Chapter 169 - 113: The Rudimentary True Intent Is Hard to Sever, Zhang Su Slays an Embracing Pill with a Single Strike

SHWIIING.

Ouyang Yin had drawn his sword.

The clear, lingering ring of the blade echoed through the canyon.

He had nurtured his sword for thirty years, yet now that he had drawn it, there was no sense of unfamiliarity.

The moment the blade left its sheath, it was as if he had returned to thirty years ago, to the days he roamed the Jianghu, sword in hand.

In those days, Ouyang Yin was young and impetuous. With just his sword, he had traveled from north to south, defeating countless renowned masters.

He had been even more magnificent than Ouyang Pu.

Thirty years.

His sword had not tasted blood for thirty years.

Yet at this moment, Ouyang Yin felt an immense sense of relief deep within his heart.

It was a long-lost feeling.

’So, I was born to be a Swordsman after all.’

’Thirty years without touching a sword... I’ve been too weary.’

For the sake of Sword Nurturing, he had lost too much over these thirty years.

He lost the freedom to roam the Jianghu with his sword, the joy of crossing blades with others, and the sharp edge a Swordsman ought to possess.

He had shut himself away in a small courtyard behind Hidden Sword Manor, day after day, year after year, using his spirit to nurture that Sword Seed.

He watched Ouyang Pu grow up, taught him swordsmanship, and placed all his hopes on him.

’And I thought it was all worth it.’

But now, Ouyang Pu was dead.

And the sword he had nurtured for thirty years had finally been drawn.

’If I could choose again, I would never have chosen the Sword Nurturing Skill.’

’A Swordsman should use his sword, not enshrine it.’

’After drawing my sword this time, I will never nurture one again.’

’Everything I once lost, I can finally get it all back.’

As for whether Zhang Su could block this strike, Ouyang Yin wasn’t even considering the possibility.

’If Zhang Su can block a sword I’ve nurtured for thirty years, then I’ll have nothing left to say.’

Ouyang Yin’s eyes were fixed on Zhang Su.

He saw Zhang Su’s face.

On that young face, there was no fear, no panic, not even a flicker of expression.

He was far too calm.

Ouyang Yin’s heart sank.

’This reaction isn’t normal.’

’Any other Huajin Martial Artist facing this strike, even if they weren’t scared out of their wits, would at least show a drastic change in expression.’

’But Zhang Su’s expression hasn’t changed in the slightest.’

Ouyang Yin had poured all the Spiritual Power he had condensed over thirty years of Sword Nurturing into this single strike.

This strike wasn’t just the killing intent on the blade’s edge; it was a spiritual assault.

Before the blade arrived, the intent struck first.

When a thirty-year-old Spirit Sword Seed erupted all at once, its impact was so powerful that let alone a Huajin Martial Artist, even a Danjin or Gang Force Martial Artist might not be able to withstand it.

With the Sword Nurturing Skill, the longer the sword was nurtured, the purer the spirit became, and the more terrifying the resulting eruption.

This was a Secret Technique left behind by an ancestor of Hidden Sword Manor.

In hundreds of years, only a handful had ever cultivated it to the stage of Great Perfection, and fewer still had managed to nurture a sword for thirty years without drawing it.

Ouyang Yin had done it.

This single strike was powerful enough to slay any Danjin Martial Artist.

He refused to believe Zhang Su could block it.

At that moment, Zhang Su was indeed under a tremendous assault.

Not a physical assault, but a spiritual one.

Just how pure could the Spiritual Power from a sword nurtured for thirty years be?

Now drawn, the entirety of the thirty-year-old Spirit Sword Seed erupted, piercing violently into Zhang Su’s very mind.

The sensation wasn’t pain, but a shudder on a much deeper level.

It felt as if his entire consciousness was about to be torn to shreds by this power.

However, Zhang Su also had powers to defend himself.

First were the two forms of Divine Intent he had manifested, which guarded his spirit.

The Divine Intent from his Nine Shadows Sword Technique and the Divine Intent from his Wind and Thunder Sword Technique acted like two shields, rising up to block the Spirit Sword Seed.

In the past, the eruption of Ouyang Pu’s Spiritual Power had been unable to overcome Zhang Su’s two forms of Divine Intent.

Ouyang Pu had nurtured his sword for three years, and his Spiritual Power was already quite considerable, yet it had been helpless against them.

But this wasn’t Ouyang Pu; it was Ouyang Yin.

There was a world of difference between nurturing a sword for three years and nurturing one for thirty.

The Spiritual Power of three years was a small stream; the Spiritual Power of thirty years was a great river.

The two were not on the same order of magnitude at all.

Zhang Su’s two forms of Divine Intent only managed to hold on for a moment before they were overwhelmed by Ouyang Yin’s terrifying Spiritual Power.

The Divine Intent from the Nine Shadows Sword Technique shattered.

The Divine Intent from the Wind and Thunder Sword Technique shattered as well.

As for the nascent third Divine Intent he had just started to nurture, it had no effect whatsoever.

It was too weak.

Weak as a candle in the wind, it was extinguished instantly, without even a chance to struggle.

The Spirit Sword Seed surged in like a flood, sweeping through Zhang Su’s entire mind.

It was a spiritual assault that, let alone a Huajin Martial Artist, even a Danjin or Gang Force Martial Artist likely couldn’t withstand.

In a way, the Sword Nurturing Skill could be considered an unconventional method of attack.

As long as the Spirit Sword Seed was powerful enough, it could defeat anyone.

Of course, that was only in theory.

In reality, even if one nurtured a sword for a hundred years, the Spirit Sword Seed would not reach the fantastical heights one might imagine.

This was because the human spirit has its limits.

Once nurtured to a certain point, its growth would stagnate.

After Ouyang Yin’s thirty years of Sword Nurturing, his Spiritual Power had already reached a truly terrifying level.

It was more than enough to deal with a mere Huajin Martial Artist.

RUMBLE.

A violent roar erupted from the depths of Zhang Su’s mind.

It felt as though his very mind was being annihilated by the Spirit Sword Seed.

In that instant, his consciousness blurred, as if he were sinking into a bottomless abyss.

And yet, in the depths of Zhang Su’s mind, in the very sanctum his Divine Intent had guarded, a faint glimmer of light remained.

This glimmer appeared incredibly weak.

It was as dim as a candle flame in the dead of night, looking as if a single puff of wind could extinguish it.

But when the Spirit Sword Seed struck this glimmer of light after overwhelming the Divine Intent, the light merely flickered. Like an unyielding reef, it stood firm, completely unmoved.