Chapter 30: Unparalleled Sword Box
Qin Xuan smiled faintly, his false "Angelic" aura pushing back against the sea of blood. "Where there is light, there will be darkness."
"Slaughter City and our Spirit Hall have always had a cooperative relationship since ancient times. I believe this relationship will continue."
He met the King's gaze. "And you, Slaughter King, will forever be the King here."
The Slaughter King shook his head, the blood-red light in his eyes not diminishing. "It's not enough. Words are cheap."
"Your potential and talent are unprecedented. I have seen what you did in the arena. I need you to swear. In the name of your Spirit, and in the name of your Qian family's... Divinity."
He emphasized that last word, "Divinity."
As for the thousands of surrounding degenerates still screaming in the arena stands, they were no longer important. Their fate was sealed.
The King had originally thought of not opening the Hell Road, of denying this challenger, to leave some reserve "blood"—fodder—for Slaughter City's arenas.
But since they had all borne witness to this "secret," to the appearance of a divine Spirit, whether the Hell Road was opened or not, they would all have to die afterward.
"Of course," Qin Xuan's smile never wavered. "But I also have a condition. I need to challenge the Hell Road."
He put away his fake Seraphim Spirit, the golden light retracting into his body. He secretly breathed a sigh of relief.
It seemed he had finally bluffed this old, corrupted bat.
The Slaughter King's blood-colored eyes swept over the surrounding degenerates, a cold, cruel smile flashing in his heart. "That is natural. A small price to pay."
"Alright, I'll start swearing now."
Qin Xuan's right hand, hidden in his sleeve, was still gripping the Mo Ya [Character Recruitment Card]. He extended three fingers on his left hand, not relaxing his vigilance in the slightest. His Ghost Valley Breathing Technique was circulating at its peak, ready to move in an instant.
He began to swear, his voice resonJULIAN, echoing with a false, holy light:
"I, Qian Xuntian, swear in the name of my family's inherited Spirit, Seraphim, and in the name of the Qian family's Angel God..."
Heh, he thought internally, any oath sworn by "Qian Xuntian" has nothing to do with me, Qin Xuan.
"...that as long as the Slaughter King opens the Hell Road for me and never becomes an enemy of Spirit Hall, then he will forever be the King of Slaughter City, and Slaughter City will forever be his kingdom."
"If I violate this oath, I, Qian Xuntian, shall be struck by divine lightning, my Spirit shall shatter, and I shall not die a good death!"
Qin Xuan had no intention of killing the Slaughter King, nor did he intend to destroy Slaughter City. At least, not now. The city was a useful containment for the continent's filth.
Of course, all of this was based on the premise that the old bat didn't seek death himself.
Otherwise, he wouldn't mind changing the King here in the future. He would completely control the Slaughter King.
"Then this King wishes Your Excellency a smooth journey and success."
Upon receiving 'Qian Xuntian's' binding, divine promise, a relieved and gratified smile finally appeared on the Slaughter King's pale face. He tossed the Hell Slaughter Field champion's token back to Qin Xuan.
He no longer doubted whether Qin Xuan could pass the Hell Road. A genius with twin spirits, one of which was the divine Seraphim, who had achieved a 100 consecutive victories in just one year.
If such talent and strength still couldn't pass the Hell Road, then probably no one in history ever could.
Clearly, compared to the long-silent Rakshasa God who had abandoned this place for who knows how many years, the King ultimately chose the promise given by this "future Angel God."
Little did he know, Qian Xuntian was fake, Seraphim was fake, and the "twin spirits" was even faker.
The reason he achieved 100 consecutive victories in just one year, besides his own overwhelming strength, was also due to the indispensable contributions of his Phoenix Fire robe, which prevented miasma and madness, and the endless supply of healing elixirs purchased from the system store.
Otherwise, even he wouldn't have been able to leave Slaughter City in just one year.
"Then Xuntian also wishes the Slaughter King a stable and eternal reign," Qin Xuan seized the opportunity to flatter him, and the two exchanged a series of meaningless, high-level commercial compliments.
Finally, the Slaughter King turned to the arena. He raised his hands, and the vast, bat-shaped blood formation on the ground began to glow.
The degenerates in the stands, who had been watching in silence, suddenly felt their life force being pulled from their bodies. They began to scream, their bodies rapidly desiccating as rivers of blood-red energy were forcibly drawn from them and fed into the formation.
After sacrificing all the degenerates in the Hell Slaughter Field, the Hell Road was finally, brutally, opened.
A pillar of blood-red light shot into the sky, and a pulsating, dark gate appeared in the center of the arena.
Qin Xuan stood in the center of the bat-shaped formation, gave the King one last nod, and disappeared.
When he reappeared, he was already on a circular stone platform about 5 meters in diameter.
The surroundings were a faint, oppressive blood-red. The air was thick and smelled of rust and decay.
Beyond the circular platform was a bottomless abyss. The only path forward was a narrow, jagged stone bridge, less than half a foot wide, barely wide enough for both feet to stand simultaneously. It snaked out into an unknown, dark void.
"Although I had anticipated it, when I actually have to walk this path... it still sends shivers down my spine."
Qin Xuan walked to the edge of the circular platform, looked down into the lightless abyss, and shook his head with a bitter smile.
He had no intention of stopping to rest. He maintained a high level of mental force, his Mind Condensing Wisdom Skull on high alert. With a quick, balanced step, he leaped onto the narrow path, sensing everything around him, and moved forward rapidly.
He knew that the longer he stayed in this dreadful place, the more dangerous it would become.
Because the true terror of the Hell Road was never the Dark Gold Three-Headed Bat King or its subordinates, nor was it the Ten-Headed Fierce Yang Serpent.
It was the Hell Road itself. The air constantly emitted the super-concentrated toxins evaporated from the Bloody Mary. The toxins here were clearly much more potent than those in the Hell Slaughter Field.
Although his Phoenix Fire robe could isolate the miasma, if he were to rest here, he would inevitably inhale the toxins.
Even taking detoxification pills wouldn't completely clear them in a short time.
It wasn't worth the risk.
It would be better to use the [Recovery Pill] drawn from the large roulette when his spirit power was insufficient. In a place like this, there was no need to be frugal.
After walking for about several hundred meters, until he could no longer see the circular platform when he looked back, Qin Xuan finally slowed his pace.
And at this moment, the uninvited guests finally arrived.
Amidst a deafening, high-pitched buzzing sound, a group of red shadows was rapidly approaching from the darkness ahead.
As they drew closer, the flying creatures finally became clear. They were blood-colored bats, identical to the bat patterns that appeared in the Hell Slaughter Field formation.
Each bat was no less than a foot long, with a wingspan exceeding one meter, and there were thousands of them, a living, shrieking tide.
"They're finally here. Perfect for practicing with you... zayu."
[Inorin's Note: Zayu (杂鱼) is a Japanese/Chinese slang term meaning "small fry" or "trash mob."]
Looking at the rapidly approaching bat swarm, Qin Xuan was fearless. He reached for the storage spirit tool at his waist and pulled out a sword case.
It was a wide, long, and exquisitely crafted case, almost the same height as him. He planted it on the narrow path in front of him.
Then he patted it.
Immediately, a metallic, mechanical sound of "creak, creak, creak" rang out.
Bang—!
The Wu Shuang Sword Case opened like a giant, unfolding fan.
[Inorin's Note: This is a crossover item. The Wu Shuang Sword Case (Unparalleled Sword Box) is from the Chinese donghua/novel Shaonian Gexing (Great Journey of Teenagers / Song of Adolescence). It is the signature weapon of the character Wushuang.]
Inside were 12 famous swords from the Shaonian Gexing world, each resting in its own slot:
Cloud Shuttle, Azure Frost, Supple as Silk, Jade Ruyi, Phoenix Flute, Red Leaf, Butterfly, Shadowless, Calamity Breaker, Life Ender, Cāng, and Máng.
And, hidden within the inner case, was the second-ranked sword in that world's famous sword list: the Da Ming Vermilion Bird, which had a similar fire-based effect to Qin Xuan's own Changming Sword.
Of course, with Qin Xuan's current cultivation, he couldn't open the inner case to retrieve the Da Ming Vermilion Bird.
He couldn't even properly use the 11th and 12th famous swords, Cāng and Máng, which required an immense spiritual connection.
As the saying goes, what the system produces must be a high-quality product.
The moment he touched the Wu Shuang Sword Case, the method of sword control flooded his mind.
He was surprised to find that the number of flying swords that could be controlled was directly linked to his mental force.
A Spirit Master's mental force could control 1 sword.
A Spirit Grandmaster could control 2 swords.
A Spirit Elder, 3 swords... and so on, up to a Spirit Emperor controlling 6 swords.
When mental force reached the Spirit Saint stage, for every level of mental force increase, 2 more flying swords could be controlled.
With Qin Xuan's current Spirit Douluo-level mental force (Level 80+), he could control a maximum of 10 flying swords simultaneously. Controlling all 12 would require his mental force to reach the Titled Douluo realm.
As for the 13th sword in the inner case, it wasn't determined solely by mental force. It required his comprehension of the sword dao to reach a certain realm.
But this was already enough.
Compared to this fantasy World where even "Hidden Weapons" could run rampant, the Wu Shuang Sword Case and its 10 flying swords were temporarily sufficient.
The bat swarm shrieked, closing the distance.
Qin Xuan smiled, and 10 swords rose from the case, hovering in the air around him.
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