Chapter 4528

Kai used his Heavenly Eye to skillfully dodge the swarm of sword puppets. His priority was to locate Master Jian. Only by finding him could he uncover what had happened to the Sword Washing Pond and understand the sudden chaos—why had so many sword puppets appeared, and where did this overwhelming evil spirit come from?
Carefully navigating the murky depths, Kai avoided the sword puppets and swam deeper into the pond. Despite his caution, one sword puppet spotted him. The puppet’s eyes flashed with a sharp light, and it charged toward him, radiating fierce sword intent.
Kai was momentarily stunned. He hadn’t expected a sword puppet to possess such powerful sword intent—it was astonishing!
Without hesitation, Kai drew his Dragon Slaying Sword and lunged forward. A gleaming arc of sword light flashed as his own sword intent surged.
Puff!
The sword puppet was cleaved in two, and its sword intent was immediately absorbed by the Dragon Slaying Sword. Kai’s eyes widened in surprise. The Dragon Slaying Sword was actively absorbing the sword intent from the pond!
“If I continue like this,” Kai thought, “I can restore the Dragon Slaying Sword by defeating enough sword puppets. Maybe even the sword spirit, Zhongli, can be freed from the blade again!”
However, as he looked at the dense mass of sword puppets ahead, he knew rushing in was unwise. Even if he had the strength to defeat them all, it would take far too long. His mission wasn’t to eliminate the sword puppets but to find Master Jian and discover the source of the corruption.
Kai pressed on, swimming deeper into the pond while deftly avoiding large groups of puppets. When smaller clusters of one, two, or three sword puppets crossed his path, he dispatched them swiftly and efficiently, the Dragon Slaying Sword absorbing their sword intent with each strike.
Determined and vigilant, Kai continued his descent into the mysterious depths of the Sword Washing Pond.
Kai had ventured deep into the Sword Washing Pond, and the surrounding evil energy grew thicker with every meter he descended. Strangely, as he went deeper, the number of sword puppets decreased, but their strength increased exponentially.
At first, Kai could dispatch three or four sword puppets with ease. However, as he descended further, each encounter demanded more effort and precision. Fortunately, the sword intent within these stronger puppets was also more potent, which the Dragon Slaying Sword eagerly absorbed.
Suddenly, Kai sensed the faint presence of a formation talisman. He frowned, puzzled. The last time he explored the bottom of the Sword Washing Pond, he had found and broken a formation, retrieving forging fragments. If that formation had been destroyed, why was there still the aura of a formation talisman?
Determined to investigate, Kai accelerated his descent.
When he finally touched down on the muddy bottom of the pond, the presence of the formation talisman grew stronger. His eyes narrowed in confusion. “Is there another formation hidden here?” he wondered, scanning his surroundings.
Before he could make sense of it, a powerful suction force suddenly erupted beneath his feet, yanking him downward as if an invisible hand had seized his legs.
Startled, Kai tried to leap away from the suction, but the force was immense. A swirling vortex formed in the depths of the Sword Washing Pond, and his body was dragged relentlessly toward it.
“Damn! What’s going on? Why is there such a strong suction force and this massive vortex?” Kai’s voice held a note of panic. The situation was spiraling out of control.
No matter how hard he struggled, he couldn’t break free. It felt as though the pond’s bottom was not solid ground at all. He continued to fall, pulled deeper and deeper by the unrelenting vortex.
Realizing he couldn’t fight the suction, Kai took a deep breath, closed his eyes, and resigned himself to the pull. He let the swirling force drag him into the dark depths, disappearing into the mud and sand at the bottom of the pond.