Martial Cultivator

The gray-robed old daoist's expression became solemn. Between his hands, the purest daoist true qi continuously poured out onto the long street, gradually blocking the falling snow from entering the street.

In just a moment, the entire long street had turned into a sealed space.

A grand array formation was almost complete.

The gray-robed old daoist looked at the Great Liang Emperor who casually stepped into the formation, and said calmly, "Your Majesty is a peerless martial artist. Do you recognize this formation?"

After sensing for a moment, the Great Liang Emperor replied calmly, "In Daoism, there are two names, White Jade Capital and Jadehall Golden Palace, representing the two supreme grand arrays of Daoism. The one before us is called 'Banishing Evil,' right?"

The gray-robed old daoist nodded and said, "That's right, this formation is called Banishing Evil. Back then, the ancestor of Daoism created it when he witnessed the rampant plundering by demons, creating this array formation and using it to suppress evils and demons."

Hearing this, the Great Liang Emperor said sarcastically, "Suppress evils and demons? As long as the demons don't come to your daoist temples, have you all truly cared?"

The gray-robed old daoist remained expressionless and said, "We cultivators only seek eternal life, we don't care about worldly troubles."

The Great Liang Emperor did not say anything. He just walked towards the gray-robed old daoist, carrying the bronze ancient sword. The so-called being indifferent to worldly troubles, to him, seemed like mere words. If they were truly dedicated to cultivation, why appear here at all?

The Great Liang Emperor carrying the bronze ancient sword, strolled slowly along the long street. With a step, a massive bolt of heavenly lightning suddenly descended from the sky, its imposing aura astonishing!

Regardless of whether the gray-robed daoist was a pseudo-realm great sage or not, he was undeniably at the pinnacle of the Nepenthe Realm and incomparably powerful. The grand array he controlled was naturally formidable and inexplicable.

However, as the lightning spell descended, the Great Liang Emperor showed no intention of evading. He raised his head slightly, a cold light flashing in his eyes, resembling a true dragon opening its eyes at this moment, demonstrating his might to heaven!

At some point, the bronze ancient sword in his hand emitted a faint glow, like a divine sword from the divine kingdom!

Facing the descending massive heavenly lightning, the Great Liang Emperor slashed with his sword. The formidable aura instantly tore apart the powerful lightning bolt. As the lightning shattered, it caused the clouds to tremble. Multiple lightning bolts fell in an instant, resembling countless golden dragons descending to the mortal realm.

The Great Liang Emperor laughed coldly and soared into the sky, meeting those immensely powerful heavenly lightning bolts.

The gray-robed old daoist looked up, sneering contemptuously.

With the combination of the most powerful daoist lightning spells and the augmentation from the Banishing Evil grand array, it had already become incredibly formidable. Even if the Great Liang Emperor was unparalleled, how could he possibly win?

Moreover, he was already severely injured.

There was no such logic.

The gray-robed old daoist could almost see the dawn of victory.

……

……

At first, Gan Yong stood still in a daze, and later he even sat down on the street. The words of the Great Liang Emperor had actually provided him with considerable guidance. During these thirty years, he had long been free from the troubles of mental demons. Especially when he forged the fourth flying sword, Morning Glow, he felt that the defeat from thirty years ago had little impact on him.

However, after arriving here confidently with these four flying swords, especially when his strongest sword was resolved by the Great Liang Emperor, Gan Yong felt a little dazed.

Had his cultivation over these few decades really not yielded any merit?

But the words of the Great Liang Emperor afterward touched him.

Four flying swords; Ink Cloud was already broken. This sword was named by his master. The bronze ancient sword was still in the hands of the Great Liang Emperor. The other sword, New Mirror, was now hovering not far in front of Gan Yong.

Morning Glow was just resting on his knees.

Gently extending his hand, the flying sword New Mirror fell into his palm. Gan Yong murmured to himself, "In my youth, I considered my talent extraordinary, looking down on fellow sword cultivators of the same generation. Thinking that while others only nurture one flying sword, I'm different from them, so I'd nurture two, three, or even four."

"In reality, what does having several flying swords have to do with having just one?"

Gan Yong said softly, "Since I didn't genuinely want to nurture multiple flying swords, how could I grasp the true essence among them?"

As he spoke, Gan Yong's mind stirred, and his expression became extremely ugly. He gritted his teeth, and a hint of blood still flowed from the corner of his lips.

He gasped heavily, feeling somewhat weak.

At this moment, he completely severed the connection with the bronze ancient sword!

Countless years of nurturing the flying sword, it was unknown how much effort he had expended. All the hardships over countless days and nights were now discarded. Abandoning his lifeblood flying sword, the price he paid was enormous.

However, there was not the slightest hint of reluctance on his face.

It seemed as if he had just thrown away something inconsequential.

Afterward, he gripped the flying sword New Mirror, holding the hilt with one hand and pressing on the blade with the other.

Both hands exerted force, and the sword instantly bent.

New Mirror immediately emitted a mournful cry, and Gan Yong's palm instantly had a gash cut open too.

Blood dripped onto the snowy ground, staining it red.

The flying sword also broke at this moment!

Gan Yong held the two broken sword pieces and casually tossed them away. Then, using his bloodied palm, he gripped the flying sword Morning Glow and muttered softly, "Long confined in the cage, finally returning to nature."

At the same time, Gan Yong slowly stood up. His once-white hair was now gradually turning back to black at this moment.

Holding the sword Morning Glow in his hand, Gan Yong took a deep breath and said slowly, "Your Majesty, I have a sword and have come to seek guidance."

As these words were spoken, a surge of sword energy filled heaven and earth!

……

……

Over at the Great Liang Emperor's side, he returned from the clouds, and found that the once formidable Banishing Evil Grand Array had now become shattered beyond recognition.

With the array in ruins, the gray-robed old daoist suffered a severe backlash, and at this moment, he was quite seriously injured.

The Great Liang Emperor held a sword and looked at this great daoist sage from afar. Fresh blood slowly dripped through his emperor robe, falling onto the accumulated snow on the street.

The gray-robed old daoist smiled bitterly and extended his hand. Until this moment, he still did not fully understand how the martial artist in front of him, who was clearly seriously injured, could still break through his meticulously crafted grand array.

However, at this point, he still had to make a final gambit.

He slowly extended his hand and wiped it over his own brow, letting a drop of blood fall there.

His fingers trembled, but they kept slowly moving downward. The gray-robed old daoist smiled bitterly, "Originally, I thought that after killing Your Majesty this time, I could still preserve some remnant lifespan and live for another ten or twenty years. But I didn't expect Your Majesty to be so powerful. Since that's the case, let me accompany Your Majesty on this journey..."

As his fingers slid down, the aura within the old daoist's body continued to rise.

The Great Liang Emperor glanced at him expressionlessly, "Too many tricks."

The gray-robed old daoist coughed a few times, then spat out a mouthful of blood. Just as he was about to speak again, he suddenly lowered his head.

A bronze ancient sword had already pierced through his heart at some unknown point.

The Great Liang Emperor looked at him and said, "Since you're the tortoise on the mountain, just stay hidden in the mountains. If you insist on showing yourself, can you still go back?"

The hand raised by the gray-robed old daoist fell weakly in an instant, and his expression gradually became somewhat confused.

After doing all this, a trace of blood also seeped out of the corner of the Great Liang Emperor's mouth.

Faced with the siege of three Nepenthe Realm powerhouses, he was once again injured.

New injuries and old wounds erupted simultaneously at this moment.

But even so, sensing the continuously accumulating sword qi over at the other side, the Great Liang Emperor laughed out loud, "The sword of a great sword immortal, good! Excellent!!"

At this moment, Gan Yong was in the distance, holding the flying sword Morning Glow.

Sword qi surged around, and sword intent continued to emerge. At this moment, Gan Yong's aura was approaching the realm of a great sword immortal.

The arrogance thirty years ago, the devoted sword practice in the thirty years that followed - none of it allowed him to step into the realm of a great sword immortal. However, under the guidance of the Great Liang Emperor, although it was not certain that he could break through to this realm, his next sword technique would undoubtedly reach this level.

Sword qi ran rampant.

Suddenly, the cloth strip Gan Yong used to cover his eyes instantly broke. His eyes were tightly closed, not revealed to the world for many years.

At this moment, he suddenly opened his eyes!

In those blind eyes, a dazzling light shone, like the morning glow!

At the same time, Gan Yong thrust his sword! Between heaven and earth, there was silence!