Chapter 659: A Curio Of Heaven

It seemed Shuo Feng would be cleaved in two by Li Fan's sword light in moments.

But just then, Shuo Feng swung his sword once more.

Clang!

The sword light struck the wooden blade, ringing out like a hammer striking a great bell.

The two forces held fast for a brief moment.

Then, the sword light abruptly reversed course, hurtling back toward Li Fan with sudden ferocity.

And it was faster now, its edge keener.

With the returning sword light locking onto him, there was no dodging it. But Li Fan had no intention of revealing his true strength, and this probing exchange had already served its purpose.

So he extended his right hand and manifested his water attribute grotto-heaven directly, calling on its domain power to suppress the sword light.

The sword light Li Fan had sent out now seemed to have gained a degree of sharpness after being deflected by the wooden sword.

Even trapped within the grotto-heaven domain, its momentum did not falter. It roared with deafening thunder, as if vowing to shatter the bonds that held it back.

Li Fan snorted coldly and poured in a bit more strength.

Only then was he able to fully subdue it.

He turned his gaze to Shuo Feng. The man had not seized the opportunity to attack. Instead, he seemed to be struggling with some internal mishap, trying to calm the violently shuddering wooden sword.

"Let us end the spar here!" Li Fan said, letting out a long sigh and shaking his head. "Though I am two cultivation realms above you, you have matched me blow for blow. That alone means I have lost.

"A Heaven's Favored is indeed favored by heaven. A Foundation Establishment cultivator fighting a Nascent Soul... such feats are far beyond what we mere mortals can hope to achieve." Li Fan's face was a picture of deep disappointment.

Seeing this, Shuo Feng, who had just managed to subdue the wooden sword with another deep breath, could not help but offer consolation. "Fellow Daoist, don't dwell on it. What I've accomplished here is largely thanks to this wooden sword."

Perhaps Li Fan's temperament simply suited Shuo Feng's tastes, or maybe Shuo Feng just felt invincible and fearless.

After a moment's hesitation, Shuo Feng spoke with no small amount of pride: "I won't hide it from you, Fellow Daoist. This sword... is a Curio of Heaven!

"Your defeat is no reflection of your skill!"

Shuo Feng caressed the wooden sword's surface with a tender touch, a flicker of obsession crossing his face.

Li Fan's eyes narrowed at these words.

Feigning overwhelming shock, he stared intently at the unremarkable wooden sword in Shuo Feng's hand. "A Curio of Heaven?

"Surely you jest, Fellow Daoist? Curios of Heaven are bound to the Heavenly Dao itself, ethereal and untraceable, never manifesting in this world. The only one known to all is the legendary Derivation Jade.

"This shabby sword... you claim it's a Curio of Heaven?" Li Fan deliberately goaded him.

Shuo Feng chuckled lightly. "I used it to establish my Dao Foundation. How could I be mistaken? This Curio of Heaven is named: Sword."

As he spoke, Shuo Feng casually spun the wooden sword in a flickering arc.

"Sword?"

Li Fan's heart shuddered.

"Could it be... that this object is the very condensation and incarnation of the Sword's Law of the Xuanhuang World?" he asked, unable to contain himself.

Shuo Feng nodded, then pointed the wooden sword toward a lush, thriving tree nearby.

Under Li Fan's gaze, the tree underwent a profound and subtle transformation. A gentle breeze stirred, and a leaf drifting from its branch was caught by the wind.

As it brushed past another tree, the leaf moved like a razor-sharp sword cutting through the air.

The tree was cleanly sliced in half at the trunk.

Another gale swept through, scattering leaves like shrapnel. The tree Shuo Feng's wooden sword had touched moved like a peerless swordsman, striking again and again.

One by one, the trees around it crashed to the ground.

Li Fan stared, utterly dumbfounded by the bizarre scene.

"Perhaps," he said, feigning a stammer born of shock, "your words were not empty boasts after all, Fellow Daoist."

Shuo Feng offered a faint smile. "Naturally. I obtained this from the ruins of the former Heavenly Sword Sect, after braving dangers where nine in ten would have lost their lives."

He gazed at the wooden sword in his hand, recalling the scene. "Without seeing it with your own eyes, Fellow Daoist, you could never imagine the awe I felt in that moment. The sword tomb of the Heavenly Sword Sect holds more than a million blades.

"But every single one of those ancient swords, driven into the earth without order or pattern, was tilted slightly in the same direction, as if bowing before an emperor among swords.

"And at the very heart of that sword tomb, I found it."

A flicker of pride crossed Shuo Feng's face. "In that moment, I knew: ignoring my mother's wishes and stubbornly restarting my cultivation was the best choice I've ever made.

"Otherwise, how could I have ever encountered such an opportunity?"

The Heavenly Sword Sect... the sword tomb... Li Fan stared at the Curio of Heaven, Sword, a tempest of thoughts crashing through his mind. But in the end, he abandoned the impulse to activate his Insect Binding divine ability then and there and claim the object for himself.

"A Curio of Heaven..." Envy filled Li Fan's eyes.

Then, with a note of curiosity, he asked, "Such a closely guarded secret, yet you’re telling it so casually to a passing stranger? Aren't you afraid word will spread and become known to all?"

Shuo Feng waved a hand dismissively, arrogance plain in his voice. "I act as I please. You knew who I was, yet in our spar just now, you held nothing back and used your full strength. Good!

"Besides, even if you told others, so what? To possess a divine object like this and not be able to boast of it, having to hide it away... what difference is there between that and wearing fine brocade in the dead of night?"

"But carrying such an esoteric treasure will inevitably draw the covetous gaze of others..." Li Fan paused, still seeming unable to grasp the logic.

"The covetous gaze of petty scoundrels?" Shuo Feng suddenly burst into loud laughter, his domineering nature unmistakable.

A suit of golden, gleaming armor manifested upon his body, radiating pressure so intense that even Li Fan was forced to step back a few paces.

"Though this Curio of Heaven of mine is exceedingly rare, it's useless to cultivators at Dao Unity and above.

"And below Dao Unity, who could possibly harm me? Even a cultivator at Dao Unity might not be able to breach this armor's defense."

Shuo Feng pointed at the armor on his body, his expression growing somewhat complicated.

Li Fan could only stand in silence.

So this is the confidence of a top-tier second-generation immortal of the Myriad Immortals Alliance…

Still, if you weren't this self-assured, prying this information about the Curio of Heaven out of you would have taken far more effort.

Li Fan suppressed his thoughts and watched as Shuo Feng dismissed the golden armor, then asked again, "Though your wooden sword is extraordinary, I feel its performance still falls short of the legendary Curios of Heaven.

"Is it perhaps because you have yet to fully master it?"

At this, a trace of helplessness flickered across Shuo Feng's face.

"Fellow Daoist, you are observant indeed. Curios of Heaven truly are extraordinary. Even though I've used it for Foundation Establishment, I still can't fully control it. Sometimes it even slips beyond my grasp.

"That's the reason I nearly injured you just now."

Hearing this, Li Fan suddenly recalled a scene from his past life: the battle between Shuo Feng and Su Xiaomei.