Cultivation is just so scientific! Chapter 1499 - 796: Interest

Cultivator Lu, the last survivor from the Central State Commerce, felt his entire body stiffen, his gaze flickering with terror and disbelief.

The instant the concealed 'Traceless Illusion Sword' emerged, he detected a strikingly familiar and formidable sword intent, along with the presence of a spirit treasure.

Cultivator Lu quickly realized that this sword intent shared its roots with the one from that unmatched prodigy of the Sword Intent Chongxiao Pavilion, where Li Yuanba, a Nascent Soul Middle Stage Sword Cultivator, had unleashed it to slay a Great Cultivator. Even at Nascent Soul Middle Stage, he earned the respect of Great Cultivators as an equal.

Moreover, the 'Chaos Sword Intent' that Li Shiming now revealed surpassed Li Yuanba's version in sheer might.

This made perfect sense, since Li Yuanba's grasp of 'Chaos Sword Intent' remained at the Nascent Soul Middle Stage level, while Li Shiming commanded the version belonging to a true Great Cultivator.

The difference between them loomed vast, as the Great Cultivator's sword intent held a hint of the Sword Intent Rule.

Furthermore, Li Shiming brandished a bizarre concealed spirit treasure flying sword, which, after felling Great Cultivator Qian Yi, vanished once more into the guise of the 'Traceless Illusion Sword'.

Cultivator Lu hesitated to trigger his safeguard Jade Talisman right away; his bond with Great Cultivator Qian Yi ran deep, and he knew that in such a dire spot, Great Cultivator Qian Yi must have tried to activate his own Jade Talisman, yet that horrifying hidden flying sword left no room for even the tiniest attempt.

He ramped up his protections relentlessly, summoning every defense he could muster, as waves of shielding spells enveloped him and various defensive treasures activated in sequence.

It took more than a dozen overlapping layers of safeguards before he caught a faint glimmer of security.

Linking his thoughts to the protective Jade Talisman, he paused before igniting it, shooting a puzzled glance at Li Shiming, baffled as to why his foe hadn't seized the moment to strike.

In that split second of doubt, Li Shiming's form blinked out from his position.

Moments later, Li Shiming materialized amid the web of treasures and spells guarding Cultivator Lu, right up against his rear.

In Li Shiming's grip, the Fourth-Grade Top Quality Sword Foundation took shape.

Typically, even clutching the Fourth-Grade Sword Foundation would make a close-quarters assault challenging.

But thanks to the 'Nameless Sword Canon,' Li Shiming had delved deeper into the techniques suited for Sword Cultivators in melee.

The Fourth-Grade Sword Foundation glided by, its flat side grazing his frame. As it slid across and touched Cultivator Lu's form, a flick of Li Shiming's wrist flipped the flat to the sharp edge.

By then, Cultivator Lu had set off the protective Jade Talisman, and a water escape infused with potent Rule Power began to coalesce, ready to whisk him to safety.

Given their height above the ground, if Cultivator Lu could break free from the fray and plunge into the sea, the water escape empowered by a mighty one's Water Rules would guarantee his getaway.

Yet fate twisted sharply; right as Cultivator Lu's body shifted into liquid, the Fourth-Grade Sword Foundation's edge sliced through the flow.

Against a standard flying sword, that slash would barely scratch the surface.

During water escape, a cultivator becomes a flowing current, shrugging off most harm with ease.

Still, the Fourth-Grade Sword Foundation pulsed with 'Chaos Sword Intent,' and this blow drew from the 'Nameless Sword Canon''s close-range Sword Cultivator arts.

In the modern Cultivation World, melee Sword Cultivators might fade into obscurity, but in eras past, they rivaled flying sword masters in fame, and up close, their strikes outdid even those distant blades in dread.

A close combat Sword Cultivator swings a longsword tied directly to their essence, letting them tweak the power inside the blade on the fly, pushing assault boundaries far beyond the norm.

Flying swords, by contrast, separate from the wielder. They receive sword intent and spiritual power poured in beforehand, capping their destructive potential well below what a gripped longsword can unleash.

Naturally, it's hard to declare one better than the other overall, but from the Cultivation World's present state, flying sword users endure while close combat Sword Cultivators teeter on the brink of lost heritage.

The Fourth-Grade Sword Foundation carved through Cultivator Lu mid-water escape, the 'Chaos Sword Intent' inflicting grave injury and yanking him back to solid form.

Staring in stunned disbelief at the fragmented protective Jade Talisman clutched in his fist, he saw proof it had triggered yet utterly failed to spirit him away.

This didn't mean the life-preserving Jade Talisman from a supreme power fell short; in the Cultivation World, few escapes topped it in reliability.

The issue stemmed from when he invoked it. After spending precious moments fortifying his barriers, Cultivator Lu fired the Jade Talisman a beat too slow, letting Li Shiming strike precisely as the water escape from the talisman started to form. It hadn't cleared the battlefield before the Fourth-Grade Sword Foundation disrupted it.

Though the 'Chaos Sword Intent''s Rule paled against the Water Rules a mighty one bestowed on the Jade Talisman, its offensive punch remained fierce.

Had the mighty one unleashed the water escape in person, Li Shiming's 'Chaos Sword Intent' could never shatter it, but since it was just embedded in the Jade Talisman by that power, the 'Chaos Sword Intent' overwhelmed it all the same.

The Jade Talisman's own caliber restricted how much Water Rules the mighty one could infuse, rendering it only a notch above a Great Cultivator's own power, yet bounded by what the Fourth-Grade Spirit Jade could withstand without breaking.