Zhi Jian Chen Sha

Chapter 666 Lin Yun and Nine Swords

Suddenly, a dark shadow flashed past Daozun, silent and swift. By the time it erupted, its power was so immense that Daozun felt an inexplicable chill in his heart.

"Sword, come!"

Jiu Jian Zhenjun also instinctively sensed the danger. The prickling sensation on his skin made him dare not hesitate for a moment. He immediately unleashed the Nine Swords.

Nine divine swords flew out from the scabbards on his back, forming a nine-pointed sword formation that enveloped Jiu Jian Zhenjun and Tian Hua Zhenjun.

Whoosh!

The power of the dark shadow was far beyond Jiu Jian Zhenjun's expectations. It swiftly broke through the Nine Swords and lunged towards Tian Hua Zhenjun.

Tian Hua Zhenjun's expression was calm. He flipped his hand and took out a verdant seed. With a gentle squeeze, the seed shattered, blooming into a nine-leaf green lotus that wrapped around Tian Hua Zhenjun.

Riiiiip!

The dark shadow's hands, like the talons of an ancient eagle, carried a sharpness that could tear through all things. They slashed fiercely across the nine-leaf green lotus.

Leaf after leaf of green lotus was torn into shreds, exposing Tian Hua Zhenjun within. Just as the dark shadow rejoiced and prepared to press its advantage, the nine-leaf green lotus slowly rotated, and new leaves grew, once again enveloping Tian Hua Zhenjun.

"Alas!"

The dark shadow was stunned and sighed softly. It had thought it could eliminate Tian Hua Zhenjun in one swift blow, but it had underestimated Tian Hua Zhenjun's life-saving abilities.

This dark shadow was none other than Lin Yun, who had shattered his core and formed his nascent soul. Although he had broken through to the Nascent Soul stage, the golden core he condensed was only of the third grade, and the nascent soul formed was a black nascent soul. His strength was merely on par with an ordinary cultivator with a first-grade golden core.

Based on the grade of the condensed golden core, there were distinctions in the nascent souls formed after breaking through to the Nascent Soul stage.

The lowest grade of nascent soul was formed from the shattering of a third-grade golden core, resulting in a black nascent soul.

Black nascent souls were the most common among Nascent Soul stage cultivators. In the Wushan Star Domain, although there were nearly a hundred Nascent Soul stage cultivators, over seventy percent of them possessed black nascent souls.

Second-grade golden core stage cultivators, upon shattering their golden cores, would form a silver nascent soul. Such powerful cultivators, once they broke through to the Nascent Soul stage, would be difficult for even peak cultivators of first-grade golden cores to contend with.

As for first-grade golden core cultivators, the nascent souls they formed were golden. However, such nascent souls were exceedingly rare, far rarer than first-grade golden core cultivators themselves.

"Scram!"

Jiu Jian Zhenjun held a massive divine sword, the state of the Nine Swords merged into one. Each of these nine divine swords was of the intermediate spirit treasure level. Once merged, their power approached that of high-grade spirit treasures.

Like a mountain pressing down, the colossal divine sword, bearing a heavy pressure, slashed towards the dark shadow. The space seemed momentarily bound, and the dark shadow, with no way to evade, could only face it head-on.

After breaking through to the Nascent Soul stage, Lin Yun no longer paid much attention to anyone unless they were a first-grade golden core cultivator. Facing Jiu Jian Zhenjun's immensely heavy sword strike, Lin Yun directly extended his clawed hand...

The spirit treasure gauntlet clashed with the colossal divine sword. Lin Yun clenched his five fingers, grasping the sword's body. Profound Nascent Soul mystic energy surged out, attempting to wrest the divine sword away.

"A Nascent Soul stage cultivator?"

Jiu Jian Zhenjun's expression shifted slightly as he felt the powerful pull of the Nascent Soul energy. However, in terms of strength, he was not afraid at all.

"Open!"

Jiu Jian Zhenjun roared, and his strength instantly surged, repelling Lin Yun's hand.

"Divine Ability, Nine Swords!"

After repelling Lin Yun, Jiu Jian Zhenjun did not guard his position and directly unleashed his Nine Swords divine ability!

A colossal sword shadow condensed above Jiu Jian Zhenjun's head, radiating a sharp and powerful sword aura that even made Lin Yun feel a pang of alarm.

"Shadow Shield!"

Endless dark light erupted from Lin Yun's body, rapidly forming an incredibly dark shield in front of him. Dark light flowed across the shield, resembling a black hole that seemed capable of devouring everything.

Boom!

The colossal sword shadow cleaved down, striking the pitch-black light shield. The dark light flowing on the black shield continuously corroded and weakened the sword shadow's power.

The two forces were in a standoff for less than a breath. Lin Yun felt immense pressure. He stared at the dark shield, pushing it forward with all his might, and used this brief opening to employ the Way of Shadow, flashing away and evading the sword strike.

Jiu Jian Zhenjun, having cultivated the "Nine Swords Divine Ability" to its perfected state, possessed power comparable to an ordinary Nascent Soul stage cultivator even without using his divine ability.

When his divine ability erupted, its might approached that of a Nascent Soul stage cultivator who had undergone the first Nascent Soul tribulation. Lin Yun found it somewhat difficult to resist.

"He's actually a Golden Core True Monarch comparable to a Heavenly Ranking expert!"

Having witnessed Jiu Jian Zhenjun's strength, Lin Yun realized that this cultivator in the Golden Core stage, who appeared to be a youth, was undoubtedly an expert ranked on the Heavenly Ranking.

That divine ability strike earlier had nearly matched the might of a first-tribulation Nascent Soul cultivator, and he was far from being able to compare.

Lin Yun cast a deep glance at Jiu Jian Zhenjun and once again employed the Way of Shadow, entering a state of stealth.

Cultivators who practice the Way of Shadow are all formidable assassins. Although Lin Yun's direct combat strength was only average, his assassination techniques were indeed terrifying.

Moreover, now that he had broken through to the Nascent Soul stage, he might have no way to deal with an expert like Jiu Jian Zhenjun, but assassinating ordinary second-grade and third-grade Golden Core cultivators was extremely easy.

"I never thought this old man had stepped into the Nascent Soul stage."

Seeing Lin Yun escape from Jiu Jian Zhenjun's grasp, Daozun's expression was somewhat grave.

He had seen Lin Yun before; he was merely an ordinary third-grade Golden Core cultivator then. If he had acted, he was confident he could have easily dealt with Lin Yun within ten moves, even with his practice of the Way of Shadow.

But facing Lin Yun again now, the situation was completely different. Although he, Daozun, possessed extremely strong life-saving abilities and was known for being able to escape from Nascent Soul stage cultivators, that was only against the most ordinary Nascent Soul stage cultivators.

In the hands of a Nascent Soul expert like Lin Yun, who excelled in assassination, tracking, and stealth, he truly had little confidence in escaping.

"Who is he?"

Jiu Jian Zhenjun and Tian Hua Zhenjun both looked at Daozun, a hint of confusion on their faces.

"He was just a subordinate of that Grand Master Zhang. But now that he has broken through to the Nascent Soul stage, it's a bit troublesome."

Daozun's eyes held a complex expression as he spoke.

"He's merely a black nascent soul cultivator who hasn't even undergone the first Nascent Soul tribulation. If he dares to attack me again, I will ensure he never returns."

Jiu Jian Zhenjun's expression was arrogant. He clearly did not regard this cultivator, who had just broken through to the Nascent Soul stage, with any seriousness.

As for Lin Yun assassinating other Golden Core stage cultivators at this moment, he, Jiu Jian Zhenjun, cared not at all. Other Golden Core stage cultivators were merely obstacles on his path to seizing opportunities. Even if Lin Yun didn't act, he would have eliminated them sooner or later.

Since Lin Yun was willing to help, he didn't mind playing the role of a mantis stalking the cicada, unaware of the oriole behind.

Seeing Jiu Jian Zhenjun's expression, Daozun couldn't help but shake his head inwardly, a sense of foreboding growing within him.

Lin Yun's breakthrough to the Nascent Soul stage only made him feel troublesome at most. After all, there were over a hundred Golden Core stage cultivators here. If it were a direct confrontation, even Lin Yun couldn't withstand them.

However, in just over half a year, Lin Yun had made such significant progress. What level of strength had that Grand Master Zhang reached by now?

...