Chapter 286: Sword Breaks the Three Elders

In the entire cultivation world of the continent, the Fusion technique is not considered an ultimate method, yet very few can truly achieve it. The reason is that soul compatibility is an extremely demanding condition.

Xu Yang and the Empress went through countless hardships, along with emotional transformation and sublimation, before finally achieving soul resonance.

The Five Blossoms grew up and cultivated together since childhood, and three of them were blood relatives, which allowed them to achieve their rare Five-in-One state.

Yet, these three old fellows had also completed a Sword Soul Fusion, which was incredibly difficult.

After the fusion, the three elders' sword soul strength increased to the mid-stage Tribulation Crossing realm, a level the Empress and Ling Yao could no longer contend with.

"Stand back," Xu Yang said calmly.

The two women instinctively retreated, leaving the entire void battlefield to Xu Yang and the colossal sword soul outline formed by the three-in-one fusion.

"Against Asura's power, pure murderous aura will be somewhat suppressed. Lad, I will now guide you to complete the Human-Sword Unity phase and unleash the strongest power of your Sword Dao."

Xu Yang's lips curved into a slight smile. "I knew it. You were definitely holding back some ultimate move. Thankfully, you didn't disappoint me."

With Xu Yang's active acceptance, the sword soul once again took the dominant position.

One person, one sword—two soul lights simultaneously emitted powerful aura fluctuations, divided into two distinct parts by the Sky Vault Sword itself.

In an instant, the Sky Vault Sword's unparalleled sword momentum displayed its formidable power!

It was an astonishing blood-red long rainbow, erupting skyward with the Sky Vault Sword as its core. As if piercing through the power of heaven and earth, it formed an irresistible, colossal sword light that thrust horizontally between the sky and the ground.

"My heavens... this power is terrifying! It's as if it's slicing through heaven and earth!"

"Is this the power of the Elder's Human-Sword Unity? I'm now increasingly looking forward to the ultimate showdown between our leader and Tuoba Yun!"

The moment this blood-red sword light descended, the fused sword soul before them was utterly stunned.

"No... separate quickly, or we'll all die!"

"It's too late... The power of this sword momentum has probably accumulated over hundreds of thousands of years; we can't possibly stop it. Embrace the power of Asura! Even if we are shattered to pieces, we will gain eternal life under Asura's guidance!"

The three elders had clearly been brainwashed to some extent by Asura's power. Deep within their souls, they had developed a reliance on and submission to the Asura will, which destined them to completely lose control over their own souls.

When this nearly limitless dominating power descended, they had no other choice.

Rumble!

The fused sword soul began to mutate further, emitting grayish-white flames and letting out hysterical roars. Bright silver flames enveloped the fused sword light as it made a dying struggle against Xu Yang's power.

"Perish!"

Boom...

With a single sword strike, the two forces collided mid-air. This power, which had already surpassed the mid-stage Tribulation Crossing realm and was nearing the peak, instantly tore apart the laws of the parallel space, creating a colossal rift at the top of the void within the entire space.

"Look! Asura's aura is also concentrated in that rift! It seems Tuoba Yun must have left through there! That's also the relatively weakest point in this parallel space!"

Long Kun excitedly pointed to the sky. At the same moment, after Xu Yang achieved Human-Sword Unity, he transformed into a sword. His light and shadow instantly pierced through the now hollow and weakened sword soul bodies of the three elders.

Pfft...

The three elders simultaneously spat out blood and flew backward, their fused state shattering. Each of their Sword Dao origins was completely broken, transforming them from peak powerhouses into ordinary invalids.

With his power, Xu Yang could have completely obliterated them. However, he didn't, not out of soft-heartedness. Xu Yang wanted to glean more information from them, details that the Great Sumeru Dao hadn't had time to deduce.

With his sword detached from his body, Xu Yang calmly walked before the three elders, his expression still indifferent.

"Even after bathing in Asura's power, this is all you amount to. Now, I will extract some useful clues from your memories."

With a wave of his hand, Xu Yang locked onto the elder in the middle, who was in the Tribulation Crossing realm. He pressed the elder's head into his palm, releasing a powerful devouring force. Terrifying mental fluctuations, in a special energy form, surged into Xu Yang's mind.

"So that's it... Our conjectures were all correct. Tuoba Yun has already been summoned away by an Asura soul, and eight living fossils from the Northern Jin Sword Alliance left with him. We absolutely cannot allow this group to leave the Tomb of Cultivators safely, or there will be no peace under heaven."

Xu Yang's soul voice quickly spread to everyone in the team. As he withdrew his hand, the Asura origin power within this Tribulation Crossing realm elder's body also seemed to have been dispelled.

"Senior Brother! You..."

The two elders beside him clearly noticed that the Asura aura on their Tribulation Crossing realm senior brother had completely vanished.

"Oh? I seem to have made a very important discovery! Xu Yang, some power within your body seems capable of purifying Asura power! This is astonishing, isn't it? Could it be that your body holds an even deeper secret?"

Xu Yang pondered for a moment. Besides his unique experience of cultivating the Myriad Layers Qi Refinement realm alone, his most special experience was undoubtedly the integration of a part of the demonic origin from Elusha, the Demonic Empress.

"Could it be Elusha's power at work?"

Xu Yang briefly recounted his past interactions with the demon race, but the sword soul was not impressed.

"That shouldn't be... While the power of demons and Asuras share many similarities, demonic power lacks that extremely domineering and fiercely sinister aura. The two shouldn't have a mutually restraining effect."

A thought suddenly occurred to Xu Yang: the terracotta warriors of the Ancient Barren lineage that he had stored in his Heart Sea!

He immediately inspected his Heart Sea and discovered something amiss.

It turned out that when he absorbed the soul power of the old sword cultivator in the Tribulation Crossing realm, he had inadvertently drawn in the portion of power infected by Asura's influence.

The dormant Ancient Barren soldiers in his Heart Sea had spontaneously absorbed this sinister aura as nourishment.

Although Xu Yang couldn't immediately grasp the reason, he felt it wasn't a good omen.

Souls permeated by Asura power would all turn dark to some extent. If the Ancient Barren soldiers he had protected were to completely transform into a group of demons, the consequences would be unimaginable!

After sensing Xu Yang's thoughts, the sword soul also showed a solemn expression.

"It seems there are indeed many variables within you. This journey to the Tomb of Cultivators will likely cause a world-shattering change in your destiny. You must make every choice carefully, otherwise, even a slight slip could lead to eternal damnation!"

Xu Yang knew the sword soul was saying this for his own good, but he remained perfectly calm.

"Don't worry. My destiny has always been in my own hands; no one can control me. Now that even the Sky Vault is in my grasp, do you think I will fall into depravity?"

The sword soul smiled wryly and shook its head. "Let's hope so..."