A Few Thunderclaps

Compared to the battle between the Poison Sword Immortal and clone warriors, this duel between the old and new immortal paths is slightly more interesting.

The first Sword Light that came hurtling towards them was deflected by the lotus flower. The sword's momentum faltered, then its energy reversed, transforming into hundreds of sword flowers that surged and bloomed in clusters and groups.

The lotus blossoms slowly and steadily, layer by layer, each flower hiding the colorful sword-shaped flowers behind the black petals.

But the vast expanse of sword blossoms seemed to be enraged, suddenly turning into a fierce storm like wind, frost, snow, and rain! The chaotic swords went berserk, tearing the teahouse and dock to shreds!

Yet, the black lotus emerged from the water, unmoved, pure and untainted by the mud. Though the sword wind was fierce, it could not touch her in the slightest! It forcefully resisted the sudden changes in the Xuanmen sword duel!

The place across the river is a typical old-style Daoist temple...

Judging from the opponent's sword force and technique, Zheng Zetian conservatively estimated that the opponent had at least reincarnated once, and in this life, it was obvious that the opponent was holding back his cultivation and did not follow the old path to become Divine Transformation. Otherwise, with this Illusionary Sword Technique Across the River, and the sword force that had been refined and honed for a thousand years, he could have withstood at least the fourth lightning strike.

Lu Qi's move was indeed not simple. Although he was temporarily at a disadvantage due to the first strike and could only deal with it by using his baleful energy to create a protective black lotus, his cultivation was actually not profound. His foundation was not much higher than Chen Sha's. He had only reached the Nascent Soul Realm stage after being struck by lightning.

However, he was able to use the Black Lotus Transformation technique to withstand the combined attacks of four powerful and pure sword energies from the Xuanmen sect. In the duel, he was not killed by the magic array. This skill, along with his new Tai Su technique, made Zheng Zetian take notice.

To strike four thunderbolts with one thunderbolt is something even the most esoteric sects usually can't do. This method is worth learning.

Okay, starting with Lei is just Zheng Zetian's personal habit. After all, in his days in the martial arts world, he either didn't make a move at all, or when he did, he wiped out entire families. If he saw someone fighting with swords from afar, he wouldn't even have time to run away. You dare to stand there stupidly peeking at someone's moves and estimating their combat strength? Don't you know what death means?

Moreover, even if someone is very familiar with a sect's Cultivation Method, the same move will be performed drastically differently by different people. For example, in Chen Sha's match not long ago, if it had been some fool, would it have ended up in such a miserable state?

Therefore, when assessing the strength of both sides and roughly estimating their power, he often still prefers to use heavenly lightning to calculate cultivation level. After all, each additional lightning strike not only indicates a deeper and more refined cultivation level, but also a longer cultivation period, richer combat experience, and greater proficiency in dealing with tribulations. Of course, higher lightning strikes are not necessarily stronger.

There are specific rules within the orthodox Xuanmen sects regarding when a disciple should advance and break through. Too slow is not good, and too fast is also not ideal. Using heavenly lightning to temper one's true qi is also a secret technique of the Xuanmen. Therefore, it is best for a disciple of the orthodox Xuanmen to transform into Divine Transformation before the Three Thunder Tribulation and to comprehend the Dao before the Five Thunder Tribulation after achieving the True Person realm. Too much of anything is as bad as too little.

At this moment, Zheng Zetian saw two Nascent Soul Stage cultivators fighting. According to his ancient method, the difference in strength was actually quite large, like four lightning bolts hitting one lightning bolt, or two thousand years of cultivation fighting five hundred years of cultivation. Lu Qi was already considered excellent for being able to withstand even one move.

Lu Qi understood that the opponent's sword force was overwhelming and ever-changing. His own skill was not superior. He was only able to break through it temporarily because the Black Lotus was a new technique of Tai Su that the opponent did not recognize.

Of course, he had never seriously used this method to fight against experts. At this moment, he used one hand to form a hand seal to control his qi, releasing all his killing energy to repair the lotus bud and defend it, while the other hand rapidly made calculations.

The four thunder cultivators from the Xuanmen sect who came to seize the Heavenly Book also knew that delay would lead to unforeseen circumstances, and that a swift victory was essential. Before the arrival of reinforcements from the Discipline Institute, this person began to unleash his full power. In an instant, Sword Light filled the river, and sword energy rushed towards their faces. Even from a distance on the riverbank, the opponent unleashed a hundred sword energies, slashing continuously at the lotus flower. For a moment, the two people protected within the lotus flower were as if they were in a sword formation, with sword energy raining down on them from all directions! Yet, the thin barrier of energy on the lotus petals firmly blocked it, showing no signs of breaking!

Zheng Zetian was also surprised that the black lotus remained completely still under such fierce sword force. The Tai Su Cultivation Method was quite powerful! But the other party claimed it was Cultivation Method from the Luo Sect...

Because of the vast difference in timing and age, and because it was specially designed to resemble a lotus flower, Zheng Zetian didn't immediately recognize which Cultivation Method he had taught it. Instead, he thought it resembled the protective true qi of Penglai. However, he could also see that the technique was not perfect. For example, Lu Qi had to maintain his energy flow at this moment, and it seemed that the appearance and range of the spell were difficult to change when he was using his energy. He couldn't care less about the others around him, and it seemed inconvenient for him to move around freely in battle. Otherwise, there would be more variations, and he wouldn't be in such a passive position.

But before Zheng Zetian could get a good look, Lu Qi suddenly glanced at him, sneered, and seized an opportunity to change his technique, withdrawing his attack and turning away!

It turned out that after the opponent unleashed a full combo, the onlookers were nearly killed, but they couldn't even remove a single flower from the target's body. They found it very strange and probably stopped to regroup, or perhaps they sensed something was wrong and simply gave up.

Lu Qi immediately abandoned his defensive stance, seized the opportunity to withdraw his cultivation, and flew away on his sword! At the same time, he reached out to grab Zheng Zetian!

Judging from his cold eyes, he clearly wasn't kind-hearted and didn't want to take care of his junior brother; he probably just grabbed someone as a shield or hostage.

Of course, the Xuanmen on the other side was indeed bluffing. They suddenly paused halfway through their attack, baiting out the defense, and then quickly restarted! They unleashed another barrage of sword rain to launch a sneak attack!

However, Zheng Zetian was prepared. Almost simultaneously, he activated various accelerations and sprinted into the water!

The sudden acceleration did indeed catch Lu Qi off guard, and a series of dense Sword Light from the opposite side had already crossed the river and were about to strike his face! Lu Qi had no choice but to grit his teeth, withdraw his hand, and immediately flee. He first flew into the sky on his sword, but was relentlessly pursued, so he had to maneuver around a few times to dodge the pursuing Sword Light.

Zheng Zetian darted into the water, immediately shedding his robes and the Thunder Pearl, and became invisible in the turbulent current.

Sure enough, as soon as he turned away, he saw a group of ghostly figures darting over from the bottom of the river. The shapes were indistinct in the deep sea, but they were vaguely frog-like creatures, as big as an adult's chest, with webbed hands and feet and ghostly faces on their heads, paddling over and chasing the light emitted by the Thunder Pearl Robe.

Zheng Zetian knew that these ghosts or puppets were probably sent by Lu Xing. He had arranged to meet Lu Xing beforehand, intending to use the opportunity to expose Lu Qi's conspiracy with the company to murder the instructors of Ink Bamboo Mountain. In case Lu Qi turned against him, he would have another ally. But now that plan had failed because the Xuanmen had acted too early, he had to make some changes.

Since we're going out to stir things up, we should at least achieve something, right?

Zheng Zetian then concealed his presence, leaving behind the frogs and water ghosts searching for him in the water, and silently swam towards the opposite bank. As he swam, he observed the battle between Lu Qi and his opponent.

Lu Qi has now activated the Black Lotus again, but at this moment he has summoned a bunch of flying swords to protect himself, which can be used for both offense and defense. He is maneuvering in the sky, while the Xuanmen is still hiding in the houses on the opposite bank, shooting out sword energy from a distance, never showing himself.

The guardian of the mountain and some nearby cultivators also took to the air. Some joined Lu Qi in an attempt to wipe out the demonic cultivators who were killing people indiscriminately in the town, while others fled far away to avoid being cut down by the sword energy that crisscrossed the heavens and earth. For a moment, meteors flew across the sky, creating a lively scene.

However, it's quite unusual for them to hide in the town like this.

If you're going to assassinate someone, regardless of success or failure, you should strike and leave immediately. If you're going to steal treasure, you should be even more relentless, like a mad dog, giving chase. But what's the logic behind this lingering, neither-fight-nor-retreat-it-or-leaves-it approach? It's as if you're buying time for someone else...

Oh, so that means the Xuanmen sect has already calculated that the Heavenly Book isn't on Lu Qi...

Well, the opponent was focused on unleashing sword energy the entire time; they had no time to calculate. So, there's more than one person chasing this celestial book...

So Zheng Zetian decided not to swim anymore. He went to the wreckage of a boat that had just been sunk by sword energy, broke invisibility, climbed onto the ship's side, and sat down to catch his breath.

Then someone behind him said,

"Hand it over."

Zheng Zetian didn't hesitate. He unzipped his leather jacket and deftly handed over the secret book he had hidden in his chest.

"Hehe, good, the True Explanation of the Cave Mystery Section... what is this...?"

The man opened the book to check its authenticity, only to find a dark, unremarkable stone tucked inside—no, it wasn't a stone, but a civilian deep-cut laser grenade.

"Buzz--!"

The next instant, a flash of red light appeared on the river surface, and a burst of intensely hot energy rays erupted from the grenade in the cultivator's palm, like a precious light radiating, but in an instant, it severed his hands and head. Shredded flesh fell onto the ship's side with a crackling sound, and the air was filled with the stench of burnt, charred meat.

"Phew... It's actually Divine Transformation... These days, why bother fighting for a celestial book if you haven't already undergone physical transformation?"

Zheng Zetian wiped a bead of sweat from his brow. He too had been swept twice by the red light, but thankfully he had activated the company's paid medical insurance with his salary card, so the high-energy ion storm that was right in front of him was directly deflected by the magnetic protective field... Although he didn't know what the system meant by that, it really was true that you get what you pay for...

So he stood up, pulled out his plasma pistol, and fired two shots at the remaining part of the Xuanmen old deity's still twitching and bleeding torso, turning his dantian and ventricle into two bloody holes.

Ha, this is no better than Iron Palm.

Although the celestial book was shredded by the grenade, it can be rewritten. We can lure out and take care of the guy hiding in the shadows, but it can't grow back.

Zheng Zetian searched the corpse and took out his Storage Jade to examine it.

Tianfu Mountain's Sanyuan Jizhenzong, oh, even the people from Zhen Country have arrived.

Hmph, how pathetic. A Nascent Divine Transformation comes to steal the Heavenly Book, and he doesn't even bring two magic treasures, just one Storage Jade. To be this poor, it seems this guy is a typical example of someone who went from victory to defeat. Exactly five lightning strikes—the second one nearly killed him, preventing him from comprehending the Dao. Then the fifth lightning tribulation shattered all his treasures and magic items. One more strike and he's good to go to sleep. Is he planning to reincarnate and study abroad? Shouldn't he check out the learning environment beforehand?

"Ah--!"

At this moment, a roar and a sword cry came from the horizon. In the blink of an eye, a Sword Light suddenly rose from the ground, pierced through the clouds, and quickly shook off the precious light that was being pursued and intercepted by the cultivators of Ink Bamboo Mountain. It then rushed straight towards the river!

Clearly, it was another sword immortal from the other sect who, having realized his fellow Dao Companion was dead, came to fight to the death.

Zheng Zetian was prepared. He activated his stealth ability and flipped into the water. The moment he entered the water, a bright Sword Light could be seen brushing past the surface of the water, almost cutting his head off.

It was close, but not yet.

After all, a true sword immortal cherishes his flying sword. Due to the differences in the secret methods of sword forging among various schools, some precious swords would suffer considerable damage if forcibly submerged in water. That flying sword didn't go into the water the first time it chased him, so it probably wouldn't force its way in this time either.

As expected, this time the flying sword could only reluctantly patrol the river surface, unable to locate Zheng Zetian, who was lurking underwater. Of course, the invisibility cloak couldn't stop the flying sword; it was mainly the company's medical insurance providing microbial signal induction and interference that disrupted the drone's radar... Although I still don't know the specifics of the system, you get what you pay for...

The sword's owner suddenly lost track of Zheng Zetian, and the flying sword also lost its direction. He was killing people in the town when he was besieged by the cultivators of Ink Bamboo Mountain. Lu Qi was not an easy opponent either, and he was distracted and unable to find any trace of Zheng Zetian. He scanned the area with his Divine Sense twice more, but he still couldn't find any trace of Zheng Zetian. He didn't have time to waste any more time, so he had no choice but to abandon the remains of his Dao Companion and, unwillingly, transformed into a rainbow and broke free from the encirclement to escape.

Zheng Zetian hid underwater for a while, and only after seeing that his salary card was about to be depleted did he activate his invisibility and paid medical insurance modes, surfacing to blow a bubble.

Lu Qi remained seated on the lotus platform, not chasing after the fleeing Sword Light, and drifted down gracefully.

"Junior Brother Zheng, look at the huge trouble you've caused! It seems like there hasn't been a single day of peace in these mountains since you joined us."

Now that the demonic forces had been driven away, the cultivators of Ink Bamboo Mountain returned to assist in rescuing the civilians who had been killed or injured in the attack. Of course, Lu Qi remained aloof, observing the remains of the Xuanmen Divine Lord on the river with a half-smile.

"I really didn't notice just now, how did you get rid of this person?"

Zheng Zetian climbed onto the deck, raised his pistol,

"Senior brother, do you recognize this item?"

"Did Qin Jiu give it to you? Or did you recently meet with the Grand Master?"

Lu Qi reached out and snatched the pistol from Zheng Zetian's hand, examining it with interest. Unfortunately, the gun had a fingerprint lock and wouldn't fire accidentally.

"I obtained it from a group of people who claimed to be from a company. These people possess weapons and equipment that can easily kill cultivators. I thought you must have already cooperated with them, which is why I invited you to meet me. I also wanted to ask you to take care of your junior brother."

Lu Qi chuckled, "Junior brother, you're a smart man too. We smart people don't need to beat around the bush. This Xuanmen is after you. No matter what you took from them, you can deal with your own karma. I won't say anything more."

"But you tricked me into coming here to shield you from trouble, so you owe me a favor, don't you? If I need your help, senior brother..."

Zheng Zetian remained expressionless. "Please give your instructions, Senior Brother."

Lu Qi shoved the pistol into his arms, grabbed Zheng Zetian, and pulled him close.

"Alright, you just asked if I killed the Outer Sect Disciple instructor. No, but I did find his body. And you also said he stole the Grand Master's robe?"

Hehe, I'm about to take over the Railway Institute, and I can't tolerate this mudslinging being thrown on my head.

"Then you will accompany me to the Heavenly Clothes to inquire. If such a Daoist robe truly exists, we will certainly retrieve it for the sect."

Zheng Zetian nodded, "Just as my senior brother said, also, can I have my gun back? I bought it with money."

Lu Qi chuckled, "What's the rush? Would I ever cheat a kid out of his things? I'll take a look and definitely return them to you."

So he raised his Sword Light and flew straight towards Lou Guan City with Zheng Zetian in tow.

Happy New Year everyone!