Chapter 438: Sword Duel

“Rumble…”

With a series of continuous booming sounds, the crimson light curtain trembled violently, splashing up waves like crashing waves against the shore.

Xiong Shan, standing beneath the giant waves, felt the sensation most directly and vividly.

He could clearly see the heavy water crashing against the light curtain, causing violent tremors, and could also distinctly feel the immense pressure brought by the overwhelming force.

On the crimson light curtain, huge depressions formed by the impact of heavy water were everywhere, and the golden dragon patterns on it flickered wildly. Although it had not been breached, it seemed it could not hold out much longer.

Xiong Shan frowned deeply, looked up at the Ten Thousand Swords Iron Token floating high in the air, and suddenly waved his hands. The token flew back and landed in his grasp.

He extended a finger, and with a flash of golden light at the fingertip, he cut a gash from which crimson blood gushed out.

Using his finger as a brush and his blood as ink, he quickly began to write on the iron token.

As his fingertip moved, a strange dark red rune soon appeared on the surface of the token.

Once the rune took shape, the original golden patterns on the token began to be tinged with a layer of red light, quickly turning blood-red, like blood vessels spreading across the entire token.

Holding the token with both hands, a resolute look flashed in Xiong Shan's eyes, and he pressed it against his chest like a breastplate.

Red and black light shone from his chest, and the Ten Thousand Swords Iron Token flashed and sank into his body, merging with him.

As the core of the entire grand formation, the Ten Thousand Swords Iron Token had left the altar, and the entire formation ceased to operate.

The crimson sea of fire beneath the floating altar receded in heat, the flames extinguished, gradually turning into a violently churning fiery cloud. The crimson light curtain in the sky above also dissipated with a soft “pop,” turning into a shower of red crystalline light.

The golden phantom in the sky vanished completely, but the flying swords drawn up by the formation did not fall back into the sword sea. They merely dispersed from their dragon form, still held by an invisible force, suspended motionless in the void.

The black waterfall in the sky, originally a phantom created by Han Li's “Dharma Word Heaven and Earth” technique, also disappeared with it, and the entire sky returned to calm.

With no flying swords blocking him and no fire dragons harassing him, Han Li shot straight up and, with a few flashes, landed on the floating altar.

His gaze swept over, and he saw Xiong Shan covered from head to toe in a layer of black scale armor, with a dense, shadowy blood light swimming around him, his aura changing accordingly.

That blood light was none other than strands of extremely pure, condensed sword qi, so sharp that it tore the surrounding void to shreds, and even the golden ripples from Han Li's True Word Wheel could not penetrate it.

“Such a precious sword cultivator treasure, and you use it in such a base manner—don't you think it's a waste?” Han Li shook his head slightly and said with some regret.

“No matter, it only consumes some of the stored ancient sword qi. As long as I can kill you, it's not a loss,” Xiong Shan said as he stepped forward, reached out with one hand, spread and then closed his fingers, and grasped the golden longsword floating at the center of the altar.

As the flying sword entered his hand, the red patterns on his black armor suddenly brightened, and the blurry blood light around him immediately spread down, wrapping around his lifebound flying sword.

Xiong Shan's cultivation level still remained at the late True Immortal stage, but his overall aura had completely changed. Standing there without any offensive posture, he was like a rare immortal weapon, sharp and exposed.

Seeing this, Han Li's pupils contracted slightly, but quickly returned to normal.

“Actually, there is one thing I don't understand. How were you able to control my Thousand Peaks Spirit Gathering Sword Formation back then? Could it be that you are also a collateral descendant of the Wusheng Sword Sect?” Xiong Shan, having gained the upper hand in momentum, did not rush to attack but instead slowly asked.

“Hasn't the Wusheng Sword Sect vanished without a trace for a million years? How could there still be collateral descendants?” Han Li raised an eyebrow and asked in confusion.

“So you're not one... No matter, you are still worthy of fighting me,” Xiong Shan sighed with some regret.

With that, he tapped the ground with his toe, shot forward, and thrust his longsword straight at Han Li.

Han Li's eyes flickered, and he floated up, retreating to the edge of the altar without stopping. He tapped the railing with his toe and continued to leap backward.

A dark red light flashed on Xiong Shan's longsword, and a blood-colored sword light shot out from the tip, instantly piercing through a hundred zhang of void, reaching within a few feet of Han Li's chest before being blocked by the golden ripples from the True Word Wheel, slowing its momentum.

Han Li took the opportunity to flicker and retreat another few zhang before stopping.

He looked with lingering fear at the gradually dissipating blood-colored sword light. If he hadn't pulled away in time, the speed of that sword strike would have been enough to negate the slowing effect of the True Word Wheel and pierce his chest.

“If only all the time patterns were still there…”

As he thought, Han Li swooped downward toward the countless flying swords suspended in midair.

But before he reached the Green Bamboo蜂 Cloud Swords, a fierce sword qi suddenly attacked from behind, sending a chill down his spine.

He quickly reversed the True Word Wheel, shifting his body to the right in the void to dodge the sword light.

With a “whoosh,”

the blood-red sword light shot past his side, piercing into the dense formation of flying swords. With a sharp ring, dozens of flying swords were struck by the sword light and shattered into pieces.

Taking this opportunity, Han Li flickered and finally reached the seventy-two Green Bamboo蜂 Cloud Swords.

He reached out and grabbed one, pulling hard, but was surprised to find that the flying sword was bound by a powerful force and did not budge.

As he was astonished, a figure flashed behind him—Xiong Shan had caught up and raised his sword to slash down fiercely.

Han Li ignored the threat behind him, keeping his hand tightly on the sword hilt. With a thought, he separated a strand of divine sense and infused it into the sword body.

The longsword in his hand trembled violently, letting out a clear sword cry, as if it had reconnected with Han Li's mind, seeming extremely joyful.

At the same time, a longsword wrapped in blood-colored sword light slashed toward the back of his neck.

On the True Word Wheel behind him, the remaining dozen or so time patterns shone brightly, and the golden ripples they emitted condensed slightly, protecting his back.

However, against the longsword wrapped in ancient sword qi, the slowing effect of the True Word Wheel was greatly reduced, only slightly delaying the fall of the blade, not enough for Han Li to dodge.

At the critical moment, a black light flashed swiftly, transforming into a huge black wheel that blocked Xiong Shan's sword like a shield.

With a sharp “clang,”

Xiong Shan's longsword directly broke through the black light outside the Heavy Water True Wheel and struck the wheel body itself.

The Heavy Water True Wheel trembled violently, and the large mass of black light gathered on it was shredded by the dark red sword light shooting from the blade, leaving a deep sword mark on the surface.

Han Li's mind was connected to the Heavy Water True Wheel, so he naturally felt the power of that strike, and his mind shook.

He pulled out the Green Bamboo蜂 Cloud Sword, blue light flickered in his eyes, and a sharp pain shot through his mind as seventy-one strands of divine sense separated simultaneously, connecting with the remaining flying swords.

At this moment, Xiong Shan had already flickered around the Heavy Water True Wheel and appeared to Han Li's right, slashing his sword horizontally.

This time, Han Li did not dodge but instead moved forward, swinging his Green Bamboo蜂 Cloud Sword down at Xiong Shan.

The two sword edges crossed, and a layer of blurry dark red sword light first exploded from Xiong Shan's lifebound flying sword, followed by a burst of golden electric light from the Green Bamboo蜂 Cloud Sword.

The dark red sword light shot past just above Han Li's sleeve, shredding the fabric on his sword hand and leaving deep marks on his arm.

Fortunately, the True Extreme Membrane on Han Li's body was not cut, so he was not injured.

However, the sword qi attached to the sword light was highly penetrating, scraping against his arm like scraping bone, causing even his eyebrows to twitch involuntarily.

Enduring the sharp pain, Han Li waved his other hand forward, and the Heavy Water True Wheel behind him immediately shrank to the size of a round shield, spinning and rushing toward Xiong Shan.

Xiong Shan's arm armor flashed with black light, just dispersing the Evil-Dispelling Divine Thunder released by the Green Bamboo蜂 Cloud Sword, and then he quickly raised his arm to block the sword blade in front of him.

The Heavy Water True Wheel slammed into Xiong Shan's longsword, spinning continuously, causing Xiong Shan's body to tremble and retreat over ten zhang.

“Clang, clang, clang,”

a series of grating sharp sounds came from under the Heavy Water True Wheel.

At the same time, Han Li's eyes suddenly focused, and he formed a sword seal with one hand, pointing two fingers forward.

“Go!”

With his command, the remaining seventy-one Green Bamboo蜂 Cloud Swords in the sword formation let out clear, pleasant sword cries, flying out together with the sword in Han Li's hand, tracing a green arc through the air, and shooting toward Xiong Shan simultaneously.

As the flying swords sped, countless green sword lights interlaced and appeared, converging in midair into a massive, misty green light sphere.

As it neared Xiong Shan, a loud, clear dragon roar emerged from the green light sphere, resounding through the sky.

With a boom, the massive light sphere shattered, and a green, emerald-scaled azure dragon burst out, opening its bloody mouth wide and swallowing Xiong Shan.

Seeing this, Han Li reversed the True Word Wheel, recalled the Heavy Water True Wheel with one hand, and flashed forward in pursuit.

His speed was now much faster than the Azure Dragon Sword Formation, and as he reached the dragon's head, he looked closely and couldn't help but show a surprised expression.

Xiong Shan stood calmly in the dragon's mouth, surrounded by hundreds of dense sword lights pinning him down. The black armor on his body flickered with dark red light, and he had not suffered any damage at all.