World's No. 1 Swordsman-Chapter 370: The Daoist Sects Fury! The Immortal Arrives to Help! (I)
Direct confrontation was exhilarating, but the consumption of enchanted power was simply too great.
Achieving a breakthrough in the Dao of the Sword while battling a formidable enemy was an immense blessing. Still, Wang Sheng now faced a troublesome situation. If he were just in a single combat against Galina, he was confident that he could bring her down before exhausting his enchanted power, even if it meant suffering serious injuries.
However, he was fighting the entire Dark Faction alone. Even if he managed to kill Galina, he would still lose if his enchanted power was depleted before he wiped out their top experts.
"To make matters worse, I misjudged the strength of the array's defenses and how powerful modern weapons could be. If another barrage like the last one hits it, it'll probably collapse."
Yaoyun sighed quietly. "Let it go. You've already done your best to protect them, but your cultivation is still too shallow. You've reached your limit."
"Aren't limits meant to be broken?" Wang Sheng replied indifferently.
Taking advantage of the momentary lull, he absorbed primal qi at full force. As Galina dove down again, he pressed his toes against the ground. He then shot forward through the ground at extreme speed, charging straight at her.
Wang Sheng sighed quietly. "If I run out of strength and reinforcements still haven't arrived..."
"What then?"
"Drag me away."
His eyes blazed with battle intent, and his attacks became utterly unrestrained. He had to find flaws in the ancient princess's defense and defeat her quickly.
Sword cries rang through the air as he left afterimages with each move. With the exquisite Seven-Star Footwork and the sharp edge of his celestial-grade sword, he clashed violently with Galina once more.
Galina began using a wider range of techniques to maximize her superior speed and strength. Unfortunately for her, she was facing Wang Sheng.
The Dao of the Sword inherently grew stronger the longer he fought. Under Galina's pressure earlier, Wang Sheng had already achieved a breakthrough. Now, supported by the Pure Yang Immortal Mantra's solid foundation, he drew on that breakthrough and fought her blow for blow, seizing the slightest advantages from each exchange.
The ground cracked again and again. Galina repeatedly charged, only to be forced back each time.
Wang Sheng's celestial-grade sword shone brilliantly. As he changed his footwork, a celestial maiden in feathered robes seemingly danced gracefully around him.
After dozens of fierce exchanges, Galina began to grow impatient. Wang Sheng seized the opening instantly, pressing the advantage and forcing her onto the defensive.
His spiritual perception flared. Wang Sheng swung Spiritless with dazzling speed, transitioning between techniques instantly. Ignoring how much enchanted power it would cost, he unleashed a sword radiance over ten meters long and clashed with Galina twice in succession. He then immediately withdrew, giving way for two high-energy laser beams to hit Galina from above.
Wang Sheng was about to charge back in, but walls of fire suddenly rose before him, along with the shrieks of air being torn apart. The Dark Faction experts, who had been unable to interfere, seized the chance to rejoin the battle.
To their surprise, their attacks ended up protecting their strongest fighter—the ancient princess. No, it was more accurate now to call her the Blood Race queen.
The Hua Republic's orbital weapons proved effective this time. They had left two massive, bloody holes on Galina's wings. Unfortunately, blood light immediately surged around her, and the holes healed completely in moments.
She glanced coldly at Wang Sheng, whom numerous enemies had entangled. With a beat of her wings, she soared.
Wang Sheng quickly realized what she was trying to do. He instinctively prepared to use Lightning Flash and give chase, but his gaze snapped toward the Aukuili Mountains, where another barrage of missiles had already been launched.
Technology from both sides erupted in unison, their timing overlapping perfectly.
Wang Sheng swiftly decided to intercept the missiles. Shifting his sword momentum, he unleashed his Heavenly Ziwei Sword Intent. One by one, massive stars manifested and streaked in every direction. He then used his Heavenly Tribulation Sword Intent to send a bolt of lightning cleaving toward the dome.
Likely warned of the incoming attack, the hundreds of Dark Faction cultivators who had been hammering the dome had already pulled back.
Standing before the array, Wang Sheng glanced up. Galina had already vanished. With a flick of his sword finger, Flying Haze broke through the air, rainbow light trailing it as it shot toward the incoming missiles.
Flying Haze probably can't take them all out alone.
Ignoring the pain in his wounded left shoulder, he quickly formed hand signs. Qi swords manifested around him, then shot toward the Aukuili Mountains.
The Dark Faction's experts could not stop Flying Haze. Explosions filled the sky as dozens of missiles were destroyed in mere seconds. The closest one detonated almost right before Wang Sheng's face.
The enemy's bombardment had been broken, but it had cost Wang Sheng immense enchanted power.
Before he could recover even slightly, the Fire Lord and the Devil's Shadow led over ten Dark Faction experts in a ferocious attack against Wang Sheng and the array.
At once, Wang Sheng was forced onto the defensive. With the grand array right behind him, he had no choice but to defend against attacks that he could have avoided, draining more of his enchanted power.
It was a vicious cycle.
The Dark Faction was not foolish. They had already discovered Wang Sheng's weakness: the two thousand Hua Republic citizens who huddled within the array, putting all their hopes and fears upon Wang Sheng, who counterattacked and defended endlessly.
Flying Haze streaked back and forth, and Spiritless shone with dazzling radiance. Wang Sheng fought the Dark Faction's experts with everything he had, never allowing even one strike to hit the dome.
Inside the array, over two thousand pairs of eyes watched one man fight countless foes alone. They saw the "young" Daoist priest, slightly battered from defending on all sides, yet still standing firm.
"Run, Heavenly Tribulation Wielder!" a middle-aged man shouted. "We're just ordinary people. There are many like us in the Hua Republic! If you fall here, our nation will suffer a huge loss!"
Some glared at him angrily, but their anger was quickly silenced under the weight of more stares.
With his eyes reddening, an old man cried out, "Go, Daoist Master! We thank you!"
"Leave, Daoist Master Wang! You've done more than enough for us!"
"Damn those corrupted cultivators! I'll rush out and fight them myself!"
"Stay inside, all of you!" Wang Sheng roared thunderously, silencing the restless crowd.
In the brief gap of the battle, he turned slightly, scattering a flaming spear with Spiritless. A trace of helplessness flickered in his eyes.
A tremendous pressure then descended from the skies above. Wang Sheng's spiritual perception screamed in warning.
Wang Sheng looked up, finding three blazing fireballs falling from the sky in different directions. Two exploded and disintegrated almost instantly, while the last one accelerated.
Galina!
Having destroyed the Heavenly Sword System's second and third orbital weapon platforms, Galina now descended like a comet straight toward the ground and charged at Wang Sheng.
Around them, the Dark Faction cultivators burst into cheers. With a command from the Fire Lord, the army stopped attacking and swiftly pulled back, afraid of being caught in the shockwave of Galina's impact.
The grand array can't withstand something that strong, but how do I even block it?
Wang Sheng frowned slightly, a wave of helplessness stirring in his chest.
Is this truly my limit?
He had already far exceeded the limits of what a Nascent Soul Realm cultivator should be able to reach, yet he still felt regret.
"Go," Yaoyun telepathically said. "Continuing to fight is meaningless. Once you've undergone Rebirth and crossed the heavenly tribulation, you can come back to avenge these people."
Wang Sheng replied, "Yaoyun, use my Dao Body to shield them. I have an idea."
"Don't... Forget it. Just remember to leave yourself a way out."
Wang Sheng nodded briefly. "Mm."
A trace of madness and determination flickered in his eyes as he slowly closed them. He then trembled, and a sweep of light blossomed and spread from his chest until his entire Dao Body shone radiantly.
The bright glow condensed into a phantasm that mirrored his body. At the center of it, a tiny figure appeared, holding a starlight sword in his right hand and the Heavenly Tribulation Sword Intent in his left hand. It shot into the sky. All primal qi within a hundred li surged toward it.
Blazing with dazzling light, three great sword intents burst forth brilliantly from the phantasm. It soared to meet Galina head-on at an equal speed.
Wang Sheng's Nascent Soul had come out of his body, putting his very own life at risk!
The dense primal qi that the Nascent Soul had drawn instantly condensed into thick clouds. Just before the clouds blocked the vision of those below, they glimpsed Galina and the Nascent Soul colliding.
Radiant bursts flashed repeatedly above the clouds, yet the immensely powerful shockwaves rippling out in all directions remained bound within them. Galina's failure to break through it proved that the two were evenly matched.
The cloud curtain served as a vast screen, within which the two clashed relentlessly. Thunder rumbled and primal qi grew chaotic as the battle raging above the clouds pushed Wang Sheng to his absolute limit.
Despite being only a Nascent Soul Realm cultivator, he had achieved so much and gone so far. Unfortunately, there was no further limit he could break through!
The Dark Faction experts who had just been repelled below fixed their gaze again on Wang Sheng, who had turned still. However, the moment they thought of seizing the chance to kill him, Spiritless sent a beam of light into Wang Sheng's palm. His Dao Body slowly opened its eyes, white light blazing in them.
Snorting coldly, it moved as though Spiritless was drawing it, or perfectly fused with it. The sword swept forth, unleashing endless sword radiance, cleaving the first wave of rushing vampires cleanly in half.
This technique of channeling enchanted power differed greatly from Wang Sheng's Heavenly Ziwei Sword Art. After all, the sword spirit was now in control of his Dao Body.
When Yaoyun reconstructed the Earth Qi Seal, Yaoyun's soul had briefly fused with Wang Sheng's. Since his Dao Body did not reject her, Wang Sheng's body and soul could fight on two separate fronts!
His Nascent Soul drew primal qi to block Galina, the greatest threat. His Dao Body and Spiritless stood right in front of the grand array, holding off the Dark Faction experts who sought to break it.
At that moment, the momentum of the Dark Faction was suppressed once more, and despair appeared in the eyes of many.
The Hua Republic cultivator should have already been driven to desperation, yet no matter how hard they tried, they could not crush his will. On the contrary, their resolve was the one wavering, his endless means having beaten it down over and over again.
Since the primal qi that Wang Sheng's Nascent Soul had drawn was too dense, the battle above the clouds had been blocked from view. They could only catch fleeting glimpses of Galina repeatedly losing ground to the phantasm.
Before the array, the Fire Lord and the Devil's Shadow had already begun to fight desperately. If Galina truly lost, then the Hua Republic cultivator would surely kill them; one man would be able to obliterate the Dark Faction!
Yaoyun frowned slightly. The moment she had taken control of Wang Sheng's Dao Body, she had discovered it was already nearly drained. Having fought so many consecutive battles, Wang Sheng now had nothing left but his Nascent Soul to face Galina.
Even with immortal arts, a clever woman could not cook without rice. To make matters worse, Wang Sheng only had a trace of enchanted power left, and she had to reserve her own strength to help him escape.
Before long, a burst of flames struck Wang Sheng's Dao Body, flinging it against the wall of the array. The Devil's Shadow followed with a crushing punch. Spiritless gave off only the faintest sword radiance.
With a dull rumble, the grand array's light flared violently. A tenth of the countless floating celestial crystals within shattered, making the protective dome seem ever closer to collapsing.
A surge of violent power then erupted in the sky. A vast purple star cut across the heavens, and a world-sundering sword tore through the clouds, its tip pressing against Galina as it smashed toward the earth.
The Dark Faction experts attacking Yaoyun panicked like startled birds, scattering in terror. Wang Sheng had truly frightened them out of their wits.
Nevertheless, the purple star only flickered faintly. Wang Sheng had forced his Nascent Soul to unleash the Heavenly Ziwei Sword Art at an even higher level, but with his soul power insufficient, his Nascent Soul's brilliance dimmed rapidly.
The phantasm in the sky sighed as Galina narrowly escaped from beneath the sword. Though it had been close, the attack only wounded her. It would not change the outcome.
The phantasm dissolved into streams of light, swiftly returning to Wang Sheng's Dao Body. His Nascent Soul settled back into place, and exhaustion swept through his limbs and bones. Yaoyun quickly returned into Spiritless as well.
Staggering, Wang Sheng dropped to one knee. He smiled bitterly. "You didn't even leave me even a trace of enchanted power."
"There was barely any to begin with. Do you expect me to create it out of nothing?" Yaoyun huffed. Her tone then softened. "Go. Do as you said earlier."
"I can still fight." Wang Sheng reached into his pendant and pulled out a handful of alchemical pills. No matter what kind they were, he swallowed them all.
He fixed his gaze on the Dark Faction cultivators gathering once more around him, fully aware that he was already at the end of his strength.
