Chapter 303 - 148: Gathering Blade Intent (Part 2)
Nine Heavens Mountain-Breaking Saber!
Broken Sea!
The blade’s light surged like a furious wave, carrying the resolve to sever rivers as it struck upward!
"CLANG—!!!"
Claw and saber collided, erupting with the deafening shriek of metal on metal as sparks flew!
Liang Cheng’s arms trembled violently. The webbing between his thumbs and forefingers split open, instantly dyeing the saber’s hilt red with blood.
The ground beneath him cracked with a CRUNCH, and his feet sank half a foot into the earth!
But in the end, he had blocked the claw!
"Hm?!"
Huang Tiancheng grunted, the surprise in his eyes deepening.
He had used eighty percent of his strength in that attack, yet Liang Cheng had blocked it again?
This boy’s resilience was far beyond his expectations!
"Let’s see how many times you can block me!"
Huang Tiancheng roared. His claw attack shifted, the grab turning into a strike as his palm slammed directly into Liang Cheng’s chest!
"BANG!"
The Glazed Light Membrane of his Mixed Element Gang Body flickered violently, emitting an overburdened KRA-KRAK sound!
Liang Cheng was sent flying backward like a kite with a snapped string, a spray of blood from his mouth tracing an arc through the air.
He crashed heavily to the ground a hundred feet away. The clothes on his chest were shredded, revealing the pale golden skin beneath. The once-glazed Mixed Element Gang Body was now covered in a spiderweb of cracks, with beads of blood seeping through its surface.
Moreover, it felt as if his internal organs had been displaced, and a tidal wave of excruciating pain washed over his entire body.
"Cough, cough..."
Liang Cheng used his saber to prop himself up, struggling to his feet. Every movement tugged at his injuries, but the fire in his eyes only burned hotter.
’I can’t fall here!’
"Not a bad Saber Technique, and that Protective Divine Skill of yours is certainly tough."
Huang Tiancheng approached slowly, his tone grim.
"Unfortunately, the chasm in Cultivation is not something willpower alone can overcome."
He raised his right hand. Gray-black Pill Qi gathered frantically in his palm, coalescing into the power of a fist-sized, slowly rotating Yin Pill.
Serpents of lightning seemed to writhe across the Yin Pill’s surface, emitting a devastating aura.
He held nothing back, unleashing the full might of the Core Formation Realm!
The Spiritual Qi throughout the valley surged madly into the Yin Pill in his hand. The Pill’s body expanded and solidified at a visible rate, its color shifting from gray-black to a deep, dark purple!
An aura of annihilation spread through the air.
Qian Wanjing had long since retreated to a safe distance, a twisted, excited smile on his face.
’It’s over!’
’Liang Cheng is a dead man!’
Liang Cheng stared at the increasingly terrifying Yin Pill, feeling the power contained within it—enough to utterly annihilate him.
He took a deep breath, swallowing the coppery taste of blood rising in his throat.
Scenes from his past flashed through his mind.
A young laborer in a seaside town, awakening his Mayfly Life Chart, slaying the Black Fish by night, and stepping onto the Martial Dao...
Learning at the Martial Arts Hall, training through cold nights, killing for treasure, fighting his way forward at every step...
The competition of the Three Towns, winning the spring hunt, clashing in the Martial Arts Academy, finding Enlightenment in the Secret Realm...
His entire journey had been a struggle!
A struggle against heaven, against earth, against others, and against himself!
A mayfly lives but for a day, yet it still dares to shine!
’How can my path, the path of Liang Cheng, end here?!’
"ROAR—!!"
He threw his head back and roared. The flagging Gang Qi around him, like a final, fleeting resurgence of life, erupted with explosive force!
In this desperate situation, under the pressure of life and death, Liang Cheng forced himself through another transformation!
Deep within his Sea of Consciousness, the drop of Divine Soul Liquid from the Secret Realm’s trial was fully activated, transforming into a torrential Spiritual Power that surged through his entire body!
The Zhenxian Saber in his hand seemed to sense its master’s resolve and transformation. The hum of the blade grew louder and louder as the azure Saber Aura flared up on its own, the sound of wind and thunder echoing through the valley!
Moreover, a vague yet incomparably sharp Blade Intent began to coalesce around Liang Cheng. It felt as if the very tip of his saber could cleave heaven and earth apart!
[Nine Heavens Mountain-Breaking Saber: Perfection]
His self-created Saber Technique had finally reached Perfection!
His Blade Intent had begun to manifest!
Unfortunately, his Cultivation had not yet reached Core Formation and Breaking Mortality, so his Blade Intent had not undergone a qualitative change.
"What?!"
But upon seeing this, Huang Tiancheng’s expression changed drastically all the same.
He could feel the nascent Blade Intent that had suddenly manifested around Liang Cheng—sharp and tyrannical. This was absolutely not an aura someone at the True Gang Realm should possess!
’This boy... on the brink of death, he perfected his Saber Technique and condensed a phantom of his Blade Intent?!’
’If not for the difference in our Cultivation, if we were at the same Realm, I’d likely be the one facing death!’
’This boy must not be allowed to live!’
With the killing intent in his heart no longer holding even a shred of hesitation, Huang Tiancheng thrust out the dark purple Yin Pill in his palm, which had now swelled to the size of a human head!
"Profound Yin Power! Perish!"
The Yin Pill left his hand, silent and traceless, yet so fast it vanished from sight. In its wake, a charred trench was carved into the ground, and the air crackled with a series of sharp POPS!
This was an all-out attack from Huang Tiancheng!
He was afraid; he didn’t dare give Liang Cheng another chance.
Facing his opponent’s ultimate, destructive strike, Liang Cheng showed no trace of fear in his eyes—only a boiling-hot will to fight!
He gripped his saber with both hands and raised it high above his head.
The Gang Qi inside him erupted, carrying the Spiritual Power stimulated by the Divine Soul Liquid, all of it now concentrating on the very tip of his blade!
’It’s not enough!’
’Still not enough!’
The gap between their Realms was like an insurmountable chasm!
In that split second between life and death, inspiration struck Liang Cheng!
He remembered being in the Secret Realm, facing his perfect mirror image, and how he had merged the Wind and Thunder Slash with the Mountain-Breaking Saber to create the Nine Heavens Mountain-Breaking Saber.
’If Saber Techniques can be merged, can I also borrow my enemy’s strength to make up for my own weakness!?’
An utterly insane idea took shape in a flash of inspiration!
He didn’t try to cleave the Yin Pill apart. Instead, in the instant before it struck him, his Saber Momentum changed abruptly.
From slashing to guiding!
At the Perfection Realm of the Nine Heavens Mountain-Breaking Saber, his control over his power was exquisite. The edge of his blade traced a profound arc, lightly touching and guiding the surface of the Yin Pill!
It was like using four ounces to deflect a thousand pounds!
The devastating Yin Pill was actually led by his Blade Intent, deflecting by a mere inch!
It was this one-inch difference that caused the Yin Pill to graze past Liang Cheng’s left shoulder and slam into the rock wall behind him!