fynovel Chapter 111 Earth-Rank Evil Shadow Sword
Chapter 111 Earth-Rank Evil Shadow Sword
Five people, five actions, five directions, all completed in the same instant.
There was no communication, no gestures, no eye contact. This tacit understanding wasn't something that could be put together on the spot; it was honed little by little in the tunnels of Black Wind Ridge, in front of the Shadow Leopard's lair, and in every life-or-death struggle back to back.
Lin Chen stood at the front, closed his eyes, and took a deep breath.
The Star Martial Core in his dantian suddenly trembled.
The vibration wasn't the steady operation of normal cultivation; it was an almost violent, high-speed rotation, like a ignited star, like an engine running at maximum power. Silvery-white star energy surged from the dantian, rushing simultaneously along all twelve meridians, several times faster and more than three times the flow rate compared to before the breakthrough. Wherever the star energy passed, the meridians were stretched until they burned, as if molten iron was flowing through the veins instead of true qi.
He opened his eyes.
Deep within the pupils, that silvery-white light was burning.
The Star Sword was drawn, its silvery-white light cleaving a crack in the swirling black mist. Countless tiny starlight fragments emerged from the void, converging on the sword, each one like the brightest star in the night sky. There was no earth-shattering momentum, no deafening roar, only a heavy, suffocating sense of weight—as if the entire starry sky had collapsed, pressing down on this sword.
"Words are no substitute for battle."
A twisted expression flashed across Qin Hao's face.
"act recklessly!"
With a sudden flick of his wrist, the Evil Shadow Sword shot out. The black sword shadow split into seven in mid-air, the seven sword shadows intertwining in reality and illusion, each carrying a sinister power that devoured life force, sealing off all of Lin Chen's space to dodge.
The evil sword technique – Seven Fiends Star Devouring Slash.
Wherever the black fog passed, a layer of black frost formed in the air, the bluestone on the ground was corroded into pits and grooves, and even the soil seemed to be smoking.
"Now!"
Leng Feng roared and plunged into the black mist like a cannonball. His battle blade cleaved through the mist in waves, each strike precisely hitting the weakest points—those points invisible to the naked eye, points he had determined by testing them with his own body. The black mist scorched his skin, spreading from his arms to his shoulders, from his shoulders to his chest, burning black holes in his camouflage uniform and revealing the mangled flesh beneath. But he didn't retreat, not even slowing down.
One cut, two cuts, three cuts. A ten-meter-wide gap was torn open in the impenetrable black fog.
Su Ling'er's Exploding Flame True Fire Pill followed immediately. The pure Yang flames exploded in the gap, the raging fire colliding with the black mist, producing a hissing sound, like a red-hot iron block being thrown into ice water. The black mist was forced back a few inches by the flames, although it quickly retreated again, but those few inches were enough.
Chu Fan slammed his palms into the ground, and array patterns spread out in all directions like a spider web, entangled with the illusory and real trajectories of the Evil Shadow Sword. Three of the seven sword shadows suddenly veered off course—one pierced into the rock wall beside him, blasting a two-meter-deep crater; one struck the ground in front of Leng Feng, sending up a pile of pebbles as tall as a person; and the last one flew crookedly into the sky, its whereabouts unknown.
The four sword shadows are still there.
But Lin Chen had already arrived.
He unleashed the full power of the "Chasing Star Step," his figure transforming into a streak of silver-white light, passing through the gap torn open by Leng Feng, grazing past Su Ling'er's flames, and slipping through the gaps in Chu Fan's array patterns. The four sword shadows flew past his body—one grazed his scalp, severing a few strands of hair; one grazed his ribs, cutting a gash in his clothes; the other two converged from behind him, narrowly missing him, but by that tiny margin, they didn't touch him.
Qin Hao's pupils suddenly contracted.
He saw Lin Chen's eyes. There was no anger, no murderous intent in those eyes, only an extreme calm focus—like a mirror, reflecting his fear.
"Star Sword Technique, Fourth Form - Star River Suppressing Evil!"
The Milky Way cascaded down.
This is not a metaphor. It is a real galaxy—a dazzling river of silvery-white starlight condensed into a radiant brilliance, surging forth from the tip of Lin Chen's sword, like the Milky Way falling from the heavens to earth. Wherever the galaxy passed, the black mist melted away inch by inch, like snow meeting the blazing sun; the air, polluted by evil power, became clear and crisp again; and the withered Ice Soul Orchid, illuminated by the starlight, miraculously sprouted new buds from its ashes.
There was no loud noise at the moment the starry river collided with the black mist. The entire valley fell silent for a moment, as if someone had pressed the pause button. Then, a visible ripple of energy spread outwards from the point of impact, shattering rocks, breaking trees, and uprooting the ground wherever it swept across.
Qin Hao's face was as white as paper.
He didn't believe it. He couldn't believe that the Earth-grade magic weapon, the Thousand-Year Yin Sha, and the trump card that Qin Cang had personally given him would be crushed head-on by a newcomer in the late stage of the Meridian Opening Realm.
"Impossible! Your cultivation technique—"
He roared, frantically pouring all his true energy into the Evil Shadow Sword, attempting a desperate counterattack. A final wisp of thick mist rose from the black sword, denser, more intense, and more frenzied than ever before. But under the suppression of the Star River, his true energy stagnated like mud, his wrists went numb and weak, and he almost lost the strength to grip the sword.
clang--
A crisp clang rang out, and the Evil Shadow Sword flew out of his hand, tumbling several times in the air before embedding itself in the soil ten feet away. The black mist on the sword instantly dimmed by more than half, like a lamp that had been blown out.
Lin Chen closed in, his sword sheath lightly touching Qin Hao's shoulder. A gentle yet domineering surge of star power flowed through the sheath into Qin Hao's meridians, like an invisible lock, sealing off all the channels through which his true energy circulated. Qin Hao's legs went weak, and he knelt on the ground.
From the moment Qin Hao drew his sword to the moment he knelt down, less than twenty breaths had passed.
The scions of noble families behind him froze on the spot, as if they had been struck by lightning. Some had their mouths agape, while others didn't even notice their knives falling to the ground. Wang Teng, lying not far away with his chest wound still unhealed, turned pale, then ashen, upon witnessing this scene.
The valley fell silent for a few moments. A breeze blew by, carrying a purified, crisp scent, along with a faint, burnt smell—the last traces left by the black mist.
Lin Chen looked down at Qin Hao, who was kneeling on the ground.
"You relied on your family background, stole evil artifacts, and colluded with evil spirits. There are no school rules in the secret realm. I'm sparing your life so you can return to school and be publicly punished for your crimes."
Qin Hao gritted his teeth and looked up, his eyes filled with a frenzied hatred and resentment, like a trapped beast driven to the brink of despair.
"Purge? You think winning one battle guarantees victory?" His voice was forced out through clenched teeth. "The middle levels of the secret realm are riddled with evil forces' spies. My Qin family has been laying this trap for a thousand years. What can a nobody like you possibly do to break it? Star Marrow Liquid and the Martial Emperor's inheritance will ultimately belong to me!"
Lin Chen looked at him but didn't reply.
Leng Feng stepped forward and swiftly neutralized the temporary true energy Qin Hao had activated—not his cultivation, but rather the power he had forcibly unleashed. He confiscated the Evil Shadow Sword and the storage bags and resources of the others, then herded everyone to one side of the valley, assigning several former military officers to guard them.
Su Muyue walked to Lin Chen's side. She had already put away her array flags, but her face was still a little pale—the previous battle had taken a toll on her.
"Your star power is the only thing in this secret realm that can restrain the evil Yin energy of the Qin family," she said softly, her tone carrying an indescribable emotion, like a sigh or a sense of relief. "The legacy left by the first Martial Emperor was originally created to suppress the evil scourge of the Qin family. After a thousand years, it's finally time to close the net."
Chu Fan squatted on the ground, wrapped the Evil Shadow Sword in a cloth, and carefully picked it up. The black mist on the sword had dissipated, revealing the dense, dark red patterns on the blade—these patterns were not decorations, but arrays, soul-controlling arrays used by the evil race to control people's minds.
"This sword has a soul-controlling array engraved inside." Chu Fan's fingertip touched the patterns in the air, his brows furrowed tightly. "With long-term use, the evil power will slowly erode the user's mind. Qin Cang isn't nurturing Qin Hao; he's using him as a vessel to nourish the sword."
Lin Chen took the Evil Shadow Sword, channeling the power of the stars into its blade. The dark red patterns struggled violently for a few moments, then curled up, turned black, and cracked like insects burned by fire, finally dissipating into a wisp of gray smoke. The sword returned to its ordinary iron color, lying quietly in Lin Chen's palm, like an ordinary, old, long-forgotten sword.
In the dense forest deep in the valley, several black figures silently disappeared.
They didn't communicate, they didn't move, they simply disappeared slowly and silently into the shadows of the tree trunks and bushes, like melting shadows. Only the occasional glint of a gaze from beneath their hoods, like a snake's tongue, lingered in the air for a moment before retreating.
The direction of that gaze never changed.