Ling Tian Sword God

"Brat, you're dead meat today!"

Having had his arm severed by Ling Chen, Lin Ba was nursing a deep grudge. Thus, seeing the Demonic Beast Elder prepare to personally eliminate Ling Chen brought him immense pleasure. In his eyes, Ling Chen was already a dead man.

However, Ling Chen seemed oblivious to the murderous intent radiating from the Demonic Beast Elder. He flickered, his sword a blur, arriving before Lin Ba in an instant. He thrust his Heavenly Emperor Heavy Sword straight out.

"No! Demonic Beast Elder, save me!"

Lin Ba scrambled to escape, but Ling Chen's sword wasn't so easily evaded. After only two steps, Lin Ba was overtaken by Ling Chen's Sword Light.

PCHT!

Lin Ba's voice abruptly cut off as the Heavenly Mansion Sword penetrated his chest from behind, piercing his vital spot.

THUMP!

With an expression of horror still etched on his face, Lin Ba's body hit the ground, convulsed a few times, and then lay completely still.

"You little beast, you're begging for death!"

The Demonic Beast Elder was livid. Although Lin Ba was useless, he was a crucial pawn in his control over the Green-scaled Snake Lake Lin Family. Now that Lin Ba was killed by Ling Chen, how could he not be enraged?

SWOOSH! The Demonic Beast Elder's figure instantly split into three. These three then multiplied, becoming six black figures. These six black figures, like six demons or six beastmen, radiated an extremely violent and tyrannical aura.

"Evil Demon Illusion!"

The six black figures, lined up in a row, attacked Ling Chen with the overwhelming force of a toppling mountain.

Observing this, red gleams flickered incessantly in Ling Chen's eyes. He raised his Heavenly Emperor Heavy Sword again, then slid his entire left palm across the blade. Fresh blood gushed out, all of it flowing into the Heavenly Emperor Heavy Sword.

In an instant, the Heavenly Mansion Sword began to vibrate violently, as if a powerful force was about to burst forth. The entire sword turned crimson, glowing hot as if it had been baked in charcoal.

Even Ling Chen's hand gripping the sword was scorched somewhat black.

Just as he felt he was about to lose his grip on the Heavenly Emperor Heavy Sword, Ling Chen gripped it firmly with both hands, let out a deafening roar, and swung the heavy sword horizontally with all his might.

"Heavenly Mansion's Valor, Sweep of a Thousand Troops!"

As he swung the heavy sword, a tall, imposing, semi-transparent figure emerged behind Ling Chen. The figure was clad in heavy armor, radiating an endless, iron-blooded martial aura. It seemed as if, in that instant, the entire square submitted to him, shaken to its core by his military might, enough to strike terror into all who witnessed it.

A Sword Light, dozens of feet long, erupted from the Heavenly Emperor Heavy Sword. It swept outwards, seemingly purging all the gloom from the space, its might formidable and awe-inspiring.

PFFT! PFFT! PFFT! PFFT! PFFT!

Wherever the Sword Light passed, five of the Demonic Beast Elder's illusions were utterly destroyed. Before the edge of the Heavenly Mansion Sword, they were too fragile to withstand a single blow, collapsing at the slightest touch.

"Impossible!"

With his technique shattered, the Demonic Beast Elder's true body was exposed before Ling Chen. Before he could utter another word, the Sword Light swept towards him, seeming truly capable of annihilating a thousand troops with a single strike, of slaying tens of thousands in one move.

"Evil Beast Body Protection!"

Utterly aghast, the Demonic Beast Elder stabilized himself and hastily formed hand seals. True Qi condensed behind him into the glowing pattern of an Exotic Beast. The instant the Exotic Beast pattern appeared, it swiftly moved from behind the Demonic Beast Elder to his front, shielding his body.

BOOM!

The Sword Light slammed into the Exotic Beast pattern, creating a deafening crash. But within a single breath, the pattern abruptly shattered, breaking into myriad pieces. Then, the Sword Light swept across the Demonic Beast Elder.

PCHT!

A spray of blood erupted as the Demonic Beast Elder was sent flying like a meteorite, crashing into a stone pillar in the square. The impact shattered the entire pillar.

As for the Demonic Beast Elder himself, he was buried beneath the collapsed pillar, trapped under a pile of rubble over ten feet high.

At this moment, the entire square fell deathly silent. Not a sound could be heard. Everyone stared, dumbfounded, at the pile of rubble, too shocked to speak.

"Too powerful! The Demonic Beast Elder is an expert of the Great Grandmaster Eighth Layer, yet he was defeated by Brother Ling Chen!"

By this time, Lin Yu had completed the Bloodline Ritual. Watching the scene unfold before him, his mouth fell open in utter disbelief.

"Is he even human? The moment Ling Chen swung his sword, I felt as if I were in a sea of corpses and blood, completely drawn into a battlefield! I barely dared to breathe!" a younger member of the Lin Family said, shivering.

"Yes, I felt the same way! And what was that illusory figure behind him just now? Could it be the legendary Martial Spirit?" another young man from the Lin Family exclaimed, his expression fervent.

"Impossible! It's said that only Saint-level martial arts can summon a Martial Spirit, seizing the very power of Heaven and Earth! Your eyes must have been playing tricks on you!"

"Then I suppose my eyes were playing tricks on me!"

That young Lin Family member could only nod in acknowledgment, though he still found it strange. He had clearly seen an illusory figure standing behind Ling Chen. He was still young; how could his eyes be playing tricks on him?

However, after Ling Chen executed that sword strike, the startling red glow that had erupted from the Heavenly Emperor Heavy Sword quickly faded. As for the lingering mental imprint of the Heavenly Mansion General behind Ling Chen, it also vanished instantly after that one strike.

With the power of the Heavenly Mansion Sword gone, Ling Chen returned to his normal state. But that one strike had nearly exhausted all of Ling Chen's True Qi. He was already injured from his clash with Lin Tianxiong, and forcibly activating the Heavenly Emperor Heavy Sword's power had exacted a heavy toll. Now, he could only rely on the Heavenly Mansion Sword to support his body and keep himself from collapsing.

Regardless, that Demonic Beast Elder should have been slain by that last sword strike, right?

Ling Chen secretly heaved a sigh of relief.

That strike had awakened the deepest power within the Heavenly Emperor Heavy Sword, which even contained a trace of the will of its original owner, the Heavenly Mansion General. As this profound power was unleashed, the Heavenly Mansion General's will was also fully released, enabling Ling Chen to execute a sword technique that surpassed his own strength by tenfold.

Even an expert at the Great Grandmaster Eighth Layer, like the Demonic Beast Elder, should not have been able to withstand that previous strike.

BANG!

Just as Ling Chen had concluded that the Demonic Beast Elder was dead, the pile of rubble suddenly exploded, sending up a towering cloud of dust. A somewhat stooped, elderly figure slowly emerged from within the dust.

The smiles on everyone's faces froze.

"How is this possible?"

A rare look of disbelief surfaced in Ling Chen's eyes. This Demonic Beast Elder actually withstood that last strike!

As the dust settled, the figure became clearer. However, the Demonic Beast Elder was not in good condition. A horrifying sword wound was visible on his body. The wound was terrifyingly deep; one could faintly see the Demonic Beast Elder's internal organs slowly squirming.

If the force of the blow had been just a fraction stronger, the Demonic Beast Elder's body would likely have been torn apart.

"Damn it..."

The Demonic Beast Elder's gaze was extremely sinister. Just a moment ago, he had smelled the aura of death, had brushed past the Grim Reaper himself. If not for the protective inner armor he wore, he would have died for sure.

However, the high-quality inner armor he wore was also ruined by Ling Chen's strike; it had been slashed wide open, resembling a tattered cardigan.

He, the Demonic Beast Elder, had roamed Jianghu for so many years! When had he ever suffered such a blow? When had he ever been reduced to such a pathetic state?

"Little beast, I will never spare you..."

The murderous intent in his eyes seemed to coalesce into a tangible substance. Although the Demonic Beast Elder was severely injured, he was still in better condition than Ling Chen. Besides, no matter how injured, he was still a Grandmaster of the Eight-level Realm. Ling Chen, having lost that bizarre power, now had nothing to fight him with.

If he didn't tear Ling Chen limb from limb today, he would swear off being human!