Chapter 47 – Killing Intent Takes Form, Six-Petaled Azure Lotus

The Seven Kill Sword Formation was a common yet practical sword formation within the Azure Cloud Sect’s Sword Concealment Peak.

Its greatest characteristic lay in allowing the seven participants to merge their individual killing intent into a unified whole. The formation’s core controller could freely distribute this collective killing intent, wielding it as effortlessly as moving one’s own arm.

While killing intent might seem like an intangible, elusive concept to cultivators of other schools, for sword cultivors who specialized in offense, it was a tangible force that could be harnessed. When concentrated to a certain degree, sword cultivators could fuse killing intent with their own Sword Intent, creating a unique power capable of both intimidating enemies and enhancing their own offensive capabilities.

Lu Chen was currently experiencing the terror of this power firsthand. Though the pressure didn’t quite reach the level of the Foundation Establishment Stage, it was alarmingly close.

On the first floor of the Sword Pavilion, seven Sword Demons had surrounded Lu Chen in a coordinated assault, blocking all possible escape routes. His Azure Lotus Eyes spun rapidly as he searched for weaknesses in the Seven Kill Sword Formation.

Through his enhanced vision, Lu Chen saw an intricate, illusory Sword Diagram floating above the seven Sword Demons. Though he couldn’t comprehend the diagram’s complex patterns, he could clearly distinguish seven glowing points within it. The largest point corresponded to the elite Sword Demon at the formation’s center – undoubtedly, these points represented the seven Sword Demons below.

With the confidence of infinite resurrection backing him, Lu Chen chose not to evade but to confront the formation head-on while seeking its vulnerabilities. Moreover, if a mere Seven Kill Sword Formation could enable seven Qi Condensation Stage Sword Demons to project an Aura comparable to the Foundation Establishment Stage, then mastering this formation would allow his Azure Mystic Puppet or the Ink Spirit within his Ink Dragon Sword to replace these Sword Demons and form his own Seven Kill Sword Formation. This would undoubtedly elevate his combat prowess to new heights.

Thus, Lu Chen’s thoughts weren’t limited to defeating the seven Sword Demons before him – he was also contemplating how to secretly learn this sword formation. And the best way to learn a formation was through direct experience, though such learning came at no small cost.

Boom!

When the seven Sword Demons closed within a certain distance, Lu Chen suddenly felt an immense pressure crushing down on him like Mount Tai. He knew this wasn’t merely psychological – it was the physical manifestation of concentrated killing intent. The oppressive force caused him to stagger momentarily, nearly sending him tumbling to the ground.

The Sword Demons gave him no time to adapt. The two closest to him immediately launched their attacks. In this critical moment, Lu Chen could only somewhat awkwardly execute the Flowing Cloud Step, barely dodging one Sword Demon’s strike while swinging his sword toward the other.

Clang!

The moment his vibrating Ink Dragon Sword collided with the Evil Sword of the Sword Demon, Lu Chen felt as if he had struck an immovable mountain. With the enhancement of his Azure Lotus Eyes, he clearly saw how his attack was being dispersed by the Sword Demon through some mysterious means. Without question, this was the effect of the Seven Kill Sword Formation.There was no more time for Lu Chen to think, as more Sword Demons closed in around him.

In an instant, Lu Chen found himself besieged by six Sword Demons.

As for the elite Sword Demon in the distance, it now adopted a spectator’s stance, patiently observing Lu Chen’s weaknesses without rushing to attack.

After one minute, having grown somewhat familiar with the Seven Kill Sword Formation, Lu Chen finally found opportunities to counterattack.

He occasionally delivered retaliatory strikes to the Sword Demons surrounding him.

Though these counterattacks were merely superficial, they nonetheless represented a crucial first step.

By this point, Lu Chen had roughly discerned the effects of the Sword Formation.

First was the substantial pressure that materialized killing intent into an invisible mountain, heavily weighing down anyone trapped within, preventing enemies from exerting their full strength.

Second was the seamless unity among the formation’s casters, causing every enemy attack to be distributed among all seven Sword Demons, making it impossible to defeat them individually.

The combination of these two effects left Lu Chen, despite his considerable power, able to utilize at most fifty percent of his strength.

This feeling of having power but nowhere to direct it was profoundly frustrating.

This couldn’t continue.

As the saying goes, prolonged offense inevitably reveals weaknesses.

Though he hadn’t yet found flaws in the Seven Kill Sword Formation, Lu Chen understood his initial probing had reached its limits.

If the situation continued developing this way, he might not even manage a single effective counterattack.

Let alone find a method to break the formation.

“Roar!”

With that distinctive Dragon’s Roar, the Ink Dragon Sword in Lu Chen’s hand began vibrating intensely.

Streaks of silver-white Sword Qi radiated from his body, quickly coalescing into a magnificent silver Flood Dragon.

Whether due to his improved cultivation or because he now wielded the divine weapon Ink Dragon Sword,

Lu Chen’s Sword Qi Flood Dragon manifested subtle changes not seen before.

At the center of the Sword Qi Flood Dragon’s brow now appeared a black Dragon Scale,

imparting a mystical quality previously absent from the Sword Qi Flood Dragon.

The emergence of this Sword Qi Flood Dragon temporarily forced back the surrounding Sword Demons, alleviating the pressure enveloping Lu Chen.

Witnessing this, the elite Sword Demon that had remained inactive finally moved.

It took a step forward, the Flesh Tumor Evil Sword on its right hand opening a bloody maw to spew forth copious amounts of crimson eerie energy.

Soon, it formed a bizarre giant blood-red sword.

Lu Chen and the elite Sword Demon locked eyes, then almost simultaneously launched their attacks.

Boom!

The Sword Qi Flood Dragon collided with the giant blood-red sword, scattering countless fragments of Sword Qi.

After a brief stalemate, the previously unstoppable Sword Qi Flood Dragon ultimately dissipated into the sky as Lu Chen could no longer sustain it.

However, the elite Sword Demon’s giant blood-red sword didn’t fare much better.

Not only was its blade covered in sword marks, but all seven Sword Demons comprising the formation vomited blood.

Had they not shared Lu Chen’s attack among themselves,

this single strike would have been enough to claim the elite Sword Demon’s life.

One against seven, especially with the opponents forming a Sword Formation – relying solely on himself… ultimately fell somewhat short.

Lu Chen looked up calmly at the descending giant blood-red sword.

Though he had failed this time, he had nonetheless gained substantial understanding of the Seven Kill Sword Formation’s capabilities.As long as he could find the weakness of this Sword Formation, breaking it would be a matter of course.

Boom!

As the colossal blood-red Sword completely descended, Lu Chen, drained of Spiritual Power, was utterly buried beneath the rubble.

[You have died]

“Hah, it’s been a long time since I last tasted the flavor of death.”

Revived once more, Lu Chen stood before the gates of the Sword Pavilion, beginning to analyze the reasons for his recent failure.

Just as he had done before in the Ancient Cultivator Tomb Instance.

Similar to traditional Instances, the True Immortal Cultivation Instances followed a standard ‘stage-based’ model.

Only by fully clearing a ‘stage’ could one obtain all the rewards within it.

Much like the game Dungeon & Fighter he played in his previous life.

Thus, although he had revived and the Instance had reset, only the conditions inside the Sword Pavilion were refreshed—the ordinary Sword Demons in the plaza did not reset along with it.

Recalling the recent battle, Lu Chen gradually reached a decision in his heart.

To break the Seven Kill Sword Formation, he needed a deeper understanding of the Sword Formation.

And with the Azure Lotus Eye, he could better observe the operational patterns of the Sword Formation.

This way, all he needed to do was raise the Rank of the Azure Lotus Eye and engage in a few more battles—he believed he would then find the method to break the formation.

With this in mind, Lu Chen immediately checked his experience points and the Azure Lotus Eye skill Rank.

[Azure Lotus Eye: Beginner 10/1000]

[Current Experience Points: 3402]

[You have consumed 990 experience points. Azure Lotus Eye has been upgraded to ‘Proficient’…]

[Current Experience Points: 2412]

(End of Chapter)