Chapter 88

Reincarnated as the Sword Emperor in the Sword Clan (88)

With a loud boom, a shockwave erupted.

The chunk of metal, weighing at least several hundred kilograms, had just broken the sound barrier.

If it were to hit directly, even a sturdy gate or wall would shatter into pieces.

Leonard, who had somehow equipped a second sword, extended his blade while gauging the scale of the force.

Wuxiang Flow (Five Elephant Flow)

He considered using the Black Tortoise Eclipse, but if he relied solely on his qi to block that mass, his sword would surely break.

So, he refracted it from the side.

Xuanwu Nine Techniques (Black Tortoise Nine Techniques)

Taoyue Fanyinjing (Great Moon Reverse Yin Mirror)

The sword strike, curved like a full moon, gently brushed against the side of the anchor, which had flown like a cannonball.

Just as an arrow changes its trajectory when it grazes a single pine needle.

Kuwooo!

The anchor, which had been deflected by a few degrees from a straight line, shattered the temple's floor tiles and buried itself deep into the ground.

The force was so powerful that it made the earth tremble!

Even Leonard, who had perfectly executed the Taoyue Fanyinjing, felt a throbbing in his wrist, evidence that he hadn't completely dissipated the shock. If any other Outer Force Practitioner had blocked that attack, they would have suffered significant internal injuries and spewed blood.

It wasn't a random throw.

It was a single strike that combined brute strength, inner power, and technique.

‘…Most importantly, even after my sword qi made contact, the anchor didn’t break.’

Compared to the Azure Dragon, White Tiger, and Vermilion Bird techniques, the Black Tortoise technique might lack offensive power, but it was still a sword qi.

A destructive force that could not be stopped by a piece of cloth or even a protective qi. Yet, the anchor of the Seo Champion had only been slightly worn down on its surface.

An unknown energy was protecting the creature’s anchor.

“This is going to be troublesome.”

Despite saying this, Leonard smiled.

If the opponent would die from a single slash of his sword, there would be no point in coming this far. A mysterious energy that could withstand a sword qi, even with magic, was intriguing.

He wanted to cut through it.

Seized by this impulse, he turned around and said,

“I’ll leave that one to you. Even if he’s at the Homa level, he’s a dying man. Try fighting him as I taught you just now.”

If they were in perfect condition, the three of them would have to be prepared to die to face this opponent. But the Seo Champion, who had been critically injured by the "Mythical Dragon Sword," was an ideal sparring partner. If they didn’t let their guard down, they could bring him down without suffering serious injuries or death.

After glancing at Galano, Niniann, and Esther, Leonard turned to the Seo Champion, who was glaring at him.

“I’m sorry to have kept you waiting.”

In response to Leonard’s words, a jet of black steam escaped from the Seo Champion’s gills.

Chuiiiii!

Not only had he repelled the Seo Warrior Commander with a single attack, but he had also deflected the anchor as if it were nothing.

Even the Seo Champion, who believed himself to be invincible, dared not be complacent. He pulled his anchor, still buried in the ground, and repositioned himself, never taking his eyes off Leonard.

A human standing less than two meters tall and a monster nearly four meters tall.

Despite the physical disparity being more than double, the tension swirling between them was evenly balanced.

It was proof that each could pose a threat to the other.

Right after that,

Wuxing Liushenfa (Five Elements Six Spirits Technique)

Changtian Longwang (Azure Heaven Dragon King)

With a crack, several blue lightning marks were left behind as he moved.

Shandian Step (Lightning Step)

While the Rehwa Step was faster in terms of instantaneous speed, it was only a one-time burst and couldn’t be sustained. For continuous high-speed movement, the Shandian Step was more suitable.

Kwoooaaa!

The Seo Champion’s anchor, unable to react to his speed, shattered a wall and scattered debris in all directions.

The attack was so powerful that even the debris could pierce flesh.

Using the Shuiliu Step to dodge, Leonard focused his protective qi to block the unavoidable pieces. Despite his inner power having increased significantly after breaking through to the 6th level of Outer Force, using protective qi was still wasteful.

It shouldn’t be consumed on something as trivial as debris.

“Hmm?”

After several minutes of pursuit, Leonard, who had reached the deepest part of the cave, raised his eyebrows.

It couldn’t be helped.

“The medium of the ‘Rift’... is that it?”

A luminous purple sphere, floating in mid-air without any support, emitted a malevolent aura that could shake the mind and spirit of anyone who looked at it.

If the power in Duan Muzhen’s martial arts was called Reversing Heaven, this was something that should not exist in this world. The hostility and disgust welling up inside him became even more intense.

Paang!

However, when he brought his sword qi to bear, the purifying force, capable of cutting through great magic, dispersed in a short time.

A scene similar to when Esther’s detection magic was shattered.

A law of the external world, rejecting the existence of power in this world.

While it was possible to continuously whittle down the medium with sword qi and eventually destroy it, the Seo Champion pursuing him now wouldn’t wait that long.

Kwoooaaa!

Alerted by the exposure of the ‘Rift’ medium, the Seo Champion, now several times more agitated than before, burst out in front of Leonard, smashing through the tunnel walls.

From this point on, neither could retreat.

What needed to be destroyed and what needed to be protected.

With the medium, which held opposing values for both, left behind, the human and the monster clashed again.

Wuxiang Flow (Five Elephant Flow)

Even if sword qi doesn’t work, there are other means of attack.

The sword qi, raised high in an upper vertical strike, fell.

The heaviest and most ruthless sword technique in the White Tiger style, combined with the power of sword qi, exerted several dozen times the pressure.

Baihu Thirty-Six Techniques (White Tiger Thirty-Six Techniques)

Taishan Yading (Mount Tai Pressing Down)

The Seo Champion’s ankle, which had blocked the sword with a chain, bent, and his entire body sank a few inches.

Even if the unknown energy neutralized the sword qi, the pressure didn’t disappear. A contest of strength. While he was overpowered by the ‘Duan Yue,’ the strongest technique of the White Tiger style could overwhelm the creature.

The Seo Champion’s eyes, bloodshot from the immense pressure, bulged as if they would burst.

If he could be brought down like this, it would be fine...

The ‘Rift Guardian’ was connected to the medium. If the creature became more dangerous, the medium would assist it.

Kwooo! Kwooo!

If this continued, his brain and heart would burst.

Sensing this, the Seo Champion roared desperately, and the medium, floating behind him, flickered rapidly.

It was supplying ‘strength’ to the creature.

Just as Leonard had predicted.

‘...I can see it.’

A faint ‘thread’ of energy, flowing from the medium to the Seo Champion, was visible.

The neutralization of the sword qi, the abnormal defensive power, and the near-mutant body were all due to the power supplied by the medium.

As soon as he realized this, Leonard’s heart raced.

The Wuxing Zhenlong Ring.

An organ approaching the heart of a dragon, a race that existed only in ancient times, had detected the ‘enemy.’ Despite the immense power and heavy responsibility that led to their downfall and extermination, its function remained intact.

Wuwooo!

Before the gods were wiped out by conflicts within the dimensions, the sole duty of the dragons, created as guardians of the world, was to repel external threats. To eliminate all beings that invaded from beyond the dimensional barriers. This was why the gods created the dragons and why they didn’t allow them to engage in other activities despite their immense power and longevity.

After the gods disappeared, the dragons, who abandoned their duties, ruled as tyrants over the world and were nearly exterminated by the founders of the three noble families of Arcadia during the founding festival.

Despite each being a transcendent being, they lost because most of the abilities they possessed as dragons could only be fully utilized when facing an ‘external threat.’

It was a safety mechanism prepared for unforeseen situations.

Moreover, the Wuxing Zhenlong Ring, which replicated a dragon’s heart, also had a similar safety mechanism.

Kiiiiii!

The moment the medium of the ‘Rift’ exerted its power directly, the Wuxing Zhenlong Ring was fully activated upon seeing the creature.

‘...I didn’t expect to reach this point in this way.’

Leonard realized that the Wuxing energy circulating in his body was accelerating like light and being refined to an absurd purity. It was a realm that even his previous life’s Yan Wuhe couldn’t reach.

And.

Yiyuan Wuxing Shengong (One Origin Five Elements Divine Technique)

Wuxing Heyi Jue (Five Stars Unification Technique) Complete

A more complete version of the powerful qi he used in the battle with Duan Muzhen was applied to his sword.

The Five-Colored Gangqi.

A realm where the flow of the five elements is unified, and the great laws of the world are contained in a single sword. One strike is like wielding the world itself, and to block it, one must exert the power to withstand the entire world.

‘Even if it’s a world contained in a single sword, it’s within the realm that experts at the Xian level can handle.’

Conversely, it’s impossible to block at levels below Xian.

It’s the power of an absolute expert, who can manifest the laws of their own universe at the Xian level.

Kigigig.

A crack appeared in the chain entangled with Leonard’s sword.

Even though the creature increased the power flowing from the medium, the problem was the nature of the sword qi.

The Five-Colored Gangqi is a blade that enforces the laws of this world.

The power based on external laws is actually in extreme opposition. While it can’t pierce through the five elements because it doesn’t belong to them, the cycle of the five elements itself acts in opposition.

Kiiiiii!

The Seo Champion, sensing death at his doorstep, struggled, but even the medium he worshipped couldn’t help him any further.

Kaang!

Finally, the chain snapped, and the sword, wrapped in Five-Colored Gangqi, fell.

The vertical blade cut through the creature’s clavicle, broke several ribs, and sliced open its abdomen. However, due to his desperate retreat, it didn’t split his lungs and heart.

For a human, this would be a fatal wound, but even in a non-Rift Guardian state, it was a monster at the Homa level.

This wasn’t enough to kill it.

“The external object is now useless.”

Leonard aimed his sword at the bloodied creature.

With the Five-Colored Gangqi, he was confident he could destroy the medium without killing the ‘Rift Guardian.’

But he didn’t want to end it that way.

Although the creature had borrowed the power of the medium, it had withstood his proper sword strikes and fought fiercely several times. He wanted to face it seriously until the end.

“I’ll accompany you to the end. Come on, attack!”

Reacting to his fighting spirit, the creature’s eyes, trembling with fear and confusion, calmed down. The strongest warrior of the Seo race, who had once ruled as a champion, raised both fists.

The anchor and chain were far from his original fighting style.

Leonard, recognizing this the moment he saw the Seo Champion’s fighting stance, smiled fiercely.

No more words were needed.

Kugugugug!

The vibrations echoing from the deepest part of the cave reverberated several times.

Swords and fists crossed, and the kicks that tore through the air shattered the ground and sound, creating a chaotic scene.

In stark contrast to the monotonous chain anchor, the creature’s skills with fists and feet were quite dazzling. If he had attacked with his martial arts before the Five-Colored Gangqi awakened, it would have been several times more difficult.

Of course, the power of the medium wasn’t infinite, and it might have been difficult to cover his entire body.

‘This is enjoyable.’

They exchanged dozens of attacks and defenses in a few seconds.

The creature’s body was gradually collapsing under the power of the Five-Colored Gangqi. Scales and skin, muscles and bones, all nearly indestructible, were deeply split and losing their strength.

The punches and kicks that once tore through sound became desperately fierce.

Yet, the gap between them didn’t narrow.

Puhak!

Leonard’s sword, thrust with ease, pierced the creature’s heart, bringing the intense and one-sided battle to an end.

The Five-Colored Gangqi flowed into the heart, burning away the remaining external power in the body and completely drying up the regenerative life force, even from fatal injuries.

A level of damage that made even reanimation as an undead impossible.

Kurururur...

The Seo Champion, looking down at the sword embedded in his chest with bloodshot eyes, quietly closed his eyes.

That was it.