Chapter 1651: Cutting Through Thirty Thousand Miles of the Galaxy, Let the Ultimate Sword Dragon Roar

A hum!

Sword intent arose, and the ruins stirred. As the ancient book resting on the sword platform glowed brightly, the entire Divine Relics, across all three heavens, vibrated. Above the Nine Heavens, the thirty million light swords from the Star River trembled, transforming gracefully, then collectively suspended in the air. They didn't seem chaotic. Instead, they appeared to align with the Grand Dao, forming a profound sword array, thought-provoking to behold. Even the leading Sword of Immortal Fury, a Buddhist sword, radiated an exceptionally brilliant light, clearly revealing excitement on its blade, and…

“Longing?” Dao Qiongcang was stunned. This was the first time he had felt the Sword of Immortal Fury's sentience so acutely. It was as if their compatibility had reached a divine level, allowing him to perceive the Immortal Fury's emotions so clearly. But it wasn't! Dao Qiongcang knew deep down, it wasn't that at all! This sword had been with him for so long, and aside from a slight fluctuation when purifying the Saint Embryo-Forging Plant, this was the first time it had displayed such profound emotion!

*Unconvinced… I'm not convinced… It bears a burden of resentment that was entrusted to me, not to you!*

Dao Qiongcang shook his head, demoralized. After thirty years, he had believed time would erase the gap and compensate for his shortcomings. He had even cultivated to become a Grandmaster of the Sword Dao. Yet, encountering him again in a time of conflict—even before a formal confrontation—he once more witnessed the dominance of the former top swordsman. A long-dead sense of oppression resurfaced, and this time, Ba Zun'an hadn't even drawn his sword?

“Over twenty years, Immortal Fury!” Dao Qiongcang shook his head in frustration, thinking, *For all these years, I’ve cleaned and pampered you, bought you the most beautiful scabbards, eaten by your side, slept on the same bed, yet you remained unmoved. Now, with just one glance from someone else, your spirit is captivated, and you're even willing to give everything of yourself. Do you owe me nothing? Do you deserve your title as "Buddhist Sword"?*

*Clang—* The Sword of Immortal Fury clearly didn't understand what its temporary wielder, who wasn't even its true master, was so jealous about. Upon sensing his need for help and receiving his summons, it exerted itself fully, helping to mobilize the thirty million Swords of Holy Judgment to form a sword array, like a peacock fanning its tail. Its only thought was to showcase itself. In fact, Immortal Fury didn't even know who "he" specifically was; it only sensed a faint aura. This was enough!

A good bird chooses its tree to roost, and a famous sword chooses its master to serve. Based on that faint aura alone, the Sword of Immortal Fury knew that a more suitable master had appeared, surpassing its past grievance. It didn't want to become the Divine Sword Xuancang, or the Imperial Sword Duzun, a famous sword gathering dust, left in a dark room. It yearned to be like the Taicheng Sword or the Youyuan Sword; even if they only shone brightly for a period, they had at least been brilliant and glorious. This was enough.

“Come!” “Grasp me, wield me, unleash me!” The Sword of Immortal Fury, leading its thirty million "little brothers," charged towards the trapped individual with the momentum of ten thousand swords returning to their origin, just about to provide aid in his dire time of need…

Under "Heaven's Emaciation," the young swordsman's eyes snapped open. Amidst endless seals and restrictions, his sword intent surged, soaring into the sky. Resolutely forward! Without a second thought! This was the momentum a sword cultivator needed! The Sword of Immortal Fury saw this and loved it even more, wanting to rush into his embrace, but in a single moment of misjudgment… The young swordsman, amidst the mire, had slowly raised his sword.

The sword was black, slender, and exquisitely formed. It wasn't like itself, which was outwardly coarse but refined within; it was fundamentally coarse, a giant sword. It was perfectly proportioned, neither too stout nor too thin, ideally long and short, born with perfect symmetry, requiring no further embellishment. It wasn't obscure either; unlike what Immortal Fury had assumed—that it couldn't compare in physical traits, let alone background. It was too familiar. One of the Five Great Chaotic Artifacts, the Youyuan Sword, equally renowned as the Sword of Immortal Fury!

The Sword of Immortal Fury dimmed halfway, forgetting its "little brothers" behind it, and plunged directly to the ground, losing all its brilliance.

*Was I, again, a step too late? Why do all of you get to meet ancient sword cultivators? And the ones I meet are either compassionate monks who refuse to kill, or dirty schemers who don't even use swords?*

“What sword!” “What kind of sword is this?!”

The sword hadn't even been drawn. Su Yin, who had transformed into mist, expanding across thousands of miles and hiding its true form within, had already sensed a great danger. This sudden premonition of danger was no joke; it indicated a real possibility of being severely wounded, or even obliterated by a single sword strike.

“Impossible!” Su Yin knew Xu Xiaoshou's strength. At most, the "Desireless Reckless Sword" he had just wielded, borrowing strength from the four realms, was his limit. There was absolutely no way he could destroy Su Yin, who currently possessed thousands of incarnations. Yes, in its misty form, every wisp of mist, every speck of dust, was equivalent to another chance to start over. They were all lives! What kind of sword could disregard all laws, revert everything, obliterate endless incarnations, and wound its true essence? Furthermore! At this moment, Xu Xiaoshou was still under a forbidden technique, trapped within his own technique, "Heaven's Emaciation." How could he turn the tables? How could he threaten Su Yin?

Yet, amidst these thoughts of "impossibility," Su Yin watched as the young swordsman's eyes… changed from panic, helplessness, and an intention to give up, to calmness, resolute determination, and overt killing intent! Who gave him such confidence? Su Yin couldn't find the answer. In its demonized state, it was affected by too many things. So much so that it couldn't even detect the ancient book beneath the young man's feet, which was causing his various abnormal changes.

Until, under the restraint of "Heaven's Emaciation," a defiant voice, as if saying, "Heaven cannot tolerate me, so I shall defy Heaven," resounded. The voice was resolute, arrogant to the extreme, showing no regard even for ancestral gods:

“Sword aura soars in a wild song, thirty thousand li across the Star River. Why should Su Yin rest? For the dragon's roar has begun!”

The thirty million Void Heavens Holy Swords responded, converging into a single aurora. That light pierced upwards through the Heavenly River, downwards through the earth, rising from the youth under "Heaven's Emaciation." It first pushed away the horizontal ripples of light, forcefully breaking through the restraints. Then, as the tip of the formidable Youyuan Sword soared upwards, its aura and intent fiercely tore apart the Dao, and furiously opened the "Nameless." Clearly rooted in the eighteenth heaven of the Divine Relics, as the sword was raised, the wielder became so heavy that he broke through space-time, falling back to the first heaven. Yet… the light, which had condensed the momentum of thirty million Swords of Holy Judgment, transformed into an extension of the Youyuan Sword's blade, piercing through the thirty-third heaven, its tip breaking through to the Star River above.

“Whoosh whoosh whoosh!” The Star River rippled, and myriad laws returned. Xu Xiaoshou felt countless images flash through his mind. Never before had heaven, earth, Dao, sword, and self been so perfectly aligned. A sword thought stirred within him. The power of the Star River converged upon him. He felt as if he wasn't holding a heavy sword of the high heavens; it was light as a feather, as if an extension of his arm. With only an unconscious desire to move, he flipped his wrist, executing an upward slash.

“Boom!” A sword strike that breached the heavens and reached past the Star River. It immediately swung from behind him into a full arc, carving through the space below, in front, and around him. The aurora tore through the earth, space, and Dao of the first heaven, cleaving into the eighteenth heaven. The speed of the sword light was so fast that it sucked in and sliced through all the purple mist hovering at the edge of the eighteenth heaven, cutting it like mud and tearing it like paper. Without any delay, it then effortlessly cut through the darkness of the thirty-third heaven, again breaking through the fragments of space-time, and slashed into the starry sky.

“Boom boom boom boom boom…” Only then did the Divine Relics echo with a thunderous, wild song. Meanwhile, in the starry sky, the aurora surged forth, already creating heavy ripples on both sides, leaving a sword mark of more than thirty thousand li in the frozen expanse of time. One sword, three heavens, and the Star River once again scarred!

“Nine Swords Technique, One-Sword Convergence?!” It wasn't until the aurora swung into a full arc, splitting the space of the Divine Relics, connecting the upper and lower three heavens, into two halves, and directly came at its face. Only then did the misty Su Yin realize that this time, the opponent was using the second realm of the Nine Swords Technique. There was no "four borrowing two realms," no "true sword in front, phantom sword behind." In fact, from beginning to end, Xu Xiaoshou had not shown the slightest intention of hiding what this sword was.

“Sword aura soars in a wild song, thirty thousand li across the Star River. Why should Su Yin rest? For the dragon's roar has begun!”

Su Yin heard the mockery, but it had yet to hear the dragon's roar. The mist endlessly twisted, as if struck by "Heaven's Emaciation," collapsing infinitely towards a central singularity… It wasn't "as if"! That young man's single sword strike used the power of "Path Deviation" from the Three Thousand Sword Dao, borrowing the most brutal sword intent of One-Sword Convergence, returning all the restraints he was under.

When the mist collapsed into a single point… when soul and intent solidified before the aurora… Su Yin finally understood the premonition it had felt before the sword was drawn. It pulled out the Grand Bell and Drum, a defensive divine artifact. It didn't even hear an explosion. The Grand Bell and Drum's spiritual light was instantly shattered, as if it had lost its sentience, its main body blasted to an unknown location. Su Yin pulled out the Heavenly Realm Stone, which was refined from a corner of the Heavenly Realm. But even the Heavenly Realm's three triangles within the Divine Relics couldn't withstand the domineering, unrestrained, and arrogant One-Sword Convergence; this item shattered with a "crack." Even the Heavenly Realm Stone's main body was disintegrated. Its internal space collapsed, bouncing into the fragmented space-time currents, lost to an unknown location. It hastily summoned the Ruins of the Art Ancestor and, without even looking, threw out all sorts of treasures within. But not a single treasure could withstand the attack of the sword before it on a defensive level. The only renowned strongest defensive weapon, unresponsive to summons or commands, quietly slept within the Ruins of the Art Ancestor.

With a crash, the Ruins shattered, and treasures flew in all directions. Su Yin frantically grabbed some useless items, along with a Saint Ancestor stone carving. As it regained consciousness, it calmed down. This stone carving contained a trace of the Saint Ancestor's power from its peak, capable of summoning the Saint Ancestor for an instant or a longer-lasting Saint Ancestor phantom when activated. Su Yin knew it was too slow. It should have immediately pulled out this item and activated its power, without trying other methods or worrying about losing face by borrowing the Ancestor's strength. It hadn't been wrong; it was indeed too slow. The previous few items and methods had consumed all the time it had for an effective reaction in that split second.

The Saint Ancestor stone carving appeared, not yet activated, possessing only passive defensive power… the aurora had already pierced through its very being!

“Hiss—” Its soul body tore apart. Its consciousness body disintegrated. Amidst the sky-piercing screams of pain, the heaven-stirring One-Sword Convergence fully embodied the word "extreme." In a physical manner, it used ultra-Dao transformation to break physical limitations, then tore through the barriers of soul and consciousness, completely shredding all its defenses and severing its soul and will.

“No!!!” A single sword, a shocking mark. From misty Su Yin to soul fragments splattering across the sky and consciousness rippling through the Star River, it took only a heartbeat.

“Thump!” Dao Qiongcang's heart stopped. In his invisible state, his eyelids drooped, his gaze fixed on the void. The One-Sword Convergence had split the Divine Relics' upper and lower three heavens. The world was like a three-layered sandwich cake with fragmented space-time in the middle, suddenly cut in half by an external executioner. In reality, it wasn't completely severed into two irreparable halves. It was just that space had fractured after this sword strike, giving the visual impression that the world had split apart.

“One-Sword Convergence…” Dao Qiongcang deeply remembered this sword strike, summarizing all the key information from how the thirty million Swords of Holy Judgment had converged into one. Yes, within this, there was a contribution from him… Oh no, it was the "financial power" accumulated through thirty million instances of corruption and illicit practices during his time as hall master!

"'Nine Swords Technique: One-Sword Convergence' foregoes the variations of 'formations,' pushing the extreme meaning of 'damage' to its limit. Based on an infinite number of calculations, it superimposes infinite damage into a single sword strike. If the Sword Dao were to be measured on a scale of ten, most second realms would only reach eight points; One-Sword Convergence, however, is an exception. One-Sword Convergence has no upper limit. How much stacked damage can be combined into one sword strike depends entirely on the wielder's state and physical condition. Starting at 80% Dao transformation, 90% ultra-Dao transformation isn't the endpoint. And it absorbed my thirty million Swords of Holy Judgment, consuming such quality and quantity of my Ancestral Heaven power… This sword strike, in terms of sheer destructive power, might have already touched the threshold of the third realm, or even surpassed it?”

Regardless of the depth of intent, only considering destructive power. Even the third realm of the Emotion Sword Technique, which opens the Door of Profoundness, might be slightly inferior to this sword. Dao Qiongcang was cunning but never worried needlessly. He didn't believe Xu Xiaoshou could ever unleash such a sword strike again, let alone against him—in the future. Because with this as a lesson, and with precautions taken, by the time One-Sword Convergence arrived again… It should be put this way: In the future, before any ancient sword cultivator, he, Dao Qiongcang, would never reveal the Swords of Holy Judgment, preventing a similar "One-Sword Convergence" from appearing or happening!

“Change!” “Blades of Holy Judgment, Spears of Holy Judgment…” “Anything is fine, as long as it's not a sword, so they, these ancient sword cultivators, can't leverage its power!” Dao Qiongcang thought of the Grandmaster Sword Intent he had studied for thirty years, feeling a slight unwillingness. But then he reconsidered: thirty years of painstaking research, and while he was in the starry sky, Xu Xiaoshou in the Divine Relics had just finished inviting Ba Zun'an… Not only did the thirty million Swords of Holy Judgment and the Sword of Immortal Fury collectively betray him, but even he himself had unknowingly bowed from afar.

*I cultivated swordsmanship to bow?!*

Thirty years ago, when he made this decision, Dao Qiongcang was guarding against the Youyuan Sword accidentally cutting his own body… Who would have thought that after cultivating the sword, the Youyuan Sword couldn't harm him, but he wasn't even himself anymore! *What sword am I even cultivating? I'm completely useless!*

Dao Qiongcang angrily raised his hand, intending to abolish his Sword Dao after witnessing One-Sword Convergence. But after calming down… He pulled out a formation disk and severed and sealed away this part of his sword cultivation memories.

“Spirit refinement pains me; the Sword Dao is difficult to cultivate. Only Heavenly Secrets can grant eternal life.”

When these ancient sword cultivators are exterminated, the Heavenly Secrets Sword Immortal will naturally re-emerge and rewrite history!

Utter exhaustion! Super invincibly drained! It was as if the last drop of water at the bottom of a well had been drained; no matter how much longer one waited or squeezed, not another spark of life could be extracted. After unleashing One-Sword Convergence, Xu Xiaoshou lost all his vitality and felt decades older, as if he had entered his twilight years.

“Clang!” His fingers were limp. The Youyuan Sword, once released, hung straight down, swaying beside the Sword of Immortal Fury, triumphantly, as if showing off. Xu Xiaoshou was so sleepy; he felt his eyelids were about to close. He struggled to perceive himself and realized that his feeling wasn't just a feeling; he had truly transformed. His muscles had vanished, and he was withered and skeletal. His precious body was dull, like a discarded stone. Even his hair had turned white and brittle, and a gust of wind swept away a large patch, leaving him with a bald spot.

“Startled, Passive Point +1.”

Death was acceptable, but a bald spot was not.

“Ba Zun'an!!!” Xu Xiaoshou, on the verge of death, suddenly sat up, roaring, "No! Why is this happening?" *I only unleashed one sword strike… I've never felt such compatibility with a sword… My will and the sword's intent were one, blending seamlessly, becoming a single entity, more like the Eighth Sword Immortal than the Eighth Sword Immortal himself. How could a single sword strike drain everything from me? I have a body full of passive abilities!*

Above the ancient book world, the originally arrogant Ba Zun'an now looked at Xu Xiaoshou with astonishment: “One-Sword Convergence has no upper limit; it's written in the book that you need to act within your capabilities. Didn't you read it? My sword verse, supplemented by sword thoughts, and responding to the current situation and circumstances, can be described as having all three elements: 'heaven's timing, earth's advantage, and human harmony.' In such a state, 'unity of heaven and man' isn't even enough to describe it. When you wielded the sword, you were the power of ultra-Dao transformation, a Dao-transformed state, requiring no full effort, only reactive control. And the thirty million Swords of Holy Judgment assisted you, thirty million shares of Saint Ancestor power assisted you. Even if they were mere threads, the quantity was still extremely considerable. I thought you'd stop, but I didn't expect you to stack so many swords into it. Honestly, I'm surprised you're alive. Perhaps you should be called the 'Immortal Sword Body.'”

Xu Xiaoshou froze upon hearing this. *I, with a body full of passive abilities, was drained?* Only after reacting as if waking from a dream did he fall from the sky. He tried to either control his spirit or wield his sword, but he couldn't do anything. He crashed to the ground, breaking his spine, almost splitting his body in two.

“Attacked, Passive Point +1.”

*The ground attacked me, and I almost died.* Xu Xiaoshou gasped, choking and coughing, shattering his sternum. Only then did he manage to stop amidst the surging blood and pain. He spat out a mouthful of blood and asked, “How many swords did I stack?”

Mr. Si had said that the Nine Swords Technique had two forms: one was "Sword Formation," and the other was "Stacked Damage." In terms of attack power, the "Desireless Reckless Sword" of the Mo Sword Technique was known as the strongest attack because it ignored defense; it was the "strongest attack" within the rules. If One-Sword Convergence of the Nine Swords Technique stacked few swords, it wouldn't achieve the title of "strongest." But its terror lay in having no upper limit; the more formations there were, the more swords could be stacked, the stronger One-Sword Convergence would be.

*I didn't stack all thirty million swords, did I?* Xu Xiaoshou thought of himself using thirty million second-realm techniques in an instant and suddenly felt some admiration for not being completely dead yet.

Ba Zun'an shook his head: “You're not that amazing. You leveraged the momentum extremely well, and you also cleverly stole the Saint Ancestor's power, which was beyond my expectation. But when it comes to true swordsmanship, after you stacked three hundred and sixty-five swords and still didn't wake up, I helped you cut off the rest.”

Ba Zun'an paused. He was now certain that Xu Xiaoshou hadn't thoroughly read "The Scripture of Sword Contemplation"; all of this was recorded in the book. *Does he dislike reading? Should I, like Xiao Kongtong, condense insights into light spheres and stuff them all into him, making him feel it's "so interesting" to learn swordsmanship as if playing?* But in Ba Zun'an's eyes, Xu Xiaoshou was never a child and did not possess the right to "play."

“One-Sword Convergence…” Xu Xiaoshou closed his eyes, whispered one last time, and then breathed his last.

After feeling the endless vitality and abundant energy finally draw a wisp of life from the nameless place, the Dao gives birth to One, One gives birth to Two, Two gives birth to Three, and Three gives birth to all things! His body began to recover. His unkillable body was battered to what should have been its death. His muscles bulged, vitality returned, and his Qi Sea rapidly refilled… Xu Xiaoshou's consciousness awoke with it.

*Passive Ability! This is a passive ability!*

He no longer had the heart to lament the tenacity of his own life force. After savoring the extremely profound and special sensation of wielding the sword, as if he had opened the Door of Profoundness, he deeply buried the One-Sword Convergence in his heart and extended his perception towards the battlefield.

“Did it work?” “Ancestor God Su Yin, I severed its body, spirit, and will with one sword strike; it won't resurrect again, right?!”