The Sword of the Brave

Shattered, it shattered?

Ye Chuan still stood in place. Let alone raising his hand to channel magic power, his posture hadn't changed in the slightest.

What just shattered didn't seem like a defensive light screen, but merely a fragile eggshell.

The Pope froze on the spot, seemingly not expecting his barrier to shatter so quickly.

In his expectations, even if Ye Chuan's strength was outstanding, the barrier would only crack after continuous bombardment.

One must know that light-attribute magic was inherently adept at protection and healing.

He had hidden his tenth-tier realm, believing that even if he faced the combined forces of the Demon Race's eight great Demon Lords, he would still have the power to put up a fight.

But that defensive light screen, condensed with his tenth-tier magic power, couldn't even last the time it takes to speak a single sentence before shattering into nothingness?

Impossible.

Absolutely impossible!

It must be that when he condensed the light screen just now, his mind was unsettled, and his magic power circulation went wrong.

The Pope maintained a calm expression, cleared his throat, and said:

"Just now... I made a slight error when condensing the light screen."

Before his voice faded, the scepter in his hand struck heavily against the ground once more.

This time, he held nothing back. A golden light screen, several times thicker than the previous one, rose from the ground.

Light runes layered upon it, forming a twelve-fold interlocking defensive bulwark. Even space itself emitted cracking sounds under the pressure of this power.

"Your Excellency, if you can break through five layers of this barrier again, I will..."

"Ding—"

Another crisp shattering sound rang out, even faster than before.

The twelve-fold interlocking holy light bulwark before the Pope's eyes shattered like glass struck by a heavy hammer, instantly collapsing into countless fine particles of light and dissipating.

The entire Papal Hall fell into a deathly silence once again.

Kalisia covered her mouth upon seeing this scene. Although she had long known that Lord Xixi was very strong, she never expected him to be strong to this extent.

His Holiness the Pope was currently recognized as one of the strongest on the continent. Yet, in front of Lord Xixi, he couldn't even uphold a single defense?

The Pope stood in place, completely dumbfounded.

He looked at his empty scepter, then at Ye Chuan, who had a breezy expression, his aged face written full of disbelief.

The twelve-fold holy light bulwark, the tenth-tier defense he had channeled with all his might, had just... shattered?

He didn't even see a trace of the other party making a move?

No.

Something must be wrong.

The Pope suddenly snapped back to reality. It was a holy relic!

A holy relic specialized against defenses!

After all, the legendary lord from a thousand years ago had left behind countless holy relics. This kid might have dug up the legendary lord's inheritance from some ruin, which gave him the nerve to impersonate the legendary lord!

Thinking of this, the Pope said in a deep voice, "Your Excellency, two defensive probes might not prove anything."

"If you truly are the legendary mage, you can certainly take this strike of mine. As long as you can block it safely, I, Gregory, will completely believe your identity!"

As his words fell, he suddenly raised the Papal scepter high in his hand.

The dazzling light crystal erupted with piercing golden light, and an extremely compressed golden beam slowly condensed at the tip of the scepter!

He deliberately held back most of the destructive power, only retaining the core might of the tenth tier, for fear of truly hurting the other party, and also afraid of destroying this holy temple that had been passed down for thousands of years.

But even so, it still represented the peak combat power of the tenth tier.

"Pardon my offense, Your Excellency!"

The Pope shouted in a low voice, and the golden beam at the tip of the scepter shot out instantly, whistling toward Ye Chuan!

Kalisia was so frightened that she subconsciously closed her eyes.

Just at the moment the beam was about to touch Ye Chuan, Ye Chuan finally raised his hand.

He didn't even channel the slightest bit of magic power, but just casually waved his hand at the beam.

Like swatting away a fly blocking the way.

The next second, that terrifying beam seemed to crash into an invisible wall and instantly collapsed.

"Are we done?" Ye Chuan asked casually.

Finally, the scepter in the Pope's hand fell to the ground with a clang.

He staggered back two steps and sat heavily on the steps behind him. In his eyes looking at Ye Chuan, only extreme shock and awe remained.

Trembling, the Pope bowed deeply to Ye Chuan, performing the Church's most solemn and devout grand salute, his voice carrying undeniable excitement:

"Junior Gregory pays respects to the legendary mage, Your Excellency Xixi Chinayega."

Ye Chuan waved his hand, seeing the old man bowing to him at such an advanced age. "Alright, I didn't come here to have you worship me."

"I came to the Holy Mountain for only one purpose: that Hero's Sword. Let me see it."

Hearing this, the Pope paused slightly, a trace of hesitation appearing on his face.

The Hero's Sword was the Church of Light's defining holy relic, and even more so, the final hope of the entire human race. For a thousand years, it had been enshrined in the forbidden grounds of the Holy Mountain. Aside from successive Popes, no one could approach it.

But the hesitation only lasted for a moment before he immediately replied, "Very well, Your Excellency, follow me."

After speaking, he picked up the scepter from the ground, turned toward a hidden door deep in the Papal Hall, and raised his hand to tap it lightly.

The heavy stone door slowly opened, revealing a staircase extending downward. On the walls on both sides of the stairs, gentle light magic poured out continuously from the depths, carrying a special aura connected to the world's origin.

"Follow me." The Pope led the way, and Kalisia also followed behind them curiously, walking step by step toward the depths of the stairs.

As they walked down, the Pope couldn't help but ask Ye Chuan out of curiosity, "Your Excellency Xixi, why are you so young?"

"What do you mean?"

"I mean... the lifespan of the human race is limited. Did you acquire a method to maintain your youth?" the Pope asked.

Ye Chuan was silent for a few seconds.

He also seemed to have realized something. Although the combat power of the Aether Continent was very equal to that of the Tianxuan Continent, there was a problem: the human race on the Aether Continent leveled up quickly but had low lifespans.

But Tianxuan was different. Leveling up was slow, but every time one broke through a realm, their lifespan would increase.

"I don't have any method to maintain my youth, because I am only twenty years old." Ye Chuan's casual remark stunned the Pope, as well as Kalisia behind him.

"Twenty..."

The Pope seemed to need a moment to digest this sentence, and finally couldn't help but ask in a trembling voice, "Then, then when did Your Excellency Xixi start practicing magic?"

"Last year."

The Pope: "Ah?"

Even though the Pope was experienced and knowledgeable, he couldn't help but be a bit dumbfounded at this moment.

In the end, the Pope chose not to believe it, leaning toward the idea that Ye Chuan was just messing with him.

At the end of the stairs was a massive circular underground altar.

The altar was built in the belly of the Holy Mountain, covered with dense, incomparably profound magic arrays.

There, a pure silver-white longsword was quietly thrust into the core of the white jade altar. The blade was engraved with runes, and a clear blue gem was inlaid in the crossguard.

"This is the Hero's Sword." The Pope stood beside Ye Chuan.

"Now, it can only serve as the core of the Holy Mountain's grand array, barely maintaining the barrier of the entire Holy Kingdom of Light."

"The Hero has yet to be born, so for the time being, we have no way of using it to fight the demons."

Ye Chuan's gaze fell upon the Hero's Sword.

Hmm...

It looked so ordinary.