Chapter 75: A Finger Shatters Jade, The Sword Array Takes Shape (Union)

The dusk deepened.

Song Yan’s faint breathing melted into the wind that rustled through the forest. The suppressive aura from the Hidden Sword made him seem like a withered leaf among the trees.

He lowered his gaze, narrowing his eyes slightly.

Had he been discovered?

Where had he erred…?

That fleeting urge to trace the source of his mistake appeared for only an instant before Song Yan ruthlessly extinguished it.

Now, what he ought to consider was how to kill Dan Zi Feng here—rather than rehashing his errors, which would serve no purpose.

"My friend, why hide…"

A hum—

Before the words could finish, a jet-black and white flying sword shot forth at lightning speed!

Even though Dan Zi Feng had been prepared, the velocity of the sword startled him. He hurriedly dodged to the side.

But the fluctuation of spiritual energy and sword aura from the sword's manipulation allowed Dan Zi Feng to pinpoint his attacker’s location.

He slapped the pouch at his waist, summoning three fire talismans that hovered beside him.

A spark flashed at his fingertips, and three fire serpents burst from the talismans, lunging straight toward Song Yan’s hiding place.

His figure finally appeared.

"Who are you?" Dan Zi Feng stared at the stranger—no recollection, utterly unfamiliar. He could not recall anyone like this among those seeking spiritual treasures.

"Did someone send you to kill me?"

Dan Zi Feng sneered coldly, "A bunch of insects and ants—how utterly foolish."

"They actually sent a cultivator of the sixth stage of Qi Refining to ambush me?"

"What, did they run out of spirit stones?"

Dan Zi Feng’s grin twisted into a snarl. Exposing the ambush gave him a heady sense of control.

"I have plenty of spirit stones here—shall I give you more? After all…"

"They were all taken from them anyway."

He laughed, the sound echoing with contempt.

Dan Zi Feng had no intention of hiding his disdain from these lower-level cultivators—instead, he humiliated them as much as he could.

Song Yan remained calm, unmoved by any emotion.

His ambush had been uncovered, but he showed no sign of panic.

The reason was simple.

Sometimes, cultivators with special treasures or abilities—or simply those with keen senses—could indeed detect traps and ambushes.

But "detecting a trap" and "neutralizing a crisis" were two entirely different matters.

Drip.

The sound of water echoed from Song Yan’s hand.

A surge of spiritual light blossomed in his palm, and rippling waves spread outward like flowing water.

The Water Transformation Talisman!

Azure ripples cascaded outward, flooding the area with water-attributed spiritual energy.

Within a radius of fifteen yards, the fire-attributed spiritual energy stalled, then broke apart and scattered like waters released from a dam.

At the same time, Song Yan advanced, the black-and-white flying sword slashing forth once more.

Dan Zi Feng’s expression changed dramatically.

He reacted instantly, leaping beyond the range of the Water Transformation Talisman, while summoning his internal spiritual energy to produce a reddish copper bell.

Clang—

The flying sword struck before Dan Zi Feng, but a flash of fiery spiritual light rebounded it.

A defensive artifact!

Dan Zi Feng snorted inwardly.

Where had this wild wanderer come from, so lacking the experience of life-and-death combat?

Such potent talismans—had they waited until his spiritual energy was half-depleted before using them as killing moves, it would have been extremely dangerous.

But to use talismans at the very start of the battle…

Even if he struggled to escape the talisman’s range, by the time his spiritual energy was spent, its effects would have expired.

A golden opportunity, wasted.

Dan Zi Feng’s gaze at his opponent was filled with endless mockery and a playful pity.

The water domain of the Water Transformation Talisman fully unfolded, covering most of the clearing.

Dense fog lingered among the trees.

Song Yan concealed himself within it.

"Hiding your head, showing your tail!"

Dan Zi Feng roared, crimson spiritual light bursting from his fingertips as he forcefully activated the Complete Fire Blessing technique.

Flames surged from his palm, hissing sharply as they struck the water mist within the talisman’s domain.

The fire serpents, once a foot thick, now shrank to mere inches.

Dan Zi Feng ignored the change, his spiritual energy surging, scorching fire spirits struggling in the mist, managing to push it back slightly.

The black-and-white flying sword suddenly cut through the air, precise and fierce, aiming for Dan Zi Feng’s dantian.

Clang!

The fiery copper bell once again blocked the strike.

The Untethered Boat was merely a sword body Song Yan reserved for his future natal flying sword. Though tempered with sword cultivator techniques, his natal sword had yet to be forged—he was not truly a sword cultivator.

At bottom, Untethered Boat was still a common flying sword.

"Heh… spare yourself."

Dan Zi Feng bit his tongue, blood floating out as a jade pendant rose slowly, a drop of blood falling onto it.

Boom!

Violent fire spirits briefly broke through the water’s constraints, condensing around him into a red armor phantom.

At this moment, fifteen breaths had passed since Song Yan activated the Water Transformation Talisman.

The Untethered Boat suddenly rang with a clear sword cry. Song Yan pressed his index and middle fingers together, condensing a killing wind and thunder in his hand.

With a flick, thunder erupted from the sword!

His left hand formed a spell, while his right swallowed a replenishing pill.

Most of his previous moves had been probing, so he had little spiritual energy spent.

But he must always maintain peak condition.

Surging spiritual energy flooded his meridians.

Nine white sword shadows, tinged with golden lightning, stabbed from all directions at the weakest points of the red armor.

Dan Zi Feng’s face grew solemn—the flying sword had changed, and he dared not be careless.

His spiritual energy surged as his armor-clad hand slammed into the ground, fire spirits erupting outward.

Boom—

The water mist was pushed back again, evaporating instantly around Dan Zi Feng.

Song Yan advanced instead of retreating, stepping forward.

The black-and-white flying sword arced cunningly toward Dan Zi Feng’s throat, but struck the red armor with a shower of sparks.

Dan Zi Feng used this momentum to leap toward the talisman’s edge, escaping the mist’s range.

Song Yan withdrew his sword, leaping atop an ancient pine.

Dan Zi Feng sneered, looking up at Song Yan atop the tree.

"My friend, are you enjoying this fight?"

Song Yan said nothing, his expression calm.

"What’s wrong, are you thinking of begging for mercy…"

The surrounding fire spirits surged, gathering toward Dan Zi Feng.

He put away the protective bell, savoring the rush of fire energy—a hint of pleasure flickered across his face.

The red armor phantom suddenly solidified!

Boom!!

Red light erupted from the talismans, three fire serpents, each a yard long, snarled fiercely at Song Yan!

Without the talisman’s water constraint, Dan Zi Feng thought killing his foe would be effortless.

Song Yan tossed another replenishing pill into his mouth.

He restored his already ample spiritual energy to its peak.

"You finally stepped in."

"Hmm?"

Dan Zi Feng’s eyes narrowed.

Suddenly, spiritual light flared around them—six milky white beams burst forth, their arcane patterns interlinking.

"A trapping array?"

Dan Zi Feng laughed, his fire spirits surging madly, "You want to trap me here with this? You’re insane."

Scarlet flames lunged at Song Yan, "Die!"

Song Yan’s face remained unperturbed—at the brink of life and death, he was remarkably calm.

Even… oddly exhilarated.

He raised his right hand, a brilliant gleam gathering at his fingertips.

Suddenly.

A refined, killing sword aura condensed at his fingertip, golden lightning flickering.

Wind and thunder converged, true essence of the sword!

Hum—

Dan Zi Feng didn’t even realize what had happened—the protective fire aura melted beneath the sword aura like spring snow.

A tiny hole appeared in the chest of the red armor phantom, cracks spidering outward.

Bang!

The phantom vanished.

Dan Zi Feng stared in disbelief at his shattered spirit jade.

His father had begged it from Wang Lin years ago, and he’d worn it since childhood.

It wasn’t a particularly high-grade treasure, but it was versatile in both attack and defense.

It had been his most cherished artifact since entering the cultivation world.

Damn pig…

Mad rage nearly drowned his eyes.

He formed spells, his pupils tinged with crimson light.

"Spirit of Fire Blessing!"

Dan Zi Feng was engulfed in flames; massive fire spiritual energy gathered in the air, forming a giant firebird that swept forward!

That sharp sword aura had truly frightened him.

But he knew well—that level of sword aura, from a sixth-stage Qi Refining cultivator, could not be repeated.

Sensing Song Yan’s weakened breath, Dan Zi Feng’s derisive grin widened, "Now… it’s my turn!"

In his eyes, Song Yan was already dead.

But when he looked up.

Those eyes gave Dan Zi Feng a sense of foreboding.

Unconcealed coldness—a calm that looked upon corpses and insects.

Like boredom, or exhaustion.

Those sleepy eyes brimmed with icy killing intent.

Sensing danger, Dan Zi Feng instinctively glanced behind him.

He saw, above the trapping array, a series of white talismans floating.

The sharp aura on those talismans surged from dormant to intense in an instant.

Familiar—because he had just suffered it head-on.

The talismans shattered, leaving countless white sword rays hovering around the array.

Lightning flashed, wind thunder raged!

Song Yan’s sword finger moved—the first sword aura struck without warning.

Hum!

Though Dan Zi Feng dodged desperately, the sharp aura still tore through his protective energy, piercing his shoulder.

"Ah—"

Pain seared through him; he screamed, collapsing to his knees.

Dan Zi Feng could sense it.

These sword rays were far less potent than the one from Song Yan’s fingertip.

But the problem was—

There were simply too many!

No time to think—the second sword ray was already incoming.

He summoned the copper bell, his entire fire energy surging, the bell’s red glow intensifying.

Clang!

The second sword ray crashed against the bell, ringing loudly.

The third—

The fourth—

The bell’s fiery glow was gradually worn down.

Fifth, sixth, seventh!

The sword rays grew faster and faster—

By the ninth, the red glow on the copper bell flickered chaotically.

At last, it extinguished.

Blood spilled from Dan Zi Feng’s mouth, his face dazed and unfocused.

"No…"

"Impossible…"

The replenishing pill’s effects had faded. Beneath Song Yan’s Sword Mansion, a new sharp sword aura began to condense.

His sword finger flicked from his sleeve, sword energy dividing swiftly.

Nine white sword shadows circled slowly at Dan Zi Feng’s side.

"This is fake…"

"It’s all fake…"

Dan Zi Feng’s vision blurred.

He saw only a vaguely familiar figure…

Overlapping with a memory in his mind.

Only now, as if waking from a dream, he was struck with terror.

Sword rays fluttered rapidly around him.

On Song Yan’s fingertip, the terrifying intent grew ever sharper…

"Song…"

Hum—

Perhaps he meant to call out a name, but he never managed.

He was utterly engulfed by the sword aura.

The razor wind lingered long afterward.

The Untethered Boat sliced through Dan Zi Feng’s corpse—already covered in sword wounds—splitting it in two.

He really was haunted by the bizarre spells and abilities of the cultivation world.

He even worried that dead cultivators might possess bodies for revenge.

He knew, compared to others, his offensive techniques were few.

Though sword control offered many options, he specialized in only one.

So, his only reliable move was the Cloud Sword.

His natal sword was not yet formed, so including sword essence, his killing moves were truly limited.

But—

Two things inspired him greatly.

Since the Peach Blossom Manor incident, he often recalled how the demonic cultivator used a flying sword as the core of an array.

The sword treatise also mentioned something called a "Sword Formation."

Multiple swords or sword auras working together, wielded immense killing power.

In fact, the Cloud Sword was an extremely simplified sword formation.

Yet, as it relied on sword aura alone, it had more flexibility but less force compared to a true formation.

The second insight: after condensing sword essence, he could temporarily store it beneath the Sword Mansion, holding it in reserve.

So—

Could it be stored elsewhere, say—

In talismans.

With a little experimentation, it worked!

Though the talismans he could afford were mostly low quality, and his understanding of talismans was shallow, his adaptation was crude.

The sword essence stored in talismans was greatly weakened.

But he had enough of them!

And, before activation, the sword essence was utterly concealed.

Hidden in an ordinary trapping array, difficult to detect.

The Water Transformation Talisman was just a decoy.

This sword essence killing array was his true trump card.

No array techniques, just pure sword essence—enough to deal a fatal blow.

Xiao He had already scavenged every piece of loot near the corpse.

Its tail carried Dan Zi Feng’s storage pouch.

Song Yan adjusted his breath, then approached the corpse.

He used fire spiritual energy to burn the body to ash.

With a flick, earth and wood surged, burying the remains underground.

"A cultivator of the seventh stage of Qi Refining, killed by my own hand."

Looking back, it felt dreamlike.

"The commotion from that fight was considerable—I’d best leave quickly."

After tidying up, he used his dwindling spiritual energy to leap through the forest, vanishing among the trees.

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