Yu Jie's attacks were so powerful that he could ignore the army of Green-Winged Sword Birds entirely, sweeping them aside like so much garbage.
The defensive perimeter crumbled layer by layer under Yu Jie's overwhelming onslaught, broken ring after ring. And the heaven-and-earth-shaking barrier of defense was slowly being peeled apart by him, growing thinner and weaker with each passing moment.
"Jiang Chen, I told you—no one under heaven or on earth can save you!" Yu Jie's voice was cold as he swept his sleeves, sending out waves of spirit power like ripples across water.
He cleared away the Sword Birds that charged at him in concentric waves.
Boom, boom, boom…
The lower-ranked Green-Winged Sword Birds simply couldn't withstand such spiritual pressure. The moment it bore down on them, they burst into rain of blood, their entire bodies exploding into red mist.
"Chen'er, run! Your father and these Golden-Winged Sword Birds will cover your escape!"
"Yes! Jiang Chen, take Ruo'er and Lin'er and get as far away as you can!" Princess Gouyu was desperate, ready to sacrifice her life to cover Jiang Chen's retreat.
"Run?" Jiang Chen's bloodshot eyes blazed with a terrifying light. At this moment, there was only fighting to the death—fleeing would only make them die faster!
"Father, Princess Gouyu. Those two are sect disciples, and I'm their target. When the battle begins, seize your chance and leave first!"
Though Jiang Chen faced a life-or-death situation, his heart was eerily calm. He knew full well that if he tried to flee, Yu Jie or that Xu Zhen would use every means at their disposal to hunt him down.
Moreover, his father and Princess Gouyu simply didn't have the strength to serve as a meaningful distraction.
"Chen'er, if you won't leave, what's the point of us going?" Jiang Feng said in a panic.
"If I leave, we all die!" Jiang Chen growled.
Suddenly, Jiang Chen's throat trembled slightly. A strange language poured forth from his throat in an endless stream. It carried an ancient, primordial aura.
Each syllable rang out like the language of ancient gods and demons, making the Golden-Winged Sword Birds gathered around Jiang Chen cry out one after another.
It was as if this was a spell—one that could awaken the bloodlust within the Golden-Winged Sword Birds, stir their ferocity, and summon forth a shared sense of righteous fury.
In an instant, every Golden-Winged Sword Bird seemed to receive the same command. They scattered with a thunderous rush, flapping their wings and spiraling upward into the sky.
One by one, the Golden-Winged Sword Birds circled through the void, the golden trails streaming from their wings forming a vast golden vortex in midair.
Jiang Chen stood within the vortex. His eyes snapped open suddenly, like those of an ancient god-king gazing upon the world, radiating blinding brilliance. At the same time, the nameless blade behind him seemed to respond to some unseen call.
Shiiiing!
A long, piercing whistle rang out as the ancient, unadorned blade bloomed with silver radiance, luminous as the moon. Jiang Chen seized it with both hands.
"Blue Sea Counter-Current Blade, Third Form—Shocking Surge!"
Under the crushing pressure of Yu Jie's advance, Jiang Chen did not retreat. Instead, he charged forward, committing everything to a single devastating slash that carved a beautiful arc through the air.
In that moment, the golden ocean of Sword Birds and the silver moonlight of the blade merged into a single streak of gold and silver radiance. Man and blade became one.
A world-shaking strike that changed the color of mountains and rivers and shook the very seas.
Shocking Surge!
Yu Jie, who had been closing in step by step, had been like a hunter toying with his prey, utterly confident of victory. In his eyes, Jiang Chen and the endless army of Sword Birds were nothing but desperate ants—there for him to crush and torment at will.
The reason he hadn't delivered a killing blow immediately was simply out of amusement. He wanted to entertain Long Juxue.
He knew that killing Jiang Chen outright would avenge Long Juxue, but it wouldn't bring her any satisfaction.
Only by letting the prey suffer every indignity, lose all dignity, and writhe in helpless humiliation before delivering the final blow—only then would it be cathartic. Only then would it be perfect.
Yu Jie might have been one of Master Water Moon's Ten Great Disciples, but among them, his ranking was low—so low that he'd barely squeezed his way into the group.
So while his current status appeared high, once Long Juxue—with her innate constitution—formally entered Master Water Moon's tutelage, it was only a matter of time before she became one of his top prodigies. One day, she might even surpass the Ten Great Disciples entirely.
Therefore, even though Yu Jie's status was currently above Long Juxue's, that was only because she hadn't formally joined the sect yet—she was still a stock with future potential.
Once Long Juxue's talent translated into real strength, there would be no comparison whatsoever.
So everything Yu Jie was doing now was a calculated effort to curry favor with Long Juxue, to make her remember this debt of gratitude.
That way, when she grew powerful in the future, she might look back with fondness and take care of him.
The army of Sword Birds was formidable, but only against mortal martial artists and mortal armies. Before a Spirit Realm powerhouse, their numerical advantage was virtually meaningless.
Moreover, as one of Master Water Moon's Ten Great Disciples, Yu Jie was far beyond the caliber of a Spirit Realm cultivator like Xu Zhen.
Everything had been going perfectly. Though Jiang Chen had the Sword Birds fighting fearlessly to protect him, their defensive formation simply wasn't strong enough to withstand Yu Jie.
Destroy. Crush. Devastate!
Yu Jie had intended to present this display of overwhelming dominance as a gift—a declaration of loyalty—to Long Juxue.
But what he never expected was that his flawless plan would run into an unexpected obstacle!
The very person he considered an ant—Jiang Chen—had not only refused to flee, had not only stopped cowering behind his defenses, but had actually charged straight out from the protection of the Sword Bird army.