Chapter 1477: Sword Dao Versus Sword Technique
The flying dagger, an inch long, was entirely silver-white, releasing strands of Great Saint power. It was actually an ancient Great Saint artifact.
With Fang Yi's mastery of the blade art, combined with the terrifying power of the flying dagger itself, once struck, even if Zhang Ruochen wore the Hundred Saint Blood Armor, he would likely suffer no good outcome.
It must be known that the sacred sword in Dongliu Sword Venerable's hand was only three inches away from Zhang Ruochen. Once Zhang Ruochen diverted his attention to counter the flying dagger, the sacred sword would surely strike his body.
At this critical moment, the Abyssal Ancient Sword transformed into a dark light, flying out on its own. It thrust out with a single sword strike, colliding with the flying dagger.
The sword spirit of the Abyssal Ancient Sword manifested, its back bearing a pair of black wings, bearing a seventy percent resemblance to Zhang Ruochen. It stood on the sword body, controlling the Abyssal Ancient Sword.
As the grade of the Abyssal Ancient Sword grew higher and higher, the wisdom and will of the sword spirit became stronger, fully capable of becoming an independent combat entity.
Of course, without Zhang Ruochen's control, the Abyssal Ancient Sword was clearly unable to contend with Fang Yi.
"Seven Star Overlord Blade."
Fang Yi's hands surged with brilliant sacred light. He abruptly clapped them together, remotely controlling the flying dagger, swinging it downward in a slash.
The inch-long flying dagger condensed a blade shadow over ten zhang long, dragging out a waterfall-like blade light, crashing down onto the Abyssal Ancient Sword.
"Boom."
The Abyssal Ancient Sword heavily fell to the ground, its impact causing this stretch of solid earth to collapse downward.
A storm of blade qi surged toward Zhang Ruochen, as if intending to tear him into pieces.
Zhang Ruochen thrust a palm forward, breaking free from Dongliu Sword Venerable's sword dao suppression. As the blade qi flew in, Zhang Ruochen struck out with both palms simultaneously, a dragon shadow and an elephant shadow flying from his palms respectively.
As the dragon and elephant shadows shattered, Zhang Ruochen retreated dozens of zhang in succession. Fiery red blade marks appeared on both his arms, with specks of flame light dispersing outward.
The Hundred Saint Blood Armor possessed self-repair power; damage of this degree was fully restored in an instant.
Fang Yi and Dongliu Sword Venerable converged, their sword and blade echoing each other, giving an impression of flawless coordination.
"Your improvement during this time has been quite significant. Even the attack we launched together was blocked by you," Fang Yi said.
Previously, in Fang Yi's view, Zhang Ruochen's greatest threat was the divine weapon he wielded. His personal strength was merely passable, not among the top-tier sacred realm powerhouses.
But now, Zhang Ruochen's personal strength was no less than theirs, making him an extremely formidable threat.
Zhang Ruochen retrieved the Abyssal Ancient Sword, holding it in hand. His aura became even sharper than before. "Haven't you also improved a bit? Your cultivation has already reached the peak of Ultimate Saint."
Dongliu Sword Venerable said, "This child is called the Heir of Time and Space, simultaneously controlling the power of space and time. He is definitely a huge threat. Today, he must be eliminated."
Fang Yi's gaze fixed on the direction behind Zhang Ruochen, where seventeen sacred realm powerhouses charged over, like seventeen brightly shining stars.
"Today, he can't escape even if he grows wings," Fang Yi said.
Zhang Ruochen also noticed the seventeen sacred realm powerhouses flying in from behind. Among them, three had reached the Half-Saint King realm, while the rest were at the peak of the sacred realm.
These seventeen sacred realm powerhouses all wielded Great Saint bones, using the power of those bones to lock down space.
In their view, space power was Zhang Ruochen's greatest reliance. Fixing space was equivalent to crippling a small half of Zhang Ruochen's combat strength.
He must not be surrounded.
Zhang Ruochen also realized the situation was extremely unfavorable for him. So, without waiting any longer, he took the initiative to attack Fang Yi and Dongliu Sword Venerable, who were blocking his path.
"You think you can contend with two Realm Sons? Courting death."
Fang Yi once again mobilized the power of Baiwei Star, executing the Seven Star Overlord Blade. A series of seven blade waves, from seven different angles, spun and slashed toward Zhang Ruochen.
The blade qi, like seven chaotic waterfalls, swept in all directions. Not even a needle could pass through. On the other side, Dongliu Sword Venerable was poised, staring unblinkingly at Zhang Ruochen's form, ready to unleash his strongest sword at any moment.
Zhang Ruochen did not clash head-on with Fang Yi. His figure suddenly vanished from the spot.
"Not good, space power."
Dongliu Sword Venerable sensed something amiss. As if by instinct, he quickly dragged his sacred sword.
Immediately, like a celestial maiden scattering flowers, hundreds of sword butterflies flew out from the sword, appearing in this space.
The power carried by the sword butterflies caused space to tremble.
The next moment, Zhang Ruochen's form was forced to reappear, inside the hundreds of sword butterflies, falling within the range of Dongliu Sword Venerable's sword circle.
"To become a Realm Son of a major world, they are indeed extraordinary individuals. Even using space power, it's hard to evade them," Zhang Ruochen thought to himself.
Dongliu Sword Venerable's sword technique was as fast as lightning. The moment Zhang Ruochen's form reappeared, he thrust out with his sword.
At the same time, the hundreds of sword butterflies exploded, transforming into ten thousand sword qi, like ten thousand arrows piercing the heart, flying toward Zhang Ruochen, giving him no chance to use space power again.
In Dongliu Sword Venerable's view, rather than using a Great Saint bone to lock down space, it was better to suppress Zhang Ruochen with speed, leaving him no opportunity to execute space power.
In all martial arts under heaven, only speed cannot be broken.
Zhang Ruochen's speed was also very fast. Holding the Abyssal Ancient Sword, he executed dozens of profound and unpredictable sword techniques in succession. Instantly, ten thousand sword qi shot outward as well.
"Bang, bang."
The two swung their swords rapidly, clashing fiercely, like bolts of lightning intertwining.
In about the time of one breath, the two exchanged over three hundred moves. Seventeen sword marks appeared on Zhang Ruochen's armor. Although most of the attack power was blocked, some still penetrated the armor, landing on his body.
Seven sword marks appeared on Dongliu Sword Venerable's sacred robe.
Dongliu Sword Venerable said, "Your sword dao cultivation is already quite impressive, worthy of being called a Sword Dao Saint. But compared to me, there is still some gap."
The sword dao Dongliu Sword Venerable cultivated also belonged to the Daoist lineage.
According to the grading of sword intent in the *Wordless Sword Manual*, Dongliu Sword Venerable's sword dao attainment had already surpassed Sword Seven, reaching the level of Sword Eight. However, it was still somewhat short of the Great Perfection of Sword Eight.
At his age, being able to cultivate sword dao to such a height was already remarkable. Among the sword cultivators Zhang Ruochen knew, only Ling Feiyu's talent could surpass him.
Ling Feiyu had cultivated sword dao for three hundred years, reaching the Great Perfection of Sword Nine.
Dongliu Sword Venerable had cultivated sword dao for less than two hundred years.
"Final sword, Shaking Light Rain Butterfly."
The sacred sword's blade light surged, swallowing even Dongliu Sword Venerable's body. The next moment, the rules of truth manifested between heaven and earth, merging with the sword technique.
"Swoosh——"
This sword, in both speed and power, far exceeded Dongliu Sword Venerable's own cultivation.
From a distance, it looked like a butterfly radiating light rain, swallowing Zhang Ruochen's body.
But the next moment, time paused for an instant. Then, a circle of black sword qi flew out, tearing the rain butterfly in two.
Dongliu Sword Venerable's body reappeared, holding the sacred sword, leaning back, flying backward.
A long sword mark appeared on his chest. A large amount of sacred qi surged from the wound, and then his body broke into two halves.
In contrast, Zhang Ruochen was completely unharmed.
Although his body was severed in two, Dongliu Sword Venerable did not die. His lower half transformed into a long river, while his upper half floated in the water, appearing especially eerie.
Dongliu Sword Venerable's expression was heavy. "Your sword dao realm… was originally inferior to mine…"
"Who said that the level of sword dao realm determines everything? Cultivating sword techniques to the extreme can also make one invincible," Zhang Ruochen said.
Dongliu Sword Venerable said, "For a sword cultivator, the sword dao realm is the foundation. As long as the sword dao is profound enough, every move and stance becomes the most exquisite sword technique."
"Do you know the Time Sword Art? This is the strongest sword technique under heaven. Every move and stance can break your sword dao," Zhang Ruochen said.
Which was more important, sword technique or sword dao?
In the world of sword cultivators, this question had always been highly controversial.
The vast majority of sword cultivators, like Dongliu Sword Venerable, believed that sword dao was most important and did not place much emphasis on sword techniques. Because, as long as the sword dao was profound enough, one could create their own sword techniques, and any random move could kill an enemy.
Some sword cultivators, however, believed that sword techniques were more important. Truly profound sword techniques could merge with the dao.
In Zhang Ruochen's view, the *Wordless Sword Manual* represented the most profound sword dao. Cultivated to the extreme, it directly reached the source of the dharma. The *Time Sword Art* represented the most profound sword technique, merging with time, capable of cutting through everything in the world. Both, when cultivated to the extreme, were the strongest attack methods, making it hard to judge which was more powerful.
Dongliu Sword Venerable, with his stronger sword dao, merged with the rules of truth. Zhang Ruochen, on the other hand, used the Time Sword Art to break it.
In this duel between sword dao and sword technique, it was clear that sword technique had won.
However, Dongliu Sword Venerable was not human. His true form was a river. Zhang Ruochen's sword had only struck half his body back to its original form. Killing him was as difficult as ascending to heaven.
"Mo Yin," Zhang Ruochen called out.
Mo Yin was the true name of the Demon Consort Mo Ran, also the name Zhang Ruochen had given to the Devouring Saint Flower.
"Swoosh——"
Immediately, an extremely seductive demoness emerged from Zhang Ruochen's back, exuding a captivating exotic fragrance. Without needing Zhang Ruochen's orders, she knew what to do and flew directly toward Dongliu Sword Venerable.
Her feet transformed into dense fluorescent root tendrils, rooting into the river beneath Dongliu Sword Venerable, absorbing his true form as nourishment.
When Mo Yin appeared, Dongliu Sword Venerable also felt a sense of stunning beauty. But soon, he sensed that this woman was extremely dangerous and immediately formed a sword technique, attacking her.
Mo Yin chuckled lightly. Her fragrant sleeves fluttered, transforming into two patches of thunder and lightning clouds.
From the thunderclouds, hundreds of sacred artifacts, controlled by a network of vines, rained down like droplets, actually blocking Dongliu Sword Venerable's sword technique.