Demon Slaying, Gaining 60 Years of Cultivation From the Start

Hiss!

A dazzling sword light streaked across the world, sharp and blinding to the extreme, as if it could split the entire heavens and earth in front of it in two.

The terrifying pressure unique to a divine weapon was released, and Wujian's complexion changed immediately. A strong piercing pain came from all the pores of his body, and countless tiny sword energies roamed the air. In an instant, his flesh was sliced, leaving him covered in blood, with numerous fine wounds on his body.

At this moment, Wujian felt a fatal crisis!

Boom!

Wujian, with his emaciated figure, stood in place. His face turned fierce, and with a loud roar, the Gangqi within him surged out, stirring up a gale between heaven and earth. He pushed his Blood Refinement Gangqi to the limit he could reach at this stage. Thick, blood-colored Gangqi transformed into a shield of light, enveloping him within.

Clang!

A clear and piercing sound of a sword's cry echoed, and an aura of slaughter filled the space between heaven and earth. The sword energy, filled with a fierce killing intent, seemed to tear the world apart. In an instant, it reached Wujian and viciously struck the Gangqi shield formed by his cultivated power.

"Ah..."

Accompanied by the trembling of the earth and dust filling the sky, Gu Chen faintly heard Wujian's low roar and saw a bright spurt of fresh blood.

"Is he dead?"

Gu Chen frowned slightly, holding the Blood Shadow Sword and looking solemnly toward the not too distant place.

Amidst the billowing dust, an emaciated figure emerged. Wujian had actually withstood Gu Chen's sword just now!

Seeing this scene, Gu Chen was extremely surprised and inwardly marveled at Wujian's strength. He had actually endured a hit from a divine weapon and survived.

Just this alone made him far stronger than Zhao Xingxuan, whom Gu Chen had encountered before.

However, this was mainly because Gu Chen's cultivation was insufficient, and his inner breath had not transformed into Gangqi, preventing him from unleashing too much of the divine weapon's power. Otherwise, if Gu Chen could transform all his inner breath into Gangqi, Wujian would definitely not have been able to withstand a strike from him wielding the Blood Shadow Sword.

Of course, Wujian was not without injuries. At this moment, his entire right arm had disappeared, the cut was smooth and neat, and a fine and sharp aura emanated from it. The flesh at the stump of his arm was blurry, with blood dripping continuously.

Wujian's originally pale complexion was now even paler, without a hint of color.

Although he had survived, he had also suffered a severe injury!

This was an unimaginable injury for Wujian, who had never thought that coming to kill a mere Vajra Stage Gu Chen, which he assumed would be easy, would cost him an arm.

At this moment, Wujian was furious with hatred!

Because, even for a martial arts grandmaster or even stronger, who had reached the Innate Stage, regenerating a limb was impossible, unless they found extremely rare heavenly and earthly materials which may possess such capabilities.

But such miraculous items were scarce throughout the world. Even with his exceptional talent, the Blood Clothes Tower could not help him recover from such an injury.

Losing an arm was a significant impairment for a high-level expert like Wujian, reducing his strength by at least thirty percent!

"I want you dead!"

Wujian roared, his eyes filled with malice as he looked at Gu Chen, wishing he could flay and debone him. At this moment, killing Gu Chen was no longer just a mission for Wujian but had become an obsession in his heart.

Seeing Wujian charging at him again, Gu Chen was immediately shocked. The sword strike he had just unleashed had consumed a great deal of his inner breath, and he had previously engaged in an intense battle with Wujian. His condition had now dropped to the lowest point.

If he were to confront Wujian again, Gu Chen would not stand a chance.

But just then, several stern shouts came from not too far away – the experts from the army of Qiongtian City had arrived!

"There, catch him!"

Several Gang Qi Stage experts immediately spotted Gu Chen and Wujian, both covered in blood – especially Wujian, whose one arm had completely vanished – which evidenced the fierceness of their battle.

Wujian turned sharply to see the reinforcements from Qiongtian City arriving. His gaze hardened, and after a few seconds of grinding his teeth in hesitation, he ultimately chose not to continue fighting but darted away into the distance.

If he persisted, even if he could kill Gu Chen, Wujian would also lose his life here. In his eyes, exchanging his life for Gu Chen's was not worth it.

Moreover, with Gu Chen wielding a divine weapon, Wujian wasn't sure he could take him down quickly. With this thought, Wujian chose to turn and flee.

"Quick, chase after him, don't let him get away!"

Instantly, several Gang Qi Stage experts in the army dashed after Wujian, and behind them, a large troop of soldiers followed.

Gu Chen watched the direction of Wujian's departure, wanting to follow and personally eliminate his enemy, but after some thought, he ultimately stayed put.

After all, Wujian was powerful, and if pushed into a corner, his target would undoubtedly be Gu Chen.

So, after deep contemplation, Gu Chen decided not to follow, mainly because his current state was too poor.

This time, if not for relying on the Divine Weapon Blood Shadow Sword, Gu Chen might have truly died at Wujian's hands.

At this moment, Lord Wen Ziyun from Qiongtian Mansion also rushed over and saw Gu Chen's pale face and the blood all over him amidst the surrounding devastation, which shocked him deeply.

Lord Wen rushed to Gu Chen's side and, without looking back, bellowed, "Quick, summon the physician!"

Afterward, he looked at Gu Chen with a tense expression and quickly asked, "Lord Gu, how are you feeling?"

Gu Chen had been assassinated within the city; if something had gone wrong, Wen Ziyun would undoubtedly face serious repercussions, possibly even losing his official hat.

Moreover, this assassination attempt had left Wen Ziyun terrified. Such a fearsome assassin had nearly overcome Gu Chen, and if it had been aimed at him, he might already be dead.

Wen Ziyun's heart turned frosty. It seemed necessary to properly address the security issues within Qiongtian City.

Of course, the current urgent matter was still Gu Chen. For Wen Ziyun, it was imperative that nothing happened to Gu Chen.

"Lord Gu, how are you?" Seeing that Gu Chen wasn't speaking, Wen Ziyun became more anxious and quickly asked again.

At that moment, Gu Chen came to his senses and saw Wen Ziyun looking at him nervously. Gu Chen shook his head and said, "Don't worry, Lord Wen, I'm fine."
Experience tales with empire

Gu Chen's physique was enormously strong, far surpassing that of an ordinary person; his injuries healed quickly with the protection of two Superior Martial Skills that he had mastered. By now, many of the wounds on his body were already healing rapidly.

Soon, several physicians rushed over and began to examine Gu Chen, who agreed to the check-up at Wen Ziyun's insistent request.

These physicians followed Gu Chen back to his residence in the mansion and performed a thorough examination on him.

Gu Chen intended to refuse, but considering that it was Wen Ziyun's kindness, he did not speak up and allowed the examination.

Not long after, the highly skilled military men who had gone in pursuit of the traceless assassin returned to the mansion with grim faces, saying, "Lord Wen, the thief got away. There were accomplices outside the city who helped him escape; we couldn't stop him!"

Upon hearing this, Gu Chen's brows furrowed instantly. He hadn't expected the assassin to get away.

However, after clashing with the assassin, Gu Chen had gained a very clear understanding of the assassin's strength; he knew that even without any outside help, if the assassin had fought desperately, it was likely that Qiongtian City's skilled military men would not have been able to stop him.

Wen Ziyun's expression darkened upon hearing the news and commanded, "Investigate! I want all information on this assassin in the shortest time possible!"

"Yes!"

The men bowed to Gu Chen and Wen Ziyun and then withdrew.

Quickly, several days passed, and while Gu Chen was healing, information about the assassin was also brought to him.

"Blood Shadow Sword, the number one assassin on the Black List, Wujian?"

Gu Chen held a dossier in his hand while Wen Ziyun sat beside him, both of them reading the information about Wujian in the document with solemn expressions.

The dossier contained scant information, indicating just how tightly Blood Shadow Sword guarded details about Wujian.

"Blood Refined Gangqi!"

Suddenly, upon seeing the name of the Gangqi mastered by Wujian, Gu Chen's eyes sharpened, and the dossier also recorded the extraordinary aspects of this unique Gangqi.

Blood Refined Gangqi was the number one unique Gangqi of Blood Shadow Sword and even among the many unique Gangqi in the world, it was considered top-tier—extremely powerful and peculiar with various methods. When cultivated to a high level, one could even control and siphon the blood of an adversary from a distance, causing the enemy to explode and die, killing without a trace.

Gu Chen was all too familiar with this, having personally fought Wujian and experienced the might of Blood Refined Gangqi.

Indeed, the battle with Wujian was several times more perilous than the one at Chilong Mountain Range against Zhao Xingxuan. After all, Wujian was too powerful, Blood Refined Gangqi was extraordinarily unpredictable, and had Gu Chen been the slightest bit careless, he could have died by Wujian's hands.

Such strength was certainly befitting of the nickname of Blood Shadow Sword's number one assassin on the Black List.

Of course, the reason Wujian was so powerful was mainly due to the unique Gangqi. This battle had given Gu Chen a profound appreciation for the power of unique Gangqi.

Not every practitioner at the Gang Qi Stage was capable of cultivating unique Gangqi. The cultivation of unique Gangqi not only relied on talent but also on opportunity.

The disparity between someone who had cultivated unique Gangqi and one who had not was enormous. Even if their levels were the same, a martial artist possessing unique Gangqi could easily overpower a martial artist without it, achieving a decisive victory.

Gu Chen still remembered the battle in Xu'an County, when Chen Yu unleashed his unique Gangqi against Wei Jiang of the Red Flame Demon Sect, turning the tables and forcing Wei Jiang to flee.

Therefore, Gu Chen had become intensely interested in unique Gangqi. However, his current cultivation level was still in the late stages of Vajra Stage, quite a distance from the Gang Qi Stage, let alone the unique Gangqi that one might cultivate upon reaching the external Gangqi.

At this moment, with a grave expression, Gu Chen felt an urgent need to improve his strength following his encounter with Wujian. Luckily, he had the help of the Divine Weapon Blood Shadow Sword this time, or else he would not have been a match for Wujian by his strength alone.

A divine weapon, after all, is external. To truly forge oneself, one must be strong internally. Only with sufficient personal strength can one fear no enemy.

Compared to his enemies, his cultivation level was still too weak. Gu Chen had resolved to break through to the Gang Qi Stage in the shortest time possible.

And before breaking through to the Gang Qi Stage, he also had to reach the ultimate level of physical strength, with an indestructible Vajra body. After striving for so long, Gu Chen would not give up now.

To reach the pinnacle of the Vajra body, the opportunity lay in mastering the two Superior Martial Skills: Dragon's Roar and Tiger's Cry Golden Bell Shield and the Great Vajra Divine Power.

But the prerequisite for all this was, points.

Fortunately, before this, the Jing Tian Department had already provided Gu Chen with a lead about a branch of the Red Flame Demon Sect within Qiongtian Mansion, which was secretly nurturing ghosts and demons and had been discovered by the intelligence officers of the Jing Tian Department.

Time was of the essence. Gu Chen planned to set out the next day to eradicate this branch of the Red Flame Demon Sect, earn points from this mission, and then use them to breakthrough to an indestructible Vajra body and perhaps even to the Gang Qi Stage!

Gu Chen's eyes were cold and resolute. One day, he would make those sects and powers that sought his life pay a price!