Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
When Tong Yan told the Underworld Master that he had underestimated one person, the Underworld Master thought that Tong Yan referred to Jing Yang, when he was in fact referring to the Broadsword King, Cao Yuan.
For most mortals and the Cultivation practitioners in Chaotian, the first name that occurred to them when the world was on the brink of destruction was Cao Yuan.
No matter how high the Cultivation states of the Immortal Jing Yang and the immortals Tan and Bai were, their prowess was irrelevant to the world.
But Cao Yuan was different. He was the disciple experiencing the mortal world from the Fruit Formation Temple, and he had spent his life in the world resisting the Snowy Kingdom and purging the deviant practitioners and demons as the leader of the Windy-Broadsword Church.
He had been guarding the wind and snow and the human race over the years, and his prowess and fearlessness could be clearly seen by all.
Yet, few people had seen his true appearance since he had been staying in that small temple. He came out of the temple a few times for the sole purpose of fighting the Queen in the snowland, and came back after being defeated.
Those who came into the small temple by stepping over the doorsill could merely hear his voice and see the golden Buddha statue; and they had no idea where he was in the temple.
The sunlight shone through the parted clouds onto the ocean below as the waves of the ocean rolled toward the underground; and the demons jumped out of the transparent wall of water and headed toward the large Buddha statue in the Huge Whirlpool while letting out sorrowful and relieved cheers…It turned out that the golden Buddha statue was none other than Cao Yuan himself.
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…
The Fruit Formation Temple cultivated for the Buddha, and the Baotong Zen Temple and the Water-Moon Nunnery prayed to the Buddha as well. But there was no Buddha in this world.
Cao Yuan cared about the whole world, and his bravery was without equal, and so he was the Buddha in this world.
When Cao Yuan raised the iron broadsword and hacked at the snowland in the north or the endless sea water falling down like a huge wall, he became the Broadsword King.
It didn’t mean that a King was more powerful than the Buddha; the only difference was that the King was more inclined to fight.
The dark clouds dispersed abruptly, and the downpour abated, except that some tiny raindrops were still drifting down in the air.
The blue electric bolts encircling Cao Yuan had gradually faded away.
In the higher sky, the Dark Phoenix flapped his wings to expel the irritating electric bolts while looking down at the Buddha in the Huge Whirlpool, his eyes full of bewilderment.
He wondered when this person had recovered from the injury inflicted by the Queen of the Snowy Kingdom that prevented him from leaving the small temple. The most baffling part was that he seemed to be more powerful than the rumored Cao Yuan. And no matter how powerful he was, how could he come to the deep end of the ocean from White Town in such a short time after traveling tens of thousands of miles?
Normally, the Dark Phoenix would turn to escape without hesitation when he saw Cao Yuan, wanting to stay as far away from him as possible by employing his skill of fast travel.
But it was a different story that day. The Dark Phoenix was the main operator of the Heavenly Slaying Formation, and he had no choice but to stay put. More importantly, as the main operator of the Heavenly Slaying Formation, he had the confidence to defeat his opponent.
Even though Cao Yuan was considered the most powerful swordsman in Chaotian, he would die a terrible death when facing a great formation that could even modify the passage of heaven and earth.
The strong wind was whistling, and the iridescent feathers were ruffling in the wind like countless wildflowers blooming. A soundless and sharp shriek came out from the beak of the Dark Phoenix, and reached the surface of the ocean.
The demons with the imprints embedded deeply into their spiritual souls by the Immortal Taiping had no way to resist the orders. They sped up and rushed toward the Huge Whirlpool, drawing innumerable white lines on the surface of the ocean. Many troughs were created in the midst of the blue sea, and the backs of the demons as large as mountains were vaguely visible in the water.
The sea water was flowing down like waterfalls, heading toward the seemingly bottomless abyss. Hundreds of boulders hovering in midair were being assaulted by the rushing sea water. The downpour seemed to pelt down even in farther places.
Cao Yuan stood on top of a floating rock.
The seawater was washing over his wounded face like the rainwater falling onto a dilapidated Buddha statue.
Looking at the demons coming over from all directions, Cao Yuan narrowed his eyes; at the moment he looked quite cheerful rather than grave.
In comparison to the huge bodies of those demons, he appeared a bit small and was on the verge of being overwhelmed.
Crack!!!
An extremely bright broadsword light illuminated the bottom of the Huge Whirlpool and the sea water flowing down from above, and even the deep end of the ocean. More of the dark and huge figures were revealed.
Dozens of dreadful and painful cries bellowed out along with some thuds, the noise of which had even suppressed the booming sound of the seawater for a brief moment.
Countless straight cracks appeared on the steely and smooth backs of these demons, and the fresh blood gushed out from the cracks.
The seawater was dyed red instantly, as the demons became meaty pulps dissipating and then falling into the abyss.
More demons came to the surroundings of the Huge Whirlpool and headed toward Cao Yuan by taking advantage of the flowing force of the seawater after leaping out of the waterfalls.
Cao Yuan felt a bit tired. He sat down on the floating rock, waving his hand a few times.
The iron broadsword shot up as the rumbling sound continued, hacking at those demons that dropped down like the flying stones.
The thunderous booms sounded like thunder in the high sky as well as the noise when the rocks were pushed off a cliff several hundred feet high by the seawater. In reality, it was the sound of snowy mountains collapsing.
The bright broadsword light traveled around the Huge Whirlpool at an exceedingly fast speed, turning into a white light belt gradually; it looked like a band of flying snow.
These demons had a powerful strength coupled with some spiritual awareness; even a swordsman in the Broken Sea State could barely kill them. However, none of them could pass the broadsword light.
The horrifying screams of the demons kept bellowing amid the thunderous booms, and the seawater was being dyed red.
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…
Though the sea was being dyed red, it was soon diluted by more seawater rushing over, becoming blue and clean. Yet, in the next moment, it was dyed red again.
The deaths in the Huge Whirlpool hadn’t ceased for a moment, and a great many demons had died under the iron broadsword. The corpses falling into the abyss looked like raindrops. One might wonder if they would block the passage of heaven and earth.
The sea water kept flowing down. It was probably the most magnificent waterfall in the world.
Cao Yuan killed a great many demons that day, even more than what Liu Ci had in the Muddy River that night.
The demons kept on jumping out of the seawater and kept on being slaughtered.
The strongly scented blood dyed the sea water red and also reddened Cao Yuan.
He was focused on killing the demons at the moment, like what he had done over the years in the snowland, his face devoid of benevolence and his body devoid of sacred intent.
The seawater landed on the cliffs between the rocks and the Huge Whirlpool, breaking into foam that looked the same as the snow in the snowland.
After a long while, no more demons jumped out from the huge transparent wall, and the dying ceased for the time being.
The dark clouds gathered in the sky, with no more sunlight shining down. The downpour occurred again, and the blood was diluted again in the seawater as it flowed with a thunderous noise.
Sitting on the floating rock with a composed and nonchalant expression in his eyes, Cao Yuan looked like a real Buddha who had learned the essence of nature.
“Do you really think this is the end?”
The cold voice of the Dark Phoenix rang out in the sky, “It is said that the Underworld intends to wreak havoc by driving the demons to Chaotian; but nobody knows it is merely a trick played by the Immortal. He started sending these demons to the upper ground from the Underworld a few hundred years ago so that they could produce more in the deep part of the ocean; the number of them is unimaginably high right now. How many times can you wield your broadsword? A few hundred times? Thousands or tens of thousands of times? And you should know that the stronger the Heavenly Slaying Formation becomes with more blood sacrifice, the more you kill the demons. Even though you’re Cao Yuan, how long can you last?”
As Cao Yuan looked up at the sky above the Huge Whirlpool, countless beads of blood appeared gradually in the air, connecting into many lines to form a complicated and terrifying great formation, which was the Heavenly Slaying Formation that the former Bloody Demon Church couldn’t even set up.
“You’re the most powerful man in the world. Are these mortals really worth dying for?”
The regretful and vicious voice of the Dark Phoenix echoed between the sky and the ocean.
A dozen demons in a much higher state jumped out of the waterfall and headed toward the floating rock, full of formidable energy.
Cao Yuan raised his right hand.
The iron broadsword flew back.
He grabbed the iron broadsword and inserted it into the rock in front of him.
The rock broke into pieces, shooting out in all directions with violent waves of air.
Those demons turned into meaty pulp as they plunged into the abyss along with the bloody rainwater.
“This is not an issue of whether it is worth it; it’s an issue about me.”
Cao Yuan was covered in blood, resembling a bloody Buddha.
Most of the blood was from the demons, but some of them were his.
Even though he was the unparalleled Broadsword King Cao Yuan from White Town, he had nonetheless paid a steep price.
It was something Jing Jiu wouldn’t do.
“You’re a bird, so it’s impossible for you to understand it. What I meant to say is that I am who I am; otherwise, I wouldn’t feel alive any longer.”
Cao Yuan’s voice echoed between the sky and the ocean.
Like the sound of a bell.
