Martial Dao: Peace by Force

Chapter 281: Chapter 174: Seeing the Female Sword Immortal Again, Dreadful Words

The Female Sword Immortal was silent for a moment.

Her ”gaze” fell upon Wan Ze.

”You are too weak. What I do is dangerous. Bringing you along would only get you killed.”

”Senior, I’m not afraid of danger!” Wan Ze said hurriedly.

He had witnessed the Female Sword Immortal’s power with his own eyes.

More importantly, she was his greatest connection in Huangliang, and his most reliable backer.

The status of a Loose Cultivator was not a favorable one in this world. Although Feng Jiuchen had helped him quite a bit, Tongchen Pavilion ultimately had its own rules and interests. It couldn’t possibly shelter him in every matter.

If he could study under the Female Sword Immortal, even as just a Registered Disciple, his situation in Huangliang would improve immensely.

The Broken Sword was also looking at the Female Sword Immortal. Its blade tilted slightly, the tip pointing upward as if in anticipation.

The Female Sword Immortal did not answer right away.

She stood there, her white robes fluttering gently in the night wind, like a silent statue. Her ”gaze” slowly moved away from Wan Ze and toward the distant mountain forest, as if looking at something, yet also at nothing at all.

Just then, a disturbance came from the forest.

A crushing pressure suddenly felt as if it were right on top of them.

The ground began to tremble slightly. Loose stones danced on the surface, and leaves rustled down from the branches. It was as if an invisible giant hand had descended from the sky, clenching the entire forest in its palm.

Wan Ze felt his Attributes declining—a tangible sensation of being suppressed by some kind of High Level existence.

It was like an ant standing at an elephant’s feet. The elephant didn’t have to do anything; the sheer difference in size was enough to make the ant suffocate.

The thing emerged from the depths of the forest.

It was too big.

Unreasonably so.

Its body was like a moving hill, each step leaving a footprint several feet deep in the ground.

Its head... if you could even call it that, resembled a flayed skull. Two clusters of dark red flame burned within its eye sockets, piercingly bright in the darkness.

Its open mouth revealed two rows of jagged fangs, each as long as a grown man’s arm. Its entire face seemed to be smiling—an utterly twisted smile.

With every breath, two plumes of dark red mist shot from its nostrils. The mist spread through the air, and wherever it passed, the grass and trees withered and the soil turned black and scorched, as if contaminated by something foul.

Wan Ze didn’t even need to look at a data frame to know. ’This... this isn’t something I can handle. It’s not a question of whether I can win. We’re not even in the same league.’

The feeling of his All Attributes declining grew more and more pronounced, as if something were siphoning the Power from his body.

The Female Sword Immortal stepped forward, her white robes whipping in the night wind.

She didn’t look back. Her voice was as calm as if she were stating the most ordinary fact: ”Leave this place.”

Wan Ze didn’t hesitate, nor did he try to act tough.

He knew that staying would only make him a burden. He nodded and replied, ”Be careful, Senior.”

With that, he swiftly severed his connection to the Spiritual Form.

In the instant his consciousness withdrew, the last thing he saw was the Female Sword Immortal raising her hand. The sword flew from her sleeve and hovered before her.

She flicked the blade lightly with her finger, and it let out a clear, melodious ring that echoed through the forest, lingering for a long time.

Then the world blurred.

...

「Huangliang.」

The Female Sword Immortal stood in the clearing, gazing at the behemoth that had emerged from the depths of the forest.

Her fingers curled as the longsword hovered three feet in front of her.

The Female Sword Immortal reached out and grasped the hilt.

In that instant, there was a quietness like a lake before a storm.

All of her power was gathered within, not released, not flaunted, like a peerless sword returned to its sheath.

Then, she struck.

As if drawn from a sheath, the longsword shot forward, abruptly stirring the surrounding air.

The light of the Red Moon was churned by the Power surging from the blade, forming dark red vortexes that swirled around the sword.

The vortexes spun faster and grew larger, drawing in all the Spiritual Qi from dozens of yards around.

Within the vortex, the blade rapidly swelled in size... three feet, six feet, ten feet, a hundred feet, a thousand feet—

In the end, the sword transformed into a colossal blade hanging in midair, its body wreathed in intensely burning white flames.

This was the energy released by some form of Qi compressed to its absolute limit, burning at a temperature so high that even the air warped and distorted.

The flames left a long trail in the night sky like a celestial body about to fall, illuminating half the heavens as bright as day.

The giant sword chopped down viciously at the Deceit Beast King.

There were no flashy moves, no complex techniques, just a single, simple strike... straight down, direct and true.

But the might of this one strike was enough to make the heavens and earth themselves change color.

RUMBLE!

The earth shook and the mountains swayed.

The moment the blade struck the Deceit Beast King, the entire forest trembled.

A massive fissure split the earth, extending from the point of impact far into the distance, its depths unseen. Trees were uprooted by the shockwave and shredded to pieces in midair. Boulders were pulverized, and the fragments shot out in all directions like shrapnel.

The Deceit Beast King’s figure was sent flying backward like a toppled mountain. Its body tumbled several times through the air, snapping countless trees, before finally crashing to the ground a hundred *li* away, carving out a massive crater.

An enraged roar echoed from a hundred *li* away, filled with pain, humiliation, and fury.

The sound reverberated through the mountains and forests, not fading for a long, long time.

The Female Sword Immortal stood there and recalled her Flying Sword.

Beneath the moonlight, her white robes were like snow, utterly unstained by dust.

”Begone.”