Chapter 776: Three Thousand Swords
Gazing at the thousands of swords in the night sky, Nan Ke's pupils contracted slightly.
Being able to simultaneously control thousands of swords with one's divine sense was already an incredibly astonishing feat, let alone simultaneously executing thousands of different sword techniques...
How did Chen Changsheng manage to do it?
At this moment, she finally confirmed that even if Chen Changsheng did not have these swords or any other methods, relying solely on his own divine sense, true essence, and sword cultivation, he would be enough to defeat her. If she were to fight Chen Changsheng head-on now, unless she possessed the ultimate speed in this world, she could be said to have no chance at all.
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The Demon Lord was the most powerful opponent Chen Changsheng had ever encountered in his life. Facing such an enemy, he naturally had to use his most powerful methods.
These swords in the night sky represented his highest level and most complete display of sword mastery.
Among the old swords that had regained their freedom with him from the Zhou Garden Sword Pool back then, some had been returned to their respective sect gates, some had been given to friends—for instance, Xuan Yuan Po had obtained the Mountain and Sea Sword, Zhe Xiu had taken the Demon Marshal's Banner Sword, Su Moyu and Mo Yu each had their gains, and many swords had been hidden by Tang Thirty-Six in the National Academy. When Chen Changsheng left the capital, he did not take them. Excluding those swords too ancient, needing sword intent to nourish and unable to fight, the swords that could still fight alongside him now numbered around three thousand.
These swords had been in the Scabbard of Concealment for many years, accompanying him day and night, sharing a bond of heart and mind. They were as sharp as ever, their momentum even surpassing that of the past.
Tonight, the swords reflected the scenery and light in the night, quietly forming a dragon. They arrived in succession yet without order, their sword intent equally chilling, yet their sword techniques each exquisitely unique and extremely difficult to handle. If Zhu Ye, Ning Shiwei, and those hundreds of experts and soldiers were still by the lake, they would surely be routed in a single strike.
Three thousand swords broke through the air, as if painting the ten thousand golden scales in the river onto the night.
The Demon Lord once again showed an appreciative expression, sighing, "The sword is like its master. If you could break through to the sacred realm in the future, how magnificent and splendid would this sword dragon be?"
The sigh was one of regret, regret that such a magnificent and splendid scene could never appear, because Chen Changsheng would become his meal tonight.
The appreciation was a condescending gaze from above, a commentary and expectation from a predecessor to a successor, born of composure.
Three thousand famous swords, each sword different, yet the Demon Lord only needed a single note from his zither to calmly break them.
His long and steady fingers gently plucked the strings, producing clear and crisp zither notes.
The zither notes had sounded several times tonight. Earlier, when they first broke Chen Changsheng's sword formation, they had also sounded.
But those were scattered and fragmented notes, not forming a melody, more like a prelude or interlude.
Now, the notes finally linked into a continuous piece, becoming a song.
The zither piece the Demon Lord played was "The Song the Autumn Wind Loves."
What the autumn wind loves are falling leaves. The zither notes were even clearer and crisper than before, sweeping in all directions through the night like an autumn mountain, naturally dispersing, like the falling leaves themselves.
The notes poured forth freely, indescribably bleak and murderous, meeting the sword dragon that broke through the night sky.
As before, shattered and bright sparks burst everywhere, illuminating heaven and earth, making the sword dragon that spanned the world even clearer.
The three thousand swords began to tremble violently. Some could not bear the injury of the zither notes and fell weakly; others could not withstand the power of the autumn wind and tilted off to the side.
A fierce wind arose, the zither notes suddenly became chaotic, the sword dragon slightly scattered, as if an invisible force was stripping away its scales, with swords leaving from time to time.
Those swords still persisting trembled even more violently. On some relatively weaker blades, cracks had even appeared.
From the current situation, it seemed that before Chen Changsheng's three thousand swords could arrive, they would be scattered by this zither piece.
But for some reason, the Demon Lord's expression suddenly turned somewhat grave.
This was the first time tonight he showed a sense of vigilance.
At this moment, the sword dragon woven from three thousand swords was continuously spitting sparks in the night sky.
He stared at a certain spot.
That position was very inconspicuous, and the spark from the collision of zither note and sword blade was also very small, yet when it fell into his eyes, it felt slightly scorching.
The trajectory of that small spark's dispersion had a very slight deviation from its expected path.
This deviation was extremely small, even minuscule. An ordinary person, or even Chen Changsheng himself, would absolutely be unable to see it, but it could not escape the Demon Lord's gaze.
The Demon Lord's indifferent gaze could penetrate the ultimate principles of this world.
The deviation in that small spark's trajectory meant that the space at that position had undergone a very slight deformation.
The space deformed because an extremely heavy object was hidden behind that spark.
Everyone knew that the spark was the friction and collision between the zither note and the sword.
An object capable of deforming space would, logically, have to be extremely large, like the entire Cold Mountain.
But that object, able to hide behind the spark, must be extremely small.
In this world, what object was so small yet so heavy?
Or perhaps, was that Chen Changsheng's true hidden final move?
The Demon Lord suddenly waved his hand.
All the zither strings snapped.
Discordant notes burst forth.
The ancient zither was instantly destroyed, turning into countless wood shavings and broken fibers.
Those wood shavings and broken fibers, along with the shattered notes, shot violently into the night sky.
Countless clear, piercing, or heavy collision sounds rang out.
The sword dragon in the night sky burst forth with even more sparks, then gradually dispersed.
The sword techniques contained within the three thousand swords had not yet had time to be executed before the Demon Lord directly broke them!
The sparks filling the sky met the clear autumn, withering in a few breaths. The scene in the night sky became clear, and some things could no longer hide their forms.
A very small stone bead was flying toward the Demon Lord through the night. This stone bead flew very slowly, giving a feeling of great weight, as if pulled by an invisible force. At the same time, it also pulled at the surrounding world, causing a slight deformation in the nearby space.
The Demon Lord's expression was subtle as he said, "So the Zhou Garden did fall into your hands."
This sentence was naturally addressed to Chen Changsheng.
Then, he raised his right hand and pointed through the air at that small stone bead.
Tonight, the first time he raised his hand, he caught that Heavenly Book Monument and smashed the Sea Flute deep into the distant snow peak.
The second time he raised his hand, he grabbed the Black Dragon high in the night sky and threw it to an even farther edge of the sky.
Now, he raised his hand for the third time, his expression more serious than the previous two times.
His movement was very subtle, as if he were trying to pluck a cloud, yet also very grand, as if he were reaching for a star.
With his movement, the small stone bead slowly came to a stop.
At the same time, his seal drifted away from his belt and also came into the night sky.
The seal and the stone bead silently faced each other, confronting each other, vibrating slightly, emitting a humming sound.
The violent aura deeply contained within each gradually calmed down.
It was like old friends reuniting, or like enemies meeting, each with their own thoughts, silent.
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(On WeChat public account yesterday, I posted a concept video for the "Ze Tian Ji" TV series. It's very short, not the real thing, but there's a real person in it~)