Chapter 59 The Secret Realm Is Invaded Again

A sword cultivator at the seventh level of Profound Comprehension possessed formidable strength, far surpassing the average practitioner at the same stage. At present, Xia Jiuxuan had yet to reach the Profound Comprehension Realm himself, so there was no way he could win this battle!

After unleashing a strike with his spear, Xia Jiuxuan swiftly retreated, shouting, "Stop!"

Without delay, he brandished the black broken sword and spoke quickly, "This sword was forged from the blood armor of the Demon King. I’ll give it to you—just let me go!"

The sword cultivator who had intended to kill Xia Jiuxuan immediately had his gaze drawn to the black broken sword.

"What a sword! A peerless sword!"

His eyes gleamed. As a sword cultivator, he could naturally see the extraordinary nature of this weapon. The others also turned to look at the sword, momentarily stunned.

For a sword cultivator, nothing could compare to a peerless sword—not even the most beautiful woman!

"You brat, do you think handing over this sword means I won’t kill you?" the sword cultivator sneered, beckoning to the black sword. "Come to me!"

The black broken sword shot through the air towards him. Overjoyed, the man reached out to seize it. Yet midway, the sword abruptly altered its course, slashing toward two nearby cultivators in the Profound Comprehension Realm.

In a flash, two heads rolled to the ground.

The black sword had already recognized Xia Jiuxuan as its master; how could an ordinary sword cultivator hope to command it?

Xia Jiuxuan's move was meant both to buy time and to take the opportunity to eliminate two more opponents.

"You little beast—how dare you!" The seventh-level sword cultivator was beside himself with rage. To strike at this point was the height of arrogance—digging his own grave!

"If you make another move, I’ll destroy this sword! Between my life and this weapon, which do you think matters more to you?" Xia Jiuxuan shouted.

None understood sword cultivators better than Xia Jiuxuan. With such a peerless sword before him, if their positions were reversed, he too would be reluctant to let it be destroyed.

Moreover, in the eyes of the sword cultivator, Xia Jiuxuan had no way of escape. At worst, he could stall, seize the sword, and then kill him!

"Haha! Crafty boy! Kneel and surrender, hand over the sword, and I promise to spare your life," the man said.

"Very well," Xia Jiuxuan replied, feigning compliance as he prepared to kneel, all the while controlling the broken sword with his mind.

Boom!

Sword intent burst forth—stronger even than his spear intent. Shadows of swords clashed throughout the cave, and in an instant, the walls were spattered with blood and fragments of flesh.

"Wretch, you!" The sword cultivator had been tricked again and was full of regret. These were his friends, slaughtered before his very eyes by a mere youth!

"Die!" The sword cultivator no longer believed a word from Xia Jiuxuan and brought his sword down with all his might.

Whoosh!

The black broken sword flew back, colliding fiercely with the man’s blade.

Bang!

Sword intent exploded. Xia Jiuxuan’s sword was knocked away, embedding itself in the stone wall.

At that moment, Han Yu’s eyes snapped open, and a beam of light shot from the ancient bronze door ahead.

Boom!

The bronze door swung open. Prepared for this, Xia Jiuxuan launched himself forward, grabbing Han Yu and racing inside.

His timing was flawless. Though Xia Jiuxuan couldn’t open the door himself, he could sense Han Yu’s fluctuations in spiritual power and had thus calculated the timing perfectly—the delay had been just enough.

As Xia Jiuxuan dashed through the strange bronze door, the seventh-level sword cultivator also gathered his energy and flew after them. But just as he moved, the black broken sword shot from the wall, aiming straight for his heart.

"Suppress!" the sword cultivator roared, forced to halt and clamp the black sword between his palms.

He channeled all the sword intent stored in his dantian, pouring it madly into the black sword, intent on subduing it and claiming it as his own.

"Ugh!" After a moment’s struggle, the sword cultivator spat blood, terror gripping his heart.

"How can the backlash be so strong?"

He had assumed that the will of a boy not even at the Profound Comprehension Realm wouldn’t be much of a threat, expecting to subdue the sword in moments.

Yet the result was utterly unexpected. Not only did he fail to subdue it, but he also suffered a severe backlash.

"Suppress it!" he shouted, his dantian nearly rupturing.

Clang!

The sword thrashed violently, sprang from his hands, and lodged itself once more in the stone wall.

"How strange! I can’t subdue this sword!" The sword cultivator stared at it in fear, abandoning all thoughts of claiming it. If he forced it any further, his sword veins and dantian would be permanently damaged.

Only then did he look to the bronze door—now tightly shut.

"Damn it! I’m furious! You little beast, you’d better pray I don’t wait here until you come out. I’ll tear you to pieces!"

…

Behind the door, Xia Jiuxuan stood silently, frowning deeply.

"It’s changed again—changed once more!"

He stared at the dense forest ahead, already guessing what had happened.

"Master, this is so strange. Behind a single door, there’s an entire forest," Han Yu exclaimed in wonder at the endless ancient woods stretching before them.

Xia Jiuxuan remained silent; this place had clearly been altered.

In his memory, behind the bronze door lay a courtyard, with pavilions, towers, mountains, water, and lotus ponds.

It was supposed to be a residence for spiritual artifacts. Xia Jiuxuan had come here to claim the estate and install it as the Celestial Academy at the Supreme Profound Institute.

Moreover, the estate was supposed to contain vast stores of spirit stones—yet now, they too were gone.

"As expected, Li Luoyan and those seven Sword Souls weren’t the only ones who entered my world!"

In fact, Xia Jiuxuan had suspected as much back in the Sword Tower. Li Luoyan had claimed she stumbled into this world only by accident, chased to a spatial vortex while fleeing for her life.

That meant someone else must have established a spatial passage before her arrival, entering this world ahead of her.

After all, the odds of a spatial vortex forming naturally were vanishingly small—so small as to be negligible.

"Even the secret realm in this Martial Mortal Area has been invaded. What of the others…?"

A sense of foreboding crept over him.

If all the world’s secret realms and treasures were plundered by invaders, his plans for rising to power would be completely disrupted.

"Damn it. When I gain control of this world, I’ll settle the score with you all!"

Xia Jiuxuan burned with anger.

"Han Yu, come with me. Let’s take a look inside."

"Alright," Han Yu replied, still clueless as to what had happened or why his teacher was suddenly so upset. He simply nodded and followed quietly behind.

They pressed on through the towering ancient woods.

The further they went, the more uneasy Xia Jiuxuan became. The beings who had invaded this place had the ability to reshape space—no ordinary cultivators, certainly.

Why would individuals of such power bother coming to a mere Martial Mortal Area for this useless secret estate?

Rustle, rustle…

Under his spiritual sense, Xia Jiuxuan detected something unusual.

"Han Yu, wait here for me!" he ordered before transforming into a streak of light and dashing off to the left.

He crashed straight through colossal trees in his path.

Swish, swish!

Moving at full speed, he soon spotted something black weaving through the grass and vines.

"Strange—my spiritual sense can’t lock onto it!"

Surprised, Xia Jiuxuan increased his speed again.

Whoosh!

Gripping the Dragonscale Spear, he dove toward the black shape.

Boom!

Spear intent erupted, the weapon flying straight for the creature’s back.

Clang!

Sparks flew in all directions!

To Xia Jiuxuan’s astonishment, his Dragonscale Spear bounced right off.

"What on earth is this thing, with such incredible defenses?"

He was certain—there was no such creature in his world!