# 493
Chapter 493: A Single Sword
Ding—!!
The instant that sword-cry rang out, Third Seat, who was sitting beside the underground altar, snapped his eyes open in terror.
He jerked his head toward the sky, his gaze seeming to bore through the thick earth to the figure standing above the clouds, disbelief flooding his pupils.
“This sword intent…”
…
In the courtyard.
The dog that had been dozing lazily on the ground suddenly bristled, scrambling to its feet and glaring at the sky overhead.
“Grrr…”
A low growl rumbled in its throat, yet it dared not bark.
Its limbs trembled; try as it might to look fierce, it couldn’t stop itself from shrinking backward…
…
Shen Qingzhu rushed to the window, staring blankly at the cloud layer above, his heart gripped by a dread he had never felt before.
Though he couldn’t see the figure beyond the clouds, the sword intent saturating heaven and earth declared the newcomer’s identity loud and clear.
“He’s here already…?” he muttered.
Ninth Seat stepped to his side, gazing at the clouds. The little color that had returned to his face drained away again.
“A Human Apex in person? Impossible… How did he find us?” Bewilderment filled Ninth Seat’s eyes.
Clenching his teeth, he hesitated only a moment before striding toward the underground altar.
“I’ll find Third Seat. Don’t move.”
Alone in the corridor, Shen Qingzhu kept watching the sky, lost in thought.
…
Above the clouds.
A young man in a black shirt stood quietly, a sword-case on his back, looking down at the estate below.
“North suburb, 42 East-An Street, abandoned manor… should be here,” Zhou Ping murmured.
“Thank heavens I found it before it activated. Otherwise, at a time like this, Great Xia couldn’t afford the turmoil.”
Ding—!!
The sword-case sprang open of its own accord. Faintly, amid the ringing steel, came a low dragon-roar that rolled across the heavens like thunder.
An ancient longsword flew into Zhou Ping’s hand.
The slender blade quivered, rejoicing, cheering!
Near the hilt, two intricate seal-characters were carved:
—Dragon-Elephant.
Zhou Ping gripped the hilt, narrowed his eyes at the manor below, locked onto a certain spot, and gently stabbed downward with the Dragon-Elephant Sword.
Boom—!!!
A clap of thunder sounded above the clouds.
A hundred-meter phantom blade pierced the heavy cloud layer, cleaving sky from earth like lightning, and slammed into the ground!
The sword-light was white as snow.
Terrifying sword-qi surged like raging waves between heaven and earth.
Beneath that phantom edge the thick earth seemed as flimsy as rice-paper; the intent ripped open a great gash, bored straight through, and landed precisely on the grey-white altar!
Thud—!
The light swept over the altar, slicing it in half at the center!
The ground convulsed. Billowing smoke erupted outward, swallowing the entire basement.
Third Seat, closest to the altar, felt his pupils shrink to pinpricks.
A remnant wave of sword-qi slammed into his chest like a tide, flinging him like a kite. Mid-air he spat blood, crashed into a corner, and slumped unconscious, breathing faint.
Ninth Seat, just reaching the stair-head to the basement, was forced to stop.
The next instant, thick dust blasted from the entrance, sending him into a fit of coughing.
…
In the sky.
Seeing the altar cleaved in two, Zhou Ping’s faint frown relaxed.
He was about to move when his gaze sharpened, flicking toward the emptiness beside him.
“Skulking in shadows,” Zhou Ping said coolly.
With a casual sweep of the Dragon-Elephant Sword he slashed open the space, forcing out a man in a black tail-coat whose face was ghastly.
“Who are you?” Zhou Ping asked.
“I… I’m just passing by,” Yiyu’s mouth twitched in a strained smile. “Really, just passing.”
Inside, Yiyu was exploding.
Damn it…
How did we lure HIM here?!
Every trace was hidden—how did the Night Watch higher-ups find us?
And even if they did, did they have to send the Sword Saint?!
Fight? No chance. Escape? His best skill, yet he still had no confidence of slipping away from this man. All he could hope for now—
“Oh.”
Zhou Ping nodded. “Then go.”
Yiyu exhaled…
The instant he turned to leave, a thread of sword-light burst from Zhou Ping’s hand!
“—Screw your pineapple Krabby Patties!”
The light tore Yiyu’s body in half. Agony shattered his composure and he screamed a curse whose meaning even he didn’t know.
Black light flared from the tail-coat, re-knitting his shattered lower body in moments. Yiyu looked back at Zhou Ping’s expressionless face, pallid.
He knew he was marked.
On his own, running was hopeless.
He lowered his head and yelled at the manor below, “Still waiting? If I die, you die too!”
In the courtyard the dog snarled, conflict flickering in its eyes. Finally it opened its great maw and roared at the sky:
“Woof—!!”
In a blink it transformed into a hundred-meter green-striped earth-dragon, its massive body flattening the yard to ruins. Great wings beat, hurricanes shattering every window on this side of the estate!
Wind-Vein Earth Dragon, soaring skyward!
Peak Klein pressure erupted, its dragon-roar shaking heaven and earth.
It shot into the clouds, caught the falling Yiyu, wings flashed like green lightning, and streaked away!
Zhou Ping watched the fleeing dragon and passenger, sighed.
“Troublesome…”
Ding—!
A sword-cry sounded.
He vanished.
…
Elsewhere.
Lin Qiye and the others leapt down from the Flame-Vein Earth Dragon, staring at the devastated manor, expressions odd.
The Flame-Vein Earth Dragon resumed human form and stood respectfully behind Lin Qiye.
“Looks like it’s over…” Baili Pangpang gulped at the terrifying sword-gash still exhaling faint qi. “Drag… Brother Shen didn’t—didn’t buy it, did he?”
Lin Qiye’s mental power swept half the estate; he exhaled in relief.
“He’s alive… but the other Believers are too.”