Chapter 186: Master of the Celestial Sect
Translator: Sparrow Translations Editor: Sparrow Translations
The Heavenly Master Sword Sect cultivator Fu Shuo, who was in the initial Aurous Core stage, came and went in a flash.
He charged all the way to Xiao Budian like a sudden lightning bolt, then was thrown all the way back again with even greater force and speed.
At that moment, Fu Shuo felt as if his heart had ten million immemorial beasts galloping across it.
Never did he expect that an elixir thief supposedly only in the middle stages of the Foundation Establishment actually possessed the soul essence of a Demon Tiger at the peak of the Aurous Core stage.
And what made the situation even less tolerable for Fu Shuo was Xiao Budian snickering in the distance. "Unreasonable people should be taught a lesson."
Motherf*cker, who's the unreasonable one here?
Fu Shuo was still in mid-air, fuming mad until his eyes turned black. He opened his mouth wide to refute Xiao Budian, but he suddenly felt a sharp pain at the bridge of his nose and swallowed a mouthful of sand instead.
He had, very unfortunately, slammed face-first into the ground.
Over ten rays of sword radiance, some fast and some slow, followed behind Fu Shuo to the scene. Everyone stared at the sight before them in complete bewilderment. No one expected that Fu Shuo, who had arrived just seconds before them, was already sprawled on the ground, utterly defeated.
The Baizhen Elder and three other Mount Shu Sword Cultivators in the Aurous Core stage looked at each other. The Baizhen Elder took a step forward and looked down at Xiao Budian, "Dollie, was it you who stole the 'Nine Steps to Heaven' Herb?"
Xiao Budian rolled his eyes, "I don't know what you're talking about."
He glanced at Fu Shuo lying flat on the ground and curled his lips. "This man is crazy and unreasonable. He charged in to attack me, so I taught him a little lesson."
"What a cunning little brat." The Baizhen Elder was infuriated but cracked a smile at Xiao Budian. "Looks like you need to be taught a lesson instead."
He slapped the scabbard at his waist and shot a ray of sword radiance towards Xiao Budian.
Xiao Budian anticipated his opponent's move and with a bellowing roar, the Demon Tiger's soul essence opened its huge mouth and fired a ray of golden light tens of meters in length and as wide as a door.
The Gengjin Shattering Demonic Light!
It was razor-sharp, slicing down everything in its path with its immense power, outmatching even the Baizhen Elder's sword radiance.
The Baizhen Elder smiled, "Although its power is at the peak of the Aurous Core stage, it's still a mindless soul essence. It has respectable power yet it cannot control itself. How can it possibly defeat my superior Mount Shu sword art?
He raised his sword. The emitted sword radiance suddenly vanished right before it was about to collide with the Demon Tiger's Gengjin Shattering Demonic Light.
And before Xiao Budian could react, the sword radiance that had supposedly vanished then passed through the Demon Tiger's soul essence and instantly reappeared before Xiao Budian, about to strike him.
At this moment, Xiao Budian could clearly feel the piercing mercilessness of the sword, sending chills up his throat.
"Block it!" Xiao Budian called out telepathically in a moment of desperation. With a thunderous roar from the Demon Tiger's soul essence, its tail suddenly erected into a steel whip and ruthlessly lashed the Baizhen Elder's sword radiance.
With a deafening "Clang!", both sides collided, producing a thunderous resonance of metal crashing against each other. The sword radiance was repelled to one side by the iron tail.
The Baizhen Elder frowned in mid-air. "Is the Shaoze Sword not lethal enough?"
His sword was the Shaoze Sword of the Mount Shu Six Passages of Swords.
It slices through space and turns great distances into mere meters. It can traverse space to slaughter its opponents.
The Shaoze Sword of Mount Shu can only be harnessed by the Grand Celestial World's few cultivators in the Aurous Core stage and is one of the few all-powerful weapons that transcends spatial boundaries.
Based on the mastery level of the cultivator and his familiarity with this particular style of swordplay, the distance of space it can traverse and its attacking power would differ accordingly.
The Shaoze Sword is the most lightweight and agile of the Mount Shu Six Passages of Swords, hence it is correspondingly the weakest in terms of pure attacking power.
The Baizhen Elder took another glance at the Demon Tiger's soul essence and frowned, then turned to the three other Mount Shu Aurous Core cultivators and said, "Let's do this together. We'll set up our sword formation to resolve this quickly. There are many eyes watching us here, it wouldn't be good to drag this any longer."
The short and fat Mount Shu Elder replied nonchalantly. "What about the Pavilion of Heavenly Trade?"
The tall Elder beside him shook his head. "The Heavenly Master Sword Sect is already aware that Fu Shuo stole the 'Nine Steps to Heaven' Herb and escaped. They'll be here in no time. It won't be good to cross swords with them here."
The short and fat Elder sneered, "What's bad about that? If those bastards dare to slander us, we'll just eradicate them. I want to see if they have the guts to spout nonsense at Mount Shu."
The oldest Elder who had been silent the entire time then said, "If the Heavenly Master Sword Sect dares to slander us, Mount Shu's thirty thousand Divine Swords will annihilate their mountain, but this decision is not ours to make. This must be arranged by the Sect's internal counsel and the various Grandmasters."
"All we need to do is to acquire the 'Nine Steps to Heaven' Herb as soon as possible."
The Baizhen Elder replied, "Indeed. Let's get to it then."
The other three nodded and in a quick flash, they spread out and formed a square surrounding Xiao Budian and the Demon Tiger's soul essence.
The sword in the Baizhen Elder's left hand shielded his chest while the sword in his right hand was pointed to the sky. A magnificent surge of Sword Qi enveloped his body and gushed upwards through the clouds, before crashing down to the ground. It was like a pillar of Qi holding up the heavens.
Within the Sword Qi, countless fragments of broken space resounded like colliding crystals.
The other three cultivators followed suit. The short and fat Elder cracked a wry smile as the Sword Qi that enveloped him was the sturdiest, illuminating a breathtaking sight. The outpouring torrents of power were vigorously overwhelming and seemingly unstoppable, able to destroy everything in the way.
The Shaoshang Sword is the most lethal and overpowering of the Mount Shu Six Passages of Swords.
The oldest Elder may look weak and feeble, but as he was enveloped by Sword Qi resembling towers of white mist, the mana pulses he emitted were the most vigorous of the four.
The white mist of Sword Qi looked like wisps of clouds floating around flimsily, continuously changing their shapes with the wind.
But those with experience would recognise this as the Taiyin Sword, the most versatile and unpredictable of the Mount Shu Six Passages of Swords. The blade is like a cloud of mist with no definite shape, but that doesn't impair its lethality in the slightest.
Precisely because it has no definite shape, victims are unable to anticipate its movements.
The tall Elder stared down at Xiao Budian expressionlessly. The Sword Qi he emitted was pure gold, not glittering and flamboyant but dull and opaque, mellow like the mountains.
Before the golden pillar of Qi, anyone would appear to have lowered their head, bowing humbly and reflecting on their sins.
The Shaoyang Sword is the most balanced of the Mount Shu Six Passages of Swords. It's hard to master, but once one master it, it has no weaknesses and can handle all types of enemies. Most acknowledge it as the most formidable of the Six Swords.
Having all four Mount Shu Aurous Core elders attacking together would definitely be showing Xiao Budian enough courtesy.
The four pillars of Sword Qi appear to be holding up the four corners of the skies, a truly majestic sight to behold.
What's even more frightening was that the mana of all four cultivators seemed to be in sync with each other, with the vast columns of Sword Qi merging to form a simple sword formation.
Within the sword formation, all spiritual energy had been expunged, leaving only endless amounts of Sword Qi, trapping Xiao Budian inside.
This was the precaution they made against Xiao Budian's Great Teleportation Talisman, in case he wanted to open a hole in space to flee.
The four cultivators had taken all possibilities into consideration and naturally believed that they already had the 'Nine Steps to Heaven' Herb in the bag.
Facing such a formation, Xiao Budian's face turned solemn, but he did not show any sign of fear, instead patting the Demon Tiger's soul essence in front of him and saying, "Boy, I'll still need you to lend me a helping hand."
The Demon Tiger's soul essence let out a low roar, its body bathing in a shower of golden light. Through Lin Feng's training, it lost independent thought, hence it was equally fearless, religiously following every one of its master's orders.
Xiao Budian clasped his hands together and summoned two merging spirals of violent thunderbolts and howling gales, both feeding the other's growth with soaring levels of power.
The four cultivators still in mid-air shook their heads and laughed at this sight.
The tall Elder seemed to show some adoration for him. "To possess this high level of mastery at such a young age, you must have a strong mind and highly commendable bravery."
"Heck, if you hand over the 'Nine Steps to Heaven' Herb, I promise that I'll not pursue this matter further, and I'll even accept you as a disciple of the Mount Shu Sect. Will you take this offer?"
Xiao Budian blinked his eyes but did not utter a word, and just continued conjuring his Infinite Thunderstorm spell.
The short and fat Elder yielding the Shaoshang Sword scoffed. "Insolent brat. If you want to live, quickly surrender the 'Nine Steps to Heaven' Herb. Consider yourself lucky that we're extending an invitation to the Mount Shu Sect to you, don't push your limits!"
Xiao Budian curled his lips. "No way. Come at me with whatever tricks you have up your sleeves. I'm a disciple of the Celestial Sect of Wonders, who would I be afraid of?"
"The Celestial Sect of Wonders?" The short and fat Elder taunted. "I've never heard of that name before. Who even knows what sort of obscure little sect this is?"
He was about to continue flouting, but then his expression changed drastically.
A gaping crack suddenly split through the space that was sealed up by the four cultivators' Sword Qi.
Their Sword Qi mana, which was previously in perfect sync with each other, now seemed to be separated by an invisible wall, no longer able to communicate and coordinate their movements.
Their sword formation had miraculously been broken!
The Sword Qi dissipated in all directions, unveiling the overhead sun once again. The layers of clouds parted to reveal the silhouettes of three people.
One of them was a young lady dressed entirely in fiery red, with scarlet hair and a blood-flushed face. She looked like a blazing flame.
One of them was an exceptionally handsome young man dressed in violet robes with dashes of gold. His radiant smile and gorgeous eyes made him seem unbelievably energetic and vibrant, making him even more eye-catching than the girl in red.
The young man smiled but didn't pay much attention to the four cultivators below, instead of fixing his gaze on the person in front of him.
They were naturally Yue Hongyan and Miao Shihao. And in front of them, striding forward and walking down from the clouds, was Lin Feng.
The short and fat Elder bellowed, "Who are you?"
Lin Feng gave him a brief glance. "I'm Lin Feng, Master of the Celestial Sect of Wonders"
"Perhaps you've not heard of it before? No matter. After today, you'll remember my name and the grand name of the Celestial Sect of Wonders even better than that of the Mount Shu Sword Sect."