Bombarding Cultivators with Cluster Artillery
Chapter 470 - 428 Shadow Twonine

A month later.

A brilliant blue Flying Sword flipped and flew up and down, at times thrusting sharply, at other times slashing diagonally, cleaving, or wiping the blade, gracefully maneuvering through the sky, each movement beginning to follow a clear pattern.

In a thrust, Sword Qi gathered at the tip of the sword, with a small portion dispersing along the blade, forming the shape of a water droplet, one of the forms with the least air resistance.

In slashing, Sword Qi gathered on one side of the sword, especially concentrated on the front half of the sword edge where the force was strongest.

In pointing, all Sword Qi converged at one point, then burst forth suddenly.

In wiping, the focus was on being nimble yet sharp…

Such techniques, although the Sword Sect Sword Vein lacked an academic discipline like aerodynamics, their exploration in this area had reached profound depths, resulting in a systematic science of Sword Dao of Immortal Path encompassing a mix of earthly Dao, techniques, and metaphysical ideologies.

"Such talent…"

Zhou Tian felt somewhat bitter.

While it was easy for Foundation-building cultivators to learn basic Sword Control Skills, that was merely learning. Yet in just a short month, the other party had almost caught up to eighty percent of his own proficiency, as if the uninterrupted sword practice and sweat of over a hundred years were but a dream, almost worthless.

As for hiding his true prowess or falsifying it in basic Sword Control Skills, he neither dared nor deigned to do so.

"The Sword Dao is indeed profound and intricate."

Jiang Ding maneuvered the Flying Sword through the air with ease, feeling exhilarated in his heart.

Even though the Mana and sharpness of the Flying Sword remained the same, the speed had inexplicably increased by twenty to thirty percent. It felt that the previous methods of controlling the Flying Sword were extremely clumsy, with speed and accuracy being the only commendable qualities.

"Farewell, Daoist Zhou Tian."

Jiang Ding sheathed his sword, glanced at the Zhuanlun Swordsman from the Five Elements Heavenly Sect for a moment, then transformed into a brilliant blue Sword-light and flew into the distance under the other's wary gaze.

He was indeed quite interested in the Sword Dao of the Five Elements Heavenly Sect.

Unfortunately, there was little excuse to kill such a person who conducted himself properly in all aspects.

As for a duel, it was better not to compete with someone from outside of his own sect. Concealing his skills and maintaining the utmost vigilance against the opponent's sword moves held little interest.

Having traveled over a hundred kilometers, Jiang Ding stopped next to a scorching river of molten lava and flame.

Here, the intense and sharp Sword Qi was oppressive, with the might of the Great Sun Sword Intent subtly spreading, a presence even a Sword Intent Sword Cultivator at the Foundation-building stage could hardly endure for long.

"Descend."

Jiang Ding lightly tapped his finger.

The Taiqing Flying Sword, in the perfect posture of a stabbing sword, plunged into the river of molten lava, and a clear sense of painful stinging was transmitted, as the scorching and sharp flames eroded the Divine Sense Brand that had been refined on the sword for over a hundred years.

A moment later, it fully adapted, and the pain ceased.

"It has some effect."

Jiang Ding closed his eyes to sense it for a moment, then opened his eyes: "Previously, even after refining for over a hundred years, there was always a sense that one or two minute Array Patterns could not be completely integrated, affecting the overall strength and power of the sword. But just now, in that short amount of time, I was able to precisely identify these weak points and effortlessly locate them."

"A holy land of Sword Cultivation indeed."

"No wonder the Sword Dao offshoots of the Eight Great Immortal Sects converge on the Taiyin Sword Sect; when it comes to exploring the Sword Dao in this domain, the Great Sun Sword Pavilion truly stands apart; the other Immortal Sects fall far behind," he said with admiration in his eyes.

The Taiqing Flying Sword continued to fly deeper into the river of molten lava, reaching almost thousands of meters to the bottom of the river before a continuous, prominent stinging sensation began to transmit incessantly.

Jiang Ding was not in a hurry. As the magma flame containing the creation essence of Sword Dao scorched an Array Pattern and the relatively frail part of the Flying Sword, he poured his Mana into it, repairing and continuously tempering, strengthening the Array Pattern and the sword bit by bit, grinding the less durable components to dust and refining the weaker parts to become harder.

As for the Swordsman from schools like Xuanwu Heavenly Palace and Wanshou Immortal Sect, they were insignificant compared to the opportunity to enhance the Flying Sword.

When he had time, he could take care of them with ease.

The river of molten lava flowed untiringly, carrying with it the scorching taste of the sword from afar, destined to continue on towards the distance.

For countless years, it had always been so, never ceasing.

Time passed unknowingly, and after three months, the youth in blue clothes was still sitting cross-legged by the river of molten lava, concealed, as if he had never been there.

A wisp of shadow.

Hidden within the Half-space Layer, it slowly moved closer.

Little by little, inch by inch, moving so subtly that not even the surrounding Heavenly Earth Spiritual Qi and the air were affected, still flowing the same as before, no changes at all.

Even Sword Intent could be shielded.

It drew nearer, little by little.

Ten kilometers, nine kilometers... five kilometers.

The subtle shadow stopped in its tracks.

A wisp of invisible sword-light flew out from the body, inching ever so slowly towards that distant figure, slow as a mosquito, without rousing any ripples.

"Great Sun Swordsman..."

"Become the stepping stone for Shadow Twoone, kill him, and I can become Shadow Twoone."

He whispered in his heart, yet his mind was as calm as a lake, devoid of any killing intent, just like a carpenter planing wood or a butcher slicing meat—all was utterly mundane.

Pu!

The faint sound of a rigid object piercing flesh interrupted his inner thoughts.

"...No... impossible..."

Shadow Twonine felt a pain in his chest and looked down to see a segment of a blue-gold sword tip protruding from his heart, exuding a bone-chilling Great Sun Sword Intent, reeking of destruction.

"Escape!"

He barely squeezed out a word as his body collapsed into countless shadows scattering in every direction, taking on all sorts of bizarre forms: birds, cows, horses, pigs, dogs, and human shapes that merged and vanished into the ground.

Shadow Demon Abyss's escape technique, the Thousand Change Myriad Shadows Escape!

Legend has it that this technique, one of the key escape methods amongst the assassins of the Shadow Demon Abyss, could even evade causality in the hands of mighty divine ability wielders, disappearing in the blink of an eye, rendering soul-chasing curses and exhaustive searching spells useless. Many cultivators from within the Eight Great Immortal Sects cursed in vexation at their own helplessness.

"Not a bad escape technique."

"And not bad courage, either."

Far away, the concealed figure of the youth in green crumbled away, revealing Jiang Ding's form as he clapped and praised, "Merely at the peak of Foundation Building, and yet daring to assassinate me—truly unexpected indeed, there are still many heroes in this world."

This was not sarcasm.

The person was very strong, only discovered when they entered within six kilometers of his Sword Intent sensing range.

Keep in mind that even cultivators at the peak of Golden Pill might not achieve such a feat.

This level of concealment could be described as terrifying.

"What is this Sword Intent?!!"

From all sides, from the ground and sky, terrified screams resonated, as thousands of shadows reemerged—cows, horses, pigs, dogs, birds, all sorts of peculiar shapes.

They had one thing in common.

In their chests, a blue-gold Sword Intent rapidly spread throughout their bodies, crumbling them into lifeless white ashes.

No matter the secret technique employed to shadow-split their forms, how they severed or tried to cut away, it was all futile.

Even if a perfect shadow was sliced off, dubbing into thumb-sized shadow-men and shadow-dogs, a blue-gold sword mark would still appear on the chest, spreading swiftly throughout the body, annihilating all vitality.

"What's your Shadow number?"

Jiang Ding asked curiously.

The Shadow Demon Abyss differed quite a bit from the Eight Great Immortal Sects: they had neither Dao names nor personal names, identities, appearances, nor did anyone know where the Shadow Demon Abyss was located.

They had only code names: Qi cultivators were One, Foundation-builders were Two, Golden Pill cultivators were Three, and ranking determined strength.

There were stories within the Domain that the Shadow Demon Abyss existed among the Nine Great Immortal Sects, including the Eastern Devil School, being omnipresent, assuming various public identities, sometimes even unaware of their own true nature, just as with soul searching.

Only at certain moments, when awakened, could they recall their true identities.

"Great Sun Swordsman, spare my life..."

"I'm willing to divulge the location of the Shadow Demon Abyss."

In an instant, as the Destruction Sword Qi spread to the head, pleas emerged from the myriad shadows, the voices overlapping, casting an alluring bargaining chip.

"You don't have the ability to reveal the location of the Shadow Demon Abyss."

Jiang Ding shook his head, unmoved, "Besides, I have yet to see anyone pierced through the heart and chest by the Taiqing Flying Sword survive; accept your death, what's the point in struggling?"

"The location of the Shadow Demon Abyss—I will find it myself in due time."

Bang!

The myriad of shadows stiffened, letting out final screams as their bodies collapsed into a cloud of white ash, devoid of any trace of life.