Chapter 74 Sword That Withstands the Heavens
In the wilderness, sword aura surged in every direction.
Chen Chang'an stood surrounded by four black-armored knights. His long sword slowly traced a complete circle, forming a perfect arc of sword qi. Wherever the blade passed, the air rippled like water.
Sword That Withstands the Heavens—first among defensive sword arts beneath the heavens. It only defended, never attacked, yet no force could break it.
The four Returning Origin Realm knights attacked at once. Blade qi, spear light, fist force, and palm wind crashed down like a raging tide. Yet the instant they struck the sword circle, everything vanished like mud sinking into the sea, stripped away layer by layer by the Taiji-like sword intent, dissolved without a trace.
"Useless," Chen Chang'an said with a faint smile, his sword flow smooth and unbroken. "Once the Sword That Withstands the Heavens forms its circle, no law can invade."
The black-armored knights remained silent, but their strikes grew ever more frenzied. No matter how they changed tactics, Chen Chang'an's sword circle remained steady, dissolving every strand of true essence.
Yet the knights were not anxious. This technique was not obscure; it was a supreme art of Xuantian Palace in Central State.
Four taels to move a thousand catties—easy to say, but one must have a thousand catties of force first.
They could not fathom how this youth had trained the technique to such mastery. But with only Profound Connection Realm cultivation, he was not worth their fear.
Sure enough, after only half an hour, Chen Chang'an's true essence neared exhaustion. His face was pale as paper, and his grip trembled upon his sword.
He could not hold on!
Killing intent flared in one knight's eyes.
The other three also sensed Chen Chang'an's decline, their attacks becoming sharper, intent on crushing him in a single strike.
But just as they thought victory was certain—
Chen Chang'an suddenly grinned. With one hand he reached to his waist pouch, pulled out a jade bottle, flicked its cap, and cried out:
"Medicine—!"
Tilting his head back, he poured the pills into his mouth like candy. They rattled against his teeth, crunching audibly, and he swallowed with muffled gulps.
Boom!
The depleted true essence within him erupted like a volcano, surging violently upward. His aura climbed step by step, even surpassing his former peak.
The four knights froze, stunned beneath their masks, their faces dark.
"This… how is this possible!?"
Any pill capable of restoring true essence instantly was of the utmost rarity. Even the most inferior carried crippling side effects, and cultivators only dared to use one in the direst moment.
Yet this man… was eating them like beans!
Waste beyond all measure!
One knight roared inwardly, his heart aching in fury.
"Again!" Chen Chang'an's face flushed oddly red, his spirit blazing with manic excitement.
And then—
Ten hours passed.
The sky darkened, then brightened, then darkened again.
The four knights' true essence was more than half spent. Yet Chen Chang'an's sword circle still held firm. His own face was pale again, clearly nearing his limit.
All around him, pill bottles lay scattered across the ground. The knights had gone numb.
In countless battles across their lives, this was the first time they had faced such shameless tactics.
This man had actually used the Profound Connection Realm to hold them off for ten full hours!
But this time, Chen Chang'an did not reach for more pills.
Instead, he drew back his sword. The circle abruptly collapsed.
"It's time to end this," he murmured.
The knights froze, then their joy burst forth. One finally broke silence with a hoarse, mocking laugh.
"So at last… you cannot endure any longer?"
"Yes," Chen Chang'an nodded cheerfully. "I only brought this much for the trip."
Before the knights could answer, he suddenly gave a mysterious smile. "Now then, let us move into phase two. Tell me… do you know where all the true essence you poured into my circle these past ten hours has gone?"
"What!?" The black-armored knights felt a sudden dread.
In the next instant, Chen Chang'an raised his sword, blade pointing skyward.
"The Sword That Withstands the Heavens is not merely for defense," he said softly. His calm words only deepened the unease in their hearts.
What else could one expect from a daily sign-in reward from the system?
Every supreme immortal art granted by the system—except for that beggar's edition of External Incarnation—was complete, refined to perfection.
Therefore—
"Now you will see the highest realm of this sword—returning your own power unto you!"
Chen Chang'an abruptly withdrew his defense, letting the azure blade hang inverted.
In that instant, heaven and earth fell silent. Even the howling mountain winds froze in midair.
The countless attacks his circle had devoured over ten hours suddenly manifested in the void. Threads of crystalline sword qi wove into a vast net, each pulsing with the unique essence of his enemies. It was as though the four knights' very foundations of ten years' cultivation had been copied into the array.
"This… is the true Heaven-Defying Sword Formation."
As the blade quivered, the spiritual veins of the entire mountain were drained dry.
First to shatter were the knights' weapons. Their lifelong divine armaments turned against them, liquefying into molten iron and rushing back into their bodies.
Then came the horror—their own techniques. Every spear light, every fist imprint, every shred of energy they had unleashed returned as vengeful spirits, striking harder than before.
"No… this is our—"
Their roars cut short.
The first to burst was the spear-wielding knight, forced to watch his signature art, the "Azure Dragon Break," morph into a blood-red dragon that devoured him whole.
The other three tried to form a joint defense, only to see the familiar array beneath their feet—except now, the formation's core was occupied by Chen Chang'an, smiling coldly.
Boom!
Like mountains collapsing, the battlefield vanished into blinding white light.
The refined true essence erupted in a chain reaction, every strand of energy seeking out its original owner. When the glare faded, four charred skeletons stood frozen mid-guard before crumbling to ash at the touch of the wind.
At the center of the scorched ring, Chen Chang'an knelt on one knee, his sword plunged into the earth to support his trembling body.
Ten hours of defense had forged a single killing strike. Spitting blood, he still laughed. "Look… even your ashes… are helping me hold formation."
The last shard of bloodstained black armor clattered to the ground, sealing the end of this ten-hour battle of defense and counterattack.
As the dust cleared, Chen Chang'an knelt with blood at his lips, yet his smile remained defiant.
"Ha… four of you… what a profit."
Slowly, he collapsed, and before his mind fell into darkness, his eyes drifted once toward Qingyang City.
…
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