The current Yu Wan Ning was no longer the Yu Wan Ning of a few days ago. The moment Li Chu Yun declared they would fight to the death, Yu Wan Ning had already arrived, enveloped by a dense aura of fist intent, smiling as she looked at Li Chu Yun. She was curious to see how the commander of the Western Shu Iron Cavalry would uphold his vow of fighting to the death.
When Yu Wan Ning was at the tenth realm, she could barely contend with Li Chu Yun, who was at the eleventh realm. Now that Yu Wan Ning was in the eleventh realm, what was there to fear?
"Let's attack together!"
Li Chu Yun's fists vibrated, and his fist intent surged. He floated off his horse and calmly stated, "Whoever kills Yu Wan Ning, I will recommend him to be the Pacification Commissioner of Zitong Commandery in Shuzhou!"
Instantly, the crowd surged with renewed vigor. A group of cavalrymen radiating killing intent, along with the accompanying cultivators mixed among them, unsheathed their weapons and magical artifacts, surrounding Yu Wan Ning from all directions. Yu Wan Ning glanced over, and the next moment, a majestic fist qi erupted from her body, sending the surrounding cavalrymen reeling backward. Then, she threw a punch directly at Li Chu Yun!
In an instant, Li Chu Yun was so oppressed by this fist intent that he could barely breathe. He narrowed his eyes, his internal true qi erupting section by section. His brows furrowed, realizing that today's confrontation could not end peacefully. Either he would kill Yu Wan Ning and remove a threat from Shuzhou, or Li Chu Yun would be utterly disgraced within the Western Shu Iron Cavalry and completely lose his authority.
Thinking of how his cousin, Li Chun Yang, had been a peerless hero while guarding Western Shu, Li Chu Yun was filled with resentment. Why could his cousin achieve what he, Li Chu Yun, could not? In his rage, Li Chu Yun also threw a punch, aiming straight for Yu Wan Ning's throat. If this punch landed, it would break her neck, causing her to die and her path to vanish.
"Boom—"
With a loud explosion, the two eleventh-realm martial artists exchanged a punch. Fist qi erupted in waves, impacting the surrounding forest. Fish in the stream scattered, and birds in the woods took flight. After this exchange, Yu Wan Ning merely swayed in place, her aura still smooth. Li Chu Yun, however, staggered back several steps, his face pale. With just one punch, Yu Wan Ning's fist force had nearly rendered him breathless.
Fortunately, there were still cavalrymen and accompanying cultivators around. The cavalrymen had already formed a formation, a military battle formation brimming with killing intent, pushing forward. The accompanying cultivators also unleashed their magical artifacts and talismans, preparing to encircle and attack Yu Wan Ning.
"Roar!!!"
Just then, a strange roar suddenly echoed from the depths of the jungle!
"Hmm?!"
Li Chu Yun frowned slightly and quickly raised his hand, ordering everyone not to act rashly. Yu Wan Ning, her fists clenched, also pricked up her ears. The sound did not seem like that of an ordinary wild beast. As she looked into the distance, she felt an extremely potent malevolent aura, as if something had been awakened in the depths of the forest and was now rapidly approaching.
"Be careful!"
A Golden Core realm sword cultivator, flying on his sword, his eyes chilling, pointed into the distance and said with a trembling voice, "It's a ferocious beast from the Great Wilderness. It looks... it looks like the legendary Shan Kui!"
"Shan Kui!?"
Li Chu Yun's heart chilled. The name Shan Kui was quite famous in Shuzhou. Legend had it that there were indeed a few such ancient ferocious beasts in the Qinling Mountains, stretching for thousands of miles. The Shan Kui originated from the ancient ferocious beast "Kui." Although the Kui's bloodline had become quite mixed by today, an adult Shan Kui still possessed combat power comparable to the early stage of the twelfth realm. In Shuzhou, there was always a warning: "Encounter a Kui, then retreat." If retreat was impossible, one would bear the consequences themselves.
Li Chu Yun inwardly lamented. Legend had it that there were only a handful of Shan Kui in the Qinling Mountains. How could he have encountered one?
At this moment, a nearly three-zhang-tall ferocious beast, a Shan Kui, appeared outside the Eighteen Mile Sword Shop. Accompanied by a roar, a powerful malevolent aura erupted in the distance. Immediately, dozens of Western Shu Iron Cavalrymen, along with their horses, were shredded into a mass of flesh and blood within the Shan Kui's malevolent aura. The malevolent aura continued to rise, turning the flesh and blood into mist. As the Shan Kui attacked, more and more Western Shu Iron Cavalrymen were killed.
"Yu Wan Ning!"
Li Chu Yun gritted his teeth. "The matter between you and me is a personal feud. This Shan Kui is a common enemy of humanity. If you are willing to join forces, we can kill this Shan Kui together. If not, then leave on your own, and do not interfere with the Western Shu Iron Cavalry's hunt for the Shan Kui."
Yu Wan Ning nodded slightly. In truth, she did not wish to cause trouble. The thing Yu Wan Ning feared most when wandering the martial world was bringing trouble to the Mountain Peak Villa, as that would be too unfair to Lin Zhao. If not for Li Chu Yun's relentless harassment, Yu Wan Ning would have been too lazy to entangle herself with these Western Shu Iron Cavalrymen. Now that a Shan Kui was before her, Yu Wan Ning was quite eager to test her mettle.
...
"Disperse the crowd!"
Li Chu Yun turned and shouted, "Front ranks with spear formations, rear ranks with crossbows. All accompanying cultivators, use sound-breaking arrows. The Shan Kui is powerful, do not confront it head-on."
Saying this, Li Chu Yun lunged forward, his right arm enveloped in surging fist intent, and fiercely punched at the behemoth's head. The Da Feng Novel Network.
The Shan Kui sensed the impending danger, its body sinking slightly as it used the tough armor above its forehead to block Li Chu Yun's punch. At the same time, it violently charged forward, unleashing a powerful malevolent aura. Li Chu Yun retreated in pain, his entire arm going numb. As he looked up, the Shan Kui had already reached him, its claw sweeping towards him.
"Ah!?"
Li Chu Yun was so terrified that his soul scattered. He had never expected the Shan Kui to move so agilely.
It's over!
Li Chu Yun inwardly cried out in distress.
But at this very moment, a figure flashed past. A punch filled with fist qi landed heavily on the Shan Kui's flank. It was Yu Wan Ning's punch. The moment she threw the punch, the Shan Kui shifted dozens of meters, its flank denting slightly. In pain, the ferocious nature of the Great Wilderness spirit beast intensified. It twisted its body and, enveloped in a thick malevolent aura, charged at Yu Wan Ning.
Yu Wan Ning stepped with phantom footwork, her body agilely evading. The Shan Kui's sharp claws missed. The next moment, Yu Wan Ning punched upwards, landing a heavy blow on the Shan Kui's chin. Unexpectedly, the Shan Kui, in its heightened ferocity, endured Yu Wan Ning's punch with its thick chin while its sharp claws fiercely swept out, sending Yu Wan Ning tumbling along the ground.
"Attack!"
Li Chu Yun roared. A group of cavalrymen thrust their long spears, and arrows rained down from the sky. However, the crossbow bolts and sound-breaking arrows pattered against the Shan Kui's scales, unable to pierce them. On the contrary, the enraged Shan Kui crashed through the cavalry formation, smashing dozens of cavalrymen. Then, it opened its bloody maw, and a surge of malevolent aura erupted, instantly turning more than ten accompanying cultivators into bloody mist in the wind.
"..."
Li Chu Yun was terrified, a chill coursing through him. The Shan Kui's combat power far exceeded his imagination.
With a loud crash, Li Chu Yun spat blood and retreated again. He, an eleventh-realm martial artist like mere paper, could not withstand the impact of the Shan Kui. The Shan Kui turned, its pair of fiery red eyes fixed on the group of cavalrymen. The young cavalrymen were immediately filled with terror. This was not a beast they should be dealing with.
The Shan Kui lunged forward, its bloody maw biting down, severing the upper body of a young cavalryman directly and swallowing it. It then pounced forward. Just as it opened its mouth again, Yu Wan Ning punched again, delivering three consecutive blows to the Shan Kui's nose. This caused the ferocious Shan Kui to sway, but as it turned back, its ferocity grew even greater, and it rammed towards Yu Wan Ning.
Yu Wan Ning felt a sense of helplessness. She couldn't defeat it. As an eleventh-realm martial artist, her physical body was already incredibly tough, but the Shan Kui's body seemed even more resilient, making it difficult to kill. However, if Yu Wan Ning did not act, a large number of Western Shu Iron Cavalrymen would perish under the Shan Kui's assault. After all, Li Chu Yun was at fault, but these young cavalrymen were not. Many of them were new recruits, mere youths who had just left their parents' protection.
"Get out of the way!"
Just as Yu Wan Ning was about to fight again, Li Chun Jun's voice suddenly came from the Eighteen Mile Sword Shop. Yu Wan Ning narrowed her eyes and saw a brilliant ray of pure white light erupt from there—it was a sword light!
"Whoosh!"
The blade cut through the wind, almost silently. The next moment, a sword cleaved through the Shan Kui's head and then lodged itself in the rock face several meters above Yu Wan Ning's head. The blade emitted a dragon's roar, and the hilt trembled incessantly.
"Ah?"
Yu Wan Ning frowned and turned to look. She saw the Shan Kui's body slowly fall. Its head was the first to drop from its neck, cleanly severed by a single sword. Yu Wan Ning was greatly shocked. Who exactly was this Li Chun Jun to be able to kill a Shan Kui, comparable to an early twelfth-realm expert, with a single sword?
Yu Wan Ning's gaze was somewhat dazed. She mused that, firstly, the sword above her head was indeed incredibly sharp. Secondly, Li Chun Jun's realm must be at least twelve, otherwise, it would be impossible to kill a Shan Kui with one sword.
At this moment, Li Chun Jun's voice echoed in Yu Wan Ning's mind—
"Alas."
"I am Li Chun Jun, a twelfth-realm sword cultivator from the ancestral home of Mohism. Because I have done many absurd things, my master disdained me, and I was expelled from the ancestral home of Mohism. Now, I have come to the depths of the Western Shu mountains, admiring the demeanor of the master sword smiths of the past and coveting the legendary Xun Lu Sword. Therefore, I have dedicated myself to forging swords, hoping to create divine swords comparable to the Xun Lu Sword."
"However, sages are incomparable. No matter how hard I, Li Chun Jun, try, although I have forged many renowned swords of this era such as Shu Xiu, Qian Ren, Qiu Shuang, Po Hai, and Qing She, none can match the Xun Lu Sword. In the end, I could only forge three replica swords similar to the Xun Lu Sword, named: Xun Yue, Xun Chen, and Xun Feng. The one above your head is one of these replica swords, named Xun Yue. It is gifted to you. Yu Wan Ning, leave this place quickly. This is not a place you should be."
...
"Ah?"
Yu Wan Ning's delicate eyebrows furrowed. "Senior, Yu Wan Ning is merely a martial artist. I fear I am not qualified to be worthy of this Xun Yue."
"Are there few martial artists who use swords?"
Li Chun Jun said with some indignation, "What is a martial artist? They are warriors. What is the ultimate purpose of practicing martial arts and fist techniques? It should not merely be for strengthening the body, right? You, Yu Wan Ning, will eventually use your fist techniques to fight enemies on the battlefield. Since that is the case, it is only right to have a sword. The Western Shu Iron Cavalry is aggressive, yet you are still willing to use your fists to resist the Shan Kui and save them. For this reason alone, you are worthy of this Xun Yue. Moreover, you are Lin Baiyi's person, and your aptitude is not bad. The Xun Yue Sword is an immortal sword, and it is not disgraced in your hands."
"Understood."
Yu Wan Ning soared into the air, drew the Xun Lu Sword from the rock face, turned, clasped her fists, and said, "Many thanks to Senior for bestowing the sword!"
Li Chu Yun frowned and, with the help of several accompanying cultivators, got to his feet.
"Scram."
Li Chun Jun's voice came. "Li Chu Yun, great changes are about to occur in the land of Western Shu. Take your people and get back to Zitong Commandery, or you will bear the consequences. You are a mediocre person. Do you have the right to interfere in the matters of the mountain peak?"
"Understood."
Li Chu Yun frowned, cupped his fists, and said, "Many thanks for your guidance."
He glanced at Yu Wan Ning, turned, and led his men away.
Yu Wan Ning also frowned, picked up the Xun Lu Sword, and left the Eighteen Mile Sword Shop.
...
Deep in the Qinling Mountains.
Two scholars traveled together. One was a young sword cultivator named Xiao Cong, and the other was Liu Xing Shu, who exuded an air of scholarly refinement. The Great Wilderness was dangerous, so they both flew over steep and treacherous terrain, while on flat mountain paths, they traversed through the forests, avoiding attention.
One day, a young sword cultivator wearing a dark purple long robe, carrying a rusty long sword on his back, appeared in the mountains and happened to encounter Liu Xing Shu and Xiao Cong in the forest.
The young sword cultivator looked at Liu Xing Shu and deemed him insignificant. He then looked at the sword on Xiao Cong's back and said with a smile, "Esteemed fellow Daoist, would you like to have a sword duel? If you die, your sword belongs to me. If I die, your sword belongs to you?"