Heavenly Sword Saint
The golden dragon surged across the ancient palace.
Its enormous body twisted through the air, its scales formed from condensed sword qi. Every movement caused the surrounding space to tremble.
The ancient floor cracked beneath its pressure.
The walls groaned.
Even the countless broken swords floating above the palace seemed to tremble before its might.
Long Tian stood behind the dragon.
His golden robes fluttered violently as his spiritual energy surged.
His eyes were cold.
This was his strongest martial technique.
Imperial Dragon Slash.
A Heaven-Grade Sword Art passed down through the imperial family of the Great Eternal Divine Dynasty.
It was a technique that could only be cultivated by the most talented members of the imperial bloodline.
Once unleashed, its power was enough to crush cultivators several stages above the user.
Long Tian had never used it against someone of the same generation.
But today was different.
Today, he wasn't fighting to prove his strength.
He was fighting to erase Jian Chen.
"Die!"
Long Tian roared.
The golden dragon opened its enormous jaws.
Boom!
The dragon descended.
The pressure swept across the palace like a storm.
The Lin Clan geniuses retreated hurriedly.
Their expressions were filled with anticipation.
Jian Chen had already been stabbed through the chest.
The Soul Devouring Poison had entered his body.
His spiritual energy was nearly exhausted.
His life force was rapidly disappearing.
There was no way he could survive such an attack.
At least...
That was what they believed.
Jian Chen quietly watched the approaching dragon.
His white robes were completely stained red.
Blood trickled from the corner of his mouth.
His breathing was shallow.
His fingers around the sword trembled slightly.
Yet his eyes remained calm.
Unusually calm.
The golden dragon grew closer.
Ten meters.
Five meters.
Three meters.
The terrifying sword qi was already tearing Jian Chen's robes apart.
Yet he didn't move.
He simply stared at it.
Then, slowly, he whispered,
"The sword..."
His fingers tightened around the hilt.
"...is meant to cut through all obstacles."
His voice was barely audible.
But the moment those words fell
The Sword Intent surrounding him suddenly changed.
It became sharper.
Quieter.
More concentrated.
Jian Chen slowly raised his sword.
There was no dazzling spiritual light.
No overwhelming aura.
No magnificent technique.
Just one sword.
One ordinary looking slash.
Whoosh!
The silver blade swept through the air.
For an instant...
Everything seemed to stop.
The golden dragon froze.
The countless floating swords froze.
Even the expressions of the cultivators surrounding the battlefield seemed to freeze.
Then
Crack!
A tiny sound echoed through the palace.
A thin silver line appeared across the enormous golden dragon.
Long Tian's eyes widened.
"What...?"
The line spread.
Across the dragon's head.
Across its body.
All the way to its tail.
Then
Boom!
The golden dragon split cleanly into two.
The enormous attack that Long Tian had poured everything into shattered into countless fragments of golden light.
The fragments scattered through the palace like falling stars.
Silence.
Absolute silence.
No one spoke.
No one moved.
Long Tian stared at the scene.
His pupils trembled.
His strongest technique...
Had been cut apart.
With one sword.
"Impossible..."
His voice was barely a whisper.
But before he could recover
Whoosh!
A figure flashed through the golden fragments.
Jian Chen.
He had moved.
No one had seen him move.
Not even Long Tian.
By the time Long Tian realized what was happening, Jian Chen was already standing before him.
Their eyes met.
Jian Chen's expression was calm.
Long Tian's heart sank.
He hurriedly raised his sword.
Clang!
The two swords collided.
A terrifying force exploded from the point of impact.
Boom!
Long Tian's body was blasted backward.
He flew dozens of meters before crashing into a stone pillar.
The entire palace shook.
Blood surged into his throat.
He barely managed to swallow it.
His arms were numb.
His fingers trembled.
Then he looked down.
His Imperial Dragon Sword was covered in cracks.
Crack.
Another crack spread across the blade.
Long Tian's expression changed.
"No..."
Snap!
The treasured sword shattered.
Fragments of golden metal scattered across the ground.
Long Tian stared at the broken hilt in his hand.
His face became pale.
"My Imperial Dragon Sword..."
His voice trembled.
"How..."
He slowly raised his head.
"How did you..."
Jian Chen stood several dozen meters away.
His sword remained in his hand.
His breathing was heavier now.
The brief exchange had clearly pushed his already damaged body closer to its limit.
Yet his gaze remained sharp.
"I told you."
His voice was cold.
"You aren't worthy."
Long Tian's face twisted with rage.
"You bastard!"
"You dare destroy my sword!"
Jian Chen looked at the broken weapon.
Then at Long Tian.
His expression contained no anger.
Only cold indifference.
"I should have destroyed your life instead."
The words were simple.
But they struck Long Tian harder than any sword.
His expression stiffened.
For the first time since entering the palace...
He felt genuine fear.
Not fear of Jian Chen's cultivation.
Not fear of the Jian Clan.
Fear of the man standing before him.
A man who had been stabbed through the heart.
A man who was poisoned.
A man whose life was already fading.
And yet
He had still shattered Long Tian's strongest technique.
He had still broken his treasured sword.
And he still looked capable of killing him.
Then
Cough!
Jian Chen suddenly bent forward.
A violent cough tore through his chest.
Black blood sprayed onto the ancient floor.
His body swayed.
One hand instinctively pressed against his chest.
The wound had already turned dark.
Black veins spread outward from it.
The poison was advancing.
Fast.
Jian Chen's vision blurred.
The palace seemed to spin around him.
His heartbeat became weaker.
Thump.
...
Thump.
...
Each beat was farther apart.
Long Tian stared at him.
Then slowly...
A smile returned to his face.
"So that's it."
His voice was quiet.
"You finally reached your limit."
Jian Chen didn't answer.
Long Tian's smile widened.
"I almost forgot."
"The Soul Devouring Poison isn't an ordinary poison."
"It doesn't merely destroy the body."
His gaze became vicious.
"It devours the meridians."
"It corrodes the dantian."
"And once it reaches the soul..."
He paused.
"...even a Saint won't be able to save you."
Jian Chen lowered his eyes.
Black blood dripped from his fingertips.
Long Tian laughed.
"The more you fight..."
"The faster you die."
Jian Chen slowly clenched his fist.
He knew Long Tian was right.
His body was already collapsing.
His meridians were beginning to lose their ability to circulate spiritual energy.
His dantian felt as though countless insects were chewing through it.
Every breath brought another wave of pain.
But strangely...
He no longer feared death.
He had already accepted it.
What hurt wasn't dying.
It was the thought that this would be the end of his path.
The end of his Sword Dao.
The end of everything he had spent his entire life pursuing.
And perhaps...
The end of his chance to uncover the truth behind the mysterious inheritance.
His gaze slowly moved toward Lin Xue'er.
She stood among the Lin Clan geniuses.
Silent.
Watching him.
For a brief moment, their eyes met.
Twenty years of memories flashed through Jian Chen's mind.
Her smile.
Her voice.
The countless battles they had fought together.
The promises she had made.
And finally...
The Frost Snow Sword piercing through his chest.
His heart tightened.
A faint smile appeared on his lips.
"I regret..."
His voice was almost a whisper.
Lin Xue'er's eyes flickered.
Jian Chen continued.
"...that I trusted the wrong person."
Lin Xue'er's fingers tightened.
But she said nothing.
Jian Chen looked away.
Whatever feelings remained in his heart...
He buried them.
They no longer mattered.
Long Tian suddenly raised his hand.
"Everyone!"
The surviving Lin Clan geniuses looked toward him.
"Attack together!"
His voice thundered through the palace.
"I don't believe a dying man can stop all of us!"
The geniuses hesitated.
They had witnessed Jian Chen's strength.
They had seen him cut apart Imperial Dragon Slash.
They had seen him shatter Long Tian's treasured sword.
The fear in their hearts had not disappeared.
Long Tian's expression darkened.
"Do you not understand?"
"If Jian Chen escapes today, the Jian Clan will hunt every one of you!"
The hesitation vanished.
One by one, the Lin Clan geniuses gritted their teeth.
Weapons were raised.
Sword qi surged.
Then
More than twenty figures charged simultaneously.
Boom!
The ancient palace shook violently.
Dozens of attacks tore through the air.
Sword qi.
Saber light.
Palm seals.
Fist shadows.
All of them converged toward Jian Chen.
There was nowhere to retreat.
Nowhere to hide.
Jian Chen looked at the approaching attacks.
His expression was strangely peaceful.
He knew this was the end.
His body had reached its limit.
His spiritual energy was nearly exhausted.
The poison had already invaded his meridians.
And yet...
His hand remained firmly wrapped around his sword.
A swordsman could lose.
A swordsman could die.
But his sword could never surrender.
Jian Chen slowly inhaled.
Then—
He closed his eyes.
For a brief moment, the world disappeared.
There was only silence.
Then memories began flashing through his mind.
His childhood.
His first sword.
The first time he understood Sword Intent.
The countless years he spent practicing until his hands bled.
The countless nights he spent beneath the stars.
Every failure.
Every victory.
Every step he had taken on the Sword Dao.
He remembered the people who had believed in him.
The people he had protected.
And finally...
Lin Xue'er.
The woman he had once believed would accompany him until the end of his life.
A faint pain appeared in his heart.
But this time...
He didn't hold onto it.
He let it go.
When Jian Chen opened his eyes again
There was no hatred.
No grief.
No hesitation.
Only the sword.
Only his path.
Then
Boom!
A terrifying Sword Intent erupted from his body.
The entire palace trembled.
The incoming attacks were forced to slow beneath the pressure.
The countless broken swords scattered throughout the ancient palace began trembling violently.
Clang!
Clang!
Clang!
One sword rose.
Then ten.
A hundred.
A thousand.
The entire palace was filled with sword cries.
Then
Boom!
Ten thousand ancient swords erupted from the ground.
They soared into the sky.
They filled the ancient palace.
They filled the heavens above it.
Every blade pointed toward the enemies before Jian Chen.
The sight was breathtaking.
The Lin Clan geniuses stopped dead in their tracks.
Their faces turned pale.
Long Tian's pupils contracted violently.
"This..."
His voice trembled.
"This is impossible!"
"How can a dying man control ten thousand swords?!"
No one answered.
Even Lin Xue'er stared at the scene in disbelief.
The Sword Intent was overwhelming.
It wasn't simply Jian Chen's Sword Intent.
It was as though the entire ancient palace had awakened.
As though every broken sword within it had been waiting for this exact moment.
Jian Chen slowly raised his right hand.
The countless swords moved with him.
His blood continued flowing.
His body trembled.
He knew he couldn't maintain this state for long.
Perhaps this attack would consume the very last trace of life within him.
But he didn't care.
His gaze passed over the Lin Clan geniuses.
Then settled on Long Tian.
Finally...
He looked at Lin Xue'er.
For a moment, their eyes met.
Jian Chen said nothing.
There was nothing left to say.
He turned his gaze forward.
His voice echoed throughout the ancient palace.
"You wanted the inheritance."
The ten thousand swords trembled.
"You wanted my life."
The Sword Intent grew stronger.
Jian Chen slowly lowered his hand.
"Then..."
His eyes became cold.
"Face the wrath..."
The ten thousand swords suddenly pointed downward.
"...of my sword."
His hand fell.
Boom!
Ten thousand ancient swords descended.
They fell like a heavenly storm.
The entire palace disappeared beneath a sea of silver.
And in that instant
The Sword Dao of the Divine Realm...
shook.