Chapter 1834 - The One Behind the Scenes

Clang!

Before Su Yi’s voice had even finished echoing through the air, the Sword of the Human Realm appeared in his grip.

The Laws of Profound Ruin surged into the ink-black blade, and the boundless hum of a sword resounded throughout the entire treasury.

Su Yi drew upon the full extent of his mid-stage Immortal King cultivation base. His skin shone with the light of the Dao, which interwove, manifesting an enormous ruin behind him, like an abyss or the pits of hell. Within the ruin, illusory visions of the cycle of reincarnation interwove, and an illusory Sword of the Nine Hells hovered. It was a mystical, heart-palpitating sight.

This was Su Yi’s Immortal King Dao Domain. He’d poured his attainments in the Grand Dao into his Dao of the Sword to manifest the Sword of the Nine Hells!

Boom!

Su Yi’s aura rumbled and booked, and his presence transformed. He was instantly contemptuous and proud, like an unparalleled sword leaving its scabbard, startling heaven and earth.

“What terrifying power!!” Fan Zhui exclaimed. He found it hard to believe. The sheer aura emanating from Su Yi was enough to put pressure on even a Great Unity Stage cultivator like him!

This was simply unbelievable.

After all, even though Su Yi had meditated atop the Dragon Ascension Platform for seven days and broken into the mid-stage Miracle Realm, he was still ultimately just an Immortal King.

But Fan Zhui could sense that although Su Yi had only progressed by a minor realm, his strength had improved dramatically!

Xi Ning didn’t find this surprising. She’d long since realized that you couldn’t judge Su Yi by his cultivation level.

She wiped the blood from her lips, took out a pill, and swallowed it. Even as she recovered, she gathered her power and readied herself for battle. Ao Chiting’s wraith was far too terrifying. It was unclear whether they’d leave this place alive, let alone manage to seize the Book of Karma!

Suddenly, Ao Chiting said icily from above the cauldron, “Die!”

He swung his halberd. It was an unsophisticated strike, as simple as could be, but it was tyrannical beyond measure. Stinging, blood-red radiance rippled through the air, collapsing the sky with a bang.

Su Yi didn’t retreat. Instead, he advanced, charging directly ahead and swinging his sword.

It was as if the river of stars were pouring down from the nine heavens. The power of Profound Ruin fused into Su Yi’s Dao of the Sword, lending it an additional unfathomable, mysterious quality.

Boom!!

When this slash landed, the blood-red divine radiance shook violently on impact, producing an ear-splitting explosion. Su Yi was forced back, the Sword of the Human Realm trembling in his grip. The rippling, blood-red radiance split too, and the tear spread outward on both sides.

Before Su Yi had even steadied himself on his feet, he disappeared into thin air.

A moment later, he appeared in front of the Nine Dragons Cauldron and swung his sword with titanic, domineering force. He didn’t hesitate in the slightest.

Ao Chiting’s blood-red eyes erupted with imposing radiance, and his aura was increasingly explosive and ferocious. He suddenly waved his halberd, and...

Clang!!

A sound like metal piercing stone rang out.

The hall swayed violently, and the surrounding skies burst and collapsed like paper window paneling. Su Yi and his sword were sent flying backward.

His chest heaved, his clothes were tattered, and even his Daoist topknot had come loose. Throughout his body, his qi churned violently.

Ao Chiting was just too strong! He might be just a wraith, but his terrifying strength was far beyond the Great Profound Stage!

The fundamental reason that Su Yi could still contend with him lay in the mysteries of Profound Ruin. They countered Ao Chiting’s karmic power. And it was due to karmic power that wraiths like Ao Chiting continued to “live,” which meant that so long as Su Yi destroyed that karmic power, he could erase Ao Chiting completely.

𝒻𝑟𝘦𝘦𝘸ℯ𝒷𝑛𝘰𝓋ℯ𝘭.𝘤𝘰𝘮

And the Laws of Profound Ruin could sever karma!!

It was for this reason that, despite his mere mid-stage Miracle Realm cultivation base, Su Yi could fight Ao Chiting. Were that not the case, he’d undoubtedly have lost a long time ago. He could never have struggled this long.

I have to weaken his karmic power as soon as possible. Otherwise, even if I win, I’ll pay an enormous price for the victory.

As Su Yi’s thoughts raced, he struck once more.

He circulated the power of the Tree of All Worlds, disappeared, then reappeared behind Ao Chiting a moment later, sword swinging.

Countless streaks of sword qi descended like a downpour, shooting at Ao Chiting from different angles.

Ao Chiting swung his halberd, effortlessly neutralizing Su Yi’s attack. He was incomparably powerful, and overpowering strength could crush any level of skill. No matter how wondrous Su Yi’s killer moves were, they struggled to break through Ao Chiting’s defenses.

Even though Profound Ruin countered the power of karmic attachments, Su Yi could still only barely fight back.

“Die!” Ao Chiting bellowed, swung his halberd, and slashed at Su Yi.

Whoosh!

Su Yi disappeared into thin air, then reappeared beside Ao Chiting and struck again, unleashing a pelting rain of attacks. However, he no longer dared clash with Ao Chiting head-on. Instead, he was trying to draw things out.

A strategy like that would have been useless against a true god; they’d simply have sealed the area off completely. But Ao Chiting was different. He was no longer a god, and he wasn’t even alive. No, he was a wraith, and his awareness was muddled. He was fighting purely on instinct.

This gave Su Yi the chance to drag things out!

Su Yi leaped about the battlefield. Every time he faced a potentially lethal strike, he disappeared into thin air, then reappeared elsewhere. From a distance, it was as if he were flitting about the void, leaving afterimages all over the place. This made it impossible to lock onto his true location.

When he attacked, dense sword qi whooshed forth, each strike emblazoned with the power of Grand Ruin and so forceful that it could have easily threatened the life of a Great Unity Stage expert.

But Ao Chiting neutralized the vast majority of these attacks. Only a tiny portion reached him, and even these only dealt superficial flesh wounds. They couldn’t really injure him, but they

did

thoroughly enrage him. He attacked like mad, sending Su Yi flying and coughing up blood on numerous occasions.

The battle was so fierce that Xi Ning and Fan Zhui’s hearts quivered just watching it. They couldn’t help but sweat on Su Yi’s behalf.

Too dangerous! Su Yi was practically dancing on the edge of a knife. The slightest incaution, and he’d meet his end!

“I have no idea how Fellow Daoist Su can last this long,” said Fan Zhui. He could see how badly injured Su Yi was. Blood poured from his mouth, and his face was increasingly pallid. Just about anyone would have been worried after seeing his situation.

Suddenly, Xi Ning said, “Haven’t you noticed that Ao Chiting’s karmic power is weakening?”

Fan Zhui was stunned, but when he looked closer, he realized that Xi Ning was right. When Su Yi’s strikes landed, they dealt little damage, but they relentlessly chipped away at the karmic power surging around Ao Chiting.

Although Ao Chiting’s karmic power had only dropped slightly, if things went on like this, he was sure to lose. This was a battle of attrition. So long as Su Yi held on, he could gradually wear down his opponent!

But neither Xi Ning nor Fan Zhui knew whether Su Yi could really survive this incomparably perilous confrontation for that long....

Meanwhile, Su Yi wasn’t thinking about all that. Although he was continuously injured, and although he was teetering on the edge, deep within his heart, his will to fight had thoroughly ignited.

He was a sword cultivator. And sword cultivators feared neither defeat nor death!

The more perilous the battle, the more satisfying Su Yi found it. His essence, qi, and spirit practically boiled as he continuously excavated and unleashed his potential.

He was completely immersed in combat. He forgot the heavens, the earth, and the people around him. In the end, he even forgot himself. All of his attention, and all of his power, was focused on the battle at hand.

There was nothing else!

His attacks grew ever fiercer, his power of the Dao of the Sword ever mightier, like river waters rising after the rain. At the same time, it underwent a subtle but wondrous transformation.

Beneath this relentless onslaught, Ao Chiting’s wounds piled on. Although they couldn’t deal major damage, they gradually chipped away at his power of karma.

“It looks like... Fellow Daoist Su is contemplating the Dao in the middle of battle?” Fan Zhui’s eyes widened, and his expression filled with disbelief.

How perilous was this battle? A moment’s incaution could decide life and death! Yet here this guy was, gleaning enlightenment into the Dao!

Xi Ning looked flabbergasted too. She also sensed the unbelievable changes taking place on Su Yi. These were indeed the changes that accompanied entering a state of enlightenment.

However, Su Yi was in the middle of life-or-death combat. This was unquestionably far too rare!

“Even the best of swords need honing to grow sharp. There’s no denying that Fellow Daoist Su is a dazzling, unprecedented genius of the Dao of the Sword,” sighed Xi Ning.

But a moment later, her pupils constricted.

This is bad!

Ao Chiting suddenly roared and raised the Book of Karma into the air. An unbelievable scene followed.

The Book of Karma trembled, and a flood of the radiance of the Grand Dao burst forth and surged into Ao Chiting’s body. Ao Chiting’s weakened karmic power recovered, good as new, at a speed visible even to the naked eye!

“This...” Fan Zhui’s expression shifted dramatically, and his heart sank into the pit of his stomach.

Xi Ning felt a chill in her hands and feet too. It was as if she’d been hit over the head.

Earlier, they’d thought that so long as they continuously weakened Ao Chiting’s power of karma, they could surely defeat him. Now, it seemed their thought process was overly simplistic. A chaos treasure like the Book of Karma could simply funnel more karmic power into Ao Chiting.

How could they possibly fight him like this?

Boom!!

Ao Chiting’s strength returned to its peak. A single strike was enough to send Su Yi flying.

Su Yi’s state of enlightenment was instantly disrupted, and his head cleared completely.

“So, the Book of Karma is the one causing trouble!” Su Yi’s expression darkened. He’d expended an enormous amount of energy to turn the tides in his favor. It hadn’t been easy at all. Who’d have thought the Book of Karma would ruin it?

There was no doubt about it. If he wanted to destroy Ao Chiting, he had to seize the Book of Karma first. That way, Ao Chiting would no longer be able to recover any lost strength.

But... Achieving this goal was far, far too difficult!

Ao Chiting had relied on the Book of Karma to become a god. Even though he was now merely a wraith, he had absolute control over the book of Karma. How could he just let Su Yi seize it?

At that moment, Su Yi felt unprecedented pressure. This seemed like an incomparably thorny problem.