The Thousand Silk Sword Array

As expected of Myriad Sword Villa’s prodigy, his actions were truly extravagant.

Chi Qiu watched the nine azure glows drifting across the arena, her expression subtly darkening.

She could now discern that the eight newly appeared glows were identical to the first, each containing a broken azure flying sword. These nine flying swords originated from the same source, all having reached the level of mid-grade Primordial Spirit Treasures. To achieve ultimate speed for his flying swords, Ye Shi had forcefully dismantled their hilts and guards, leaving only the blades.

Such an act was tantamount to a destructive blow for spiritual artifacts. Every Primordial Spirit Treasure was naturally formed by heaven and earth, and no part of it could be missing. Ye Shi’s method had virtually severed the possibility of these nine longswords ever evolving further.

“Though these nine flying swords are precious, once I advance to the Dharma Manifestation Realm, they will become like tasteless ribs—not worth keeping, yet a pity to discard. It’s better to use them like this now.” Ye Shi spoke with a smile, clearly confident and assured of his victory.

“Thousand Silk Sword Array, activate!”

Ye Shi spread his hands, and pristine white array patterns shot forth rapidly from his body, covering the entire arena in mere moments. These array patterns flowed slowly across the azure arena like jade liquid. With each expansion and contraction, they continuously absorbed the spiritual energy of heaven and earth. They then transformed into pristine white threads, as fine as hair, slowly extending, weaving, and intertwining together.

Chi Qiu naturally wouldn’t stand idly by while Ye Shi deployed the Thousand Silk Sword Array. She clenched her fists, then stomped forcefully on the ground, soaring into the sky instantly.

Around Chi Qiu, blood-red lotuses swirled, each with a body of white jade, upon which golden lightning crackled and an invisible Dao energy scattered. At this moment, Chi Qiu exuded immense power, like an immortal descending, charging directly at Ye Shi, who was still spreading his arms to set up the sword array.

“Nine-Peak Sword, stop her.”

Watching Chi Qiu fiercely charge towards him, Ye Shi’s expression remained unperturbed. He pointed his right hand forward, and instantly, nine azure glows flashed in unison, surrounding Chi Qiu completely, intending to shred her.

True qi surged wildly throughout Chi Qiu’s body. Under such intense stimulation, dark scales slowly began to grow, completely covering her hands and arms. Protected by these scales, Chi Qiu confidently and boldly swung her hands, using both fists and palms to repel all the azure flying swords assailing her from every direction.

After the flying swords were repelled, specks of white light appeared on their blades. Countless White Spirit Flowers had, at some unknown point, attached themselves to the blades, now drawing true qi from within and slowly blossoming.

After the White Spirit Flowers bloomed, the azure flying swords became significantly slower. Though their speed remained considerable, it had undoubtedly decreased by more than several folds compared to their previously uncatchable pace.

“What an astonishing secret art, or perhaps a divine ability? To think it can summon such rare spiritual plants.” Ye Shi watched the White Spirit Flowers covering his flying swords with great interest, murmuring in wonder.

“However, you were still a step too late. My Thousand Silk Sword Array has already been successfully deployed. You have no chance of victory now.”

Seeing Chi Qiu draw closer, Ye Shi’s smile widened. He clasped his hands together, and a soft, inexplicable ripple expanded outwards from his palms, spreading across the entire arena in the blink of an eye.

Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh…

A gust of cold wind howled from an unknown direction, as the sky-filling threads wove into a massive white silk curtain, firmly sealing off the arena. These threads seemed soft and powerless, yet they contained countless sharp edges.

Chi Qiu reached out and grabbed one of the threads. Instantly, its sharpness flared brightly, and with a clanging of metal, Chi Qiu finally managed to control it in her hand. Only then did she realize that the sky-filling threads were actually extremely thin soft swords. Flexible in texture yet exceptionally sharp, they were as fine as hair, making it impossible to discern their true nature without close inspection.

Myriad Sword Villa, indeed. The sword manipulation techniques of its disciples were truly wondrous beyond compare.

With a forceful grip, true qi and Tribulation Lightning surged. She crushed the soft sword in her hand with a casual squeeze. Then, looking up, she saw dense white threads enveloping the entire space. The converging white threads resembled a vast galaxy, within which surging waves created a magnificent and terrifying spectacle.

Whoosh—

A fierce gust of wind swept through. Instantly, the white threads erupted into action, as countless hair-thin soft swords assailed Chi Qiu from all directions, their numbers astonishing and seemingly penetrating every crevice.

This Ye Shi’s strength was indeed far superior to Gong Lingfeng’s.

Chi Qiu’s expression grew serious, as she prepared to go all out.

Meanwhile, in the spectator stands surrounding the arena, the audience instantly erupted in a commotion, due to the array blocking their view of the stage.

“Why can’t I see anything?”

“What a massive sword array, and so powerful!”

“The Thousand Silk Sword Array… I recall this is the array in Array Sword Manor that requires the greatest number of flying swords. Legend has it that it takes a full 108,000 flying swords to deploy.”

“Where are these flying swords? I can’t see a single one!”

Among the spectators, there were quite a few cultivators who understood Myriad Sword Villa. They whispered amongst themselves, quickly revealing the full details of the massive sword array deployed by Ye Shi.

“Can Junior Sister Chi Qiu see through this sword array?”

“I’ve encountered this Thousand Silk Sword Array before; it’s extremely troublesome. If one cannot break through the river of flying swords early enough, they will slowly be worn down within it until their true qi is depleted.”

Su Hanxing shook his head, then began explaining to the Tianyan Sect disciples beside him.

“I trust Little Chi’s insight. She has the ability to break through this Thousand Silk Sword Array.”

Su Hanxing slowly shifted his gaze towards Ye Shi, who stood proudly outside the sword array, pondering in his heart what his chances of victory would be if he were to fight him.

The arena fell into a dead silence. The discussions in the stands gradually quieted, for everyone had heard of the formidable reputation of Myriad Sword Villa’s sword arrays. Now that they had a rare opportunity to witness it, they naturally wanted to observe it closely.

This silence did not last long. Soon, a sound of vibration emanated from within the Thousand Silk Sword Array on the arena. Initially, the sound only occurred after long intervals. However, as time passed, the frequency of these vibrations grew increasingly higher, until half an hour later, the sounds were like popping beans, crackling continuously.

As the vibrations grew denser and the sounds louder, Ye Shi’s previously confident expression gradually darkened. A hint of disbelief unconsciously crept onto his face.

Boom!

Suddenly, with a deafening boom, a streak of azure-gold shattered the Thousand Silk Sword Array. After flickering rapidly several times, it returned to the greenish-gray arena.

“What other tricks do you have up your sleeve?”

The azure-gold dragon shadow dissipated, and Chi Qiu’s face reappeared before everyone. Her indifferent, brilliant golden eyes were open, and she gazed coldly at Ye Shi, as true qi slowly condensed in her hand.