Chapter 421: Who is the Orthodox Sword-Controlling Sect

Boss Fang was immensely dissatisfied with the current turn of events: "A crash?"

"No, that cannot be right..." Fang Qi suddenly recalled the inexplicable premonition of danger he had just felt. It was a pure instinct, forged through countless battles inside the game cultivation room.

This was highly unlikely to be an accident.

Immediately following this, Fang Qi witnessed the spiritual boat burst apart, with several streaks of spiritual light flying out from within, scattering in all directions toward the horizon.

...

The Continent of Lingzhou was not only rich in spiritual treasures; rumor had it that truly transcendent mighty beings of antiquity had once left their heritages here. The hidden treasures and secrets left behind were innumerable. As the saying went, an ordinary man is blameless, but harboring jade makes him guilty; every time an exotic treasure emerged, it would stir up a storm of blood and slaughter in the surrounding lands.

Treasures were grand indeed, but for factions lacking sufficient strength, even if they were fortunate enough to obtain a rare and precious relic, a single slip that leaked the news could invite the destruction of their entire clan.

The Li family of Wind-Perching Cliff was originally a mundane, minor family of cultivators. With the talent within the clan dwindling, it was feared they would soon decline. However, not long ago, word had spread that the daughter of the Li family had suddenly made leaps and bounds in her cultivation.

It remained a mystery who had leaked the information, but rumors swirled that this maiden had obtained a unique treasure known as the Jade of Mysterious Schemes.

Though the view from afar was perhaps obscure, as the perspective drew closer, one could see those who had flown out from the spiritual boat: a maiden clad in a long gown of white silk satin, whose identity as either a cultivator or a martial artist remained unclear, accompanied by several young male and female disciples dressed in uniform attire.

There was also an elder in white, his visage filled with wary vigilance.

The maiden in the white dress bore a solemn expression as she gazed toward the sky, demanding, "Who goes there? Our Li family of Wind-Perching Cliff has always lived in harmony with the world, never making enemies. For you to destroy our spiritual boat without cause, is it that your excellence wishes to wage war upon my Li family?"

"Wage war?" That voice erupted into an insolently wild laughter. "After today, will there even be a Wind-Perching Cliff left in this world?! Miss Li had best stop hiding things away. It would be wiser to hand over the Jade of Mysterious Schemes obediently. If you force our hands, your fate, I fear, will be no better than that of this spiritual boat."

In the sky, a voice drifted left and swayed right, appearing both illusory and real, its exact origin untraceable.

The countenance of the maiden in the white dress darkened instantly, and she replied coldly, "What Jade of Mysterious Schemes? This young lady is merely traveling to the Heaven-Awe Academy to pursue my studies; I know nothing of any Jade of Mysterious Schemes. Has your excellence not mistaken your target?"

"Do not use the Heaven-Awe Academy to intimidate me! Pursuing studies? A mere pretext to transfer the Jade of Mysterious Schemes, I wager." The voice seemed to grow impatient, and that exceptionally perilous aura manifested once more!

Fang Qi's gaze intensified, and only then did he see clearly that it was a slender beam of light, like a streak of black thread. In the next instant, the white-robed elder cried out in agony as his shoulder was severed clean from the root, cold sweat bursting forth from the sheer pain!

Even Fang Qi felt his hairs stand on end at the sight, to say nothing of the audience currently watching the live stream.

"What was that just now?!"

"How is it that I felt as though I just witnessed the Sword Control Technique?!"

"Surely not... could it be that the cultivators of Lingzhou also know the Sword Control Technique?!"

Su Tianji remarked in puzzlement, "I never heard Xiaoyue mention this before... isn't Xiaoyue from Lingzhou?"

"It does not resemble a flying sword." In the Half-City shop, a pair of emerald eyes flickered with an exceedingly strange light as a bullet comment was sent up, "The weapon used just now was not a sword."

Indeed, it merely looked like one, but everyone present, including the sweat-drenched maiden surnamed Li, could see nothing but a round, iron-like bead spinning swiftly before their eyes.

"What manner of ghost treasure is this?!"

"Fiendish heretics, we shall fight him to the end!" a disciple beside her roared, charging headlong toward that minute, iron-bead-like object.

"Hold!" Before the maiden could issue her warning, a flash of dark light streaked past, and a transparent, circular hole had already pierced through the disciple's abdomen.

His limp body tumbled helplessly from the sky.

"Third Junior Brother?!" The others cried out in grief, catching the white-robed disciple from the air, only to find his eyes wide with endless terror and disbelief, utterly and completely dead!

It was easy to imagine that if Fang Qi had failed to dodge just a bit when he was pursuing the spiritual boat earlier, his fate would likely have been no better than this disciple's.

Yet that bullet-like object still hovered in mid-air. No one could have fathomed that a seemingly ordinary iron bead could unleash such horrifying might.

"This is...?!" Horror surfaced on the maiden's face, as if she had recognized something. Her hands trembled as she pointed at the sphere, stammering, "This is... a Sword Marrow?!"

"At least you possess some modicum of discernment," the voice sneered.

This was truly no flying sword. It was a peerless treasure that could cut through iron as if it were mud when sharp, yet bend around a finger when soft, transforming spiritual energy into threads. It originated from the ancient sects of Lingzhou, and its method of creation had long been lost to time—the Sword Marrow.

And those capable of possessing such an item and wielding it with absolute mastery invariably commanded immensely formidable factions behind them.

Cultivators armed with such an object stood on an entirely different level of combat prowess compared to ordinary cultivators, for this terrifying weapon of slaughter could rip through the defenses of a spiritual boat crafted by Lingzhou cultivators in an instant, to say nothing of defensive talismans, which were as fragile as paper before it.

The maiden surnamed Li suddenly let out a tragic laugh, "To think that the Heaven-Inquiring Sword Palace would stoop to such despicable deeds. For the sake of this single object, you truly stop at nothing!"

Everyone present turned deathly pale. A single Sword Marrow might not have deprived them of any chance to flee, but at this moment, they felt a profound despair, for the colossal faction behind it would never permit their escape.

Bullet comment: "Boss, it seems you can't get out either..."

Fang Qi's brow furrowed slightly as countless chilling auras hid faintly in the surroundings. He realized that he, too, was within the perimeter of encirclement.

"Treasures belong to the capable," the voice sneered. "Blame only your own pathetic weakness. I have changed my mind now. By slaying you all, I can obtain the Jade of Mysterious Schemes just the same; there is no need for you to hand it over!"

Arrogant, incomparably arrogant, as though those standing before him were merely a few ants that could be crushed at whim.

Perhaps, to him, these cultivators before him truly were nothing more than ants.

A figure descended from the heavens, resembling a god from the highest nine skies, clad in white with white hair, dominating the lives of all.

"Nangong Jiuwen?!"

Simultaneously, that Sword Marrow moved once more.

A deep shroud of despair, like a thin grey veil, enveloped the hearts of everyone. They discovered that before this Sword Marrow, they could barely even invoke their spells.

Many closed their eyes almost instinctively, unsure of who would perish once this black light flashed past.

"To think such an item actually exists?!"

The viewers who had only just tuned in to the live stream could be said to have had their eyes wide opened.

The Sword Control Technique had already astonished them greatly; who could have anticipated that there was also something called a Sword Marrow in this world?

"...Which do you think is more powerful, this thing or the Sword Control Technique?"

"It seems comparable to the Sword Control Technique..." Ruan Ning muttered, "Though I know not which is more orthodox..."

Beneath the vast sky, the maiden's face was already masked in despair. Pinching her hand seals, she could only prepare for a final, desperate struggle.

"Boss?"

"Are you not going to save them?"

A well-meaning cultivator sent a bullet comment: "Lend a hand while you're at it, won't you? These few Lingzhou cultivators look rather pitiful."

"Clang!" Right at that moment, a streak of sword light thrust out from a sharp angle.

That Sword Marrow came to a dead halt!

"!!?? It was blocked?!" Everyone opened their eyes instinctively, their faces filled with utter disbelief.

Where did this sword come from?!

Boss Fang bore a look of displeasure: "Nonsense, of course my Sword Control Technique is the orthodox one!"

.

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For this, I can only offer my apologies, the writing has been a bit slow lately...

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