Chapter 256: Hunyuan Sword Qi

The intense clash ceased instantly when the Golden Core elder from the Hunyuan Sword Sect appeared, causing Yan Ming and the others to change expressions dramatically. They never expected that the people from the Hunyuan Sword Sect could detect their location so quickly.
Especially with the overwhelming presence of the Qianli Sword Sect, those present felt disheartened—since he had already arrived, what hope did they still have?
The so-called treasure hunt, all their efforts, seemed to turn into a joke in an instant…
Golden Core late stage and Golden Core supreme perfection might seem similar at first glance, but in actual combat, just the Qianli Sword Sect alone could eliminate each of these treasure hunters one by one. There was no way to resist; only those with good luck might escape.
Inside the palace gate, Su Che also became tense immediately. Earlier, when fighting against Yan Ming and the others, he still had a chance to hold on thanks to his relentless Destruction Fists. But against this top-tier cultivator from the Hunyuan Sword Sect, he had no confidence in withstanding even a full-powered strike.
The master Xuanji’s full-power strike could instantly kill someone at Golden Core mid stage, so this cultivator from the Hunyuan Sword Sect’s attack power would only be higher, not lower—after all, sword cultivators always had the strongest attack power.
Inside and outside the palace, the atmosphere froze as if the Hunyuan Sword Sect had used some invisible paralyzing technique, locking everyone in place—unable to move or speak, filled only with shock and fear.
At that moment, the Qianli Sword Sect’s gaze passed over Su Che and landed on Shui Yue, who was receiving the sect’s inheritance inside the palace. He was slightly surprised but quickly understood everything.
“Sect inheritance? A Water Spirit Body?”
The Qianli Sword Sect’s piercing gaze, like the celestial sword within him, could see through everything in an instant.
Clearly, to receive the inheritance from the Tianya Hai Pavilion, one needed the innateinnate talent of a Water Spirit Body. If that were all, it wouldn’t pose a challenge to a super sect like the Hunyuan Sword Sect.
The rarest celestial spirit roots in the world could be found in large numbers by the Hunyuan Sword Sect, let alone innate spirit bodies. It was estimated that there were at least dozens of such bodies within their vast sect.
This meant the Hunyuan Sword Sect could easily assign any disciple to receive the inheritance—so why let it fall into the hands of outsiders? After all, Tianyuan Sea was also part of Hunyuan’s territory.
Thus, the Qianli Sword Sect wasted no time. With a swift motion, a fierce silver-white sword qi shot toward the palace gate.

In his opinion, Su Che, who was only at the early stage of the Golden Core realm, surely couldn’t withstand this strike. Whether he avoided it or was split in two, the remaining sword energy could still disrupt the inheritance ritual of the woman in the hall. Though it seemed like a casual strike, Su Che had to go all out to defend himself, because once one’s cultivation reached the level of the Sword Sect, others would never be able to tell how much strength he had put into that strike. The Star Emperor Compass, which had been under his feet the whole time, immediately unleashed its strongest defense. The entire area darkened as if an endless night sky suddenly covered it, followed by the emergence of specks of starlight that quickly circled around Su Che. The defensive effect of the Star Emperor Compass was dreamlike and stunning, but it was unknown whether it could block this Hunyuan Sword Energy. Whoosh! The dreamy starry night sky was mercilessly torn apart by a streak of silver lightning, which continued to fly toward Su Che. Although it had penetrated the night sky, its power had greatly diminished. Su Che threw a punch, countering with an attack of his own to break through the fierce onslaught of the sword energy. He could only endure, not avoid—because Shui Yue was inside the main hall, undergoing the inheritance, and it must not be interrupted. Snake Woman Ye Lan summoned a precious magic shield to protect Su Che, while the Nether Ghost Emperor stepped forward, serving not only as a living shield but also, together with the Fire Crow, casting spells to attack the small silver-white sword energy head-on. Boom! First, Su Che’s Destruction Fist collided with the sword energy but failed to counter it, allowing it to pass through. Whoosh! Whoosh! The giant hand transformed by the Ghost Emperor and the rocket fired by the Fire Crow were also pierced by the three-foot-long sword energy. With a pop, the Nether Ghost Emperor was penetrated by the sword energy, his entire body shattered by the terrifying force surrounding it. Bang! The last barrier, the precious magic shield in front of Su Che, also shattered instantly, with a large hole torn through it, rendering it almost useless. All these attempts to block it only reduced its size slightly, leaving it just over a foot long. Though this process seemed slow when broken down, it actually happened in an instant. In fact, Su Che’s reaction speed wasn’t fast enough to determine how much energy the sword energy still had left; he simply relied on intuition and confidence to decide: I can block it! Boom! His true energy was activated, causing the outer robes to explode, while the supreme precious robe hidden beneath took on its protective role. A golden “Xuan” character emitted from the robe, instantly enveloping the sword energy over a foot long. Then, the “Xuan” character rotated, crushing the sword energy, and together they turned into golden and silver starlight, floating away in the air.

Su Che was unharmed, but his expression changed drastically. That casual strike from the Hunyuan Sword Sect required him to use every trick at his disposal just to defend against it. If they attacked with full force, he would surely not be able to withstand it—probably not even have a chance!
“So powerful!”
Su Che immediately realized that the attack power of the Hunyuan Sword Sect must exceed that of his master, Venerable Xuanji. Of course, this didn’t mean his overall strength was greater than his master’s—combat at their level couldn’t be won just by having a stronger attack.
But when facing this sword sect, he could only rely on a brute-force strategy, as he needed to block the palace door and couldn’t dodge, which meant using his own weaknesses against the enemy’s strengths…
Swish!
The shattered body of the Nether Ghost Emperor reappeared in front of Su Che. Penetrating attacks like sword energy were hard to completely destroy a ghostly body. The Nether Ghost Emperor wasn’t dead, nor even injured—only his inner ghost energy had been greatly depleted.
An idea flashed through Su Che’s mind as he rapidly thought of ways to resolve the crisis. He had thought the Hunyuan Sword Sect would attack again, but unexpectedly…
The Qianli Sword Sect showed surprise and asked in a deep voice, “Could that Tianyu from Tianxuan Sect be you?”
“That’s right,” Su Che nodded in response.
His status as the chief disciple had already been revealed, so there was no need to deny it anymore.
The news of Tianxuan Sect producing its chief disciple had spread throughout all the major sects in the cultivation world. Moreover, Su Che’s remarkable achievement of achieving the Dan stage at just twenty years old had taken away the title of ‘Number One Genius’ from Tianyin of the Wuji Sect.
The Hunyuan Sword Sect was the closest super sect to Tianxuan Sect, and the two sects had an extremely friendly relationship, almost like brotherly sects. How could the Qianli Sword Sect not know the name ‘Tianyu’?
“It’s him after all.” The Qianli Sword Sect member frowned slightly, secretly relieved: “Fortunately, this kid is quite strong and managed to block that sword energy just now. If I killed Tianxuan Sect’s chief disciple, their five Yuan Ying ancestors would surely come for me—even their sect leader couldn’t protect me…”
This made the situation much more complicated; but for Su Che, it was definitely advantageous.
Seeing his thoughtful expression, Su Che couldn’t help but realize that this terrifyingly powerful sword sect member was cautious about his identity. So he took the opportunity to bow and ask, “I didn’t have the chance to greet you earlier, uncle. May I ask which uncle from the Hunyuan Sword Sect you are?”
“Hao Sword Sect, Qianli,” the Qianli Sword Sect member replied with his sect name, then asked in return, “How come disciple Tianyu is here?”

Su Che then recounted how he had unlocked the ruins, of course, also to buy time. How could the Qianli Sword Sect fail to see his intentions? Yet, they blocked the door to the hall and refused to move aside—after all, they couldn’t really kill him. The explorers like Yan Ming standing nearby, upon hearing that Su Che was actually the top disciple of the Tianxuan Sect, lost all hope: these were all highly prestigious figures; how could they, coming from minor sects, compete with them? The biggest problem was that Yan Ming and the others were not true independent cultivators but gold-core elders from large or medium-sized sects. If they harmed Su Che, it would mean completely offending the Tianxuan Sect, likely bringing catastrophic disaster to their own sects. You can run from the monk, but not from the temple! Just like the Tianya Hai Ge before them, their own sect could also turn into ruins overnight, waiting for others to explore and exploit it… Su Che talked on at length, while the light column surrounding Shuiyue behind him gradually dimmed—clearly, the inheritance ritual was coming to an end. At that moment, in the secret chamber of the underground treasure vault of the treasure hall, Mad Long laughed twice, snapped his fingers, and said, “The last barrier—open it now!” Wu Ya and Li Xue standing nearby also stared at the two doors with excitement, filled with anticipation… Who knew how many treasures awaited them inside the vault… Whoosh! The two stone doors glowed, but they didn’t open. “How is this possible…” Mad Long’s mouth hung open, his eyes bulging in disbelief. Not only hadn’t the vault doors opened, but after breaking one seal, another one had appeared—one that seemed even more complex than the previous one. “How can this be? How is this possible?” Mad Long was stunned, muttering in confusion. As an expert in seals, he surely knew that such a change in the vault doors meant there was still a guardian or controller somewhere. Seeing him break the seal, “he” hiding in the shadows had set another seal on the doors. But the Tianya Hai Ge had been silent for 70,000 years—how could there still be living people? How could there still be guardians? That was what confused Mad Long the most. “Who?” Mad Long spun in place, shouting loudly, “Who’s hiding in the shadows? If you’ve got guts, come out! What’s the point of hiding?”

Wu Ya and Li Xue were filled with surprise, thinking, “This Lun Madman failed to break through the restrictions—he can’t really be insane, right?” They had no idea that the inheritance ceremony inside the sect’s main hall had already been completed, and the Sky’s End Pavilion now had a new master. All the restrictions and formations would be reactivated. If they had arrived a little earlier, it’s possible Lun Madman would have successfully broken in and opened the treasure vault. Lun Madman shouted loudly but received no response. He tried his best to calm himself down, his fierce gaze once again fixed on the two massive doors. “If you can set them, I can break them. For this lifetime, Grandpa will fight you to the end!” Thus, this mad master of restrictions devoted himself wholeheartedly to the restrictions before him. Wu Ya and Li Xue exchanged glances but still dared not disturb Lun Madman. Their skills in restrictions were far inferior, so they couldn’t offer much help. So, the two of them could only use their spiritual senses to carefully search for that non-existent “sneaky culprit” mentioned by Lun Madman.