200: Chapter 200 Encountering a Sword Spirit Deep Within the Ruins, Perfecting the Void Refinement Realm is Imminent

Ye Qing moved like a faint shadow, quietly traversing through those ancient ruins.

The surrounding broken walls and dilapidated pillars cast twisted shadows under the eternal gray sky, appearing like dormant ancient Vicious Beasts.

The Sword Intent permeating the air became increasingly dense and sharp as he went deeper, as if countless invisible blades were weaving through the Void Realm, cutting at his protective mana.

He had no choice but to circulate his Chaos mana to the extreme, forming a condensed protective halo on his body surface to resist the omnipresent erosion of the Sword Intent.

He walked past collapsed palaces and crossed broken plazas, the stone slabs under his feet covered in cracks, with some dark purple, moss-like plants growing in the crevices, emitting a cold aura.

Suddenly, he stopped in his tracks.

Dozens of meters ahead, a relatively intact hall stood quietly in an open space.

The hall's gate had long since disappeared, leaving only a pitch-black portal, like the gaping mouth of a giant beast, waiting for prey to walk right into the trap.

And at the entrance of that hall, a blurry humanoid silhouette, seemingly condensed from gray light, stood quietly there.

That silhouette had no discernible features, only a vague outline, as if a gust of wind could scatter it.

Yet Ye Qing could clearly feel that an extremely powerful fluctuation of Sword Intent was emanating from that silhouette; that Sword Intent was cold and sharp, as if it could sever everything.

"A Sword Spirit? Or a remnant soul?" Ye Qing stopped, gazing at the silhouette with a solemn expression, secretly vigilant in his heart.

That silhouette seemed to sense Ye Qing's arrival as well, slowly raising its head, and two hollow gazes seemed to pierce through the barrier of space, landing on Ye Qing.

"Human Race... Lianxu Late Stage... To be able to walk this far, not bad at all." A hoarse voice, like two pieces of sandpaper rubbing against each other, came from the silhouette, echoing in the empty ruins.

"Senior, who are you?" Ye Qing asked tentatively, maintaining basic courtesy.

"Who I am is not important. What is important is that you being able to come here proves that you and I have a destined connection." The silhouette said slowly, "Inside this hall, there is a Sword Intent Legacy I left behind back then. If you can pass the test, that Legacy will be yours."

"Sword Intent Legacy?" Ye Qing's heart stirred, but he wasn't dizzied by this sudden windfall; instead, he became even more vigilant. "May I ask what this test you speak of is, Senior?"

"Very simple. Receive one sword strike from me." The silhouette said in a flat tone, "If you can take one sword strike from me without dying, you will be qualified to obtain that Legacy."

Hearing this, Ye Qing remained silent for a moment, then slowly nodded: "Very well, Senior, please grant me your guidance."

He knew that an existence of this level would not give him room to refuse once such words were spoken. Rather than being timid, it was better to face it calmly.

Seeing him agree, the silhouette didn't waste any more words, slowly raising its right hand and pointing its fingers like a sword.

The moment it raised its fingers, an indescribably terrifying Sword Intent, like a dormant giant beast, roared to life from within its body!

The surrounding air seemed to freeze!

The scattered gravel on the ground, under the pressure of that terrifying Sword Intent, turned into fine powder one after another!

Ye Qing only felt as if an invisible divine mountain was pressing down on his shoulders, making his breathing somewhat difficult!

"Such strong Sword Intent!"

He was inwardly horrified and hurriedly circulated his Chaos mana to the extreme; the chaos sword also instantly appeared in his hand, with Chaos-colored light flowing on the blade, emitting a heavy and sharp aura.

The silhouette did not give him much time to prepare, pointing its fingers like a sword and lightly swiping towards Ye Qing.

A gray sword beam, condensed to the extreme and seemingly capable of severing Karma and destroying all laws, appeared silently, as if it had traversed the barrier of space, instantly appearing in front of Ye Qing, slashing towards his glabella!

This strike looked understated, yet it contained an indescribable, profound Concept! It seemed to have transcended the scope of sword techniques and reached the level of the "Dao"!

Ye Qing's pupils constricted slightly; he could feel that this strike was impossible to dodge! No matter how he dodged, that gray sword beam would accurately hit him!

He took a deep breath, abandoned the thought of dodging, gripped the chaos sword with both hands, and poured all his mana, as well as all his insights into the Chaos Dao, into this one strike!

"Chaos, Break Void!"

His sword strike was simple and straightforward, thrusting straight out!

This strike had no flourishes, no techniques, only the purest power and the purest will!

The tip of the chaos sword and that gray sword beam collided silently in the Void Realm!

There was no earth-shattering loud noise!

No violent, raging energy turbulence!

Only a silent annihilation!

That gray sword beam, which seemed capable of severing everything, began to rapidly melt and disintegrate upon contact with the chaos sword, like snow meeting its nemesis!

And Ye Qing only felt an indescribably terrifying force travel through the chaos sword into his arm, then surge into his body!

He let out a muffled groan, his figure involuntarily retreating several steps, each step leaving a deep footprint on the hard ground!

His blood and Qi surged within him, a sweetness rose in his throat, and a mouthful of fresh blood welled up to his lips, only to be swallowed back down by him!

But in the end, he had successfully received that sword strike!

Before the gray sword beam was annihilated, it left a shallow, sword-mark-like imprint on his glabella, which flashed and vanished, as if it had never appeared.

Seeing Ye Qing receive his strike, the silhouette seemed to show a hint of satisfaction in its hollow gaze.

"Not bad... To be able to take this sword strike of mine, you are qualified to obtain my Legacy."

As his voice fell, the blurry figure began to slowly dissipate like smoke.

And before dissipating, it pointed its fingers like a sword and tapped lightly on Ye Qing's glabella.

A condensed gray light, like a shooting star, instantly submerged into Ye Qing's Sea of Consciousness!

Ye Qing felt his head buzz, and a massive stream of information, containing countless insights into the Sword Dao and cultivation experience, surged into his mind like a breached flood!

He hurriedly kept his spirit clear and focused, operating the Hunxu Yandao Scripture, and began to digest and absorb this massive stream of information.

He did not know how much time had passed, but when he opened his eyes again, that gray silhouette had completely dissipated, as if it had never appeared.

And the shallow sword-mark imprint on his glabella had also completely faded and disappeared.

He let out a long breath of turbid air, a hint of undisguisable fatigue appearing on his face, but even more so, a sense of excitement and enlightenment.

What that gray silhouette left him was not a specific sword technique or Divine Ability, but an extremely precious insight into the essence of the Sword Dao, as well as a method for cultivating Sword Intent called "Break Void Sword Intent".

This insight was like a key, opening a door for him to a higher Sword Dao Realm.

He sat cross-legged and began to carefully comprehend the newly acquired Sword Dao insights, cross-referencing them with his own Chaos Sword Dao.

The aura on his body began to become somewhat erratic, at times sharp like a sword, at times heavy like a mountain, at times ethereal like smoke.

His cultivation, driven by this insight, also began to slowly improve, and he was only one step away from Void Refining Perfection.