novelraw Chapter 171 - 169: Phantom
Chapter 171 - 169: Phantom
The moment this message appeared, Hu Qi’s vision blurred.
Then, his five senses returned. He found himself still sitting in front of the floor-to-ceiling window.
He glanced up at the round, black clock on the wall, which was ticking away.
Its hands showed that only a few seconds had passed since he initiated the modification.
Hu Qi looked away, his brow furrowed slightly. There seemed to be something he couldn’t comprehend.
At the very end of the Inheritance Illusion Realm, behind the sundered heavens,
a blurry figure covered in countless tentacles had appeared within the vast, deep expanse of stars.
The moment the sky was split open, one of the creature’s tentacles seemed to have been severed as well.
However, the image had been too brief and blurry for Hu Qi to make out its specific features.
Even so, it made his scalp tingle. That thing was absolutely terrifying.
This gave Hu Qi a strange feeling.
Inside the Inheritance Illusion Mirror, the man who performed the Taiqing Immortal Slaying Sword Technique hadn’t swung his blade without a target.
Leaving behind an inheritance was secondary; his true purpose was to strike at that entity in the starry sky.
—
Shaking his head, Hu Qi suppressed these useless thoughts for now and looked at the panel before him.
The line of text for the Seven Evils Saber had vanished, replaced by a new entry.
[Taiqing Immortal Slaying Sword Technique (Energy Storage: None) △]
...
[Modification Points: 11 (24%)]
Unlike ordinary Sword Techniques, the Taiqing Immortal Slaying Sword Technique had no superfluous moves or variations.
From start to finish, it consisted of only one move: the draw-and-slash.
There were no proficiency levels like Entry-Level, Adept, or Minor Achievement.
According to the memories of the Taiqing Immortal Slaying Sword Technique in his mind, the so-called Seven Evils Saber was actually a prerequisite for practicing it.
Therefore, the moment he received the inheritance, Hu Qi had already completely mastered the Taiqing Immortal Slaying Sword Technique.
This Sword Technique was very strong.
From a single sentence spoken by the man in the Inheritance Illusion Realm, Hu Qi had gleaned a great deal of information.
The man had said that he started practicing the sword at age three and had been doing so for three thousand years.
This meant the man had lived for at least three thousand years.
Such a long lifespan was more than three times that of even a Qi Dao Grandmaster.
Then there was only one possibility: the man was at least a Refining God Venerable.
Only such a being could live for so long.
Perhaps he was a Refining God from the Miwu Civilization of ten thousand years ago.
Naturally, a Sword Technique mastered by such an entity would be anything but simple.
Unfortunately, even an existence that powerful had fallen.
He left the inheritance, perhaps, so that future generations could carry on his Sword Technique.
The complete inheritance should have included both the Seven Evils Saber and the Taiqing Immortal Slaying Sword Technique.
But due to too many changes over a long period, the part of the inheritance that came after the Seven Evils Saber—the Taiqing Immortal Slaying Sword Technique—was lost for some unknown reason.
By the time it finally fell into Jiang Zuo’s hands, even the Seven Evils Saber had become fragmented and incomplete.
Jiang Zuo must have known about the existence of the Taiqing Immortal Slaying Sword Technique.
Otherwise, he wouldn’t have tried to perfect the Sword Technique.
Unfortunately, how could a mere group of Martial Arts Families and Qi Dao Grandmasters ever hope to perfect the inheritance of such a being?
The result was a haphazardly pieced-together technique, transformed into the incoherent and deeply flawed Ghost Slaying Saber.
Based on the outcome, Hu Qi had already deduced the general sequence of events.
Under normal circumstances, unless that ancient being was resurrected, the Taiqing Immortal Slaying Sword Technique would never have seen the light of day again.
But Hu Qi was different. He had the Crimson Modifier.
The Crimson Modifier could alter things according to his will.
Using Modification Points, he could easily perfect and restore this powerful Sword Technique that had been lost to the river of time.
The Taiqing Immortal Slaying Sword Technique itself integrated all the Traits of the Seven Evils Saber’s Seventh Layer into a single, unprecedentedly powerful strike.
Although the power of the Taiqing Immortal Slaying Sword Technique was impressive, that wasn’t its most heaven-defying aspect.
Its most heaven-defying aspect was its ability to increase its power through Energy Storage.
Theoretically, as long as it stored energy for long enough, its power was limitless.
Of course, that was only in theory.
In reality, the amount of power it could gain had a certain limit, which was also related to the strength of the blade and the Secret Martial Artist’s own power.
If he himself was only a Martial Arts Family member, then no matter how much energy he stored, he could never split the sky like in the Illusion Realm.
Moreover, this Energy Storage method meant the Taiqing Immortal Slaying Sword Technique couldn’t be used as a conventional Skill.
But that only applied to other people.
Hu Qi had another way to do it.
He looked at the △ Rune after "Energy Storage."
A strange expression appeared on his face.
’Perhaps I can increase the Energy Storage by consuming Modification Points.’
With this in mind, he glanced at his remaining eleven Modification Points. Without hesitation, he focused his thoughts and slammed them into the △ Rune after "Energy Storage."
The next moment, his Modification Points were depleted.
At the same time, Hu Qi noticed that the Red Realm Saber resting on his lap began to emit a faint red glow and a gentle warmth.
On the panel, the entry for the Taiqing Immortal Slaying Sword Technique changed again.
[Taiqing Immortal Slaying Sword Technique (Energy Storage: 110 days)]
’It seems that one Modification Point is equivalent to ten days.’
"In that case, I’ll go test the power of this Taiqing Immortal Slaying Sword Technique."
Hu Qi looked down at the saber resting across his lap.
He muttered to himself.
...
「A few minutes later, over the sea.」
The sea at night was like a black mirror, reflecting the myriad stars in the sky.
Hu Qi stood suspended in mid-air as the salty sea breeze rustled his hair and clothes.
His hand gripped the hilt of his saber, and he drew it in a flash!
SHIIING!
The blade hummed.
In the next instant, a flash of light appeared, transforming into a beam of Sword Energy several thousand meters long. It tore through the air and struck the surface of the sea.
The once-calm sea was instantly split in two, like a hot knife through butter.
The water surged violently to either side, forming two enormous walls of water and revealing a bottomless trench in the seabed.
A faint tinge of blood spread within it, likely from some unlucky sea creatures caught in the Sword Energy’s path.
’Compared to my full-power attacks, the might has increased by almost two times...’
Hu Qi concluded in his mind.
’This result far exceeded my expectations. What would happen if I fully charged its Energy Storage?’
’Could I fight a Refining God?’
The thought had just appeared when Hu Qi suppressed it.
Unless absolutely necessary, he preferred to bully enemies at his own level or weaker.
A powerhouse like a Refining God, an entire major Realm above him, was far too dangerous.
...
The night passed in the blink of an eye.
「The next day.」
「Hongling.」
An ancient forest in the Xia Federation, near its southern border.
It was also known as the Lungs of Earth Star and a treasure trove of Genes.
It covered an area of nearly one million square kilometers.
Besides its enormous size, it was home to thousands of species of plants and wildlife.
Due to its climate and location, it was like spring all year round. This superior geographical environment further promoted the development of its primitive ecosystem.
Although there were many scenic spots near its periphery,
ten kilometers deeper, it became a true no-man’s-land, where it was even rumored that wildmen roamed.
No communication devices had any signal here.
Everywhere, ancient, unnamed trees stood tall, their gnarled and twisted trunks so thick and sturdy that it would take several people with arms outstretched to encircle one.
The trees’ branches and leaves were so dense that they blotted out the sky, allowing only tiny slivers of sunlight to filter through the gaps.
The forest floor was covered with a thick layer of fallen leaves and humus, making the air feel cold, damp, and gloomy.
This environment also bred all kinds of venomous snakes, ferocious beasts, and toxic miasmas that could kill silently.
A professional expedition team had once come here.
But due to an accident, only one person out of the team of more than a dozen managed to escape.
However, for some reason, that person was left an imbecile and is still confined to a mental hospital to this day.
And yet, within this harsh environment, near the center of Hongling, a wooden cabin stood beside a mountain stream. On its roof were several black solar panels.
CREAK!
Just then, the wooden door was pushed open from the inside.