Demon Sword Sect’s Undercover
Chapter 380 - 380 379 The Curtain Falls

380: Chapter 379: The Curtain Falls 380: Chapter 379: The Curtain Falls Hou Niao pushed his Sword Control Technique to the limit.

After years of diligent training, his Sword Escape could be considered quite remarkable even among the Sword Cultivators of the Tongtian Realm.

His skill came from two sources: one was his relentless practice, and the other was the confidence his great Cultivation brought him.

The Flood Dragon Qi couldn’t catch up with him; it could only pose a distant threat in the background.

But for a Sword Cultivator, the essence of training is the ability to launch attacks while soaring through the air.

Regardless of the presence of the Flood Dragon Qi, he would continue his Vertical Escape without hesitation.

Therefore, it didn’t matter to him.

His Flying Sword struck down time and again.

The pagoda, though tightly sealed in defense, couldn’t bear the burden due to its large surface area and collapsed into pieces after being hacked three times.

However, Yuan Xizhi immediately summoned a colorful halo that began to spin around his body.

This was the aspect of his Flying Sword Skill that Hou Niao was dissatisfied with; his Cultivation was no longer holding him back, yet he still couldn’t breach the enemy’s defenses with a single strike, which could buy time for the opponent to counterattack.

After shattering the pagoda, he had to break the halo next.

What would come after the halo was destroyed?

He didn’t know.

And how many defensive treasures did this guy have?

He had no idea.

The thunderbolt power was his trump card, but its intensity was very limited, an inevitable consequence of not being able to harness the power of heaven and earth.

The thunderbolt power imbued in his Flying Sword was too weak and not suitable for the current situation.

He excelled at close-combat swordplay, but considering this fellow’s plethora of treasures, who could guarantee he wouldn’t produce another upon Hou Niao’s approach?

Most importantly, he was very wary of this man’s Black Star.

Getting close could potentially trap him, and he had no idea what would happen to him in the Black Star.

His battle habit was always to fight quickly and decide the outcome swiftly; that worked against ordinary opponents.

But with an experienced fighter like Gu Xizhi, who was of a higher realm than himself, Hou Niao could still control the timing of the battle.

The nature of battle is indeterminate; it could be fast or slow.

The one who was impatient now was Yuan Xizhi, not him.

His Escape Skill became even more elegant, and his Flying Sword more unpredictable.

Finally facing a powerful opponent, he needed to fully savour this experience and strive to extract all the combat value from this man.

…Gu Xizhi’s expression remained unchanged, not showing the slightest anxiety, a quality that a good fighter must possess.

His trump card was indeed the Black Star, as the name implied.

The Black Star was actually a rare application of an Array; most Arrays emphasize defense, with few designed for offense.

Similarly, stationary Arrays are common, while mobile Arrays are rare.

His Black Star was precisely such a rare, mobile, attack Array.

Most notably, it was a mental Illusion Technique.

Those in the Tongtian Realm do not comprehend spirituality and cannot open their Upper Dantian, leaving them virtually powerless to utilize the Sea Of Consciousness.

His ability to use this kind of Illusion Technique was due to the fortunate subjugation of a Mirage Beast, allowing him to bring people into the Illusion Realm.

It was a highly sophisticated technique that was nearly unsolvable for Cultivators of the Tongtian Realm; very few Cultivators could wake themselves from the Illusion Technique.

Therefore, even though many were aware of his intentions, they were still unable to contend during combat, as there was no way to enhance their spiritual Cultivation.

Now, with life hanging by a thread, he naturally had to use his best skill against this Sword Cultivator, and from beginning to end, his fighting strategy had been focused on this goal.

The Flood Dragon Qi’s purpose was not to injure the opponent but to create an Array for the Mirage Beast to activate the Illusion Technique.

This was the most advanced Black Star Formation.

He had not used it when facing the Fairy Zixia, opting to keep it as a hidden move.

In the process of chasing Hou Niao, the Flood Dragon Qi subtly outlined a massive Black Star shape, a detail not even the normally cautious Hou Niao had noticed.

He still believed his Sword Escape was incredibly mysterious and that his opponent could do nothing to him.

Every cultivator who made a name for themselves in the Lizhi Sea had their own unique skill.

If one wanted to secure a place here, there were still many lessons to be learned.

During this process, he shattered Yuan Xizhi’s colorful ring, then destroyed a Cloud Shield, and now, this pirate leader easily took out an Ancient Bell.

His wealth was indeed immense.

In the cultivation world’s circle of magical artifacts, defensive artifacts were much more scarce than offensive ones.

It was not hard to imagine that this guy, who had been rampant in the Lihai for decades, had harmed numerous cultivators.

But even though he had not detected his opponent’s scheming, his fighting instincts made him sense that something was amiss.

Pirates were continuously getting killed in the surrounding skies, the situation for the Cang Pirate Group was worsening, and it was unreasonable for this guy to be so leisurely fighting him with the Peaceful Fist, right?

Sense something was off, Hou Niao decided to change.

His body suddenly reversed in the middle of a turn, his hand moved, and his sword fell, cleaving the Flood Dragon Qi into smoke; he had made many preparations, but the Flood Dragon Qi dissipated so effortlessly, without any mishaps.

This made him feel even more uneasy.

Right before he conducted further testing, Gu Xizhi finally finished his preparations, a move that cost a lot, especially in conjunction with Flood Dragon Qi.

With a firm grip on his hand signs, he shouted loudly, “Fast!”

A Mirage Beast appeared upon the command, a mass of ephemeral illusion.

The Mirage Beast opened its mouth wide and inhaled, and among all its food, the Flood Dragon was its favorite.

In the sky, a black line appeared where the Flood Dragon Qi had passed, marking its trail.

When the mark became clear, Hou Niao was shocked to find that in their earlier battle, the Flood Dragon Qi had actually drawn a standard Black Star outline that covered their battle space and was rapidly darkening.

He had been duped.

Hou Niao didn’t even think before using the Shape-following Sword towards Yuan Xizhi.

This move was his last resort.

Ordinary cultivators would flee outward, but he chose to plunge into the most dangerous place—this was a difference in combat philosophy.

But Yuan Xizhi did not give him a chance—or rather, the Mirage Beast was too fast with its spiritual power for anyone to react.

Hou Niao’s Shape-following Sword had only been half executed when he was forced out.

Due to the Black Star coverage, he only felt his consciousness being drawn toward a black pentacle.

He was well aware that once he was pulled into the center of the Black Star and it began to spin, he would fall into an illusion.

The worst part was that none of his skills were of any help, for this was not an issue that mana could solve, nor could a flying sword slash through an illusion realm.

This damned swordsmanship was becoming increasingly unsatisfactory.

If he couldn’t achieve that with one stroke of the sword, the opponent was compelled to defend all-out, fighting to the death—then it would be a true Flying Sword Skill.

How to find a path of his own was becoming an increasingly urgent desire.

His thoughts stirred, the Purple Mansion Vortex appeared, and his consciousness dove into the vortex…

Yuan Xizhi watched the Sword Cultivator fall into the illusion with satisfaction.

With his experience, once inside, one should not expect to get out unless they died!

He strived to maintain the existence of the Black Star and unconsciously moved closer to save mana.

He then looked at the Sword Cultivator.

Hmm?

Why was there no reaction within the illusion realm?

Feeling something was wrong and knowing it was too late to retreat, Hou Niao suddenly opened his eyes, and with his gaze, came a streak of cold sword light.