Infinite Professions

Chapter 197 - 98: Flying Sword

"Who goes there!?"

The Black Mountain Demon Monarch’s eyes flickered sharply, emitting two beams of demonic light. Within, the demon fire blazed, causing the very void to distort.

Though Taiyuan is part of the ancient cultivation realm, its power diminished over time after the Primordial Spirit became dormant. Therefore, the boundaries weakened, allowing beings at the Divinity Transformation stage to break through heavens and earth, and even a Nascent Soul can distort space.

The Profound Void Secret Realm is no exception. Even though it’s a blessed land left by the Mahayana True Monarch, after thousands of years, its power greatly waned. Now, as it returns to the earth, the spatial boundaries have assimilated with the outside world, enabling even a Nascent Soul to shake it.

Such demonic light shot toward the newcomer.

Yet even before it got close, it was extinguished by the Formless Sword Qi.

The crowd focused intently, only to see amidst the shifting clouds, a figure gradually becoming clear.

Wearing simple clothing, with graying hair, the young face surprisingly bore an air of premature aging. Yet, there was also a sharp aura of sword qi, dazzling with brilliance, that gripped one’s soul.

Somewhat paradoxical.

But easy to understand.

Merely due to the depletion of life essence and the shortening of lifespan, resulting in premature aging.

But why was the life essence depleted, and the lifespan shortened?

The sharp sword qi has already explained.

It was caused by cultivation techniques!

A person like this, an event like this, is not uncommon in the cultivation realm. Lately, such cases have multiplied to countless.

The main point is...

"Master!"

"Brother Li?"

Two exclamations rang out in rapid succession, drawing everyone’s gaze.

The South Sea Earth Nun’s eyes flickered, casting a sidelong glance behind her, only to see Zhong Yuxiu’s face filled with shock, even a hint of indescribable fear, as she raised the Profound Soul Sword Light and charged toward the person.

"Do not act rashly!"

The South Sea Earth Nun hurriedly intervened to stop her.

On the other side, Linghu Xing and other cultivators of the Mystic Sect also turned their gaze, looking at the startled Xuanji Zi.

"Xuanji Zi?"

"Do you know this person?"

The Mystic Sect cultivators questioned nervously, and Xuanji Zi snapped back to senses, "This person is none other than Brother Li Qingming who saved my life by slaying Xin Chenzi and Ding Weiyin at the Poison Dragon Pool back then."

"Li Qingming?"

"Xin Chenzi, Ding Weiyin?"

The cultivators exchanged looks, eyes full of surprise and doubt. The cultivators from Profound Spirit Island, who shared the same origin as Xuanji Zi, also frowned deeply.

They had heard Xuanji Zi speak of this before.

According to Xuanji Zi, this person’s cultivation should be at the Core Formation Realm, and he was an inland cultivator. Although strong, he was limited. Back then, not venturing to challenge the Nascent Soul level Netherworld Demon Monarch is proof.

Although it was more than twenty years ago, for a Core Formation Cultivator, twenty-odd years is but a blink. Yet, he has undergone such a huge transformation, easily breaking the probe of the Black Mountain Demon Monarch just now.

Could it be...

"He’s cultivated a Demon Skill?!"

A thought arose in everyone’s mind.

It seemed long, but for a cultivator with a focused mind, this contemplation happened in an instant.

The South Sea Earth Nun restrained Zhong Yuxiu, her mind tangled with surprise and doubt.

"Could this person indeed be the Master of the Two Yuxiu?"

"The Celestial Destiny Two Yuxiu, situated inland, having a master isn’t a strange thing, but this person..."

"Demon Skill depletes life, causing premature aging, with little lifespan remaining!"

"How could the Celestial Destiny Two Yuxiu have such a Master?"

"Is it calculation or coincidence?"

"Such cause and effect, if connected..."

Thoughts tangled, all filled with bewilderment.

On the other side, the Black Mountain Demon Monarch had the same thought but acted decisively as a demon, directly questioning Shen Hex: "Who are you to dare plot against this seat?"

"The one who will kill you!"

Shen Hex pointed his finger at the Black Mountain Demon Monarch, and toward the other three demons, and even the two Nascent Souls of the righteous path: "Who will come first, or will you all come together?"

"Arrogant!"

Seeing the opponent’s direct challenges, the Black Mountain Demon Monarch wasted no words, directly urging the Six-Flame Demon Fire.

Nearby Miao Shaotian, Situ Lie, and Pan Wangpo, seeing this, each prepared to defend against the South Sea Earth Nun and the Old Turtle Fisherman for him.

"Boom!!!"

The Black Mountain Demon Monarch urged his magical power, and the Six-Flame Demon Fire surged upward, transforming into a budding black lotus, enveloping him at its heart.

"Six-Flame Demon Fire, Black Lotus Blooming!"

The cultivators’ eyes sharpened, displaying expressions of horror.

"This is the first divine technique of the Black Demon Sect, requiring the collection of Six Flame Seeds for cultivation. Tiers Four to Six are the Fire Seed Realm, Tiers Seven to Nine the Flower Opening Realm, Tiers Ten to Twelve the Lotus Platform Realm."

"The Black Mountain Demon Monarch’s Nascent Soul body formed a demon fire only at Tier Six, still in the Fire Seed Realm. But by ceaselessly nurturing it as his innate divine technique, he painstakingly perfected sixty-three layers of Earthly Fiend Technique Prohibition."

"Sixty-three layers, the Seven-Nine number. With this technique prohibition, he can animate the demon fire, cause the Black Lotus to bloom, temporarily ascending to the Flower Opening Realm, even able to injure the Dharma Body of a Venerable of Divinity Transformation. Without appropriate protective measures, Nascent Soul cultivators cannot resist it."

"After the Great War of Righteous and Evil, the Demon Dao, though in decline, still belongs to ancient traditions, especially the West Sea Demon Cave where the Black Demon Sect, Blood Demon Dao, and Celestial Demon Dao stand as the Three Fierce, barely able to rival East Sea Taihua, North Sea Profound Celestial, and South Sea Golden Turtle. These demons are proof."

"How can this person resist?"

The crowd was horrified, watching the battle closely.

In the midst of the battle, the Black Mountain Demon Monarch had already refined the demon fire, the black lotus bud bloomed open, within it, the demon flames roared, like a black sun rising.

However...

"A grain of rice, yet it shines!"

A soft cry was heard, Shen Hex flicked his sleeve and turned, a sharp radiance suddenly appeared. It emerged from the center of his brow, shooting out from his mind’s eye, and in an instant became three feet of dazzling light, streaking like lightning towards the Black Lotus Demon Fire.

Fast, an unimaginable speed.

"Puff!!!"

A muffled sound echoed as the brilliant light pierced through, the Black Lotus Demon Fire had no resistance.

"Ah!!!"

A piercing scream followed, the Black Lotus Demon Fire was shattered, revealing the body of the Black Mountain Demon Monarch.

Yet the demon’s body could not sustain itself, and in an instant was consumed by demon fire, revealing an infant about a foot long, entirely black, with a sharp-featured head, burning with demon fire from top to bottom.

It was indeed the Demon Cultivator’s Nascent Soul!

Three Splendors gather at the top, form the Dao Foundation, Five Qi converge to form the Golden Core.

After forming the Golden Core, one begins the Nascent Soul Formation, condensing the Three Flowers and Five Qi into the Golden Core, finally breaking the core to form a Nascent Soul, forging an absolute Primordial Spirit Body, reaching the Nascent Soul Realm.

Beyond the Nascent Soul lies the Purple Mansion Primordial Spirit, an out-of-body experience to comprehend the principles of heaven and earth, then harmonizing the celestial rhythm with the physical body, transforming step by step, until transcending the mundane to become an immortal.

The Black Mountain Demon Monarch was merely a Nascent Soul, having not yet formed the Purple Mansion Primordial Spirit, nor possessing the power to merge with the void. But even in the Taiyuan Cultivation Realm, where celestial destiny is diminished and primordial spirit is dormant, he was still considered a prominent Demon Dao Cultivator.

Yet this demon, at this moment, had his physical body destroyed, leaving only a Nascent Soul to let out sharp cries.

His body was destroyed not by the opponent’s actions but by his own doing, recklessly igniting the Six-Flame Demon Fire, even incinerating his own flesh.

The extreme reason behind this lay in the hands of the Demon Infant.

That Demon Infant let out a sharp cry, the Six-Flame Demon Fire burned as though it were the purest Nascent Soul Power, maintaining this Demon Fire Divine Technique, resisting the sword light held in its hands.

That sword light, vast and wide, without form, only a sharp glow, grasped fiendishly by the Demon Infant.

"This... "

"Formless Sword?"

"How is this possible?"

This scene left everyone shocked. Miao Shaotian and other Demon Cultivator Nascent Souls urgently attacked Shen Hex.

Formless Sword!

It’s one of the Taihua Immortal Family flying swords, crafted from the Formless Sword Technique, gathering the essence of the five metals, three thousand six hundred kinds of spirit medicines, absorbing the essence of the sun and moon, refining pure yang and pure yin, finally sacrificed and refined into form. It’s both a divine technique and a magical treasure flying sword.

The sword leaves no shadow nor form, not only is its speed incredibly fast, silent and unseen, but it also bypasses the flesh, injuring the cultivator’s primordial spirit. With an incomplete primordial spirit, it destroys the Nascent Soul Golden Core, fiercely potent and exceedingly malicious.

Yet this sword is extremely difficult to refine. It’s said Taihua Mountain only possesses one, how could it be in this person’s hand?

"No!"

"That’s not the Formless Sword?"

The South Sea Earth Nuns’ eyes narrowed as she looked at the sword light resisting the Black Mountain Demon Monarch’s death.

"The Formless Sword has been taken by the Venerable Ascetic to intimidate the Green Robe Old Demon at Baiman Mountain, how could this person possess it?"

"Moreover, the Formless Sword leaves no shadow nor form, silent and unseen, penetrating flesh tissues, eliminating the primordial spirit, if it were truly the Formless Sword here, the Black Mountain Demon Monarch wouldn’t have reacted."

"This flying sword..."

As the South Sea Earth Nuns pondered, the three major Demon Cultivators had already begun their assault, but did not target the sword light entangled with the Black Mountain Demon Monarch, instead choosing to aid Shen Hex.

However, as they moved, Shen Hex augmented his magical power, and the radiance of the Daoist Sword swelled rapidly, instantly piercing through the Six-Flame Demon Fire burning the Black Mountain Demon Monarch’s Life Essence, stabbing into the Demon Cultivator’s Nascent Soul.

"Ah!!!"

A miserable cry burst out, the Demon Cultivator’s Nascent Soul shattered, and the Six-Flame Demon Fire vanished in a flash, leaving only a single brilliant light to return to Shen Hex, seeking aggressively among the three Demon Cultivators.

"Not good!"

Miao Shaotian’s expression shifted, he summoned a dark green Profound Pearl to collide with the fierce incoming sword light, causing a loud clang, the Profound Pearl quickly recoiled.

"This is not the Formless Sword!"

Seeing the situation, Miao Shaotian understood as well.

The Formless Sword of Taihua Mountain, though refined from the essence of five metals, due to the unique traits of the Formless Sword Technique, is an entity of sword qi refined long ago. It leaves no shadow nor form, silent and unseen, its sword speed is incredibly fast and can penetrate flesh defenses, but its nature is unique, not suitable for confronting other flying swords and magical treasures head-on.

Yet now this flying sword...

Ferociously powerful, fiercely swift and strong, it cuts both flesh and primordial spirit, following the path of "One Sword Breaks Ten Thousand Techniques", relying entirely on foundation, magical prohibitions for refining, the Sword Formulas merely amplify the power of the foundation, lacking the clever functions of the Formless Sword.

In other words, was the Black Mountain Demon Monarch truly slain directly?

What kind of sword is this?

Sacrificial Demon Slaying Sword!

Shen Hex’s sword slew the Black Mountain Demon Monarch, and collided with Miao Shaotian’s Profound Pearl, fierce sharpness forced this Nascent Soul Cultivator to continually retreat.

Sacrificial Demon Slaying!

The former describes the cultivation method.

The latter describes the attack style.

To put it plainly, this weapon is the flying sword equivalent of a body cultivator, focusing solely on physical strength numbers, lacking any mechanics, relying solely on the power forged by the Sword Master’s "Sacrificial Dao" to defeat enemies. In desperate times, the Sword Master’s Golden Core Nascent Soul, Primordial Spirit Dao Fruit can even be sacrificed into the sword, maximizing the power of the sword technique. It is known as the Primordial Spirit Sacrificial Dao Demon-slaying Absolute Sword!

Though Shen Hex possesses only Golden Core cultivation, his Dao Golden Core is awe-inspiring, his foundation is equal to these renowned Demon Cultivator Nascent Souls. Coupled with the Professional Power enhancing this Fighting Daoist Sword, his personally crafted, freshly forged forty-five Earthly Fiend Technique Prohibitions, its power proved overwhelming, even the burning Life Essence of the Black Mountain Demon Monarch’s Nascent Soul couldn’t withstand.

The sword’s only drawback is its immense consumption, ordinary cultivators can’t wield it for more than a few strikes before exhausting their magical power, thus it’s mostly reserved as a killing technique for a climactic battle.

But Shen Hex is no ordinary man, his Dao Golden Core’s foundation surpasses imagination, the quantity and quality of his True Essence Magical Power are extraordinary, fully supporting this Daoist Sword against enemies.

Yet others aren’t aware of this mystery, seizing the moment as he standoffed Miao Shaotian’s Profound Pearl, Situ Lie stealthily attacked, a sword light concealed in invisibility quietly shot forth, only when nearing did it reveal a surge of blood light, fiercely thrusting towards the Dantian.

It was indeed... the Blood Infant Sword!

The Blood Demon Dao’s signature flying sword, akin to the Taihua Formless Sword, is a special-effect targeted flying sword. However, this sword specifically targets the physical Nascent Soul, requiring the Demon Cultivator to personally refine while collecting cultivators’ nascent souls for it to devour, necessitating nine infant blood sacrifices for its refinement. The sword harbors myriad filth, wicked curses, once it wounds the flesh, can turn both person and infant into bloody pus.

Situ Lie wielded this sword with utmost confidence, as he had previously slain numerous Nascent Souls with this flying sword, even including two Mystic Sect Orthodox Sect elders, earning a ferocious reputation among the West Sea Demon Cultivators.

Thus, even if the Black Mountain Demon Monarch was dead, it wouldn’t frighten him away but rather incite him to seize the chance to kill.

Unexpectedly...

Facing the swiftly closing in Blood Infant Sword that aimed directly at the Dantian, Shen Hex neither called back the Daoist Sword nor dodged, instead, he unleashed a punch, striking directly at the Blood Infant’s sharp edge.