Chapter 634: Chapter 566: Youth and the Death Sword_2

Qi Ren’s strength in the Demon World was by no means weak, but unfortunately, over the years, he had never had the chance to harness the power of Mohe.

If today he could secure all six rivers before the Demon Lord made his move, this Monarch’s Return Banquet would truly not be a wasted trip.

But gaining control over Mohe was no easy task.

If Qi Ren wished to forcibly assimilate Mohe, he would need to perform the Soul Burning Technique as a sacrifice in advance to draw the river’s core strength into his body in the shortest amount of time.

The cost of performing the Soul Burning Technique was immense, but since Qi Ren had already agreed, he was naturally willing to sacrifice for it.

However, the duration of this technique was not short. If Shu Ci finished the battle within half an incense stick’s time, then the opportunity would naturally be lost.

One could only hope that this lad could put up a fight and linger a bit longer in the Qingye World.

…

…

Sword cries whistled across the snowy ground as thunder roared in the Nine Heavens.

Baili An leapt high and crashed heavily into the thick snowy earth, dragging out an extremely long trace on the ground.

The Autumnwater Sword lost its spirit light, tracing a tragically beautiful streak through midair. The sword tip embedded itself diagonally into a natural boulder.

A gigantic spine born from the earth veins lay slowly by the girl’s feet. Her hair, tinged with hoarfrost, was quickly swept away by the strong winds.

Her expression remained unchanged, her eyes like ice pearls under the snowy night, vast and serene.

She expressionlessly watched the youth kneeling in the snow, and couldn’t help but tilt her head, seemingly curious about how he had survived that last strike.

Through the heavy curtain of snow, she saw the youth’s eyes still brightly shining. Her bad habit of tilting her head corrected itself.

Barefoot in the snow, she left not a single trace of footprints.

Dragging the enormous spine in her hands, she moved slowly through the snow with her delicate and frail body, creating an immensely majestic scene.

Finally, Shu Ci stopped and her gaze fixed on the sword in Baili An’s hand, which glowed with a dark luster: “Is this… the Heavenly Strategy Jun Mountain Sword?”

A flicker of emotion finally appeared in her normally indifferent eyes.

Baili An’s heart stirred, she recognized this sword.

Seeing the silhouette of the sword in his hand, Shu Ci’s steps halted. An extremely rare solemn and weighty demeanor appeared on her empty face.

She stood quietly in the snow, making no special moves, but Baili An could sense the adoration for the sword emanating from Shu Ci.

The legendary Immortal River, the first strongest in the Demon World, was actually showing reverence to a sword unable to undertake Soul Attachment.

Regarding this battle, Baili An was not completely unprepared; he even knew that this Heavenly Strategy Jun Mountain Sword would be of great aid to him today.

But he had not expected the sword to have such a peculiar effect.

The wind and snow were faint. After a moment of silent stillness, Shu Ci finally spoke again: “I am a demon transformed from an Artifact Soldier. This sword is extraordinary, bearing the weight of Kunlun. I should pay it respect. It’s just a pity your luck is poor; you haven’t yet gained the sword’s recognition. Otherwise, today, just for the sake of the Heavenly Strategy Jun Mountain Sword, I might spare you.”

There were rumors in the Six Realms: Demon Shu Ci, her birth and origins unclear, her past mysterious, the only known fact was that the Mohe she commanded could transform into Undying and Demon Soldiers.

In the Demon World, the Soldier Conjurers refined living spirits into weapons, erasing Divine Sense and spiritual wisdom to control them, making their strength a hundredfold than before.

However, very few knew that the “Demon Soldier” was not a reference to the thousands of corpse soldiers controlled by Shu Ci’s Mohe.

It wasn’t about being undying or a Demon Soldier – Shu Ci was the Undying Demon Soldier herself.

She was the Weapon, the Artifact, the Spirit, and also the Demon.

She was the heavy apparatus of the Realms.

Baili An looked down at the sword in his hands; Shu Ci was right, although he had acquired this sword, he had not yet become its true master.

However, he believed it was not because he had failed to gain the sword’s acceptance.

That day in the treasury of Xianling City, when he chose this sword, he had already perceived its ancient, weighty traits. Initially, he hadn’t intended to select this sword.

The reason was nothing else, as the Qing Xuan female officer had stated, this sword couldn’t undertake Soul Attachment, its spirituality had already faded.

Heavenly Strategy Jun Mountain was an ancient sword with a long history, but precisely because of this, it perished within history.

This was a dead sword.

How could a dead sword recognize a master?

At that time, Heavenly Strategy Jun Mountain lay in a dusty corner. Baili An originally planned to choose a sword located in the same position as the Heavenly Strategy Jun Mountain Sword.

That sword was named “Han Ao,” and true to its name, it was an unrivaled, proud sword of frost, untouched by dust even after years due to its inherent pride.

Time aged, but Han Ao remained like an undying youthful spirit, wild and arrogant.

This was the pride and ambition that Baili An had never possessed but deeply admired. He was deeply drawn to that sword’s elegance, yet when it came time to truly choose his sword, he still selected the dusty, deceased Heavenly Strategy Jun Mountain.

Dust as the coffin, the sword as the tomb.

Through this cold, dead sword, he seemed to see his own icy, silent self.

Perhaps out of sympathy, perhaps out of self-pity, Baili An felt that if he also abandoned the sword at that moment, it would likely just remain coldly forgotten within the annals of time.

Therefore, he wiped the dust from the sword and brought it to the battlefield.

This was a sword born in Kunlun, died in Kunlun, bearing the weight of Kunlun.

Kunlun Ruins, hidden beyond the heavens, the seas, and the mountains in an ephemeral place. Thus, bearing the weight of Kunlun, the Heavenly Strategy Jun Mountain could be very heavy, yet also very light.

Baili An picked up the sword when it was at its lightest, unnecessary to recognize a master, he could still wield the heaviest blows.

Shu Ci’s earlier comment had revealed her intent to kill, yet she still sensed the fighting spirit and resoluteness emanating from the youth.

She was surprised, pleased, and appreciated this act and sentiment from him.

Then, she saw the youth raise the sword in his hand. With him as the center, the surrounding twenty feet of frost abruptly whirled up, blooming like a grand, white blossom of imposing aura.

In a blink, Baili An’s figure vanished.

In the magnificent white blizzard storm, the Heavenly Strategy Jun Mountain Sword flashed faster than thunder and lightning, carrying an astonishing weight, as if lifting the ten thousand great mountains of Kunlun, seemingly splitting open the heaven and earth.

Shu Ci’s vacant, vast eyes brightened slightly. She grasped the earth vein spine, raised her arm, and like a dragon’s white bone, the massive skeleton surged to meet the ancient dead sword.

The weight her hand held was merely a small world from the three thousand Qingye Worlds, but how could it compare to the immense weight of the towering Kunlun?

The giant bone sounded thunderously at the front end, like a summer day’s thunderclap or firecrackers exploding, turning the large joints inch by inch into dust, blown further by the wind to add to the chill of the snow.

The bone was a hundred zhang long, and after a hundred zhang was a fragile, slender hand.

The sword tip deeply pierced a hundred zhang, and that hand, bathed in the snow and bone dust, casually lifted and then gently pointed, the intent heavy as mountains. The Heavenly Strategy Jun Mountain then securely hung in the air, unable to advance an inch further.

In the face of true strength, all heft and momentum are but illusions.

Heavenly Strategy Jun Mountain indeed bore the weight of Kunlun, but this sword was not the true Kunlun Mountain.

Kunlun Divine Mountain, overwhelming all under heaven with one force, could suppress ten thousand great mountains, yet it struggled to pin down her single finger.

“That’s all there is,” Shu Ci spoke disdainfully, her fingertip poised, perfectly touching a slanting snowflake.

That snowflake silently flew out, hard to track, yet left a straight, sharp air current lingering in the atmosphere.

Drops of deep red blood beads scattered like misplaced red plum petals.

Baili An stood ten zhang behind Shu Ci, his robe flutters revealing a finger-thick blood hole in his right calf.

The wound wasn’t large, but the blood flowed ceaselessly.

Winds rose, and that disappeared snowflake now soared anew, the red snow dancing solo, like a white night’s flapping red butterfly.

Shu Ci indifferently withdrew her finger, Heavenly Strategy Jun Mountain whirled rapidly in the air like it was controlled by consciousness, returning to face Baili An.

Her action carried an immense tone of disdain and contempt. Although she held respect for the Heavenly Strategy Jun Mountain Sword, she cared little for Baili An clutching this blade.