This Sword Cultivator is Somewhat Dependable Chapter 1705 52: The Way Is Obstructed and Long, But Perseverance Leads to Arrival

Flickering.

Constantly flickering.

The tiny glowing text flickered intensely, as if it had encountered a problem beyond its computational limit, causing a crash.

This situation was not new to Lu Qingshan.

When he was advancing to the Seventh Tribulation Realm, the task to progress to the Eight Tribulation Realm was also delayed for a while before being issued.

At that time, he worried whether his cultivation had reached the limit of the "deep blue".

But this time was different from that time.

Because the glowing text flickered so intensely, as if it could collapse at any moment.

Lu Qingshan even began to suspect that perhaps the planners of "Nine Heavens" had never designed a progression task for the Ninth Tribulation Realm from the start.

This was not a baseless conjecture.

In the history of the Human Race, the appearance of cultivators at the Ninth Tribulation Realm had never been recorded.

Even those capable of achieving eternal fame and the most talented individuals had not reached this realm, so perhaps in the minds of the game planners, it simply didn't exist for players to attain, and thus the Ninth Tribulation Realm task was conveniently glossed over?

After all, in the past in "Nine Heavens", the individual combat power of players has always been incomparable to that of the prodigious NPCs.

However, just as Lu Qingshan was filled with many speculations, the intensely flickering deep blue panel suddenly became fixed.

A few rows of golden characters flickered.

"Acquired Ninth Tribulation Realm advancement task: [The path is longer and difficult, but if you walk it, you will reach]."

[The path is longer and difficult, but if you walk it, you will reach] (unique fixed task): The path is long and vast, yet if you pursue it, you will reach the end; there are no other requirements at this stage, just overcome the Ninety-Nine Heavenly Tribulations.

Note: Having reached this point, who besides the Heavens has the right to test you?

Description: As the ultimate task in the Tribulation Crossing Realm, the form and strength of the Ninety-Nine Heavenly Tribulations will exceed your imagination. Please prepare thoroughly before crossing the tribulation, as you will only have one chance.

For the first time, at the end of these glowing texts, there appeared a prompt.

"Would you like to abandon this task? (Abandonment recommended)"

All of this seemed to be urging Lu Qingshan to stop here, to cease advancing further.

Having reached the Eight Tribulation Realm, you've already reached the peak; don't pursue those fearless things anymore, lest you ultimately end up with nothing.

Yet Lu Qingshan raised his head again, casting his gaze towards the Nine Heavens.

He grinned.

With resolve in heart, why fear the path's length?

Reached here already, even if the road ahead means nine deaths to every life, pursuing the heart's aims, nine deaths would never cause regret.

"No."

A man cannot break his word.

The prompt vanished.

The glowing text settled into a plain, unadorned gray, representing incompletion.

.....

Lu Qingshan no longer looked up at the sky, but turned his gaze to Ming Venerable.

"Next, it's between you and me." At this moment, Lu Qingshan's smile was wild and uninhibited, with no constraints.

His laughter echoed through the sky, making Ming Venerable grind his teeth in hatred, yet an inexplicable slight sense of fear arose in his heart.

Great cultivators had the ability to sense with intuition, and the Demon Lords naturally had similar senses.

Though unaware of the source of fear, Ming Venerable sensed danger.

Lu Qingshan ceased his laughter.

"Daoyun, help me hold off Chi Venerable and War Venerable." Xia Daoyun received Lu Qingshan's divine sense transmission at this moment.

She didn't inquire much, firstly because time didn't allow it, and secondly because she trusted Lu Qingshan.

With a resonant clang, Xia Daoyun drew her sword, under the dim night, the sword stars shone, transforming into strands of Sword Gang, directly aiming at Chi Venerable and War Venerable, who had just shaken off the shock from the heavenly tribulation.

The female Sword Immortal clad in a cyan robe, resembled a Valkyrie.

I am a man, I won't lose to you... Lu Qingshan swung his sword, aiming directly at Ming Venerable, loudly questioning, "Ming Venerable, do you dare accept this strike?"

As if intimidated by his momentum, Ming Venerable, one of the three great War Demon Clan's Venerables, dared not immediately respond.

But Lu Qingshan's question was never meant for an answer.

The next moment, a clear whistle, Lieque brightened from the void, held in Lu Qingshan's hand.

Lu Qingshan wielded the Lieque Sword, seemingly casually, but once the sword was released, it was akin to a heavenly tribulation, unavoidable and inescapable.

In an instant, time seemed to stand still.

The Lieque Sword, known as the Divine Sword, surged with endless Sword Light from its blade, not inferior to celestial light, as if illuminating the Sky Dome, dazzling to the extent that moonlight paled and dimmed.

Moon Slash.

Only Moon Slash can possess such brilliant Sword Light, such a majestic spectacle.

Interestingly, twice using Moon Slash, it coincidentally was at night both times.

An indescribable powerful energy fluctuation spread, sweeping across eight directions, even the pinnacle Demon Lords couldn't help but feel cold at heart.

"You..." As one of the involved parties, Ming Venerable was even more aghast.

When that Sword Light shone, it seemed capable of melting everything, instilling fear in him.

With a long howl, he quickly retreated.

"Waxing Moon Slash." Lu Qingshan softly uttered three words.

Even during the most perilous moments of the Eight-Nine Heavenly Tribulation, he did not abandon his offensive against Ming Venerable, all for this one strike.

There weren't twenty days of continuous battles, so this sword couldn't accumulate ten thousand strikes like the previous battle against Luo Qiantuo.

However, Ming Venerable's unwillingness to resist allowed Lu Qingshan's Stacking Swords speed to far exceed expectations, even with interference from the tribulation.

Secret Sword: Moon Slash.

Sword accumulation count: one thousand two hundred fifty-six swords.

If Lu Qingshan hadn't attacked both Chi Venerable and Ming Venerable simultaneously at the beginning, causing constant target switching and recalculation, he could have even pushed the sword accumulation count past two thousand swords.

But this was enough.

Full Moon Slash is a sword with two hundred times the power.

A sword with two hundred times the power of the Seventh Tribulation Realm.

Waxing Moon Slash only has a hundred times the power.

Yet it is a sword with a hundred times the power of the Eight Tribulation Realm.

The gap between the two isn't as large as imagined.

The Sword Light surged forth in connection, dazzlingly brilliant.

The previous Sword Light hadn't dissipated before the next one covered over it, overlapping and compressing, making the light even more radiant.

Brilliant and bright Sword Light transformed into an almost-full moon wheel, whistling away.

Whatever it encountered would be shredded.

Even the space was plowed with deep furrows.

The mana within Lu Qingshan, just restored to peak, blazed fiercely, boiling completely.

More terrifyingly, hidden within the Sword Light was Heavenly Punishment.

After wandering through the Eight-Nine Heavenly Tribulation for a long time, Lie Que replenished the already exhausted Heavenly Punishment count.

Two major killer moves unfolded.

Even Lu Qingshan himself found it difficult to withstand such a sword.

In his eyes, Ming Venerable was already doomed.

Ming Venerable refused to fall without a fight.

He let out a long howl, raising the Starlight Ancient Shield, forcibly drawing countless strands of starlight within the lunar glow.

The ancient shield, brilliant like a diamond, merged into a sea of starlight.

This was his strongest defense; even if War Venerable and Ming Venerable attacked, facing this move, it would be hard to take his life.

Yet, the Yue Hua flowed like water, endlessly, fortified by Heavenly Punishment, breaking through all barriers.

The two complemented and penetrated each other seamlessly.

The Yue Hua silently passed through the starlight, and Heavenly Punishment penetrated into the marrow and soul, chilling deeply.

"Not enough, still not enough," Lu Qingshan murmured.

Even with his mana restored to its peak, he couldn't fully sustain such a sword.

But it's understandable, a sword with a hundred times the power isn't simply a hundred swords stacked.

Mana insufficient, then life force must be sacrificed.

"Come on." For the loss of life force, Lu Qingshan had long since become accustomed.

As his life force was extracted, cracks appeared on Ming Venerable's body, and blood gushed forth.

Not only his body, this sword was destroying him everywhere.

Pain from the physical body, marrow, blood, and deep in the soul made Ming Venerable howl.

"I am Ming Venerable, you can't kill me!" he roared hysterically.

In an instant, from his Divine Demon Body, countless blazing red pillars of light shot up to the sky.

At this moment, Ming Venerable was like a Demon God.

As these pillars burst forth, his body swelled crazily, squeezing out tribulation thunder, neutralizing moonlight, even his wounds began to heal from this suddenly burgeoning power.

Greedy Demon Body.

"Luo Qiantuo is stronger than you." Lu Qingshan laughed, offering an assessment.

His expression was obscure under the moonlit Sword Light, his eyes like burning coals, shining brightly, fixed on Ming Venerable.

Lu Qingshan took a deep breath, his white hair wildly fluttering, clothes rustling like flags, his aura soaring like a dragon, fiery hot, immense as clouds, capable of swallowing thousands of miles.

Beneath the bright moon, he raised Lie Que again.

Lie Que emitted a long, resounding hum, proud and spirited.

The full moonlight gathered and united, descending, converging into a beam, shining onto Ming Venerable, whose appearance was like a Demon God.

Boom!

Ming Venerable's demonic face cracked, marked by a sword scar.

An unhealable sword scar.

The cracks extended, starting from Ming Venerable's forehead, down through the nose, mouth, chin, neck, chest....

Ming Venerable tightly gripped the Starlight Ancient Shield, but his arm gradually weakened.

Finally, with a thunderous roar, his massive, swollen Divine Demon Body was cleaved in two by the sword scar.