Invincible Dad-Chapter 614: Human Emperor’s Art_1

At the foot of Mount Haitang.

The expressions of the eleven masters from the Holy Lands, including the four Watchmen and Xu Wandao, changed drastically. They all saw a new name appear on the Sword Ranking.

They also saw the sword in Xu Die’s hand.

The blade was entirely black and ancient in appearance, without the slightest pattern or engraving, nor did it emit any special aura.

For some reason, this sword made these powerful experts, who stood at the apex of Hua Country’s Cultivation World, feel a visceral, heart-pounding fear. This was especially true for Xu Wandao, Zhang Henshui, and Zhao Wumian.

They had seen Xu Yiyi wield the Qingfeng Sword Intent before. Now, the feeling Xu Die gave them vaguely resembled Xu Yiyi’s, but it fell short in potency.

Amidst their hesitation and uncertainty, Watchman Zi Yaoyuan looked at the Red Fire Pavilion Master and said calmly, "You just said that the path for Hua Country’s sword cultivators was broken? Indeed, it was."

Daoist Chi Huo’s face burned with shame.

To enter the Divine Gate Realm with a single sword technique... such talent was simply unheard of!

But he stubbornly insisted, "Xu Lai caused the downfall of the Penglai Sword Pavilion. That doesn’t conflict with my statement that the path of sword cultivation is broken."

"Besides, this girl entered the Divine Gate Realm through her own talent. It would have been the same with or without the Penglai Sword Pavilion!"

Daoist Chi Huo’s words suddenly gave Xu Wandao a ridiculous idea. "What if this Sword Ranking was established by Senior Xu Lai?"

"..."

The Red Fire Pavilion Master’s pupils shrank. He waved his sleeve violently and snorted, "Ridiculous. Do you really think that just because the character ’Xu’ is on the Sword Ranking, it was established by him, Xu Lai?"

"Wait," the Tian Ce Pavilion Master exclaimed. "Look at the character on the Sword Ranking!"

Everyone was puzzled and extended their Divine Sense to investigate. Apart from the addition of Xu Die’s name, they detected no other differences.

Then, Zhang Suzi blinked hard. "Uhm... is the ’Xu’ character on the Sword Ranking missing a stroke?"

Only then did everyone notice that the character for ’Xu’ which is written with a ’double-person’ radical had, at some point, changed to another version of ’Xu’ written with a ’single-person’ radical.

"It’s the sword in Xu Die’s hand. She took a stroke from the character!" Xu Wandao exclaimed in shock.

The character ’Xu’ is written with a total of ten strokes.

One stroke, one sword.

Xu Die comprehended a strand of Sword Intent from it, taking one stroke to forge her sword.

HISS!

Hearing Xu Wandao’s words, the masters of the Holy Lands and the Watchmen felt their hearts leap in their chests.

An intangible Sword Intent had actually transformed into a tangible sword. What kind of mighty expert could perform such a grand feat?

"It must be Senior Xu Lai," Zhang Henshui said with a sigh. "Senior Xu once said that Xu Yanyang could protect Hua Country for a hundred years, while he could protect it for ten thousand. Xu Yanyang left behind a Sky Ranking, so he left behind a Sword Ranking."

"Elder Zhang," Shen Xun of the Formation Sect said, his emotions now stable and his tone no longer as aggressive as before. "The one who established the Sword Ranking must be an unparalleled powerhouse. Xu Lai couldn’t have done it."

"Actually, I saw Rong Sanyue some time ago," Xu Wandao said, his voice hoarse.

"Rong Sanyue?" everyone gasped in unison. "Where is she?"

She was the youngest Supreme Elder of the Penglai Sword Pavilion, a heaven-defying genius who had stepped into the Divine Gate Realm before the age of thirty. But Rong Sanyue had been missing for a long time, as if she had evaporated from the face of the earth.

"That day at the Martial Dao Association’s Martial Practice Field, Deng Shu gathered his power for a slash, intending to strike Xu Yiyi. But his attack was unexpectedly broken by Xu Die, who just happened to be passing by."

"After Rong Sanyue left in a rage, she came to Haitang Court, seeking to demand an explanation from Xu Lai on behalf of her disciple, Deng Shu."

Xu Wandao sighed softly. "But now she’s gone insane. She’s on a beach in a city in the North, repeatedly forming a ’sword’ with her fingers and slashing at the sea."

"Rong Sanyue has a firm Dao heart. How could she possibly go mad?" Daoist Chi Huo refused to believe it, stating flatly, "Don’t speak such nonsense."

"I asked her what happened, but she didn’t speak. The light had already vanished from her eyes."

Xu Wandao enunciated each word carefully, "But the Sword Intent she relentlessly unleashes is vaguely similar to Xu Die’s. And their Sword Intent is not as pure as that on the Sword Ranking, and even less complete than Xu Yiyi’s Sword Intent."

"If you still don’t believe me, you can go and see for yourselves."

"..."

The masters of the Three Sects, Eight Pavilions, and eleven Holy Lands no longer looked toward Haitang Court with boiling murderous intent. Instead, beads of cold sweat formed on their foreheads.

If what Xu Wandao said was true, then Xu Lai’s Boundary might have already surpassed the limits of their comprehension.

"Could the Sword Ranking truly have been established by Xu Lai?" Qi Jiuyang of the Blade Sect frowned deeply.

"We’ll know if we perform a divination."

The Pavilion Master of Tian Ce Pavilion, his expression calm, threw a Turtle Shell that emitted an ancient aura behind him. He then bit the tip of his finger and flicked a drop of blood onto the Turtle Shell from a distance.

Among their alliance, Tian Ce Pavilion might have the weakest combat power, but no one dared to underestimate it. After all, Tian Ce Pavilion had never been known for its fighting strength but for its expertise in divination and strategic planning.

"I really wouldn’t do that," Xu Wandao said, raising his eyebrows. "Senior Xu Lai’s power is beyond comprehension. If you get hurt because of this..."

"It’s fine! This Nine Spirit Turtle Shell has been passed down since the founding of Tian Ce Pavilion and is our greatest treasure," the Tian Ce Pavilion Master said with conviction, cutting Xu Wandao off. "Even if I can’t get a result, I absolutely won’t be harmed."

"Cai Lu, you old bastard! When I asked you to do a divination on Xu Lai before, didn’t you say the Turtle Shell couldn’t be used lightly?" cursed Shen Xun, the Sect Master of the Formation Sect.

Cai Lu was an old man, nearly two meters tall, a stark contrast to the short Shen Xun. He coughed and explained, "The Nine Spirit Turtle Shell is a supreme treasure. It truly cannot be used casually."

The moment his words fell, Cai Lu began forming hand seals for the divination. The blood on the Turtle Shell flowed rapidly along its patterns, outlining a strange symbol in the blink of an eye.

Xu Wandao looked like he wanted to say something but ultimately held his tongue. In the end, he said nothing more. It was no use; he couldn’t stop him.

...

Divination was an extremely tedious and dull process.

Cai Lu continuously formed hand seals, using the Turtle Shell to connect to the Heavenly Dao and seek out that sliver of destiny.

The Spiritual Energy in his body depleted at a frantic rate, and soon Cai Lu was drenched in sweat. His face grew pale, and his vision was shrouded in a dense Mist, preventing him from seeing the slightest hint of fate from the Heavenly Dao.

Normally, Cai Lu would have given up at this point, because a dense Mist indicated that the subject of his divination was far beyond his ability to meddle with.

But today, this Mist was not particularly thick, and a faint light seemed to shine through it.

"Disperse!"

Cai Lu roared, biting the tip of his tongue and spitting out a mouthful of blood. As his aura weakened, the Nine Spirit Turtle Shell erupted in a dazzling white light.

Cai Lu’s eyes widened, waiting for the light to fade and reveal the destiny shown on the Turtle Shell.

"He’s about to get the result."

Everyone held their breath and watched in silence, but what awaited them was a loud crack.

BANG!

Cai Lu was dumbfounded. The Nine Spirit Turtle Shell, an artifact passed down for a thousand years, had actually exploded!

His vision went dark, and he nearly fainted from the heartache. This Turtle Shell was left behind after a Nine Spirit Turtle of the Nascent Soul Realm had passed away. It was an heirloom that the founding ancestor of Tian Ce Pavilion had pleaded for from their parent sect, the Yunxiao Sect. It was the only one of its kind in the world!

"Is this really the greatest treasure of Tian Ce Pavilion? How did it explode?" Xu Wandao’s expression slowly turned strange.

"Old Cai, what happened?" Shen Xun asked, raising an eyebrow.

Cai Lu’s heart was bleeding, but he didn’t let it show. Unwilling to accept this, he gritted his teeth and said, "That Sword Ranking is too strange to be divined. However, everything is still under my control. I will use the ’Human Emperor Technique’ and try again!"