"Hahaha, Mountain Lord Li, of course I welcome your grand arrival. How could I possibly blame you, Mountain Lord Li?"
Liǔ Yán said with a hearty laugh.
But inwardly, he was already cursing up a storm. Damn it, your strength is higher than mine, so you're the boss. I know when to bend and when to stretch!
You can't exactly hit someone who's smiling at you, can you?
"Hahaha, Mountain Lord Liǔ, the way you put it makes us sound like we have a wonderful relationship." Li Zhōujūn chuckled.
This Liǔ Yán really couldn't tell, huh? He's actually the type to bully the weak and fear the strong.
Back when Li Zhōujūn couldn't cultivate, almost every time Dao Heaven Sect recruited disciples and he went to the Ascension Platform just to go through the motions, this fellow would inevitably sneer at him a few times. Li Zhōujūn still remembered the even harsher things he had said.
It seemed to have been during the disciple recruitment more than a decade ago.
At the Ascension Platform, among the seats occupied by the various mountain lords, Liǔ Yán had brazenly smiled at Li Zhōujūn beside him and said, "Mountain Lord Li, we sit so close every time, so we can be considered fairly familiar. In a few decades, when you're gone, why not entrust Yunju Mountain to me and let me look after your branch?"
At the time, Li Zhōujūn had been furious but dared not speak out, and could only laugh it off.
But now things were different. Liǔ Yán thought Li Zhōujūn was at the Integration Stage and had immediately admitted defeat.
Yet for the sake of the system's mission, how could Li Zhōujūn let this fellow off so easily?
At the same time, when Liǔ Yán heard Li Zhōujūn's words, his expression changed. He turned to Yè Yǔ and said, "Yè Yǔ, go cultivate at your own residence."
"Yes, Master." Yè Yǔ obeyed.
He was also feeling terribly uneasy. Fortunately, although he had looked down on the Cloud Dwelling Mountain Lord back then, he had not offended him.
When he heard Liǔ Yán tell him to leave, Yè Yǔ breathed a sigh of relief and hurriedly took his leave.
Seeing Yè Yǔ depart, Li Zhōujūn did not stop him.
After Yè Yǔ's figure vanished, Liǔ Yán looked at Li Zhōujūn with a grave expression. "Mountain Lord Li, what exactly do you want? I admit that I looked down on you before and often mocked you, but if you get to the bottom of it, the problem was with you. If you hadn't concealed your cultivation, why would I have mocked you for being merely a mortal?
"Besides, in this world, the strong are king, while the weak can only submit and let things happen. Back then, I thought I was stronger than you. Was there really anything wrong with taunting and mocking you a few times?
"Now that you're stronger than me, if you want to do something to me, then go ahead. I'll take it."
"Heh, I'm not the kind of person you are, Liǔ Yán. A true powerhouse is willing to treat the boundaries of the weak as the limits of his freedom. No powerhouse has ever grown strong by trampling the weak. Only by defeating those who stand as their equals, or even those stronger than them, can one be considered truly powerful." Li Zhōujūn smiled.
Liǔ Yán's brows knitted tightly. "According to what you just said, Mountain Lord Li, you didn't come here today to settle accounts with me? After all, I'm weaker than you."
"One matter has nothing to do with the other. I did come here today to settle accounts with you. Let's have a bout." Li Zhōujūn smiled.
Liǔ Yán: "..."
You really did come to settle accounts with me. Were you just spouting nonsense before?
"But don't worry. This mountain lord will suppress his cultivation to your level." Li Zhōujūn added this at that moment.
"You're sure?" When Liǔ Yán heard Li Zhōujūn's words, he froze, then sneered inwardly.
From the day he had entered the path of cultivation until now, Liǔ Yán had never once lost to someone in the same realm.
He had not expected Li Zhōujūn to be so arrogant. He could have used his superior realm to crush him, yet he actually intended to suppress his cultivation and fight on equal terms. What utter overconfidence!
"Of course." Li Zhōujūn smiled.
"Good!" Liǔ Yán readily agreed.
Then the two of them transformed into two streaks of light, one ahead of the other, and shot straight toward the sky above Fire Maple Mountain.
At the same time, the Spiritual Senses of Dao Heaven Sect's various powerhouses began speaking across the distance with schadenfreude.
"The Cloud Dwelling Mountain Lord went looking for Liǔ Yán."
"Yeah. Looks like Liǔ Yán is in for a miserable day. After all, even Murong Xue lost to Li Zhōujūn."
"Time to watch the show. I just love seeing Liǔ Yán get humiliated. Who told that fellow to always look down on everyone?"
The scene shifted.
Li Zhōujūn and Liǔ Yán were already facing each other high in the sky, tens of thousands of zhang above the ground.
"Mountain Lord Li, please." Looking at Li Zhōujūn before him, Liǔ Yán unleashed the True Sun Dharma Body he had cultivated.
At that moment, Liǔ Yán's eyes transformed into two blazing suns. Behind him stood a towering phantom formed from ten-thousand-zhang flames, with another sun floating behind the phantom's head. It appeared incomparably majestic.
Not only that, but with the appearance of Liǔ Yán's True Sun Dharma Body, it was as if a second sun had risen between heaven and earth. The temperature within a radius of ten thousand li soared instantly!
"Then I won't hold back."
At the same time, beneath Liǔ Yán's ten-thousand-zhang Dharma Body, Li Zhōujūn looked as tiny as a speck of dust. He spoke with a hearty laugh.
As his voice fell, Li Zhōujūn's mind stirred, and the Seventh-grade Natal Flying Sword, Ao Xue, flew out from within his body.
The moment Liǔ Yán saw this, his eyes widened. His voice rang out like rolling thunder. "Mountain Lord Li, what do you mean by this? Didn't you say you would suppress your cultivation to the same realm as mine? Why are you using a Seventh-grade Flying Sword as well?!"
A Seventh-grade Natal Flying Sword wielded by an Integration Stage cultivator was not something a Void Immortal could withstand.
It was like an ordinary person facing a Gatling gun that could fire automatically. How the hell were they supposed to fight that? With their lives?
The so-called Void Immortal was merely another title for a Void Return Stage cultivator. They were not true immortals.
"That's right, I did say I would suppress my own cultivation to your level, but I never said I couldn't use a magical treasure. If you're dissatisfied, you can use one too." Li Zhōujūn smiled.
Liǔ Yán's face instantly turned as black as the bottom of a pot. Gritting his teeth, he said, "You shameless old six, you have no martial virtue! Someone like you still dares to talk about the strong treating the weak's boundaries as their freedom? Aren't you ashamed to say such things?"
Li Zhōujūn froze. "When did I ever admit that I was a powerhouse?"
Liǔ Yán: "..."
"Enough nonsense. Take my sword!" Li Zhōujūn grinned and directly controlled the Ao Xue Flying Sword from across the air, sending it cleaving toward Liǔ Yán's enormous Dharma Body.
Seeing this, Liǔ Yán was horrified. He hurriedly raised the Dharma Body's two massive arms, trying to block the Ao Xue Flying Sword.
A thunderous boom rang out.
Under Li Zhōujūn's single sword strike, Liǔ Yán's Dharma Body shattered inch by inch, transforming into a sky full of spiritual light that scattered away.
"One sword falls, and the Dharma Body shatters!"
"Mountain Lord Li's sword is terrifying!"
"That's right. Even a legendary sword immortal would be no more than this, would they?"
At the same time, the various mountain lords looked at Li Zhōujūn, who had split apart Liǔ Yán's True Sun Dharma Body with one sword, and sighed in admiration.
"This sword is your lesson."
In the air, Li Zhōujūn looked calmly at Liǔ Yán, who was left in a sorry state after his Dharma Body shattered.
"Cough, cough..." Liǔ Yán covered his chest and said with an unpleasant expression, "My skill is inferior. I concede."
Though he said that, Liǔ Yán was cursing furiously inside.
You damned Li Zhōujūn, your words are as worthless as farts. If I ever believe you again, I'm a dog!
With Liǔ Yán's admission of defeat, the system also began distributing the reward.
[ Ding! Congratulations, host, on completing the mission! ] [ Ding! The system is issuing the reward, "Nine Dragon Chariot"! ] [ Nine Dragon Chariot ]: A chariot pulled by nine Void Immortal Stage Flood Dragons. They will obey the host completely.
Before you continue