Chapter 403: Life Exchange Du Kai was calm in the face of Su Zimo’s ferocious slash. With a flicker in his eyes, he retreated while flicking his sleeves, spreading a purplish-green powder towards the direction that Su Zimo was arriving in. It was one of Poison Sect’s Seven Lethals, the Purple Corpse Corrosion Poison! Throughout history, there had been countless geniuses that were much stronger than Poison Sect cultivators of the same level. However, many of them died against the Purple Corpse Corrosion Poison as well. Each of the Seven Lethals was made by crushing countless corpses and bones and was extremely notorious! Su Zimo was fearless against any other poison. However, he did not dare to be careless against the Purple Corpse Corrosion Poison. He recalled the saber stance he had learned back in the Saber Mountain Spirit Sea and retracted his saber before slashing out again! Swoosh! The sound of a surging tide gushed forth from Blood Quencher’s blade. A massive tsunami and a Countercurrent force burst forth, as if a massive wave was about to crush down in a terrifying manner! “How is that possible?!” Finally, Du Kai’s expression changed as he exclaimed. While he did not recognize the origin of that saber technique, he could tell that Su Zimo’s attack had already surpassed the first mastery level in the way of the saber and was at the level of force! This was a level that most cultivators could not reach even if they spent their entire lives. Even if cultivators could comprehend the force, almost all of them were Golden Cores. On the one hand, it was because one would achieve indescribable wonders upon forming a core – that was a state of returning to nature and simplifying everything. On the other hand, it was also because forming a Golden Core was equivalent to breaking free of the shackles of Heaven and Earth for the first time, allowing a cultivator to gain a lifespan of 500 years! A sufficiently long lifespan also meant that the cultivator would have more time and energy to spend on comprehending the Dao of sabers, thus gaining enlightenment on the state of force. Of course, throughout history, there would always be cultivators in every generation who could manage to gain enlightenment of that level even at Foundation Establishment realm. However, those cultivators were extremely rare and each of them were the top paragons of their respective sects. This Su Zimo that was before Du Kai was a nobody, a mere cultivator who had arrived from a remote place in Tianhuang Mainland, and yet he managed to cultivate to that state? Against the Countercurrent force, the Purple Corpse Corrosion Poison powder was blown away completely and there was not a speck to be found on Su Zimo’s body! Du Kai avoided that slash and a look of fear flashed through his eyes. Su Zimo was far scarier than he had imagined! On the other side, Candlelight Sword Formation spiraled on and had already sliced more than a hundred Poison Sect cultivators into pieces. No one could even last a single round against the sword formation that was charging left and right! The Candlelight Sword Formation alone was enough to block the Poison Sect cultivators at the entrance. Although there were some spirit weapons that managed to get through, their impact towards Su Zimo was almost negligible. Du Kai found himself stuck in a situation where he was alone without reinforcements. After realizing the terror of Su Zimo’s strength, Du Kai wielded daggers in each hand that shone with a faint green light. Instead of fighting Su Zimo head-on, he was dodging repeatedly and sending out hidden weapons from time to time just to drag things out. On the surface, Su Zimo was the one that was suppressing Du Kai and had the advantage. However, in reality, their fight was extremely treacherous and shuddering! Du Kai had hidden weapons everywhere and he could throw out one of them that was coated with poison with every move. Every single portion of Du Kai’s body contained the possibility of a hidden weapon flying. In fact, even his hair could send forth Heart Seeking Spikes with a single fling so it was almost impossible to defend against everything! Any other ordinary seven meridian Foundation Establishment Cultivator would have died multiple times during this period of time. However, Su Zimo was able to suppress Du Kai by relying on his spirit perception to avoid danger time and again. At the same time, Su Zimo had something else in mind. Although he had memorized the five stances of Sea Calming, he was not too familiarized with the moves. Even Countercurrent which he had managed to gain comprehension of its force wasn’t at a point where he could release it flawlessly. 𝒻𝓇𝑒𝘦𝘸𝑒𝒷𝓃ℴ𝑣𝘦𝑙.𝒸ℴ𝘮 Since it was rare for him to meet with such an opponent, Su Zimo had nothing else on his mind and was thoroughly immersed in practicing his saber technique. Although Sea Calming seemed like it merely consisted of five stances, each stance possessed an endless secret to it and one could even dissect it to a hundred or a thousand different stances! Apart from the final stance that he was still unable to produce, Su Zimo practiced the first four stances one after another, becoming increasingly familiar with the saber technique, increasingly sharper and increasingly natural! Du Kai was now Su Zimo’s whetstone! In that period of time, the hundred-odd Poison Sect cultivators were mostly done in by the Candlelight Sword Formation and the remaining cultivators escaped hurriedly. They hid outside the hall, watching from the darks. If Du Kai won, they would enter at the appropriate moment. As such, they wouldn’t be considered as deserters and wouldn’t receive punishment. However, if Su Zimo won... There was only a single word — escape! As time passed by, Su Zimo’s saber technique became increasingly refined, flowing like fluid without any delays – he was no longer as amateurish as before. With that, it became increasingly difficult for Du Kai to defend. Furthermore, what was the difference between Su Zimo and Du Kai’s physique? Su Zimo fought fiercer as the battle dragged on and was filled with energy. His bloodline churned within his body, surging faster and faster as the faint sounds of tsunami coupled with the surging tides of his saber technique harmonized with one another. With a pale face, sweat was pouring down from Du Kai’s forehead and he was panting. What a sicko! Du Kai cursed internally. There was no way he knew that Su Zimo was merely using him as a whetstone to refine his saber techniques on. He thought that Su Zimo was doing it on purpose to torment him endlessly, trying to wear him down by attrition! How bloody evil! Gritting his teeth, Du Kai’s eyes turned cold and his expression was malicious – the look in his eyes was turning more hysterical by the moment! “Bloody hell, I’ll fight you with everything!” He heaved a deep breath of air and suddenly lunged towards Su Zimo, raising both daggers he wielded towards the latter’s throat! Spinning horizontally with his saber, Su Zimo slashed against the two daggers and used Vortex instinctively. A spiral energy burst forth instantly and Du Kai’s daggers were sent flying as his palms split apart with blood oozing out! After Vortex, Su Zimo slashed in reverse like a ripple on the surface of the ocean. It swiped towards Du Kai’s chest in a seemingly gentle motion. Ripple stance! If Countercurrent represented might, Ripple represented tenderness. Seemingly gentle, it permeated every single pore as the saber force pushed on relentlessly. It was almost impossible for anyone involved in it to escape and it would eventually kill them! Du Kai could not and did not want to avoid that slash. He was now completely maniacal as he rushed forward with complete disregard towards Su Zimo’s Blood Quencher. His eyes shone with wrath as he yelled, “Kill!” “Hmm?” A sense of danger rang in Su Zimo’s mind. At that moment, Su Zimo snapped out of his mechanical practice mode instantly! Du Kai’s hidden weapon was hidden in his mouth! The moment he opened his mouth, a chain of thin blue needles with a nauseating aura shot forth, almost suffocating Su Zimo! It was a killing blow! That was also Du Kai’s killing move that was made in exchange with his own life! Although he had the warning from his spirit perception, Su Zimo was immersed in his saber technique practice. By the time he snapped out of it, he was still a bit too late.