Ling Tian emerged from the spiritual realm space after several tens of minutes. By then, the floodwaters within the entire Ghost Domain barrier had been almost entirely released outwards.
Ling Tian gazed at the exposed, mottled lakebed and fell into deep thought. After a while, he recovered from his shock. He took out his compass and continued searching for the formation eye of the Ghost Domain barrier. Soon, he headed in a particular direction.
About ten minutes later, Ling Tian passed through a ripple in the air and entered another space.
Based on the readings on his compass, Ling Tian could confirm that this was indeed the formation eye of the Ghost Domain barrier!
Ninety-nine, eighty-one obsidian discs, each the size of a palm, were arranged on the ground in an extremely complex manner. Ling Tian could feel the energy emanating from these discs!
However, Ling Tian did not rashly approach to destroy these formation eyes, because he saw a figure shuttling around these discs, and this figure quickly locked onto Ling Tian!
This person was not tall, not even reaching 1.7 meters. However, they possessed a very sharp aura.
They were dressed in traditional ancient Japanese samurai attire, with a katana slung at their waist.
Yet, Ling Tian sensed something was amiss with this person. He immediately used his Heavenly Eye divine ability to observe them closely, and what he saw made him greatly astonished.
The individual before him was not a living person, nor a yokai, nor even a spirit. They were a physical manifestation formed from energy!
And this energy was being emitted and formed by the sword they wore at their waist.
Throughout Japan's thousand-year history, there were many renowned samurai, and the warrior image conjured by this sword was quite famous. This person was named Watanabe no Tsuna.
Watanabe no Tsuna was a samurai from the mid-Heian period of Japan, a retainer of Minamoto no Yorimitsu. His swordsmanship was extremely high.
However, all records about this person contained only one, and his most striking achievement: he had severed the arm of Ibaraki-doji!
A thousand years ago, Watanabe no Tsuna had made a bet with a friend one night, claiming he could walk the Suzaku Avenue without encountering any ghosts. As a result, Ibaraki-doji had indeed targeted him.
Ibaraki-doji transformed into a lost beautiful woman and asked Watanabe no Tsuna to escort her home. Watanabe no Tsuna was initially deceived, but later recognized Ibaraki-doji's true nature. He then engaged in a fierce battle with the yokai.
Although Ibaraki-doji was immensely powerful, Watanabe ultimately prevailed. During the fight with Ibaraki-doji, he drew his sword and severed one of the yokai's arms.
At that time, the renowned sword he used, Higekiri, was also named "Onikiri."
This sword later fell into the hands of another famous samurai, who used it to slay countless demons.
Later, the sword came into the possession of Japan's rulers, circulating within the imperial family for several centuries before disappearing.
It turned out that the sword had not been lost or destroyed but had fallen into the hands of the Seimei Shrine. An ancestor of the Seimei family, an onmyoji, had integrated this sword into the Ghost Domain barrier to guard its formation eye.
And through a secret art, Onikiri had manifested its former wielder, the energy-实体化 samurai, Watanabe no Tsuna!
This samurai was no simple entity. He possessed not only all of Watanabe no Tsuna's strength and combat experience but also the combat experience of all of Onikiri's previous owners!
Ling Tian searched his mind for relevant knowledge and finally found the answer. The samurai before him, strictly speaking, was a type of weapon spirit.
When a weapon, for various reasons, develops its own sentience, it can manifest such energy bodies, known as weapon spirits.
Weapons possessing weapon spirits often become exceptionally powerful. They can even, through the weapon spirit, impart the experience, martial skills, and even some of the power of their past users to new users.
Of course, this imparting is done through a method akin to possession!
Ling Tian observed for a long time without finding any flaws, so he decided to probe. Ling Tian directly produced a fire talisman, injected his true essence into it, and over ten fireballs whistled towards Watanabe no Tsuna.
However, in an instant, Watanabe no Tsuna drew the katana at his waist. Only then did Ling Tian see the true appearance of this Onikiri.
The hilt was nearly two feet long, the guard was circular, and the blade, with its distinctive patterns, possessed a captivating curve.
"Swish!"
With a single strike, the blade flashed, and all ten-plus fireballs were struck by Onikiri!
Immediately after, these fireballs exploded in mid-air. This was not an explosion in the usual sense but a direct dissipation!
This greatly astonished Ling Tian, as this single strike had directly disrupted the energy structure within the fire talismans, rendering them all ineffective!
This was not something an ordinary weapon could achieve. Ling Tian knew that this sword was truly extraordinary!
Next, Ling Tian produced his flying sword, the Crimson Flame Treasure Sword, which flew towards Watanabe no Tsuna with a whistling sound.
This sword was imbued with Ling Tian's true essence, and its flight speed was incredibly fast, its initial velocity comparable to that of a cannonball.
However, Watanabe no Tsuna on the opposite side, with precise movements, swung his sword and struck the flying sword!
With a clang, Ling Tian's flying sword was knocked away, flying straight into the sky!
At this, Ling Tian's expression became extremely grave, for he felt that the energy entity created by the Onikiri katana far surpassed that of ordinary humans. Normal humans would not possess such immense strength, nor could they block an attack from a flying sword traveling at such high speed.
What made Ling Tian even more troubled was that his divine sense, attached to the Crimson Flame Treasure Sword, seemed to have suffered some damage!
This was not surprising. The Onikiri katana had slain countless demons and great beasts, and its blade had long possessed a special power targeting spiritual bodies. This energy was also extremely lethal to Ling Tian's divine sense!
"Enough, enough!" Ling Tian knew that ranged attacks were ineffective, so it was time to draw his sword!
When paths cross, the brave prevail. Since ranged attacks were useless, it was time for close-quarters combat!
Thus, Ling Tian drew his Tang sword, and this sword was also called Onikiri!
Ling Tian charged forward with his sword, swinging it horizontally without any fancy moves, aiming for Watanabe no Tsuna's neck. Watanabe no Tsuna quickly drew his sword to block.
As the saying goes, an expert's move reveals their skill. Ling Tian could tell from Watanabe no Tsuna's movements that his mastery of swordsmanship was extremely profound.
"Clang!"
The two long swords collided, and Ling Tian could feel a numb sensation in his hand!
Although Ling Tian's sword, Onikiri, was more than three times heavier than the opposing sword in terms of weight, the attacking force from the other side was in no way inferior!