Chapter Twenty-Nine: Between Life and Death

"Good!" The other two also gritted their teeth, and as they faced Long Yun’s tempestuous barrage, their swords thrust out together. Streams of sword aura erupted from their tips, forming two dense, conical vortices that pierced directly into Long Yun’s sword energy. In an instant, accompanied by their furious shouts, the sword auras exploded thunderously.

Long Yun’s body quivered slightly. Though the Great Sorrow and Supreme Bliss Sword Intent was several times stronger than theirs, his opponents' cultivation far surpassed his own. Thus, as they fought with all their might, even his sword intent began to buckle and twist, slipping from his control, teetering on the verge of collapse.

"What a perfect opportunity!" The expert at the Concealed Spirit stage, who had been waiting for just this moment, was not about to let it slip away. His sword shot out like a viper, its aura unyielding, piercing straight through Long Yun’s faltering sword energy. He darted forward, intent on ending everything in one decisive strike, aiming his blade directly for Long Yun’s chest.

The sword aura screamed through the air, shrieking with savage friction, and in a blink was less than three feet from Long Yun’s heart. The man could already envision the scene of his blade impaling Long Yun’s chest—their threefold assault had been flawless, seamless. He could not believe that a mere young man at the Essence Gathering stage could possibly do anything to surprise him now.

But as his sword aura drew ever closer, a sudden, ominous premonition surged up from the depths of his soul—a shiver that unsettled him to his core. Especially when he saw the faint, enigmatic smile playing at the corner of Long Yun’s lips; it sent a chill crawling down his spine.

"Die—" Seeing his strike about to succeed, he refused to relent. He steadied his mind, banishing all stray thoughts, and his sword’s momentum doubled once more.

"I was waiting for you—" Long Yun finally spoke, his voice as cold as October ice, chilling to the marrow. In the next instant, to the man’s astonished gaze, Long Yun’s left hand—until now idle—flashed up with lightning speed. A golden sword aura exploded forth, colliding head-on with the blade aimed at his chest.

At the same moment, a vast, overwhelming sword intent enveloped the attacker, causing his sea of consciousness to briefly stall. Again, this was Long Yun’s signature technique—the killer move that had felled Quan Guanxin, and enabled him to challenge opponents beyond his level back on Divine Dragon Island.

As his sword intent enshrouded the enemy, Long Yun’s right hand unleashed another blast of sword aura. A dazzling arc of light flashed, slicing cleanly across the man’s throat.

"Stop!" the other two roared in fury, but everything had unfolded in the blink of an eye. Their attempts to intervene were hopelessly late.

Helplessly, they watched as a crimson line burst from their fellow disciple’s neck, and he crumpled bonelessly to the ground.

"Long Yun, how dare you be so ruthless!" the two shouted, charging forward together, sword auras howling and hemming Long Yun in.

Long Yun’s expression did not change in the slightest as he slew a man as easily as in idle conversation. His sword aura met theirs, dissolving their attacks one by one. He laughed lightly, "What a joke—are only you allowed to ambush me here, and I’m forbidden to strike back? Not just him—your fates will be the same!"

With those words, his swordplay suddenly shifted, transforming the Great Sorrow and Supreme Bliss Sword Art into the Celestial Slaughter of Stars. A tremendous killing intent surged forth, enveloping the two men instantly.

They felt as if plunged into an icy abyss, a chilling dread making their hearts tremble violently. This was no mere intent, but true, palpable killing aura. For a fleeting instant, the urge to flee overwhelmed them. But Long Yun had no intention of granting them such a chance.

As his sword aura pierced out, dazzling stars began to appear—seven in total—arranged in the pattern of the Northern Dipper, as if forming a mystical battle formation, manifesting in an instant.

The seven stars seemed to incarnate as seven gods of slaughter, each radiating killing intent as dense as woven clouds.

"My current cultivation is still too low—I can only manifest seven Slaughter Stars. But it should be enough for these two," Long Yun thought to himself.

The white-robed woman’s gaze was tinged with surprise. To her, the Jade Sword Sect was but a feeble, insignificant faction, a mere drop in the ocean compared to the Phoenix Pavilion. Yet now, she found herself forced to reassess the Jade Sword Sect—all because of this youth named Long Yun.

This sword art that gathered stars, and the earlier one imbued with Buddhist essence, were both undoubtedly of the highest quality. Under this boy’s sword intent, they reached a terrifying might.

The faint worry that had lingered in the white-robed woman’s heart finally faded away. For the first time, a delicate blush bloomed upon her usually cold, tranquil face.

"Why am I concerned for him?" she wondered, bewildered. She, who had always been devoted only to cultivation and indifferent to everything else—why should she care for Long Yun’s safety? Her heart pounded uncontrollably, like a startled deer.

But Long Yun was completely oblivious to all of this; his mind was wholly immersed in the Celestial Slaughter of Stars, tracing the movement of the Northern Dipper, transforming it into an ever-expanding haze of killing intent.

"Die!" Under the overwhelming pressure, the two men’s will finally shattered. Driven mad, they thrust their swords together, sending sword auras over ten feet long crisscrossing toward Long Yun.

Unperturbed, Long Yun pushed the Celestial Slaughter of Stars to its utmost. The seven shining stars glimmered like gems set against a black curtain.

"Slaughter of the Northern Dipper—" he intoned softly. At the tip of his sword, golden light flared, doubling in brilliance, and the seven stars began to tremble violently.

Lethal force radiated in all directions. In that instant, Long Yun’s entire sword intent transformed into icy killing intent. From the seven stars, seven beams of light shot forth simultaneously.

In midair, they converged into a gleaming golden longsword, which crashed down, cleaving straight into the heart of the intersecting sword auras.

With a thunderous boom, the stars exploded. Both opponents felt a rush of blood in their throats and staggered backward. Long Yun’s face only paled slightly—he had not retreated a single step.

"Die—" he charged forward like a leopard, feet pounding the earth, and in a flash caught up with one of the retreating men.

With a flick of his blade, he exploited the man’s faltering energy. A streak of sword aura punctured his brow, and the expert collapsed onto his back, breathless and lifeless.

The last surviving opponent’s face twisted in terror as he forced his energy to circulate, enduring the stabbing pain in his meridians as he desperately tried to clear his channels.

Long Yun, emboldened by bloodlust, felt the killing urge within him grow even fiercer. Without hesitation, he reversed his wrist and slashed for the man’s throat.

"Not so easily!" Driven to the brink of death, the man’s eyes blazed. Clenching his teeth, he forced his numb arm to recover, and his sword shot out to block Long Yun’s attack.

"Heavenly Sword Aura? Just as I suspected," Long Yun noted inwardly. The Heavenly Sword Aura was the signature art of the Jade Sword Sect’s Heavenly Sword lineage.

From the moment they had called out his name, Long Yun had suspected they were fellow disciples. But he hadn’t realized they belonged to the Heavenly Sword branch until now, when the man revealed his aura. The previous two had not dared to use it, holding back their true strength, and so they had fallen swiftly.

Now, with only himself remaining, the disciple of the Heavenly Sword branch unleashed his full power—the Heavenly Sword Aura surged, taking his strength to a new level.

"But even revealing your trump card won’t change the outcome. Die!" Long Yun’s eyes narrowed. If the Grand Elder of the Heavenly Sword branch was involved, things would grow more complicated. He would leave no survivors.

Sword aura and intent fused madly as the Seven Stars appeared, emitting a piercing sonic boom that shattered his opponent’s sword aura.

Without mercy, Long Yun’s blade slashed down toward the man’s head.

"Traitor, how dare you!" A furious roar thundered from nearby. Long Yun’s brow furrowed, but his sword did not slow in the slightest, cleaving straight down upon his foe’s crown.