Chapter 1574: His Heart Felt Like Being Cut by Knives
Chapter 1574: Chapter 1574: His Heart Felt Like Being Cut by Knives
Seeing that Mu Hanyan had not spoken, Gai Huangji couldn’t be bothered to speak further. He swung his longsword, slicing directly toward Mu Hanyan’s head.
Although Mu Hanyan had just seriously injured Bo Xuanji with one strike, he could tell that her cultivation was merely at the Great Sword Master Peak level, so he didn’t take her seriously and naturally didn’t need to use the Lifeless Prison again.
"Star Fall, Eight Desolates!" Despite how carefree and relaxed Gai Huangji’s strike appeared, Mu Hanyan dared not underestimate it in the slightest, still exerting her full strength.
The two Sword Lights collided fiercely, causing Mu Hanyan’s chest to feel a block, and then she was sent flying with her sword.
"Han Yan!" Yue Fanchen leapt into the air, trying to protect Mu Hanyan, but he was shaken into spitting blood on the spot, floating down like a kite with a broken string.
"Bang!" Mu Hanyan crashed heavily onto the stone platform, barely steadying her figure. She felt the turbulence of her blood inside, as if it were about to explode. Her arms ached as if filled with lead, weighing her down.
"Your strength has indeed made some progress, to be able to withstand one of my strikes." Gai Huangji’s tone seemed to offer praise, but it was mostly filled with a mocking disdain.
As his voice fell, his longsword sliced out once more.
Mu Hanyan struggled to raise her longsword, the blades clashing with a thunderous sound. Mu Hanyan backed against the stone platform, which collapsed with a loud crash, and she was in severe pain all over, as if all her bones had shattered.
Mu Hanyan glanced at the sword soul, sighing inwardly. The realm of the Heaven and Earth Sword Heart was not easy to achieve; other cultivators could go their entire lives without comprehending it once, yet she still thought she could consistently grasp it, which was wishful thinking.
"Not bad, not bad. To actually withstand two of my strikes, if you were born on the Divine Continent, I would certainly take you as my disciple. But unfortunately, you are a person of the Holy Court, so I must kill you. By the way, don’t expect anyone to save you. Fen Qianji, that traitor, can’t even protect himself now and probably won’t even leave behind a scrap of his remains. Daring to betray the temple and oppose me, this is his end, hahaha." Gai Huangji laughed heartily.
"What happened to Qian Ji!" Mu Hanyan, gravely wounded, her consciousness blurred, felt a shock to her heart upon hearing this, and asked in surprise.
"You will see him soon; ask him in person when you meet." Gai Huangji replied flatly, and then another sword strike was unleashed.
Mu Hanyan gritted her teeth and again struggled to lift her longsword. Even she knew that with this strike, she could not withstand Gai Huangji.
Perhaps this time, it really was impossible to escape the calamity, Life and Death Nine Tribulations, Nine Tribulations Return to One. Whether to live or die, eternal annihilation. This time, would it mean complete destruction, or eternal divinity? There was no need to say, Mu Hanyan knew it was certainly death.
Thinking of Fen Qianji, she felt a pang of guilt. From what Gai Huangji implied, Fen Qianji probably wasn’t dead yet, but seeing his confidence, it’s likely that even if Fen isn’t dead, he is not far from it and will eventually face disaster. If it weren’t for her, Fen Qianji wouldn’t have ended up like this.
The approaching sword strike from Gai Huangji was overwhelming; Mu Hanyan couldn’t even gather the strength to raise her sword in defense, only holding it blankly.
"Seven Star Sky Stabilization, Bind!" Suddenly, a stooped figure stood in front of her, it was Ao Fangchen.
At this moment, Ao Fangchen held a magical artifact in his left hand and was trembling as he formed hand gestures with his right. Seven-colored light beams flickered on the magical artifact, converging into seven star points, surrounding Gai Huangji like seven stars embracing the moon.
Gai Huangji kept his previous posture, unable to advance, revealing that this magical artifact also had the power of restriction.
To think this old man had such an artifact, why didn’t he bring it out earlier? Mu Hanyan thought with a touch of irritation.
"Mu Hanyan, this magical artifact can’t hold on for long. Take the sword soul and go!" Ao Fangchen said, signaling with his eyes towards the magical artifact left on the ground by Bo Xuanji.
Only then did Mu Hanyan notice that the magical artifact in his left hand was continually cracking; it wasn’t just unable to hold on for long, but in a short while, it would shatter completely.
Ao Fangchen was quite helpless; the Seven Star Heavenly Positioning Plate was jointly refined by the seven Great Elders of Divine Elder Peak long ago. It was already severely damaged in the battle a thousand years ago, and he alone could not fully repair it, making it unreliable.
Previously, when entering the Holy Soul Illusion Realm and confronting the illusion’s prohibition, the Seven Star Heavenly Positioning Plate showed signs of damage again. Now using it with all his strength naturally made it break even more severely.
To him, the Seven Star Heavenly Positioning Plate was not merely a magical artifact but a testimony of camaraderie between the seven elders, something he would not use lightly unless absolutely necessary. Seeing the artifact shattering now pained him as if cut by a blade.
But knowing that letting the sword soul fall into the hands of the temple would be a huge disaster for the Holy Court, he had no other choice.
"Hurry and go!" Ao Fangchen shouted again.
Mu Hanyan did not hesitate, picking up the Palace Lantern magical artifact left by Bo Xuanji and darted to the front of the sword soul.
Although this magical artifact was left behind by Bo Xuanji’s great-grandfather, it was refined using alchemy techniques from the Holy Court Continent. This is understandable, as having infiltrated the Holy Court, he would have risked his life early on to hide his origins, naturally not daring to carry temple magical artifacts. This artifact was clearly refined after coming to the Holy Court.
Mu Hanyan’s mind was spinning quickly, while pondering the alchemy techniques and attempting to execute hand gestures. Soon, an orange-yellow light beam illuminated from the Palace Lantern.
The light beam was projected onto the sword soul, and the ghostly blue flame gradually became more ethereal, while the Palace Lantern faintly gained a trace of the sword soul’s aura.
Time flew by, the flame became increasingly ethereal, until it was only a very faint shadow, while the aura of the sword soul within the Palace Lantern grew stronger and stronger.
It was about to succeed! Mu Hanyan couldn’t help her heart from jumping into her throat.
"Break for me!" Just then, Gai Huangji’s furious shout suddenly reached her ears.
Mu Hanyan instinctively turned her head and saw Gai Huangji’s energy surging, slashing heavily with his sword. The invisible prohibition restraining him quaked like a calm lake struck by a giant stone, causing waves to surge.
"Boom!" A loud noise followed; the Seven Star Heavenly Positioning Plate, affected by the sword power’s reverberation, was webbed with cracks and was on the verge of shattering completely.
All of Ao Fangchen’s qi and mental state were poured into the Seven Star Heavenly Positioning Plate, and he, too, was shaken by the sword power, spurting several mouthfuls of fresh blood.
"Break! Break! Break for me!" Gai Huangji roared angrily, unleashing another sword strike.
Ao Fangchen stared with rage, continuing to form hand gestures, fresh blood gushing from his mouth as he worked.
Though he had given it his all, it was clear that the Seven Star Heavenly Positioning Plate, now in such a shattered state, couldn’t withstand another sword from Gai Huangji.