Chapter 1829: Azure Moon's Homecoming (I)

You?

The gray-robed cultivator looked around suspiciously, only to see Li Minggong actually withdraw after a brief hesitation. The unknown [Heaven-Governing] cultivator was even more decisive, taking to the wind at once.

The Li Family was hardly an obscure clan these days. The Changhuai cultivator immediately grew wary, sneering inwardly, You seem to have some ability... But to treat us with such contempt? It seems Changhuai has stayed out of worldly affairs so long that people have begun to look down on us.

Yet the yellow-robed cultivator behind him stood with his hands clasped behind his back, cautiously watching the sword light pulsing in the youth's hand. The response from his Immortal Foundation made him increasingly wary, and he said, "Junior Brother Shancao, we must remain cautious."

Li Nitan quietly studied the youth, puzzled. Who is this now? He looks very young, so he must be a direct descendant. Yet I've never heard of any Li Family junior with exceptional skill in the Sword Dao. These two fellows aren't even surnamed Qing. They were so high and mighty earlier, but now they've changed their tune just like that...

While the two robed cultivators exchanged glances and whispered, Li Jiangchun stepped forward. This was his first fight to the death, and he took no chances, unleashing his full strength without hesitation!

[Lesser Yin Profound Monarch Water-Fire Record].

The Profound Position within him responded at once. Billowing iridescence gathered in an instant, forming a radiant halo behind his head as large as a meditation cushion. Countless flames converged, becoming shimmering colors that draped around him.

The gray-robed cultivator before him was no less imposing. He had already deployed his dharma artifacts, with a gray-mist gourd in front and a dark little sword overhead. Yet this seemed only to remind the youth to use his own. Numerous dharma artifacts immediately flew forth, a white fan, a Radiant Fire flag, a Yin pearl, and a treasured sword, each shining in turn!

These dharma artifacts were not merely numerous. Every one was of exceptional quality, surpassing his own. Master Shancao's expression soured as he intoned, "Verdant growth flourishes, hidden currents reach within. When the sprawling woods decay, the earth prospers most!"

[Fertile Bounty's Rule].

His Immortal Foundation surged, and the colors settled into layer upon layer of murky, mud-like energy. It seemed poised to engulf all the metal qi, water, and wood without itself increasing or diminishing!

With Treasure Earth at his command, he was perfectly suited to blunt a keen offensive!

Yet a single brilliant sword light rose into the air, bright as a crescent moon and vast as a great sail. It instantly condensed into a swimming fish and glided past.

The art formed through his Treasure Earth Immortal Foundation was caught unprepared. First scorched by the cascading True Fire, it then proved as unresponsive as a lifeless stone before the sword light, which slipped effortlessly around it.

Sword Essence...

The gray-robed cultivator's heart sank. He had only just brought the gray gourd in front of him when the [Celestial Moon Slash] knocked it aside. Before he could feel relieved that it had intercepted the blow, a sudden chill swept across his neck.

Every dharma artifact rushing back to defend him was intercepted, while Boundless Essence bore down with savage force. A talisman barrier sprang up automatically, shining like glass, but it was a moment too late. Three gaping holes had already opened in his chest.

At some point, three gleaming, agile streaks of sword light, sheltered by the profound light of Mansion Water from the [Lesser Yin Profound Monarch Water-Fire Record], had slipped into his internal organs and begun darting through them!

"What?"

The sight left his mind utterly blank. Even Li Jiangchun was momentarily taken aback, but the final strike in his hand, [Autumn Moon's Harmonious Echo], was already descending!

The sword light fell suddenly, like autumn rain drifting between heaven and earth. With a bang, the mid-stage Foundation Establishment Realm cultivator from Changhuai burst apart into a shower of blood, earth, and stone!

The sight was shocking, yet the drifting sword light felt like a spring breeze brushing the face, without the slightest lingering force. The yellow-robed cultivator beside him stood frozen, his mind filled with horror and disbelief.

"This is... I've fallen under an illusion."

Master Shancao might not have been particularly formidable, or he would not have been sent on this sort of assignment alongside him, but he was still a fully trained cultivator of Changhuai. How could some unknown nobody kill him in three sword strikes? He had been dispatched as casually as a Qi Cultivation Realm cultivator!

Yet standing barely a meter away, the yellow-robed cultivator had sensed neither danger nor killing intent!

Even... Even when Chi Buzi killed our Changhuai cultivator in the grotto heaven back then... with the advantage of higher cultivation... it still took him twelve full exchanges!

Dead in three sword strikes?

Such people did exist. In his day, Duanmu Kui had wielded [Earth Shaman's Blessing] and killed a Wuzhu Gate cultivator with a single talisman. But someone like that could hardly be unknown, and Wuzhu was nowhere near Changhuai's equal!

It was not that the Changhuai cultivator had lacked resolve. On the contrary, his convictions were too firm. Coupled with the complete absence of killing intent from the [Crescent Moon] Sword Essence, he had been certain what he had witnessed was virtually impossible, and almost certainly an illusion cast by someone else!

And so he hesitated a moment too long. In that brief moment, sword light flared again amid the falling earth and stone, locking onto him. Only then did an overwhelming sense of danger flood his heart.

Meanwhile, after a moment of shock, Li Nitan had already shot away like an arrow loosed from a bow!

He fled west in blind terror, as though he had seen a ghost. Yet three streaks of flight light were already hurtling toward him, one ahead and two behind. The man in front held an ink-black sword, his face dark and his fierce gaze fixed squarely on Li Nitan.

Chen Yang had already reached the late-stage Foundation Establishment Realm, and had been overpowering his two opponents when sudden orders called him back from the west. Discovering along the way that many of his trusted followers had been lost, he was already seething. Now someone had come to cut off his retreat. Angry yet cautious, he flicked his longsword up and thrust!

Chen Yang was unquestionably the foremost genius of the four surnames, and his sword strike came with tremendous force. Seeing that Chen Yang intended to intercept him even while fleeing for his own life, Li Nitan had no choice but to summon a dharma artifact and hastily block.

Clang!

Terrified and desperate to escape, Li Nitan had no time to spare being delayed. He blocked with his dharma artifact, then fled without even checking the result. Chen Yang faltered and suspicion suddenly rose in his heart.

What is he doing? Coming over just to take a sword strike from me?

Just then, the earth shook beneath the torrential rain. A streak of sword light came flying toward them, reflected in Chen Yang's eyes. The brooding, suspicious cultivator instantly froze!

Li Nitan, however, knew that both Changhuai cultivators had now fallen, one after the other. Terror filled his heart. He surged his mana, sending his desperate shout ringing across the sky.

"Quick, save me!"

After the Daoist Master of the Mount Tan Li Family had withdrawn with injuries, Li Nitan had taken charge in his stead. He held considerable standing in the Shu army, and all its Foundation Establishment Realm cultivators knew him. His shout brought the fighting to a momentary standstill as a large group of cultivators broke away and moved toward him!

In truth, the yellow-robed cultivator had a higher cultivation, and was even more cautious than his companion. Although Li Jiangchun surpassed him in dharma artifacts, Dao attainment, and arts alike, finishing him off would take too much time. Thus, Li Jiangchun had merely wounded him with ten sword strikes, then pinned him down with his numerous dharma artifacts.

By then, Li Nitan had fled too far into the enemy ranks to pursue. Out of caution, Li Jiangchun was already considering giving up the chase. Yet that shout sent fear across the entire western shore and threw the Shu army into disarray. Li Jiangchun's eyes brightened, and he immediately reached back to grasp the hilt of the green sword behind him.

If I kill him, I can shatter the enemy's courage!

Even if Li Nitan fled fifty kilometers away, he still had a way to strike!

But I haven't fully mastered it yet... Killing him would be best, but even a severe wound would strike some fear into them...

As he gripped the green sword behind him and gathered strength to draw it, an unexpected feeling of kinship surged within him, as though the blade were part of his own flesh and blood. Pure qi gushed from his qihai, and boundless mysteries unfolded. Deep within the vast expanse of his sea of consciousness, a green sword appeared!

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