"It's the Old Ancestor!"
"The Old Ancestor is out of seclusion!"
"Old Ancestor, please save us!"
The Shennong Sect disciples were filled with excitement, shouting one after another.
Before, they had merely called Ying Chen "Old Ancestor" out of politeness, not truly acknowledging him.
But now, in the face of imminent death, they truly recognized him.
Each cry was more heartfelt than the last.
Cang Juezi, held in the mouth of the Gou Snake, was also filled with tears upon hearing the sword's resonance.
His efforts had not been in vain!
He had successfully delayed until the Old Ancestor's emergence!
He had successfully preserved the Shennong Sect's legacy!
With this, he had no regrets in dying!
Cang Juezi let his tears flow freely, and with a final, lingering glance at the world, he closed his eyes again.
Even with Ying Chen emerging, he knew he couldn't be saved in this situation.
After all, he was less than half a meter from the Gou Snake's maw!
And Ying Chen's quiet chamber was hundreds of meters away!
The Mysterious Yin Gou Snake also seemed to realize this.
A sinister glint flashed in its blood-red vertical pupils as it violently thrashed its tail.
As if feeding it, it hurled Cang Juezi towards its mouth!
Its fangs, emitting a foul stench, brushed against Cang Juezi's body, about to snap shut and pierce him completely!
"You killed my disciple, did you ask me first?"
Just then, Ying Chen's voice, cold and sharp, rang out.
Then, a sword light, faster than sound, appeared behind the Gou Snake without any aerial trajectory, without warning!
It was as if the sword light had traveled through a wormhole in space-time!
Terrifying power was contained within the sword light, accompanied by a vast and supreme lightning pressure of pure Yang.
Even a mere wisp of this lightning pressure was enough to fill the Mysterious Yin Gou Snake with absolute terror!
The teeth, about to close, lost all strength.
The tail that had been coiled around Cang Juezi also drooped powerlessly, flinging him to the ground with a thud.
This… was the true might of heavenly lightning!
Not the阴雷 (yin lightning) that Cang Juezi had summoned earlier!
The inherent fear of heavenly lightning within the Mysterious Yin Gou Snake was unleashed by this pressure. Its massive, coiled body, resembling a mountain of flesh, collapsed instantly.
Only its head remained held high, but its pupils were filled with dread.
*Screech!*
The sword light struck the Mysterious Yin Gou Snake in an instant.
Its seemingly indestructible scales shattered into dust under the sword light!
The sword light cut deep, creating a gaping wound on the Gou Snake's tail!
The Mysterious Yin Gou Snake let out a pained, mournful cry.
Its body writhed madly on the ground, crushing the bluestone slabs one by one, sending rubble flying.
The main gate of the grand hall shook precariously from the impact of its thrashing body.
The massive plaque of the Shennong Sect also clattered to the ground, becoming another victim of the Gou Snake's pained frenzy.
However, this pain also managed to dispel some of the fear in the Gou Snake's eyes.
Its vertical pupils regained their icy, sinister glint.
It coiled its body again, its massive head slowly rising until it reached the height of a five or six-story building.
From its vantage point, it looked down at Ying Chen.
Then, it suddenly opened its maw wide, its blood-red tongue spitting out with a foul wind, letting out a silent roar of defiance!
It had come for Ying Chen, and seeing him now, how could it not feel a surge of old and new hatred, wishing to devour him immediately?
Ying Chen, however, remained unhurried, holding a sword radiating golden light, and slowly advanced.
At first glance, the sword resembled the Xuan Pin Lie Que Sword.
But a second glance would reveal it was completely different.
Above the hilt, there was an eye-like object.
Within the eye, a small golden phantom was seated.
Countless lightning bolts erupted from the golden phantom, coiling around the blade.
The blade itself was of two distinct colors.
One half was dark cyan, the other half golden-red.
They shimmered and flickered, reflecting each other.
Around the entire sword, faint ripples of water could be seen, as if the sword were resonating with heaven and earth!
Upon seeing this, Cang Juezi was the first to exclaim, "Heaven and Earth Resonance! This is a... high-grade Dharma artifact!"
The other Shennong Sect disciples only then noticed this, their expressions shifting to one of disbelief.
It was widely known that high-grade Dharma artifacts were almost exclusively monopolized by the Five Great Sects.
And even among the Five Great Sects, they didn't possess many high-grade Dharma artifacts.
Each one was held by the top experts of the Five Great Sects.
Aside from them, it was an almost impossible feat for other smaller sects to obtain a high-grade Dharma artifact!
As for refining one, it was out of the question.
In the past hundred years, no one had successfully refined a high-grade Dharma artifact!
If anyone were to achieve it, they would immediately gain the favor of the Five Great Sects, who would offer generous terms to recruit them!
And now, Ying Chen had unprecedentedly refined a high-grade Dharma artifact!
And it was one that could even induce Heaven and Earth Resonance!
If this news were to spread, the entire Xuanmen world would be in an uproar!
Heaven and Earth Resonance was a typical characteristic of high-grade Dharma artifacts.
Not all high-grade Dharma artifacts possessed this trait, but those that did were undoubtedly top-tier high-grade Dharma artifacts!
It signified that the artifact's power had approached "the power of heaven and earth," capable of eliciting recognition and resonance from the cosmos!
"So this is considered a high-grade Dharma artifact?" Ying Chen gently stroked the blade with his finger.
In his opinion, it was merely a mid-to-low grade artifact.
A true high-grade Dharma artifact should be able to merge with the wielder's essence and possess some innate divine ability.
For example, Ying Chen's former artifact, "Qing Tian You Yue," could evolve heaven and earth, transforming a realm into a treasure world of "vast blue sky, with a crescent moon hanging high."
In that world, Ying Chen was the sole sovereign.
This sword was still far from that level.
However, Ying Chen also understood that in this era, the Dao and Dharma were in decline, and all standards had been lowered.
If Cang Juezi said this sword was a high-grade Dharma artifact, then it must indeed meet the standards of a high-grade Dharma artifact for this era.
"All high-grade Dharma artifacts have a celebrated name. May I ask, Old Ancestor, what is this artifact called?"
Cang Juezi asked, his voice trembling.
Ying Chen pondered for a moment and then replied, "Let's call it the Xuan Pin Lei Yang Sword!"
Upon hearing the name, Cang Juezi trembled even more violently, his face filled with excitement. "Xuan Pin Lei Yang Sword, a wonderful name, a wonderful name! I never imagined that our Shennong Sect would have the fortune to birth a high-grade Dharma artifact, and that half of its name would be contributed by me, Cang Juezi!"
"I, Cang Juezi... have no regrets in dying! No regrets!"
Ying Chen raised an eyebrow.
He hadn't expected that just a name would make Cang Juezi so emotional.
If Cang Juezi had been involved in the refining process, wouldn't he have been so excited he died on the spot?
Moreover, with the great enemy before them and the Mysterious Yin Gou Snake still unresolved, why was Cang Juezi so carefree?
Ignoring Cang Juezi, Ying Chen stopped about fifty meters away from the Mysterious Yin Gou Snake.
His gaze slowly fell upon the Gou Snake, and he let out a scoff, "If I had known you would willingly leave the flower field, I wouldn't have wasted my effort crafting this sword. Do you think I feared you? In reality, I only feared for the safety of that flower field!"
The Mysterious Yin Gou Snake seemed to understand Ying Chen's words, and its vertical pupils suddenly blazed with boundless ferocity!
If the Mysterious Yin Gou Snake could speak, it would have roared, "A scholar can be killed, but not insulted!"