Chapter 917: Chapter 639: God Slaying Sword Formation
Ever since Lu Chenzhou first made his mark, the Hanhai Sect Lord had been quietly observing, long plagued by indecision. Even after Lu Chenzhou slew Achilles, he worried that the tales might be mere exaggeration. But when he personally witnessed Lu Chenzhou instantly kill the Divine Race Great Commander today, he realized that Lu Chenzhou was at least as mighty as the rumors claimed—stronger, not weaker. At the very least, he himself could never slay Yin Jiujiao.
Therefore, it was time to take a stand.
With this thought, the middle-aged man straightened and intoned solemnly, "Master Lu, now that the Three Thousand Worlds are on the edge of catastrophe, my Hanhai Sect, too, can no longer seek seclusion. I wish to lead the Hanhai Sect in joining the Tianxia Alliance, aiding Master Lu in punishing the Divine Alliance and determining the grand order of the Three Thousand Realms!"
After a moment’s thought, Lu Chenzhou smiled and said:
"Then, Sect Lord of Hanhai, you may join me as we travel to the Mystic Sky Realm and await our union with the Dragon and Phoenix Clans."
Indeed, if one wishes to make their authority known, one must slay a mighty figure—Achilles fell, and now, without Lu Chenzhou so much as seeking them out, hidden powerhouses flocked to his banner. Facing the upcoming war with the Divine Alliance, his confidence only grew.
...
"Are we to abandon seclusion?"
"Master, please reconsider."
"The current situation is chaotic; we must not choose a side lightly. Even if Master Lu’s reputation is rising like the sun, Tianxia is after all a mere newborn civilization of ten thousand years—a far cry from the Divine Race’s heritage."
"To ally with Tianxia is openly to oppose the Divine Alliance. On my travels across the realms, I learned by rumor that Yan Ming Realm Venerable may have set foot upon the Third Step. If angered, the consequences are unimaginable."
Although the Hanhai Sect Lord’s potential was spent, across the long years he had taken on more than a hundred True Disciples. Among them, six had ascended to the Seventh Realm, hailed as the Hanhai Six Sons, second in talent only to Long Yue.
Today, with Sword Dao in decline, the Hanhai Six Sons could all but claim the highest peak of pure sword cultivation.
Their cultivation ranged from Early to Late Stage, and united, the Six Swords assembled a force on par with a Divine Race Great Commander.
Sword cultivators could form a Sword Array.
This was something other cultivators could not match.
Seeing the group’s reluctance,
the middle-aged man declared, "Time waits for no one. Master Lu is at the height of his fame. If we join now, we may stand as elders; once the Divine Alliance is destroyed and we join after, it would be but icing on the cake for us."
"Destroy the Divine Alliance? Is that possible?"
The Six Sons sighed.
"A sword cultivator must possess the spirit to press forward! You have secluded yourselves too long; your edge has dulled. This venture into the world is your chance for true tempering."
The middle-aged man reused Lu Chenzhou’s own appraisal as a lesson, harshly reprimanding the Six Sons.
Lu Chenzhou was one who had obtained the secret of deification, in this Great Destruction Era he had hope of attaining godhood!
The Divine Alliance? What of it!
The Six Sons continued to weigh their options.
Long Yue was the first to speak:
"I am willing to follow Master!"
The middle-aged man gave a slight nod. "Long Yue, by venturing into the world this time, you seize your chance to become a Sword Immortal. Should you attain the Seventh Realm, the Hanhai Seven Sons can wield the inheritance from the Li Sword Immortal—the Heavenly Separation Sword Formation. You siblings together could shake even the Eight Realms with your swords!"
...
"Fellow Daoist Lu, Hanhai Sect counts 36,000 sword cultivators, all gathered here. These six are my True Disciples and are at Sword Immortal cultivation. I wish for them to follow you into battle; in future ordinary engagements, you may command them at will, sparing yourself the effort."
The middle-aged man understood that total war would soon break out, and now Tianxia was most in need of manpower—joining at this moment was to send help in the snow; waiting until victory was all but secured would only be gilding the lily.
Lu Chenzhou’s tiger-eyes swept over the six.
He clasped hands and smiled,
"I have long heard of the famed Hanhai Six Sons."
Truthfully, he had never heard the name...
The leader of the Hanhai Six Sons was a handsome youth in a green robe; he conformed precisely to Lu Chenzhou’s mental image of the bearing of a Sword Immortal and was named: Bai Qiuzi.
His strength neared the Peak of Seventh Realm.
Bai Qiuzi suddenly spoke:
"Long have I heard of Master Lu’s renown. We Six Sons have cultivated a certain sword array, and wish to request your instruction, Master."
The middle-aged man’s brow tightened.
"Bai Qiuzi, what do you mean by this?"
Bai Qiuzi replied with a smile,
"Since we are to serve under Master Lu, we must naturally display a measure of our strength, that Master Lu might understand us, making future collaboration smoother."
"I can be your opponent, that would suffice."
The middle-aged man reprimanded.
It was plain that the Six Sons were uneasy about Hanhai Sect throwing in its lot with Tianxia and unconvinced about serving under Master Lu.
They were long used to lofty heights.
Each fancied themselves a supreme Sword Dao genius,
unwilling to bow to another.
"Then, I shall be honored to accept your challenge."
This recruiting of Hanhai Sect was indeed rushed; Lu Chenzhou could understand the reluctance of these Sword Immortals.
It was simple enough: a show of strength would convince them.
Bai Qiuzi cupped his hands and declared:
"Please forgive us for offense."
With those words, the Six revealed their flying swords—all spiritual weapons, none beneath Seventh Rank High Grade; and Qiu Kuangyi’s weapon was in fact an Eighth Rank Flying Sword.
He smiled confidently,
"This sword is named Greedy Wolf—Master, beware!"
Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh!
The Six Sons united in Human and Sword Unity, encircling Lu Chenzhou in an instant as six pillars of light pierced the heavens and earth.
Billions of sword qi howled between heaven and earth.
In the end, they coalesced into a single giant sword. With such momentum, even an Eighth Realm expert would pale.
The middle-aged man’s expression shifted.
Long Yue too looked shocked.
"Senior brothers and sisters have actually mastered the Sixth Style of the Heavenly Separation Sword Formation—Heaven and Earth Panic Kill!"
The Heavenly Separation Sword Formation had seven styles in all. Rumor had it that if the Seventh Style, Heavenly Separation Earth Destruction Kill, was mastered, it — would be invincible beneath Great Power, and slaying someone in the Third Step would be a trifle.
The Sixth Style was also extremely strong.
Once mastered, its killing might was peerless; with this sword, even a First Step powerhouse might suffer grievous wounds.
Sword cultivators had always embodied the ultimate attack flow.
They forsook defense and constitution.
All their points into offense.
"An excellent sword formation."
Lu Chenzhou’s eyes showed admiration.
He stood upon the earth, motionless as a mountain.
The Six Sons shouted as one; the giant sword split heaven and earth, transforming into a vast three-thousand-mile Sword River.
"Forgive us for our poor display!"
The Six Sons unleashed their edge without reserve.
Yet Lu Chenzhou stood firm, mountain-steady; he did not draw his spear but simply raised his right hand, the Mystic Sky Shield splitting into countless scales, his right hand morphing into a Dragon Claw.
Rumble! Sword qi scattered like a riotous rain of pear blossoms; within ten thousand miles, the land was hewn into ruins. Amid the shattered earth, the giant sword shattered ten thousand Mystic Sky Shields. The remaining force surged on as Lu Chenzhou lifted his right hand, giant claw seizing the giant sword. Then, illusory stars shimmered all about him.
Mountain Moving Realm Fourth Layer + Power Extreme Dao Sixth Rank Middle Stage.
An unadorned, unremarkable fist was thrown forth.
The giant sword shattered from below upwards, its shards blown back in a shockwave that engulfed the Six Sons. One heard swords breaking and clattering down like rain.
The Six Sons reappeared, faces pale. Except for Qiu Kuangyi’s Eighth Rank Flying Sword, all their flying swords had been casually shattered—by an ordinary punch.
The middle-aged man said,
"Enough. Don’t think Master Lu bullies those beneath him; his cultivation is Seventh Realm as well."
This revelation was like a thunderclap in the clear sky.
"What? Seventh Realm?"
"But his presence feels no different from Master’s! Yet he is only Seventh Realm?"
"The outside world says Master Lu is Eighth Realm—so that was false!"
The Six Sons despaired.
They had thought that losing to an Eighth Realm Lu Chenzhou—even all six against one using their greatest sword array—was no disgrace.
But now...
In a battle of equals, all six combined, wielding a sword array of such devastation, yet felled by a single, ordinary punch. They could not help but suspect that Lu Chenzhou alone could defeat a hundred of themselves. The gulf was too vast.
How could Seventh Realm be this strong?
Qiu Kuangyi sighed:
"Thank you, Master, for restraining your strength. We have been frogs in a well; henceforth, the Six Sons shall ride at your stirrup, following Master to campaign across all worlds’ battlefields."
Lu Chenzhou laughed and said,
"To withstand my casual punch with Seventh Realm bodies—your strength is not bad."
He was sincere: that punch would have felled many Eighth Realms. It proved the precision of the Six Sons’ sword formation; should their cultivation and flying swords improve, they could wield that array as true Eighth Realms.
This Hanhai Sect had no shallow foundations.
It seemed they’d acquired no few Heavenly Sword Sect inheritances.
Lu Chenzhou raised his hand.
Five flying swords landed before the Six Sons.
"Your flying swords are too weak; here, I’ll compensate you with five Top Grade Seventh Rank swords."
Before, the Heavenly Gu Daoist had left behind ’Qian Man’ and ’Bamboo Hand’; the other three were from slain Divine Race experts. All in all, flying swords were common spiritual weapons—no rarity there.
"Well? Thank the Master!"
The middle-aged man quickly smiled.
The Six Sons accepted the swords and bowed deeply in thanks.
In the face of their challenge, he was not angered—indeed, he gifted them swords, shaming them even more.
This let them know: to step into the world and follow Master Lu was indeed the best choice.
Slay gods and prove the Dao—today is the day!
...
On the road back to Mystic Sky, Lu Chenzhou walked alongside the middle-aged man, with Aurora Palace following behind.
"Fellow Daoist Lu guessed correctly; my sword is indeed a relic of the Sky Leaving Sword Immortal. If you wish it, it is yours. Likewise, Qiu Kuangyi’s sword is a Sky Leaving relic as well."
"I do not cultivate the sword—this is of little use to me. In fact, while Tianxia’s experts have warred across the realms, we have gathered three Eighth Rank flying swords, all Sky Leaving relics. However, Great Xia Martial Arts Dao is ill-suited to sword arrays. If the Six Sons raise their cultivation and earn merit, I can grant them these flying swords. I’d like you to join as well, so the Seven Swords are complete—thus will our Tianxia Alliance have a mighty trump card."
The power of the Heavenly Separation Sword Formation had amazed him; had Mo Li not perished early, surely this would have been a sword array of Great Power level—a treasure for defeating the strong with the weak. Only, the Six Sons’ cultivation was still too low.
If there were six Eighth Realms Sword Immortals to form a sword array, he was confident he could storm the Divine Alliance’s lair now and slay even Yan Ming Realm Venerable, who was rumored to be on the verge of Third Step ascension.
"So, we have already gathered five swords?" The middle-aged man’s eyes shone with delight.
"Strictly speaking, six: there’s one sword broken, but the Sword Spirit endures. Forge one Eighth Rank flying sword, and we reclaim the peak."
Lu Chenzhou referred to the Cauldron Sword.
"With six, it’s enough. If I personally lead the sword formation, I’d dare match blades with a Second Step expert."
Spoke the middle-aged man.
The last sword, Lu Chenzhou had a lead—it was in Kunxu Great World, now held by the two Old Stars. He intended to visit after ascending to the Eighth Realm.
And, while there, seek out some Ninth Rank Wood Tiger Blood.
In his mind, Cauldron Sword thrilled with excitement.
[Truly hard-won! Master’s Seven Heavenly Swords are finally about to reappear on earth! Lu Chenzhou, the Heavenly Separation Sword Formation is strong, but it is not everything. Should you gather the Four Swords of the Universe Primordial, you could assemble the God Slaying Sword Formation that would sunder worlds and reshape earth, fire, wind, and water—Emperor Xuan used this very formation to slay a True God! The Divine Race scum shall tremble beneath the God Slaying Sword Formation!]