Cultivation is just so scientific!

Chapter 1499: Chapter 796: Interest

The remaining Cultivator Lu from the Central State Commerce was completely tense, fear and shock flashing in his eyes.

At the moment that the hidden ’Traceless Illusion Sword’ appeared, he sensed an extremely familiar and powerful sword intent, as well as the aura of a magical treasure.

Cultivator Lu immediately determined that this sword intent was of the same origin as the sword intent of that peerless genius from the Sword Intent Chongxiao Pavilion, where Li Yuanba, that Sword Cultivator at the Nascent Soul Middle Stage, had used this sword intent to kill a Great Cultivator. At the Nascent Soul Middle Stage, he was recognized by the Great Cultivators as having equivalent status.

And the ’Chaos Sword Intent’ displayed by Li Shiming before him was even more powerful than Li Yuanba’s sword intent.

This was not surprising, as Li Yuanba’s ’Chaos Sword Intent’ was only at the Nascent Soul Middle Stage, whereas Li Shiming’s ’Chaos Sword Intent’ was that of a Great Cultivator’s sword intent.

The gap between the two was enormous, with the Great Cultivator’s sword intent containing a trace of the Sword Intent Rule.

Not to mention that Li Shiming wielded an extremely peculiar hidden magical treasure flying sword, which, after Great Cultivator Qian Yi was slain, once again disappeared as the ’Traceless Illusion Sword’.

Cultivator Lu dared not activate his protective Jade Talisman immediately; his relationship with Great Cultivator Qian Yi was close, knowing that under those circumstances, Great Cultivator Qian Yi surely thought of activating his protective Jade Talisman, but the terrifying hidden magical treasure flying sword did not give Great Cultivator Qian Yi even the slightest chance to do so.

He continuously strengthened his defenses with every possible defensive measure, as layer upon layer of defense spells rose around him and multiple defensive magical treasures were deployed.

Only when he was surrounded by over a dozen layers of defense did he feel a slight sense of safety.

His mind connected with the protective Jade Talisman, and before activating it, he looked at Li Shiming with some confusion, not understanding why Li Shiming did not take this opportunity to attack him.

It was in this moment of hesitation that Li Shiming’s figure disappeared from where he stood.

Then, Li Shiming appeared within the layers of magical treasures and spells protecting Cultivator Lu, closely pressing against his back.

In Li Shiming’s hand, the Fourth-Grade Top Quality Sword Foundation materialized.

Under normal circumstances, it would also be difficult for the Fourth-Grade Sword Foundation in hand to launch an attack at such a close range.

However, with the ’Nameless Sword Canon,’ Li Shiming had gained more understanding of the attack methods for close combat Sword Cultivators.

The Fourth-Grade Sword Foundation brushed past with the spine of the sword brushing against his body. Just as it passed over his body and came into contact with Cultivator Lu’s body, with a slight twist of his palm, the edge of the spine turned into the blade.

At this point, Cultivator Lu had activated the protective Jade Talisman, and a water escape carrying strong Rule Power was forming, about to take Cultivator Lu far away.

Considering the current altitude, as long as Cultivator Lu escaped the battlefield and entered the ocean, with the water escape bearing the Water Rules of a powerful being, escape would not be an issue.

But an unexpected turn occurred; just as Cultivator Lu’s body transformed into water, the blade of the Fourth-Grade Sword Foundation swept over the water.

If it had been an ordinary flying sword, such a strike would have posed almost no threat.

However, during a water escape, a cultivator transforms into a stream of water, which doesn’t endure much damage.

Yet the Fourth-Grade Sword Foundation was imbued with ’Chaos Sword Intent,’ and this strike was executed using the close combat Sword Cultivator’s method from the ’Nameless Sword Canon.’

Perhaps in today’s Cultivation World, close combat Sword Cultivators have long been forgotten, but they were once as renowned as flying sword wielders, and in close range, their attacks were even more terrifying than those of flying swords.

The attack of a close combat Sword Cultivator involved wielding a longsword, with the sword connected to the cultivator’s body, allowing the energy within the longsword to be adjusted at any time, enabling much higher attack limits.

In contrast, flying swords are ultimately detached from the body. In the attack, the sword intent and spiritual power are infused into the flying sword, which imposes a maximum attack limit on the flying sword, a threshold considerably lower than the attack limit of a hand-held longsword.

Of course, it’s difficult to say whether the flying sword or the close combat longsword is superior, but judging from the current situation in the Cultivation World, at least flying sword cultivators have survived, whereas close combat Sword Cultivators face the dilemma of near extinction in legacy.

The Fourth-Grade Sword Foundation swept across Cultivator Lu in his water escape state, heavily wounding him with the ’Chaos Sword Intent,’ forcing him out of the water escape state.

He looked somewhat incredulously at the protective Jade Talisman in his hand, which had shattered, indicating it had been used but had failed to successfully take him away.

This wasn’t to say that the life-saving Jade Talisman crafted by a powerful being was ineffective; in the Cultivation World, this was almost the most top-tier life-saving method.

However, the problem lies in the timing of its use. Cultivator Lu, having taken some time to prepare his defenses, thus activated the protective Jade Talisman a step too late, allowing Li Shiming to launch his attack just as the water escape transformed by the Jade Talisman was forming. The water escape had not yet managed to leave the battlefield when it was struck by the Fourth-Grade Sword Foundation.

The specialty of ’Chaos Sword Intent,’ though the Sword Intent Rule within it pales in comparison to the Water Rules granted by a powerful being on the protective Jade Talisman, still carries a strong attack effect.

If the powerful being had personally cast the water escape, Li Shiming’s ’Chaos Sword Intent’ couldn’t possibly have broken it, but as the water escape was merely cast on the protective Jade Talisman by the powerful being, it was still vanquished by the ’Chaos Sword Intent.’

The quality of the protective Jade Talisman limited the powerful being from leaving too much Water Rules within it, making it only slightly stronger than what a Great Cultivator could mobilize, but still limited in strength, as more Water Rules than the Fourth-Grade Spirit Jade could bear.