Chapter 654: Sword Immortal Puppet Showing his Worth!
"Li Yun."
Elder Chen Ming wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth. His face was twisted with anger, but a trace of fear had also appeared deep within his eyes. "I admit that I underestimated you. If you were at the Heavenly Core Realm, I might truly die at your hands today."
His voice suddenly became colder.
"But unfortunately, you are only at the 4th level of Earthly Core Realm."
As soon as he finished speaking, his figure vanished.
In the next instant, he appeared behind Li Yun like a ghost. His remaining strength erupted, and he ruthlessly struck his palm toward Li Yun’s head.
"This is the end."
Elder Chen Ming’s expression was ferocious. "Li Yun, your time has come."
"The one who is going to die is you."
A cold light flashed in Li Yun’s eyes.
He suddenly turned and swung his sword. The sound of thunder exploded out of nowhere, followed by the rumble of heavy rain. A strange Sword Light flashed forward, aiming directly at Elder Chen Ming’s soul.
It was Thunder Rain Soul-Seizing.
"Foolish."
Elder Chen Ming seemed to have expected this. He laughed coldly and said, "Li Yun, do you think I will fall for the same trick twice? This time, you are dead for sure."
The light around Elder Chen Ming’s body suddenly condensed, forming a protective barrier around his soul. Clearly, he had already prepared for Li Yun’s soul attack. Thunder Rain Soul-Seizing struck his soul defense and made his face turn pale, but it failed to kill him.
Elder Chen Ming’s palm continued descending toward Li Yun.
At this moment, his expression was filled with triumph.
But Li Yun suddenly smiled.
"Is that so?"
His voice was calm, but the coldness in it made Elder Chen Ming’s heart tighten.
"Elder Chen Ming, you still fell into my trap."
Elder Chen Ming’s pupils contracted.
The next moment, a figure suddenly appeared behind him.
That figure erupted with the aura of the 3rd level of Heavenly Core Realm.
It was the sword immortal puppet.
From the very beginning, Li Yun had known that killing Elder Chen Ming with his own strength alone would be extremely difficult. Even after forcing Elder Chen Ming to use his strongest attacks, even after aggravating his injuries again and again, and even after pushing him to the very edge, Elder Chen Ming was still a 6th level Heavenly Core Realm expert.
Such an opponent could not be killed easily.
Because of that, Li Yun had deliberately used all his trump cards openly. He made Elder Chen Ming believe that he had already seen everything. He made Elder Chen Ming focus entirely on guarding against his sword arts, his Sword Intents, and especially Thunder Rain Soul-Seizing.
The soul attack was not the true killing move.
It was bait.
The real killing move was the sword immortal puppet hidden in the darkness.
"Die."
Li Yun shouted sharply.
The sword immortal puppet struck.
A terrifying Sword Qi erupted from behind Elder Chen Ming. This Sword Qi did not contain any unnecessary brilliance. It was direct, cold, and ruthless. It was a pure killing strike aimed straight at Elder Chen Ming’s heart.
"Not good!"
Elder Chen Ming’s face changed completely.
A chill rose from his spine and spread throughout his entire body. In that instant, he felt as if all the blood in his body had turned cold.
This was a fatal blow.
A true execution.
He wanted to dodge, but it was too late.
He had just used his movement technique to close in on Li Yun. His palm strike had already been released, and his soul defense had just blocked Thunder Rain Soul-Seizing. At this moment, his qi was in brief disorder, and his attention had been completely pulled toward Li Yun.
The sword immortal puppet’s attack arrived at the perfect moment.
Puchi!
The sword pierced through Elder Chen Ming’s back and came out from his chest.
Blood sprayed into the air.
Elder Chen Ming’s body froze.
His palm stopped only a few inches away from Li Yun’s head, but it could no longer fall.
He lowered his head with difficulty and looked at the sword tip protruding from his chest. His eyes were filled with disbelief, anger, and unwillingness.
"You..."
He wanted to say something, but blood poured from his mouth before he could finish.
Li Yun stepped back and looked at him calmly. "Elder Chen Ming, you were too strong. Even after being heavily injured, even after I used everything I had, killing you with my own strength alone was still almost impossible."
Elder Chen Ming’s body trembled.
Li Yun’s voice remained calm. "That is why I never planned to kill you with only my sword."
The sword immortal puppet pulled out its sword.
Blood gushed from Elder Chen Ming’s chest.
The vitality in Elder Chen Ming’s body quickly faded. His aura, which had once belonged to a 6th level Heavenly Core Realm powerhouse, collapsed like a broken dam. A moment later, his body fell heavily to the ground.
Elder Chen Ming was dead.
Li Yun stood in place and slowly exhaled.
Although he had won, there was no arrogance in his eyes.
This battle had been extremely difficult.
Elder Chen Ming had already been heavily wounded before the fight began, and his combat power had fallen far below his peak.
Even so, Li Yun had been forced to use almost everything he possessed. Slow Sword, Soul Sword Control Art, the Flowing Cloud Formation Diagram, Grand Profound Five Elements Sword, Five Elements Supreme Divine Art, Thunder Rain Soul-Seizing, the Heaven and Earth Sacred Body, Slaughter Sword Intent, and Immortal Sword Intent had all been pushed to their limits.
Even after all that, he still needed the sword immortal puppet to land the final killing blow.
This made Li Yun clearly realize one thing.
The Heavenly Core Realm became far more terrifying the higher one climbed.
The gap between each level was much greater than he had imagined.
A 6th level Heavenly Core Realm expert was not someone who could be judged by ordinary standards. Even a heavily injured one was still extremely difficult to kill, especially for someone like him, whose cultivation was only at the 4th level of Earthly Core Realm.
’The only way forward is to comprehend the final Destructive Sword Intent and the all-encompassing Five Elements Intent.’
Li Yun thought silently, mapping out his future path.
Then he looked at Elder Chen Ming’s corpse with calm eyes.
There was no joy in his heart.
Only clarity.
His current combat strength was indeed enough to threaten high-level Heavenly Core Realm experts under the right conditions, but threatening them and killing them were two different matters. If not for the sword immortal puppet’s surprise attack, this battle might have continued until he was the one forced into danger.
He slowly clenched his fist.
"I am still not strong enough."
After saying this softly, Li Yun waved his hand and recalled the sword immortal puppet.
Then he turned away from Elder Chen Ming’s corpse.
This battle had ended with his victory, but it had also taught him the true weight of the higher levels of the Heavenly Core Realm.