A Friendly Match

This Zhi Jingzi is somewhat abnormal.

Okay, that's obvious. Normally, seeing a nuclear explosion like that, you'd run as far away as possible, but instead, you'd charge into the mushroom cloud, practically begging to come over and say, "I want to learn a few moves from you." You must be some serious, ruthless people, right?

Of course, it's also possible that all sword immortals are these kinds of reckless young men who will do anything to avoid certain death...

Although Li Fan didn't think any move could pose a threat to the Tai Sha Star Core, he also didn't think he could pose any threat to a master who had attained enlightenment before regaining his body.

After all, he's flying in this ethereal light, while others can leisurely walk and catch up. Sticking to him like a leech is really annoying.

Li Fan is still unable to communicate with the system to see if Kun has escaped safely, or whether Lu Ya and Lu Hansheng are dead or alive. He also needs to figure out how many points he gained from this ordeal...

However, flying side by side like this was a bit awkward, so Li Fan casually asked,

"... Has Daoist Zhijing ever heard of the Nangong Seven Thieves?"

Zhi Jingzi nodded, "I am one of them."

Good grief, you should have kept it a secret a little longer!!

Zhi Jingzi, however, spoke frankly and openly.

"Back then, I was unruly and fond of sword fighting, and I repeatedly violated the rules of the sect. In one instance, I accidentally killed a fellow disciple. But my master, pitying my talent, couldn't bear to expel me from the sect, so he sent me to the South Border to fight demons, so that I wouldn't spend my days fighting cocks and chasing dogs at the mountain gate and causing trouble. It was then that I met General Nangong."

At the time, the general's skills were mediocre; he could only last three moves against me. However, his temperament suited me well, and he possessed the ambition and magnanimity to conquer the world. Working under him was free from the constraints of rules and regulations; I could kill at will, living a life of unparalleled freedom. What's more, he treated me as a friend, so I devoted myself wholeheartedly to serving him.

Later, after witnessing the true appearance of the Thousand-Faced Immortal, I gained some understanding and returned to Mount Heng to cultivate in seclusion. Only recently, due to a change in the weather, did I finally attain enlightenment and emerge from the mountain. I did not participate in the Nangong's rebellion.

"Thanks to the pacification efforts of my master and fellow disciples, and the gracious favor shown to my Shangqing Palace by the Immortal Palace, I dare not hold my temporary allegiance to the thieves against you. However, since you have come to ask me in person, I will naturally not deny it."

Li Fan turned to look at him.

"Then Daoist Zhijing must also know Lu Ya and Lu Hansheng, right? You want to learn a few moves from me, is it to avenge them?"

Zhi Jingzi laughed heartily.

"What is Lu Ya anyway? He only knows some underhanded tricks and treacherous methods. Killing him would be as easy as lifting a finger for me. I'm only letting him live a miserable life because I'm giving the general face."

As for Fellow Daoist Lu, we do have some acquaintance, but this time he entered the calamity on behalf of Hengshan, and everyone agreed to it. A win is a win, and a loss is a loss. Hengshan, as the dignified leader of the Xuanmen sect, is not so bad as to renege on its debt after a loss.

Young friend Li, there's no need to worry. I'm not killing you; I simply want to have a friendly spar to prove my skills. Please."

Before they knew it, they had arrived at Shatang Village. Zhi Jingzi stopped outside the Shatang trees, smiled, and raised her hand in greeting.

Li Fan glanced at him, then flew straight into the village.

Li Yi glanced at him. "You actually survived again."

Li Fan: "Nonsense, I'm invincible! After this calamity, who can kill me! Alright, enough talk, let's merge! The big one is coming!"

So Li Fan's Dharma body coiled up, transforming into the invisible, intangible, and untouchable Tai Sha Star Core, flying into—no, more like throwing itself into the screen, bending and denting the curtain, directly stretching the space where Li Yi's body was located, and falling into the hollow of Li Yi's heart.

In that instant, the world suddenly turned pitch black, and all the light from all directions was sucked away. The entire Shatang Village, along with the surrounding withered trees, hills, and abandoned graves, and the surrounding area for miles around, were shrouded in an utterly dark and desolate void.

Yes,

That's exactly how it feels.

When I first entered the 'gate', I used this Daoist body...

Li Fan raised his head, his eyes devoid of pupils or pupils, only a chaotic and deep darkness.

I am Void Abyss, Void Abyss is me.

Thousand-Faced Immortal, a body of chaos.

Then a figure in pure white entered this pure, dark realm, its body surrounded by a flowing, sharp light, as bright as a sword and as clear as a star.

Zhi Jingzi sighed,

"Excellent! As expected of the Tai Su Daoist, you have already achieved such a level of extraordinary phenomena after only breaking through to the Divine Transformation. Your Dao achievements are truly admirable."

Li Fan looked at him.

"I've already said, this isn't the Divine Transformation, it's the Tribulation Transcending stage. Your path to immortality is blocked; you can only discover the way yourself. But my method points directly to the Great Dao."

Zhi Jingzi listened and nodded seriously.

"So that's how it is. This is the new realm of the Dao of Primordial Simplicity. Indeed, the world has changed, and the path has been opened. I have learned a great deal!"

"Then I have also come up with a new method, and I would appreciate your guidance, fellow Daoist."

Zhi Jingzi spoke, he raised his right hand high, his index and middle fingers gleaming with light, a sword beam stretching for thousands of feet!

"Shattering Calamity! Northern Star Sword Qi! Slaying Gods and Demons! Nine Luminaries Heavenly Stars!"

The sword energy erupted once more! A dazzling light shone forth, the nine energies uniting into one! The soaring sword Sword Light tore through the heavens, piercing the barrier, its earth-shattering power even cleaving the boundless dark void into bright segments! As bright as day!

Li Fan: "... Hey! At least use Hengshan's moves! Stop stealing other people's secret techniques all the time, damn it!"

Zhi Jingzi laughed heartily.

"How could my master's teachings be considered stolen techniques from someone else! Tai Su Daoist! I'll show you the supreme martial arts of my Sword Sect!"

Creation of Heaven and Earth! Profound Heaven Sword Intent!

Then the bluish- Sword Light receded, Zhi Jingzi manifested in human form, merging his body with the sword to become a blade. The bluish-white Sword Light was as fine as a hair, like a willow leaf carried by the wind, piercing straight towards Li Fan's heart, that black hole that swallowed everything.

"Holy crap... a true disciple of the Sword Sect..."

Is this for real? He actually used the Profound Heaven Sword Intent...

The pale blue Willow Leaf Sword pierced straight towards Li Fan's immortal body.

Li Fan reached out and grabbed the tip of the sword with his Ghost Hand.

Then his five fingers were cut off.

... Is it just a little bit short? No, it's far from it, a billion bits short.

Although she had advanced from the Integration Stage of Refining Dao Integration to the Tribulation Stage, achieving the required realm and refining the Tai Sha Star Core, Qingyue's original Dao Body had only just been retrieved, so its strength had not yet increased. Her original body was merely a shell constructed from Sha Qi, which the Xuan Profound Heaven Sword Intent of the Enlightenment Stage could easily shatter.

The willow-leaf-shaped sword tip pierced Li Fan's chest, seemingly unaffected by gravity! It aimed straight for the core of the Tai Sha Star Core!

Although the sword tip was irresistibly heading towards his heart, Li Fan remained calm, simply staring coldly at the willow leaf with his empty eyes.

It wasn't that the black hole was ineffective, but rather that Zhi Jingzi used her sword power to counteract the deflection of the star core with incredibly high-speed vibrations. However, the closer she got to the core, the more the gravity increased exponentially. As a result, the willow leaf was visibly slowing down, and finally, as if it had split into two, four, eight, and hundreds of red and blue afterimages.

That's naturally impenetrable. This is no longer a low-dimensional 'sphere'. Even Li Fan wouldn't know what to do further without consulting the system...

As if realizing that it was impossible to simply 'sever' the core and then rush in, she would only be bound by the star core and fall into it. Liu Ye also decisively withdrew her sword, transformed into a bright light and flashed away, spinning around once, and transformed back into the appearance of Zhi Jingzi.

Zhi Jingzi stood quietly with his eyes closed for a while, then opened them and bowed, saying...

"Been taught a lesson."

The opponent was helpless against Li Fan was also powerless against sword immortals of this level—he couldn't hold them back, nor could he defeat them—so he simply bowed in greeting.

"I heard that the Beichen Sword Sect has been wiped out for many years. I wonder where you learned this skill from."

Zhi Jingzi opened her eyes. "Naturally, it was taught by my master."

Seeing that he was still rambling on, Li Fan smiled and said, "When I awakened my previous soul, I remembered that my enemy in my previous life called himself 'Beichen Sword Ancestor Xuantian.' I wonder if you have any clues?"

Zhi Jingzi smiled but did not answer.

Li Fan narrowed his eyes, "Old Liang... Lu Hansheng, gave me a copy of the <Profound Heaven Sword Method>... Was it written by Daojun?"

Zhi Jingzi nodded, and with a wave of his hand, two Sword Light from the Northern Star appeared in his hand.

"Let's fight!"

Without wasting words, Li Fan spread his hands, refined evil energy in the void, and condensed a pair of evil swords, which he then thrust straight at the target.

Four swords clashed, their Sword Light flashing, shimmering blue and white flames, illuminating the dark sky!

The two men clashed with their swords, each employing Xuan Tian's superior sword Gu Yingshi. They exchanged blows and stabbed, dodging and fighting, their close-quarters weapons locked in combat!

The two exchanged only a dozen or so moves before realizing each other's skill.

Li Fan can say quite frankly that if it were a real sword fight, a life-or-death struggle, he would be no match for his opponent right now.

Since his Dao body is not yet complete, even if the opponent doesn't use the Profound Heaven Sword Intent, the Northern Star Sword Light at the Enlightenment Stage is already at an indestructible level. If they really wanted to cut him, one sword could cut Li Fan to pieces along with the sword.

However, it's still impossible to destroy Li Fan's core. Li Fan can instantly merge, recover, and fight again. It's pointless to repeatedly get stuck in a stalemate.

Therefore, Zhi Jingzi had no intention of fighting to the death; it was merely a friendly exchange of swordsmanship, stopping short of a direct confrontation. As a result, the situation unexpectedly became one-sided, with Zhi Jingzi repeatedly being struck in vital spots by Li Fan's deadly sword strikes and losing moves.

This wasn't because his swordsmanship was bad; it was simply because Li Fan had already completed this type of challenge twice.

Li Fan had already seen the complete 'Eighteen Forms of the Mysterious Heaven'.

In terms of swordsmanship alone, that guy from Penglai is really on par with Zhi Jingzi... Well, saying that makes them sound rather pathetic. Rather, it should be said that the Eighteen Forms of Xuantian have pushed the swordsmanship of this style to its extreme.

Therefore, when Li Fan first encountered this sword technique, he was completely overwhelmed.

But since they've already met once, and he won the first time, he has no chance against Li Fan the second time.

As a result, Zhi Jingzi's swordsmanship was completely countered by Li Fan, as if every move he made, from where it came to where it was going, was predicted, and he was delivering his own weak point to Li Fan's sword.

However, since he was only at the Dao Lord level, even though Li Fan's swordsmanship was superior, once the opponent lost a move, he could still easily withdraw his sword and retreat, giving Li Fan no chance to pierce through the Dao body.

After fighting for eighteen rounds, Zhi Jingzi wisely withdrew and sheathed his sword. Losing was losing, and there was nothing to be ashamed of. After all, he had already used his full strength in the first move and was helpless against Li Fan.

"I am proud to have inherited the essence of my master's sword skills, but I never expected that Li Daoyou could further simplify my eighteen sword techniques into five. Such a sword spirit is simply breathtaking!"

Cangwu actually said that a genius like you lacks aptitude for swordsmanship? He's truly misleading young minds... Young friend, wouldn't you really consider coming to my Hengshan Mountain to establish the Tai Su Dao Sword Immortal lineage? I'm willing to impart all the secrets of the Beichen Sword Sect to you!"

Who cares about your kind of secret outer sect techniques? Mine are more complete, fresher, and more up-to-date, constantly innovating and developing! Besides, it wasn't me who modified it, it was Kun who modified it...

Li Fan suppressed the urge to retort, took a deep breath, and said, "So, Daoist Zhijing is really a true disciple of the Sword Ancestor Xuantian? May I ask who you are? Could you be the renowned Yan Xingyun?"

Zhi Jingzi shook his head and laughed, "Yan Xingyun colluded with demons and wreaked havoc on the world. He has already been expelled from the sect by my master. What face does he have to call himself a disciple of the Sword Sect? I am Huangfu Jing, the Guanmen disciple of the Sword Ancestor."

Li Fan: "... Don't try to fool me. I've also read the Sword Sect Master's Secret Records. Wasn't the Sword Ancestor's eldest disciple named Huangfu Yi?"

Zhi Jingzi chuckled, "Huangfu Yi was my grandfather in my previous life. The Sword Ancestor Xuantian was a man who cherished the past, but in my first life, my aptitude was insufficient, so I missed the opportunity to follow him in cultivation. Therefore, it was only after reincarnation, when I entered Hengshan to cultivate, that I found the cultivation inheritance left to me by the Sword Ancestor in my family's Daoist scriptures. Now, we can continue our master-disciple relationship and revive the Beichen Sword Sect. Perhaps this is what is called destiny!"

Lu Ya was right about one thing: this guy really doesn't tell the truth... But then again, who would expect that some quack doctors would rather practice medicine to save the market than cultivate immortality with a sword...

Having figured out what kind of person the other was, Li Fan didn't reveal anything, but simply asked,

"So, is Daojun now considered Huangfu, a disciple of the Sword Sect, or Zhijing, a disciple of Hengshan?"

Zhi Jingzi smiled and said, "Young friend, are you a disciple of Emei or Ink Bamboo Mountain? Actually, as long as you can uphold your Dao heart, it doesn't matter who you are."

I admire people like you. Both Emei and Ink Bamboo Mountain are righteous people who care about the common people, but Emei is about to ascend to immortality, Ink Bamboo Mountain lacks sufficient foundation, so neither can provide you with a stage to realize your ambitions.

Hengshan has the lofty ambition to eliminate demons and protect the righteous path, and to benefit all under heaven. Now that the world has changed and the universe has transformed, who else but me can undertake the great cause of creating a new world of Tai Su?

Fellow Daoist, you possess the destiny to greatly revive the Dao of Tai Su. As long as you are willing to join my Hengshan Sect, let alone the Daoist lineages of Emei and Mozhu Mountain, even the position of Hengshan Sect Leader can be given to you, just by saying the word!

Li Fan smiled. "So Hengshan has such lofty ambitions. That's truly gratifying. I'm not alone in this path. However, to even offer me the position of Hengshan sect leader is really... If it's convenient, perhaps we could write down the promises we just made and have a written agreement."

Zhi Jingzi smiled, "Alright, I always keep my word, what's wrong with that?"

As expected of Daoist Hengshan, he was very generous. He directly reached out and took out a cloud-script scroll, wrote the contract, and handed it to Li Fan.

Li Fan took it and looked at it; it really was.

'If Qingyue agrees to join Hengshan, she will be offered the position of Hengshan Sect Leader, and Shangqing Jiangzhenzhi Zhi Jingzi.'

Li Fan nodded and smiled.

Zhi Jingzi was overjoyed, "Michiko agreed?"

Li Fan tucked the cloud-patterned seal into his robes. "I'll think about it. If there's nothing else, Daoist, please return."

Zhi Jingzi: "... Hehe, very well, I await your good news."