Chapter 149: The Might of the Asura Sword Qi

Geqian made a high-profile entrance specifically to use the Beast Taming Sect as a stepping stone to attract the attention of the Asura King, hoping to gain his appreciation and successfully infiltrate his inner circle.

Seeing Niu Sanben step forward aggressively and speak insolently, a flash of murderous intent crossed Geqian's mind.

Geqian said coldly, "A step back is paradise, a step forward is hell. Since you wish to enter hell, I shall send you on your way."

He formed hand seals and cast a spell, summoning four Asura sword auras into the air. A towering, malevolent aura swirled outward in all directions.

The Rahu sword aura, representing the power of obscuration, is named for its ability to use its massive blade to block out the light of the sun and the moon.

With a single slash directed at Niu Sanben, all light instantly vanished from his surroundings, plunging him into endless darkness.

Having advanced to the early Core Formation stage with over a decade of combat experience and having slain quite a few peers of the same realm, Niu Sanben had never encountered such bizarre attack methods. He was extremely astonished, yet he did not panic. Believing it to be merely an ordinary illusion, he thought that by unleashing his full power to shatter it, Geqian would have nowhere to hide.

With this thought in mind, he patted his spirit beast pouch, and a thirty-foot-tall, third-rank blood-red poisonous wolf appeared before him.

A stench of blood rose, enough to turn one's stomach. The wolf possessed a massive head adorned with a single eye on its forehead, and its sharp fangs dripped with pitch-black venom. As the venom fell to the ground, it sizzled with a hiss, corroding bowl-sized pits into the earth.

The moment the beast manifested, it discovered it was surrounded by pitch-black darkness. It let out an angry howl and spat a cloud of toxic gas forward.

The poison vanished into the darkness like a stone sinking into the sea, causing not the slightest ripple.

Facing the corrosive poison of the blood-red wolf, Geqian smiled faintly. He thought to himself, "You dare use poison against me?" With a flick of his sleeve, a gust of fierce wind swirled, sucking the toxic gas straight into his demonic gourd.

The sword aura continued on its unstoppable trajectory, slashing straight toward Niu Sanben as the surrounding darkness deepened.

For the first time, Niu Sanben felt true terror, as if he had already been severed from this world.

He produced a jagged, middle-grade magical treasure, infused it with a spell, and watched the saw-toothed weapon expand frantically to thirty feet. Spinning wildly, it met the oncoming Rahu sword aura.

Geqian formed a hand seal and cast the "Stealing the Pillars and Replacing the Beams" technique. In a flash, the jagged magical treasure altered its course and hacked directly at the blood-red poisonous wolf.

The Rahu sword aura descended from the crown of Niu Sanben's head and passed out between his legs, instantly cleaving him in two.

Niu Sanben's nascent core, roiling with demonic energy, attempted to flee. With a flick of Geqian's finger, countless fierce gales suddenly surged up around the core, spinning once before vanishing entirely.

The core reappeared within Geqian's sea of consciousness. There, a small Chaos Beast—about the size of a fist, with thick limbs, covered in sharp scales, possessing a sturdy body, giant fangs, and a thunder-shrouded eyeball on top of its head—exuded a bizarre power of destiny.

Catching sight of the suddenly appearing nascent core, it opened its mouth and inhaled, swallowing the core directly into its belly, where it began to refine Niu Sanben's soul, fortune, and spiritual power.

All of this happened in the blink of an eye, leaving Niu Sanben without even enough time to utter a single scream.

Puo Zhan was suddenly startled. *Impossible! I've fallen into a trap. He is definitely not a newly advanced cultivator; otherwise, he could never have killed Niu Sanben so effortlessly. Could it be that he deliberately used a secret technique to lower his cultivation base before entering the minor arena, playing the exact same game as Liu Xixi? This boy must be killed; he can never be allowed to live. His words and actions are airtight, and his strength is formidable. If he is allowed to grow, he will inevitably become a grave future threat to the Beast Taming Sect.*

Just at that moment, standing behind Puo Zhan was a big, dark-faced fellow—Niu Sanben's biological elder brother, Niu Sanlong. This man was broad-shouldered, thick-waisted, and built like a tiger. His face was covered in fierce flesh, his expression sinister, and his temper volatile. Seeing his own blood brother murdered, his blood surged, his head spun, and his eyes turned completely red.

He and his younger brother had depended on each other for survival. The hardships and sufferings they had endured to reach this point were countless. Having finally cultivated to the Core Formation stage, how could he possibly bear to watch his beloved brother slaughtered by thunderous means, leaving not even a corpse behind?

His figure flickered as he vanished from the spot, letting out a roar, "Bastard! Return my brother's nascent core to me, or I will tear you into ten thousand pieces!"

Geqian smiled faintly, reached out to summon Niu Sanben's storage pouch into his hand, and said, "Who are you to speak with such arrogance? To tell you the truth, his nascent core has already been ground to dust by the power of space."

"What?! You bastard! Brother, go on ahead; I, Niu Sanlong, will immediately send Geqian down to accompany you!" Niu Sanlong cried out with a heart-rending shriek.

Before he finished speaking, his spirit beast was already released—a twenty-foot-tall, third-rank Iron-Armored Bear, resembling half an iron pagoda. Its massive head emitted a heaven-shaking roar, its two bloodshot eyes flashed with crimson light, its bear paws were heavy as mountains, and its body was covered in dark brown, bristling fur that stood upright like sharp swords.

Iron-Armored Bears were quite rare: they possessed boundless strength and impenetrable defenses. Relying on this third-rank Iron-Armored Bear, which even ordinary magical treasures could not scratch, Niu Sanlong had established a formidable reputation among early Core Formation cultivators.

The beast actually spoke in human language, declaring, "You dare anger my master? I am going to eat you!"

With that, it transformed into a fierce gale and lunged straight at Geqian. Whirling its massive bear paw, it brought it down with crushing force, roaring, "Take my blow!"

Geqian remained entirely unfazed. Above his head, the roiling Quandhaka sword aura thundered like a storm, capable of churning the ocean and howling like rolling thunder. Its sonic wave attacks penetrated every defense.

With a single flash, the sword aura whipped around the Iron-Armored Bear's neck, unleashing a series of ear-splitting thunderclaps accompanied by "boom, boom, boom" echoes. Waves of invisible sonic energy washed over the Iron-Armored Bear like a tidal wave, engulfing it completely.

Although the Iron-Armored Bear possessed boundless strength and astonishing defensive capabilities, how could it possibly withstand all-penetrating sonic attacks? Letting out a miserable shriek, it clutched its massive head and swayed violently, as if enduring unimaginable agony. Fresh blood instantly gushed from its seven facial orifices, and it looked as though it was about to collapse.

At that moment, the Quandhaka sword aura whipped around the Iron-Armored Bear's neck like a thread of silk, and its gigantic head rolled heavily onto the ground. The mountain-like body then tipped backward and crashed down onto the earth with a resounding *boom*.

A walnut-sized demonic core flew out from the spurting neck of the Iron-Armored Bear, attempting to make a desperate escape.

How could Geqian possibly let such a delicious soul-nourishing demonic core slip away? With a point of his finger, a fierce gale swirled around the core, causing it to vanish without a trace.

Once again, it became a snack for the small Chaos Beast.

Niu Sanlong let out a wretched shriek and roared at the top of his lungs, "Take your life!" With his own natal spirit beast similarly slain, the sleeves of his arms burst into clouds of shattered fabric. A pair of grotesque hands, covered in scales and tipped with knife-like claws, instantly grew seven feet long.

He leaped forward like lightning, charging straight toward Geqian.

Puo Zhan had already seen the writing on the wall. Niu Sanlong was by no means a match for Geqian; unless Jiuhua intervened, there might not even be a sliver of hope for survival. Moreover, if too many Core Formation cultivators perished under his watch, people would inevitably gossip behind his back before the sect master, striking a heavy blow to his reputation. He immediately shouted, "Stop! Sanlong, you are no match for him. Come back at once!"

How could Niu Sanlong possibly listen? His mind was entirely consumed by hatred, and he charged relentlessly forward.

Seeing this, Geqian realized the man was a demonic cultivator who practiced demonic arts to transform his body, granting him innate divine abilities akin to a demonic beast. With a solemn expression, he said, "You came just in time. Go to hell!"

As the words fell, the Virupaksa sword aura above his head—which possessed nine blades, each blade bearing a thousand barbed hooks, nine hundred and ninety saw-teeth, and eight precious pearls that spewed flames from within—suddenly expanded to ten feet.

It swept horizontally across Niu Sanlong with the force to overwhelm an army. The thousand barbed hooks and nine hundred and ninety saw-teeth blossomed like a brilliant, blooming flower, shredding the maddened Niu Sanlong into a pile of mangled flesh as a mist of blood danced across the sky. The eight precious pearls then spewed raging flames from their cores, instantly reducing everything to ashes.

A single demonic core, roiling with fierce demonic energy, flew out from the center, emitting terrified wails.

Puo Zhan abruptly waved his sleeve, sending a gentle gust of wind to wrap around the demonic core and draw it toward his cuff.

With a face as dark as iron, he said, "Young man, when sparing others, leave room for mercy. Let it end here!"

Geqian smiled faintly, formed a hand seal, and pointed his finger. He deployed the "Recalling the Mountain" technique to shatter the defensive gust of wind, and then used "Stealing the Pillars and Replacing the Beams" to snatch the demonic core directly into his hand.