Chapter 123: Swordsmanship Peak

"What you don't know is, these junior brothers of mine have mediocre talent; they were born destined never to reach the pinnacle of the sword dao. Yet, they insisted on bearing the title of the Ten Elders, sharing the essence of the bloodline from this precious jade with me. Without them, I fear I would have already reached the true peak of the sword dao! Now it's fortunate you've eliminated these burdens for me and taken on this eternal infamy on my behalf. I'm almost reluctant to kill you now!"

Xu Yang sneered, "Eliminating a few of them was like crushing a few ants to me. As for the so-called infamy, you seem to take the Heavenly Sword Holy Land and your Ten Elders' titles far too seriously. Do you truly believe that after the Heavenly Sword Holy Land is destroyed, the Great Xia Dynasty will still allow you to forever maintain a good name?"

Wuxin was startled. He said coldly, "Are you implying that the Great Xia Imperial Family has truly reached some kind of agreement with you?"

"Naturally. Even if I'm not here, as long as the Great Xia Dynasty is immortal, my Tianlan Sect will be immortal. All the glory that once belonged to your Holy Land will be replaced by my Tianlan Sect."

Wuxin let out a cold snort, a hint of anger in his voice. "It seems that after I eliminate you, the imperial family of the Great Xia Dynasty will also need a good lesson. I will make them understand who the true master is in the entire Great Qi!!"

CRACK!!

Above the clouds of the Inner Realm, an earth-shattering thunderclap roared, echoing in all directions.

Sword Saint Wuxin finally made his move. This repulsive schemer, a generation's Sword Dao Grandmaster yearning to reach the pinnacle of the sword dao, finally became serious.

At the same time, the plain iron chains that had originally bound the Heavenly Sword's massive blade all rushed towards the corpses of the Ten Elders below, piercing through their flesh and frantically devouring the remaining life essence within their bodies.

Xu Yang did not stop him; instead, he calmly observed the entire devouring process.

The thunderclaps from the nine heavens continued to rumble and roar. The uppermost tip of the Heavenly Sword's blade, which connected to the nine heavenly thunderclaps, was precisely the area where spiritual power gathered most abundantly.

"So that's it... If I'm not mistaken, you intend to combine the primordial essence of all the Ten Elders to pave a path for yourself to the pinnacle of the sword dao and achieve a defiant enlightenment against the heavens!"

This time, Xu Yang received no response from Wuxin. At this moment, Wuxin's primordial soul was fusing with the Heavenly Sword, forcibly triggering the heavenly tribulation in a state of man-and-sword unity, burning all his power in pursuit of the ultimate realm of the sword dao's pinnacle.

However, from Xu Yang and Lingyao's perspective, the true pinnacle of the sword dao was never achieved by plundering the primordial essence of fellow disciples, but by seeking moments of complete enlightenment, guided by one's true heart.

CRACK!!

Above the nine heavens, the earth-shattering thunder continued to rage, as streaks of materialized sword-lightning continuously appeared, hovering and darting freely in the center of the sky.

"Oh, Lingyao, look at the sky! The trajectories of those sword-rays formed by the lightning tribulation seem to share a remarkable similarity with the Cloud Observation Sword Intent, and can even complement each other!"

Xu Yang's discovery enlightened Lingyao. As they observed the nine heavens, they simultaneously used their fingers to manipulate spiritual energy, practicing in mid-air.

Through their exchanges, the two surprisingly completely copied all the sword intent appearing in the sky. By a fortuitous turn of events, they unexpectedly achieved the Grand Perfection of the Cloud Observation Sword Intent!

BOOM!!

The heavenly thunder-swords seemed to sense something and poured down. Their target was not the calculating Wuxin, nor the Heavenly Sword itself, but rather struck Xu Yang and Lingyao.

Washing the body with heavenly lightning sword-rays—this was the Heavenly Dao's test for Master and junior sister Lingyao. Could it be that the ones who would ultimately reach the pinnacle of the sword dao were not Wuxin, but... the two of them?

Bai Lianxue, watching from the side, was utterly dumbfounded. This was because Lingyao's physical reactions had an extremely profound resonant effect on her; if one was harmed, both were harmed, and if one was strengthened, both were strengthened.

The heavenly tribulation cleansing that Lingyao experienced was also tempering and sublimating Bai Lianxue's physical body.

Thus, Xu Yang's trio simultaneously received the Heavenly Dao's favor! And this gift was, in fact, bestowed upon the three of them by Wuxin.

"Hahahaha! Wuxin, you never imagined this, did you? The immense opportunity you gained by sacrificing your junior brothers ended up only benefiting the three of us. How pathetic, how laughable!!"

Xu Yang deliberately spoke to disturb Wuxin's composure, which truly caused this cunning old schemer to completely lose his mind. The man let out a hysterical roar.

"Xu Yang, you bastard! I'm going to kill you all!!"

RUMBLE...

At the same moment, the heavenly tribulation finally ended. Xu Yang and Lingyao both now possessed the Sword Realm of the sword dao's pinnacle, and Lingyao's own cultivation had reached the Grand Perfection of the Nascent Soul, making her a Grandmaster in the true sense, capable of replacing Sword Saint Wuxin!

The nine chains simultaneously shattered, and the Heavenly Sword's radiance was forcibly awakened by Wuxin at this moment.

In fact, the Heavenly Sword's spirit had not yet truly revived at this moment, but Wuxin had no other choice. He knew that all his intricate schemes had failed to achieve his desires; currently, only by killing Xu Yang and Lingyao could he find the only opportunity to turn the tables.

"Die!"

The Heavenly Sword's might shook the entire Northern Barrens. Its sword-rays raged, soaring into the sky, and the entire Northern Barrens continent fell into absolute silence!

All beings and races prostrated themselves and howled towards the direction of the sword-rays!

Finally, from within the shimmering outline of the Heavenly Sword, a jade-green treasure light slowly flickered and was immediately caught by Lingyao's attention. It was so familiar, so intimate!

Lingyao's mind wavered for a moment, but she also seemed to suddenly understand that the true pinnacle of the sword dao required forging one's own Sword Heart! And the so-called man-and-sword unity was not like the Sword Saint's method of forcibly injecting one's human soul into the sword's body, but rather to achieve a perfect, lucid integration of one's sword dao with the sword in hand!

"Wuxin! You hold a sword in your hand, but you have no sword in your heart; you are destined never to touch the extreme realm of the sword dao! Today, I'll show you what the Heart of the Sword truly means!"

As Lingyao spoke these words, her entire being soared into the sky, evolving the Cloud Observation Sword Intent to its extreme. Outside her exquisite silhouette, an incredibly brilliant sword outline actually materialized!

"My heavens... Man-and-sword unity, this is true man-and-sword unity!"

Bai Lianxue cried out in immense excitement. At the same time, Xu Yang, at this very moment, also provided Lingyao with the greatest assistance!

The colorless spiritual light expanded to its limit, and Xu Yang, using the Cloud Observation Sword Intent, sent out a transparent silver sword-ray which swiftly merged into the sword mark entity outside Lingyao's body.

The two supreme sword daos between heaven and earth fused into one, concentrating the combined power of Xu Yang and Lingyao, and finally collided with the Heavenly Sword's radiance!

BOOM!!

In an instant, heaven and earth lost their color in this unimaginable collision...