Ancient Clan Half-Saint

Liuli cleaved the illusory phantom before her in two with a single sword strike, then dodged the black blade Ling Ying thrust at her from behind. The doubt in her heart grew ever stronger.

Ling Ying had not used his full strength!

Although she was two stars above Ling Ying in cultivation, making it easy for her to handle him, he was still a High-tier Dou Huang. He looked as though he were fighting desperately, yet so far, Liuli had not seen him mobilize Heaven and Earth Energy or use any Dou Skill above the Mysterious Rank. Ordinary Dou Huangs might only encounter Earth-tier Dou Skills by chance, but the Ancient Clan did not lack them. It was perfectly normal for an ordinary Ancient Clan Dou Huang to have learned two or three Earth-tier Dou Skills.

"Something's wrong! I need to run!"

Liuli's expression hardened as Dou Qi surged through her body. Raising her sword, she slashed out a massive Sword Qi that shot straight at Ling Ying.

Ling Ying was startled and hurriedly dodged to one side. The Sword Qi grazed past his back, slicing off a large portion of his black robe.

The next moment, he looked toward Liuli and found that she had already spread her wings and flown high into the air, preparing to flee.

"Damn it! You can beat me, so why are you running?" Ling Ying roared in anger, chasing after the young girl.

"If you can't beat me, why should I stay here and die?" Liuli shouted back contemptuously, accelerating even further.

Mountain Splitting Seal!

Enraged, Ling Ying directly unleashed his strongest killing move—the Ancient Clan's inherited Earth-tier High Rank Dou Technique, the Emperor Seal Art! Though he had only learned its first move, its power was still beyond comparison with ordinary Earth-tier Low Grade Dou Skills.

The Dou Qi throughout his body circulated as the Heaven and Earth Energy around him poured into Ling Ying like a tide, gathering in his right palm. Then, he slowly pushed it toward Liuli's escape route.

A terrifying palm of condensed black Dou Qi shot forth like a cannonball, aimed directly at Liuli's back!

Liuli abruptly turned around and pointed her sword at the sky. Terrifying white energy gathered around the blade, forming an enormous sword of light dozens of zhang tall, which slashed at the incoming black giant palm.

Earth-tier High Rank Dou Technique—White Rainbow Piercing the Sun!

The two Dou Skills collided, detonating waves of Energy Storms that swept across the land. Even the northern wall of Wu Tan City, fifteen li away, was shaken open in several places, alarming the entire city.

Liuli's expression sharpened. With a turn of her sword, the massive white sword under her control exploded in an instant, erupting with even stronger energy and transforming into countless streams of Sword Qi that shot toward Ling Ying.

The black giant palm, which had been evenly matched with the white giant sword just moments ago, began to collapse bit by bit before finally crumbling away. The remaining Sword Qi directly engulfed Ling Ying, sweeping up raging winds and forming a heaven-piercing Light Pillar that surged into the clouds, shaking heaven and earth!

Liuli stepped back twice, wiped the cold sweat from her forehead, and let out a breath. This move had been created by her Dad, Gongsun Lin. As an Earth-tier High Rank Dou Technique, it was immensely powerful, but its consumption was also considerable. Only forty percent of the Dou Qi in her body remained.

Looking at that pillar of Sword Qi reaching into the sky, Liuli's thoughts shifted, and she withdrew the Dou Qi controlling and sustaining it. Only then did this killing move slowly begin to dissipate into heaven and earth.

A black figure fell from the sky like a bird with broken wings, crashing into the enormous scorched crater Liuli's Dou Skill had blasted into the ground.

Liuli flew to the edge of the crater and looked down at Ling Ying lying within it, sighing softly. "I already told you, I meant no harm. I just happened to know your Young Miss."

Ling Ying's clothes were now tattered, and his body was covered in Sword Marks and wounds, blood trickling down in thin streams. Yet his Spiritual Sense remained relatively clear as he lay in the center of the crater, gasping heavily.

"This is a fifth-grade Spirit Bone Pill. Take it, and your injuries will recover by forty or fifty percent. Then you'll just need some time to rest and recuperate." Liuli took a small Jade Bottle from her Storage Ring and tossed it beside him.

"Hehehe..." Ling Ying caught his breath, but then began to laugh.

Liuli frowned in confusion, though the unease in her heart grew increasingly intense.

"Cough, cough... You... you can't escape... Hehehe..."

Liuli immediately sensed danger and prepared to flee.

"Hehe, young friend, please stay. You injured one of our people, so surely you must explain yourself in person?" Just then, an elder's voice slowly rang out across this stretch of heaven and earth.

So he really called for reinforcements! The young girl gritted her teeth and mobilized all the Dou Qi remaining in her body, pouring it into her Dou Qi wings and pushing her speed to its limit. Yet in the very next second, she abruptly stopped, staring at the space ahead as it began to twist. Her face gradually darkened.

About fifty zhang ahead, the sky was gradually torn open, forming a passage around two people wide. An elderly man in black robes with a white beard slowly stepped out, walking through the air.

As the old man emerged, the space throughout this entire area seemed to freeze solid.

Liuli swallowed hard and frantically cursed inwardly, Did they really need to send out a Dou Saint?!

Tearing through the void and freely traveling through space was the hallmark of a Dou Saint!

The white-bearded elder stroked his beard, which reached all the way to his toes, his expression genial. "Young friend, why are you in such a hurry? Our Ancient Clan has always valued peace and harmony. We will not make things difficult for you."

Liuli wanted to roll her eyes.

Yeah, you value peace and harmony—the biggest bunch of slackers around!

In the Original Work, the Ancient Clan, publicly the foremost of the Eight Ancient Clans and the continent's number one power, had always been conservative and shortsighted in its approach to the continent's affairs. Thousands of years ago, when their ally, the Xiao Clan, was besieged by the Soul Clan, they had failed to provide effective support in time. Moreover, they had turned a blind eye to the Soul Clan's series of actions over the past thousand years. The great villain Hun Tiandi had exploited precisely this temperament of the Ancient Clan, laying plans all along. In the end, with the strength of a single clan, he had nearly swept aside the entire Eight Ancient Clans and ultimately become an emperor. Had Xiao Yan, the Child of the Plane, not suddenly emerged, this world would have belonged to Hun Tiandi.

"Hehe, since you know our Young Miss, the power behind you must be no small one. Why not have one of them come out? We can have a proper discussion." The white-bearded elder smiled.

"May I know your name, Lord Dou Saint?" Knowing she could not escape, Liuli could only begin with a formal greeting.

"You may call this old man Tongxuan," the white-bearded elder said amiably.

Liuli was startled. Well, damn. I ran into someone familiar right away.

Tongxuan of the Ancient Clan was a High-level Half-Saint. In the Original Work, he was an elder who handled the Ancient Clan's many daily affairs. He was practically the Dou Saint elder who appeared most often in the Ancient Clan. He had a good relationship with Xiao Yan and had helped him several times.

"Elder Tongxuan, I have long admired your name." Liuli bowed slightly in salute, and a Seven-Colored Sword Mark appeared between her brows.

"You... you are from the Sword Clan? And this Clan Mark..." This time, Tongxuan was the one taken aback.

A seven-colored Clan Mark represented something self-evident among the Nine Ancient Clans—Divine Grade Bloodline!

Anyone who possessed it would, at the very least, achieve the level of a Seven-star Dou Saint in the future.

"Whose descendant of the Sword Clan are you?" Elder Tongxuan's voice grew several degrees more solemn.

As a Half-Saint, he might still be able to dominate the Central Continent, but before the Nine Ancient Clans, he was somewhat lacking. Within the Ancient Clan alone, there were no fewer than a hundred people stronger than him. And the elder of a Divine Grade Bloodline possessor would certainly have bloodline purity and strength that ranked among the top levels within their clan.

"My father is Gongsun Lin," Liuli said calmly.

She had no choice. Since she could not run, she could only rely on her parents.

Though Tongxuan had been somewhat mentally prepared, Liuli's answer still stunned him.

Who was Gongsun Lin? The Sword Clan's clan leader, the number one Sword Saint under heaven, a peerless expert with the strength of a peak Nine-star Dou Saint. In his youth, he had traveled the entire Dou Qi Continent alone with a single sword for a hundred years, establishing an illustrious reputation. Nine hundred years ago, when he was a Five-star Dou Saint, he had slain a Demon Race Great Saint of the Southern Beast Demon Domain at the same level as himself. This had drawn a pursuit from the entire demon domain for a hundred thousand li, yet he had still escaped unscathed.

His current strength even surpassed that of the Ancient Clan's clan leader by a slight margin. If not for the fact that he was somewhat younger, a figure who had risen only within the past thousand years, then during that era thousands of years ago when heroes rose side by side, he would certainly have held a place among the Five Ancient Powerhouses!

"So you are the Sword Clan's Young Miss. To possess This level of strength at such a young age, the younger generation truly is to be feared!" Elder Tongxuan's tone became noticeably more courteous.

"There is no need for any more pleasantries. Some matters are better discussed between your elders, aren't they?" Liuli calmly took out a Spatial Jade Slip from her Storage Ring and slowly crushed it.

A strand of Space Power tore through the void and rapidly transmitted toward the distant Northern Domain of Central Continent.

"I've already called someone over. Elder Tongxuan, please wait here. May this junior leave now?" Liuli smiled confidently.

"Very well. This matter truly is better discussed by us elders." Tongxuan nodded and waved his hand, lifting the spatial restriction around them. He could not help but admire the Sword Clan Young Miss's composure and calmness in the face of danger.

"Then this junior shall take her leave." Liuli saluted once more, her Dou Qi wings beating as she prepared to leave this place.

But at that moment—

"Which blind fool dared lay a hand on my daughter?!" A massive tear was ripped open in the space on one side of the battlefield, and a Light Pink-haired Palace-robed Woman rushed out with a sword in hand, aiming straight for Tongxuan's crown!