“What on earth is that?” Lyra cried, voice cracking with terror. Legions of skeletons clawed their way out, eye sockets ablaze with spectral green ghostfire. Their joints grated together in a nerve-scraping chack-chack-chack.
Rust-pitted long swords and broken antique swords still hung In their bony hands, grim proof that these were the long-dead cultivators who once fell in the tomb of swords.
Driven by the surging marked aura, the skeletal tide moved with predatory speed. Waves of bloodlust rolled off them as they surged toward Jared.
“Jared!” Corin’s face drained of color. He raised his sword and sprang forward. He had barely taken a single step when an invisible shield blazed into being.
The tomb of swords’ dormant sword domain detonated, weaving a transparent bulwark that sealed Jared away from the outside world.
Corin’s longsword slammed against the shield, producing only a faint ripple. The rebound rattled his organs. Blood traced a bright line across his lip.
“This sword domain… It’s stronger than ever,” gasped, feeling the domain’s hostility multiply, as though the very valley rejected all intruders.
Ten Sword Sect disciples unleashed their strength together, sword energy whipping against the barrier, yet every arc rebounded, scattering sparks in the air like rejected prayers.
Flaxseed hurled a charm with all his might. The impact rang out like a bronze bell. The recoil hurled backward through the air. He hit the ground, numb-armed and cursing.
“F*ck! We can’t get through!” Flaxseed roared, panic flashing in his eyes.
Inside the enclosure, Jared stood alone, the skeletal horde closing in from every direction. His eyes snapped open, not with fear but with fierce, rising purpose.
The Swordmaster’s Scripture, which had just grasped with his sword intent, raced through his mind. He wrenched the Dragonslayer Sword from the earth, golden light flaring against the surrounding black marked aura.
“Good… Come closer!” growled, voice low and eager. Instead of retreating, Jared drove forward. meeting the tide head-on.
The Dragonslayer Sword cleaved the air, sketching a blistering arc of gold -the Dragon Soarer technique had once devised against Jayson. Yet this time the stroke carried not only the dragon’s power but the ancient sword intent of the tomb of swords itself.
A wet, ripping hiss tore through the gloom. The foremost dozen skeletons were caught In the light and exploded into a blizzard of bone shards.
More skeletons trampled the wreckage of their comrades, incapable of pain and immune to fear. Rusted weapons howled toward Jared’s vital points with merciless precision.
He danced between them, feet tracing an esoteric pattern that let slip through the skeletons like wind through reeds.
Abandoning defense, pushed the Swordmaster’s Scripture’s technique to its limit, drawing the black marked aura itself into his body.
“Urgh…” The sound escaped as the marked aura stabbed through his meridians like a thousand iron needles.
Cold sweat beaded across his brow, yet forced the torment down. Guided by will alone, herded the marked aura into the calm eye of his elixir field.
Under the steady rhythm of his sword intent, the raw power hidden within the marked aura peeled away, strand by strand, then seeped into Jared’s own spiritual energy.
Wandering Immortal Realm Level Eight… The barrier is shaking…
Jared was thrilled. Those skeletons had been born of that very marked aura, slaying them only thickened the marked aura they left behind. Hence, carved through the flood of skeletons, one hand guiding the sword, the other drawing the freed marked aura into himself. His movements quickened until the eye could scarcely follow.
The golden light from the Dragonslayer Sword intertwined with the black energy surrounding the marked aura, creating a scene that was both haunting and magnificent.
Amid the spray of powdered bone, Jared’s aura climbed, visibly stacking upon itself like storm clouds. Each swing shattered several dozen skeletons. Each breath of marked aura left his spiritual energy more compressed, more lethal.
Soon, the Dragon Soarer was no longerthe only sword technique used. Characters etched on the ancient stele came alive, spilling unseen sword shadows that guided his hands In ever-evolving arcs.
