The Immortal Sword Was Electrified-It Was Only Reasonable for Enemies to Be Struck Dead by Lightning

Beside the dueling grounds, the crowd muttered furious curses under their breath, stealing glances at An Zhisu as they did.

Seeing that her face was unusually free of smiles and instead bore a faint trace of worry, they couldn't help feeling uneasy.

The Grass Cutting Sword Immortal was always smiling. And whenever she smiled, someone was about to get cut down.

Now she wasn't smiling at all. There was even a hint of gloom on her face. Could she be planning to slaughter all of Shu Mountain after the duel?

That anxious mood spread invisibly through the spectators, soon drowning out the curses.

The elder overseeing the duel had actually arrived some time ago. He floated high in the air on his sword, looking completely at ease.

He also had a personal grudge against Su Jian. Now, hearing the people below hurl every kind of filthy insult and vicious curse at Su Jian and his disciples, he deliberately held off starting the duel, eyes closed as he listened with delight.

Imagining how livid Su Jian would look if he heard all that slander made the elder feel even more satisfied.

Suddenly, the curses died down. Somewhat displeased, he opened his eyes and saw everyone carefully watching An Zhisu's expression. He couldn't help sighing, thinking that Shu Mountain was truly in decline: both the older and younger generations were being held down by Green Snail Peak.

At the same time, he secretly decided that during this duel, he would deliberately refrain from calling a stop, so that the disciple surnamed Ling would be beaten half to death. That would keep Shu Mountain from gaining another killer in the future.

Of course, it would be even better if Lou Zhizheng of Purple Cloud Peak slipped up and killed Ling Yunpo outright.

Thinking this, he raised a hand and sent out a sharp whistle, announcing the start of the duel.

The whistle rang out.

Lou Zhizheng immediately raised his hand, and several streaks of light shot from his fingertips.

Ling Yunpo's gaze sharpened as he instantly recognized the technique.

Talisman Bombardment!

Lou Zhizheng's opening move was actually the Talisman Bombardment commonly used by Yuqing Temple cultivators!

The first streak of purple light rushed straight at him. A Lightning Talisman!

He thrust forward with his right hand in a sword gesture, and Qingping Sword cleaved through the low-hanging thunder. At once, another streak of red light flashed into view.

Flame Charge Talisman!

Ling Yunpo's thoughts raced. Qingping Sword slashed toward the red light again as he calmly stepped backward, just avoiding the blast radius of the exploding flames.

The third Ice Rain Talisman burst above his head, transforming into countless icicles that plunged down.

Ling Yunpo swept out his sleeve, summoning Thunderstrike Sword. Its brilliant swordlight whirled sharply overhead, blocking and shattering every icicle.

So this was how he used Talisman Bombardment? Ling Yunpo sneered inwardly.

The whole point of Talisman Bombardment was to take advantage of talismans' speed, unlimited uses, and lack of True Qi consumption, unleashing countless talismans all at once so the opponent had nowhere to dodge!

Firing them one by one, as Lou Zhizheng was doing—as if he were trying to save money—was a complete waste of the technique's power!

He imagined Luo Yan mocking his opponent, then returned to Ling Yunpo, who once again floated backward. As he cut through the red light with his sword, he evaded the Flame Charge Talisman's fiery blast.

"If this is the extent of your ability, stop making futile attempts," Ling Yunpo said coldly. "Your attacks are full of openings. You're wasting my time."

"Of course that's not all I've got." Lou Zhizheng gave a leering laugh.

Ling Yunpo suddenly sensed something was wrong and tried to react. His body sank at once—the stone ground beneath his feet had turned to quicksand, and he was sinking deeper by the moment!

Seeing him struggle in vain, sinking deeper and deeper, Lou Zhizheng burst into an arrogant laugh.

"I deliberately fired the Ice Rain Talisman into the air earlier to draw your attention. That gave me the chance to set a Quicksand Net behind you."

"Junior Brother Ling, how do you like the taste of this trap?"

Ling Yunpo ignored him and let his body sink, rapidly searching for a solution.

Other cultivators might have had no choice but to concede.

But Luo Yan had attended so many lectures at the Heavenly Crafts Workshop that he knew the Quicksand Net, a small-scale formation, wasn't impossible to counter.

With their cultivation levels roughly equal, a large amount of Water-element True Essence could disrupt the formation's operation!

On the Shu Mountain dueling grounds, Lou Zhizheng watched Ling Yunpo sink into the quicksand with mocking pity.

The spectators around the arena wore all sorts of expressions. Some were amazed that Lou Zhizheng had spent so lavishly; others lamented that Ling Yunpo was so weak he'd been taken out without even making the other man draw his sword.

An Zhisu stood calmly at the edge of the arena, her expression still unruffled.

But no one saw the hands hidden in her sleeves, fingers clasped tightly together until her knuckles had gone white.

"Clouds drift and mist wafts; smoke floats above the mirage." In full view of the crowd outside the arena, Ling Yunpo's lips moved as he silently recited the incantation.

The first restriction on Qingping Sword, Green Mist Shrouding the Blue Peaks, activated. In an instant, boundless fog surged out of nowhere, blanketing the entire dueling ground.

Everyone was swallowed by the thick fog, unable to see their own hands in front of them. They could only shout aloud.

High above, the overseeing elder gazed down thoughtfully.

"A Water-element restriction? That boy's immortal sword has some history..."

Inside the arena, Lou Zhizheng's grin vanished. He gaped in shock.

This vast sea of fog must have been created by Ling Yunpo. Now he couldn't see beyond a few steps, and he had no idea what was happening to the other man...

No! Could Ling Yunpo have another trick up his sleeve?

At the thought, Lou Zhizheng immediately raised his hand again and sent out his remaining three Flame Charge Talismans, aiming at the center of the quicksand as he remembered it.

Waves of flame erupted, only to vanish with a whoosh, like a blazing fire doused with cold water.

It turned out that in this fog, all non-Water-element spells were weakened by the restriction, their power cut in half.

His other senses were also suppressed. His vision, hearing, and divine sense were all severely limited.

Lou Zhizheng had no idea what was happening. He only noticed that he couldn't hear the explosions and was badly shaken. Had he bought defective talismans?

Realizing the talismans had failed, he hurriedly slapped the flying sword beside him and activated its derived Daoist Magic, Golden Light Shield.

Golden Light Shield was a purely defensive spell, perfectly suited to his cowardly nature.

With this Daoist Magic protecting him, and his opponent being merely at the Qi Refining Stage, there was no way Ling Yunpo could break through his defenses.

Crouched inside the Golden Light Shield, he was already planning his next move.

Once the opponent's attacks failed to break through and the fog naturally dispersed, he would emerge from his shell and repay every bit of the resentment he'd been nursing.

But Ling Yunpo had already used the fog for cover to quietly circle behind him. He faced the Golden Light Shield with his palm and silently recited another incantation:

"Thunderlight and fire script, Jade Pivot Divine Thunder—break!"

Lightning surged from his palm, its light blue-green, its color scarlet. It made no sound, and in a flash had struck the Golden Light Shield.

Even in the fog, with all non-Water-element Daoist Magic weakened by half, it still pierced clean through the shield—and Lou Zhizheng inside it.

The fog gradually dispersed. Lou Zhizheng's body had collapsed face-down on the ground, a gaping hole in his back.

Thunderstrike Sword was planted in the pool of blood beside him, electric serpents dancing along its length, vicious and savage.

"It... it was..." Lou Zhizheng's lips parted.

Before he could say the words "Lightning Magic," the dizziness of blood loss swept over him. His body suddenly convulsed and spasmed several times, then quickly went still.

Ling Yunpo stood silently, putting on a show as he gave a light wave of his hand. Thunderstrike Sword flew from beside Lou Zhizheng's corpse and returned to his side.

The blade remained immaculate, without a trace of blood.