This Sword Cultivator is Somewhat Dependable

Xuan Ming, upon hearing Dantai Qingrun's words, was filled with contempt and disgust, "You so-called Righteous Cultivators, who exactly are you putting on this sorrowful and compassionate act for?

Should I die? Very well, let's see who dies this time!"

"Three Thousand Soul Kill!" Xuan Ming's voice screeched like that of a Resentful Spirit, harsh and unpleasant to hear.

At the moment his words fell, Xuan Ming raised his hand mightily. As he waved his robe sleeve, the Resentful Spirits from within the Myriad Ghost Robe immediately howled out, lunging ferociously towards Dantai Qingrun with bared teeth and claws.

Dantai Qingrun frowned.

At the very moment the Resentful Spirits appeared, Xuan Ming transformed into a streak of black smoke, blending in with the three thousand spirits in the blink of an eye, making his trace difficult to discern.

Nether Cultivators are inherently adept at concealment, not to mention now with so many Resentful Spirits as cover.

Trying to quickly locate Xuan Ming among these ubiquitous spirits was extremely difficult.

If Dantai Qingrun did not know where Xuan Ming was, she not only had to deal with the three thousand Resentful Spirits, but also be always ready for Xuan Ming's sudden assaults.

Nonetheless, block these Resentful Spirits first.

This was what Dantai Qingrun thought.

Clang! Clang! Clang!

Accompanied by an intense, metallic clanging, a layer of Golden Thread Apparel mixed with Sword Qi and Golden Essence appeared around Dantai Qingrun's body.

[Golden Sword Apparel]!

An extremely unique Technique.

To practice this Technique, one must first refine metalic Spirit Material and extract the Golden Essence within them, storing it in the 360 acupuncture points around the body.

Then, it would take a great amount of time to continuously route the Life-bound Sword through these 360 points, allowing the Golden Essence to gradually imbibe the essence of the Life-bound Sword. During this process, the refinement of Sword Qi merges into the Golden Essence.

Sword Qi and Golden Essence differ, with Sword Qi being an energy by nature, transformed by Sword Cultivators using Spiritual Power, and not a material substance.

However, the art of Golden Sword Apparel partially materializes the Sword Qi through Golden Essence, thus forming unique Golden Essence Sword Qi.

Since this Golden Essence Sword Qi also retains some properties of Sword Qi, and Sword Cultivators manipulate Sword Qi as naturally as moving their own limbs, it is extraordinarily effective.

Once mastered, the Sword Cultivator can freely mobilize the Golden Essence Sword Qi to form an impregnable attire of swords, its defensive power being exceptionally astonishing.

The higher the quality of the Golden Essence and the stronger the Sword Qi, the more impressive the protective ability of the formed Sword Apparel.

Once the Golden Sword Apparel is completed, it can also be enhanced by integrating higher quality Golden Essence over time, or as one's Cultivation increases, by infusing more powerful Sword Qi, thus strengthening the protective capability of the Golden Sword Apparel—a truly peerless defensive Subtle Technique rarely seen even among Sword Cultivators.

Such a Subtle Technique, not even the Dantai Family with a thousand years of inheritance in Sword Cultivation possessed it.

This was a heritage from the Knowledge Tower, given to Dantai Qingrun who was highly esteemed by the Knowledge Tower, indeed a top-tier secret technique for Sword Cultivators.

...

Three thousand Resentful Spirits charged towards Dantai Qingrun in waves.

Yet against this continually swirling Golden Sword Apparel on the surface of Dantai Qingrun's body, these ferocious spirits were like facing a curled-up hedgehog, completely unable to find a point of attack.

Clink!

At that moment, a grating sound of metal colliding arose.

It turned out that Xuan Ming, hidden among these many spirits, could no longer restrain himself and launched an attack.

This was a completely dark dagger, a Magic Artifact with blood-red patterns all over it.

Xuan Ming gripped the dagger, and Spiritual Power surged explosively from within him.

The dagger, concentrated with Spiritual Power, targeted Dantai Qingrun's slender neck and stabbed fiercely.

This dagger was named Soul-Shocking Dagger, and like the Myriad Ghost Robe, it was a famously known Magic Artifact within the Evil Cultivation Faction.

This was another major trump card of Xuan Ming aside from Myriad Ghost Robe.

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However, the usually invincible Soul-Shocking Dagger finally met its match this time.

Against Xuan Ming's painstakingly refined Soul-Shocking Dagger, the Golden Sword Apparel demonstrated its power as a top-tier defensive Technique.

Under this stab, the apparel only indented slightly for a moment, then quickly returned to its original form and repelled the Soul-Shocking Dagger.

Dantai Qingrun was unscathed, with the Golden Sword Apparel also remaining completely intact.

Dantai Qingrun gave a cold laugh.

It was not easy to find Xuan Ming, and now that she had witnessed Xuan Ming revealing himself voluntarily, how could she possibly let go of this opportunity for battle?

With a slight movement of her mind, the Spirit Hidden Sword once again flew out, carrying a vast expanse of sword light, and attacked Xuan Ming.

Xuan Ming's expression changed, and the resentful spirits surrounding him hurriedly met the flying sword.

Once again, more than a hundred resentful spirits turned to ash.

Ignoring the pain, Xuan Ming transformed into a wisp of black smoke and merged back into the crowd of resentful spirits, then, under the astonished gaze of Dantai Qingrun, the hoard of resentful spirits turned around and fled in the opposite direction.

Though it had only been two moves, Xuan Ming had already realized that he was no match for this Sword Cultivator.

A real man knows when to fold and when to hold; facing an undeniable defeat, why wouldn't he flee quickly rather than wait for death?

His head was not made of iron.

Thirty years in the east, thirty years in the west; never underestimate the poverty of a youth!

Xuan Ming was running away while roaring inwardly in his mind.

Once my cultivation technique is fully refined, I must avenge today's humiliation!

Watching Xuan Ming flee with a sky full of resentful spirits, a look of disdain appeared on Dantai Qingrun's frost-like cold face.

In her right hand, the second Life-bound Sword suddenly appeared.

Dantai Qingrun held the sword and gently swung it forward, a seemingly careless and nonchalant stroke.

Yet this seemingly carefree stroke seemed to trigger something, as countless dazzling specks of light burst forth from the blade.

These specks of light floated weightlessly, flickering dimly and brightly, shining in red, blue, green, and purple colors.

The specks of light coalesced into lines, the lines formed light, and the light gathered into a sparkling river of stars.

This magnificent and captivating spectacle left all onlookers dazzled and mesmerized.

No one could have imagined that such a beautiful scene could be a hidden, cunning sword technique.

This river of light surged forth with a tremendous momentum, and in an instant, a torrential wave overwhelmed Xuan Ming's crowd of resentful spirits.

Under the river of light, the resentful spirits slowly vaporized, and instinctively, they hurried back into the Myriad Ghost Robe to seek refuge.

With no cover from the resentful spirits, Xuan Ming hiding within them was inevitably exposed and could not escape.

The tide receded.

Xuan Ming, pale-faced, fell from the sky, faintly shrouded in a thin mist around his body.

Dantai Qingrun landed in front of Xuan Ming, facing the now powerless Xuan Ming, she pulled out a golden rope from her Storage Ring: "Spirit Binding Rope"!

With a motion of her spiritual power, the rope shone brightly with golden light, quickly extending and winding around Xuan Ming, executing rope techniques to tightly bind him, preventing him from mobilizing any spiritual power.

"What sword technique was that?" Xuan Ming stared intently at the sword in Dantai Qingrun's hand, his words clipped and teeth gritted as he asked.

The extremely dazzling sword stroke by Dantai Qingrun had left him with a profound shock that lingered on, and even though he was now captured, he was still preoccupied.

"The sword is named Qiuhong, the technique is 'Gathering the Starry River,'" Dantai Qingrun's cherry lips lightly parted.

[Qiuhong] (Water Attribute · Life-bound Sword)

Level: High-grade Spiritual Artifact

Description: In what year did this coiled dragon, thus became the autumn water profound

Magic Artifact Effect 1: Attacks carry an additional frost effect

Magic Artifact Effect 2: Power of water attribute sword techniques cast using this sword is increased by 20%

Magic Artifact Effect 3: Sword Qi damage +20%

Active Effects: [Gathering the Starry River]: Holding autumn water to gather the starry river. Waving the sword of Qiuhong summons the power of the starry radiance to aid oneself. The higher the level of the Qiuhong Sword and the stronger the cultivation of the Sword Master, the more powerful the starry radiance that can be summoned.

Cool down time: 3 days.