Test the sword?

This female cultivator actually had the audacity to say she wanted to use him to test her sword?

Lord Taishan had originally been quite wary of her current cultivation level. No matter how he thought about it, he couldn’t understand how Jian Chou’s cultivation could have climbed to such a realm in just eighty short years. The progress was simply too terrifying and incomprehensible.

But the instant she spoke these words, ten thousand flames of rage truly surged to his heart!

After all, he was also a Yama King of the Extreme Territory’s Eight Directional Yama Halls. Eleven cycles ago during the Yin-Yang Realm war, his name had already spread across both realms!

Without such achievement, one could not be sealed as a Yama King.

Now this female cultivator’s abilities might not be great, but her tone was certainly not small!

Did she really think this was still the Eighteenth Layer Hell cauldron competition from back then? At that time, to let her, this “gimmick,” survive longer in the cauldron competition, they had agreed to her request and given her many powerful magical artifacts, which led to her amazing performance throughout that competition.

Now she only had herself!

Though her cultivation had already reached the early Void Return stage, compared to him, a Yama King in the late Void Return stage who had nearly reached great perfection, she was still lacking!

Eleven cycles ago, when he fought cultivators throughout Jiushijiu Zhou, Lord Taishan had never felt fear. Now seeing Jian Chou, whose realm was inferior to his own, trying to strike a stone with an egg and clash with him directly, how could he be afraid?

In this instant, he only let out a cold, harsh laugh—

Using action to replace his answer!

His already tightly clenched fist suddenly swelled another size as he struck fearlessly toward Jian Chou’s strangely long sharp sword!

On his imposing frame, muscles bulged!

On his thick arms, veins protruded!

A primordial and profound sense of power, a rough and fierce sense of fortitude!

The man fell from mid-air like a small mountain crashing down!

How swift were the movements between two great abilities? Not to mention one of them was burning with anger!

“Bang!”

The sound when they collided was truly terrifying!

The fist was wrapped in a storm of protective wind, the sword tip condensed the brilliance of a blood moon. For a moment it seemed like a demon moon emerging from the peak of a ghost mountain—one ferocious and savage, the other evil and eerie!

The sword momentum was fierce!

But how could Lord Taishan’s punch, which gathered seventy percent of his strength, be ordinary?

When it struck out, even the surrounding void showed ripples!

Yixiantian was long and sharp, but when struck by this circle of force that nearly twisted space, the sword body curved slightly by a line!

Just this line allowed Lord Taishan’s fist to brush past her long sword and strike toward her person!

“Body cultivator?”

This was truly a very familiar feeling!

Extreme Territory cultivators used souls to enter the Dao, first cultivating souls, then bodies. After reaching the “Golden Body” realm, they could cultivate their own “Dharma Bodies” according to various Dharma Body techniques. These artificially cultivated Dharma Bodies made their shells more grotesque than ordinary cultivators’ shells, and because of their post-natal cultivation achievements, they were often much stronger than ordinary Extreme Territory cultivators!

But Jian Chou had never seen one strong to this degree!

Now, with Lord Taishan’s fierce punch striking before her eyes, she finally realized that this Yama King definitely didn’t walk the ordinary path!

The strength of his Dharma Body was quite terrifying!

It was just a pity…

He shouldn’t have encountered Jian Chou!

In this instant, though she held a sword, her mind raced and she developed a testing heart. She actually didn’t dodge at all, stubbornly bringing her own head forward!

Scary!

Not to mention the ghost soldiers below—even the Jiushijiu Zhou cultivators watching from afar were scared speechless. Witnessing this scene, they seemed to already see her entire head exploding like a watermelon under this punch!

However…

Facts proved that when Yashan’s senior sister dared to gamble, she had the confidence to win!

Only a golden light flashed from between her brows!

In an instant, the Dragon Scale Dao Seal had already covered her forehead!

There was neither any bloody scene of an exploding head, nor was she punched down from the air. Jian Chou’s head was no longer a human head—it had to be an iron head!

“Bang!”

Fist met forehead!

Lord Taishan simply felt like he had punched solid meteoric iron!

Hard!

Too hard!

In just an instant he realized something was wrong. Recalling the fierce fighting style this female cultivator had shown in the Eighteenth Layer Hell cauldron competition, his eyes already showed more alarm.

But it was too late to react now!

Jian Chou felt no surprise at this result. Her attack follow-up speed and adaptation speed weren’t affected at all. After harshly deflecting Lord Taishan’s supposedly certain punch, she released the five fingers of her right hand gripping the sword!

“Clang—”

Yixiantian sang out long. Though it left his palm, its momentum didn’t stop! Amid the singing, it actually continued rushing forward!

Jian Chou brought her index and ring fingers together, already forming a sword seal!

“Behold the sword!”

“What?”

The surprise of his strike missing and his shock at Jian Chou’s body refinement level slowed Lord Taishan’s reaction speed. Even when he glimpsed from the corner of his eye that she had released the sword, he couldn’t react in time.

Until Jian Chou’s slightly mocking “Behold the sword!”

“Swish!”

When the sword seal activated, the flying long sword had already turned around!

Lord Taishan couldn’t see it, but everyone who could witness this scene broke out in cold sweat at this instant!

That sword had actually turned a corner in mid-air!

And it wasn’t a hard turn!

The moment Jian Chou’s sword seal struck out, it became a soft sword, like a spirit snake adjusting its head in mid-air. That blood-red line at the sword tip was like a cold snake’s tongue!

“Whoosh!”

Extremely fast!

The naked eye simply couldn’t capture its trajectory!

When the thought of dodging arose in Lord Taishan’s mind, it had already penetrated Lord Taishan’s Dharma Body shell from a direction no one expected, leaving a three-finger-wide hole in his waist and abdomen!

Only after the sword left his body did the pain reach his mind!

But Lord Taishan was truly a tough man. Enduring such sudden pain, he didn’t scream like King Chujiang had back then, only letting out a muffled grunt of pain.

His situation was also much better than King Chujiang’s had been.

After all, King Chujiang had been completely unprepared back then, while now he was facing Jian Chou head-on in battle, his mind already raised to full alert!

Jian Chou’s fighting style was as fierce and cold as any other cultivator who took the strength-crushing route, even more so. But her mind was subtly cunning and strangely clever, quite spiritually tricky. Not to mention this sword she used—its infinite changes and powerful strength truly far exceeded Lord Taishan’s expectations!

When the first hole was pierced through his body, he already realized his underestimation of the enemy.

But there was no time to think further before he was surrounded by this sword!

Yes—

Surrounded by one sword!

Under Jian Chou’s sword seal control, it seemed to know all the opponent’s movements and possibilities. With terrifying speed that ordinary people couldn’t capture, it maneuvered and pursued around him in this void, surrounding him with a frequency of attacking him thirty-plus times in each instant!

“Whoosh!”

“Bang bang bang!”

Each attack brought trembling from the depths of his soul!

Each instant he could block ninety percent of the attacks, but the remaining three swords he couldn’t block would often leave painful wounds on his body!

Lord Taishan knew well that if he couldn’t break the situation, he would eventually be worn to death by Jian Chou’s sword-by-sword attrition. After receiving more than ten holes in succession on his body, he finally steeled his heart!

“Boom!”

His broad palms opened and pressed together before his chest!

Like two thick mountain walls closing at this moment!

His surrounding aura immediately changed, his form actually surging upward, his skin color also turning deep black, with thick brows and angry eyes. When he opened his eyes, it seemed like countless golden lights fell!

Dharma Body—Pure Virtue Demon Lord!

Those thick, long arms were instantly wrapped with endless earth force and yin essence!

Lord Taishan finally stopped dodging and avoiding. Like Jian Chou before him, he faced the direction Yixiantian was coming from and extended his giant spirit palm!

“Clang!”

After he fully activated his Dharma Body, how enormous was his form? He was simply like a demon god standing in the void!

Even though Yixiantian was six chi long, it couldn’t escape his palm!

Just as the sword came, he had already grasped this sword in his palm, stirring up a sharp sword cry!

Jian Chou felt that when he captured her sword, her entire mind shook heavily. Lord Taishan’s fierce and mighty palm had already transmitted from the sword to her soul!

But this didn’t discourage her at all!

On the contrary, it only ignited her already burning fighting spirit!

This was exactly the kind of intense fierceness she wanted!

This was exactly the kind of evenly matched battle she wanted!

This was exactly the kind of all-out effort she wanted!

Without this, how could she test this sword’s true power?!

Using it to kill King Chujiang was beneath this sword! A good sword should meet a wise master and have an excellent opponent! Under a famous sword, no nameless person should die!

Seeing Lord Taishan display various methods, she wasn’t angry but smiled, actually calling out “Excellent!” and raising her sword seal again!

If before the sword was like rivers, like a blood moon, like a spirit snake…

Then at this moment, it became the lightest wind!

The line of blood extending from the sword tip suddenly faded, seeming to disappear into the long wind, making Lord Taishan feel his hand was light, as if he held nothing.

That ethereal wind leaked through his fingers.

Thus the tangible sword became intangible wind, easily and unexpectedly escaping his control!

Lord Taishan couldn’t help but let out a surprised “Eh.” The next moment, this sword’s true power finally truly revealed itself before his eyes—before countless people’s eyes!

—Endless!

Gathering endless sword souls!

Gathering endless spirits!

Gathering endless sword moves, sword qi, and sword intent…

Thus possessing endless changes!

The ghost soldiers below naturally hated Jian Chou extremely, wanting to give this female cultivator who came from Jiushijiu Zhou specifically to scam them a thorough beating, even if they couldn’t recover the Mystic Jade lost back then.

However, reality was extremely cruel!

With their uneven attacks and scattered strikes, they simply couldn’t cause much impact on Jian Chou!

For a time, they only saw these two combatants ranging across heaven and earth, sometimes within the battle formation, sometimes outside it, sometimes in the sky, sometimes on the ground!

Attacks followed where people went.

But this result was undoubtedly very disruptive. Most of the time they couldn’t hit Jian Chou, but often hit their own boss instead, scaring the ghost soldiers into trembling.

Once or twice was fine, but this kept happening continuously!

Even Lord Taishan with his Dharma Body active couldn’t stand these idiots. While frequently clashing with Jian Chou without giving an inch, he angrily scolded: “If you can’t fight, get lost! Go stabilize the front lines—no need for you to interfere back here!”

With the Yama King’s order, though the ghost soldiers felt unwilling, they had to endure it.

How could Lord Taishan not see the situation clearly?

Though he still wasn’t clear about Jian Chou’s ultimate purpose in appearing alone behind their formation, if the rear formation fell into chaos, the frontline battle would inevitably be affected.

He absolutely couldn’t let Jian Chou succeed!

Scolding these brainless ghost soldiers was half because they really couldn’t keep up, and half because he wanted to strangle the opponent’s conspiracy before it succeeded!

Hearing this, Jian Chou laughed, but really didn’t mind at all.

Of course she would have regrets if she couldn’t tie down more people, but from another perspective, not having to frequently dodge chaotic attacks from below also gave her space to fully display her abilities!

Extending her hand, Yixiantian flew to her grasp!

When she struck again, it was one sword, one change, one sword, one transformation!

Thousands of forms and myriad phenomena, all within the sword!

Sometimes like rushing thunder and sudden rain, sometimes like clear mist and heavy snow, rising like sunrise over eastern mountains, falling like a heavenly waterfall cut short! Within one sword, she fought out the forms of all beings, the life of all phenomena!

It was the endless splendor and infinite possibilities of life!

She leaped, she struck!

She galloped, she ranged freely!

Her figure in intense combat moved through every corner of this vast battlefield between heaven and earth, carving her upright posture into everyone’s eyes!

Malevolent qi scattered!

Fresh blood splashed!

Sword by sword, exhausting all the changes Yixiantian possessed, exhausting all the transformations she had comprehended in the Sword Palace!

Like a monarch.

Like a general.

Like a war god!

Freely and magnificently displaying all her talents related to combat and swordsmanship, making those who loved battle feel their blood boil, making sword lovers feel exhilarated!

So what if Lord Taishan was powerful?

Under these infinite changes, he actually felt inadequate, like a cup of water facing an entire vast ocean!

How could he compare, how could he fight?!

In just this brief moment, he had already developed retreat intentions!

However, just as he was about to retreat, sword intent pressed forward!

“Boom!”

The previously eerie and evil sword intent suddenly changed to righteous and peaceful, like vast mountains and rivers pressing down, like a historian’s wondrous brush leaving the most glorious annotation on a scroll!

Jian Chou’s stern face flashed past his eyes!

Immediately he heard three sharp sounds “whoosh whoosh whoosh” from the horizon, and lightning-like arrows shot through the void!

One arrow landed at his left heel!

One arrow shot toward under his right arm!

One arrow grazed past his neck!

Each arrow was dangerous, the arrowheads even trailing strings of black lightning with destructive auras that made one’s hair stand on end!

Every arrow was accurate to the extreme!

Precisely sealing all the retreat routes and gaps he wanted to take!

Lord Taishan simply couldn’t believe that in such intense combat, someone else could still intervene, shooting such terrifying three arrows!

Not only were their skills excellent, their intentions were extremely vicious!

Since the arrow grazed Lord Taishan’s neck, it naturally also grazed Jian Chou’s ear, making her turn to look toward where the arrow came from amid her shock!

In the distance behind Jiushijiu Zhou’s cultivator formation—

It was Xie Buchen in a blue shirt, standing tall among ten thousand troops, his bow drawn like a full moon! He had shot three consecutive arrows, crossing the battlefield to seal Lord Taishan’s escape route!

Good arrows!

Jian Chou rarely found this person agreeable, knowing he had seen through her intention to use Lord Taishan to test Yixiantian. So his three arrows forced the opponent to be unable to break free or escape, only able to face her in direct combat!

Though it was a sneak attack, it quite won her heart!

“Hahaha…”

In this instant she had already laughed out loud with satisfaction. When she returned her sword, she forcefully brought it down like a long river sunset toward Lord Taishan!

The magnificent scene fell with the sword!

Lord Taishan hadn’t suffered under those arrows, but already had no retreat route. He had no choice but to wave his palm, forging a deep black thousand-petaled lotus diamond shield in moments to hard-receive her sword!

“Rumble!”

The sword fell, the shield shattered!

Black lotus petals scattered and flew, shooting down to the surrounding wilderness, creating countless large and small shallow pits!

Like a meteor shower falling!

Lord Taishan, exhausted from prolonged fighting, saw his entire right arm explode with countless cracks when the shield shattered, like black earth cracking from drought. Pure soul power of layers of black qi overflowed from the wounds!

He nearly fell headfirst into the formation!

Fortunately, he reacted quickly, barely stabilizing his injured form midway, his heart full of rage!

Near, Jian Chou pressed with deadly moves!

Far, that unknown Jiushijiu Zhou cultivator held bow and arrow to restrain him!

This was clearly forcing him to fight here like a caged beast, becoming a stone for this female cultivator to test her sword, becoming a performing animal in everyone’s eyes!

Lord Taishan had thought Jian Chou would surely press her advantage, and had already developed some fierce, desperate resolve to fight her thoroughly.

Who would have thought that after this sword, she actually stopped!

Lord Taishan was immediately stunned.

Jian Chou then smiled, looking behind him. She actually raised that strangely long Yixiantian and pointed behind him: “Lord Taishan, look behind you—”

Look behind?

When he saw her raise the sword, Lord Taishan instinctively wanted to turn and look, but hearing her tell him to look, he forcibly held back, only feeling this female cultivator was tricky and changeable, unpredictable, absolutely not easily trusting her words.

Jian Chou then laughed loudly, saying: “Look behind you!”

As her laughter fell, suddenly from far across heaven and earth came a burst of stirring battle cries!

From behind Ghost Gate Pass!

From the wilderness between Ghost Gate Pass and Wrongful Death City!

In this instant, Lord Taishan’s mind finally flashed with lightning, remembering the previous three battles with their constant harassment of “Yashan comes,” and the enemy’s purpose that he had never been able to guess!

An ominous premonition instantly struck!

Lord Taishan was simply horrified!

He looked back and saw that at the end of that wilderness, nearly a thousand elite cultivators had appeared from nowhere, magnificent and imposing, heading toward somewhere fifteen li southwest!

Watch Platform!

That was clearly the location of Ghost Gate Pass’s Watch Platform that should have been kept secret and absolutely impossible for Jiushijiu Zhou to know!

“Watch Platform! Quickly return to protect the Watch Platform!”

The feeling of being trapped came so fierce and swift!

Only Lord Taishan knew how empty the forces within the Watch Platform were at this moment!

So she hadn’t been trying to numb them at all, nor to make them too careless or too vigilant about attacks from behind!

She wanted them to form a deep-rooted notion—

That she would definitely do something behind the main army formation!

But the real purpose was hidden behind all this disguise! From beginning to end, she only wanted to pull down the crucial Watch Platform!

Everything before was just a ruse!

Lord Taishan’s face had already twisted. Facing this great change, how could he want to continue entangling with Jian Chou?

His form moved, wanting to rush toward the Watch Platform!

But how could he succeed?!

“Hahaha, being the villain feels so good!”

As the mastermind behind this scheme, Jian Chou saw all the emotional changes on Lord Taishan’s face at this moment. Her heroic spirit was intense, and she couldn’t help but laugh toward heaven.

As her laughter fell, sword qi also fell!

One sword became a rainbow, falling toward Lord Taishan who was eager to escape this battle to reinforce the Watch Platform!

“Just getting to the exciting part—why rush to leave? Come, fight!!!”