Chapter 1587: Thousand Illusions Sword (Night Nine)

The Unsolvable Substitute Marriage: Jiang Fan and Xu Yining

"I actually got my life back," the owner of Jiangshan Yipin Tower sighed with a complex expression. "How can I face people now?"

He had long been prepared to repay with his life his human compatriots who had died under the mace. Unexpectedly, he survived in the end.

Jiang Fan took out a human-skin mask of a middle-aged man and tossed it to him.

"Wear this."

The owner of Jiangshan Yipin Tower fixed his gaze on it, both amused and exasperated.

"The other day, not long after I descended from the Heaven-Connecting Black Pillar in Hunyuan Province, a fishhook suddenly snagged my mask. I thought Star Abyss Great Venerable had discovered me, so I abandoned the mask and fled. Turns out, it was you, kid!"

He snatched the mask back and conjured an incantation gesture onto it. The appearance of the mask changed.

"Alright, I'll change my identity and continue managing Jiangshan Yipin Tower." He felt a bit resigned.

Jiang Fan nodded. He had worn his original face in the Celestial Realm before, and everyone knew it was the face of someone colluding with giants. He curiously scrutinized the owner of Jiangshan Yipin Tower from head to toe and asked, "By the way, what exactly is your cultivation level? You can actually teleport. You must be at least at the Soul Transformation stage, right?"

The owner of Jiangshan Yipin Tower extended a hand. "Want to know? The 'Prison Suppression Soul Calming Scripture' for exchange."

Jiang Fan rolled his eyes. "A leopard can't change its spots," he thought. He had just gotten his life back and was already revealing his true nature!

He took out the spatial storage artifact entrusted to him and said, "Here, it's yours."

The owner of Jiangshan Yipin Tower reached out without hesitation to take it, but unexpectedly, Jiang Fan pulled it back.

Jiang Fan chuckled. "Remember my rule: anything that lands in my hands is mine!"

The owner of Jiangshan Yipin Tower was both amused and exasperated.

"Let's go quickly; it's not good to stay here for long." He glanced at the Heaven-Connecting Black Pillar, saying cautiously, "To my knowledge, the army dispatched by the Central Tribe is not as simple as just the twenty Giant Kings you killed."

Jiang Fan's expression also became grim. He remembered those Giant Kings saying that King Nether was waiting for the outcome of the battle between the Giant Emperor and Grand Wine Priest. Only after it concluded would he dare to descend to the lower realm. Now, he was probably about to descend! How could they possibly deal with a Five-Star Giant King?

However, the immediate priority was to leave quickly. Remaining there to face the rest of the Five-Star Giant King's army alone would be meaningless.

The owner of Jiangshan Yipin Tower, carrying Jiang Fan, was about to teleport away.

Suddenly, Jiang Fan had a premonition and said, "Wait a moment!"

With a thought, the Snow Listener Sword appeared. On the sword's body, the dragon pattern that served as its spirit was twisting incessantly, as if being pulled by something. After a moment's thought, Jiang Fan swung the sword. The dragon pattern flew out and transformed into a massive dragon shadow. The dragon shadow immediately flew towards the scattered Giant Emperor's corpse fragments, stopping before a large chunk and circling continuously.

Jiang Fan was stunned. The Snow Listener Sword was a top-grade spirit artifact of Sword Venerable Beixuan. How could it be connected to a Giant Emperor...?

Suddenly, Jiang Fan vividly recalled the information Six Daoist had given him! Sword Venerable Beixuan still had three intact personal swords in the world. One was the Snow Listener Sword, and the Thunder Lord Sword was suspected to be in Tianzhou. The third, the Thousand Illusions Sword, had been embedded within a Giant Emperor a thousand years ago.

Thinking of this, he couldn't help but get excited and swiftly flew over. It was a piece of abdominal flesh, about the size of a water buffalo. It was strange, to say the least. The rest of the body had been shattered into thumb-sized fragments by the silk threads. Only this piece in front of him was perfectly preserved, as if something inside was protecting it. Jiang Fan inspected its exterior but found nothing unusual. He could only cut it open to see what was inside.

He grasped the Snow Listener Sword and struck the chunk of flesh, attempting to slice it open. To his surprise, the Snow Listener Sword only produced a shower of sparks when it struck the flesh.

"Sword Venerable Beixuan could use a top-grade spirit sword to kill a Giant Emperor, but all I can do is scratch it?" Jiang Fan clicked his tongue in amazement and instead took out the Purple Sword. With its artifact spirit, the Purple Sword was truly capable of cutting through anything. He swept the sword, and a purple bolt of lightning pierced into the chunk of flesh. With a *poof*, the chunk of flesh split into two instantly.

The owner of Jiangshan Yipin Tower was surprised. "Your sword has undergone a complete transformation. Its artifact spirit is extraordinary. Don't be fooled by how easily Grand Wine Priest cut through the Giant Emperor; if a Giant Emperor were to stand still, even a Soul Transformation stage cultivator might not be able to pierce its flesh and blood."

Jiang Fan casually nodded and began to search. Sure enough, inside the chunk of flesh, he saw a corner of an object. It appeared to be a sword hilt, vividly colored and emanating the powerful aura of a top-grade spirit artifact.

"Thousand Illusions Sword!" Jiang Fan was secretly excited. This sword was definitely the Thousand Illusions Sword! He couldn't believe it was embedded in the body of the Sleeping Giant Emperor. Upon closer thought, it was the Nine-Sun Giant Emperor, the Sleeping Giant Emperor, and three traitors who had besieged Sword Venerable Beixuan back then. If this sword were embedded in any Giant Emperor's body, it could only be the Sleeping Giant Emperor's!

He grasped the hilt, ready to pull it out. If he acquired this sword, he would have six top-grade spirit swords. His "Grand Derivation Sword Array" could then reach mastery. Currently, with three swords, he could slay a Heavenly Human Decline 1st stage cultivator and contend with a Heavenly Human Decline 2nd stage. With six swords, wouldn't he easily slay a Heavenly Human Decline 3rd stage cultivator and contend with a Heavenly Human Decline 4th stage?

However, just as he was about to exert force and pull out the sword, he hesitated and then let go. He then retreated.

"What's wrong?" asked the owner of Jiangshan Yipin Tower.

Jiang Fan looked suspicious. "Why did the Sleeping Giant Emperor allow this sword to remain in his body all this time? Was he unable to remove it, or did he intentionally keep it inside?"

The owner of Jiangshan Yipin Tower raised an eyebrow slightly, then decisively retreated as well, saying, "That *is* rather strange. How could a Giant Emperor not be able to remove an ownerless top-grade spirit sword? Be careful; there's something amiss."

The two retreated to a distance, with the owner of Jiangshan Yipin Tower shielding Jiang Fan behind him. He then took out a black spirit artifact chain, wrapped it around the hilt from a distance, and carefully and slowly pulled the sword out.

*Clang!*

It wasn't as difficult as they imagined; the hilt came out with ease, and no strange phenomena occurred. Just as the two thought they were overthinking things, an incredibly cold voice shot forth from the sword.

"You two damned beings!"

This was actually the voice of the Sleeping Giant Emperor!!!

Jiang Fan trembled violently. The Sleeping Giant Emperor, not dead? No, to be precise, not completely dead! The reason he kept this sword in his body was out of concern that one day he might encounter an invincible, peerless enemy, leading to his body's destruction and soul's demise. So he had left a fragment of his soul within the sword, just in case! After the Grand Wine Priest killed him, there was no time for inspection because the Grand Wine Priest was forcibly taken into the Celestial Realm by the Nine-Sun Giant Emperor. This allowed him to successfully escape catastrophe.

The owner of Jiangshan Yipin Tower's expression drastically changed. He decisively grabbed Jiang Fan and teleported away.

"Hmph!"

However, with a heavy, cold snort, the owner of Jiangshan Yipin Tower was thrown out of his spatial teleportation and spat out a mist of blood. His body, which had just begun to recover, was once again severely wounded. His face grew grim. Even with only a remnant soul, a Giant Emperor was still terrifying!