Chapter 147: "Sujie"

Sword Intent!

The first thing to surge forth was an overwhelming sword intent.

Sword energy and sword light burst out, dancing brilliantly and dazzlingly.

Immediately after, two swords transformed into roaring dragons and tigers, lifting Chen Taifeng aloft.

Behind Chen Taifeng, Li Yuanhua strode across the sky; the aura of Yin descended, imprisoning the surrounding directions and from this, formed the Eight Trigrams and Eight Gates.

Ji Lin followed closely, carrying a tripod cauldron.

These three immediately caught Xu Zhong’s attention.

After all, all three were renowned figures on the Yuan One Ranking.

“Clang! Clang! Clang!”

Xu Zhong’s sword orb suddenly trembled on its own, and the Swallowing Cloud Sword uncontrollably flew out of his dantian, accompanied by 720 flying swords, all heading toward Chen Taifeng.

Not just his sword — the sword energy drew the swords of all the sword cultivators present, causing them to fly uncontrollably.

“Ten Thousand Swords Return to the Sect?” Xu Zhong recognized the style of the opponent’s sword technique. Like him, they practiced the Sword Controlling Style, forming sword formations with myriad blades converging into one.

However, the opponent’s sword intent was more turbulent, more overwhelming and powerful, enough to stir the Swallowing Cloud Sword to fly automatically from his dantian.

But how could a swordsman’s sword be controlled by another?

Xu Zhong reached out, grasping the Swallowing Cloud Sword, pouring out his own sword intent, pressing down across a thousand miles.

He gripped the Swallowing Cloud Sword, and the 720 flying swords froze in midair, eventually coalescing back into a sword orb, stored inside the Purple Jade Gourd.

Yet the others lacked such sword intent; their swords flew out one after another, quickly forming an immense sword array in the sky.

Thousands of swords hovered, clanging sharply.

The sword light was dazzling beyond compare, imbued with unparalleled killing intent.

He took his stance; streams of sword light trembled, dazzling and piercing, illuminating mountains and rivers in countless blossoms.

In an instant, the entire flesh-and-blood swamp was suffused with his sword intent, rippling with his sword light, swirling with his sword energy.

Even Chen Taifeng glanced toward Xu Zhong, apparently trying to confirm who had unleashed that sudden sword intent capable of matching him.

“Is this even possible?” Xu Zhong observed Chen Taifeng’s sword formation. Except for the two main swords, which were his own, the others were borrowed.

But it made sense. To form a sword formation, if one had to forge every single sword oneself, wanting to perform the Ten Thousand Swords Return to the Sect would be a matter for some distant future.

Borrowing swords from others might indeed be the proper way.

Xu Zhong had an epiphany yet was curious: “Who is this grand formation meant to confront?”

But in the next moment, Su Jie descended from the sky.

His vital energy surged like a dragon; every sinew and muscle was a deadly weapon, radiating unimaginable power as he threw a downward punch.

Clatter! Clatter!

Like a torrential downpour, the swords suspended in the air fell one by one, breaking apart.

The sword formation of more than a thousand treasure swords was shattered by his punch; the residual vitality and power swept all around, crimson blood essence cascading to the ground like a starry river hanging across the heavens.

Chen Taifeng’s sword formation was broken, and his body was blasted apart by a single punch.

A golden divine light erupted from his body, manifesting as a golden little figure.

This golden figure radiated the energies of the moon and sun, cycling and transforming, embodying the infinite Taiji.

Life force flowed, as if time itself was reversed, reshaping flesh and blood upon him once more.

“He’s stronger than before entering,” Chen Taifeng’s first act after restoring his body was to flee.

Su Jie’s strength far exceeded his imagination, even making him hesitate to strike back.

“Do you all intend to attack me as well?” Su Jie looked toward Li Yuanhua and the others.

They were no match for Chen Taifeng yet; how would they dare to make a move now?

So they fled alongside Chen Taifeng.

Su Jie snorted coldly, but in the next instant, a towering beam of light descended from the heavens, engulfing him.

Within the luminous veil came a thunderous explosion.

The remnants of the blast swept in all directions, rippling terrifying waves across the sky and scorching nearly ten thousand acres into barren wasteland.

Xu Zhong and the others stepped back.

But in the next moment, a fierce gale swept over them, howling and tearing at their flesh.

In this secret realm, there was no concept of retreat—only forward.

They deployed defensive treasures to withstand the blast’s remnants.

Su Jie burst forth from the explosion’s center; aside from torn clothes, he bore no wounds.

With a move, his vitality transformed into chains extending from his body, dragging with a clanking sound upon the ground.

Under his control, these chains morphed into nine golden dragons, surging forward devouring all.

The coiling dragons protected him as he plucked his own reversed scale.

This scale had been forged into a bronze treasure mirror.

In an instant, the mirror reflected streams of verdant divine rainbows, radiant and brilliant; celestial sounds echoed long, linking heaven and earth to greet and imprison him in a cage.

“Seeking death!” Su Jie’s domineering aura burst forth; his eyes emitted two blood-red rainbows.

He roared, his vital energy soaring to its peak, causing the distant sacred mountain formed from divine hearts to tremble and resonate.

The nine golden dragons he dragged surged forward like nine rivers of blood, draining the color from the world, causing mountains and rivers to quake.

These nine golden dragons shattered the cage forged by the bronze mirror.

For a moment, the entire secret realm darkened.

It was then that Xu Zhong and the others quietly withdrew from the battlefield.

Xu Zhong looked at Su Jie, feeling unfamiliarity.

Now, he was surrounded by crimson clouds, bathed in divine light; his body pure Yang, his vital energy purified, his divine power supreme.

Yet his temperament was unlike before.

With a roar, a golden dragon crashed down from the sky beside Xu Zhong.

This golden dragon flowed with the purest vitality, hazy as mist, splendid and beautiful.

After falling, the golden dragon rose again, charging toward the battlefield.

Xu Zhong dared not linger; he harnessed the gale, transforming into a streak of light as he flew forward.

Behind him, the battlefield gradually faded into nothingness; only the residual aura of battle remained tangible.

The golden dragon flickered behind him, while the sacred mountain ahead grew ever clearer.

“It seems we can’t reach that sacred mountain from the ground!” Shi Yue retracted her star chart and murmured as she gazed at the radiant light rain emanating from within the sacred mountain.

“I sense an aura similar to Fengdu ahead. Strange — Fengdu shouldn’t be able to affect this place!”

Though the sacred mountain stood on the surface, it had no entrance; its vital energy dissipated with the wind.

Where it touched the ground was rendered dark, thick with unbreakable thoughts and desires sinking into the gloom, accompanied by mournful whispers that chilled the bone.

“It’s congealed death qi!” Tang Yuan’s heart stirred; he explained, “Vital energy, like people, ages and dies. The dying qi is refined within the body through the heart, causing death qi to accumulate, which in turn grants new life force to the vital energy.”

“The heart’s owner has died; no one suppresses the death qi anymore, so it has erupted,” Tang Yuan pointed forward and continued, “Perhaps because this is a creator-level heart, that’s why you sense an aura akin to Fengdu.”

“In that case, we must detour,” Yun Yong looked around.

Before them lay only one intact vital energy bridge; the rest had been swallowed by void, some only half-exposed, others completely missing.

They had no choice but to cross the intact vital energy bridge.

Suddenly, a fierce battle erupted upon the bridge.

Killing intent surged like a tidal wave, myriad residual spells sweeping in all directions.

In a short while, several Qi Refiners fell from the bridge.

Before they could control the wind and clouds to fly, faint explosions came from the mired death qi, followed by a swelling black mist that rolled upward like autumn leaves swept by the wind.

In moments, those Qi Refiners were reduced to dust, scattered by the wind.

The black mist carried a burst of vitality into the death qi.

The sight sent shivers through the group.

The heart was devouring life!

It seemed to possess consciousness, suppressing its own death qi by absorbing the vitality of other Qi Refiners, maintaining its own activity and expanding outward.

“Let’s go!” Xu Zhong led, with the others following closely.

As they approached the vital energy bridge, a cold streak of light shot straight toward Xu Zhong’s brow, chilling to the bone, rippling waves sealing the surrounding space, attempting to pin Xu Zhong before the bridge.

At the next moment, the Swallowing Cloud Sword hummed as it flew out, slashing the cold streak of light in two.

Continuing forward, the sword light pierced through the mist, revealing a Qi Refiner on the bridge.

The Qi Refiner gasped in surprise and immediately swung his Purple-Gold Hammer forward.

The hammer emitted purple light, crackling with thunder, dazzling and imposing.

Xu Zhong’s sword cut through the thunderous light, dragging the sword light onward.

The Qi Refiner showed a look of terror, shouting, “Senior Brother, save me!”

Before the words finished, a massive azure dragon soared from the bridge’s edge, extending a giant azure claw downward—a Seven-Star Rainbow piercing the heavens, uniting ten thousand miles as one.

With a crackling sound, Xu Zhong’s Swallowing Cloud Sword was halted midair.

“Azure Dragon Technique?” Xu Zhong was slightly surprised.

The technique held the essence of the Seven Azure Dragon Mansions.

“But you’ve learned it disrespectfully!” Xu Zhong recalled the Swallowing Cloud Sword and stepped forward.

Behind him manifested the seven Azure Dragon Mansions: Horn, Neck, Root, Room, Heart, Tail, and Winnowing Basket.

The seven mansions coalesced into a towering azure dragon spanning heaven and earth.

It extended a giant claw, pressing down with the force to cover the universe, accompanied by the rising and falling energies of Jia and Yi wood elements.

Behind the claw, the azure dragon leapt; azure qi rolled like a sea, mist and clouds swirling magnificently.

Where this claw pressed, all Qi Refiners felt their vitality begin to fade.

The Qi Refiner wielding the Azure Dragon Technique was startled, then slapped his palm out, stars igniting within it, setting Xu Zhong’s Azure Dragon Mansions ablaze.

At that moment, a female Qi Refiner’s voice rang out, “Senior Brother Ye, Junior Brother Lin is dead!”

Lin, the junior brother, was the first to attack them and was severely wounded; his vitality was completely erased.

“Junior Sister Zhang, your face?” Senior Brother Ye looked at the female Qi Refiner.

She was now white-haired, her face lined with wrinkles, skin shriveled and withered like an aged elder nearing death.

“Ah!” The woman screamed and collapsed, lifeless.

This is an excerpt from the novel "Sword Immortal, Not Immortal" by the great author Lan Yuan, brought to you with the fastest updates. To ensure you don’t miss the latest chapters, please be sure to bookmark the book!

Chapter 147: “Su Jie” — Free to read.