Ahead, a middle-aged man dressed in pristine Daoist robes stood suspended in midair. He was handsome and imposing, with the bearing of a banished immortal.
He Shutong narrowed his cold eyes.
"Xun Ling?"
The man named Xun Ling smiled brightly. "I never expected that, after thirty years, Lotus Sword Venerable would still remember this little Daoist's name. Truly, you honor me."
"For someone as disgusting as you, forgetting you is difficult." He Shutong's tone was cold and dangerous, like the soft ring of an icy sword.
Xun Ling did not get angry and continued to maintain his breezy, tranquil air.
Little did he know that, in He Shutong's eyes, Xun Ling looked entirely different. A crimson-red thin serpent coiled around his white robes. Its scales were densely packed, and the patterns on them resembled one peeled eyeball after another. Combined with Xun Ling's true face, which drooped like rotting flesh, the sight was grotesque in the extreme.
"An immortal maiden as beautiful as Lotus Sword Venerable would not be easy to forget either."
The moment he finished speaking, a towering Sword Qi swept over, blasting away most of the mountainside behind him and exposing the bare rock. He Shutong stood silently with his sword in hand. The spot where Xun Ling had been was now empty, with only half of his severed white robe fluttering in the air.
"Lotus Sword Venerable's temper is still as fierce as ever." Xun Ling stood in midair, his heart still pounding with fear.
He Shutong said nothing. He simply tapped the ground with both feet and flew upward, sending another sword strike after him in rapid succession.
Xun Ling did not entangle himself with him, only dodging again and again. Several times, he nearly failed to evade the sword's might, and shock filled his