Chapter 80

The Purple-Scaled Golden-Maned Beast was equivalent to a Divine Spirit Martial Ancestor in strength, but its divine sense could only cover a limited area.

Luo Xiu pushed his speed to the极限, leaving afterimages in his wake, making it hard to distinguish his true form.

Despite this, his speed still could not match the Purple-Scaled Golden-Maned Beast, which could leap across hundreds of meters in a single bound, ignoring any obstacles, felling trees and shattering rocks.

"Xuantian Transformation!"

Luo Xiu suddenly activated the secret technique, and his speed burst forth in an instant, pulling away from the Purple-Scaled Golden-Maned Beast.

The Fast Sword Technique itself was a special way of exerting force, and when applied to movement, it also had the effect of increasing speed.

At this moment, with the enhancement of the Xuantian Transformation, Luo Xiu's burst of speed could rival that of some more powerful Divine Spirit Martial Ancestors.

However, after the burst of speed, Luo Xiu felt his qi and blood fluctuating, and a dizzying sensation in his head, due to the strain the Xuantian Transformation placed on his body.

But at this moment, he could not afford to worry about that. If the Purple-Scaled Golden-Maned Beast caught up to him, he would surely die.

A short while later, in Luo Xiu's perception, the distance between him and the Purple-Scaled Golden-Maned Beast grew increasingly farther, as if the terrifying fourth-stage peak beast had given up on pursuing him.

The Purple-Scaled Golden-Maned Beast had already developed intelligence. It had initially pursued Luo Xiu out of interest in this fast prey, but when it realized that this prey could escape quickly, the other prey had already fled far away.

So the Purple-Scaled Golden-Maned Beast abandoned the pursuit of Luo Xiu and went after other prey instead.

To give up more prey for the sake of one was clearly not something the Purple-Scaled Golden-Maned Beast would do.

Luo Xiu also thought of this and felt a slight sense of relief. He did not dare to stay in one place and continued to maintain his maximum speed, trying to get as far away from the area as possible.

Unconsciously, the sky had begun to brighten, and Luo Xiu felt that his cultivation had been severely drained. He found a secluded place to rest and recover.

Taking out two array discs from his storage ring, he threw them out—one was a fifth-grade concealment array disc, and the other was a defensive array disc.

Array discs, also known as array devices, were treasures refined by array masters, with array formations engraved on them. Even martial artists who did not understand array formations could use them by channeling essence stones.

For safety, Luo Xiu directly used fifth-grade array discs.

He had obtained the treasure vault left by Wuwang Bichen, which contained many fifth-grade array discs, but none of them were offensive.

Half a day later, Luo Xiu had recovered to his peak state. He took out a simplified map of the Guanlei Mountains and discovered that his escape last night had led him deep into the heart of the Guanlei Mountains.

Here, he could encounter terrifying fourth-stage or higher beasts at any time. Luo Xiu also noticed that his current position was very close to the Guanlei Temple.

After putting away the array discs, Luo Xiu cautiously walked towards the Guanlei Temple. He did not move quickly, and his senses were always spread out, ready to avoid and circumvent any powerful beast's aura he detected.

After nearly a day, Luo Xiu felt a series of sharp and fierce auras coming towards him.

Not far ahead was a mountain peak only a few hundred meters high, with a temple at its summit—the Guanlei Temple.

Centered around the Guanlei Temple, within a radius of about ten miles, the area was filled with sharp and fierce blade auras. In this region, one could see intersecting ravines everywhere, some traces that had existed for countless years, occasionally emitting terrifying killing intent, making people wary.

This was the cultivation ground of a powerful figure named Guanlei. Luo Xiu did not know what level of cultivation Guanlei had, but to leave such an ancient relic that still retained terrifying blade intent after so many years, he must have been at least a Martial Monarch.

Looking closely, Luo Xiu did not see any other martial artists near the Guanlei Temple. After a moment's thought, he stepped forward.

Luo Xiu's pace was not fast. He was currently in the outer area, where the blade intent, though fierce, did not affect him much.

However, as he moved deeper, the blade intent became increasingly sharp and fierce.

There were no beasts near the Guanlei Temple, probably due to the fear of the sharp blade intent, which made the beasts in the forest subconsciously believe that a powerful being was in seclusion here.

Suddenly, Luo Xiu's steps stopped, and the Dark Shadow Sword behind his back trembled violently. It felt as if an invisible war blade was chopping down at him.

"Clang!"

The war sword was unsheathed, and Luo Xiu swung it at the air in front of him, the black sword light as fast as lightning.

In Luo Xiu's mind, a figure appeared, holding a war blade, emitting a terrifying killing intent, and slashing out.

"Thud, thud, thud..."

Luo Xiu retreated three steps, his face slightly pale.

Earlier, he had sensed a war blade chopping at him, but it was actually an illusion created by the lingering blade intent.

Intent had already transcended the realm of ordinary martial arts. Luo Xiu was far from being able to condense and grasp his own martial intent, so he instantly lost in the intent confrontation.

At the same time, Luo Xiu noticed a green boulder not far ahead, with a blade mark on it.

The blade intent he had felt earlier was transmitted from the blade mark on the boulder.

"Blade intent left behind?"

Luo Xiu's pupils constricted, and he took another step forward.

Suddenly, a figure appeared in his mind again, chopping out a war blade with an indomitable and unyielding will, as if time had stopped in that moment.

"I can't block such a blow!"

This thought instantly appeared in Luo Xiu's mind, and he instinctively wanted to retreat. Earlier, he had retreated three steps because he could not face such a blow.

But this time, Luo Xiu resisted the urge to retreat. Under the pressure of the indomitable and unyielding blade intent, his face became even paler, and he felt as if he couldn't breathe.

So strong!

Luo Xiu was deeply shaken. If someone really used such a blow, he would be instantly killed, no matter how fast his sword or how exquisite his movement, because the indomitable and unyielding blade intent had completely locked onto him, leaving no room for evasion.

Boom!

Because Luo Xiu did not retreat, it felt as if the blow had really hit him, causing a sharp pain in his mind, followed by a mouthful of blood spewing out.

After spitting out blood, Luo Xiu's face became even paler, but he still did not retreat. The scene of that blow kept appearing in his mind, especially the indomitable and unyielding will, giving him a faint sense of enlightenment.

His wrist trembled slightly, and the Dark Shadow Sword leaped into his hand. He closed his eyes and swung the sword, the air in front of him tearing with a hissing sound, and black and white sword light surging out, forcing the sharp and overwhelming blade intent to dissipate.

Luo Xiu suddenly opened his eyes. The previous sword strike could be said to be an imitation of the blow containing the indomitable and unyielding will, and although it was an imitation, it was more powerful than the three sword techniques recorded in the fifth-grade martial art, the Aurora Sword Technique.

Luo Xiu was somewhat excited. If he could comprehend the essence of sword intent and transcend the realm of sword techniques to enter the realm of sword dao, his strength would not just improve by one level.

However, Luo Xiu was also very clear that he was still far from comprehending sword intent. Imitating that blow was merely a superficial imitation without the essence.

Calm down, and his excitement was like being doused with cold water. Imitating others was undoubtedly a wrong path. What he truly needed to do was to draw inspiration and comprehend his own sword dao.

And he was still far from reaching the realm of sword dao. The first step was not to try to comprehend the essence of martial dao, but to elevate his sword techniques from the accomplished realm to the perfect realm.

The realm of martial dao, like cultivation, required steady progress. If he tried to leap from the accomplished realm of sword techniques directly to comprehending sword intent and entering the realm of sword dao, he would be on the wrong path. He must proceed step by step, first elevating his sword techniques to the perfect realm.

With this thought in mind, Luo Xiu continued to walk towards the boulder with the blade mark, the scene of that blow constantly appearing in his mind.

The closer he got to the blade mark, the more terrifying the indomitable and unyielding blade intent became, as if his soul was being torn apart.

Immersed in this state of enlightenment, Luo Xiu's Dark Shadow Sword occasionally swung, and under the pressure of the blade intent, his sword technique realm gradually improved.

Finally, Luo Xiu reached the boulder and touched the blade mark on it.

Faintly, the indomitable and unyielding will became clearer in his mind, as if a blood-soaked figure was roaring at the sky in the rain, refusing to submit to fate.

"Is martial intent the fusion of the mind and martial dao?" Luo Xiu seemed to have some understanding.

At only fourteen years old, he did not have the necessary mindset, and his sword techniques had not reached the perfect realm, so he could not integrate his mindset into his sword techniques to transform them into sword intent.

By comprehending the blade intent and drawing inspiration, Luo Xiu's greatest gain was a deeper understanding and personal experience of martial dao intent.

Mindset required experience, and Luo Xiu, being young, lacked the necessary experience, not because of a lack of insight.

At this moment, Luo Xiu's gaze sharpened as he sensed a terrifying aura sweeping over him.

He looked up and saw a figure in purple robes flying in the sky, unaffected by the sharp blade intent around the Guanlei Temple.

This was a purple-robed man, and it was his divine sense that had swept over Luo Xiu.

"A mere innate realm youth dares to come to the Guanlei Temple to comprehend blade intent, quite bold."

The purple-robed man only glanced at Luo Xiu indifferently and then walked with his hands behind his back towards the Guanlei Temple at the summit of the mountain.

Watching the purple-robed man's departing back, Luo Xiu let out a slight sigh of relief. To be able to fly in the sky near the Guanlei Temple, he must be at least a Martial King.

If the Guanlei Temple were divided into three areas, Luo Xiu was only in the outer area, followed by the central area, and finally the Guanlei Temple itself.

The deeper one went, the stronger the blade intent became, and the greater the danger. If one could not withstand the pressure of the blade intent during comprehension, their soul would collapse, and they would be annihilated.

The purple-robed man had likely come to comprehend the blade intent and was heading straight for the Guanlei Temple at the summit, indicating that his martial dao realm was at a very high level.

Luo Xiu was not the first martial artist to come to the Guanlei Temple to comprehend blade intent, so the purple-robed man only glanced at him and did not pay further attention.

Continuing forward, the blade intent became even sharper, and blade auras appeared in the air, like dense raindrops, enveloping Luo Xiu.

Each blade aura was lethal, and Luo Xiu was fully focused, his Dark Shadow Sword flashing rapidly to shatter the blade auras.

More people gradually arrived near the Guanlei Temple, including innate martial masters, Divine Spirit Martial Ancestors, and even Martial Kings.

"Ah!"

Suddenly, a scream of pain echoed from the foot of the mountain. A Divine Spirit Martial Ancestor's head exploded into a mist of blood, and the headless body fell to the ground, dead.