At times, thrust with deceptive plainness-yet the blade curled through a thousand subtle turns, piercing the crania of several corpses at once. At other moments, his sword energy dropped like a mountain, cleaving whole skeletons to dust.

The sword intent, tempered by slaughter and marked aura, condensed into something fiercer, hinting at a breakthrough through the sword intent shield.

Outside the shield, Corin and the others stared, lips parted in disbelief. “Is cultivating by devouring marked aura?”

Lyra covered mouth in shock. “That’s impossible! Marked aura is pure negative energy. One misstep and goes off the deep end!”

A flash of realization crossed Corin’s eyes, and murmured, “Oh, right… His sword intent carries the dragon’s power-blazing, unyielding. It’s also positive energy. It can smother the marked aura and negative energy. And he’s deciphering the Swordmaster’s Scripture. Maybe the tomb of swords‘ malice is exactly the opportunity needs!”

The earth shook harder. From the deepest crevice, a giant skeleton, nearly thirty feet tall, hauled itself upright.

It wore ragged armor, gripped a rust-eaten greatsword, and the marked aura around it had thickened into visible coils, once, this had been a cultivator of terrifying cultivation.