Chapter 568: Sword Against Wolf Claws!

The sword-wielding war slave remembered meeting a monk by chance in a bamboo grove.

The monk extended a Buddhist salute toward him and smiled.

"Amitabha. My name is Santong. I understand Buddhist scriptures, Daoist arts, and the human heart just a little.

"

The scene gradually faded and turned into a warm and gentle afternoon. A silver-haired girl in a white dress lightly spun once before the swordsman.

"Daoist Master, does this look good?"

He had forgotten how he had answered. The memory was far too vague; only scattered fragments flashed repeatedly, most of which featured the girl and the old monk.

The scene changed to him sitting in a great palace. With a heavy mood, he faced the sacred images of the Three Pure Ones.

"Qinglin, do you know what the word Qing in your Daoist name signifies? You are a sect master candidate. According to the Shu Sword Sect's rules, a sect master serves no more than two hundred years. Before long, I will hand this burden to you. In all matters, our sect's pure reputation must come first. You must not disgrace the forefathers."

"Yes, Sect Master. I'll be sure to keep that in mind."

Because of his responsibilities, he never could bring himself to face the girl's heart.

***

Wang Sheng withdrew the immortal perception that he had cast toward the swordsman and focused fully on the great battle that was about to unfold.

Tan Lang, who stood motionless in space, suddenly struck without warning. A wolf claw swept past his side, and the axeman's head was instantly flung away. Tan Lang didn't even blink.

To give Lishang more time to recover, Wang Sheng suppressed his heart's fury and raised the Dragon Sword. Using voice transmission, he shouted, "They say that once the millstone is discarded, the donkey is killed, and once the birds are gone, the bow is hidden. You are not even bothering to hide it!"

In a deep and heavy tone, the elder replied, "You are all already dead."

The wolf fiend gazed at the places where the war slaves had fallen.

He then slowly nodded. "I didn't expect you to withstand the war slaves' combined assault, or for you to be the little thieving sword immortal who destroyed my blood mine. Join the Celestial Wind Sect. This is your final chance."

Wang Sheng remained silent. Curses filled his heart, yet he appeared extremely calm on the surface. He didn't know why, but the more furious he became, the calmer his mind was. Had he been in this situation a few hundred years ago, he would have already rushed forward, hacking and slashing for his life.

Sure enough, the wolf fiend took Wang Sheng's silence as contemplation, buying Lishang a brief chance to regulate her breathing.

The celestial pills that Wang Sheng had given her were top-tier healing pills. Though he had only brought out four from the Small Immortal Realm, he given her two in his urgency earlier.

Now, Lishang's weakened aura had somewhat recovered, and most of her wounds had healed.

Scarlet light flickered in Tan Lang's eyes. "There's no point in stalling. Not only is no one coming to save you, but another Heavenly Immortal is already on the way here. Only death awaits you now."

The Dragon Sword trembled lightly. Wang Sheng suddenly said, "How many war slaves does the Celestial Wind Sect have left?"

"The five I brought here are the last of them. I should thank you for letting them die in battle rather than of old age."

Wang Sheng sneered. "Does the Celestial Wind Sect truly feel no guilt at all?"

Tan Lang slowly pressed forward. "They were already dying on the ancient battlefield. I saved and gave them another hundred thousand years."

Using voice transmission, Wang Sheng told Lishang that he would buy her enough time to fully digest the pills' medicinal power. They could then fight side by side and gamble for a shot at survival.

Afterward, he slung the Dragon Sword onto his back again and slowly flew forward. A cyan dragon coiled around him, and six swords revolved. It made him look formidable, yet Tan Lang's presence completely overshadowed his.

The gap in their realms was far too great. It formed an absolute pressure.

The Dragon Sword was sharp, but it was ultimately somewhat cumbersome.

Tan Lang's cultivation revolved around his physical abilities, making him extremely fast. No matter how sharp the Dragon Sword was, it was no more than a decoration if it could not keep up with the opponent.

Hence, Wang Sheng had slung it onto his back and raised his hand to grip a Flying Cloud. He imbued it with Pure Yang Immortal Power, then swallowed another celestial pill to replenish his immortal power.

Tan Lang didn't seem eager to attack, yet Wang Sheng could clearly feel an invisible pressure wrapping around everything nearby. Showing even the slightest sign of dodging, retreat, or hesitation would invite a frenzied assault from the elder.

He was facing a mortal enemy more powerful than any he had ever faced.

With only three

li

in between them, the wolf fiend suddenly charged forward and vanished. More precisely, he vanished from Wang Sheng's immortal perception. Almost instinctively, Wang Sheng unleashed the Heavenly Ziwei Sword Art's Heavens' Piercer toward his left front.

Ting!

The tip of Flying Cloud struck a wolf claw stained with golden blood. As Tan Lang abruptly appeared, the immense force behind the claw sent Wang Sheng flying backward.

Wang Sheng formed a sword finger with his left hand, sending five flying swords after Tan Lang. However, the werewolf disappeared again, making Wang Sheng immediately turn and urgently recall the flying swords.

Left rear!

Unleashing the Pure Yang Sword Song's Triple Yang Descent, he struck the hidden claws with three arcs of sword radiance. Nevertheless, he was still forced back.

Tan Lang vanished again. He didn't truly turn invisible; he simply moved so fast that Wang Sheng's immortal perception couldn't detect him. Such was the effect of the Heavenly Immortal Realm's absolute suppression on Wang Sheng.

The higher a cultivator's realm, the farther their immortal perception could extend, and the more details it could show. It allowed them to better sense the cosmos's depth and its many small details, which led to a deeper understanding.

Now, Wang Sheng relied entirely on his sword heart. His immortal perception was no longer useful.

He had blocked Tan Lang's attacks twice in a row. Although he could not match the elder's raw power, he had still survived two deadly strikes.

Tan Lang showed not the slightest emotion, surprise, or doubt. He flickered constantly within Wang Sheng's immortal perception as he launched a non-stop chain of attacks.

For a moment, only the massive werewolf could be seen flashing through space. The claws and sword radiance left behind many afterimages.

Wang Sheng moved left and right as he constantly deflected the attacks coming from all directions. He had already stopped thinking; he relied on his sword heart to instinctively find Tan Lang's position.

Completely giving up on his immortal perception was a huge risk, but he had made the right choice. Right now, he was truly managing to defend himself.

Unfortunately, Wang Sheng couldn't immediately clear away the force that their clashes produced. Since he couldn't find any opening to use his Dual-Polarity Sword Intent, it just kept building up within him.

In the blink of an eye, Tan Lang had attacked dozens of times, and Wang Sheng had blocked more than ten of them.

At that moment, Wang Sheng's face turned red. He used an attack to block the claws once more, but he lowered his head and spat out a mouthful of blood right after.

He had no time to catch his breath. Tan Lang attacked twice as fast as before!

It was like wind and fire[1], with the danger still looming over them.

The flying swords circling Wang Sheng were completely useless against Tan Lang. He could only rely on the sword in his hand, meeting each move as it came and using speed to match speed. Having reached the absolute limit of what he could do, he could not hold on much longer.

The clashes pulled apart and broke down several sets of sword techniques. Wang Sheng had even extremely simplified the moves themselves while alternating between the Heavenly Ziwei Sword Intent and the Pure Yang Sword Intent.

Only by following his sword heart could he barely hold off the deadly wolf claws!

The two combatants had an extremely large gap in power.

Every moment was dangerous for Wang Sheng. After all, Tan Lang only aimed for his neck and head. Moreover, all Wang Sheng could do now was let his sword heart detect the attacks and block them with his own strikes at the last second, which was a thousand times harder than it was for a normal person to walk a tightrope over a cliff.

Claw phantasms appeared everywhere, and sword phantasms layered upon each other.

Despite suffering from severe internal injuries, Wang Sheng forced himself to endure for a while longer. He attacked even faster as he tried to match Tan Lang's rhythm.

Once he had adapted to his opponent's offense, he could start looking for opportunities to counterattack. That was his key to victory.

Tan Lang paused slightly. "Excellent swordsmanship."

Wang Sheng snorted coldly and used this rare chance to quickly adjust his breathing. However, Tan Lang had not stopped just to give praise. His two wolf claws crossed before him, and the red light in his eyes turned completely black.

"Watch out!" Lishang shouted and immediately rushed forward from behind.

Wang Sheng didn't panic at all. Lightning flashed within his eyes.

The moment Tan Lang turned into a mass of black shadow and vanished again, Wang Sheng released six bolts of lightning in different directions with him at the center.

Right after, three dark shadows appeared strangely in front of Wang Sheng, behind him, and to his left. They pounced on him, seemingly obsessed with tearing him apart!

Wang Sheng moved into the lightning bolt farthest from those three shadows. He then switched positions and instantly appeared at the end of it!

However, just as he settled, he felt a chill at his neck.

There was no time to turn and look. Wang Sheng reached and grabbed the Dragon Sword with his left hand, then pulled it hard to the left. His greatsword and armor simultaneously glowed with immortal light as he forced himself to ascend!

At that moment, a wolf claw hit his back. His armor flashed as the massive force blasted him away at a speed equal to the speed he could reach when using Soaring Red Feathers.

Tan Lang appeared behind Wang Sheng and frowned slightly. He seemed to sense the amazing defensive power of the sword cultivator's armor, yet it wasn't enough to make him stop even a little.

The armor was good, but it depended on who used it.

Wang Sheng was nothing more than a minor sword cultivator at the True Immortal Realm. Though he was skilled with the sword, he was still no match for Tan Lang.

Surprisingly, Wang Sheng used the impact from the hit to fly forward and met up with Lishang.

She used a divine ability to increase her speed. With a rattle of her tail, her scales turned from golden to cyan.

Wang Sheng sent two Flying Clouds toward her. She raised her hands, grabbed their hilts, and faced Tan Lang once again.

The wolf fiend launched another fierce attack. Lishang met him head-on, but it took only two exchanges for her to be forced back and suffer another injury.

"Watch my back!" Wang Sheng shouted.

Catching on to his plan, Lishang pressed her back tightly against his.

Wang Sheng could finally use the strongest version of Dual-Polarity Sword Intent. Holding Flying Cloud, he drew several circles in the air.

Growing even faster, Tan Lang charged in and struck the duo's simple defense even more cruelly, attempting to kill them at once.

The fierce battle resumed, and the danger remained unresolved.

At the edge of the battlefield, the gravely wounded swordsman had been watching Wang Sheng at some point. More precisely, he was watching the flying swords moving around Wang Sheng. He could tell it was the sword art that he knew so well and once took so much pride in.

Sword-Controlling Art... Oh, right, the forefather had passed it down.

At that moment, his forefather's sigh back then, in an environment just like this, seemed to echo once more in his ear.

"Everyone, I have failed you."

1. A Chinese idiom that means "relentless." ☜