Chương 53: War God — Chapter 53 - At Last, the Demon Blade — Slaying Immortal Flying Blade, First Layer:

Wang Xian's heart jolted. So it was true. The Long Yuan who obtained the Blood-Drinking Frenzy Blade in his past life was him. Not someone else with the same name.

"What demon blade?" The veterans had no idea what he was talking about. But they knew one thing: the Long Yuan standing before them now was no longer the Long Yuan they'd known. An active blade puppet with martial talent? What kind of monster was that?

"Your target is me. Don't harm them." Wang Xian stepped forward casually, then waved behind him.

"Get out of here."

"No!" The three buzz-cut men clenched their teeth.

"He's right." The flip-flop captain looked deeply at Wang Xian.

"Otherwise we all die here. If we leave the relic, run to the next platform, wait for the train to return and tell the staff, request the soldiers on board to mobilize and suppress this, maybe there's still a chance."

"Otherwise, I can't imagine what happens next..." As a Second Realm martial artist, his vision reached further than the First Realm veterans. He'd already sensed that the Skeletal Blade Tomb had changed completely.

"Go. Now." Wang Xian waved again, his tone firm. They gritted their teeth. The buzz-cut man turned and shouted as he ran:"Little Feng, Long Yuan excels at dual blades. His talent is in his eyes, an extremely rare high-level talent called Spiritual Link Eyes. It's practically X-ray vision. It maps out a martial artist's body structure and pinpoints weaknesses instantly."

"Especially the vulnerable points of martial techniques!"

"And his best blade technique is the Eight Cleaving Blade from the basic forms. They say he's reached Pinnacle Mastery." The buzz-cut man knew Long Yuan's martial background well.

"How do you know so much?" the veteran asked, surprised.

"Back at the club... Brother Yuan was half an idol to me..." The buzz-cut man's voice dropped.

"His blade skills were unmatched. He was diligent, always learning, and he'd give pointers to us hired martial artists with sloppy technique... He treated us all really well." But why. Why was he the active blade puppet of the Skeletal Blade Tomb? The Tomb-Guarding Clan... What was that? He didn't know. Didn't dare think about it. Right now he could only run with everything he had, praying the train would return faster. The group fled quickly. Wang Xian remained where he was, gradually surrounded by blade puppets.

"You don't seem surprised at all." Long Yuan looked at Wang Xian, his deep voice carrying something strange. Wang Xian thought to himself: Honestly, a little. But not much. You were the Western Shu Blade Demon who shook an entire region in the past life. No matter what you turned into, it made sense. And according to the final reports from his past life, after Long Yuan's corpse was dissected, it was already neither human nor beast. Now he was an active blade puppet with martial talent.

That actually made more sense!

"Doesn't matter. You're a dead man anyway." Long Yuan's twin blades danced. He leaped suddenly, charging at Wang Xian like lightning.

"Eight Cleaving Blade, Wind-Breaking Chain Slash!" The twin blades moved like twin moons, linked front to back. Blade light fell in a crescent arc. Blade aura traced tangible, peerless sharpness. In a single breath, eight consecutive slashes came down without pause. As a basic blade technique emphasizing combo strikes, the Eight Cleaving Blade could reach eight slashes maximum. Once unleashed, its power multiplied, nearly impossible to evade. You could only take it head-on. Extremely difficult.

And now, Long Yuan, already approaching Second Realm, executed this Pinnacle Mastery Eight Cleaving Blade. Combined with his blade-puppet physique, he radiated terrifying momentum capable of annihilating everything before him. The author's narrative has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon. Wang Xian said nothing. He simply held his long blade and swung out a single stroke: Wind and Rain Like Gloom. Instantly, the rain curtain became blades.

Equally majestic blade aura flowed out, continuous like running water. The two blade auras collided. A blast wave erupted outward. Surrounding blade puppets scattered in all directions. When the dust settled, Long Yuan stood in place, twin blades trembling faintly. His eyes looked at Wang Xian with shock.

"Impossible. You shouldn't have the strength to counterattack..."

"You've been invaded by baleful aura, fought battle after battle..."

"A martial artist whose life force isn't even 10... How can you still possess such power?" That's right. In that exchange, he'd come out on the losing end. Practically impossible! At the same time, as the blast wave and smoke dispersed, Wang Xian's figure slowly emerged. A crimson blood-colored pattern rose from the soles of his feet like neon light, spreading up his back. His entire body radiated a fearsome aura. Wang Xian gripped his blade, feeling the power coursing through him.

Opening a divine meridian felt great. Finally, a hint of his past life had returned. Wonderful. Cosmic energy flowed slowly along the Yang Linking Vessel, spilling throughout his body. Why could opening divine meridians match the strength of talented martial artists? Because only when the cosmic energy hidden within divine meridians activated could the body erupt with peerless might comparable to unlocking genetic locks.

That was the capital that let him charge to the Eighth Realm through Old Martial Arts in his past life and even exchange moves with Ninth Realm Martial Gods! He walked the Old Martial Arts path alone. And at that time on Blue Star, there wasn't a single Old Martial Seventh Realm grandmaster! Like right now, with a measly life force of just over 6 points, after activating the cosmic energy in the Yang Linking Vessel, his life force could multiply several times over rapidly. And this was just one divine meridian.

Add to that the immense power of cosmic energy itself, any martial technique he executed would double in power again! Under these two layers of amplification, despite the vast gap in life force, he could easily force Long Yuan back with a single move.

"To witness this power now..."

"Consider it an eye-opener..." Wang Xian moved like a shooting star, his blade like a mad dragon. The Flowing Water Blade Technique at Pinnacle Mastery, bolstered by cosmic energy and spirit baleful aura, made every move carry the force of ten thousand jun. One move, Waves Roar Through Heaven and Earth, instantly sent Long Yuan stumbling back a hundred paces. Countless blade marks covered his body. The twin blades of the active blade puppet snapped cleanly. Pure one-sided domination.

In just a few moves, wounds multiplied across Long Yuan's body. His eyes seemed to have pointers rotating, spinning frantically.

"Impossible, impossible... No openings at all..."

"None..."

"What exactly is inside your body, those golden streaks..." Long Yuan roared under his breath. The opened divine meridians. Though only one had been fully refined. Still, blinding your eyes shouldn't be a problem.

"This Spiritual Link Eye talent has some substance. It can actually see my divine meridians..." Wang Xian thought. But once all eight divine meridians of the Eight Extraordinary Meridians were complete and integrated, fully concealed within the physical body, even when activated, a high-level martial talent like this probably couldn't detect them. Just opening the meridians was no easy feat.

Adding up the costs, that bottle of Elemental Crystal Water plus the four million he'd invested, nearly ten million in funds just to open eight meridians. As for the pain endured while opening them, that could be ignored. At that moment, Long Yuan, unable to match him, suddenly leaped and flew directly into the blood pool.

"Killing me won't be that easy!" Wang Xian took a deep breath. He knew Long Yuan was about to open the secret door here. As expected. That guy probably hadn't opened it by accident in his past life. He'd opened it intentionally. He was a blade puppet of this place to begin with. He knew the long-sealed, unknown secrets hidden here. Wang Xian didn't stop him. Because his goal was also that demon blade. Otherwise, trying to open the secret door on his own, he'd have no idea how long he'd need to search and think.

Only a few breaths after sinking into the blood pool, the lake's surface began to boil. A rumbling vibration came from deep underground, as if something had been opened. At the same time, the blood-colored pool water began to recede. Countless blade puppets suddenly froze, then knelt trembling, facing the lake bottom as if in pilgrimage. Moments later, as the lake water vanished, an ancient blood-bronze gate suddenly appeared at the lake bottom. Carved onto the gate was an ancient sky-reaching giant beast.

The beast opened its maw as if to devour the heavens, radiating destructive aura that could annihilate heaven and earth. Long Yuan stood before the gate and pushed it open. The blade puppets trembled even more violently, as if terrified to the extreme of what lay behind the gate. The gate slowly opened. A wisp of blade aura seeped out. The blade puppets instantly went mad, emitting howling roars as they fled in all directions. Long Yuan grinned savagely.

"If you run now, there's still time." He stepped through the gate. Wang Xian wouldn't run, of course. If he really let this guy get his hands on that demon blade and develop freely for a while, there was no telling how much trouble would follow! Without hesitation, he leaped directly, jumping down to the lake bottom, landing precisely before the gate. Then he stepped inside! The moment Wang Xian stepped through, the entire ancient blood-bronze gate sank eerily back into the lake bottom.

The blood-colored pool water rose again. Everything vanished. As if it had never appeared. At the same time, in a mysterious space, Wang Xian looked upon a scene filled with broken blades and shattered sabers. Countless swordsmen stood, or knelt, or crawled, presented before his eyes like sculptures. Like a true burial ground. This was the mysterious space behind the Skeletal Blade Tomb's secret door from his past life! And at the very front, an ancient blade of red and black suspended in midair.

Tangible bloodthirsty baleful aura seeped from the blade's body. By now, Long Yuan had already reached the front. He took a deep breath and gently grasped that demon blade. Instantly, the aura around him surged once more. A blood-colored demonic flame, visible to the naked eye, rose from his body again! If earlier Wang Xian still had the strength to fight, even to dominate one-sidedly, then now, with this strange demon blade in hand, Long Yuan's strength had already climbed to the Second Realm.

And was still rising. In a normal fight, with only one divine meridian opened right now, he didn't have much chance of winning.

"You really had the guts to come here..."

"You've truly made me see you in a new light..." Long Yuan's voice seemed to return to normal. His eyes looked at Wang Xian as if seeing something, carrying a trace of reminiscence.

"It's just... this is the end."

"Is that so?" Wang Xian looked at him, eyes utterly unruffled.

"Hm?"

"This is the Blood-Drinking Frenzy Blade, isn't it?"

"You actually know of it?" Long Yuan froze. In that very instant! Wang Xian suddenly flung his hand out. A streak of flowing light shot forth, swift as thunder, chasing light and racing the sun! In a moment as fleeting as an instant, it broke through the layers of demonic flame and pierced through his forehead! Silver light tore through the sky, leaving not even a shadow behind. This was precisely: The flying star chases the moon, leaving no trace. Never missing its mark, it settles heaven and earth!

"Slaying Immortal Flying Blade Art, First Layer."

"Shadow Pursuit!" ➤ Next: This Demonic Blade's Curse Is Simply Too Wonderful!