Chapter 422 Sword Demon: The Heaven’s Chosen I Wanted Has Already Arrived
The silent, eerie, and shadowy cave resembled a giant beast that could devour a person at any moment.
Standing at the cave entrance, everyone could not help but feel an urge to retreat.
Xiao Chen narrowed his eyes, then stepped forward and walked into the cave.
Rustle…
Long Zaiyuan’s footsteps echoed unusually clearly within the silent cave.
Before long, he stopped, dropped to one knee, and said, "Disciple Long Zaiyuan comes to pay respects to Master."
"I am not your master."
A hoarse voice came from within the darkness. Upon hearing it, none of the onlookers instinctively used their divine sense to probe the speaker.
For some reason, the instant they heard that voice, a boundless terror rose in their hearts.
This voice was even more dreadful and suffocating than the Saint Souls they had encountered before.
"Senior, did you not say before that as long as I drew the Demon Sword I could become your registered disciple?"
Long Zaiyuan had not expected his last reliance to abandon him as well.
"But you have already lost the Demon Sword. Still, the old man must thank you for bringing him a fine seedling for sword training."
In the darkness, that hoarse voice echoed clearly in everyone’s ears.
The people from the Miscellaneous Dao Institute, hearing this, felt their fear vanish and turned their eyes toward Xiao Chen.
Xiao Chen’s face remained calm as he cast his gaze into the darkness, meeting a pair of eyes as sharp as blades.
Only Long Zaiyuan was utterly shocked. He asked in confusion, "Master, what are you saying?"
"Since you are all here, come out."
As soon as the Sword Demon’s words fell, the pitch-black cave instantly brightened like daylight.
Xiao Chen and the others looked toward the source of the voice and saw an old man with grizzled hair and beard, unkempt and disheveled, bound atop a stone sphere by more than a dozen chains as thick as an adult’s arm.
Though the stone sphere was not fixed to the ground, the Sword Demon showed no intention of moving his body.
Before the Sword Demon stood a stone tablet exuding the aura of a Saint.
Long Zaiyuan instinctively turned his head, and when he saw Xiao Chen’s group his face changed drastically.
"You… you’re Shi Xuan’s fellow disciples?"
"Indeed."
Xiao Chen spoke lightly.
"You dare trespass into the domain of the Sword Demon Saint? Even if your master came now, you would not escape death!"
Long Zaiyuan grew more agitated as he spoke. Turning toward the Sword Demon, he bowed deeply. "Master, it was these people who stole your Demon Sword. Please suppress them!"
"Hmph!"
The Sword Demon let out a cold snort.
A terrifying pressure crashed down, making Long Zaiyuan fall to his knees with a thud.
"Boy, you still have the face to say such words? Did you really think the old man did not know that you, a discarded disciple of the Holy Land of the Divine Sword, are merely a pawn of those old fools, aiming to seize my supreme Sword Dao?
If you truly were a genius of the Sword Dao, the old man would have passed this Sword Dao to you. But you are not, and so this seat has no reason to keep you in this world."
"No… no!"
Long Zaiyuan’s face went deathly pale as cold sweat streamed from his forehead. He hurried to explain, "Master, it is not that your disciple is weak, but that these people’s cultivation is far too high. Your disciple has long achieved invincibility among his peers and has even comprehended Sword Intent. Even within the Holy Land of the Divine Sword, I am a rare Heaven’s Chosen!"
"You are not wrong, but what I seek is not a merely superior prodigy; I want a sword cultivator who dominates an era."
The Sword Demon spoke with no emotion.
"Master, such prodigies are extremely rare across the Xuantian Continent. If you grant me enough time, I can certainly grow into the state you described."
"No need," the Sword Demon said. "The prodigy I want has already arrived."
At those words his gaze fell on Xiao Chen, a faint smile lifting the corner of his mouth. "He is the sword genius in my mind, a genius whose sword will cleave through the ages."
Long Zaiyuan froze completely, incredulous. In his mind a thought escaped: Master, you were not like this before—how can you change so suddenly?
Xiao Chen, having watched the scene for a while, had not expected the topic to turn to him. He cupped his fist and bowed slightly. "Sword Demon elder, your insight honors this junior."
"Are you also a disciple of the Divine Sword Holy Land?" the Sword Demon asked with interest.
Xiao Chen replied politely, "Respectfully, elder, I am not a disciple of the Divine Sword Holy Land, but of the Wendao Academy."
"Oh?" the Sword Demon paused, then laughed heartily. "Ha! Those Divine Sword Holy Land fellows boast of unrivaled swordsmanship, yet they never produced a disciple who comprehended the Sword Dao’s truth at the Nirvana Realm. Ridiculous, simply ridiculous!"
"Senior, I must correct your statement."
Seeing no hostility from the Sword Demon, Xiao Chen interrupted calmly.
"What do you mean to say?" the Sword Demon asked suspiciously.
"Not to hide it from you, elder: I already comprehended the Dao truth when I was at the Path Union Realm."
Xiao Chen’s tone was flat, as if stating the most ordinary fact.
But to the Sword Demon and Long Zaiyuan the words struck like thunder.
"Impossible, this is absolutely impossible!" Long Zaiyuan exploded, leaping up and shouting like a madman.
The Sword Demon’s expression changed to one of astonishment; he regarded Xiao Chen with increasing favor, as if gazing upon a priceless treasure.
Chen Qianqian, seeing Long Zaiyuan’s disgraceful state, curled her lip in contempt. "Long Zaiyuan, just because you cannot do it doesn’t mean my senior brother cannot. He is the foremost prodigy of our age."
"Xiao Chen, you are Xiao Chen?" Long Zaiyuan blurted instinctively.
"Indeed, I am Xiao Chen. Now tell me how you wish to die." Xiao Chen answered.
Long Zaiyuan staggered back half a step at that, slipped, and fell hard to the ground, utterly humiliated.
Xiao Chen slowly drew his treasured sword, prepared to end Long Zaiyuan with a single strike.
Clang! The moment the divine sword left its sheath, its cold blade-light made Long Zaiyuan tremble inwardly.
Just as Xiao Chen was about to swing, the Sword Demon suddenly spoke, "Young one, hold."
At that command everyone present froze.
Long Zaiyuan’s face lit with ecstatic hope, thinking his master still cared for him.
Xiao Chen asked, "May I know what guidance you offer, elder?"
The Sword Demon smiled. "Rest assured, I am not asking you to spare this brat. I intend for him to die convinced and resigned!!!"
Those words left the assembled with mixed expressions. Long Zaiyuan’s smile vanished as he slumped, eyes vacant and defeated.
Xiao Chen, intrigued, said, "Please speak, elder."
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