Rise of the Sword Son-in-Law

Chapter 657: The Mysterious Skeleton

In a secluded cave, Xu Ping’an collapsed to the ground as if drained of all his strength.

At this moment, every bone in his body seemed to have fallen apart, and his internal organs were severely damaged.

But the most significant damage was to his soul origin.

Now, even thinking about something slightly made his head throb as if it were about to explode with pain.

In his soul entity’s origin, the nearly solidified capital of the Great Flame Immortal Dynasty now showed signs of collapsing.

If it collapsed, Xu Ping’an’s soul power would undoubtedly decline severely.

However, at this moment, Xu Ping’an had no other choice but to silently endure the excruciating pain and circulate the Heavenly Heart Scripture.

He had reached a dead end.

"I didn’t expect to end up like this just after arriving in the Jade Immortal Realm. What bad luck," Xu Ping’an sighed.

While using the Indestructible Force to repair his physical body, he contemplated what to do next.

He was not yet completely out of danger.

Although he had concealed his aura and hidden in this cave,

this was not a solution; sooner or later, he would be found by the Golden Winged Cloud Peng.

If found again, his fate would probably not be as simple as it is now.

As for fleeing, that was difficult too.

Previously, he had managed to escape when the soul of the Golden Winged Cloud Peng was wounded by his own attack.

Next time, the Golden Winged Cloud Peng would undoubtedly be more cautious, and employing such a method again would be nearly impossible.

"Do I have any chance of turning the situation around?" Xu Ping’an muttered to himself.

He knew he didn’t have much time left.

Although he had bought Tang Qingyu and the others quite some time,

they still hadn’t escaped this mountain forest.

The forest was simply too vast; they couldn’t possibly flee it in a short time.

If they didn’t escape, they could be caught up by the Golden Winged Cloud Peng.

If that happened, all his efforts would be meaningless.

The only way now was to completely deal with the Golden Winged Cloud Peng.

But whether it was to seriously injure or kill it, neither was an easy task.

"I have an Immortal Emperor Level Sword Dao Principle. If I borrow its power, I should be able to reach combat power comparable to the Eleventh Rank First Layer Realm, but with my current soul power, I’m not sure if I can utilize this Sword Dao Principle," Xu Ping’an pondered.

This Sword Dao Principle was too tremendous.

With his current soul power, attempting to utilize such a principle was almost impossible.

Even if he could borrow it, it was uncertain how much power he could exert.

He could use an Eleventh Rank Peak principle for the duration of an incense stick and unleash the power of the Fourth Layer.

But this was a Thirteenth Rank Principle!

After some thought, Xu Ping’an decided to abandon this idea.

Even if he could borrow it, with the speed of the Golden Winged Cloud Peng, it was uncertain whether he could land a hit.

"Is there really no other way?" Xu Ping’an muttered to himself.

He fell into deep contemplation.

"Forget it, I’ll practice first and see if I can reach the Divine Connection Realm of the second layer of Fenghe Sword Technique," Xu Ping’an said to himself.

He then started to sit cross-legged and recalled everything from the recent battle.

The scenes of him swinging his sword repeatedly and the use of his own strength.

He had already reached the First Layer of the Fenghe Sword Technique, the Connecting Heart stage, where he could freely mobilize all of his power.

The Second Layer was about using his power as the foundation to unearth a strength that surpassed his own.

But how to unearth it? Aside from his power, what other strength could he tap into?

Xu Ping’an was puzzled as he mentally practiced sword swings over and over.

Time passed by repeatedly, and Xu Ping’an gradually entered a peculiar state.

Gradually, he discovered that there was a profoundly immense force seemed to be contained within every sword strike he performed.

"Is this... a power uncovered? I understand now!" Xu Ping’an exclaimed, suddenly filled with immense joy.

He had previously assumed that his strength had been fully utilized.

Now injured, he mimicked training with his consciousness.

Only then did he realize that a strange resonance occurred at the moment his power was unleashed.

In this state of resonance, the force of his power surge was much greater than usual.

"Divine Connection? To achieve Divine Connection is to bring one’s will into a state of perfect harmony.

I have been using the Power of Annihilation as the Power of Annihilation, and the force of nature as the force of nature, even though I have full control over these forces, I hadn’t truly maximized their potential.

My advantage lies in possessing many powerful forces, but exactly because of this, it is also my disadvantage. My knowledge is broad, yet not profoundly mastered.

At this moment, my body should be a furnace, refining all these elements into a unified whole."

Xu Ping’an muttered to himself.

This moment was filled with many enlightenments for him.

This instance marked his complete entry into the Divine Connection Realm, and his control over his own strength increased manifold.

In other words, he could now exert strength that was several times greater than his own.

This was the perfect application of power.

"Hum!"

Xu Ping’an stood up and launched a sword strike directly.

The stroke was as fast as lightning, seemingly simple and unadorned, yet it actually carried an effect of returning to simplicity and truth.

"Pchht!"

The void instantly split open with a very fine crack.

Seeing this, Xu Ping’an felt a surge of elation in his heart.

The space in the Spirit Realm was more stable than that of the Mortal Realm.

After all, this was the territory of the Second Layer Heaven.

The fact that he could create such a rift meant that his strength had truly increased significantly.

"My current combat power, without using Dao Principles, should just barely reach the threshold of the Eleventh Rank First Layer Realm. If I employ the Power of Dao Principles, I could contend in the Eleventh Rank First Layer Realm, but it would still fall short against the Golden Winged Cloud Peng," Xu Ping’an thought to himself.

His physical injuries had completely healed by this moment.

His soul’s wounds were also largely repaired, but not yet perfectly restored.

Xu Ping’an walked out of the cave, piercing through the dense jungle.

He saw a massive figure wandering not far away, seemingly searching for him.

Xu Ping’an was forced to retreat back into the cave.

"This Golden Winged Cloud Peng must have injured its soul. It’s not searching with Immortal Sense; otherwise, it would have found me long ago," Xu Ping’an said with a touch of relief.

However, the moment he stepped out, it wouldn’t take long before he would be discovered by the Golden Winged Cloud Peng.

After all, its eyes were extraordinarily sharp, even able to penetrate through some rocks.

"For now, I can only explore deeper into this cave to see if there’s another way out," said Xu Ping’an as he gazed into the depths of the cave.

The cave he was in was not very large, but it was very deep, seeming to lead deep into the earth.

Xu Ping’an had not given it much thought before, but now he had no choice but to venture deeper.

And so, Xu Ping’an stepped forward and moved deeper into the cave.

However, what he encountered next made him startle.

There lay a human skeleton ahead of him.

The bones still shone with a golden luster, indicating that they had belonged to a formidable being in life.

"Eleventh Rank skeleton? How could there be an Eleventh Rank skeleton here? Did it die from entering the cave, or did it just happen to die inside?"

"No, that’s not right. It must not have been dead for long; the flesh has been gnawed away, and the soul origin has been devoured," Xu Ping’an noted with a grave expression.

It appeared that this cave was not as safe as he had imagined.