This sword strike came straight down at Ye Xiwen's arm, its sword radiance carrying heaven-shaking ripples and vast mana fluctuations that could still be felt even from a great distance.
"Rumble!"
As the sword fell, the earth shattered and collapsed in every direction. Only the valley, protected by its formation, remained unharmed; everything else broke apart.
The massive hand of spiritual energy Ye Xiwen had formed was cleaved apart. This sword was simply fast beyond measure.
"What powerful Sword Qi!" Ye Xiwen said coldly. Yet his gaze was utterly indifferent. Looking up, he saw a figure flying toward him from afar.
It was a middle-aged swordsman in ragged clothes, looking utterly bedraggled. Sword intent nearly burst from his body, and the force capable of pulverizing the heavens was nothing more than this.
The man's features were exceptionally handsome, but his eyes had completely lost their luster, without the slightest gleam of light.
"Kill, kill, kill!"
The middle-aged swordsman only kept muttering the word "kill," as though he had gone completely mad.
Ye Xiwen saw at once that this swordsman had likely been possessed by inner demons and had gone thoroughly insane. Yet his cultivation was terrifyingly formidable. An ordinary person in such a state would likely have long since suffered deviation and died.
The fact that he could still remain alive was itself enough to prove how frightening his cultivation was.
Ye Xiwen did not know where this man had come from, but he was most likely here for the Ghost Essence Tree as well. After going mad, he had not left but had instead guarded this place all along. It was likely because, before losing his mind, some boundless obsession had compelled him to remain here to the death.
"Whoosh!"
After missing with his first strike, the middle-aged swordsman