The Taicang Mountain Range were utterly silent.
At the Peak, Absolute Sword Immortal stood with his hands behind his back, allowing the mountain winds to ruffle his robes and white hair. His eyes were slightly closed, as if he were feigning sleep.
Birds fell silent, and all clamor seemed to be swallowed by that supremely powerful Sword Intent.
He needed no words; merely standing there, he resembled an peerless Divine Sword capable of cleaving stars, exuding a suffocating oppressive Aura.
Unbeknownst to them, rolling dark clouds surged from the horizon, making the atmosphere even more tense. Everyone dared not speak loudly, only daring to discuss in hushed tones.
"So strong, is this the Aura of a Sword Immortal?"
"This battle should be the most anticipated fight in nearly a thousand years, right?"
Listening to the discussions around him, Li Taiqing's eyes were filled with longing, fantasizing about the day he would possess such prestige.
In the future, he too would stand at the Peak with his Master.
"Demon-Slaying Sword Immortal, are you not going to show yourself?"
"Is this your way of treating guests?"
Absolute Sword Immortal suddenly spoke, his tone cold.
His voice was not loud, yet it clearly entered the ears of every Cultivator, carrying a hint of a senior evaluating a junior, subtly implying a condescending scrutiny.
Rumble!
In an instant, thunder roared.
"He's here."
Northern Dipper Sword Revered said softly.
This caused everyone around him to search for that figure, and countless people became excited.
Absolute Sword Immortal, standing on the mountaintop, now opened his eyes, but he frowned slightly, unable to locate Han Xuanji's precise position.
Immediately, a surge of anger rose within him, and his surrounding Aura surged, his imposing presence burning fiercely.
His vast voice spread through the Nine Heavens:
"Hiding and concealing yourself, still not coming out?"
Han Xuanji smiled at this.
It seemed this fellow truly couldn't find him.
This meant the Heaven Concealing Art was indeed formidable; even an Ascension Realm Sword Immortal couldn't sense his Aura.
However, he had no intention of launching a sneak attack.
In the Void Realm.
A figure in green robes silently appeared a hundred feet away, opposite Absolute Sword Immortal.
It was none other than Han Xuanji!
His figure was tall and straight, his white robes flowed like snow, and his Aura was restrained, forming a stark contrast to Absolute Sword Immortal's deliberately ostentatious and overwhelming Sword Intent.
"Oh? Finally willing to come out?"
Absolute Sword Immortal's eyes seemed to emit two beams of substantial light, like peerless Divine Swords piercing directly at Han Xuanji.
His gaze was sharp and scrutinizing.
Han Xuanji calmly looked at Absolute Sword Immortal opposite him, his eyes indifferent, and he spoke faintly:
"No need for more words. Unleash your strongest Sword Dao."
Upon hearing this, Absolute Sword Immortal's lips curved into an arc; outwardly, he didn't seem provoked:
"Arrogant."
"Let this old man see just how much weight you, this newly ascended Sword Immortal, truly carry."
In his words, he had already placed himself in a higher position, as if his presence here was not for a challenge, but for guidance.
As the last word left his lips, his surrounding Aura erupted, and a vast Sword Intent burst forth from his body.
Boom!
It was no longer the natural pressure from before, but a true Sword Intent pressure, as if an ancient Vicious Beast, long dormant, had suddenly awakened.
The Void Realm violently twisted, and a giant sword phantom, thousands of feet high and solidified as if real, appeared out of thin air.
The sword light was brilliant, illuminating the Nine Heavens.
At first glance, it resembled a Divine Sword, capable of cleaving heaven and earth, lying horizontally across the sky.
What an incredibly powerful Move this was.
In front of this giant sword, thousand-foot Peaks appeared minuscule.
"Take this old man's sword—Heaven Severing Slash!"
Absolute Sword Immortal pointed his conjoined fingers like a sword, aiming them at Han Xuanji from afar.
The sky-rending giant sword phantom let out an earth-shattering roar, carrying a terrifying will to extinguish all life and sever all things, tearing through the sky and slashing down directly at Han Xuanji.
Its speed was so fast, and its might so fierce, that all observers felt their Souls freeze, as if they would be crushed by the destructive Sword Intent aftershock in the next moment.
"Master!"
Li Taiqing and the others' hearts were in their throats.
Northern Dipper Sword Revered's face turned pale; the might of this single sword strike made a Tribulation Transcendence Realm Cultivator like him feel fear just by witnessing it.
The earth trembled, and the mountains shook.
Facing this terrifying sword strike that seemed capable of splitting star rivers, Han Xuanji moved.
Buzz—!
Countless clear and melodious sword cries rang out without warning.
These sword cries were not piercing, yet they carried an indescribable penetrative power, instantly tearing apart Absolute Sword Immortal's Sword Intent Domain, like dawn breaking through the night.
Everyone's hearts quickened, and an inexplicable sense of awe arose within them.
Immediately after, Han Xuanji's Sword Intent enveloped heaven and earth; this world seemed to transform into a Sword Intent world.
All Laws became Sword Dao Laws, and all existence was subject to his power over life and death!
Han Xuanji gently raised his right hand, his index and middle fingers together, and with a casual… wave… towards the descending thousand-foot giant sword phantom!
A muffled, utterly extreme "rumble" sound!
That majestic, seemingly world-destroying thousand-foot sky-rending giant sword phantom, in an instant, disintegrated inch by inch at a speed visible to the naked eye!
It wasn't shattered, but rather… utterly erased by a more profound power.
Not even a ripple was stirred!
The entire process happened in a flash of lightning.
Many people didn't even understand what had happened.
One moment, a world-destroying giant sword was descending; the next, that terrifying giant sword phantom had vanished into thin air, as if it had never appeared.
Only Han Xuanji stood quietly in the Void Realm, a smile on his lips.
This was the power of Sword Intent Manifestation.
"What?!"
At the Peak, Absolute Sword Immortal's arrogant smile instantly froze, and his pupils suddenly contracted.
Absurd!
An indescribable chill immediately surged in his heart, rushing from the soles of his feet to the top of his head.
He had not held back with this sword strike.
Yet it was so effortlessly resolved by the other party?
He hadn't even touched a single corner of the opponent's robe.
This was impossible!
Even though Absolute Sword Immortal had roamed the Cultivation world for over a thousand years, he never imagined he would encounter such a situation.
"It seems your Sword Dao has not yet reached its culmination."
Han Xuanji's indifferent voice rang out, like a deity from the Nine Heavens pronouncing judgment.
"You can die now."
Nine Calamity Immortal Slaying Sword Formation!
This was a Divine Ability Han Xuanji had created himself earlier; compared to when he was at the Undergoing Tribulation level, its power had increased immeasurably.
His Sword Dao had entered the Domain of Sword Intent Manifestation, his cultivation had reached the Ascension Realm, and he had acquired an additional High Grade Immortal Sword.
At this very moment.
Sword shadows floated in the air, each Flying Sword radiating light.
Countless Flying Swords cleaved through the air; each one was at least a High Grade Flying Sword of the Undergoing Tribulation level.
Sword Qi was like a vast ocean, countless in number, like a heavenly punishment, leaving countless people dumbfounded.
"Is Demon-Slaying Sword Immortal's Qi inexhaustible?"
"Among Sword Immortals, Demon-Slaying Sword Immortal is stronger…"
Northern Dipper Sword Revered, as an Undergoing Tribulation Sword Cultivator, now watched like an ant looking up at the sky, his eyes wide.
He could feel that every single wisp of Sword Qi could easily annihilate a Tribulation Transcendence Realm Cultivator.
The sword shadows divided into myriad forms, appearing to the crowd like the sky itself collapsing.
In the crowd, Yang Peng, who had been extremely confident, suddenly became nervous.
Although he had great confidence in his Master, this Aura was too terrifying; even he couldn't imagine how one could contend against it.
Nangong Wenjian's hands were tightly clenched at this moment; as someone who pursued the Sword Dao, he realized how weak his own Sword Dao was at this moment.
"How is this possible?"
Absolute Sword Immortal also couldn't help but feel immense pressure at this time, but he didn't choose to wait for death. Instead, he burned his lifespan, raising his own Aura recklessly and without regard for anything else.