Chapter 212: Breaking Through the Sky

These pure sword essences, stripped of their original owners' imprints, were like the finest nourishment for flying swords—not only extremely nutritious but also easily digestible.

In an instant, like moths darting into a flame, most of these sword essences were absorbed by the seventy-two Azure Bamboo Cloudswarm Swords.

All the flying swords trembled violently, emitting sharp whistling sounds as if they were uttering cries of utmost pleasure.

The sword formation, completely reversed by the Azure Bamboo Cloudswarm Swords, had now spiraled out of control. The remaining flying swords, whose imprints had not yet been erased, seemed encouraged and began to struggle wildly once more.

“You useless lot, why aren’t you subduing these flying swords? What are you waiting for?” Xiong Shan roared, his eyes nearly spitting fire at the sight.

Except for a few elders who were controlling the flying swords in the remaining areas, the other inner sect elders all cast their techniques simultaneously, attempting to block the surging tide of swords that poured endlessly toward the vortex.

However, these formations had originally been designed to handle the agitation of only a few flying swords. Now, with nearly all the swords in revolt, everyone was thrown into a fluster, unable to cope.

“Fellow Daoist Moye, please lend me a hand, and I will repay you handsomely!”

Xiong Shan let out a great shout, gritted his teeth, and suddenly formed a sword seal with his hand, pointing it skyward.

A sharp clang rang out.

The golden longsword originally thrust into the high platform immediately burst into brilliant golden light, tore itself from the ground, and, with a twist of its blade, shot rapidly toward them.

The moment the sword left the altar, the entire grand formation ceased to operate, and the漫天 sword shadows and light screens vanished.

After a slight hesitation, Moye reached out with both hands and suddenly beckoned toward the sky.

“Zzzz…” A crackling sound of electric currents arose.

A dozen or so pitch-black flying swords flew out from the void, each wrapped in black lightning, and shot into the tide of swords, interlinking with one another.

At that moment, the absorption of sword essences by the Azure Bamboo Cloudswarm Swords was nearing its end.

With a thunderous boom!

A colossal golden lightning pillar, over ten zhang thick and a thousand zhang tall, rose from the azure vortex, piercing straight into the sky like a divine spear of the thunder god.

Rumble…

A series of earth-shattering explosions echoed in the high sky. The layers of restrictions covering the entire Sword Grave Grassland were torn apart, revealing a deep, enormous void above everyone's heads.

It looked as if the entire firmament had been punched through, leaving a gaping hole.

The lightning spear appeared only for a fleeting moment before its golden light shattered, scattering into specks of golden light.

Yet the seventy-two Azure Bamboo Cloudswarm Swords remained undiminished in lightning. Dense golden electric threads interlinked and intertwined, gathering together and merging into a single azure giant sword over ten zhang long amidst a blaze of dazzling electric light.

As soon as the giant sword took shape, it turned its blade, pointing directly at the massive void in the sky. Its body flashed with azure light, stirring ripples of void, as if it were about to flee into it.

But at that moment, a piercing sound of tearing air suddenly rang out, stabbing everyone's eardrums with sharp pain. Some disciples at the Fusion stage could not withstand it; blood seeped from their ears, and they fainted.

“Stay right there!” Xiong Shan bellowed.

The next moment, a colossal golden sword shadow tore through the air and slashed down toward the azure giant sword.

A deafening clang resounded!

The golden sword shadow and the azure giant sword clashed at the edges, unleashing a violent, raging wave.

A golden light wave burst forth from the point of impact in the high sky, sweeping outward in all directions.

Everyone felt a wave pass over their heads. Looking up, they saw a distinct fault line across the entire sky—not a tear in the void, but a cut through the clouds, sword qi, and even floating dust, all cleaved apart by that golden light wave.

The dozen or so black lightning-wreathed swords that had followed Xiong Shan's lifebound flying sword were unfortunately caught in the path of the light wave. They were swept away, sent back in disgrace.

Moye, as the owner of those swords, naturally suffered a considerable shock. He quickly waved his hand, recalling his flying swords, a cold glint flashing in his eyes as he completely withdrew to the sidelines.

At that moment, a crisp cracking sound clearly reached everyone's ears from above.

The golden sword shadow suddenly split from the middle and then collapsed. A broken golden flying sword, its spiritual light extinguished, fell from the sky.

At the same time, a sharp tearing sound came as the azure giant sword plunged directly into the void in the sky, vanishing without a trace in the blink of an eye.

Xiong Shan spat out a mouthful of blood, reached out to retrieve the two broken halves of his sword, and stared at them, his eyes bloodshot.

All the elders and disciples saw this and flew over to him, but none dared to speak. Even Moye merely frowned and remained silent.

Han Li, who had fallen slightly behind the others, quietly steadied the surging qi in his body. The power of that sword strike was extraordinary; even though most of it had been offset by the vast sword essence absorbed by the Azure Bamboo Cloudswarm Swords, he had still inevitably suffered impact and shock.

“Northeast direction… why aren’t you pursuing?” Xiong Shan, at the peak of his fury, ground out the words through clenched teeth.

With his lifebound flying sword destroyed and his vitality severely damaged, he needed to go into seclusion immediately to stabilize his injuries, or his cultivation might be greatly affected.

Hearing this, the others immediately moved to give chase.

“Wait—northwest… no, southwest…” Xiong Shan suddenly called them back, his expression shifting repeatedly.

“Fellow Daoist Xiong, what’s wrong?” Moye couldn’t help asking, and the other elders also looked bewildered.

“Not good! The last trace of connection I had with those flying swords is completely severed,” Xiong Shan said coldly, glancing at him.

Xiong Shan turned back to look at the devastated Sword Grave Grassland, at the fewer than three hundred flying swords remaining, and a towering rage flared in his eyes.

He raised his arm, and his wide sleeve billowed without wind, rustling loudly, then he swung it down fiercely.

The three hundred-odd flying swords were immediately caught by a tremendous force, arcing through the air before raining down onto the ground like a storm.

“Boom, boom, boom…”

A series of explosions rang out as the three hundred-odd flying swords all struck the ground, their blades buried beneath the surface, leaving only the hilts exposed.

Everyone present could clearly feel Xiong Shan’s fury. Without his instructions, they dared not act rashly, trembling in fear, not uttering a single word.

As for Zhufeng, who had been responsible for the Azure Bamboo Cloudswarm Swords, he was already pale with terror, trembling uncontrollably.

After all, he was merely an inner sect elder. If Xiong Shan, the vice sect master, wanted to kill him in his rage to vent his anger, he would surely die. Even if the sect investigated afterward, it would mean nothing to him.

Xiong Shan’s gaze slowly swept across the faces of the crowd.

Though he was furious, he had not lost his reason.

He knew that the Thousand-Edge Spirit-Gathering Sword Formation would not reverse itself for no reason. Someone must have tampered with it, and that person was very likely among the ten elders before him.

Zhufeng, who was in charge of the seventy-two flying swords, was highly suspicious, but he was not Xiong Shan’s primary suspect.

In his view, the most suspicious person was Moye, who had volunteered to observe the sword formation.

After all, such an extremely complex formation was something even he could not fully control. If anyone among those present had the ability to reverse it, it would undoubtedly be Moye, whose cultivation was nearly on par with his own.

“Vice Sect Master Xiong, you’re not suspecting me, are you? Apart from when you called me to act, I stood still the entire time, not even emitting a single breath. If I had tampered with anything, how could you have been completely unaware?” Moye seemed to read the suspicion in Xiong Shan’s eyes and said loudly.

“Fellow Daoist Mo, there’s no need for that. I never said such a thing,” Xiong Shan snorted coldly and said flatly.

Suspicion was one thing, but without evidence, it meant nothing. He had never been reckless; otherwise, he would not have attained his current position as vice sect master.

“It seems Vice Sect Master Xiong has much to attend to today. I won’t disturb you further. I’ll come another day to collect what I lent. Farewell!” Moye said slowly.

Xiong Shan said nothing more. He raised a hand and cast several spells toward a spot in the void, where ripples appeared and a white light several zhang in size emerged.

Moye gave a slight bow to Xiong Shan, then flickered and vanished into the white light.

Xiong Shan watched until Moye’s figure completely disappeared into the white light, then withdrew his gaze and swept it again over the ten people, including Han Li, his eyes as cold as frost, his expression as dark as water.

The atmosphere froze. Everyone remained silent, not daring to make a sound.

Han Li, like the others, kept his head slightly lowered, avoiding Xiong Shan’s gaze.

“Elder Zhufeng, have you nothing to say?” After a long while, Xiong Shan’s gaze finally settled on Zhufeng.

“Sect Master Xiong, this… I… it’s not…” Zhufeng’s heart leaped, and he stammered for a long time without producing a coherent sentence.

Xiong Shan silently probed the entire forbidden area with his divine sense but still found no trace of evidence. Finally, he said:

“I said earlier that if anyone let me down, don’t blame me for being ruthless. Since Elder Zhufeng has caused such a huge blunder, it’s only right that you compensate for it.”

“Sect Master Xiong, how… how should I compensate?” Zhufeng looked up slightly at Xiong Shan, drenched in cold sweat.

“My losses are so great that even if you emptied your entire fortune, you couldn’t cover them. But I’m not that heartless. You’ll pay with six thousand merit points and three hundred immortal spirit stones,” Xiong Shan said coldly, his tone brooking no dissent.

Hearing this, Zhufeng’s body went limp, and he nearly collapsed to the ground.

This compensation was far more than his entire current wealth. Having to produce so much at once was even harder to accept than losing his life.

But hard as it was, he had no choice but to accept it.

The others present clicked their tongues in amazement, cursing Xiong Shan’s ruthlessness inwardly while thanking their stars that they were not the unlucky Zhufeng.