News of Li Qiye challenging Du Yuanguang, deliberately spread by those around Du Yuanguang, swiftly reached the ears of many disciples of the Nine Sacred Demon Gate.
"Challenging Du Yuanguang?" Du Yuanguang had already gained a modest reputation within the Nine Sacred Demon Gate. After joining for five years, he had reached the Palace Opening Realm and could indeed be called a minor genius. With such talent, he would have been a true genius disciple in the Washing Yan Ancient Sect!
Even senior brothers and sisters who had entered the sect before him were startled upon hearing the news. "Du Yuanguang is a disciple favored by Protector Xu. Though his Golden Wolf Physique is an acquired constitution, it is an exceedingly fierce one. What realm has this Chief Disciple of the Washing Yan Ancient Sect reached?"
Some senior brothers and sisters who had only recently emerged from seclusion had not yet heard of Li Qiye, so they could not help asking curiously.
"Ha, Senior Brother Sheng, you worry too much. Not to mention that a third-rate sect like the Washing Yan Ancient Sect cannot produce any masters. You may not know this, but the Washing Yan Ancient Sect's Chief Disciple is a good-for-nothing. Mortal Physique, Mortal Meridians, Mortal Fate—he has been in the Washing Yan Ancient Sect for less than two days. I heard he has only practiced martial skills and has not even cultivated the most basic dao arts." A disciple laughed.
Upon hearing this, the senior brothers and sisters who knew nothing of Li Qiye found it unbelievable. A martial artist challenging a cultivator? Was he tired of living?
"The ignorant fear nothing. How pitiful." A senior brother shook his head upon hearing this, with no interest in watching at all. The outcome was beyond doubt. Du Yuanguang could kill a martial artist with a single sword strike!
As for the Nine Sacred Demon Gate disciples around Du Yuanguang's age, they were thrilled by the prospect. One disciple laughed loudly. "Come on, let's watch Senior Brother Du butcher a chick! Those Washing Yan Ancient Sect people do not know whether they are alive or dead. A bunch of third-rate country bumpkins who do not know the height of heaven or the depth of earth actually dare provoke our Nine Sacred Demon Gate. They are tired of living!"
This news also quickly reached the ears of some hall masters and Protectors within the Nine Sacred Demon Gate. Some hall masters and Protectors merely shook their heads. "This is nonsense!"
Other Protectors harbored ulterior motives and said coolly, "Perhaps this is a good thing. Killing a good-for-nothing means little, but an ignorant junior from the Washing Yan Ancient Sect provoking our Nine Sacred Demon Gate disgraces us. If this is blown up, they will have to ransom him and offer compensation!"
These words caused the eyes of several hall masters and Protectors to shift. The Washing Yan Ancient Sect had declined, but it was still an immortal sect with an imperial lineage. Legend said that the Washing Yan Ancient Sect still possessed immortal arts and imperial merit laws. Countless people drooled with envy over Immortal Emperor Mingren's legacy; many had long been eyeing it like tigers watching their prey!
For today's Nine Sacred Demon Gate, even a Protector acting personally might be able to seize Imperial Techniques from the Washing Yan Ancient Sect. However, the Demon Emperor of the Nine Sacred Demon Gate had never made his stance clear on the Washing Yan Ancient Sect, and the Elders of the sect had also remained silent. Otherwise, with one command from the Demon Emperor, someone might have long since moved to seize the Washing Yan Ancient Sect's Imperial Techniques, never mind a marriage alliance!
While the middle and upper ranks of the Nine Sacred Demon Gate each entertained their own thoughts, Li Qiye was already standing in the dueling arena. Quite a few young disciples of the Nine Sacred Demon Gate rushed over to join the excitement.
To the younger generation of Nine Sacred Demon Gate disciples, slaughtering trash like Li Qiye was a matter without the slightest suspense. Many merely wanted to see how Du Yuanguang would torture and kill such a good-for-nothing.
When Du Yuanguang stepped into the dueling arena, a Nine Sacred Demon Gate disciple shouted, "Senior Brother Du, cut off his head with one sword strike!"
Another disciple shouted, "Cutting him down with one sword strike would be letting him off too easily. He insulted Senior Sister Li and humiliated our Nine Sacred Demon Gate. You should carve his flesh away, slice by slice, first!"
Especially the admirers of Li Yanshuang, the Nine Sacred Demon Gate's successor—upon hearing that Li Qiye had insulted her, they were so furious they wished they could hack him into a thousand pieces!
"Those who offend our Nine Sacred Demon Gate must be executed! Junior Brother Du, do not kill him too quickly. Cut off his hands and feet first, then make the Washing Yan Ancient Sect ransom him! Let everyone in the Central Grand Domain, even throughout the entire Imperial Border, know that making enemies of our Nine Sacred Demon Gate leads to no good end!" Another senior brother spoke up.
For a time, the Nine Sacred Demon Gate disciples clamored. In their eyes, Li Qiye was nothing more than meat on the chopping block, at Du Yuanguang's mercy to slaughter.
In the dueling arena, Li Qiye glanced sideways at Du Yuanguang and said, "Are all you Nine Sacred Demon Gate disciples silver-tipped wax spears? All bark and no bite?"
"You ignorant little beast, my first sword strike will nail you to the ground!" Du Yuanguang's expression turned cold as he said grimly.
Li Qiye did not take him seriously at all. He said leisurely, "If you are going to make a move, hurry up. Do not waste my time." As he spoke, he had already gripped the short blade in reverse with his left hand, pointing it straight at Du Yuanguang. "Make your move."
"Die!" Li Qiye's utter contempt made Du Yuanguang tremble with rage. He was a minor genius, yet today a mere martial artist looked down on him? In his fury, he thrust his sword through the air. The blade rushed like thunder, fierce and domineering, stabbing straight for Li Qiye's heart. This strike was filled with Du Yuanguang's wrath!
Rather than retreat, Li Qiye advanced. Taking one step forward, his left-hand blade twisted like a nimble serpent and instantly diverted Du Yuanguang's longsword by a fraction.
"Pfft!" In the flash of flint and sparks, though the sword missed Li Qiye's heart, it instantly pierced through his left shoulder.
"Ant—" Du Yuanguang sneered, but his voice abruptly stopped. At the instant his sword entered Li Qiye's left shoulder, Li Qiye's right wrist moved. Soundlessly, in that flash of flint and sparks, even Du Yuanguang failed to see that Li Qiye's right-hand blade had already struck!
"Good—" That strike was too fast, too profound; its trajectory could not be seen at all! Seeing Du Yuanguang's sword pierce through Li Qiye's left shoulder, the Nine Sacred Demon Gate disciples could not help cheering.
Yet at that moment, a thread of blood had already seeped from Du Yuanguang's throat, and his body fell backward. Li Qiye, however, was incomparably ruthless. In an instant, both Mystic Gate Sabers left his hands.
"Spare him under the sword—" When Du Yuanguang's sword pierced Li Qiye's left shoulder, Nan Huairen had finally dragged Protector Mo over. From afar, Protector Mo saw Li Qiye's shoulder pierced through and cried out!
"Pfft—pfft—" Yet in the instant Du Yuanguang's body fell, the two short blades crossed past each other with incomparably mysterious transformations, instantly cutting through his body. By the time Du Yuanguang hit the ground, his body had already been cut into five pieces, blood flooding the ground.
"Show mercy—" Protector Mo had rushed over intending to save him, but the moment he reached the dueling arena, his words came to an abrupt stop.
Du Yuanguang's eyes were wide open. Until his death, he did not know how he had died. How could he know that Li Qiye's Mystic Gate Saber had been tempered by Immortal Emperor Mingren? Even a casual tempering by an Immortal Emperor was terrifying beyond compare. How fearsome was a martial skill polished by an Immortal Emperor? Though it could not compare to Imperial Techniques, it was still not something ordinary dao arts could rival!
More terrifying still, Li Qiye had comprehended the saber technique's ultimate profundity. Since time immemorial, apart from Immortal Emperor Mingren, Li Qiye alone knew its final secret! One had to know that when this saber technique was cultivated to the point of consummate perfection, it could slay kings and marquises!
Du Yuanguang, who had looked down on Li Qiye, was utterly unable to evade this unparalleledly profound saber technique in his carelessness! One saber strike, one fatal blow—Li Qiye had traded a sword through his shoulder for it.
For a time, the entire dueling arena fell deathly silent. Every mocking laugh stopped abruptly, and everyone stared at the scene in utter disbelief!
Nan Huairen's mouth hung wide open. He had brought reinforcements to save Li Qiye's life, but never had he expected Li Qiye to dismember Du Yuanguang with one saber strike. A martial skill killing a cultivator—this was absolutely impossible, unless Li Qiye was a master. Yet Li Qiye clearly was not a master! This was simply impossible.
At this moment, Li Qiye slowly pulled the divine sword from his pierced shoulder inch by inch. The sound of the blade grinding against bone was unbearably harsh, but Li Qiye did not even furrow his brow. He had endured pain far more terrifying than this. What did this little pain amount to?
Once he pulled out the divine sword, blood spurted forth. Li Qiye casually tossed it aside, glanced at everyone, and said regretfully, "It seems my saber technique is still lacking a little heat. I traded one sword strike for a lesson!"
Nan Huairen's mouth was wide enough to fit a goose egg, and it remained open for a long while. He had dismembered Du Yuanguang with one saber strike and was still dissatisfied? This was simply impossible! This had gone beyond everything Nan Huairen knew.
As for the Nine Sacred Demon Gate disciples present, their minds had gone blank. They could not recover for a long while. Du Yuanguang was a minor genius among the outer disciples of their Nine Sacred Demon Gate, an expert of the Palace Opening Realm, yet he had been dismembered with one saber strike. The visual impact left them unable to come back to their senses.
Protector Mo was the first to recover. He acted instantly, immediately stopping Li Qiye's bleeding, then said in a deep voice, "We are leaving!" With that, he grabbed Li Qiye and turned to leave.
Nan Huairen came back to himself and did not dare linger. He immediately followed his master away.
The moment Protector Mo brought Li Qiye back to the small courtyard, he said nothing. He sat in a chair, staring blankly for a long time. At this moment, he had no mind to consider how Li Qiye had killed Du Yuanguang. Killing a disciple of the Nine Sacred Demon Gate had already brought about a great calamity!
Once Nan Huairen recovered, he immediately applied golden wound medicine to Li Qiye and bandaged his injury.
"This, this, this is impossible. The Mystic Gate Saber is only an ordinary martial skill. How could it possibly kill an expert of the Palace Opening Realm?" Even after bandaging Li Qiye's wound, Nan Huairen remained tangled up over what had just happened.
In truth, Nan Huairen had seen the Mystic Gate Saber before. It was merely a martial skill, and he had never even bothered to practice it.
"That is only because you have not comprehended it fully." Li Qiye reclined in a grandmaster's chair, at ease and unhurried. Of course, the Mystic Gate Saber manual of the Washing Yan Ancient Sect was now incomplete, while the complete saber technique and all its profundities had surfaced in his mind.
Had Li Qiye said such words before this, Nan Huairen would certainly have thought him mad and recklessly spouting nonsense.
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