In the blink of an eye, hundreds and thousands of sabers and flying swords converged into a river, forming a rapidly swirling vortex around the Tianyuan position. From within, sword lights rained down, aiming directly at Gu Yanshu. Gu Yanshu's expression turned incredibly cold in an instant. Jianmen Sect, indeed, was the foremost sect of Shuzhou; this formation was far beyond what the Li or He families could compare to.
He tilted his head slightly, taking a step forward to create a small, restricted world of the sword path spanning only a few dozen feet. He raised the Xunlu Sword, his figure darting and weaving within this realm, shattering the attacking flying swords or repelling them with sword energy. Facing hundreds alone, he showed no panic at all; instead, his killing intent grew heavier.
"Ch!"
A flying sword swept past, drawing blood from Gu Yanshu's shoulder – a masterpiece of the old ancestor Chen Ke's life-bound flying sword. Following that, Liu Yunzheng's flying sword left a bloody gash on Gu Yanshu's calf.
"Come at me!"
Gu Yanshu held the Xunlu Sword, his body surging with immense killing intent, and sneered, "The world has wronged the Xunlu Sword. If you scoundrels of Jianmen Sect cannot kill me, Gu Yanshu, today, then you will all die. Not a single one will escape!"
"Gather the sword formation!"
Chen Ke soared into the sky, dozens of flying swords swirling around him. His gaze fixed on Gu Yanshu below, he said solemnly, "Finish it quickly and crush him completely!"
With that, Chen Ke raised his hand and pointed, and dozens of flying swords rained down from the sky.
"Come on!"
Gu Yanshu's eyes turned bloodshot. With one hand, he conjured numerous flying swords to block the swords attacking from all directions, while holding the Xunlu Sword in the other. He unleashed a curved sword intent towards the sky to ward off Chen Ke's flying sword assault. However, Chen Ke was, after all, a Great Sword Immortal of the late twelfth realm. Half of the sword light was blocked by the sword intent of the Xunlu Sword, but the remaining half kept twisting, circumventing that sword intent, and leaving several more bloody marks on Gu Yanshu.
"Good!"
Liu Yunzheng was a mixture of surprise and joy. With the ancestor's attack, it was indeed much more stable. Gu Yanshu was already injured before, and although he held the Xunlu Sword, he was ultimately only an eleventh-realm cultivator. How could he possibly break the Tianyuan Sword Formation?!
Unexpectedly, at this very moment, Gu Yanshu suddenly gritted his teeth, his eyes full of ferocity. Taking a blow from Chen Ke on his shoulder, the Xunlu Sword suddenly thrust forward, blasting a hole in the tide of flying swords. Immediately, three mid-grade immortal swords from his Lingxu surged out, exploding dozens of feet away. At least twenty Jianmen Sect disciples were instantly reduced to bloody pulp, perishing in the array.
"He's mad!"
Some disciples already felt a desire to retreat.
"No one is allowed to retreat!"
Ancestor Chen Ke slashed down fiercely towards Gu Yanshu's head, his eyes chilling, "For the prosperity of my Jianmen Sect, for the future of my Human Race Sword Sect, even if half of us present perish today, so what? By keeping the Xunlu Sword in Jianmen Sect, my Jianmen Sect will surely rise to prominence in the world for the next several decades! Nearby disciples, repair the Tianyuan Sword Formation, quickly!"
Immediately, figures shuttled within the grand formation, quickly filling the void that Gu Yanshu had created by exploding three immortal swords. This way, although the overall combat power of the Tianyuan Sword Formation was slightly weakened, Gu Yanshu had also lost three mid-grade flying swords, and the balance of power still tilted firmly towards Jianmen Sect.
"Hahahaha~~~~"
Gu Yanshu’s body sustained successive injuries, but his killing intent grew stronger. Especially the Xunlu Sword, its blade was surrounded by solidified killing intent, making Gu Yanshu no longer look like a human, but like an invincible inner demon from beyond the heavens. If such a person were to survive, he would become an inner demon for the entire human world.
"Don't you want to kill me?!"
Gu Yanshu laughed wildly and said, "Come on, let's die together! No one is getting this Xunlu Sword!"
With that, Gu Yanshu straightened his chest, his sword heart "humming." Instantly, the space within several hundred feet was almost about to explode. The sword light of the Xunlu Sword surged, as if resonating with Gu Yanshu. For a time, all the swirling flying swords were pushed away, and not a single one could approach Gu Yanshu within several feet.
"This is bad!"
Chen Ke was greatly alarmed, "He's going to self-detonate his sword heart!"
Liu Yunzheng saw clearly, "The Xunlu Sword also has the possibility of exploding!"
A sword cultivator self-detonating their sword heart was the most tragic way to die, as it could very likely lead to the annihilation of their soul and true destruction. However, the destructive power of a self-detonated sword heart was also extremely terrifying. Previously, the Mojia Xu Zhan, Xu Sword Immortal, had self-detonated his sword heart in the Ghost Realm, killing two demon twelfth-realm cultivators and heavily wounding several demon upper-fifth-realm cultivators. This deed had long circulated in the martial world, a truly heroic act.
Now, Gu Yanshu, an eleventh-realm cultivator holding the Xunlu Sword, was self-detonating his sword heart, coupled with the resonance and explosion of the Xunlu Sword, its power could not be less than that of Xu Zhan's previous self-detonation. If everyone didn't retreat, they would all likely die here.
"Fall back!"
Chen Ke roared, "Don't let this scoundrel drag you down! All disciples, retreat!"
In an instant, the Jianmen Sect members retreated. The Tianyuan Sword Formation vanished almost instantly. At that moment, Gu Yanshu suddenly curled his lips into a smile. The process of self-detonating his sword heart abruptly halted. He then transformed into a cold light and flew up, bringing down a heavy sword towards Liu Yunzheng's head!
"You?!"
Liu Yunzheng was greatly alarmed. Gu Yanshu's cunning far exceeded his imagination. In a flash, Liu Yunzheng drew his sword and two flying swords, all together to block the overhead strike of the Xunlu Sword. But just as Liu Yunzheng desperately blocked a sword of the Xunlu Sword, he saw a sword tip pierce out from his chest. In an instant, that sword passed through his heart and out his back – it was Xiao Cong's treasured sword, Hong Chen, refined by Gu Yanshu.
"Hahahaha!"
Gu Yanshu laughed heartily, kicked Liu Yunzheng away heavily, and said, "How does the Hong Chen sword of the Confucian Academy disciple taste?"
With that, Gu Yanshu completely ignored Liu Yunzheng, who was on the verge of death, and turned, unleashing a sword imbued with overwhelming killing intent into a group of Jianmen Sect disciples. Instantly, dozens of them turned into a rain of blood. Following that, Gu Yanshu's several life-bound flying swords streaked out one by one, "噗噗噗" continuously cutting down the mid-fifth-realm disciples, as if slicing vegetables.
...
"Yunzheng!"
Chen Ke's liver and gall felt like they were splitting. Liu Yunzheng was the chief disciple of Jianmen Sect's younger generation, the sword dao prodigy of Shuzhou. With Liu Yunzheng's death, the younger generation of Jianmen Sect would appear much dimmer. Who among the remaining disciples could bear the responsibility? Thinking of this, Chen Ke was enraged. Under Gu Yanshu's schemes, all of Jianmen Sect's plans seemed to have turned into nothing.
When Chen Ke's sword fell, Gu Yanshu had long since vanished like a ghost. The Xunlu Sword flickered through the forest, cutting down the scattered Jianmen Sect disciples who were fleeing. He deliberately avoided direct confrontation with Chen Ke.
Gu Yanshu had cultivated in the mountains since childhood, living a life of extreme hardship. His master Lin Shenghan's residual soul and spiritual energy grew weaker day by day, and there wasn't much he could do. Initially, he could still use the power of his residual soul to hunt wild boars and deer in the forest to feed Gu Yanshu. After Gu Yanshu turned six, Lin Shenghan's residual soul appeared very rarely, so Gu Yanshu had to rely on his abilities as a sword cultivator to hunt for food.
His favorite meal was rice with beans and stewed wild boar meat. Moreover, Gu Yanshu had a habit: he liked to finish the rice first and then eat the meat, saving the best for last. It was the same now; Chen Ke, the Great Sword Immortal of the late twelfth realm, was a piece of fatty meat on Gu Yanshu's plate, naturally to be eaten last. After eating him, he would likely break through to the next realm.
In fact, Gu Yanshu was extremely grateful to Jianmen Sect. Without them feeding him this large piece of meat, how could he break through?
"Don't panic!"
Chen Ke, while pursuing the slippery Gu Yanshu like an eel, said solemnly, "Re-establish the Tianyuan Sword Formation, otherwise everyone will be slaughtered by this demon! Quickly, re-form the sword formation!"
The ancestor was not dead, and the disciples turned around. But it was too late to form the sword formation. Gu Yanshu, holding the Xunlu Sword, swept through with overwhelming killing intent. Wherever the sword light passed, it turned into a rain of blood. The remaining thirty percent of rust on the Xunlu Sword melted away in the fresh blood. Gu Yanshu, meanwhile, took advantage of the killing intent of the Xunlu Sword to nourish himself, his cultivation stacking up bit by bit, his physical body growing stronger and stronger, getting closer and closer to the twelfth realm.
...
"Ah..."
A female disciple, panicked, was sent tumbling by a wisp of sword energy from the Xunlu Sword, falling awkwardly into a thicket. She gritted her teeth, suddenly stood up, forgetting her identity as a sword cultivator. She raised her sword with both hands, pointing the tip at Gu Yanshu, like a startled beast. She had forgotten all sword techniques, sword intent, and flying swords. After all, under absolute power, even if she used those things, they would be meaningless.
"Scram!"
Gu Yanshu swept past, kicking the female disciple’s body away. He frowned, "I don't kill women. All women, get out of here immediately, and I absolutely won't stop you!"
Immediately, about a dozen female disciples among the Jianmen Sect disciples turned pale with fright. Some were already crying profusely. They looked at Gu Yanshu, then at their ancestor Chen Ke.
Chen Ke was filled with indignation. There weren't many left, less than fifty. With these female disciples leaving, hope dwindled even further. He desperately wanted to stop them, to forbid them from leaving, but he couldn't. This would be cutting off their path to survival.
"What?"
Gu Yanshu, holding the Xunlu Sword, walked towards Chen Ke, his eyes fixed on the esteemed old immortal from Mount Xishu, and smiled, "Regretting your birth? You should have asked your parents to give birth to you as a woman. Isn't that right? It's okay. As long as you, the ancestor of Jianmen Sect, can lower your pride and sever your male appearance, I, Gu Yanshu, won't kill you. A palace attendant ancestor of Jianmen Sect would also be a beautiful story!"
Chen Ke trembled with anger.
After a few seconds, Chen Ke said solemnly, "All disciples, leave immediately. I will cover your retreat. When you return to the sect, do not establish a memorial tablet for me, Chen Ke. I am not worthy. You... when you return, take good care of the sect. My Jianmen Sect... will still be the foremost sect of Xishu in a hundred years..."
"Ancestor!"
A group of disciples knelt down.
"Scram!"
Chen Ke waved his sleeve, and endless sword intent swept the disciples away. He himself then drew his sword and walked towards Gu Yanshu, smiling, "Gu Yanshu, Gu Yanshu, you junior so defiant, before I die, I must tell you a truth. The Sword Immortals of Xishu can be killed, but not insulted!"