I Can See Your Combat Power
Chapter 1435 - Chapter 1435 Chapter 704 Borrowing a Sword_2

Chapter 1435: Chapter 704: Borrowing a Sword_2 Chapter 1435: Chapter 704: Borrowing a Sword_2 Yuanzhou was the land of swordsmen, where all who practiced swordsmanship aspired to challenge the Xu Family swordsmen.

However, the cost of challenging them was severe, with the loser either forfeiting their famed sword or their lineage.

And those who had nothing but still wished to challenge would risk their very selves, becoming slaves upon defeat.

Sword Slaves and Sword Attendants, if they encountered a kind family, might live better than before.

But if they fell into the hands of a cruel master, they could be treated no better than beasts of burden.

One such shadow of a Sword Slave was a sword-obsessed middle-aged man who, defeated by Xu Lai, had pledged his servitude.

Decades of serving and attending to swords had made him forget the life of an ordinary man; hearing Xu Lai’s words, he felt not the joy of freedom but a desolate sense of homelessness.

“Have Ran’er come over.”

After waving the Sword Slave away, Xu Lai called for his eldest son, Xu Ran.

“Father!”

The young swordsman, handsome and fair, bore not even a hint of effeminacy.

Like a fine jade of the mortal world, anyone who saw him would praise him as a youthful hero.

Though he had not awakened any bloodline, his talent, having advanced into Shed Mortality at the tender age of thirteen, was still considered among the elite.

Xu Lai smiled, offering a hand to help his most satisfactory son to his feet, and took off the Clear Frost Purple Lightning from his waist, solemnly handing it to his bewildered and delighted son.

“Today, I entrust this Divine Sword to you. Always remember, you are the heir of the Divine Sword Mansion. Don’t tarnish its honor!”

Xu Ran, seriously accepting the Divine Sword, nodded vigorously, “Rest assured, Father, I will never dishonor this Divine Sword. Honor is my life!”

“Very well, you may leave now.”

Watching Xu Ran walk away with the Divine Sword, Xu Lai’s relieved smile faded, turning into a cold, ironlike indifference.

When he reached the military camp outside Dongshan City, the stationed army’s strongest were already in neat, solemn formation.

Thirteen rows of twenty, totaling two hundred sixty fierce realm swordsmen, were the military might of Dongshan City.

“All troops, heed my command: open the sword domain, cleanse the sword soul, condense the sword command!”

Two hundred sixty sword domains unfolded, and the summoned sword souls darkened the skies, with a massive Chaos Sword Rune appearing outside Dongshan City.

At the same time as the colossal sword command materialized, the Divine Sword Army’s thirteen commanders activated their sword commands, receiving the coordinates and preparing their troops in response to Xu Lai’s command.

With thirteen more Chaos Sword Runes manifesting, the skies above Dongshan City darkened, and ominous clouds obscured the blue firmament.

Swordsmen above the Shed Mortality realm felt an inexplicable pressure, as fear spread among them.

The deepest impact was undoubtedly on the sword elders and Sword Saints in the Sword Pavilion; as the highest cultivators of Dongshan City, how could they not sense the fourteen sword commands congregated by everyone?

But with great resentment, there would always be lingering malice; how could such matters be settled amicably?

Xu Xiao thought that by repaying the Yun Family with a sword, he could settle past debts, but he did not realize that such profound hatred would inevitably leave remnants.

As the unprecedented genius who created the Primordial Sword Command, the Divine Sword Army had once bestowed a Primordial Sword Command upon the Divine Sword Mansion.

This command could bypass the Sword King and Sword Master, directly activating the sword command, with just a response from a commanding-level officer needed.

Originally, this sword command was awarded to honor the achievements of the Divine Sword Mansion, but now it was being used for revenge, an irony indeed.

The Sword Pavilion fell silent, Dongshan City was in shock; fourteen Chaos Sword Runes soared to the heavens and howled away, vanishing beyond the horizon in an instant.

Even the dullest of people could tell: this was no mere military exercise, but the launch of a real attack.

The most bewildered were the other commanders of the Divine Sword Army who had not responded to the sword command; they sought out their colleagues, trying to understand what had just happened.

The reactions of the various Sword Sects of Dongshan City were even more vehement; as the city’s defensive forces, without any official explanation or orders, they had simply gathered outside the city to consolidate the sword commands.

Fourteen whole Chaos Sword Runes, with no indication of their target, was something the Xu Clan could not tolerate.

At the moment the sword command tore through the dark clouds, the heads of those Sword Sects and honored masters gathered in front of the Sword Pavilion, demanding an explanation.

“But the Sword Pavilion could only explain that this Sword Order was issued by the Primordial Sword Command, and then nothing further.”

The perfunctory announcement infuriated the crowd gathered in front of the Sword Pavilion. You see, the Xu Clan, as a sacred land, is chiefly characterized by its lush branches and leaves.

Within Chengzhou, more than eighty percent of the Xu Clan were related by marriage. Keeping a secret was no easy task, but if even a small number of people became curious about something, the matter would quickly become common knowledge.

It took less than an hour for the heads of various Sword Sects who had left the Sword Pavilion to activate their networks before the ins and outs of these fourteen Sword Orders were laid out before them.

Learning that it was Xu Lai who had quietly orchestrated the terrifying attack, everyone then turned to the Divine Sword Mansion for an explanation.

Being related by marriage, the Divine Sword Mansion couldn’t just shut its doors tightly, but with Xu Lai not present, it fell to the eldest son, Xu Ran, to receive them.

However, when those Sword Venerables saw Purple Lightning Clear Frost hanging at Xu Ran’s waist, the questions they had intended to ask were left unspoken.

Sure enough, after sitting for a while, news came from within the city that Xu Lai had resigned from his post as the Grand Commander of the garrison army and gone to the Sword Pavilion alone to confess his guilt.

He made no attempt to hide his crime of summoning the Sword Order in secret and said that all thirteen Divine Sword Army commanders had been coerced and misled by him, taking all the blame upon himself.

As a branch of the Xu Clan’s Divine Sword Army, the garrison army of Dongshan City held a particularly unique position, especially the responsibility of the Grand Commander was not something one could assume merely by being capable.

One also had to be loyal to the Xu Clan and adhere strictly to discipline. Even with the Primordial Sword Command in hand, Xu Lai’s actions gravely exceeded his authority and responsibilities.

He owed an explanation to Dongshan City, especially to its citizens. After all, if the garrison army could be mobilized over the Grand Commander’s personal grievances, then there was truly no reason for its existence.

The grand doors of the Sword Pavilion in Dongshan City slowly opened, and Xu Lai, dressed in plain clothing, walked into the pavilion, arriving at the supreme council hall on the highest floor.

The supreme commander of the Divine Sword Army, the Sword Master of Dongshan City, and Master Xu Jian from the Yiren Pavilion were all there, seated in prominence.

Xu Lai stepped slowly into the conference hall and bowed deeply to the three elders.

“See that? This wretched boy still doesn’t think he has done wrong!”

The supreme commander of the Divine Sword Army, his face ashen with disappointment, said, “Xu Lai, while a great mistake has not yet come to pass, you can still retract the Sword Orders now!”

Xu Lai did not speak and once again knelt heavily on the ground, his voice resounding, “Xu Lai is guilty, please, Sword Master, decree punishment!”

The Sword Master and Master Xu Jian exchanged glances, both shaking their heads helplessly.

“Your punishment is to reflect beneath the Sword Pavilion for thirty years, do you object?”

“Xu Lai takes no exception, and is grateful for the Sword Master’s clemency.”

Standing back up expressionlessly, Xu Lai said mildly.

Faced with a stubborn boy impervious to reason or cajoling, the Sword Master also lost his temper and waved his hand resignedly.

After Xu Lai departed, the supreme commander of the Divine Sword Army slammed his fist on the table, his voice indignant, “Fourteen whole Sword Orders, that wretched boy’s heart is vicious. Is he intending to destroy both the Yun Clan and the Minor Spirit Realm of Longyuan together!?”

Xu Jian turned his head and asked, “Does the commander know where the Sword Orders went?”

“The scouts at the front of the army sent news that the Spirit Realm of Longyuan is located within a mountain range called Diancang in Chengzhou of Longzhou, and that it contains the Yun Clan’s national wealth and the Human King’s legacy of Yun Zu.”

“Looking at the current movement of the Primordial Sword Command, all fourteen are headed towards Longzhou, plainly targeting the Yun Family!”

…

Within Diancang Mountain

The enraged Qionghua Star Lord danced wildly with his eight wings, the power unleashed from the four types of elemental Spiritual Power was truly frightening.

The Divine Thunder in the sky poured down like a torrential rain, each strike teetering between the peak of the second order of transformation and the power of the third.

When Li Fire combined with Solid Earth, a raging earth fire surged, and demonic magma spouted thousands of feet high.

When the Gentle Wind mingled with Li Fire, there were fierce and sharp gusts like blades, leaving the air steaming and everything in its path withered and dried.

The burning wildfire turned this world into a realm dominated by only two types of Spiritual Power. The semi-visible flames, sometimes taking the form of flame arrows, sometimes fire spears, attacked Tang Luo from every angle.

In just an instant, the skies above, the earth below, and all around were assailed by innumerable attacks, as if it was an inescapable death trap.