Chapter Ninety-One: The Heaven-Suppressing Halberd Shows Its Might Again

"Do you want to go, or should I?"

Shen Qingyun spoke with calm composure, his voice low and even.

Feng Chuxun tightened his grip on his sword hilt, a strange light flickering in his eyes. "I will."

Shen Qingyun nodded. "Good. Leave the rest to me. Just go all out."

"Mm."

Feng Chuxun gave a slight nod and said no more.

Seeing this, Shen Qingyun also fell silent. He turned and faced the monsters already surging down toward them. With a single step, he crossed dozens of yards.

His halberd thrust forth like a dragon emerging from the sea, stirring a gale of spiritual force that sent many of the charging monsters toppling aside.

Then he slammed the halberd heavily into the ground. In that instant, even the air itself seemed to tremble violently. A storm of spiritual force burst from the tip of the halberd, spreading outward in an instant and engulfing the rushing monsters.

The storm rolled outward, crushing everything in its path. Explosive booms rang out one after another.

This batch of monsters was wiped out once again.

Feng Chuxun's expression tightened. Though he had always known there was a gap between himself and Shen Qingyun, he had not expected the difference to be so immense. He, too, could annihilate them all in one sweep, but never with such effortless ease.

In that, the difference between them was made plain.

Yet Feng Chuxun was not the sort to linger in hesitation. Even as he marveled at Shen Qingyun's strength, he did not forget his own task. After that brief shock, he lifted his gaze toward the upper slope, where his true objective lay.

His figure shot forward. Along his path, one could only see a streak of spiritual light racing at high speed.

One wave had been destroyed, and once more the earthen mounds on the hillside split open, revealing the monsters hidden within.

Feng Chuxun, who had charged up the slope, seemed not to see them at all. His target was the summit.

As he neared the top, the monsters finally seemed to react. They turned and began to chase after him.

Sword intent swirled around Feng Chuxun. One monster that lunged at him was slain by that intent, and he briefly halted his steps as the sword intent suddenly turned savage.

It rose like a storm of blades, within which faint sword edges could be seen. Sweeping downward, the blade storm surged toward the monsters.

Boom.

The blade storm burst apart, scattering countless razor-sharp fragments of sword light that cut down the monsters pursuing him without regard for their lives.

With his rear secured, Feng Chuxun continued toward the summit.

Upon reaching the top, he did not stop. A shadowy figure appeared behind him, towering like a pillar supporting the heavens, as though it upheld both sky and earth.

A sword was Feng Chuxun's soul manifestation. Though he did not know why his manifestation took the form of a giant sword, it mattered little. A sword was enough.

Feng Chuxun struck with explosive force, and the giant sword phantom answered with a clear, ringing cry. The sound carried far, long and unbroken.

The phantom sword descended from the heavens, as though it meant to suppress and slay all beneath it.

Yet the mound below merely revealed its secret after the giant sword stabbed down with only its tip, and no further.

Feng Chuxun's eyes narrowed. He was slightly startled. He had absolute confidence that piercing a mere hillock should be effortless for his soul manifestation.

Yet now, after sinking only the sword's tip, it could not descend any farther. That could only mean one thing: something was hidden within this hill.

There was another strange point as well. The summit was barren and bare, nothing like the slopes below, where there was nearly an earthen mound every few steps, each hiding a monster within.

The giant sword seemed angered by its inability to push downward. Its falling force intensified at once, and the soil atop the summit was whipped away by the aura of the sword. Only the place where Feng Chuxun stood remained...

The earth was gone, revealing a black, armor-like unknown substance beneath. It was precisely this thing that had blocked the giant sword's descent.

Feng Chuxun raised his sword, channeled spiritual power, and slashed hard at the black unknown material. Even with the sharpness of Red Snow, he could only leave behind a faint white mark. Its hardness was obvious.

Then, all at once, the mountain beneath Feng Chuxun began to shake violently, throwing him off balance.

Feng Chuxun leaped down from the summit, tapping lightly upon the air with the tips of his toes. Each touch allowed him to remain aloft for a brief moment, though he could not control the speed of his descent...

But then the hillock suddenly surged upward, revealing what lay beneath the mountain.

Anyone who saw it, once they understood what was hidden below, opened their mouths wide in shock, their eyes filled with astonishment.

It was also spider-like in form, but far larger than the others. Its bulk surpassed even the giant crocodile Shen Qingyun had slain by a huge margin.

After landing, Feng Chuxun drew a circle on the ground, then charged at the monstrous creature with sword in hand.

The monster rose, and the soil covering it fell away in clumps, exposing a black shell like armor.

Those earthen mounds were not mounds at all. They were eggs, eggs that could endlessly hatch smaller monsters.

Clang...

"So hard!"

Feng Chuxun's sword struck the monster's long, slender leg, only to find that the hardness of the limb exceeded all expectations. He staggered back two steps. Red Snow was still trembling faintly, and his tiger's mouth throbbed with pain.

The monster seemed to notice him as well, this insect-like speck beneath its notice. It turned its body and extended its massive scythe-like arm, bringing it down to cleave at Feng Chuxun.

Though it seemed like a stretch, the motion was almost instantaneous. This enormous monster had a huge body, yet its speed was anything but slow.

The sharp scythe-arm seemed ready to tear through space itself, leaving a straight black line in the air.

Feng Chuxun stepped back, and spiritual force burst from beneath his feet, instantly propelling him several yards away. Yet that scythe-arm seemed to possess foresight, arriving ahead of him to wait for its chance at the very spot he had tried to evade to.

Now it was as though Feng Chuxun had thrown himself into its path of his own accord.

"Get out of the way!"

Feng Chuxun's eyes turned cold, madness blazing in their depths. Spiritual force and sword intent burst from his body, transforming into several longswords that shot toward the scythe-arm.

The fierce might of the sword surged like a tide, drowning the scythe-arm and encircling it from all sides.

With a low shout, Feng Chuxun sent those swords formed from spiritual force flying, striking the monster's arm.

Each sword that hit the scythe-like limb dissolved into countless points of spiritual light, scattering into the air. No one knew whether the monster had been harmed at all.

Shen Qingyun fixed his gaze on the monster's scythe-like arm. Seemingly sensing something, he was struck with alarm, and the next instant he vanished from where he stood.

The monster's arm suddenly erupted with a peculiar wave of energy, like a sudden gale kicking up dust and stinging the eyes. Within that energy surge, the arm moved, and its already enormous blade seemed to magnify rapidly in Feng Chuxun's pupils.

"Unfit to contend with!"

A chill ran through Feng Chuxun. Somehow, that thought had surfaced from the depths of his heart. By the time he understood, it was already too late.

He had only just lived; he had never imagined that so soon he would be forced to risk his life again. Bitter helplessness filled Feng Chuxun's heart, yet he still crossed Red Snow before him and drove spiritual force madly into the sword. In an instant, sword shadows danced around him, forming a shield of swords before his chest.

So many actions, yet all within a single moment.

The monster's arm, like a colossal scythe, slammed straight into that sword shield. The result was that the shield could not even hold for three breaths before crackling sounds rang out, and in the next instant, the shield shattered.

At that very moment, a dark crimson halberd descended from the sky and blocked the monster's blow in front of Feng Chuxun.

Feng Chuxun froze instinctively, assuming that dark crimson halberd would be sent flying at once. Yet what happened next utterly exceeded his expectations.

The dark crimson halberd stood before him like a pillar supporting the heavens. The massive scythe-arm struck its shaft, but the halberd was not sent flying, nor did it seem to be affected in the slightest.

"Step back. You are no match for it."

At the sound of the voice, Feng Chuxun looked up and saw Shen Qingyun standing atop the halberd, facing forward. The wind lifted the hem of his robe, making him look impossibly elegant.

Feng Chuxun opened his mouth, wanting to say something, but Shen Qingyun spoke again.

"Was I not clear enough? You are not its match. I told you to retreat. I cannot guarantee I can save you a second time."

"Understood."

Feng Chuxun lowered his head and answered in a voice so low it was nearly inaudible.

Then he turned and withdrew.

Only then did Shen Qingyun turn to face the giant monster, the corner of his mouth lifting slightly. "If you can withstand a single blow from my halberd, then I will not kill you."

His words seemed to enrage the monster. It opened its mouth and unleashed a heaven-shaking roar. Then, moving on all eight legs, it actually retreated several steps toward its rear, away from the direction Shen Qingyun intended to advance, widening the distance between them.

It had actually understood.

Shen Qingyun had clearly not expected the monster to comprehend human speech, and he could not help regarding the creatures born within this Ghost Valley with renewed respect.

To understand human speech meant possessing some measure of intelligence. Had the monsters in this Ghost Valley already reached the level of the beasts outside?

That was interesting indeed.

Shen Qingyun leaped down from the halberd's tip, seized the sky-suppressing halberd, and hurled it upward. He himself tapped the ground with his toes and sprang into the air, meeting the monster's gaze at eye level.

A mysterious smile tugged at Shen Qingyun's lips. He turned in midair and flicked his fingers ten times in succession. Each snap sent out a strand of spiritual force, which formed into a slender sword.

The monster was startled. It could sense a faint threat from those thin blades. They were all aimed straight at its eyes.

A force unlike spiritual energy burst forth from within the monster's body. In this Ghost Valley, that power was formless.

But Shen Qingyun saw it. Purple light flowed in his eyes, allowing him to clearly see that the color of the energy radiating from the monster's body was highly similar to the surrounding environment of the valley. The difference was that this energy was black, with a hint of deep purple within it.

Having blocked Shen Qingyun's ten flying swords, the monster actually cast him a human-like look of smug satisfaction. But when it looked back toward him, there was no sign of Shen Qingyun in the air.

"I said it already. If you can withstand one blow from my halberd, I will not kill you."

"That which you blocked was nothing more than a casual effort."

As the monster searched in all directions for Shen Qingyun, his voice rang softly from behind it.

The monster was startled and tried to turn, but its massive body required some effort to do so.

When it finally turned around, it saw no Shen Qingyun. Only a dark crimson halberd floated in the air, its point aimed directly at it.

"Do everything you can to block this. Only then will you survive."

Shen Qingyun's voice sounded again, carried by the sky-suppressing halberd. He seemed to have merged with the halberd, or perhaps the halberd had become him.

Below, Feng Chuxun and the others watched the sky-suppressing halberd intently. They believed Shen Qingyun would never speak without reason. Since he had boldly proclaimed a single strike, then that one strike would surely be enough to slay the monster.

At the halberd's tip, a light as red as blood bloomed. The sky-suppressing halberd seemed to move, and yet seemed not to move at all.

Shen Qingyun's figure appeared atop the halberd. His white robe fluttered in the wind as he looked at the monster and said slowly, "A pity. It seems you have failed to block it."

As Shen Qingyun's words fell, cracks appeared one after another across the monster's black scales, which covered its entire body. In the next instant, the monster's body exploded outright, leaving only its eight long legs rooted in the ground, standing suspended in the air...