Chapter 73: The Sword Drawn After Three Thousand Years

Amidst the endless sword energy, Tai Yi Daoist raised a massive protective shield, resisting the continuous rain of sword strikes. He never expected to encounter the figure of the Wood and Grass Daoist.

"Did you create this sword energy?" Tai Yi Daoist glared at him, filled with both anger and disbelief.

"Wait... No, you're already dead! This is just a fragment of your spirit," Tai Yi Daoist immediately shook his head, realizing the true nature of the Wood and Grass Daoist.

A fragment of spirit.

The Wood and Grass Daoist had been ambushed and perished three thousand years ago, so his revival was impossible. However, his unique sword technique, the Wood and Grass Sword Technique, had been passed down.

This technique, when practiced to its pinnacle, allowed one to sense a fragment of the Wood and Grass Daoist's wandering spirit across the world. Lin Jiufeng had summoned this fragment of spirit using the pinnacle of the technique, manifesting it within the Human Sword, now facing Tai Yi Daoist in an ultimate showdown.

Surrounded by sword energy, the Wood and Grass Daoist gazed at Tai Yi Daoist, as if it had been ages since they last met, and after a long silence, said, "Long time no see."

Tai Yi Daoist's expression darkened as he sneered, "Wood and Grass Daoist, did you cause all of this?"

The Wood and Grass Daoist shook his head. "I don't know. Perhaps you've offended someone. I'm just here to end you."

"End me?" Tai Yi Daoist chuckled mockingly, looking down on the Wood and Grass Daoist. "Three thousand years ago, you were at your peak, and I spared you some strength. But now, three thousand years later, you've become nothing but a fragment of spirit. I've grown stronger. How can you possibly end me?"

The Wood and Grass Daoist replied calmly, "With the Wood and Grass Sword Technique."

"That's ancient history," Tai Yi Daoist scoffed. "Three thousand years ago, I feared your sword technique, but after all these years, it no longer holds any threat."

The Wood and Grass Daoist raised his hand, and energy gathered in his palm, forming a long sword. He gently stroked its blade, murmuring, "Three thousand years ago, I created the Wood and Grass Sword Technique and reached the Tenth Restriction. I intended to ascend to immortality and hone myself in the dimensional battlefield, but you ambushed me, shattering my body. I wielded my primordial spirit to fight you, nearly shattering your own."

Tai Yi Daoist's brows twitched, recalling that moment with a twinge of pain. "The sword you wielded three thousand years ago was indeed extraordinary. Even now, I can't forget it."

"But now, I am not the same as I was three thousand years ago," Tai Yi Daoist sneered coldly.

The Wood and Grass Daoist looked at him seriously and said, "Over the past three thousand years, my fragment of soul has occasionally awakened, occasionally faded, wandering between life and death. I should have vanished completely, but I unexpectedly glimpsed the ways of life and death, the path of Yin and Yang, and transformed it into this sword."

"This sword... Can you withstand it?" The Wood and Grass Daoist gripped the Human Sword, its energy rising, pointing directly at Tai Yi Daoist.

Tai Yi Daoist's pupils contracted as he muttered in disbelief, "You still can comprehend the Dao with just a fragment of soul?"

Jealousy, envy.

Tai Yi Daoist desperately wished he could steal the Wood and Grass Daoist's innate talent for himself.

"Our past grievances should end here. This sword has been three thousand years in the making," the Wood and Grass Daoist raised his chin and then slashed forward.

Boom!

The sword struck, targeting Tai Yi Daoist with deadly precision, impossible to dodge.

Tai Yi Daoist naturally wouldn't just accept his fate. He roared in fury, unleashing a beam of divine light that transformed into three unbeatable deities—representing the Buddhist, Taoist, and Demon sects—all charged with terrifying power, slamming into the sword.

Boom!

The explosion echoed as sword energy filled the air, sweeping across like an endless ocean, effortlessly demolishing the three deities. The energy rushed forward without hesitation.

Behind the sword, brilliant lights bloomed one after another, dazzling yet filled with danger, like a beautiful but perilous firework display.

This sword seemed to cut through the river of time itself, slicing through the past, present, and future. With a single strike, it encapsulated three thousand years.

Boom!

Tai Yi Daoist gritted his teeth and continued to resist, his face contorting in rage. He unleashed one ultimate attack after another—from the Daoist, Buddhist, and Demon schools, from all sects, even from foreign lands...

Each of these strikes was overwhelming, packed with immense power. But none of them had any effect on the Wood and Grass Daoist's sword.

This sword was forged through three thousand years of realization. No matter how Tai Yi Daoist resisted, it was futile.

At this moment, Tai Yi Daoist felt the terrifying power of the sword, its boundless killing intent like a torrent of stars crashing down on him, evoking endless fear deep within him.

This fear was identical to that felt three thousand years ago.

Back then, that single sword had almost shattered his primordial spirit.

Tai Yi Daoist had secluded himself for three thousand years afterward, recovering his primordial spirit.

"No... It's impossible, this can't happen again!" Tai Yi Daoist screamed, his internal energy boiling as twelve worlds appeared behind him.

Each of these twelve worlds was different—some were pure, like the fragrance of flowers and birdsong; others were filled with Buddhas, like a land of spiritual enlightenment; some resembled Taoist holy mountains; others appeared as dark and forsaken realms of the underworld, and some resembled endless blood-red purgatories...

The twelve worlds united and pressed toward the void, intending to shatter the Wood and Grass Daoist's sword.

This was Tai Yi Daoist's ultimate power, the culmination of his life's cultivation.

Facing these twelve worlds, the Wood and Grass Daoist merged his last fragment of soul into the sword energy.

At that moment, the sword energy became as soft as mist, as sharp as rain, as elusive as fog, and as profound as Yin and Yang.

Boom!

In an instant, the twelve worlds exploded. The sword energy pierced through Tai Yi Daoist's forehead.

Boom!

The explosion resonated like the fall of countless stars. The shockwaves spread endlessly, releasing terrifying light.

But even this massive explosion had no effect on the center—the location where Tai Yi Daoist and the Wood and Grass Daoist stood.

The sword energy was now locked in Tai Yi Daoist's forehead, pinning him in place. Neither moved.

The Wood and Grass Daoist had exhausted all his remaining power—his fragment of soul, the wisdom gained over three thousand years, and the full energy of the Human Sword struck with ultimate force.

Tai Yi Daoist remained motionless because he was spiritually pinned down. His body remained unmoving, but his primordial spirit had been shattered.

Three thousand years ago, his primordial spirit had been severed by a single sword strike, and now, three thousand years later, his spirit was sealed in the void.

Tai Yi Daoist's eyes trembled as he gazed at the increasingly ethereal figure of the Wood and Grass Daoist and asked, "You actually realized the Human Path..."

The Wood and Grass Daoist smiled faintly. "Yes, I realized it."

"How is it possible? One can't realize the Human Path in this world..." Tai Yi Daoist muttered in despair.

"One doesn't need to go to the dimensional battlefield to understand the Human Path. It can be realized right here in the human world. You'll die under the Human Path—that's a fitting end for you," the Wood and Grass Daoist said. He then withdrew the sword energy that had sealed Tai Yi Daoist.

Thud.

Tai Yi Daoist collapsed to the ground, trembling, unable to rise.

His primordial spirit cracked, and his body shattered. His death was imminent.

The Wood and Grass Daoist didn't even glance at him. Holding the sword energy in his hand, he looked toward Lin Jiufeng's direction.

"Though I don't know who you are, you made me draw this sword. I owe you a debt," the Wood and Grass Daoist smiled weakly and then, with a flick of his wrist, sent the sword energy soaring toward Yuhua Sect.

His body, completely ethereal, vanished from this world.