"You!"
Li Ruoxi's pretty face was covered in frost. She felt quite indignant. You are a fourteenth realm, and so am I. You are the master of the Eternal Secret Realm, and I am the Palace Mistress of Jade Purity Palace. In Li Ruoxi's heart, she and this female immortal were equals.
Did she think she was superior just because she was called an immortal?
In an instant, Li Ruoxi gritted her teeth. A Natal Object flew out from her chest – an exquisitely crafted jade linglong. The jade linglong's radiance surged, instantly breaking through some kind of restriction, granting Li Ruoxi freedom. Her sword light turned cold, and she unleashed her peak sword strike towards the woman in white.
"Hmm?"
The woman in white stepped forward. With a glance, an ice-blue orchid bloomed between her and Li Ruoxi. The Heavenly Sounds of the Great Dao resonated, and Li Ruoxi's sword collided with the ice-blue orchid. The orchid shattered, and the sword energy was also extinguished.
"Open!"
Amidst the surging fist intent, Wei Lingyu, a thirteenth realm martial artist, forcibly opened a martial artist's realm. He tapped the ground with one foot, his body soaring into the air. With one hand behind his back, he maintained his demeanor of a martial arts grandmaster, a smile that didn't reach his eyes on his face. "Are those who possess a divine throne truly so overbearing?"
As he spoke, Wei Lingyu unleashed a punch. Behind him, a torrent of overwhelming, crushing power surged forward, rolling endlessly towards the white-clad woman holding a long sword.
"A thirteenth realm martial artist, so what?"
Her gaze flickered. Her body suddenly drifted past like a wisp of smoke. A golden divine throne dharma image, exuding an ancient aura, flashed beneath her feet and vanished. In the next moment, she had already rushed out hundreds of feet, evading Wei Lingyu's punch. Simultaneously, she thrust the hilt of her sword upwards, and with a 'peng' sound, it struck Wei Lingyu's abdomen.
For a moment, Wei Lingyu felt as if he had suffered a heavy blow. His body involuntarily arched, and an icy chill spread through his abdomen. He was sent flying backward, crashing heavily onto Void Mountain.
The thirteen realm martial artist's realm opened, shattering countless rocks in the mountain. When Wei Lingyu emerged again, blood was already trickling from the corner of his mouth.
"Liu Qianling, let's attack together!"
Li Ruoxi shouted. Her pretty face was filled with indignation. She raised her sword, and her three Natal Objects hummed in unison, unleashing an incredibly dense Jade Purity Azure Wave dharma image.
Liu Qianling gritted her teeth. She was a thirteenth realm sword cultivator, not even at her peak. How could she possibly deal with that fourteenth realm immortal, who was praised by the Upper Realm as being the closest to the fifteenth realm?
However, Liu Qianling's foundation was the Thousand Mountain Sword Sect, and the Thousand Mountain Sword Sect was located in the Sea of Heavens. Therefore, even if she didn't want to fight, she had to. If she retreated today, she and the Thousand Mountain Sword Sect would likely be expunged from the Sea of Heavens.
Were Li Ruoxi and Wei Lingyu easy to deal with?
In the next moment, Liu Qianling drew her long sword and slashed out, transforming into a dazzling rainbow that shot towards the white-clad woman's head. Simultaneously, countless fine sword energies crushed forward alongside the rainbow. The foundation of a thirteenth realm sword cultivator was naturally not to be underestimated.
"Buzz!"
With a resounding hum, the white-clad woman's long sword was still in its sheath, but a strand of incredibly powerful sword intent seemed to have already emanated from the sheath. With the sheath still on, she swept her sword towards Li Ruoxi, completely crushing the Jade Purity Azure Wave dharma image that Li Ruoxi had unleashed.
She spun her body and lightly raised her left hand, forming a sword finger. Instantly, a fierce strand of sword energy shot forth from her fingertip, shattering Liu Qianling's sword light with a roar.
The residual power of the sword finger continued to annihilate Liu Qianling's protective sword aura. With a single finger strike, Liu Qianling crashed into several stone stalagmites, falling into a mess.
"Pfft!"
Liu Qianling coughed up a mouthful of blood. Her sword heart trembled uncontrollably at that moment. She knew she was definitely no match for the master of the Eternal Secret Realm, but she never expected that the opponent wouldn't even bother to draw her sword, defeating her with sword intent condensed from her finger alone.
At this moment, Liu Qianling was uneasy, her sword heart humming and vibrating. Within the fourteenth realm sword dao restrictive domain of the opponent, her physical body and Dao heart felt suppressed. She was powerless to draw her sword again. Or rather, the opponent had already issued a warning; if she dared to draw her sword again, she would surely meet her doom.
On the other hand, Li Ruoxi was slightly better off. After her sword was shattered, her face merely paled slightly. She retreated rapidly with her sword, shouting, "True Master Lingyu, let's combine forces to suppress her!"
Wei Lingyu, having been struck by the sword hilt, couldn't catch his breath for a long time. He gritted his teeth, condensing his vast and profound fist intent, and struck down with a punch, as if unleashing a surging tide.
Even streaks of golden martial artist figures appeared in the sky above. The punch of a thirteenth realm martial artist had already triggered celestial phenomena.
"Good!"
Wei Lingyu's punch gave Li Ruoxi infinite hope. She gritted her teeth and went all out, directly shattering a Natal Object, the jade hair ornament. The fragments of the hair ornament swirled around the sword's edge, causing the entire Void Mountain to tremble. The strike of a fourteenth realm cultivator shattering a Natal Object, how terrifying would it be?
The heavens and earth changed color. A fourteenth realm cultivator self-destructing a Natal Object, and an ultimate thirteenth realm martial artist triggering celestial phenomena!
These two were actually joining forces. To bear the powerful eruption of their combined strength, the entire Void Mountain trembled and spiritual energy continuously overflowed, otherwise, it would have been exploded by these two sages of the Sea of Heavens.
"Hmph!"
The white-clad woman sneered. If she could, she would have loved to kill these two with her sword right now. Unfortunately, the karma was too heavy. If she were to truly slaughter them, the impact on the entire Eternal Secret Realm, and even the entire Upper Realm, would be immense. However, a slight punishment was acceptable.
In the next moment, as the white-clad woman took a step, her long sword was drawn from its sheath. Indeed, it was almost identical in quality to the Dragon Slaying Sword. The moment she swung her sword, the heavens and earth seemed to freeze. The entire Upper Realm instantly became much colder.
Following that, ice-blue orchids bloomed in the air.
"Hiss... hiss..."
In the wind, Wei Lingyu, the thirteenth realm martial artist who had intended to unleash a surging punch, suddenly found himself unable to move. His body and robes were rapidly frozen by frost. In the blink of an eye, he turned into a block of ice suspended in the air.
And in the distance, Li Ruoxi, who had shattered a Natal Object and was about to unleash her strongest sword strike, felt a chill in her heart. A wisp of frost brushed past the front of her eyelashes. In the next moment, Li Ruoxi's eyelashes could no longer tremble. Her long skirt and robes were still fluttering in the wind, but as they fluttered, they began to freeze.
Within a few breaths, Li Ruoxi was also encased in ice in the cold wind, unable to move.
"Do you really think you are so formidable?"
The white-clad woman's gaze was cold as she looked at Li Ruoxi and said with a faint smile, "Fourteenth realm is very powerful? So you can do whatever you want?"
Then, she turned to the thirteenth realm martial artist Wei Lingyu and said, "Ultimate martial artist, with a panoramic view of the mountain peak? Do you really think that with just a pair of fists, you are invincible under heaven, and that without the fifteenth realm, you are supreme?"
"Hiss—"
The frozen Wei Lingyu gritted his teeth, desperately channeling his true qi, trying to break through the opponent's ice and frost rule sword dao restrictive domain. But as the ice in front of his eyes cracked slightly, it was immediately re-frozen. Conversely, Wei Lingyu spat out a mouthful of blood, the crimson streaks spreading along the frost.
At this moment, Wei Lingyu finally confirmed that if the fourteenth realm immortal who possessed the divine throne truly harbored killing intent, he, Li Ruoxi, and Liu Qianling would likely already be three corpses.
"Don't worry, you didn't kill Lin Qing'er, so I won't kill you either."
The white-clad woman slowly lowered the sword in her hand towards the frost-covered ground. With a light 'clang,' the frozen Wei Lingyu and Li Ruoxi both spat out another mouthful of blood, already severely injured by the opponent's sword intent.
Wei Lingyu frowned, his mind in turmoil, filled with lingering fear. In that moment, he had almost fallen back to the Rebirth Realm. Once he fell back to the Rebirth Realm, Wei Lingyu would immediately run out of oil and light due to the exhaustion of his lifespan.
Li Ruoxi also looked horrified, inwardly regretting that she shouldn't have challenged the master of the Eternal Secret Realm from the very beginning. She should have done as she said, why did she have to bring trouble upon herself?
...
The white-clad woman turned, raised her hand, and pointed. Instantly, with a 'hiss,' sword energy cut open the rock wall, and a Longevity Lamp fell from the mountain wall. The white-clad woman's fingertip lightly grazed the lamp, and the seal was broken.
Within the lamp's light, Lin Qing'er rolled out, clutching an ancient sword. Her complexion was slightly pale from being sealed in a magical artifact for a long time, but she had finally regained her freedom. She slowly leaned on her sword and stood up, cupping her fists towards the opponent. "Lin Qing'er, thank you, Immortal, for your rescue..."
"No need for politeness."
The white-clad woman smiled with dimples, "Your Xiao Jiu'er is my Xiao Zhao's sister, so it is only natural that I save you. Lin Qing'er, Sword Immortal, you should immediately return to Shenjian Mountain to recuperate. Fengshentai and Tianwaitian need people like you."
"But..."
Lin Qing'er looked down at the mortal realm. Xiao Jiu'er was still sealed in Wutong Mountain.
"Don't worry."
The white-clad woman smiled faintly, "I will be descending to the mortal realm personally soon. Xiao Jiu'er and Xiao Zhao will be fine."
"Alright!"
Lin Qing'er agreed decisively. Her descent to the mortal realm would be more effective than any fourteenth realm cultivator from the Upper Realm. Let alone a Patriarch of the Five Mountains, even ten of them could be cut down with a single sword. Her sword intent was even more potent than Ding Muchan's!
Lin Qing'er glanced at the frozen Li Ruoxi and Wei Lingyu, and Liu Qianling who was huddled at the foot of the mountain, and frowned, "Them?"
"Cannot be killed."
The white-clad woman smiled. "Let them stay here and reflect on their mistakes!"
"Yes!"
Lin Qing'er cupped her fists. "Since that is the case, Lin Qing'er will depart. I will trouble the Immortal with matters in the mortal realm."
"Mm."
As Lin Qing'er transformed into a sword light and headed towards Shenjian Mountain, the white-clad woman also descended along the sky ladder cableway. Her figure quickly merged into a ripple of heavenly dao, and that powerful aura disappeared from the Upper Realm.
...
Furong Prefecture.
Chen Yu led a column of elite cavalry to the outside of the commander's tent, delivering Chen Xi's handwritten letter into the tent. Afterward, he waited outside for a long, long time.
"Sir!"
A Cangnan Iron Cavalryman frowned. "Does this Grand Overseer not even deign to see us? This is too arrogant!"
Chen Yu frowned. "That's enough, don't speak. Wait!"
"Yes!"