The Sword of the Mortal World

After a long night of traveling, the three of them finally arrived at a dilapidated temple.
The moment they entered, a strong gust of wind blew, and they immediately saw the decapitated body of Zhao Hu, a disciple from their sect, lying near the temple threshold. His head was nearby.

The man in green standing next to the body scanned the surroundings coldly, his eyes filled with indifference.
“Li Yun.”
He spoke softly.

“Understood, Senior Brother.”
Li Yun, arriving just a moment later, squatted beside the body and examined Zhao Hu. "There’s a clean cut on the neck, clearly a sword wound. The fatal injury, however, is a sword strike to the heart, pierced from the front. Some sword qi remains, and it’s quite similar to the qi from the sword cultivators of Qishan," Li Yun said. "Xu Ye, please come and take a look."
Li Yun stood up and walked over to the other bodies in the temple.

Xu Ye, a short and plump man, quickly squatted down, inspecting the bodies closely. After a moment, his face darkened. “Zhang Daoist, Li Daoist, this is indeed the sword qi from Qishan’s sword cultivators. It seems the one responsible for the killings is Xuan Zhao!”
After the massacre, Xuan Zhao must have personally verified the deaths, as the only one missing was him.
“Why would Xuan Zhao be in Jingzhou?” Xu Ye furrowed his brows and muttered to himself. If Xuan Zhao wasn’t in Jingzhou, he would have perished in Qishan.

“Senior Brother, what about the other bodies...”
Before Li Yun could finish his question, a sudden noise interrupted from the direction of the bodies.
One of the bodies in front of Li Yun suddenly sprang up as if it had been reanimated!

A powerful sword qi exploded from the body, rushing straight toward Li Yun’s chest at lightning speed.
Li Yun, focused on examining the causes of death, was caught off guard and didn’t have time to react. The sword qi collided with him before he could evade.
"I should’ve known something was off," Li Yun thought.

In an instant, a shadow appeared in front of Li Yun. The man in green flicked his finger, releasing a burst of light from his fingertip. The light split into several beams, colliding with the sword qi.
The sword qi shattered immediately, and the corpse that released it exploded into pieces.
The entire temple seemed to shake, as if a strong wind had blown through. The broken wooden windows rattled violently.

Sweating profusely, Li Yun was about to speak when the man in green flicked his finger toward a beam in the ceiling. With a sharp cracking sound, the beam snapped, and a blue talisman fell from the sky.
The talisman, about the size of a palm, suddenly cracked open in midair, as though it had been cut by a sword.
A terrifying sword qi surged out from it in an instant.
“It’s a Sword Qi Talisman!” Xu Ye was the first to react, quickly retreating behind the man in green.

The earlier explosion was likely also caused by a Sword Qi Talisman. Sword Qi Talismans are unique to sword cultivators, allowing them to store sword qi in talismans, which can then be released when needed.
The power of the Sword Qi Talisman depends on many factors, primarily the sword cultivation level of the person who created the talisman. The pureness of the sword qi and the control the person has over it are key, as well as the quality of the talisman paper.
The talisman currently in use exhibited immense power, equivalent to a sword strike from a sword cultivator at the Celestial Gate level. The sword qi lashed out, cutting through the temple, as if it were trying to split the entire building in half.

The man in green waved his sleeve, releasing a powerful aura from his body. It collided with the sword qi, and this time, unlike before, it didn’t shatter immediately. The two forces remained locked for a brief moment before the sword qi began to break apart once more.
With a tremendous crash, the sword qi exploded, scattering in all directions and crashing against the walls of the temple.
Sizzling sounds echoed through the space.

The man in green’s face turned pale.
In that instant, several more sword qi bursts erupted from all directions, rapidly filling the temple. Sword qi crisscrossed the entire hall, engulfing it entirely.
The three people in the temple found themselves trapped in this "Sword Qi Trap."

The man in green’s robes fluttered wildly, his aura fluctuating intensely. His clothes seemed to ripple, resembling water droplets on a lotus leaf, moving fluidly with each step he took. Each movement avoided the sword qi, creating holes in the temple’s stone floor wherever he had stood.
Even though sword qi struck his robe, it didn’t tear it.
In contrast, Xu Ye and Li Yun, though both at the Celestial Gate level, were in a far more difficult position. Their cultivation was slightly weaker than the man in green’s, and in this dense barrage of sword qi, they struggled to defend themselves.

In a dilapidated temple, under a starry sky, three figures arrived after a long night of travel.
The moment they entered, a strong gust of wind followed, causing their cloaks to flutter as they swiftly entered the temple.
They immediately spotted the decapitated body of Zhao Hu, a disciple from their sect, lying near the entrance. His head was nearby.

The man in green standing beside the corpse scanned the surroundings with a cold gaze, his expression emotionless.
“Li Yun,” he spoke softly.
"Understood, Senior Brother."

Li Yun arrived a step later, kneeling by the body of Zhao Hu. “There’s a clean cut on his neck, likely from a sword. But the fatal blow seems to be a stab to the heart. The sword penetrated from the front, and there’s residual sword qi, which closely resembles the sword cultivator energy from Qishan,” he said. “Xu Ye, come take a look.”
Li Yun stood and moved toward the other bodies in the temple.
Xu Ye, the short and stocky man, immediately knelt down, examining the bodies with a grim expression. “Zhang Daoist, Li Daoist, this is the sword qi from the Qishan sword cultivators. The murderer must be Xuan Zhao!”

After the massacre, Xuan Zhao must have personally ensured the deaths of those present. The only one missing was him.
“Why would Xuan Zhao be in Jingzhou?” Xu Ye muttered. If he wasn’t in Jingzhou, he should have died with the rest of the Qishan sect.
“Senior Brother, what about the other bodies…”

Before Li Yun could finish, a sudden noise interrupted.
One of the corpses in front of Li Yun suddenly sprang to life as if it had been reanimated!
A powerful sword qi burst out of the body, heading straight toward Li Yun’s chest at lightning speed.

Li Yun, distracted by his examination of the bodies, was caught off guard and couldn’t react in time. The sword qi collided with him.
“I should have known something was wrong.”
In an instant, a figure appeared in front of Li Yun. The man in green flicked his finger, releasing a burst of light from his fingertip. The light split into several beams, all striking the sword qi.

The sword qi shattered, and the corpse that had released it exploded into pieces.
The entire temple seemed to shake, as if a violent wind had blown through it. The broken wooden windows rattled violently.
Li Yun, drenched in sweat, was about to speak when the man in green flicked his finger again toward a beam in the ceiling. With a loud cracking sound, the beam snapped, and a blue talisman fell from the sky.

The talisman, about the size of a palm, suddenly cracked open mid-air as if a sword had sliced it in half.
A terrifying sword qi erupted from the talisman instantly.
“It’s a Sword Qi Talisman!” Xu Ye quickly reacted, retreating behind the man in green.

The earlier explosion was likely caused by another Sword Qi Talisman. These talismans were unique to sword cultivators, allowing them to store sword qi in the talisman and release it when needed.
The power of the Sword Qi Talisman depends on various factors, primarily the sword cultivation level of the person who created it. The pureness of the sword qi and their control over it are crucial, as well as the quality of the talisman paper.
The talisman now in use was exhibiting tremendous power, equivalent to a sword strike from a sword cultivator at the Celestial Gate level. The sword qi lashed out and split the temple as if it were attempting to sever it in half.

The man in green waved his sleeve, releasing a powerful aura from his body. It collided with the sword qi, and this time, unlike before, it didn’t shatter instantly. The two forces held for a brief moment before the sword qi began to dissipate.
With a loud crash, the sword qi shattered and scattered in all directions, crashing against the temple walls.
Li Yun barely avoided being hit, but the sword qi had caused extensive damage to the temple’s structure. The man in green’s face turned pale.

Suddenly, the man in green shouted, “Stop!”
He had realized the problem.
From the moment they arrived at this ruined temple, the so-called "first sword genius of the young generation from Dongzhou" had already displayed an unusual level of strategic thinking. The way the hundreds of Sword Qi Talismans had been set up was enough to show his deep calculations.

But then, how could such a person leave such an obvious flaw?
Understanding this, the man in green quickly turned, but it was already too late.
Li Yun was already making his way to the window, intending to escape the temple. Just as he reached the window, a flash of sword light appeared, and a young man in simple clothing appeared outside the window, holding an iron sword, and struck!

A torrent of sword light erupted!
It was Zhou Chi.
The sword light sliced through the air and struck the bronze bell, which had already been damaged by the earlier sword qi. With a loud crack, the bell shattered completely.

Li Yun coughed up blood but swallowed it down, intending to retaliate, but Zhou Chi’s second strike came almost instantaneously. The speed was ghostly fast, and Li Yun couldn’t react in time.
However, as a disciple from a major sect, Li Yun was quick on his feet. He managed to shift his body just enough to avoid the lethal blow.
The sword narrowly missed his throat, grazing it lightly and leaving a faint bloodstain.

Li Yun breathed a sigh of relief, knowing that as long as he dodged this strike, his Senior Brother would come to his aid, and Zhou Chi would surely die.
But he was wrong.
Zhou Chi passed by him in a flash, leaving only his back behind. In front of Li Yun, a Sword Qi Talisman drifted down.

It was purple.
Boom!
A dazzling sword qi instantly surged forward, engulfing Li Yun!

The man in green had arrived at the window just in time to face the oncoming Sword Qi Talisman.
Seeing the surging sword qi, the man in green’s face turned grim. He cursed inwardly, “This bastard! He’s carrying a whole batch of Sword Qi Talismans from Qishan?!”
The man in green blocked the sword qi, but Zhou Chi had already struck again.

The sword qi clashed with his green robe but left a white mark on it.
After this, Zhou Chi didn’t look frustrated. After all, the man in green came from a powerful sect in Zhongzhou and was difficult to kill, as expected.
Zhou Chi glanced at Xu Ye.

Xu Ye noticed Zhou Chi’s gaze. He had been struggling in this temple filled with sword qi. Seeing the cold gaze from the young man, he instinctively stopped and refrained from helping the man in green.
“If I intervene now, I’ll fall into his trap again. I can’t go!”
In that moment, Zhou Chi had already killed Li Yun, a formidable enemy from the Jade Capital Mountain. The terrifying speed of his strikes left Xu Ye deeply fearful. He couldn’t face this young sword genius from Dongzhou anymore.

Thinking this, Xu Ye hesitated and retreated a few steps.
With that, Zhou Chi didn’t need to worry about anything else. He stepped forward and delivered another sword strike.
The man in green turned around and blocked the sword with his palm, releasing a terrifying aura that spread like a violent storm, clashing with the sword.

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