A System That Beats Death

The duo slashed downwards simultaneously while Guren dodged as if antic.i.p.ating this course of action. The center of the arena then cracked in such a manner that a spiderweb pattern which had formed from the impact started to spread from the center of the arena to the edges. The unaware audience cheered as they had not expected that they would see a fight between Sword Sages and highly antic.i.p.ated the skills which their figureheads would display. The opening move literally destroyed the arena so they antic.i.p.ated their trump cards to do far worse.

Before they could indulge in the spectacle though, the Sword Saint suddenly declared, "Those below Blademaster must leave or they might not live to see tomorrow" in a stern and unyielding tone.

The audience which had intended to disregard the warning immediately became obedient and listened when Zhuye suddenly cleaved multiple boulders out of the ground and threw them towards Guren. Some of the boulders thrown had nearly crushed some Sect members and they reluctantly opted to leave with an aggrieved expression that betrayed their unwillingness. The few boulders which were on a collision path with Guren crumbled as he nonchalantly punched the obstacles. Right behind the boulder which had just crumbled, Hexiu dashed through the rubble and thrust his blade at Guren"s chest. Guren deflected the thrust before stomping on Zhuye"s incoming sword.

Chaos ensued as the battle between the 3 intensified. Everybody expected a clash between Sword Sages would be shocking to behold but n.o.body would be able to antic.i.p.ate the battle to be of this scale.

Disregarding the safety of the evacuating Sect members, Zhuye constantly unleashed powerful slashes which easily cleaved fissures into the ground like it was fragile gla.s.s and unintentionally generated air currents through his momentum alone. Meanwhile, Hexiu a.s.sisted Zhuye in suppressing Guren through the execution of many extremely foul strikes.

Those incapable had already left while only a few Blademasters and Yidong remained. As Blademasters, they had the ability to remain unaffected by the side effects of monsters clashing and could properly take in the battle which could only shock those inferior to them or so they thought. Despite being Blademasters, they were still overwhelmed by the seemingly impossible motions executed by Guren and their overall frightening prowess.

The arena had already been completely demolished and the 3 were fighting in a deep crater formed by Zhuye through his brutal and unrelenting blows.

Once again, Zhuye drew a downwards arc. Guren blocked it but had to evade due to Hexiu"s intended sideblow. As he was about to avoid both hits, incorporeal tendrils erupted from the ground and rooted him to where he stood. Hexiu smirked upon seeing his ability work while Zhuye exerted even greater strength to inhibit Guren. Hexiu"s blade was less than a centimeter away from piercing Guren when the tables had turned.

Atlas thought that he was lucky that Hexiu was not possessed by a Spirit of l.u.s.t or the tendrils might"ve had indecent implications and actions which enacted upon those lewd implications. Then again, he also had not seen a single Spirit of l.u.s.t that was male. There was probably an exception to that rule somewhere though.

The ground began to crumble as it could not withstand Zhuye"s increasing strength and the Steel Slayer started to yield due to its inferior material. Understanding that the tendrils were unaffected by normal swords such as the pathetic Steel Slayer, Atlas discretely retrieved his true sword.

Everybody including the Sword Saint who had been preparing to intervene and the 2 Sword Sages that had been previously relentless in their pursuit, froze. The Sword that had been unveiled had unleashed endless bloodl.u.s.t and even seemed to scream for genocide. After inducing so much bloodshed, its ability to maim souls began to manifest in a physical manner. Coated in an ethereal aura that exuded terror and intense apprehension, the possessed Sword Sages immediately cancelled their attacks and attempted to flee due to instinct alone.

Before Hexiu was able to retract his tendrils though, it was sliced by the blade into microscopic pieces. The possessed Hexiu then spewed what seemed like a gallon of blood before collapsing on the floor and fainting.

[3500 Points Added]

The possessed Zhuye disregarded his fallen comrade and continued fleeing at a speed which nearly rendered him one with the wind. Just as he was about to jump off a cliff to increase the distance between him and Guren, the Sword Saint appeared and swung his blade. Zhuye barely blocked it and was about to use brute strength to push the old Sword Saint down with him but collapsed after Guren withdrew Dark Revelation from his chest cavity.

[4000 Points Added]

"Did you kill him?", Longzhan asked with raised eyebrows and in a tone that betrayed his foul mood.

"No, I merely removed the parasite latching onto his soul"

"Is this the reason you have been feigning weakness?"

"No, I discovered them recently", Guren responded slightly annoyed as he was still irritated by the Key to Purgatory.

"Then why did you set up this tournament?"

"To a.s.sess the strength of the Sect, of course. Also, would you consider a duel with me?", Atlas asked as he definitely would not give up the jackpot in front of him.

"If you want to a.s.sess the strength of the Sect then go fight Nanling. She"s stronger than me... Or does she go easy on you?", Longzhan jested.

"If nearly killing me whenever I even breath around her counts as going easy then yes, she is restraining herself very well", Guren responded using memories given by the System.

Based on what he knew, Nanling was a very aggressive tsundere. However unlike those trashy tsunderes, she was not useless as she had considerable strength that made her different from those female characters which could only ever beat the pathetic male characters due to plot armor. Then again, those male characters usually only existed due to their plot armor and often lacked a substantial amount of intelligence required for survival, let alone thought.

"Youth these days", Longzhan muttered with an audible sigh.

"Says the geezer without biological progeny", Guren said as he knew Longzhan had no qualifications to reminisce about romance.

"I have to warn you, I am in a terrible mood today", Longzhan stated with a fake smile.

"Then try me"

___

"Why is a Swordwielder like Yidong allowed to stay while I have to leave?"

"That"s because Yidong is Guren"s disciple"

"What about other Sword Sage disciples then?"

"Tianli doesn"t have any disciples while Hexiu"s disciples are all Blademasters"

"Zhuye"s disciples are all on journeys"

"This is unfair, I wanted to see the epic fight between Sword Sages"

"Yeah, who would have expected Guren to be pretending to be a snake to devour the dragon"

"I knew someone as handsome as Guren would be incredible"

"I wonder if Guren would accept me as his lover"

"You might be very adorable but you can"t compare to the Saintess. Become mine instead", a Blademaster said in response.

"Yeah, the Saintess would also kill you if you succeeded...", the Swordwielder then paused after realizing the person was a Blademaster.

"How was the fight between Guren and the other 2?"

"I bet Zhuye won"

"I bet Tianli would"ve won if he was in Guren"s place"

"Even if Guren was very good, he couldn"t have won against 2 Sword Sages"

"Speaking of Sword Sages, does anyone know where Tianli went?"

The Blademaster which had been barraged with questions remained silent as he didn"t want to admit that he could barely see the battle as the three were just too fast. He then had an idea. Why don"t they just return to the arena and see for themselves? The battle was already over so it should be fine to ask the Sword Sages themselves.

"If you want to know, why don"t you go back and ask them yourselves?", he suggested.

"Didn"t they say Blademasters are the only ones permitted?"

"It"s fine, aft-", the Blademaster"s response was cut short as they saw the entire mountain which had previously housed the arena, explode and turn into rubble. Zhuye"s crater couldn"t even compare with what they had just seen.

[6000 Points Added]

f.u.c.k! Forget about Blademasters. I doubt even dragons could survive that, the Blademaster thought with his eyes wide and jaws agape. The nearby Sect members glared at him as he nearly sent them to their graves.

___

As Tianli fought the 2 unknown a.s.sailants to a stalemate, the 2 suddenly stopped attacking. They then turned tail and bolted at a speed which Tianli could only keep pace with. He continued pursuing them and managed to hear some of their conversation.

"How the f.u.c.k did he kill them?"

"I thought Spirits couldn"t be killed"

"Wow, he really held back when he only diced your flesh. I told you to stop being c.o.c.ky"

"But I"ll turn into a Spirit of Envy if I do"

As the two were about to enter a portal, Tianli managed to land a slash on the female and sliced off a distinct part of her sleeve.

She hissed in pain and glared at Tianli as the blade left a mark on her fair skin. She really wanted to absorb his essence and turn him into a mere s.e.x slave to appease her rage but couldn"t risk an encounter with that monster. She then left with her male companion.

[Sword Sage: Master, I have failed in apprehending the two]

[Soul Supremacy: That is fine, I also failed. Useless f.u.c.king keys]

[Sword Sage: Keys?]

[Soul Supremacy: Don"t worry about that. Did you manage to find out who they were?]

Picking up the severed fabric, Tianli smirked.

[Sword Sage: I have their insignia]

[Soul Supremacy: Now that I see it from afar. The Inor Mountain Ranges look very nice]

[Sword Sage: If you want to go see scenery, I have quite a few recommendations]

___

At the outskirts of a desert, a female well versed in the art of swordplay, began to mope which heavily contrasted with her usually disposition. Usually, she was distant but a.s.sertive regarding her interactions with others. However, she had just encountered the sight of a couple separating. The reasons as to why they separated were too relatable to her that she immediately began to think of it as her separating.

The male in the relationship initiated the breakup as he was tired of her constant jealousy and aggressive nature. He had opted for a more demure la.s.s as he couldn"t stand that she had the habit of impulsively beating him. Realizing her wrongs, she wanted to return to their previous relationship but the man had none of it as he couldn"t tolerate her any longer. Who in their right mind would be willingly abused? Excluding m.a.s.o.c.h.i.s.ts.

Empathizing heavily, she really wanted to return to Guren to repair their relationship as it hadn"t completely reached that stage but she was torn between obtaining her own sword and becoming his lover. Undoubtedly her sword was important but he was damaged from that last encounter and had even started to see another woman.

___

As Cascadea"s soul was fused with Atlas", she could instinctually sense when her beloved was being coveted. This time, it was by quite a few people but she was indifferent.

For some other girl to even have a chance with her beloved, they would have to be shameless enough and determined enough to sleep together on the first date. Although, she a.s.sumed Atlas would never take the initiative, she knew he would always reciprocate and that touched her. Never trust somebody that refuses to reciprocate initiative and compa.s.sion.

She then returned to focusing on naval warfare. Her interest was piqued by an island that was home to those that worshiped G.o.ds of the sea.