. Empyrean Unbreakabable was a strange swordsman Yan Hai met. He was dastardly handsome and loved the sword, but he was deathly afraid of dying. So, all his cultivation and training were for the sake of not dying.

He studied defensive sword moves, shields — both physical, magical, and as a concept — earth, water, and metal (the elements most associated with defense), Heaven and Earth Defensive Arrays, Protective Talismans, and everything he could think of to protect himself. His mastery of Defense Dao would have made Turtle Shell bow in respect. It’s a shame he still died, and those two never had a chance to meet.

Unbreakable’s shield lasted a few seconds, but a second, third, and fourth appeared. The power of nothingness weaved into his technique dissipated most of the attacks and bought him time to condense his shields. But even with such measures, the red energy entered through a few cracks or flaws in the defense, killing a dozen or more phantoms.

”Xuan Zi,” Yan Hai said with a disgusting look. Even after all those years, she still finds herself revolted. The only reason she never changed his appearance was that it was a reminder of the vile side of humanity and the cultivation world.

Xuan Zi looked like a child with a smirk; this foul creature was a cultivator who liked to turn into a child to blend in with them. His Sword Dao was based on spiritual attacks powered by negative energy. Before annihilating him, Yan Hai had to relive the guilt she felt about Li Ming for the entire duration of their battles.

Xuan Zi raised his swords, and after running his fingers along the ridge, they dispersed into colorful butterflies that surrounded the rage monster. The creature was immediately agitated, a sign of his chaotic aura. The butterflies transformed into faceless spirits of various colors, each with a beautiful voice. Well, to outsiders, their voices were lovelier than angels, but for Dugu Baitian, it was a nightmare.

’It should have worked again,’ Yan Hai thought. Usually, tactics don’t work twice on cultivators, but this beast had a simple mind despite its overwhelming power. So, she used a soul/spirit technique to distract him a second time, preparing for a devastating blow.

”Yang Kai, now it’s up to you.”

A handsome middle-aged man walked to the front. Among all the phantoms, he’s the only one whose technique was not improved. And that’s because he is Yang Kai — the man with the highest attack potency in the world. And he’s the only man who has technically defeated Yan Hai in a sword fight, at her peak.

Yang Kai raised his hand to summon a sword and a saber, which made Yan Hai involuntarily sneer. She met Yang Kai years ago, shortly after becoming a Paragon, and when the sect had just been officially established. By then, they were still the Myriad Emperor Sect, but Qiyuan knew they needed to start laying the foundation for other worlds, so she sent his sister to create small branches in a few chosen Chaos Worlds.

They first met in the Golden Tree World, and Yan Hai immediately challenged him after knowing he was this world’s strongest swordsman. She lost. After all, his cultivation had already reached the peak, but Yan Hao was still in the Second Heaven. She could not accept this defeat since she was used to defeating higher-class swordsmen. Yang Kai indulged her and fought in the same realm, but she still lost.

After that, they form a rivalry. Every time Yan Hai’s cultivation increased, she would train by running to challenge him. And Yang Kai used the pressure of being pursued by such a talent to motivate himself to become a Primal as soon as possible. Unfortunately for him, her speed of improvement was faster than his.

Their battle after Yan Hai reached 100% was a feast for the eyes for all swordsmen in the Chaos Universe, and to this day, the recording is used as teaching material by many Sword Dao Lineages.

In the final confrontation, Yang Kai used an ultimate skill to win this battle. Sadly for him, he allowed the fight to continue for too long. Yan Hai’s swordsmanship evolved into a higher level, and she created her own ultimate skill, which she used to not only counter his but also win the battle.

From that day on, it was Yang Kai’s turn to challenge her, and he never won — especially after she took the Sword Dao Position. Yang Kai knew he needed to do something to stop his losing streak, so he did something bold: he sealed his power and reincarnated into a new life. More importantly, his new reincarnation was a saberman.

Once he returned to the Paragon Realm, he combined Sword and Saber Dao to achieve the pinnacle of attack potency. Since then, he had fought with Yan Hai twice: he won the first battle and lost the second. They promised to fight a third time, and strangely, Yang Kai asked Yan Hai for her Sword Position for the third battle.