Chapter 555

Chapter 555: Blood Slaughter Demon-Breaking Sword

Jun Ruolan froze, remembering she’d made the same offer during their encounter in Thunder Falls Valley. Yet now Ye Yun had absorbed both the seed of the mysteries of thunder and Thunder Wood’s power, displaying strength rivaling her own. Though the valley’s thunder suppression had limited her cultivation, the pressure he exerted remained substantial.

With Ye Yun’s breakthrough from the pinnacle of Foundation Establishment to the Golden Core stage, his power had grown significantly. Despite Jun Ruolan being at full strength now, she found his true capabilities increasingly elusive.

Though Ye Yun appeared only at the First Level of the Golden Core stage, Jun Ruolan knew better than to judge him by surface cultivation. He’d fought Golden Core experts at the Third and Fourth Levels while still in Foundation Establishment. Now boosted tenfold, even Fifth Level opponents might fall before him.

Yet Jun Ruolan’s pride remained unshaken. As a Moon Goddess Palace disciple favored in the Great Qin Empire, she’d always received premium training resources and cultivation techniques. Had she desired the Misty Sect’s artifacts, only their most sacred treasures would’ve been withheld from her.

Though currently weakened, Jun Ruolan remained confident her true power and artifacts surpassed Ye Yun’s. What monstrous talent could possibly bridge this gap?

"Take your first move as promised. No more chatter," Jun Ruolan commanded coldly, blood energy churning like tidal waves around her.

Ye Yun steadied himself. Her confidence only steeled his resolve to reveal the Thundercloud Lightning Sword’s true might.

As he stepped forward, crackling electricity engulfed the Purple Shadow Sword.

BOOM!

Heaven-shaking thunder erupted as storm clouds materialized across dozens of zhang – a phenomenon absent since his Thunder Falls Valley breakthrough. Now with full preparation time, the tempest returned with unprecedented fury.

Jun Ruolan’s face darkened. She’d anticipated a simple opening strike, not this mountain-destroying cataclysm. "Clever tricks won’t save you. Let’s see if your parlor lightning matches true Purple Mansion Thunder!"

Ignoring her taunts, Ye Yun focused on compressing the storm to its limits. This Divine Thunder Annihilation surpassed even his Sword of the Thunder God technique from pre-Golden Core days.

"You offered the first move, Senior Sister. Against your superior cultivation, I must make this count." Ye Yun smiled faintly. "Should you withstand this, I’ll concede immediately."

"Concede now and spare yourself humiliation," she retorted.

Ye Yun’s finger jabbed downward. A pillar of lightning streaked thousand miles in an eyeblink, engulfing Jun Ruolan’s position.

But her blood-colored long sword had already transformed into a hovering mirror. The Divine Thunder Annihilation struck with world-shaking force –

BOOOOOM!

Space itself quivered as blood tides surged across a hundred zhang. Yet the mirror merely shimmered, dispersing the apocalyptic lightning’s energy harmlessly.

Ye Yun’s eyes narrowed. His post-breakthrough strike couldn’t even scratch her artifact. Controlling such top-quality Immortal artifacts indeed required Fierce Expert-level power.

"Impressive thunder." Jun Ruolan’s icy voice cut through the blood mist, sharp with murderous intent. "But insufficient. My turn."

The mirror reshaped into its sword form mid-swing. Skyborne blood light condensed into a crimson comet trailing her blade’s edge – aimed straight for Ye Yun’s heart.

Ye Yun’s expression remained cold and unflinching, his gaze icy. His mind was as calm as still water, reaching an extreme state of tranquility.

He felt neither fear nor excitement. All his concentration focused on the sword before him as he watched the blood-colored long sword hurtle toward him.

Suddenly, Ye Yun retreated half a step.

In clashes between experts, momentum was paramount. If two opponents were evenly matched, even a slight loss of resolve could seal one’s defeat.

To the onlookers, this half-step retreat signaled either fear or uncertainty—a shocking sight.

"Careful!" Kun Huazi and Zhuge Chong shouted together.

As their voices rang out, light and shadow swirled around Ye Yun’s Purple Shadow Sword. He raised it horizontally across his chest, then thrust it forward to meet the blood-colored blade.

"Born as a Sword!"

Ye Yun’s voice was calm as his sword moved deceptively slow, its tip colliding with the blood-red blade.

*Clang!*

A crisp metallic clang echoed. The purple and blood-red sword tips pressed against each other, neither yielding.

On one side raged a crimson sea of blood; on the other crackled purple lightning. The two forces clashed yet remained locked in stalemate.

Above them, an uncanny scene unfolded—the blood sea and purple lightning occupied a space of ten zhang, sharply divided without overlap.

Jun Ruolan’s eyes widened in disbelief. How could Ye Yun block this strike? Though not her strongest technique, it was still a killing move. Worse, he’d already expended vast Thunder Spirit Qi casting Divine Thunder Annihilation.

"So this is Elder Seven’s ‘Born as a Sword’?" she spat. "Impossible! How can a Foundation Establishment runt wield such swordplay?"

"Indeed, taught by Elder Seven." Ye Yun smiled faintly. "What do you think, Sister Jun?"

"Fool!" Jun Ruolan’s voice turned glacial. "Did you think this could stop me? Moon Goddess Palace’s arts surpass this trifle. I meant to spare you by showing this blade’s might. Since you insist on defiance, witness the Moon Goddess’s true power—something your backwater Divine Grace Palace could never comprehend!"

Ye Yun scoffed. "Bold words. Let’s see if Moon Goddess Palace’s tricks truly outshine Divine Grace Palace’s."

His provocation worked instantly. Divine Grace disciples erupted in fury:

"Teach her a lesson, Brother Ye! Show our sect’s strength!"

"Talent matters more than techniques! No skill compensates for mediocrity!"

"Cultivation’s path is about the cultivator, not flashy arts! She doesn’t even grasp this basics!"

Outside Divine Grace Palace, Palace Master Yu Qingzhi and her Higher-ups frowned. Jun Ruolan’s arrogance baffled them. Though Moon Goddess Palace ranked among the Eight Major Sects, she was merely a disciple. Many present—elite disciples and elders alike—could crush her. Where did this audacity spring from?

Jun Ruolan’s face hardened. With a burst of force, she repelled the Purple Shadow Sword, hovering mid-air as her robes billowed.

"Fools blind to true power!" Blood-colored spiritual energy surged from the void, coalescing into a roaring river behind her. The crimson torrent spiraled, funneling into her crown with each rotation.

In moments, the massive energy river shrunk—absorbed entirely by Jun Ruolan, a feat unimaginable for a sixth-level Golden Core cultivator yet to face her heavenly tribulation.

Her once-jet-black eyes flooded crimson.

"Blood Slaughter Demon-Breaking Sword!"