Victor Hart stepped forward, his expression calm as he stared at Shawn Steele. "Shawn Steele, if you let Serena Sima and Faye Xi go right now, I can promise you won't have to die!"
"My fate is mine alone. You don't get to decide." Shawn Steele shook his head, dropping his usual bandit act. Normally, he was arrogant and unreasonable, playing the role of a bandit chief, but now there was no need to keep pretending.
The shift in his demeanor gave Shawn Steele an air of transcendence and composure.
"Brother Hart, why bother talking to this little thief? Just kill him and be done with it." Violet Moon spoke, her voice thick with killing intent. Although she was an outsider, her famously violent temper meant she often killed at the slightest provocation.
It was said that in her youth, Violet Moon fell in love with a man but violated Clearheart Holy Land's rules. To stay in the sect, she had to personally kill her beloved. Since then, her personality became irritable and extreme.
"Senior Sister Violet, why not let me test this little thief's cultivation?" Brooke Vale of Clearheart Holy Land volunteered.
"If you can kill him, don't hold back!" Violet Moon nodded, reminding her.
Though Brooke Vale was already over forty, she looked no older than twenty-seven or twenty-eight, exuding a mature charm. Clearheart Holy Land had two criteria for selecting disciples: first, beauty; second, talent.
As a result, Clearheart Holy Land had the fewest disciples among the Three Great Holy Lands, but the most mid-tier experts.
"Chief Shawn, please!"
Brooke Vale stepped forward with her sword in hand, looking at Shawn Steele.
Shawn shook his head. "You're not my match. Fighting you is pointless. Either bring more people, or send out the strongest one!"
Brooke wasn't as hot-tempered as Violet Moon, but being looked down on by Shawn still made her a bit angry. "You won't know until you fight me. Take this!"
As soon as she finished speaking, her sword rang out sharply.
With a hum, the longsword in Brooke's hand transformed into sword-light like fine rain, enveloping Shawn completely.
Brooke's sword style gave Shawn the feeling that it was everywhere; no matter how he dodged, he couldn't escape her sword force. His mind stirred, and he grabbed an ordinary longsword from his Storage Ring, then spun it so tightly it formed a dense shield, covering his entire body.
Suddenly, he was surprised to find that the rain-like sword-qi easily pierced through his sword-light and landed on his body.
Immediately, dozens of wounds appeared on him.
"What kind of sword technique is that?"
Shawn stopped defending and let the fine rain sword-qi fall on him, carving out wound after wound.
Brooke was a little puzzled, not knowing why Shawn had stopped resisting. By now, he was covered in blood, wounds all over his body. Brooke was proud, so she withdrew her sword and stopped attacking, saying, "This is the Drizzling Rain Sword Intent, a subset of the Rain Sword Intent I've comprehended."
"Sword intent!"
Hearing those two words, Shawn felt his mind explode. The confusion he'd wrestled with for days suddenly seemed on the verge of clearing, but he was still missing something.
Radiance of Life activated, and his wounds healed instantly.
He stared at Brooke. "Again!"
Brooke gave Shawn a deep look, a little shocked at how quickly he'd recovered.
"You're an interesting guy. Fine, watch my sword!"
Drizzling Rain Sword Intent.
Sword intent like raindrops suddenly appeared around Shawn. This time, he didn't resist, but closed his eyes and carefully tried to comprehend it.
"Puff, puff, puff, puff!"
Wounds bloomed all over his body, blood gushing out once again, but he didn't even frown.
He silently asked himself, "What is sword intent? What defines sword intent?"
"Puff, puff, puff!"
By now, he had at least a hundred wounds, blood staining the ground beneath him.
"Brooke, why hold back? Just finish him already!" Violet Moon urged impatiently.
"Yes!"
A trace of reluctance flashed in Brooke's eyes, but she still obeyed Violet Moon's order. The gentle, silent sword rain suddenly transformed into a raging storm, as if it could slice Shawn into a thousand pieces in an instant.
But just then, Shawn suddenly opened his eyes, joy flickering in their depths.
Radiance of Life activated again, instantly healing all his wounds. At the same time, he raised his hand and pointed a finger into the air.
That finger seemed ordinary, but carried a unique, overwhelming sword intent.
Under the influence of that sword intent, Brooke's own sword intent shattered, and the sword-qi attacking Shawn vanished.
"Thank you for helping me comprehend sword intent. I won't harm you, so step down!" Shawn withdrew his hand and bowed sincerely to Brooke.
Brooke's face looked grim. She hadn't expected her proud sword intent to be broken so easily by Shawn.
But she also knew her greatest strength was her sword intent. If Shawn could break it with a wave of his hand, continuing to fight was pointless. Besides, the sword intent he'd just shown was truly formidable—she couldn't even tell what kind it was.
"Sorry, Violet Moon. I let you down!" Brooke said apologetically to Violet Moon.
"Hmph! I'll deal with him myself!"
Violet Moon stepped forward, her sword leaving its sheath with a flash as she slashed out.
With her sword strike, heaven and earth seemed to lose their color; the whole world darkened, and everyone felt stifled, uncomfortable, and weighed down by negative emotions.
Shawn, at the center, felt it most intensely. Memories of all the humiliation, ridicule, and scorn he'd suffered before getting his system flooded his mind, and murderous intent surged—he wanted to slaughter everyone who'd bullied him.
But just then, the Azure Lotus Sword in his sea of consciousness trembled, and all the invading negative emotions shattered instantly.
Cold sweat broke out on his brow. Violet Moon's sword intent was terrifying—it could directly affect a person's emotions. At the same time, her sword tip was already at his brow, ready to pierce his skull.
Ding!
Shawn raised his hand and pointed a finger, easily knocking Violet Moon's sword aside. Without her sword intent, the power in her sword wasn't that strong.
"It's only fair to return the favor. Take my sword!"
He formed his fingers into a sword and pointed out sharply.
Buzz!
A terrifying sword intent erupted and shot straight at Violet Moon. With a dull bang, she was blasted backward, spitting blood—seriously injured.
She stared at Shawn in disbelief. "How did you break my Soul-Crushing Gloom Sword Intent?"
Shawn smiled. "Your sword intent is powerful against those of your own realm or lower, but once someone's cultivation surpasses yours, its effect drops sharply."
"That's nonsense! You're only mid-stage Heaven-and-Man!" Violet Moon refused to accept his explanation.
"True, my cultivation is only mid-stage Heaven-and-Man, but my soul realm is stronger than late Heaven-and-Man. If you catch me off guard, you can affect me for a moment, but if I'm on guard, your sword intent can't even touch me!"