Chapter 1486: Through to the Eighth Floor
Jian Chen spat blood from his mouth as his body continued to tremble. The flesh near his wound was dissolving at a visible rate, turning into pools of blood.
The tiny tower had deposited a strand of power that came from a law in his wound when it pierced through his body. The power was filled with destruction, constantly wreaking havoc on Jian Chen’s body. If it were not for the fact that Jian Chen’s Chaotic Body was extraordinarily tough and had stunted the rate of destruction, probably half of his body would have been eaten away by now.
The last portion of power within the tiny tower had dispersed after piercing Jian Chen. The tower itself then began to disperse, immediately releasing the path to the fourth floor.
However, Jian Chen was currently enduring intense pain. The sliver of destruction deposited into his body by the last attack was constantly gnawing away at his body, causing the flesh near his wound to gradually vanish, as if millions of ants were eating away at it. Even though his Chaotic Force was extraordinary, it was not enough to stop the spreading destruction.
After all, he did not possess true Chaotic Force. Just the Chaotic Force of the fifth layer was not enough to resist the power of laws.
Suddenly, Jian Chen roared out while he endured the pain. The roar shook the surroundings and endless white light immediately condensed. He was currently condensing sword Qi near his chest, using the Way of the Sword to resist the power of a law in his wound.
The power of a law in his wound immediately came to a standstill with the addition of the power from the Way of the Sword. These two laws immediately became locked in an intense battle, and in the end, the destructive presence from the artifact spirit ran out of steam and was destroyed by Jian Chen’s Way of the Sword.
Jian Chen finally let out a breath of relief after purging the power of a law from his body. The bowl-sized hole in his chest had doubled in size, taking up most of his chest. The organs and flesh in the hole had disappeared.
Even though he was very heavily injured, Jian Chen still stood there firmly like a mountain. He was still brimming with life after such injuries because of the power of Chaotic Force. Only his face was pale.
“It’s been quite some time since I’ve suffered such a severe wound. The power of laws sure is terrifying. I need to act more careful during future battles against the artifact spirit,” Jian Chen murmured to himself before immediately sitting down. He used the origin energy of Radiant Saint Force to heal his wounds.
Jian Chen made a full recovery in less than a single minute. The missing flesh in his chest had completely regrown, and he had returned to his peak condition.
After changing into a set of fresh clothes, Jian Chen stepped into the fourth floor with the two swords on his back. The fourth floor was an endless expanse of mountains and rivers. Jian Chen discovered many withered heavenly resources and the remnants of extremely valuable medicines. Basically the entire place was covered with them. It was basically a medicinal garden.
But, to his disappointment, the medicines had all been destroyed. Even though the huge expanse had once been covered with invaluable medicinal herbs, none of them remained.
Jian Chen also experienced an intense battle against the artifact spirit on the fourth floor. The artifact spirit here was slightly stronger than the previous floor as well. Jian Chen managed to emerge victorious in the end, but he also suffered from even heavier injuries.
Jian Chen recovered from his wounds and soon advanced to the fifth floor. Clearly, the Anatta Grand Prime raised many valuable and rare beasts on the fifth floor. Huge skeletons loomed everywhere, and there were quite a few that were over ten thousand meters long. Even though they had been dead for quite some time, Jian Chen cold still sense a tremendous pressure emanating from the skeletons. The pressure was still suffocating even after all this time. He found it difficult to imagine just how powerful these beasts once were.
At the same time, the skeletons had not been eroded away. They remained as tough as stone, but all of them were destroyed during the battle that occurred against the artifact spirit.
When Jian Chen finally slew the artifact spirit, he was missing an arm and a portion of his body was destroyed. He emerged victorious only after paying a heavy price. The artifact spirit on the fifth floor possessed a strength no less than late Returnance. Coupled with the power of the destructive laws he could control, his battle prowess approached Reciprocity.
Jian Chen courageously continuing on, making his way through the sixth and seventh floors. The artifact spirits on these two floors possessed strength on par with Reciprocity. If it were not for the suppression of the four swords within the tower, these two fragments probably could have erupted with strength at Godhood, even after having not recovered any strength for years.
Jian Chen was basically left with half a leg when he survived the sixth floor. He was extremely heavily injured and only managed to kill the artifact spirit after several hours of battle.
Jian Chen had used everything he had when he attempted the seventh floor. Not only did he equip the Primordial Godsilk, he even used a strand of the sword Qi from the Sword of Mortality on his arm. Only then did he finally slay the artifact spirit. If he had not used that sword Qi, he probably would have been done in.
But, to his joy, the four strands of sword Qi could be used more than once. However, he estimated that each strand of sword Qi could only display the might of someone at Reciprocity three times, and after those three times were up, their power would weaken and they would only be able to erupt with the power of someone at Returnance. The sword Qi would weaken with further uses before dispersing completely.
Although the Primordial Godsilk was not strong enough to take on Origin realm attacks for Jian Chen, its toughness was still unprecedented. With the protection of the Godsilk, Jian Chen was able to endure having his body pierced. However, he still had to endure the intense force, which he found rather difficult even though his Chaotic Body was at the fifth layer.
When he moved onto the eighth floor, he took off the Primordial Godsilk without any hesitation. Although it would protect him and prevent his body from being pierced, the strength of the artifact spirit on the eighth floor was probably enough to shake his body to pieces while wearing the silkmail.
The artifact spirit on the eighth floor was even more vicious and insane with hidden fear for Jian Chen. The fear was so deep that it had reached his spirit.
This was already the eighth floor. Along the way, Jian Chen had slain seven other fragments of the artifact spirit. If the artifact spirit on this floor was killed, there was only a single fragment left on the ninth floor. Once the fragment on the ninth floor was destroyed, the artifact spirit would truly disappear. He was unwilling to take the risk of leaving it all up to his fragment on the ninth floor even though he was more powerful there.
At this moment, the artifact spirit felt an unprecedented threat. The danger of dying was so powerful that it was countless times greater than what the Nirvanic Immortal Exalt had made him feel.
When he faced the Nirvanic Immortal Exalt in the past, he was in his peak condition and being described as immortal was no exaggeration at all, but he was not the Immortal Exalt’s opponent. Coupled with the Anatta Grand Prime, the Nirvanic Immortal Exalt was unable to kill him, only managing to suppress and seal him away. However, after so much time, not only had he failed to recover at all, but he was sti growing weaker and weaker due to the Nirvanic Immortal Exalt’s suppression and seals. He was coming close to running out of power, so if he was slain now, it would mean true death.
After all, he was unable to achieve what the Azulet sword spirits possessed, which was true immortality.
“It is already a great honor for you to be able to arrive on the eighth floor. This is where you will be buried today. You will never get the chance to reach the ninth floor. You will die here today, and I will be the one responsible for your death,” the red-robed boy yelled at Jian Chen. He hovered several hundred meters away from Jian Chen.
“Tower spirit, are you still too foolish to recognize the error of your ways? You will only die if you do not yield,” Zi Ying appeared and tried to persuade the red-robed boy one last time.
However, the response he received was the soaring killing intent from the red-robed boy as well as a strike formed from destructive a law aimed at Jian Chen. With his arms stretched out, he gathered the power of the tower with great difficulty to use a secret technique. This time, the boy used all he had right from the start and did not hold back at all. He wanted to kill Jian Chen right here, right now.
Jian Chen was stern. The boy on the eighth floor was equivalent to experts at mid or late Reciprocity. Coupled with the power of the laws he could control, rarely anyone could be his match while at a similar cultivation level. It was impossible for Jian Chen to emerge victorious even if he used the Azulet swords. He would not even be able to counterattack.
Jian Chen’s right hand immediately began to flicker with light after he waved it. The Sword of Reincarnation hidden on his arm suddenly flew out, transforming into a streak of white light and shooting toward the boy at a speed that seemed to be able to pierce the fabric of space.
Soon afterward, Jian Chen swung his arm two more times, sending out sword Qi from the Sword of Slaughter and the Sword of Severance. He used three strands of sword Qi to deal with the red-robed boy on the eighth floor. Each strand of sword Qi moved at an indescribable speed. As if they were tearing through the limitations of distance, they arrived before the boy in a single moment.
The boy’s expression drastically changed. His fragment on the seventh floor had experienced the sword Qi personally. Although its power was nowhere near the Nirvanic Immortal Exalt’s strength, it was enough to deal fatal damage to him. At the same time, the sword Qi just happened to be able to move at an indescribably fast speed, so fast that the boy could not dodge them. All he could do was watch as they approached him.
The first strand of sword Qi collided with the power of destruction that the boy had sent out. Only a third of the initial sword Qi struck the boy, causing him to cry out miserably while his face distorted in agony.
Closely after the first, the second sword Qi passed through the boy’s body, causing him to become partially transparent. The secret technique he was about to use was disrupted as well.
When the third sword Qi struck him, his figure immediately dispersed, reduced to a cloud of thin mist.