Chapter 165: Seizing Heavenstring Energy!
That mountain was actually an indescribably gigantic beast!
In fact, it was so large that no one could even see what it looked like. All they could make out in the 30,000-meter waterswamp was a gigantic bone spur!
Even more terrifying was that the base of the spur wasn’t even visible. 30,000 meters wasn’t big enough for the entirety of the spur to be revealed.
It was difficult to imagine… exactly how large that beast was!
“Th-this… this is the Waterswamp Kingdom?!?!”
“Impossible!!!”
“The Waterswamp Kingdom is a secret magic of the Spirit Stream Sect, but Bai Xiaochun’s version is completely shocking!!” The five Chosen were completely shaken. Ghostfang and Beihan Lie had it a bit better off than the others; they had been prepared for something like this. Even still, they were astonished by what was happening.
As for Nine-Isles and Xu Xiaoshan, they had never seen anything like the Waterswamp Kingdom before, and were so terrified that their scalps were numb.
Most shocked of all was Shangguan Tianyou. His hair was completely disheveled, and blood was oozing out of his mouth. He was so scared he looked like a wooden chicken; never in 10,000 years would he be willing to admit that Bai Xiaochun was stronger than him. And yet, he had no choice. Bai Xiaochun… was far, far more powerful than he was.
“Back in the Chosen battles, we weren’t that far apart from each other. But now, things are so different….”
As of this moment, the sky was going dark, and the lands were quaking.
Within the 30,000-meter waterswamp, there was only the enormous bone spur. Compared to that spur, the cultivators were like bugs, whereas Bai Xiaochun was like an immortal being with the world in his hands!
Massive rumbling stretched from the highest heavens to the deepest depths of the earth!
Not too far away, Song Que was in the middle of absorbing the bit of heavenstring energy that he’d snatched. But now, his mind was trembling. Earlier, he had intentionally split the heavenstring energy, hoping that while Bai Xiaochun and the others fought over the larger strand, he would be free to make away with the bit he had. But now, the fluctuations speeding out from Bai Xiaochun’s location left him gasping.
“Dammit. Those fluctuations….” Shocked, he tried to speed up the absorption process.
Bai Xiaochun was slaughtering everyone near him!
He had never slaughtered people like this before. His eyes shone with a fierce light, and he was trembling a bit, both visibly and mentally. His reaction had been instinctive; despite being at the peak of Earthstring Foundation Establishment with nine Tideflows, he still feared death. Therefore, he had no choice but to resort to fighting and killing in this situation.
That was especially true considering that so many people had been trying to rob him of his heavenstring energy. To him, that was the same as robbing him of his life, leaving him no choice other than to go all out.
The shocking Waterswamp Kingdom caused the five great Chosen to fall back, blood spraying out of their mouths, their expressions those of shock and astonishment. Virtually all of the Qi Condensation disciples exploded, creating haunting flowers of blood that filled the area.
There were a dozen or so people off in the distance who were outside of the range of Bai Xiaochun’s Waterswamp Kingdom. Their faces were ashen as they observed the devilish spectacle playing out in front of them. As of this moment, they were left gasping, and the frenzy they had felt because of the heavenstring energy faded away. Cold sweat popped out all over their bodies as they backed up.
“He’s so brutal! Is he really from the Spirit Stream Sect? He’s even more violent than the Blood Stream Sect people!”
“How vicious! That attack… wounded the five great Chosen, and killed dozens and dozens of Qi Condensation disciples!!”
Finally, Bai Xiaochun took to motion, speeding off into the distance. Ghostfang and the other Chosen had faces as pale as death as they watched him leave. None of them dared to chase him.
As they thought back to what had just occurred, they were sure that they had just had a brush with the aura of Heaven-Dao Foundation Establishment, leaving them no choice but to quash any desire they had to try to steal the heavenstring energy. The lingering fear they felt in their hearts forced them to admit that even if they tried to defeat him, they would fail….
Bai Xiaochun sped along for a bit, trembling and coughing up blood. His face was also pale; despite being at the peak of Earthstring Foundation Establishment, crushing five Chosen and a host of Qi Condensation disciples couldn’t be accomplished without being injured himself.
Without his Undying Gold Skin, those injuries would have been even more serious. Thankfully, the Undying Live Forever Technique gave him regenerative capabilities that far exceeded any ordinary disciple, and his body was already repairing itself.
“Last but not least, Song Que!
“He grabbed the smaller strand of heavenstring energy… and went in this direction!” Bai Xiaochun’s eyes were completely bloodshot; by this point, he had already absorbed quite a bit of the heavenstring energy into his spiritual seas, and his aura was already beginning to change.
However, he could tell that the amount he had wasn’t enough to fuel a full Heaven-Dao Foundation Establishment. Furthermore, he could clearly sense the smaller strand of heavenstring energy up ahead; it was like a bright fire burning on a moonless night.
“Song Que was prepared for the heavenstring energy to split apart; maybe he even made it happen!”
Without pausing for even a moment. Bai Xiaochun sped along.
In the beginning, about 400 people had entered the Fallen Sword Abyss. Now, there weren’t even sixty people left, and the majority of them were Spirit Stream Sect disciples.
The Pill Stream Sect forces had virtually been wiped out, having only five disciples remaining. The Profound Stream Sect only had about ten disciples left, and the Blood Stream Sect, a bit more than that.
Although the Spirit Stream Sect disciples had sustained severe casualties, after Bai Xiaochun completed his Tideflows, few died. Even those who had besieged him earlier because of the heavenstring energy only ended up getting injured, not killed. At the moment, there were more than thirty Spirit Stream Sect disciples left.
By this point, the brutality in the Fallen Sword World could only be exceeded by the events 800 years ago with Master Limitless of the Blood Stream Sect.
Now, Bai Xiaochun was getting close to matching that event!
Rumbling filled the sky as he sped toward Song Que. As for Song Que, he was in his temporary immortal’s cave, hair disheveled, hands pushed down onto his Feng Shui compass. Strands of heavenstring energy were rising up from the compass and entering his ears, nose, and mouth, to stream toward his eight spiritual seas.
Song Que knew that the heavenstring energy was not stabilized inside of him; if he were to be seriously injured, it would spill back out. The only way to stabilize it was through the passage of time, or by adding more heavenstring energy.
Furthermore, he had to absorb another portion to reach Heaven-Dao Foundation Establishment.
“Bai Xiaochun!!” When the last bit of heavenstring energy entered into him, he looked up, eyes radiating with madness. Some distance away, a beam of light approached, getting closer and closer until suddenly, an enormous violet cauldron appeared up above, which then shot down toward Song Que.
A deafening boom echoed out as the immortal’s cave was destroyed. Howling at the top of his lungs, Song Que burst out into the air, slamming into Bai Xiaochun.
Neither of them could run from this battle. Each of them needed the portion of heavenstring energy that was contained within the other’s body. As of this point, they had to call on their trump cards.
“This guy’s definitely fully prepared,” Bai Xiaochun thought. “I have to find an opportunity to get that heavenstring energy out of him. If the fight drags on for too long, too many things could go wrong!” Without any hesitation, he attacked with even greater speed than before.
Song Que’s right hand flashed with an incantation gesture, and he stabbed his finger toward Bai Xiaochun. Instantly, a blood seal appeared beneath Bai Xiaochun, which then exploded upward in an attack. Simultaneously, strands of blood qi swirled out of Song Que, forming together in front of him into a blood-colored sword tip.
Bai Xiaochun performed another incantation gesture, summoning a violet cauldron, as well as projections of a dragon and a mammoth. Closing in on Song Que, he unleashed the power of his fleshly body in the form of punches and kicks that contained mountain-toppling, sea-draining power.
Both the Golden Crow Sword and his little wooden sword appeared, whistling through the air with incredible power.
He also unleashed two swords with threefold spirit enhancement designs. Sword qi raged. Black mist roiled out of the little wooden sword, and as for the Golden Crow Sword, because Bai Xiaochun was now in Foundation Establishment, the golden crow that materialized raged with flames far exceeding the previous version.
Within a few short moments, the two of them exchanged hundreds of volleys, and the fight only grew more and more brutal. Song Que had the power of eight Tideflows, so when he attacked, it resulted in terrifying, thunderous booms.
Bai Xiaochun was equally extraordinary. He had his Undying Gold Skin, and had broken through the first shackle of mortality. He had the power of nine Tideflows, which placed him on a higher level than Song Que. But he was injured, which put him in a worse position. Of course, Song Que had also been injured. Each blow struck by one would result in some heavenstring energy leaking out of the other, which would then be quickly absorbed by their opponent.
Overall, Song Que seemed to be losing more heavenstring energy. He had already lost about fifty percent of his original amount, while Bai Xiaochun had only lost thirty!
As they fought back and forth, Bai Xiaochun only continued to absorb more and more.
Divine ability after divine ability was unleashed. Although Song Que was at a disadvantage, he had a huge reserve of blood qi. Soon, he was summoning an enormous blood sword that filled Bai Xiaochun with a sensation of deadly crisis. Furthermore, his Undying Gold Skin was starting to grow dim, as if he couldn’t sustain its use for much longer.
Bai Xiaochun could already tell what Song Que was doing. He knew that he wasn’t a match for Bai Xiaochun, and yet took him on anyway. That meant that, in addition to the maddened way he was fighting, he definitely had another trump card up his sleeve.
After all… Song Que was one of the most powerful Chosen from the Blood Stream Sect, a sect which shook all three other sects. Although there might be other more powerful Chosen from his sect, none of them were here now, and now that he was forced into fighting, he would definitely surpass any ordinary cultivator.
Song Que didn’t seem to be in a good position. However, it was at this point that he opened his mouth and spat out a blood sphere. Bai Xiaochun had been waiting for this to happen, and immediately fell back. As he did, the blood sphere exploded, unleashing devastating force in all directions.
The sky shook, and a gale force wind ripped over the lands below. A huge, 300-meter-area was completely flattened down below, and at the same time, blood oozed out of the corners of Bai Xiaochun’s mouth. Song Que also coughed up some blood, but then he took a deep breath, and his body withered visibly. That in turn restored his power levels; expression vicious, he began to advance toward Bai Xiaochun.
“Die!!” he cried, reaching back and grabbing the blood qi sword, which he slashed viciously toward Bai Xiaochun. The sword arced through the air, making it look like a blood-colored crescent moon!
This was his trump card!
The secret magic from Middle Peak in the Blood Stream Sect, the Blood Annihilation World!
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Translator: Deathblade. Chinese language consultant: ASI a.k.a. Beerblade. Editor: GNE. Memes: Logan. Meme archives: Tocsin. Transcendent Patrons: Daoist Elder N, BLE, ttre208