The True Strong

Ahead was the flying sword, "Spring."

Behind him, two puppet poison scorpions that had long lain in ambush fired their venomous needles.

At this moment, Murong Mo had yet to realize the gravity of the situation.

He was still shocked by Li Xuanxiao's cultivation.

Qi Refining Stage, Foundation Establishment Realm.

Golden Core Stage, Nascent Soul Realm.

Spirit Transformation Stage, Body Integration Realm.

Tribulation Crossing Stage, Mahayana Stage.

"..."

With spiritual energy reserves above the third level of Qi Refining, one could activate low-grade Spirit Artifacts and talismans.

Above the sixth level, one could ride a sword through the air.

The Foundation Establishment Realm was divided into the early, middle, late, and great completion stages.

After Foundation Establishment, a cultivator's lifespan could reach two to three hundred years.

Their appearance would still age, but pills could preserve it.

Their body would be remade, they could absorb spiritual energy and abstain from food, no longer needing to eat.

They would develop Spiritual Sense and a sea of consciousness, allowing them to inspect their surroundings and control objects with Spiritual Sense.

They could already use mid-grade Magic Artifacts and talismans, as well as high-grade Magic Artifacts and talismans with low spiritual energy requirements.

It could be said that Foundation Establishment and Qi Refining were worlds apart.

If ordinary martial artists could still kill Qi Refining cultivators under certain circumstances,

then before a Foundation Establishment cultivator, they had no power to fight back at all.

Yet the aura Murong Mo sensed from his opponent was only slightly weaker than his own.

He was concealing his strength!

That man had to be wearing some treasure that hid his cultivation.

Otherwise, there was no way Murong Mo would not have sensed a thing.

Murong Mo sensed the killing moves coming from both front and back and was just about to activate the treasure in his hand.

Yet the venomous needles behind him had already struck his body first.

So fast! They were actually faster than the flying sword.

Murong Mo tried to activate his True Essence, but his right hand suddenly went limp and dropped.

The venom had sealed the Ye Men, Zhong Zhu, and Yang Chi acupoints in his right arm.

These three acupoints happened to lie along the path of True Essence he used to activate his treasure.

This...

If a person's meridians were compared to river channels, then acupoints were like checkpoints.

They waited for the torrent of True Essence to crash through and activate them. Only once True Essence successfully passed through these acupoints could it activate the corresponding magical power.

But now, the three crucial checkpoint acupoints in Murong Mo's body had been temporarily blocked. The torrent of True Essence could not flow through.

Only then did Murong Mo finally panic.

His opponent had come prepared!?

How could Murong Mo know that Li Xuanxiao had only decided at the last minute to kill him at Mount Wu Wang in the Southern Border after learning that the disciples of Silver Sword Peak had yet to complete their mission quotas?

He had been smugly pleased with himself, believing that he was the hunter.

Little did he know that the true hunter had already begun watching him more than half a year ago, when Murong Mo and Su Wan's relationship fell apart and he glared toward Silver Sword Peak.

From that moment on, Li Xuanxiao had been guarding against him.

Over the course of more than half a year, through all sorts of methods,

Li Xuanxiao had learned everything, even what flavors Murong Mo liked to eat and what color undergarments he wore when going out.

Not to mention the Magic Artifacts he commonly used.

According to Li Xuanxiao's calculations, there was a seventy percent chance that Murong Mo would habitually use that silver-ring treasure.

At the same time, it was also the best magic artifact for dealing with flying swords and defending himself.

That added another twenty percent probability.

And after Li Xuanxiao modified the Scorpion Puppet's venomous needles, he traded power and toxicity for speed.

They could only briefly numb the Ye Men, Zhong Zhu, and Yang Chi acupoints.

But those three acupoints were precisely the key to activating a treasure.

Murong Mo's greatest mistake was his arrogance and contempt.

After attacking the first time, he had not immediately recalled his flying sword.

The second time, when facing Li Xuanxiao's attack, Li Xuanxiao no longer concealed his aura.

Murong Mo froze for a moment, missing his chance to dodge as he confidently used his treasure.

Then, he had no more chances.

He was facing an opponent who had prepared for a full half year and knew everything about him.

Spring, Spring Thunder.

Renowned for speed.

The flying sword pierced through Murong Mo's brainstem.

The light in Murong Mo's eyes went blank for a moment, then swiftly faded away.

The entire battle between them, setting aside Murong Mo's initial nonsense, had in truth lasted only an instant.

Murong Mo fell backward onto the ground with a dull thud.

The fallen leaves on the ground were jolted into the air.

Murong Mo probably did not understand even in death how he had died like this.

He was still trapped in that instant when his opponent suddenly stopped concealing his strength.

After ending the battle, Li Xuanxiao swiftly reined in his aura.

The sect leader who had already died once taught him a secret to defeating powerful enemies.

It was very simple: appear ordinary, make the enemy look down on you, make everyone believe you were just some insignificant lackey.

This world never lacked powerful cultivators, yet many lost their lives over a moment of carelessness.

Make the other side misjudge your strength, use the gap in their understanding to deceive and kill them.

That was the simplest method...

"Phew~"

Li Xuanxiao gently exhaled.

He returned the Spring Sword to the Sword Box. With two soft pops, the two poison scorpion puppets turned into wisps of green smoke.

As for Murong Mo's corpse, it certainly could not simply be left here. If someone discovered that his wounds had been inflicted by Li Xuanxiao's sword,

then there would be no explaining it clearly.

Even if he could explain it, Murong Mo's Lineage and the senior brothers and junior brothers close to him would all be threats.

By then, Li Xuanxiao would be in danger.

Li Xuanxiao scattered powder over the man's body to attract ferocious beasts and venomous insects, then hid himself.

Before long, a Black Panther appeared.

Li Xuanxiao concealed his aura and watched as the Black Panther devoured Murong Mo's corpse, leaving nothing behind.

To these ferocious beasts, a cultivator's body was undoubtedly the greatest tonic.

After seeing this, Li Xuanxiao followed the Black Panther for two full days before finally killing it.

In this era, where people could turn dark at the slightest disagreement over love, slaughter the whole world, and bury countless commoners alongside them, surviving while cultivating truly required caution upon caution.

"..."

Li Xuanxiao headed in the opposite direction. The most important purpose of this journey was still to find the crucial materials needed to make puppets.

Another two days passed.

Li Xuanxiao had gathered most of the materials he sought by following the clues.

That day, Li Xuanxiao stood within a mountain valley.

Out of habit, he cast a hexagram with three copper coins.

One throw produced one line; six throws formed a hexagram.

This time, when he had only reached the fifth throw,

a tremendously powerful energy fluctuation suddenly swept over him like surging, raging waves, as though that force would tear the entire world apart.

At the same time, an earthshaking boom came from far away, deafening as thunder exploding on level ground and making one's heart tremble with fear.

Looking into the distance, he could see that the energy's radiance nearly filled half the sky, so dazzling it was impossible to look at directly.

It was like a cloud of burning fire, spreading with an unstoppable force.

Could such a shocking eruption of energy and tremendous roar mean that powerful experts were engaged in a life-and-death battle that shook heaven and earth!?

The true strong.