Chapter 23: Nine Hell King Sword

Sword Dynasty

Volume 2

Chapter 23: Nine Hell King Sword

Seeing Ding Ning remain silent and stand by his side, holding an umbrella to shield him from the wind and snow, Xue Wangxu smiled, feeling comforted.

He then coughed lightly and looked at Liang Lian, whose feet were covered in blood, his hands covered in blood, and his chest covered in blood. He said softly, with a hint of pride in his voice, “In terms of age and strength, I am clearly inferior to you. But I am stronger than you in my understanding of the sword manual. Therefore, in the end, I won.”

Liang Lian was silent.

For him, victory or defeat was not as important as the wound between his chest and abdomen.

He could still feel Xue Wangxu's sword essence raging through his body. He was certain that this kind of injury would have a significant impact on him for years to come.

He suddenly felt a wave of unbearable irritation.

Although he knew full well that his opponent had also paid a heavy price and would not live much longer, this indescribable surge of irritation made him wish Xue Wangxu would die right there and then.

So he silently extended his right hand. But at this very moment, everyone in front of the camp gate suddenly seemed to sense something. They looked up at the sky.

The snow and clouds split in two with a hollow passage in the middle.

A terrifying wave of power fell down acting like an impenetrable wall to block Liang Lian from Xue Wangxu and Ding Ning.

The hard, cold stone ground suddenly collapsed. With a hissing cracking sound, a gap appeared.

This gap, approximately one hundred feet long, was perfectly straight, and from beginning to end, was only a finger's width without the slightest deviation.

This was a sword mark.

Many cultivators in the camp were shocked and speechless at the sight of this sword mark. Their gazes traveled through the hollow passage  that split the sky and landed on the nearest defense tower.

In their shock, they wondered, who on the defense tower could use a sword strike like this from such a long distance?

Liang Lian’s expression froze slightly. He stared silently at the sword mark in front of him and slowly withdrew his right hand. Then he slowly turned and walked towards the camp gate.

Under the umbrella, Xue Wangxu laughed.

“It’s over,” he said softly to Ding Ning, then turned to leave.

Ding Ning still did not speak. He tried to hold the umbrella tightly to block out the wind and snow as much as possible.

Xue Wangxu took a few steps. The glow on his face faded, and he seemed to be rapidly tiring.

“Still can't do it.”

He shook his head, sighed, and reached out to rest his arm on Ding Ning's shoulder.

Ding Ning remained silent. He leaned closer to Xue Wangxu and used his thin shoulders to support most of Xue Wangxu's weight.

“This is truly incredible!”

Xue Wangxu looked at the falling snow around him and felt a bone-chilling cold and weakness he had not felt since he became a cultivator so long ago. He laughed again. “Defeating the great general of the Northern Tiger-Wolf Army and having the master of His Majesty and the bureau chief of the Bureau of Ancestral Law execute the Cloud Piercing Sword for me. Today, I truly feel glorious.”

Ding Ning glanced at him. His voice trembled but was filled with unspeakable determination, “As long as you're happy.”

The snow grew heavier.

Watching the large and small figures departing under the umbrella, the old man on the defense tower displayed complicated emotions in his gaze.

“Xue Wangxu’s display today is shocking,” he whispered. “This disciple with him is also extraordinary.”

Huang Zhenwei could not help but praise sincerely, “Extraordinary.”

 

Amidst the wind and snow, on top of a tower closer to the military camp, a woman dressed in white watched Xue Wangxu and Ding Ning leave.

She was Ye Celeng.

Although her cultivation was slightly higher than Liang Lian and Xue Wangxu’s, and she had only arrived at the final stage of their battle, she was still deeply shocked by the fact that Liang Lian was also above realm seven, coupled with Xue Wangxu’s final sword strike.

She stared at the large umbrella disappearing into the wind and snow and did not immediately leave. She was deep in thought. This battle seemed to have reminded her of many things and given her some insights.

Xue Wangxu and Liang Lian, who had drawn a large portion of the primal energies of the universes like moving a mountain, had attracted the attention of many cultivators in Changling. The majority of people wanted to witness the battle between cultivators above realm seven with their own eyes. However, few of the cultivators who had previously been unaware of the event had the ability to arrive as quickly as Ye Celeng. Most had only just determined the general location of the battle when it had already ended.

 

A middle-aged man dressed as a scholar was moving quickly towards the Northern Camp of the Tiger-Wolf Army through the winter forest by the river. At this moment, he no longer felt the violent ripples in the primal energies of the universe. He even felt the howling wind and snow seem to have calmed down. The middle-aged scholar stopped and could not help but sigh softly.

Five years ago, he had become a realm six first-class cultivator, but after five years, he was still at his original position. He had not sensed the slightest sign of the Mountain Moving Realm.

Today, as he felt the primal energies of the universe moving through the air like giant mountains, he thought that if he could witness an all-out battle between realm seven cultivators at a close distance, perhaps he would have a chance to breakthrough.

But the opportunity just passed.

Although he had chosen the most direct route, he was still very far from the military camp, and the battle there had already ended.

In Changling, one might hope to see simple sparring or sword discussions between cultivators above realm seven, but how many more years would it take to see a real battle like this?

“Are you so regretful? What a pity, this is heaven’s will. Even if there were such a battle, you wouldn’t be there, and you would die because of it.”

At this moment, a cold voice rang out from the winter forest beside him.

Hearing this voice, the middle-aged scholar suddenly had an extremely ominous premonition and felt extremely wary.

He intuitively felt that the cultivator who had spoken seemed to have been waiting in the winter forest long before, but he had not been able to sense her presence at all.

A woman slowly appeared before him.

Her body was shrouded in wind and snow. And what was even more frightening was that although he could see the scenery amidst the wind and snow, he could not see anything around her clearly.

“Who are you?”

He thought it was impossible for him to have an enemy like this, especially a woman whose cultivation was clearly superior to his. The pale-faced, beardless middle-aged scholar added in surprise, “Did you mistake me for someone else?”

“Aren't you Nangong Shang? One of the sword armory disciples of the Ba Mountain Sword Field?” The woman's cold voice sounded again.

The middle-aged scholar's face turned snow-white, as if he had been bitten by a snake, his body instinctively shrinking back. Something seemed to be choking his throat. He let out a sound of disbelief. “Are you the last survivor of the Ba Mountain Sword Field?”

The woman in the wind and snow seemed to have confirmed his identity and didn't seem to want to waste any words. She said coldly and quickly, “No, Five Goat Pill.”

“No?”

Nangong Shang stilled. He stared at the woman in confusion and repeated, “Five Goat Pill?”

The woman said unhappily and coldly, “I want the recipe for the Five Goat Pill.”

“Five Goat Pill recipe?” Nangong Shang became even more confused. “Just for a pill recipe like that?”

The woman said, “You don’t know the recipe?”

Nangong Shang suddenly felt a terrifying murderous intent. His body froze slightly, and he said coldly, “My Nangong family has this pill recipe, but I don’t have it on me. Besides, this recipe is one of many recipes my Nangong family has. I don’t use it in my daily life, so how could I possibly remember it clearly?”

The woman seemed to have known he would answer like that. She said quickly as if she was reciting from a book, “Tell me where the pill recipe is in your house. If you lie, I will kill everyone in your house. I know you are a filial son and love your elderly mother dearly, taking meticulous care of her. I suppose you don’t want to see her head separated from her body.”

Nangong Shang stood up angrily and said sharply, “Who exactly are you? Even if you are one of those great rebels, this is Changling, and it’s close to the Northern Camp of the Tiger-Wolf Army. I don’t know how many cultivators are here and paying attention, and I don’t know how many important figures are inside. Even if you succeed in killing me, I don’t believe you’ll be able to escape after fighting me.”

The woman shrouded in wind and snow seemed to have known he would say such things. She did not hesitate at all and said coldly, “If I kill you here, I won’t have to attract their attention.”

As she spoke, a strange chill suddenly spread through the wind and snow in the winter forest.

Nangong Shang suddenly looked up in fear.

He saw that the snow outside was still falling slowly, and it had no't changed at all. However, all the falling snow, when it was a few feet above his and the woman's heads, seemed to settle and gather dozens of feet around them, as if falling to the ground. The accumulated snow grew thicker and formed a snow curtain.

The winter forest was covered by this strange snow curtain and seemed to become a unique world. The wind and snow outside couldn't penetrate in the slightest, and not even the primal energies of the universe could enter or exit.

This was a unique Spirit Formation, a formation that had been waiting for him to enter.

Nangong Shang's forehead was drenched in sweat, but he still held onto a last hope.

He laughed sinisterly. “Such a powerful formation… but the primal energies of the universe can't enter. So what if you're a Mountain Moving Realm cultivator? I'm already at realm six first-class. How can you defeat me so quickly?”

The wind and snow around the woman quickly disappeared.

Nangong Shang's sharp laughter suddenly stopped. He felt the space in front of him seem to light up. Appearing before him was a stunningly beautiful face. But at the same time, a deep blue flame appeared in this stunningly beautiful woman's hand.

His breathing suddenly stopped. He suddenly felt his blood freeze from this presence, and he felt like he could not win.

The dark blue light intensified until it became a deep dark blue.

“Nine Hell King Sword!”

Seeing the final color of his opponent's lifebound sword and the countless blue ice shards suddenly floating in the air, Nangong Shang completely lost his composure and screamed as if he had seen a ghost.

 

Notes:

This novel is not my work... I just translated it from a Chinese web novel written by Wu Zui

Previously

Next