Half-Step Martial God

【Congratulations on achieving the Accomplished Master status】.

【Your sixth disciple has awakened the Seventeen Life-Taking Swords】.

【Reward: 1,000 vitality points for the master】.

【Reward: the Unity of Heaven and Man realm for the Seventeen Life-Taking Swords】.

While fighting, Chen Feng instantly gained an even deeper understanding of the sword.

He had no choice but to marvel at the comprehension of this martial-arts maniac of a disciple.

It was absolutely the highest among all his disciples.

Moreover, based on the rewards granted by the system, Chen Feng could also tell that this seventeenth sword was definitely extraordinary.

When the sixteenth sword had awakened, the system had only rewarded him with five hundred vitality points.

Now, the reward had actually doubled.

But the timing could not have been better.

Su Yuanshan had gradually begun adapting to Chen Feng's attacks. Suddenly, however, he sensed that something was wrong.

The power of all of Chen Feng's sword-qi attacks had abruptly increased.

That unyielding sword intent even made Su Yuanshan look at him with newfound respect.

His wife, Dugu Lingyue, was also a genius in the way of the sword.

As a result, he had some understanding of swordsmanship as well.

During all those years in the Underworld, he had killed countless sword experts.

The sword techniques he had witnessed were even too numerous to count.

The most stunning among them had been the Dugu family's famed Nine Swords of Dugu, passed down through his wife's clan.

Yet the swordsmanship Chen Feng was displaying now was something he had never encountered before.

At that moment, audiences around the world also heard Zhao Bing's loud shout through the surveillance footage.

“It's Zhao Bing! The Chosen Scarface is back!”

“He actually delivered his catchphrase! Can he kill Su Yuanshan?”

“I still think he looked cooler with the scar!”

“I hope the hero of Great Xia and his disciple can win!”

…

While those who remembered Zhao Bing's past were engaged in heated discussion, Zhao Bing had already charged toward Su Yuanshan's subordinates with his sword.

Sword flashes flickered continuously.

One figure after another fell.

For a time, no one could withstand even a single sword from him.

Su Yuanshan's subordinates were horrified.

“Get out of the way! He's Chen Feng's most powerful disciple!”

one of them shouted.

But one Martial Sovereign sensed Zhao Bing's vitality cultivation and said disdainfully,

“What are you panicking for?”

“He's only a Grandmaster!”

“Watch me take him down!”

He was a swordsman as well.

He charged straight toward Zhao Bing and brought his sword down with all his strength.

In his eyes, as a peak Martial Sovereign, he would naturally be able to crush a mere Grandmaster with ease.

Yet in the next instant,

a sword flash even faster than his own swept past his eyes.

Then, to his horror,

he saw that his sword had been broken.

Before he even had time to process the shock,

he lost the ability to think.

His entire body was cleaved in two by a single sword strike.

His death made Su Yuanshan's remaining subordinates realize just how enormous the gap between them was.

They had seen Grandmasters fight above their level before.

Back then, the hero of Great Xia, Chen Feng, had demonstrated numerous legendary displays of fighting above his realm before the entire nation.

But this was the first time they had ever seen something so outrageous.

A Grandmaster had challenged a peak Martial Sovereign.

Yet the opponent had been unable to withstand even a single sword strike.

Such combat power was simply too incredible.

They even began to suspect that Zhao Bing's cultivation had never declined at all.

However, the few Martial Sovereigns who remained could clearly sense that Zhao Bing's vitality was only at the Grandmaster level.

Even when he had just killed that Martial Sovereign with a single sword,

the vitality cultivation he revealed

had not broken through the Grandmaster level.

And this could only prove one thing.

Zhao Bing's attainments in the way of the sword were astonishingly profound.

That realm was unquestionably at the Unity of Heaven and Man level.

In fact, it was even higher than the average Unity of Heaven and Man.

“We’ll join forces and attack together!”

“I refuse to believe he can fight more than a dozen Martial Venerables across several major realms!”

The remaining twelve Martial Venerables attacked simultaneously.

Yet after twelve strikes of the sword—

twelve more corpses lay sprawled across the ground.

At that moment,

the remaining fighters abandoned any thought of getting lucky.

They scattered in all directions, fleeing to avoid Zhao Bing’s edge.

By now, Zhao Bing’s entire body was drenched in blood.

With the aid of Lingbo Weibu,

he had become a merciless reaper of lives.

Every time he swung his sword,

another life was claimed.

Su Yuanshan’s subordinates spread word of Zhao Bing’s whereabouts at once,

calling for powerful reinforcements.

Before long, a Martial Saint followed the reports and intercepted Zhao Bing, who was in the midst of his slaughter.

Despite being two major realms above his opponent,

the Martial Saint was still shaken by Zhao Bing’s sword intent.

Looking at the blood-soaked man before him,

he could not help recalling The Chosen Scarface, whose name had once resounded throughout the world.

Though the scar was no longer visible on his face,

almost no one had forgotten the scene of the Ancient Clans’ grand tournament all those years ago.

“As expected of the disciple of Daxia’s hero!”

“To think you could kill more than a dozen Martial Venerables while fighting above your level!”

“You’re every bit as formidable as Chen Feng was back when he fought opponents above his realm!”

Zhao Bing glanced at him coldly.

He had no time to exchange pleasantries.

He immediately thrust his sword straight at the man.

A great battle erupted in an instant.

A Grandmaster fighting a Martial Saint—everyone who witnessed it was left utterly stunned.

The Martial Saint could not even defeat Zhao Bing after a prolonged exchange.

He was, in fact, gradually being forced onto the defensive.

The Martial Saint grew even more horrified.

The situation before him had already exceeded the limits of his understanding.

He had long anticipated that, since Zhao Bing was capable of fighting above his realm,

his attainments in the sword would be extraordinarily high.

But his own comprehension of the sword had already reached the pinnacle.

And yet he was being suppressed.

Even if Zhao Bing had reached the Unity of Heaven and Man,

he should not have been this powerful.

What he did not know was that,

at that very moment, thunderclouds were once again gathering in the sky.

There were faint signs that a heavenly tribulation was taking shape.

It was simply still missing that final sliver.

…

At a refugee camp along the coast of the Southern Continent,

a massive projector was broadcasting live surveillance footage of the Kunlun Mountains.

Everyone stared at the man fighting Daxia’s hero with eyes filled with hatred.

Their homes, their loved ones, their lives—all of them had been destroyed by a single attack from that man.

Most of the survivors who remained had now perished in the Kunlun Mountains as well.

The Southern Continent’s remaining population had fallen below ten million.

At that moment, Gu Qianqian sat astride a spirit crane, soaring through the sky.

The spirit crane continuously described the battle scenes it saw below to Qianqian.

But Qianqian had no mind to care about her master’s battle.

All her attention was drawn to the refugees beneath her.

Although Qianqian could not see the images playing on the outdoor projection screen,

she could see everyone’s souls.

She watched helplessly as those souls slowly turned black.

She knew that these people were being consumed by hatred.

At that moment, she finally realized—

evil could never be eradicated completely.

Because good people could also become evil after suffering one hardship after another.

Just like the scene unfolding before her.

The densely packed crowds.

Countless souls.

All of them were gradually being stained black.

The seeds of hatred were constantly taking root and sprouting.

“This world is beyond saving!”

“I finally understand why most people are both good and evil.”