Chapter 654: Sweeping Through the Forest

Had his blade grown dull after only two decades? No, it couldn't be—he was Jian Mo, the sword demon! Waves of killing intent poured out of his body, condensing as demonic apparitions that surrounded him.

The sensations he had given up after his retirement came flooding back.

Most Wang bladewielders died during their tenure, like Wang Jian, or descended into madness thanks to the large quantity of killing intent they were surrounded by daily.

Only a rare few bladewielders could survive two trying decades of slaughter and still retire safe and sound. These rare bladewielders would be given the responsibility of killing any future bladewielders who had descended into madness.

In the end, these bladewielders almost uniformly went mad themselves.

When a previous bladewielder killed a current one, the older bladewielder would frequently absorb the killing intent possessed by the current one, dramatically increasing the chance of the older one going mad himself.

Bladewielders boasted authority commensurate with their strength and sacrifice. They sought the peak of the sword willingly, knowing that they would have to suffer the accompanying mental strain that could easily overwhelm them.

If they were able to survive the two decades, they would be able to transmute that killing intent into sword energy which they could use to boost their own cultivation to incredible levels, but such a realm was accessible only to a rare few.

Those bladewielders who had survived their tenure would subsequently have to refrain from killing to augment their own strength, but how many of them would truly be able to do so? Most had long since been corrupted by the pleasure of killing.

Each task they received from the clan could well be their last.

Even so, despite these circumstances, a genius emerged from the heart of the Wang clan—Wang Mo, now called Jian Mo.

As a youth, he had been dazzled by the sword. Even from a young age, none in the clan could stand against him; he rose to the title of bladewielder by killing the previous one and claiming his sword, rather than waiting for him to retire.

Ever since he became the Wang bladewielder, he had never suffered defeat; no one could block his blade. He killed many, most at the top of their craft. The general consensus was that such a genius would be bound by the blade, unable to extricate himself from his position.

The stronger the bladewielder, the more likely they were to go berserk.

However, Jian Mo seemed to be the exception of all exceptions. Not only did he safely conclude his two decades of tenure, he never went crazy afterwards. Most bladewielders ended up being controlled by their blades; he truly wielded his blade.

The man whom he had been now returned in full force. He had a solitary target: Zhang Lie.

"Jian Mo, you've come." A one-armed polearm master stood before Jian Mo.

"If you don't want to die, scram!" Jian Mo's voice was as sharp as a blade's.

The one-armed man clutched the stump of his other arm. "My old wound is hurting again in your presence. I practiced the polearm for two long decades all for the sake of this fight, to avenge myself for the loss of an arm."

Jian Mo frowned. "Who are you? I'm not interested!"

"Whether you remember me is no issue; surely you remember my polearm." The man drew his polearm and hefted it before him, a blow that Jian Mo easily blocked. "Now I remember. You're from the Feng clan, aren't you? A cocky bastard who called himself the best polearm master in the capital, only to have one arm chopped off by my blade. You wouldn't have survived if not for your elders' presence—and you kept training anyway?"

The man snorted. "It's thanks to you that I woke up from my delusions. After my ignominious defeat, I dedicated myself to training. Now, I've truly become the master of the polearm."

Jian Mo drew his blade in earnest. "Is that so? Very well. My skills have grown rusty, so you'll be the first sacrifice to regain my strength!"

[You successfully killed a superior-grade blackwind wolf. By consuming the flesh of the superior-grade blackwind wolf, you may receive one to ten superior gene fragments.]

After drawing away from the other princes, Zhang Lie and the ninth prince embarked on the hunt. Thanks to White and Whiter's keen senses of smell, they were easily able to find the lifeforms hidden in the forest.

The ninth prince clapped as he walked up to Zhang Lie. "Amazing, Master, you've killed another one!"

Zhang Lie rubbed his lower jaw as he pondered what was going on. "It's strange..."

"What's the matter?"

"I can't seem to control these genetic lifeforms."

His mistmeld clam soulshard couldn't take effect against them, almost as if—well, just like what had happened when he tried to control the beast tribe's tamed lifeforms in the previous world. Could the king of the realm's domain be strong enough to protect these beasts from such an effect?

A red beam of light darted around them as Red Comet brought back the carcasses of another few superior-grade lifeforms. The ninth prince cried out in amazement, "Master, with you around, we'll certainly take first place!"

They had barely arrived in the forest, but they had hunted down ten superior-grade lifeforms already. Zhang Lie had killed four alone, and Red Comet, White, and Whiter had killed the other six together.

Zhang Lie called for a temporary break, cleaned up the carcasses, and began roasting them even as the other parties tried to hunt down these lifeforms as though their lives depended on them for the sake of their respective princes.

[For consuming the flesh of a superior-grade blackwind wolf, you received one superior gene fragment. Current total: 21]

[For consuming the flesh of a superior-grade blackwind wolf, you received one superior gene fragment. Current total: 22]

[For consuming the flesh of a superior-grade blackwind wolf, you received one superior gene fragment. Current total: 23]

"Come, come, have a taste! You're far too thin." Zhang Lie handed the ninth prince a generous portion of meat.

Zhang Lie: a disaster-grade lifeform

Framework: Foundation, Lv. MAX; Ninecarp Transformation, Sixth Form: River Dragon Techniques: Rippling Walk (pinnacle), Three-Wave Crescendo (pinnacle), Calm Waters (advanced), Fists of the Silent Sea (pinnacle), The Boundless Blade (pinnacle), Eclipse (pinnacle), Syzygy (pinnacle), Ninesoul Dragonblade (advanced), ...

Genes: Basic, 160; Mutated, 150; Superior, 60; Peak, 10

Soulshards: White Grub (superior), Blood Ant (superior), Potbellied Toad (mutated), Eternalspring Cocoon (superior), Dragonwolf (superior), Moonlight Wyrm (peak), Golden Roc (peak), Mistmeld Clam (disaster)

After their meal, they continued to hunt down more such lifeforms.

[You successfully killed a superior-grade wildwind leopard. By consuming the flesh of the superior-grade wildwind leopard, you may receive one to ten superior gene fragments.]

[You successfully killed a superior-grade moonlit serpent. By consuming the flesh of the superior-grade moonlit serpent, you may receive one to ten superior gene fragments.]

[You successfully killed a superior-grade icestruck starturtle. By consuming the flesh of the superior-grade icestruck starturtle, you may receive one to ten superior gene fragments.]

Any lifeform Zhang Lie encountered fell before him in a single sweep. Given the boost from his limit fragments, even a third-realm superior-grade lifeform meant nothing to him.

As for the mutated-grade ones, they started running away the moment they sensed White and Whiter's presence. The superior-grade lifeforms ran away from Red Comet, but by the time they could sense him, they were already dead...