A Chaotic World

Sword after sword started emerging from Lu Tianzi's spatial ring. The long sword Cloud Splitter counted among the dozens of blades, most of which had been collected over time by Lu Tianzi as his spoils of war.

It was a rather huge collection, but the Piercing Wind Overlord was not at all impressed. Instead, he was actually extremely disappointed at this moment.

"What is this? Have you lost your mind due to desperation?" the Piercing Wind Overlord asked with a frown, hoping to get some form of logical explanation from Lu Tianzi.

Even Nanshen Qin and the rest of the Frost Guards who were watching from the side could not help but furrow their brows, unable to comprehend what Lu Tianzi was trying to do.

Against the domain of an Overlord, it was not quantity but quality that mattered. Even if Lu Tianzi were to bring out a hundred times more weapons, it would do nothing to change the result!

Indeed, things turned out just as everyone had expected.

Right after the dozens of swords appeared, they immediately started to rattle and creak under the battering of the fierce winds. It seemed to be only a matter of time before the weapons broke under the pressure.

Not just that, but the swords were also being forced back by the strong winds, moving further and further away from the Piercing Wind Overlord with each passing moment.

No matter how they looked at it, bringing out these swords was a fruitless endeavour.

Yet despite their thoughts, nobody spoke a word. None of them wanted to openly shame the man who had saved their master.

Seemingly oblivious to their thoughts, Lu Tianzi remained focused, the light in his eyes not waning one bit.

While enduring the whipping from the winds, Lu Tianzi slowly stretched his left hand out in front of him, and let go of the Moon Culler which remained hovering on the spot.

Eternal Wraith Sword.

As though answering Lu Tianzi's inner thoughts, the numerous creaking blades around him suddenly stopped moving backwards as they started to forcibly resist the pressure from the winds.

"Hmm?" the Piercing Wind Overlord narrowed his eyes, as did the other members of the Frost Guards.

Under their watchful gaze, the swords around Lu Tianzi moved. They were still rattling from the battering of the strong winds, but they were moving nevertheless.

However, they were not approaching the Piercing Wind Overlord.

Slowly but steadily, the swords started to circle around Lu Tianzi, drawing out an imaginary dome that gradually expanded in radius. Lu Tianzi put down his arm, and the Moon Culler joined the numerous swords in their swim through the air.

Each of his swords flew through the air at a rather slow pace – one at which even a kid could easily avoid. Yet at the same time, they were also cutting through the air with such sharpness that left faint scars trailing in their wake.

The Piercing Wind Overlord's narrowed eyes widened in apprehension as he began to comprehend what was going on.

This was the swords cutting through the world laws themselves, severing the world laws' absolute control over the surroundings.

This was the swords cutting through the domain of the Piercing Wind Overlord, creating a domain within that the Piercing Wind Overlord could no longer govern with his world laws.

"This is... a domain of swords?" the Piercing Wind Overlord exclaimed, his words shocking everyone who heard him.

Lu Tianzi was only at the Fourth Cycle Origin Core realm. If he was really capable of exhibiting a domain of his own, that would even be breaking the record of the current first ranker on the Heaven's Warrior List!

To the Piercing Wind Overlord's words, Lu Tianzi did not answer.

He could not answer.

Even now, he did not fully understand how an Overlord's domain was formed, and whether what he was executing now was indeed a domain.

Nevertheless, he continued to focus, trying to get used to this new technique little by little.

"No, that's not it. Something doesn't seem quite right here," the Piercing Wind Overlord rubbed his chin in contemplation. "You are using the Law of Swords to severe my domain?"

On second look, the mini domain that was created by Lu Tianzi's swords did not seem to possess the fundamental properties of an Overlord's domain. Rather than creating a domain of his own world laws, it was merely severing everything that entered.

It could not even be considered an incomplete domain due to how vastly different they were.

"I have to admit that this is still rather impressive, but how long can you keep this up for?" the Piercing Wind Overlord shook his head. "Controlling this amount of swords must be rather taxing on your origin force, not to mention imbuing your comprehensions of the world law into each of them. In such a situation, would you still be able to go on the offensive?"

Lu Tianzi still did not answer, slowly closing his eyes as he tried to focus his senses.

His blades started to creak even louder. Yet despite the loud creaking of the blades, their movements gradually sped up, proving that Lu Tianzi still retained full control over them under such severe conditions.

The swords did not approach the Piercing Wind Overlord but remained in their original trajectory, the scar lines created by them drawing out a protective dome around Lu Tianzi.

The Piercing Wind Overlord continued to carefully observe the Lu Tianzi who stayed within the dome of swords.

Since Lu Tianzi did not seem interested in chatting, the Piercing Wind Overlord did not speak any further. Just like that, the two remained in silence as the stalemate continued.

Yes, it was a stalemate.

Yet just the fact that things had come to a standstill here was enough to give the onlookers the shudders.

It had to be known that this stalemate was one between a Fourth Cycle Origin Core realm Lu Tianzi and an Overlord realm powerhouse in the Piercing Wind Overlord, something that should never be happening.

In fact, there should have been absolutely no way for any Fourth Cycle Origin Core realm martial artist to withstand an Overlord's domain for more than a few seconds, not to mention as long as he did.

What made it even more incredulous was that Lu Tianzi even seemed to be more at ease than when they first began!

Could he really be capable of completely negating the Piercing Wind Overlord's Descent of the Mountain Winds?

At this point, many of the onlookers had grown curious about just what Lu Tianzi had done.

They might not know as much as the Piercing Wind Overlord, but since Lu Tianzi had used his swords as a medium, it was obvious that this dome around him was not a domain.

But if it was not a domain, then what was it?

Only a domain could resist a domain – this was common knowledge to all martial artists.

However, Lu Tianzi was resisting the Piercing Wind Overlord's domain with something that looked like a domain but was not actually a domain.

Just what kind of technique was that?

If they were able to learn something like that, then perhaps they would no longer be as helpless in the face of an Overlord powerhouse!

***

With his eyes closed, Lu Tianzi was deeply immersed in feeling the flow of his swords.

At this moment, he realised that he had been executing the Eternal Wraith Sword in the wrong manner all this while.

Just because he had formed a mental connection with his swords and was able to execute sword techniques with them, it did not mean that he had grasped the true essence of the Eternal Wraith Sword.

To master this technique, not only did he have to transmit his thoughts to his swords, the reverse applied as well. He, too, had to feel and understand the flow of the swords.

The flow of swords – this was similar to what each sword wished to do next.

In other words, just like how he transmitted his thoughts to the swords, he had to get the swords to transmit their thoughts to him.

Only then would he be able to align their thoughts, to become one with the swords.

At that point, his will would have become his swords' will.

By doing that, there would no longer be a need for him to control each of them separately.

With the Eternal Wraith Sword, a martial artist would be able to create a domain around him where his sword could fly around freely in accordance to his will, effortlessly reaping the lives of any opponents who dared to step within.

Even something like that which sounded complex initially would end up becoming nothing but an instinctive action by then... by now.

But if it was possible to create a domain with swords just like that, then didn't this mean he could create a domain with other things as well?

For example, water.

Badump-!

His heart started pounding harder as his thoughts started straying away from being solely on his swords.

But that did not mean he was losing focus. It was simply that his focus had expanded – from his swords to water, from water to poison, from poison to sabres.

Then he realised that his way of thinking had been too narrow.

Why did the medium for the domain have to be something material?

Why couldn't the medium be the world laws themselves?

Badump-!

Without anyone noticing, the two illusory green vortices behind Lu Tianzi were slowly turning more corporeal in nature, as though they were trying to materialise into this world.

Lu Tianzi spread his perception wide, stretching beyond the swords that were flying around him and into his surroundings.

The flow of the surroundings itself was slowly getting imprinted into his mind, and he could feel that he was infinitely close to touching upon something of another level.

And that was when the loud shattering of a sword thundered through the cave.

Not every one of Lu Tianzi's swords were of high quality, and one of the swords that he had brought out earlier finally reached its limit, no longer able to withstand the heavy pressure from the howling winds.

The sword was instantly split into numerous pieces by the howling winds.

Its sudden demise created a gap in the domain of swords, rendering the other swords vulnerable as well. This sparked off a chain effect in which many of the remaining swords shattered one by one.

Propelled by the strong winds, the countless pieces of sharp metal flew straight towards the now-defenceless Lu Tianzi, who instantly opened his eyes in alarm.

The sudden approach of such a barrage of blades would have been a horrifying sight for almost anyone, but Lu Tianzi was not too worried about them.

Limitless Mirror Eye!

His eyes shone with a silvery light, and the numerous small blades vanished without a trace.

However, what came next was no longer as simple to deal with.

Having lost the shield that was his swords, Lu Tianzi was now left completely exposed to the Piercing Wind Overlord's Descent of the Mountain Winds.

This time, Lu Tianzi was not as prepared as before, and was thus unable to withstand the brunt of the force as the powerful winds slammed into him.

Pu-!

Lu Tianzi spat out a mouthful of blood as he was swept off his feet by the winds, throwing him all the way back to the ends of the cave, slamming him into the cave wall like a rag doll.

Hmm?

While everyone was shocked by the sudden turn of events, a sense of danger suddenly washed over the Piercing Wind Overlord.

The space in front of him rippled and countless metal fragments appeared.

The Piercing Wind Overlord recognised these metal fragments in an instant - they were fragments of Lu Tianzi's sword that had vanished without a trace earlier.

He had wondered what Lu Tianzi did to cause them to disappear. Now, they had not only suddenly reappeared before him, but were also shooting towards him with a speed that completely caught him by surprise.

A spatial technique?!

Against the Origin Core realm Lu Tianzi, the Piercing Wind Overlord never expected to be met with a spatial technique. This caused his reaction to slow ever so slightly.

But even this slight delay in reaction was not enough to cut off his opportunity to escape.

"A clever trick, but still not good enough."

The Piercing Wind Overlord praised as his figure flashed, reappearing a short distance away.

He was still within the range of the sword fragments, but they simply flew past him in a seemingly magical manner.

The moment these sword fragments appeared, the Piercing Wind Overlord had managed to calculate their trajectories in an instant, identifying this one spot that would remain completely untouched.

Under the heavy barrage of sword fragments, he was able to simply stand still with unparalleled composure, knowing that absolutely no harm would befall him.

This was a confident move befitting an Overlord realm powerhouse, a move that would throw his opponents into a state of helpless despair.

Unfortunately, he had underestimated his opponent this time.

Behind the Piercing Wind Overlord, sword light condensed and formed into a blade of energy that struck down towards him.

It was the Returning Wraith Sword, performed using a mere sword fragment – a sword fragment that Lu Tianzi was not even in direct contact with.

This was the power of the Eternal Wraith Sword, the power of establishing a true link with one's weapon.

Just like that, the sword light slashed down upon the Piercing Wind Overlord, who was currently trapped within a barrage of sword fragments without any space to dodge whatsoever.

The Piercing Wind Overlord widened his eyes in astonishment, then a smile appeared on his face.

With a snap of his wrist, the Piercing Wind Overlord easily stopped the sword fragment by clipping it between two fingers.

In the end, even this much was not enough to cause any harm to befall the Overlord realm powerhouse.

However, it was enough for Lu Tianzi.

In battle, one's weapons are equivalent to the extension of a martial artist's limbs.

For the Piercing Wind Overlord to have to physically stop his sword fragment, it meant the same as him having come into contact with Lu Tianzi himself.

In other words, in this little contest between Lu Tianzi and the Piercing Wind Overlord...

...Lu Tianzi had won.