The Sword Dynasty

Volume 5 1 - Night of Shangdu

Chapter Eighty Five: True Sword Essence

Li Xixing was steadier than other Changling youths of his age, yet the shock in his eyes was greater than Hu Jingjing’s for he understood more than her.

Mo Shoucheng had already died. To compensate Li Xixing, or rather the Li Family, Mo Shoucheng had given his City Guarding Sword to Li Xixing. The said sword involved the essence of space. The essence was space was not hard to understand for cultivators. The straight lines that ordinary people saw were thought of as the shortest distance. But for cultivators, there were countless passages where primal energies of the universe flowed. There were countless possibilities when moving through these passages. It could be faster or slower, or travel through space, or stretch apart space. These principles were easy to understand, but to use them as a cultivator, it was as difficult as creating a new world.

The bottom of the stone coffins above about their head were not far away yet the dust after the coffins fell apart seemed to fall from a great height. This space had been changed by the past Tianliang experts through unimaginable means to create a special world.

The two figures were naturally Zhan Moke and Wu Lianzi. They had fallen through the air for a long time, yet they were still a distance from the spring.

“The restriction has completely changed our senses?” Li Xixing struggled to turn his head and looked at Ding Ning. “So the spring is not the Fountain of Life.”

Ding Ning nodded.

Hu Jingjing reacted. She thought of her uncontrollable desire to enter the spring ... those who had seen the wonders of the Fountain of Life, after struggling to get here, most likely could not control their desire and enter. A cultivator’s perception was usually more reliable than their eyes and nose. Yet the restrictions here could fool even the perception. This was terrifyinging to any cultivator. When one’s perception was fooled, any flying sword that could fly close could easily kill them.

“We will not be spared.” Shen Xuan suddenly spoke, his cool voice slightly trembling.

“Yes, we will not be spared.”

Before Li Xixing and Hu Jingjing could understand Shen Xuan’s words, Ding Ning nodded calmly. He looked seriously at Shen Xuan and said, “But you still cannot act. Your wounds are more serious than his, and his cultivation is higher than yours. If his wounds are lighter than yours, we cannot win. We must gamble.”

From Ding Ning’s words themselves, Li Xixing and Hu Jingjing could not understand, but after Ding Ning finished speaking, they understood.

Zhan Moke and Wu Lianzi were still falling and had not truly touched the spring but the characters on the stone stele started to spin rapidly. Each character started to roar. The black character trailed script of black light, surrounding the stone stele and turning it into a black vortex. The water in the spring started to spin rapidly as well, turning into a similar black vortex.

The primal energies of the universe in this entire space were pulled in by the two vortexes. The air condensed in rays, black ribbons of light. Each of the light ribbons start to spin like saws. Countless saws spun in this space. No one in this space could avoid it.

The primal energies of the universe in this space started to condense, and Li Xixing and Hu Jingjing started to sense pain from many parts of their bodies. Their bodies felt like they were going to be cut into pieces.

Zhan Moke was in this space. If he could not change this space, then all of them would die here together.

This was Ding Ning gamble.

The black ribbons of light took form, and the entire space was filled and cut by these countless ribbons. Ding Ning, Li Xixing, Hu Jingjing and Shen Xuan’s bodies all showed straight lines of blood, and blood started to drip out. Shen Xuan’s lips were trembling slightly, his left hand tightening. Yet looking at the blood on Ding Ning’s face and his calm gaze, he did not move in the end.

Suddenly, gray frost appeared among the black ribbons of light. It seemed like it would change at this moment into rain.

But then there was a sudden boom like something exploded behind the clouds. All of the black lights suddenly disappeared. Instead, there were patches of black clouds with threads of light moving between them like lightning about to shoot out.

For the first time, Ding Ning’s gaze showed true joy. He knew he had won his gamble.

The Last Flower remnant sword which had been sticking to his back like a part of his spine flew up. He bellowed and almost all the vital energy in his energy sea seemed to be forced out through his arms in this instant.

Dozens of streams of vital energy carrying blood surged into the flying short sword. At the moment, the sword threads of the Last Flower remnant sword spread above his head, like a blooming flower.

Ding Ning’s hair was caught up by the sword energy and flew up. Because the vital energy flowed so violently even the small capillaries burst and turned his eyes blood red.

Li Xixing’s breathing completely stopped. He had never seen such fighting spirit from Ding Ning, such killing intent ... So terrifying!

The blood red sword flower seemed to come from hell. Each sword thread seemed to give off a presence beyond words.

“Evil Sea Flower!”

Shen Xuan’s tightly clenched fists beaded with blood. Because of the force, his finger nails cut into his flesh yet he did not realize it.

Li Xixing and Hu Jingjing could not have known but he had seen this sword move before, and felt this sword essence!

Three years before Emperor Yuanwu ascended, in the battle where that person died, on the top of a tower of corpses, this sword essence had once appeared.

Blood colored lightning appeared in the black space. Each bolt of light nick was a sword essence coming from one of the sword threads. The blood lightning pierced numerous holes into the black batch of cloud and gusts of energy surged out wildly.

“City Guard!”

“Round Light!”

Blood surged out of Ding Ning’s mouth. But at the same time, he still looked forward and said the name of two sword moves.

Li Xixing and Hu Jingjing attacked!

The two sword essences collided ahead, and then merged together almost perfectly.

Boom!

In the next moment, Ding Ning, Li Xixing and Hu Jingjing flew backwards, and hit the stone stairs behind them hard.

Crack ... crack ... crack ...

A plume of dust rose, followed by cracking sounds, unknown whether it was the sound of bones cracking or the stairs breaking.

Shen Xuan did not turn back to look. He ignored the dust and took a deep breath.Then he unclenched his fists. A blood colored sword hilt appeared in his hands, followed by a stronger lifebond presence. A sword of gray and blood color appeared in his hand.

The black clouds in front of him started to fly like tattered cloth.

A shrill scream sounded. Then there was an enormous bang like someone hit a large bell.

Ding Ning kept on coughing. He coughed like he was going to cough his lungs out. The front of his body was covered in blood, not just the blood he had coughed out, but his entire body seemed to seep blood. Yet he still supported his body, sitting up and looking in the direction of the sound.

Where the black clouds had dissipated, there were two figures sliding down the gold tower like flies that had been swatted.

The gold tower had been gentle at the start, and now grew blinding. The spring in front of the gold tower had completely disappeared, living behind a dry pond with white sand. Above the white sand was an enormous crescent blade.

That was Zhan Moke’s lifebond blade.

But as Ding Ning saw, the crescent blade suddenly shook. It looked like it had been shattered and carefully piled up together before it then turned to countless pieces and fell down.

“Ding Ning!”

A shrill scream sounded from the bottom of the gold tower.