Chapter 23 Life and Death

"That's all you've got, and you dare to run wild before me?"

With six silver pearls in his hand, Zhou Hai looked at Ye Chen, who had just spat out a mouthful of blood, his gaze dark and gloomy.

"You managed to dodge once, let's see how you dodge a second time! To die under my 'Six Extreme Silver Pearls,' you should close your eyes in resignation!"

As his words fell, his eyes instantly turned piercingly cold and fearsome. Boundless True Qi violently swept out from him, and at the same time, the six silver pearls in his hands flew up again.

"Six Extreme Killing Formation!"

This time, not only did the six silver pearls grow larger, but they also formed a bizarrely shaped hexagonal array, permeated with terrifying killing intent. Carrying rolling waves of True Qi, they bombarded Ye Chen once more.

The speed and power of the six silver pearls this time were faster and more astonishing than before!

Even though Ye Chen had already discerned the direction of their deadly onslaught as soon as the silver pearls shot out, he still felt like there was no way to evade them.

This was probably the might that only a superior Yellow-tier martial skill could possess!

"Torrential Rain Sword Skills, Torrential Rain Filling the Skies!"

With evasion no longer an option, and no need for further evasion, Ye Chen, who no longer had a sword in his hand, still executed his strongest killing move.

With a flick of his fingers in the air, a fierce wind surged, as if a strange energy flitted across the field. In an instant, the fractured fine steel sword fragments on the ground burst into the air, now suspended in space.

In the next split second, they exploded furiously into motion, forming a dense shower of sword fragments that collided with the oncoming six silver pearls.

There were dozens of fragments, all manipulated by Ye Chen through empty-air control, a highly profound technique for sword technique manipulation!

Facing Zhou Hai, whose True Qi Realm and martial arts were overwhelmingly powerful, Ye Chen finally ignited the Sword Intent Seed he had newly touched upon the threshold of mastering.

Sword Intents, the most formidable means in the sword art realm. Even just touching upon the threshold and gathering a tiny Sword Intent Seed could greatly amplify the power of sword techniques.

Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!

In the sky, the formidable offensive moves of both sides collided in an instant, accompanied by the loud impacts of True Qi, and then the six silver pearls and the myriad fine steel sword fragments violently smashed into one another.

"My Six Extreme Silver Pearls are specifically crafted for the Six Extreme Killing Formation. You think these lousy fine steel swords could stop me?"

Seeing the two powers clash in the sky, Zhou Hai sneered coldly, his hand seals dramatically changing. The vast True Qi that enveloped the six silver pearls poured into them. In the blink of an eye, the beads suddenly emitted a whistling sound and once again ruthlessly pressed down on the fine steel sword fragments.

Thud!

The doubled force of the six silver pearls, coupled with the Sword Intent Seed-controlled fine steel sword fragments, collided fiercely, erupting into a thunderous explosion.

Amidst the deafening blast, the fine steel sword fragments had completely disintegrated into powder, but this time, the torrent of sword fragments actually blasted the six silver pearls back in recoil.

The rebounded silver pearls had lost much of their original silver brightness.

Ptui!

Zhou Hai virtually spat out blood the moment the silver pearls and the fine steel swords collided, clearly suffering from an internal injury due to the backlash of their colliding forces.

And his body was swept away by the shockwave of the collision, tumbling backward to the ground with a crash.

Thud! Thud! Thud!

The six silver pearls, rebounding back, fell beside him.

Looking at the dimmed silver pearls by his side and still-standing Ye Chen, Zhou Hai's eyes were filled with disbelief, "How is this possible!"

He was at the seventh level of the True Qi Realm and had even used a well-crafted superior Yellow-tier martial technique. The Six Extreme Silver Pearls were much stronger in quality than Ye Chen's fine steel sword.

Yet, in this clash, he was the one who had been severely injured.

This utterly shattered his understanding.

Breathless, Zhou Hai struggled to his feet with trembling arms, gazing at the powdered fine steel swords falling to the ground. Suddenly, a thought struck him, "Sword Intents!"

"Could it be that you have touched the realm of Sword Intents?"

"No! Impossible! There are countless prodigies in the Heavenly Net Sect, yet none could touch the realm of Sword Intents at the True Qi Realm stage. You're only at the fifth level of the True Qi Realm, how could you possibly have touched the realm of Sword Intents!"

Zhou Hai stared at Ye Chen, his eyes red and incredulous.

For the first time, facing the Ye Chen whom he had deemed unworthy, Zhou Hai felt a sense of danger.

"Sword Intents, indeed the most formidable stage of sword arts. Remarkable!"

"I've only just touched the threshold of Sword Intents, gathered a whiff of the Sword Intent Seed, and I could already enhance my sword technique power this much."

"If I fully master Sword Intents, perhaps my Torrential Rain Sword Skills could reach the level of a Profound-tier martial technique!"

Sword Intents, truly worthy of being a sword art realm that even Spirit Sea Realm experts rarely comprehend, mightily incomparable, enhancing the sword technique's power many times over compared to the 'Sword Follows Heart' stage!

Looking at Zhou Hai, who lay on the ground spitting blood, unable to believe his eyes, Ye Chen was also somewhat surprised by the power of his last move.

"Come again!"

Ye Chen stepped forward, his fingers shaping the empty-air gesture once more, as a wind of Sword Intent once again spread throughout the heavens and earth.

Swoosh! Swoosh! Swoosh!

Stones from the ground started to levitate and suspend in the air, and then, all at once, they hurtled towards Zhou Hai.

Having gained greatly from his previous move, Ye Chen gave no chance for Zhou Hai to catch his breath, intent on completely defeating him!

"Sword Intents! It really is Sword Intents!"

Zhou Hai, watching the stones levitating, finally grasped the methods of Ye Chen.

No wonder this youngster dared to challenge me. He had actually comprehended Sword Intents!

Facing the furious barrage of stones, Zhou Hai suddenly burst into laughter, "Hahaha, to think that a mere disciple at the fifth level of the True Qi Realm would push me to this point. I really misjudged the situation!"

"But now, it really should come to an end!"

As he said these words, the crazed laughter came to an abrupt halt. Then, with a fierce slap on his waist, a piece of yellow talisman paper suddenly flew out.

No sooner had the piece of yellow paper taken flight than it self-ignited without any wind, and following that, a terrifying sound of a speargun resonated in all directions.

Amidst this sound of a speargun, the heavens and earth seemed to dim, and countless streams of True Qi from all around crazily surged into the burning talisman paper. At the same time, a thick blood light tumbled in the air, and a blood-colored spear, over thirty meters in length, appeared in the sky.

The moment the long spear appeared, the countless stones flying towards Zhou Hai shattered as if they had hit a barrier, and then, with a turnaround of the spear's tip and a fierce flick of its tail, it shot towards Ye Chen carrying a torrent of blood light.

"What is this thing?!"

Seeing the burning talisman paper and the Blood Spear emerge, Ye Chen was greatly alarmed in his heart!

This was clearly not a feat that someone of the True Qi Realm could possess!

"Could it be, the measure left to him by Zhou Hai's Spirit Sea Realm master father?"

In an instant, this thought flashed through Ye Chen's mind.

And at the same time, the colossal Blood Spear, as if slicing through the void, instantly pierced through the air to Ye Chen's front.

What to do?

How to dodge!

In the blink of an eye, Ye Chen almost subconsciously thought of the fragment he had obtained from the Silver-Veined Snake Demon's body, the entity referred to as a spiritual instrument fragment by Zhou Hai.

Facing this Blood Spear, whose origin he couldn't fathom, his only hope lay in the fragment which had allowed the Silver-Veined Snake Demon to suddenly surge in strength and let him touch the threshold of the wondrous Sword Intents.

Whoosh!

Ye Chen's Sword Intent Seed swept up, and the palm-sized fragment, in an instant, shot out from his waist into the air, directly meeting the piercing long spear.

Boom!

As the fragment collided with the tip of the long spear, endless spiritual light burst forth, illuminating the heavens and earth.

This endless spiritual light caused the True Qi vortex within Ye Chen's body to whirr abruptly, making everything in the world pale in comparison.

It seemed like a long time had passed, yet it also appeared to be just a moment.

In the midst of the collision between the fragment and the long spear, the long spear shattered directly, turning into phantoms that dissipated completely in the air. The broken sword fragment, however, somersaulted and fell from the sky.

Ye Chen reached out to catch the fragment and found it had faint spear marks on it. Apart from that, there were no other signs of damage.

This broken sword fragment had actually withstood the Blood Spear unleashed by the burning talisman paper!

"How is that possible!"

Seeing even the Blood Spear smashed by Ye Chen, Zhou Hai had become completely dumbfounded.

"This is the life-saving Spirit Talisman my father left me; even a strong man at the twelfth layer of the True Qi Realm would be blasted to death by the talisman!"

"A spiritual instrument fragment, you can actually control a spiritual instrument fragment!"

"Sword Intents, it's from this spiritual instrument fragment that you realized the Sword Intents, which enabled you to activate it!"

Zhou Hai yelled maniacally, screaming out the inconceivability in his heart.

Ye Chen, watching Zhou Hai who seemed mad, went step by step towards him.

"No, you can't kill me, my father is a mid-level Spirit Sea Realm strong man, if you dare kill me, my father will personally slay you wherever on earth!" Seeing Ye Chen's movements, Zhou Hai ran backward like crazy, shouting at the top of his lungs.

Thud!

A piece of the fragment flew up once again, like a whirling flying sword, slicing directly across Zhou Hai's neck.

Bang!

A large head soared into the air as if frozen, with blood spurting wildly from the severed neck like a fountain.

Boom!

Afterward, Zhou Hai's head, along with his body, crashed down onto the ground with a thud.

"Can't kill you?"

"Damn it, you made move after move wishing to put me to death, if I let you go, could I really expect you to spare me next time?"

"So what if you are a mid-level Spirit Sea Realm strong man, one day, I too will become a Spirit Sea Realm strong man!"

Ye Chen looked at Zhou Hai's corpse and retrieved the broken sword fragment.

"This is not a place to stay for long." After looking around, Ye Chen turned and walked away.

Having taken only a couple of steps, he seemed to recall something and returned to Zhou Hai's dead body, searching it.

"Unsurprising for the son of a Spirit Sea Realm strong man, carrying so many good things on him."

After taking a large roll of Gold Banknotes, along with the two talisman papers which Zhou Hai had used just like the Blood Spear, several Manuals, and a few other items, Ye Chen turned into a lingering shadow and flew swiftly towards the next Mountain Region.

Leaving only Zhou Hai's head, along with his corpse, lying in a pool of blood.

More than half an hour later, accompanied by the roar of a lion beast, eight young figures finally found their way into the valley.

When they saw the headless corpse and the nearby rolling head in the valley, these youngsters instantly turned pale.

"Heavens, oh heavens, our young master, this, this..."

Then, a sharp scream rang throughout the valley: "A great calamity has befallen the young master, quickly inform the elders! We're finished, we're all finished!"