At times, thrust with deceptive plainness-yet the blade curled through a thousand subtle turns, piercing the crania of several corpses at once. At other moments, his sword energy dropped like a mountain, cleaving whole skeletons to dust.
The sword intent, tempered by slaughter and marked aura, condensed into something fiercer, hinting at a breakthrough through the sword intent shield.
Outside the shield, Corin and the others stared, lips parted in disbelief. “Is cultivating by devouring marked aura?”
Lyra covered mouth in shock. “That’s impossible! Marked aura is pure negative energy. One misstep and goes off the deep end!”
A flash of realization crossed Corin’s eyes, and murmured, “Oh, right… His sword intent carries the dragon’s power-blazing, unyielding. It’s also positive energy. It can smother the marked aura and negative energy. And he’s deciphering the Swordmaster’s Scripture. Maybe the tomb of swords‘ malice is exactly the opportunity needs!”
The earth shook harder. From the deepest crevice, a giant skeleton, nearly thirty feet tall, hauled itself upright.
It wore ragged armor, gripped a rust-eaten greatsword, and the marked aura around it had thickened into visible coils, once, this had been a cultivator of terrifying cultivation.
With a bone-rattling roar, it raised that greatsword and brought it straight down toward Jared.
Jared looked up, a shard of ice flashing in his eyes. He drew a deep breath, the marked aura and his own spiritual energy were refined completely. The Dragonslayer Sword’s golden light then carried delicate threads of black markings along its edge.
“You’ll be the stepping-stone for my breakthrough…”
He sprang, man and blade merging into a streak of interwoven gold and black that shot straight for the skeleton’s greatsword.
A thunderous boom tore through the tomb.
The golden-black streak of light crashed against the rusted sword of the giant skeleton. Within the sword domain shield, the clash was deafening.
The Dragonslayer Sword’s golden light slammed against the rusted blade’s black energy, sparks erupting in every direction.
A torrent of force rammed back through the sword; Jared’s arms went numb. Without the fusion of the spiritual energy and marked aura inside him, that single hit would have torn the weapon from his hands.
What? Such brutal strength!
Jared was surprised.
Though nothing more than a skeleton, the giant moved with the martial arts imprint of a Top Level Earthly Immortal Realm. It pressed the rusted blade downward, the black energy coiled like adders, seeking to gnaw away the Dragonslayer Sword’s golden light.
Jared stamped down, shattering the skull of a skeleton beneath his boot.
The force launched into a mid-air twist, silk robes snapping as slipped past the giant skeleton’s rust-pitted sword before the blade could grind into the stone.
Spinning his wrist, slashed with the Dragonslayer Sword in a vicious arc that flickered like liquid sun. The tip punched straight between two ribs where the marked aura swirled thinnest, Jared had already marked that gap as the skeleton’s single soft spot.
A thin hiss tore the air. Golden light speared through bone. dragging a ribbon of black energy in its wake. Howling in pain, the towering skeleton swept its corroded sword sideways.
Jared’s toes kissed the ground, and drifted back like dandelion fluff on a breeze, the blow missing by inches. Steel met empty space and carved a trench several yards long, flinging shards of rock in every direction.
Can’t trade power for power with this one…
Jared judged the situation in an instant.
The giant skeleton’s brute strength dwarfed that of the regular skeletons, and the marked aura armoring its bones rendered ordinary strikes ineffective.
Yet Jared noticed the giant skeleton moved ponderously. Each swing tugged at the marked aura inside, making the green ghostfire in its eye sockets flare and gutter, there lay its rhythm, and its weakness.
Decision made in a heartbeat, refused any more straight-on clashes. His silhouette flickered through the tomb of swords, a ghost weaving between gravestones while the rusty blade chopped vainly at his heels.
In passing, the sword sliced through lesser skeletons, scattering ribs and femurs like dry leaves.
With every strike. the Dragonslayer Sword’s golden light made the bone dust fan outward, and the freed marked aura flowed toward Jared. sinking into as though the darkness recognized a new master.
A deep hum vibrated in his chest. The more refined the marked aura, the heavier and steadier his own aura became.
The dam holding at Wandering immortal Realm Level Eight began to splinter, hairline cracks spreading under the tide of fresh power.
