Peril

The sword qi intersected, forming a slanted cross that seemed intent on trapping and slaying Qin Sang. Fortunately, Qin Sang had never let down his guard. Keeping a wary vigil, the moment he sensed fierce winds rising on both flanks, alarms blared in his heart. His figure shot backward in an explosive retreat, narrowly slipping between the two beams of sword qi. Although he had escaped unharmed, Qin Sang had clearly felt their might. It was definitively at the level of a Foundation Establishment cultivator! Qin Sang's heart sank abruptly. The trial had only just begun, yet he was already forced to face two Foundation Establishment-level Golden-Armored Divine Generals simultaneously. How terrifying would the trials further in be? *Swish!* The Golden-Armored Divine Generals reacted with astonishing speed. The instant Qin Sang retreated, their silhouettes vanished, reappearing right in front of him. Their longswords slashed upward, sending two beams of sword qi hot on his heels, pressing tight against the vitals of his chest with unabated power. *What bizarre footwork!* Qin Sang retreated calmly, a glint of sword-light flashing between his brows. "Go!" Intending to test the Golden-Armored Divine Generals' capabilities, Qin Sang did not deploy his sword array right away. He merely unleashed the ebony sword. The spirit sword erupted with a beam of sword qi several tens of feet long, sweeping horizontally in a direct clash against the Golden-Armored Divine Generals. Qin Sang was no longer the novice he had been upon first reaching Foundation Establishment. The crimson sword qi, dense as blood and laden with terrifying killing intent, struck under his control precisely at the weakest points of the two opposing beams. Fighting one against two, he fell only slightly into a disadvantage. The three beams of sword qi collided and canceled one another out, their aftershocks fading in midair. The killing intent unleashed by the killing talisman washed unreservedly over the two Golden-Armored Divine Generals, yet they showed not the slightest reaction. Their movements did not hitch for even an instant. Their eyes were fixed solely on Qin Sang. Their sword shadows crossed and lunged once more with lightning swiftness, clearly refusing to rest until he was dead. *As expected, they are lifeless things!* Qin Sang had anticipated this. Knowing that the killing talisman could not daunt the Golden-Armored Divine Generals, and that the Yin soul silk of the Ten Directions Yanluo Array might not be effective either, he could only break force with force. *Bang! Bang!* After several more clashes of sword qi, echoes reverberated far down the corridor. The figures of Qin Sang and the Golden-Armored Divine Generals moved like specters, turning into streaks of golden light and phantoms that converged and parted in the blink of an eye within the narrow corridor. Weaving between the two Golden-Armored Divine Generals, Qin Sang appeared to be fraught with peril, but confidence grew steadily on his face. In the span of a few probing exchanges, Qin Sang had already seen through their depth. Although their footwork and sword qi possessed the power of Foundation Establishment cultivators, they had only these few predictable tricks and lacked the versatile methods of true cultivators. Furthermore, they were lifeless constructs driven by a single goal: kill the intruder. In Qin Sang's eyes, these Golden-Armored Divine Generals were rigid and clumsy; their true combat strength was far inferior to that of an actual Foundation Establishment cultivator. Even so, Qin Sang did not underestimate them. This was only the beginning of the trial path; the divine generals further along would surely grow increasingly powerful. "Open the sword array!" Having gauged their capabilities, Qin Sang naturally held back no longer. The sword qi split rapidly, spreading into the Thousand Mechanism Sword Array. The disc-shaped array enveloped the two Golden-Armored Divine Generals in its center. To prevent them from escaping with that bizarre movement technique, Qin Sang hesitated not for a second and immediately triggered the array's full eruption. *Boom!* Dazzling sword-light burst forth! Empowered by the sword array, the ebony sword's speed surged. The divine generals tried to swing their swords to parry, but they were utterly incapable of keeping up with its speed, their slashes hitting nothing but empty air. In a flicker, the ebony sword appeared right before their chests. The armor on the divine generals was not as hard as Qin Sang had imagined. It was pierced effortlessly by the ebony sword. Several flashes of bloody light streaked past as the sword darted back and forth, riddling the armor with holes in an instant. To his surprise, the Golden-Armored Divine Generals acted as if they were completely uninjured. Before long, they even disregarded the ebony sword entirely and lunged straight at Qin Sang, while golden light shimmered across their armor, mending the damage at a speed visible to the naked eye. *Where is their vital spot?* Qin Sang's brows knit tight. Just now, the ebony sword had pierced their chests, throats, and heads in succession without slaying them. Clearly, these Golden-Armored Divine Generals could not be judged by conventional logic. Just as Qin Sang was pondering, a crisp *ding* suddenly rang out. The shadow of the ebony sword flickered, appearing at one general's abdomen. Right as it was about to thrust in, the golden light across the general's body converged frantically toward that spot, forming a round shield that resembled a heart-protecting mirror. Once formed, the heart-mirror blocked the ebony sword's strike just in time. The divine general lost its earlier composure, halting awkwardly and swinging its sword with frantic urgency at the ebony sword, attempting to force it back. *So the vital spot is in the belly!* Qin Sang's eyes lit up. The spiritual power inside him surged wildly. Just as he was about to exert his full strength to drive the ebony sword and shatter the golden barrier in one breath to execute it— Right then, the shockwaves from the sword array's eruption dispersed. Before dissipating, two stray beams of sword qi touched the gold-brick walls flanking the corridor... For some reason, Qin Sang felt a sudden pang of unease. Glancing sideways, he saw that the moment the sword qi made contact with the walls, the golden light on the gold bricks seemed to come alive, opening a gaping maw and swallowing the sword qi whole. After a writhing motion, two identical beams of sword qi suddenly shot forth from the golden light, darting straight toward Qin Sang at twice their original speed! Fortunately, Qin Sang had been on guard. His figure flickered repeatedly to evade the incoming sword qi, yet the attacks pursued him relentlessly like maggots clinging to bone. The sword qi was simply too fast to dodge. Qin Sang's gaze darkened. He flipped his palm, revealing a black longsword. It was none other than the spirit sword he had obtained from the black-robed old man earlier—a top-grade spirit tool of formidable power. *Whoosh!* The longsword cleaved through the air, its black sword shadow sweeping like a crescent moon to clash head-on with the sword qi. Qin Sang's frame shuddered violently, and he was forced a step back. After being swallowed by the restriction on the walls, the sword qi's power had also doubled! Having finally extinguished the two beams of sword qi, Qin Sang lightly swung another stroke toward the wall. As expected, it triggered an immediate retaliation—the exact same technique, but doubled in power. "So disturbing the restriction on the walls prompts a counterattack?" Qin Sang had roughly deduced the rules of the corridor. As long as he reined in his spiritual power and avoided touching the restriction, it would not be too difficult. Yet before he could relax for even a moment, a piercing screech echoed from the depths of the corridor. Two dazzling streaks of golden light shot forth, and within each golden light was a sharp arrow! Reacting swiftly, Qin Sang knocked the two sharp arrows aside in the nick of time. His gaze hardened as he looked deep into the corridor, and he could not help but suck in a breath of cold air. By now, the corpse puppet had already been commanded to halt in place, yet the murals ahead had still been disturbed. Two Golden-Armored Divine Generals wielding longbows had already materialized. Holding their longbows high, their golden arrows pointed from afar toward Qin Sang, unleashing another volley of two arrows! Even farther ahead, portrait after portrait began to show abnormal fluctuations. If he waited any longer, more and more Golden-Armored Divine Generals would step down from the walls. If he could not eliminate his opponents quickly, he would inevitably be swarmed in a siege. Coupled with the limitations imposed by the restriction, his predicament would become perilous in the extreme!