Chapter 31: Thirty-six Swords Unleashed
Decide life and death, settle karma!
As Li Honggang’s words rang out, the cultivators gathered around the southern gate of Hai Xia City became feverishly excited.
The world of cultivation is far crueler than the mundane, and though there are distinctions between righteous and demonic paths, cultivators always place their own interests first. They embark on the road to immortality not for peace in the world, but to pursue longevity—a choice that is, by its very nature, a struggle against the heavens.
“So domineering! No wonder he’s a cultivator of the Li family.”
“A powerful dynasty a thousand years ago, now an elite family among cultivators—there’s true backbone in their lineage.”
“The man in white looks so calm—who is he, really?”
“He shouldn’t be Lu Yuanjun; Lu Yuanjun no longer needs a mask. Seems the Taiyuan Sect has produced another remarkable genius.”
“I think he might be a peak master or an elder of Taiyuan Sect!”
Standing atop the city wall, Gu Li listened to the surrounding murmurs. The corners of her mouth, hidden beneath her veil, quirked in disdain—he was no elder, but a genius surpassing even Lu Yuanjun!
Before she entered Taiyuan Sect, her father had often spoken of Lu Yuanjun, admiring how he would surely become a pillar of the future Da Qi cultivation world. Gu Li had always felt dissatisfied, thinking herself no less talented, wondering why her father never praised her.
Although she had yet to meet Lu Yuanjun, deep down she believed that any so-called genius paled before Fang Wang, insignificant and unworthy of mention.
As she listened to the crowd, Gu Li’s worries faded, replaced by anticipation.
Fang Wang would surely win!
Tang Chengfeng stared intently at Fang Wang, silent, his expression unreadable.
Beside him, the woman in white muttered, “His figure is decent, but I wonder if his face beneath the mask is handsome.”
Li Honggang emanated a visible aura of heat. He soared into the air, with no magical artifact beneath his feet. The long blade standing in the soil trembled, then shot forth, its hilt falling smoothly into his right hand.
Gripping the blade, Li Honggang fixed his gaze on Fang Wang. His robe billowed, long hair swirling, like a madman possessed.
Through the mask, Fang Wang’s eyes were revealed; within his pupils, Li Honggang’s figure blazed with fire, gradually merging with the blazing sun above.
Li Honggang continued to ascend, now able to overlook Fang Wang.
In that moment, he seemed like the sun in the sky, his aura reaching its peak. The flames extended along his blade, forming a terrifying blade aura three yards long. Under the sun’s brilliance, this aura began to burn.
Fang Wang raised his sword, its tip pointing upward, the blade horizontal before him. Sword forms gathered around him.
One sword!
Three swords!
Nine swords!
Twelve swords!
This display thrilled the watching cultivators. Among them, the pursuit of sword mastery was paramount. The Jinghong Divine Sword Technique was renowned—years ago, Yang Yuanzi had used it to charge alone through Qingchan Valley, escaping unscathed. That battle still inspires countless cultivators.
It was also why Yang Yuanzi was able to inherit Taiyuan Sect’s peerless Nine Heavens Azure Thunder Sword Formation!
As Fang Wang’s forms surpassed twenty-four, sword cultivators on the wall began counting.
“Thirty-two swords! It really is the Jinghong Thirty-Two Swords!”
Someone shouted in fervor, his hand gripping the scabbard trembling.
Thirty-two swords circled Fang Wang, all pointed at Li Honggang. The combined might of the thirty-two made Fang Wang’s aura soar, equal to that of Li Honggang.
“No wonder my son died at your hands. Man in white—let me see just how powerful the Jinghong Thirty-Two Swords truly are!”
Li Honggang lifted his blade, pointing obliquely at Fang Wang, his gaze arrogant.
The aura of the Jinghong Thirty-Two Swords was indeed strong, but as he felt Fang Wang’s presence, Li Honggang dared a bold thought:
The opponent might not have reached the Spirit Pill Realm!
This suspicion shocked him, seeming impossible, and from deep within, a fear he had never known took root.
To have such power without reaching Spirit Pill Realm—this was a genius more terrifying than Li Hongshuang. He could not imagine the heights Li Hongshuang might reach, nor predict the future limits of this “Man in White.”
Such a terrifying existence, should he bear resentment toward the Li family, would spell disaster!
He must be killed!
Li Honggang’s eyes blazed with murderous intent. His aura surged, the flames on his blade growing fiercer.
“Thirty-two swords?”
Fang Wang’s voice suddenly rang out, tinged with disdain.
Fang Wang’s right wrist twisted, the blade pointed at his brow, his gaze sharp as lightning.
Boom!
Fang Wang’s aura intensified, four more sword forms appearing, thirty-six swords suspended about him, forming a great circle.
Each layer of the Jinghong Divine Sword Technique increases not only the number of swords, but also the sword intent and force. With every additional sword, the power grows exponentially!
With thirty-six swords unleashed, Fang Wang’s sword force soared skyward; even the cultivators gathered at the southern gate were shaken, many feeling their own swords tremble.
The sword case on Gu Li’s back quivered uncontrollably. At that moment, she recalled the day when all natal treasures in Taiyuan Sect lost control—her own experienced something similar.
Was that phenomenon caused by him?
Gu Li remembered Fang Wang’s hurried return that day—could it have been...?
Her eyes burned with expectation as she gazed at Fang Wang.
“Jinghong Thirty-Six Swords!”
Tang Chengfeng enunciated each syllable, his face growing solemn.
All the cultivators at the southern gate were moved, pressing down their swords as they watched Fang Wang in excitement.
Li Honggang was equally stunned, panic flashing in his eyes.
Thirty-six swords!
Impossible!
His mind was shaken, his blood surging. A fierce terror gripped him. He roared and swung his blade.
A blazing blade aura nearly five yards long swept across the sky, unleashing a sea of fire that condensed into a massive fireball like the sun itself, hurtling toward Fang Wang at incredible speed!
Fang Wang’s eyes narrowed. He swung his sword forward, thirty-six blades raining down like thunder, unstoppable as a flood.
In an instant, Fang Wang seemed to wield not just thirty-six swords, but three hundred and sixty!
Boom—
The sword rain surged forth, dispersing the fiery sun with overwhelming force. Li Honggang’s eyes widened as his robe was shredded by sword energy, unable to react in time.
Under the gaze of all present, Fang Wang’s slash with the Jinghong Thirty-Six Swords multiplied, overwhelming Li Honggang’s blazing sun blade with a dazzling number of strikes. None could even follow Li Honggang’s movements before he was swallowed by the sword rain.
The mighty torrent swept across the sky above Hai Xia City, stretching for miles before dissipating, leaving a spectacular flow of energy in the air.
When the sword rain passed, Li Honggang’s figure was gone. Only his long blade and a spirit pill, red and wreathed in flames, remained.
The blade slowly fell, dissolving into smoke as it descended.
When a natal treasure dissipates, its master is dead.
As Li Honggang’s spirit pill struck the earth, Fang Wang turned and vanished in a streak of white, disappearing swiftly beyond the horizon.
Hai Xia City was plunged into silence.
“The man in white has won!”
A man shouted in excitement, breaking the stillness and setting the city ablaze with thunderous cheers.
Li Honggang’s son, the young man in purple, and other Li family disciples stood before the gate, dazed. With a thud, the young man in purple knelt, utterly lost.
“My heavens! Thirty-six swords!”
“The Jinghong Divine Sword Technique really has thirty-six swords? Such a powerful sword technique!”
“We thought it would be a great battle, but Li Honggang couldn’t withstand even a single strike...”
“Who is this man in white? To slay a third-tier Spirit Pill Realm cultivator with one sword—isn’t that unbelievable?”
“The Taiyuan Sect has produced another world-shaking talent!”
As all the cultivators exclaimed, Gu Li gazed in the direction Fang Wang had departed, a smile lifting the corners of her mouth beneath the veil.
Having witnessed Fang Wang slay Li Honggang in a single stroke, she felt no shock, only that it was as it should be.
“Father, you said that when a true prodigy appears, others are rendered dim by comparison. I have truly met such a person.”
Gu Li thought silently, then turned to leave.
Fang Wang’s power had not crushed her spirit; instead, it made her eager to return to the sect and cultivate.
Tang Chengfeng looked toward the horizon, sighing, “Zhixin, let us go to Taiyuan Sect. With the Jinghong Thirty-Six Swords revealed, the world will be thrown into upheaval. Taiyuan, that hidden dragon, is finally ready to soar.”
The woman in white beside him was still in shock, her gaze vacant, unable to recover.
The sun hung high overhead, the streams of energy above Hai Xia City lingering long, as if the sword intent of the man in white was engraved deep within the hearts of all who witnessed the battle, never to be erased.