This cosmic artifact could kill anyone beneath the Violet Palace Realm. Even those in the quasi-Violet Palace Realm weren’t an exception. His target was Xin Jue and he was supposed to retreat immediately after killing Xin Jue.
The man in black holding onto the cylinder was well aware of his task, but when he aimed the cylinder at Lin Yun, he lost control of himself because he was thinking about the grudge he had with Lin Yun.
Die! Pouring his origin energy into the cylinder, the cylinder emitted a giant glow and began to revolve. A crimson radiance bloomed like a flower before transforming into needles that disappeared.
A few thousand meters away, Lin Yun, who was held up by four black-clothed men, suddenly froze. His quasi-xiantian sword intent could sense an unprecedented danger approaching that gave him boundless fear.
Am I going to die? Lin Yun’s breathing became heavy and he started to panic. But at that critical moment, a bolt of lightning dashed over. It was Xin Jue. He stood in front of Lin Yun at this dangerous moment and swung his sword to knock the needles away.
“Die!” The cosmic artifact in his hand crackled with lightning as he slew the four black-clothed men around Lin Yun.
Lin Yun was on the ground on one knee after escaping death. His face was drained of all colors. He had never felt such unprecedented danger like he had in that moment. It was a fear that he couldn’t resist. It was a natural reaction of his body when facing death, so it was something that he could control.
Pouring his origin energy into his eyes, Lin Yun looked at the direction where the needles came from. His vision passed through the trees and fixated on a pair of eyes filled with shock.
Him? Lin Yun was too familiar with those eyes. It was someone that had been trying to kill him since the first day he joined the sect. It was naturally the Wang Clan’s Wang Yan.
“You have to be more careful in the future.” Xin Jue smiled and stretched his hand out.
Lin Yun reached out for Xin Jue’s hand and got back on his feet. He was still a little dumbfounded. He could feel that there was something amiss about this matter, but he couldn’t figure it out right now.
Right at this moment, daggers flew over in Xin Jue’s direction. There were the three black-clothed men who dashed over when they saw Xin Jue knocking all the needles away. Then, all the black-clothed men suddenly disengaged from their enemies and charged at Xin Jue.
“Senior Brother, they’re here for you,” said Lin Yun with shock. These black-clothed men finally revealed their true intentions.
“Looks like someone doesn’t want me to appear in the Dragon Gate Competition. But no matter what, Junior Brother, you’ll attend the Dragon Gate Competition, right?” Xin Jue gave a casual smile to Lin Yun.
“That’s for sure. I will surely attend the Dragon Gate Competition,” replied Lin Yun.
Xin Jue smiled and he lowered his head to look at the cosmic artifact in his hand. This was the sword that Lin Yun gave him. The body of the sword was covered in flowery patterns, making it look very beautiful.
“Senior Brother, they’re coming.” Lin Yun gently placed his hand on the interspatial pouch and retrieved the Scarletflame War Banner.
But just when he was about to activate the close-combat mode, Xin Jue’s expression turned cold as he spoke out with his sword intent emitting from him, “It’s fine. There’s nothing they can do to me with the sword you gave me.”
When Xin Jue’s sword intent reached the peak, a sword buzz rang out from his body and the sword in his hand resonated with his sword intent. Under this powerful sword intent, Lin Yun took several steps back with deep shock in his eyes.
This is the xiantian sword intent! Xin Jue actually made a breakthrough at that moment and obtained the xiantian sword intent. Not only that, but he also obtained the acknowledgement of the cosmic artifact in his hand!
Lin Yun was shocked. He should be happy for Xin Jue at this moment, but for some reason, he still felt that something was amiss. Everyone in the Sword Firmament Pavilion was also shocked. They were actually losing control of their swords in front of Xin Jue’s xiantian sword intent.
“Xiantian sword intent!” Luo Feng was briefly shocked before he rejoiced. That was the genuine xiantian sword intent, much stronger than Lin Yun’s quasi-xiantian sword intent. Now, who could possibly obstruct Xin Jue’s path in the Dragon Gate Competition?
“I’m only worthy of you now, right? I’m really useless…” Xin Jue revealed a mocking smile and he dashed at the black-clothed men.
“Rumbling Thunderbolt!” Along with a sword ray that flashed like a bolt of lightning, five black-clothed men were killed on the spot. Under the empowerment of the xiantian sword intent, the cosmic artifact in Xin Jue’s hand had finally unleashed its full prowess.
Xin Jue’s figure flickered, leaving behind the rumbling of lightning that echoed in the surroundings. Everyone could see blood, limbs, and heads flying around. Xin Jue had completely brought out the profundity of the Thunderclap Sword.
Perhaps the Thunderclap Sword was too powerful or maybe it was the cosmic artifact in addition to the xiantian sword intent. In either case, lives were constantly taken and all the black-clothed men died a horrible death.
A sword buzz echoed in the air and heaven and earth began to tremble under the sword intent. A sword ray dived down from the sky and when it descended to the ground, it left behind afterimages and instantly inflicted heavy injuries on over ten people.
“The Firmament Sword?” The leader of the black-clothed men glanced at the sword stabbed into the ground and he spoke out in a grave voice, “Retreat!”
The black-clothed men began to retreat. Just when the Sword Firmament Pavilion wanted to chase after them, Luo Feng’s voice sounded out, “Stay where you are.”
The Sword-Bearing Elder descended from the sky, covered in injuries. He must have forced the Thunderflame Python to retreat. He spoke out, “Let’s see who they are!”
Someone stepped forth and removed the masks on the black-clothed men, revealing heavily disfigured faces. Everyone could tell that those wounds were fresh and their appearance made everyone from the Sword Firmament Pavilion to suck in a cold breath.
But that wasn’t all because the corpses suddenly ignited and instantly disappeared.
“Corpse Blaze Pellets? They’re deathsworns!” exclaimed Luo Feng.
“Not many forces can nurture so many deathsworns at once. They will expose themselves eventually.” The Sword-Bearing Elder’s face was unsightly because this was a well-planned assault. This made all the disciples shocked as they discussed among themselves.
“We’ll leave immediately after a short rest. I’ve already notified the sect to meet up with us,” instructed the Sword-Bearing Elder.
Tang Tong, Xin Jue, Xin Yan, and the other disciples gathered together to rest as they leaned against the surrounding trees.
“This journey is really filled with twists and turns,” sighed Wang Zhen. The Extermination Mountain Range was dangerous, to begin with. But they never imagined that fellow humans were even more threatening than the demonic beasts. He had spoken what was in everyone’s heart. Right now, everyone just wanted to return to the sect as soon as possible.
“But I’m sure they never imagined that this ordeal would allow Senior Brother Xin Jue to grasp the xiantian sword intent. It looks like there will be a change in the eight titles’ ranking,” laughed Tang Tong and the others.
No one in the Great Qin Empire had grasped xiantian sword intent, at least not publicly. Lin Yun was already so powerful with the quasi-xiantian sword intent, so everyone could imagine how terrifying Xin Jue would be with the complete xiantian sword intent. This meant that Xin Jue was destined to bloom in the Dragon Gate Competition this year!
Everyone became excited at the thought of it. Xin Jue merely smiled and he looked at everyone calmly.
“Big Brother, there’s something on your forehead,” smiled Xin Yan as she looked at Xin Jue.
“Help me clean it,” smiled Xin Jue.
“Can’t you take care of yourself when you’re already so old? Aren’t you ashamed? Alright, just this once. Don’t move.” Xin Yan teased him and she stepped forward to clean it. “Done!”
But her smile soon froze on her face when she looked down at the handkerchief in her hand. That stain on Xin Jue’s forehead wasn’t dirt, but blood. In the beginning, she thought that the blood belonged to someone else, but when she raised her head, she noticed more blood oozing out from Xin Jue’s forehead.
She tried to clean it again, but the blood was endless. It didn’t matter how many times she tried to clean it, it wouldn’t stop. Her unusual behavior instantly attracted everyone’s attention. When Lin Yun opened his eyes and thought of something, his face instantly changed.
“It’s fine.” Xin Jue held onto Xin Yan’s hand and smiled, “If the blood is destined to flow, then let it be. It’ll be terrible if your handkerchief gets dirty.”
“Big Brother, don’t scare me…” Xin Yan’s voice trembled.
When Lin Yun and the others stood up and came over, they saw a streak of blood flowing down from Xin Jue’s forehead.