Chapter 326 : The Evil Sword Appears

Chapter 326: The Evil Sword Appears!

On the high platform, disbelief filled the eyes of all the major cultivators.

Even the Dao Ancestor had needed nearly two years of comprehension within the Sword Pavilion, yet Chu Huaixu had finished learning the Three Thousand Sword Scrolls in such a short time?

How was that possible!

Although quite a few people in the world liked to call him 【Dao Ancestor Second】…

That didn’t mean you could exaggerate to this extent—claiming he far surpassed the Dao Ancestor!

Seeing everyone’s expressions, Jiang Zhi merely smiled indifferently.

Others laughed at him for being mad, while he laughed at others for failing to see through it.

He suddenly felt that not explaining anything at all was actually quite satisfying.

How could the profundity of the Dao Ancestor Inheritance Secret Realm be something these people could even imagine?

The old man’s heaven-reaching, earth-shaking abilities were enough to overturn all understanding!

Even Jiang Zhi himself had not believed it before—that while only one day passed outside, several years had passed within the secret realm?

Wasn’t that even more outrageous than the saying “one day in heaven, one year in the mortal world”?

And yet, this was exactly what had truly happened.

Seeing Jiang Zhi smile without speaking, everyone grew irritated.

But no matter how they questioned him, this little Martial Uncle of the Dao Gate kept his mouth shut.

Clearly, he possessed that infuriating habit of storytellers—cutting off at the most crucial moment.

Want to hear it?

Too bad, not telling you this time!

Ming Xuanji frowned slightly, his fingers twitching subconsciously as he almost attempted a divination.

This was already who knew how many times he had wanted to calculate Chu Huaixu recently.

He quickly suppressed the thought.

He couldn’t really die halfway through trying to divine him, could he?

Yet the feeling was unbearably tormenting.

Jiang Zhi swept his gaze across everyone, feeling extremely pleased inside.

Back when he first returned to the Dao Gate and met Chu Huaixu, he had been tormented daily as well—annoyed to death.

“Now it’s their turn to be annoyed!”

After about one incense stick of time, it was time for the second match of the day.

Dao Gate true disciple Xu Ziqing versus the Heir of Prince Rui, Qin Xuanxiao.

Another battle of world protagonists against world protagonists!

Chu Huaixu stood among the Dao Gate’s ranks, observing the match.

What he was most curious about was:

“What are Qin Xuanxiao and the Ancestor Emperor using to resist the baleful aura of the Bronze Sword?”

He now understood that there was still a difference between baleful aura and Accursed Pills.

The Accursed Pill felt like an upgraded version refined through 【Dao Birth One】—its devouring power stronger, its rank higher.

Baleful aura, however, had something like a “saturation limit.”

Simply put, once it was full, it could no longer continue devouring.

If one slashed out a powerful sword qi, just a few strands of baleful aura might already be “stuffed,” rendering them temporarily useless.

“The Accursed Pill should also have a limit to how much it can devour… it’s just that its limit hasn’t been discovered yet,” Chu Huaixu thought.

The Bronze Sword, as the most powerful existence left behind after the Dao Ancestor’s passing—even the Ancestor Emperor at his peak was no match for it.

“It ranks second only to the Dao Ancestor—this is a key setting in 《Borrowed Sword》,” Chu Huaixu said to himself.

Even now, with only three restrictions unlocked, it was absolutely not something Qin Xuanxiao could handle.

Even with the Ancestor Emperor’s assistance, even considering the saturation limit of baleful aura, this problem was still extremely difficult.

Because the total amount of baleful aura contained within the sword was simply too terrifying.

If Chu Huaixu had not had 【Dao Birth One】 back then, he too would have found this issue extremely troublesome.

At this thought, a flash of inspiration suddenly struck him.

“Huh! Wait… can the Accursed Pill devour baleful aura?”

He suddenly felt that it might actually work!

“I’ll test it after Little Xu finishes today’s match,” he thought, already eager to experiment.

On the platform, the match had officially begun.

Xu Ziqing immediately activated his Body Training Divine Ability.

Qin Xuanxiao also did not dare to be careless, activating 【Divine Descent】.

The enormous sword case on the young man’s back was lightly tapped, instantly opening.

An ugly-looking Bronze Sword appeared, grasped in his left hand.

The moment the sword entered his hand, the young man did not hesitate—he immediately swung it.

Although he had reached the Third Realm and possessed his own Body Training Divine Ability, using the Bronze Sword with three restrictions unlocked still placed a tremendous burden on him.

If he didn’t swing immediately, merely holding it would already be difficult to sustain for long.

The backlash from 【Six Formations of the Broken Array】, combined with the cost of wielding the Bronze Sword, caused his left arm to instantly become mangled.

The audience below could clearly see just how extreme and difficult that strike had been.

Yet the sword qi unleashed carried a force capable of sweeping away everything before it, as if it could split the entire platform in two!

The terrifying aura turned into a violent gale, making even the surrounding spectators struggle to stand steady.

Qin Xuanxiao gripped his spear tightly, even pushing his pseudo-realm Spear Heart to its limit, yet he still struggled greatly to block it.

He even felt that if Xu Ziqing’s cultivation were also at the Third Realm Perfection, he might have been severely injured by that single strike.

After retreating several steps, the Heir of Prince Rui finally stabilized himself by planting his spear into the ground.

At once, discussions erupted throughout the Martial Arena.

“That sword is truly strange!”

“How could such a life-bound magical treasure exist?”

“He clearly can’t fully control it—is it really his life-bound item?”

“That sword is so ugly, but its power is terrifying… it feels extremely sinister!”

Even the major cultivators seated in the stands couldn’t help but glance toward Jiang Zhi and the others.

Naturally, they all knew what Xu Ziqing held in his hand.

The Dao Ancestor Sword of Hidden Spirit Mountain—this was the first time in a thousand years that it had been brought down the mountain!

But what they were witnessing now was clearly not the highlight they had been expecting.

“This sword was left behind by the Dao Ancestor for the Heaven-and-Earth Calamity—its power shouldn’t be limited to this!”

All of them fixed their gaze on Xu Ziqing’s right hand.

They saw that the young man still refused to grip the sword with his right hand, stubbornly swinging another strike with his left.

No helping it—the whole family was full of stubborn people.

His left arm’s bones instantly cracked and shattered completely.

His flesh split open in multiple places, as if torn apart from the inside out, blood bursting forth—some wounds so deep that bone was visible!

His wrist and fingers were in an even worse state.

That hand—that arm—was now completely ruined!

Yet Xu Ziqing was a simple youth.

He respected Niu Yuanshan deeply.

He did not know the truth.

He only knew that Niu Yuanshan had been forced to death in public.

And worse, the person before him had even insinuated that his senior brother was a spy!

This was no different from touching Xu Ziqing’s reverse scale!

To him, no one in the world was allowed to insult his senior brother—no one!!

After swinging that strike, he didn’t even bother to look at Qin Xuanxiao or check how he had blocked it.

His left-hand sword had already reached its limit.

A rare trace of cold indifference appeared on Xu Ziqing’s face.

That day, he had wished he could rush onto the platform and tear apart Qin Xuanxiao’s foul mouth that casually slandered others.

“Today… he will pay the price!”

Xu Ziqing’s expression turned icy as he extended his right hand.

The restriction formation in his palm began to glow.

His five fingers clenched tightly around the sword hilt—and he lifted the Bronze Sword effortlessly, as if it weighed nothing.

Below the platform, Chu Huaixu stood side by side with Han Shuangjiang.

“The evil sword… has finally appeared again,” he thought.

He was curious—what changes had the Bronze Sword undergone after unlocking three restrictions?

A familiar sensation began to spread.

“This is spiritual pressure.”

When he had climbed Hidden Spirit Mountain before, the Bronze Sword had used this very force to torment him, trying to force him to kneel and submit.

And the moment the spiritual pressure appeared, Chu Huaixu sensed the black small sword within his Sea of Consciousness tremble slightly.

It was as if it had suddenly awakened!

A rising battle intent began to grow.

This made Chu Huaixu chuckle inwardly.

“We’re not the ones fighting it today.”

“You’re already getting restless just watching from below?”

He and the Bronze Sword despised each other—and his Heart Sword was no exception.

On the platform, the refined-looking youth lowered his head slightly, eyes closed.

Waves of black qi began to emerge from the sword.

Some spectators below couldn’t help but mutter:

“The Dao Gate is a righteous sect—how can a true disciple’s spiritual sword be emitting black qi?”

Hearing this, Chu Huaixu couldn’t help but recall the phrase: “Senior brother, why is your Human Emperor Banner emitting black smoke!”

No helping it—this truly was an evil sword!

If these people knew that Xu Ziqing held the legendary Dao Ancestor Sword, their shock would be even greater!

A terrifying pressure spread outward from both the Bronze Sword and the youth.

Qin Xuanxiao naturally wouldn’t stand there doing nothing—he unleashed technique after technique, attacking the youth.

Was he supposed to just watch him “transform”?

Yet all of his methods were swallowed up by a strange force the moment they approached Xu Ziqing.

The refined youth, eyes closed, slowly began to float into the air.

The black qi on the sword grew denser, soon intertwining with dark bluish-black streams.

Qin Xuanxiao looked up as the youth rose until he stood a head above him.

Strangely, the face was still the same—but the aura had completely changed!

At that moment, “Xu Ziqing” slowly opened his eyes.

Clearly, unlocking three restrictions had brought a fundamental difference.

During the previous Eastern Continent Grand Competition, Xu Ziqing had never opened his eyes after gripping the sword with his right hand.

Now, within those pitch-black pupils, black and dark bluish-black streams seemed to swirl endlessly.

They flowed within his eyes.

And in “Xu Ziqing’s” gaze was boundless contempt and disdain.

When Qin Xuanxiao met his gaze, he involuntarily looked away.

He had a strange feeling.

As if under those eyes, he had nowhere to hide!

Or rather—“Xu Ziqing” was not looking at him at all.

Qin Xuanxiao felt that the gaze was fixed on the Emperor-level Divine Sense within him—the four strands of divine sense!

As for himself… he was completely ignored.

“Xu Ziqing” floated in midair, holding the evil sword.

Looking down at the Emperor-level Divine Sense, his eyes carried undisguised disdain.