Chapter 89: Ready to Face the Startling Swan Sword?

Recalling the late-game Black Abyss, there was a villainous Nine-Tailed Heavenly Fox.
Fighting her was a slog—she hid in the back, buffing minions with all sorts of spells.
It took Chu Huaizhou downing a ton of pills and clearing her minions to even touch her.
Of course, that villain wasn’t their adorable Bai Li.
“Bai Li, remember to cast some support spells on me.”
Her worried expression froze, then shifted to realization. Clearing her throat, she meowed:
“No need to tell me, this palace knows to buff you. Just be careful!”
She closed her eyes, focusing, searching her vast sea of knowledge for subtle spells that wouldn’t be detected.
Moonlight Rewind: Resets injuries to the current state. For healing.
Swish.
Myriad Spirits Return: Deconstructs spells into spiritual energy. For recovery.
Swish.
Void Barrier: Blocks all attack types. For defense.
Swish.
Snow-Treading Swan: Treats all things as stepping stones for instant movement. For evasion.
Swish.
Qingqiu Edict: Boosts all spells cast by the target. For offense.
Swish.
“That’s about it. Should be enough. The others are either large-scale or too noticeable.”
Using them would alert Youming Sect’s leader, Qu Tianyou.
Her small paws hugged Chu’s neck, her two tails flowing like a cape, minimizing interference.
What a powerful little Bai Li!
Chu clenched his fist, feeling like he could shatter mountains—not an exaggeration, but a real sensation.
Unsure what Bai Li cast, he felt unprecedentedly strong, as if fully armed.
“Kid, your turn!”
Bai Li’s buffs were so subtle, only Chu noticed them; everyone else saw him as an ordinary early Nascent Soul.
The Green-Eyed Ancestor, done with this farce, flashed near Chu, his green snake reactivating its space-slowing field.
A tide of poisonous mist, laced with twisted gu insects, surged toward Chu.
As the crowd expected him to meet Cheng Qingning’s fate—or worse—he stood unaffected, raising his sword.
A single swing unleashed a peerless, thousand-zhang rainbow arc.
Where it passed, gu insects and mist dissolved instantly.
Chu pointed his sword at the Green-Eyed Ancestor.
“Not afraid you’ll run, just afraid you lack courage.”
“Get ready.”
The Ancestor’s glowing green pupils shrank, his withered fingers trembling unconsciously.
“You… what’s your strength?! A monster?!”
Staring at this seemingly unremarkable—save for his looks—man, his heart roiled with shock.
Something was wrong, very wrong.
He’d probed this kid at the sect’s entrance: mid-Foundation Establishment, nothing more.
Even with a secret technique boosting him to Nascent Soul and a supreme treasure, he shouldn’t block a Transformation-stage attack.
His Jade Roaming Spirit Serpent was invincible against same- or lower-realm foes.
This was the first time someone was unaffected.
The Ancestor’s face darkened, fists clenched, nails digging into flesh unnoticed.
Gritting his teeth, he snarled:
“Kid, you’re impressive, strong indeed.”
“But you think this can challenge me?”
Chu smiled faintly.
“Won’t know unless I try.”
With a flash, he charged straight at the Green-Eyed Ancestor.
The Ancestor, undaunted, met him head-on, and they clashed in a whirlwind of combat.
Chu chose to engage rather than kill outright for a reason.
Though the Ancestor was strong for a mid-Transformation cultivator, under Chu’s Myriad Phenomena Heavenly Pull, he was just a slight nuisance. Killing him wouldn’t take long.
But as an elder, his sudden death would stir trouble.
Killing an elder in a sect duel was unprecedented and would cause a stir.
Chu didn’t mind trouble, but alerting the Ancestor’s backers would complicate things.
His goal wasn’t just to kill the Green-Eyed Ancestor.
He wanted those behind him—the hidden fish.
In the Tianyuan Sword Sect, no one knew its rot better than Chu.
The elder council was corrupt: greedy, hypocritical, sinister, cunning, arrogant, cowardly, scheming, some even colluding with demonic sects.
This council was rotten to the core.
Chu aimed to purge them all.
The Green-Eyed Ancestor was just bait to lure the bigger fish.
Meanwhile, Leng Qingqiu and Cheng Qingning clashed.
Leng’s strength was inferior, but with Chu’s covert aid, she held her own briefly.
Chu had Leng engage Cheng for a purpose: to master her power and adapt to Myriad Phenomena Heavenly Pull’s changes.
Only then could Leng grow, becoming his true right hand, a worthy host for Myriad Phenomena.
In his view, Leng’s potential far surpassed Cheng’s.
Leng was destined for greatness; Cheng was just a stepping stone.
Watching the three fight, Chu’s lips curled into a playful smile.
Everything was under control.
Chu was no saint—he’d use any means to achieve his goals.
Leng Qingqiu and Cheng Qingning were mere pawns.
Their futures? He didn’t care.
His focus was his purpose, his revenge.
One thing stood out: a secret technique granting such a massive boost typically burned lifespan and lasted briefly.
Yet Chu’s power, from activation to now, endured unusually long, not weakening but visibly climbing.
What kind of absurd technique was this? Unheard of.
Was he truly Nascent Soul?
If so, that was terrifying. What technique could evade both his and the sect’s detection arrays?
Even Mahayana cultivators couldn’t fool those.
Normally, their sect’s great elder, too drained to activate the arrays fully, would’ve struck Chu down on sight, fearing exposure.
The sect hesitated to use them, wary of liquidation.
This was why they’d recently accelerated abductions, even targeting their own allies recklessly.
The great elder, returning daily, muttered ominously about heaven’s doom.
For the first time, the Ancestor doubted Chu’s identity.
Who was this guy? When did Tianyuan Sword Sect have such a figure?
Qingmingzi? No, that old man died long ago.
Xuanqing True Man? No, he’s in secluded cultivation…
He sifted through Tianyuan’s prodigies, trying to match this man.
No match.
Surely not that Chu Jianxian.
The thought flickered, then vanished.
Impossible. Why would he bother posing as a minor cultivator?
No need for a sword—he’d end it with a wave.
While the Ancestor panicked, Chu remained relaxed.
“What’s with the gibberish?”
His voice dripped with mockery.
“Ready to face my sword’s flourish, booksfacg.com, a perfect arc from my SF light novel?”
His blade hummed through the air.
Exhaling, his gaze sharpened:
“Void-Severing Slash.”
Youth heartthrob edition, he added mentally.
The next instant, the Startling Swan Sword struck.
Chu’s form seemed stationary, but his blade flashed like a phantom to the Ancestor’s face!
The strike was impossibly fast, silent, as if slicing space itself, transcending time.
Unlike Cheng Qingning’s grandiose assault, this was the opposite extreme.
Seemingly soft, soundless, yet its power was condensed to the sword’s tip.
The greater the master, the more terrifying they’d find this strike—like a ripple on calm water, impossible to predict.
“Not good!”
The Ancestor’s pupils shrank, unable to track the speed.
But as a veteran Transformation cultivator, he reacted instantly, summoning a thick, inky-green poison mist laced with wailing, twisted faces.
His shoulder-snake disintegrated, its scales reforming into a refined jade shield before him.
His expression was grave, but he oozed confidence, certain Chu couldn’t break his defense.