Chapter 286: Demon Night
Within seconds of facing the sword intents released by the low-grade mysterious weapons, the Streamer Sword in Zen's hand flashed brilliant silver lights. In the next instant, the sword intents were smashed to pieces.
Zen continued to walk after breaking the sword intents.
Now he faced the sword intents released by middle-grade mysterious weapons. The sword intents from middle-grade weapons were more powerful than those of low-grade mysterious weapons.
Regardless, Zen's sword intent destroyed the sword intents from the middle-grade weapons.
Zen walked briskly on the road leading to the mountain. The sword intents from the mysterious weapons had failed to block Zen's way.
Every time Zen smashed the sword intent from a sword, the sword would immediately become obedient. It would stop vibrating and emit dots of light that resembled fireflies. These dots of light would then rush into Zen's body.
At first, Zen tried to avoid the light dots. But when he found that there was no escape and that they posed no threat to him, he gave up dodging them.
“What are these light dots?” Zen asked.
“Haha. These light dots are the spirits of the swords. The swords have spirits hidden in them. They are the embryos of the sword beasts. But the low-grade mysterious weapons and middle-grade mysterious weapons contain only a few sword spirits. You can accumulate them little by little. When you get enough sword spirits, your sword will cultivate a sword beast.” The cyan dragon clarified.
So that explained it!
The more sword intents he killed, the larger the number of sword spirits he would accumulate.
The Killing Sword Mountain was not very big. Within a short while, Zen had smashed the sword intents from numerous low-grade and middle-grade mysterious weapons. When he reached the foot of the mountain, Zen encountered high-grade mysterious weapons.
The sword intents from high-grade mysterious weapons were easy to destroy despite being stronger and sharper than the previous sword intents he had encountered.
As Zen strode forward, the Streamer Sword in his hand glowed like a silver-white ribbon, strangling and slashing sword intents around him.
“Buzzzz...”
“Buzzzz....”
As sword intents were smashed one by one, swords fell by Zen's feet, and colorful sword spirits dashed toward him.
As Zen walked past the foot of the mountain, he crossed the region with low-grade spiritual weapons and reached the range of high-grade spiritual weapons. He was nearing the mountainside now.
“The Killing Sword Mountain is not as difficult to conquer as it seems,” Zen said as he looked at the mountainside that he was approaching.
Hearing Zen's words, the cyan dragon realized that he had probably given Zen too much hope. He chuckled and said, “Yes, it's easy because of your abilities. The owners of these swords were at least at the level of consummate sword intent. You have an advantage as your sword intent is more consummate and stronger than their sword intents, and relatively, you will feel easier when climbing the mountain. However, as strong and sharp as your sword intent may be, you are able to climb to the halfway up the mountain at best. This is your first time climbing the Killing Sword Mountain, and your performance is not bad so far.”
Not bad...
As the cyan dragon's comment sank in, Zen realized that his achievement was only slightly above average.
But Zen didn't plan to stop and stick his sword into the ground there. He needed to challenge his limit, and see how far he could go with his sword.
“Buzzz...”
The moment he climbed on the mountainside, a treasured sword suddenly soared toward him with a sharp noise.
“Is it a fairy weapon?” Zen gazed at the purplish-blue treasured sword not far from him. The handle of the sword was carved with a fairy texture. It appeared to be a low-grade fairy weapon.
Zen expected the purplish-blue sword to emit sword intent like the other swords he had encountered before. But soon he found that he was wrong.
A shadow of a purple-haired girl popped out from the fairy weapon. The girl was extraordinarily beautiful, but she had no corporal body. She was ethereal, like a soul. She stretched her arm, and the purplish-blue sword flew to her hand. In the next instant, she swung the longsword at Zen.
“Ah... What's this? Do souls exist on the Killing Sword Mountain?” Zen asked in confusion.
“It is not a soul, but a fully-grown being of a sword spirit. You can get more sword spirits if you kill her,” The cyan dragon replied.
Zen examined the girl carefully. The shadow of the purple-haired girl looked lifeless, and her expression was blank. If it were a human soul, it would be the same as the souls of any human being in the world. It should have shown some emotions. Since the shadow didn't display any emotions, it was not a soul. As the cyan dragon indicated, she was the spirit of the sword.
“Smash!”
Three quick tinkling sounds reverberated through the mountainside.
Zen tested the shadow's swordsmanship by striking her with his sword thrice. Unexpectedly, the purple-haired girl showed extraordinary swordsmanship by easily deflecting all three blows.
Moreover, after she blocked Zen's attack, she swung her sword at Zen. She was returning the attacks!
The purple-haired girl's subtle sword techniques were unfathomable. Although the sword intent released from her sword was no match for Zen's sword intent, he realized that he had to take her seriously.
“Circle Parry, Lift up Sword, Chop!”
Zen lunged at his target with three basic swordsmanship moves. They were simple movements, but they contained deep sword laws.
A metallic tinkling sound was heard.
Within the first two movements, Zen had managed to disarm the purple-haired girl. His last move broke her sword.
After the purple-haired girl turned to pieces, her sword returned to its original place on the ground. The purple light spots released from the girl's body flew into Zen's body.
The sword spirits contained in the fairy weapon were tens of times more than those in spiritual weapons.
Zen's Streamer Sword was also a low-grade fairy weapon, but Zen had failed to condense sword spirit in his sword. And it was more unlikely for him to be able to condense human-shaped sword spirit. Zen assumed that the owner of the purplish-blue treasured sword must be someone very special.
He stood still for a moment and gazed at the purple sword. Then Zen strode forward and continued his journey.
When he began to encounter more fairy weapons, Zen felt more challenged.
Those who could own a fairy weapon must match if not exceed Zen's level. So the means they employed in fighting were not limited to sword intent only.
For example, the purple-haired girl conjured from the purplish-blue sword was a signal for more challenging battles. Just like the purple-haired girl, Zen encountered numerous strange sword spirits in later battles.
There were ferocious tigers, pythons, crocodiles, and even dragons, as many forms of sword intent as one could imagine.
As it became more difficult to kill sword intents, Zen had to work harder to deal with them. When he encountered low-grade fairy weapons, it only took about three strikes for Zen to kill them. For middle-grade fairy weapons, it took him over ten hits. Some sword intents were so powerful that it would take dozens of attacks. Thus his pace in climbing the mountain slowed.
“Do you feel the difficulty levels increasing?” The cyan dragon smiled. “It is only going to get more challenging as you ascend. But you have already done a good job reaching the halfway point of the mountain. If you insert your sword into the mountainside, you will be connected with the Killing Sword Mountain. That will benefit you a lot.”
“Insert the sword into the mountainside?” Zen raised his head and looked ahead. Several mountain ridges stood proudly behind the mountainside. And the swords on the ridges were all sacred weapons. The masters who had owned these sacred weapons far exceeded Zen in terms of strength. Given Zen's current power, he was like a little ant in front of those masters and could easily be tramped to death.
“I'm going to insert my sword on the ridges!” Zen announced firmly as he had made up his mind.
The higher the sword was placed on the mountain, the closer his connection to the Killing Sword Mountain would be, and the more benefits he would get. Anyone who took the challenge had hoped that they could insert their swords at a higher place.
“The ridges? Haha…” The cyan dragon laughed and then said, “It is impossible. With your current strength, you would barely cross the halfway point of the mountain. The sword intents in high-grade fairy weapons are already stronger than you. And the ridges are where the sacred weapons stand. You are not a match to the masters who own the sacred weapons.”
“Let me try,” Zen's unyielding spirit motivated him to aim higher!
“Okay, go ahead!” The cyan dragon had expected Zen to be persistent. He had been in Zen's mind for so long. Although most of the time he was dormant, from his observation, the cyan dragon had a fair understanding of Zen's traits and qualities. Zen's decision to pursue martial arts was as firm as a rock, and his determination surpassed that of average people.
But in this world, only real strength mattered. No matter how strong one's heart was, reality would show a person how cruel life could be.
Moreover, the rules of the Killing Sword Mountain were very rigid. The cyan dragon was forbidden from helping. Therefore, Zen could only rely on himself.
In such a case, how was Zen supposed to cross the range of fairy weapons and climb up to the ridges?
“Huh! There is a low-grade mysterious weapon!” Zen's eyes brightened as he found a low-grade mysterious weapon on the mountainside. The hilt of the sword was very common and in a style similar to that of a standard military longsword. It didn't appear special.
However, two words, “Demon Night” were carved on the hilt.
“Look at this. Now explain to me why it is impossible for me to reach the ridges? Someone inserted a low-grade mysterious weapon on the mountainside!” Zen said while pointing at the low-grade treasured sword.
It stood out among the fairy weapons around it.
The cyan dragon was also very surprised. He smiled and said, “Oh, it is from the Demon Night. It's no wonder that they can insert a low-grade mysterious weapon here on the mountainside.”
“The Demon Night?” Zen asked curiously. He didn't know what the name on the hilt stood for.
“The people from the Demon Night are different from humans. It would be fair to say that this race surpasses most of the species. They are the group with the most horrible strength! It is said that the children from Demon Night race begin cultivating while they are in their mother's womb. That way, when they are born, even though they are newborn babies, these children are full-blooded and with strength equivalent to humans at nature level. In other words, they are born as nature creatures.” The cyan dragon smiled lightly.
“Born as nature creatures…” Zen gasped in astonishment.
Countless human warriors practiced martial arts for decades and stubbornly overcame all challenges regardless of cost to them, with the purpose of entering the natural level. Zen didn't expect that such a species existed where babies were born at the nature creature level!
This was so unfair!
No wonder that the swordsman from the Demon Night was able to insert a low-grade mysterious weapon into the mountainside. They were indeed a species that could do wonders beyond anyone's imagination.