"Or else what? Your mana might now surpass that of an Ancient Method Cultivator at the late Qi Refining stage, but without spells to defend yourself or magical artifacts, you can't beat anyone! Kid, there's nothing wrong with seeking freedom and pleasure, but without the strength to protect yourself, that pleasure can never last. That's the way of the world!"
Wang Qi roared in his spiritual awareness, "Old man, even lectures need the right occasion! We're not out of danger yet!"
Damn it...
Wang Qi clenched his fists.
"Those three have gone a little farther away. Take this chance and move along the shrubs and grass."
"Which way?"
"Stay as far away as possible from that Nascent Soul Cultivator and little Xiang's battlefield."
Afraid of being discovered by those three Foundation Establishment Cultivators, Wang Qi only dared to wriggle forward bit by bit using the strength of his elbows, waist, and abdomen. The movement techniques he had practiced for years had no room to display themselves at all. The mountain was full of stones and thorns. His clothes were quickly worn through, and several cuts opened on his hands.
"This won't do. Before I can even escape, the flesh on my hands and belly will probably be ground to pulp!"
Wang Qi was frantic. As a modern man, he knew full well that blood loss and intense pain would both affect one's mind and scatter one's concentration. When the enemy was strong and he was weak, that was fatal. Yet circumstances forced him to keep drinking poison to quench his thirst.
"Ahhh! Damn it!"
A furious roar came from overhead. Then countless streaks of Sword Qi rained down upon the ground. Seeing Sword Qi continuously strike the earth, Wang Qi's face changed drastically, and he hurriedly drew out a silver talisman.
Zhen Chanzi shouted, "Don't panic! That man's swordsmanship is meant for close combat. Striking downward from the air at such a distance leaves huge gaps between the Sword Qi. It can't hit you!"
Wang Qi gritted his teeth and forcibly suppressed the urge to activate the talisman. Sword Qi rampaged through the woods, continually shearing off branches, splitting boulders, and plowing through the soil. Several strikes landed not far from Wang Qi's body, frightening him into a cold sweat.
Only after quite some time did the Sword Qi assault finally cease.
Zhen Chanzi assessed, "By the standards of Ancient Method Cultivators like us, that brat has probably burned through nearly half his mana—but this technique looks rather familiar."
"You've seen plenty of sword techniques—damn, I really want to give them something vicious. Old man, would offensive talismans work?"
"This old man does not recognize this talisman. Judging by the mana sealed within it, killing a Foundation Establishment Early Stage Cultivator without protective spells would be more than easy. But I cannot determine whether this talisman must be activated at close range or can strike from afar, whether it requires aiming or can be controlled after activation. If you use it now, you are gambling with your life!"
Wang Qi gave a grim chuckle. "Close-range activation or long-range attack, requiring aim or allowing control... To break this deadlock, this talisman would need to both strike from afar and be controllable. The odds are about one in four."
"Will you gamble?"
"Gamble my ass! Unless it's a situation where not gambling means certain death, any life-or-death gamble with less than a ninety percent chance of winning is just fucking around!"
"Then what do you intend to do?"
Wang Qi gritted his teeth. "Wait. The Sword Qi has cleared out an open patch ahead. If I move now, I'll be spotted easily."
Zhen Chanzi said, "I advise you not to place your hopes on that girl. She's almost at her limit."
"What!?"
"Without a turn of events, she can hold on for at most the time it takes to drink a cup of tea."
Xiang Qi truly was nearing her limit.
The Heavenly Order Sword Disc was known as the foremost in transformations among the many sword arts of modern cultivation, but it was a technique that came into its own only at a later stage. This sword art was divided into seven cycles. The first three were merely introductory; only at the fourth cycle did all manner of wondrous transformations begin to emerge, along with lethal techniques of slaughter!
And Xiang Qi had not yet completed even the third cycle.
Silver sword discs circled around Xiang Qi, constantly deflecting her opponent's spell attacks, but this could not last much longer. At first, the girl had still been able to find opportunities to attack while defending, but now, amid the storm-like bombardment, she could only draw her sword formation tightly inward.
"Can't hold on anymore, can you, little girl?"
The Ancient Method Cultivator mocked her with glee at her misfortune. He had already seen through the strength of the girl before him. A Foundation Establishment Middle Stage Cultivator—if she were an Ancient Method Cultivator, even an ordinary Golden Core Late Stage Cultivator might not have been able to defeat her.
But he was a Nascent Soul Early Stage Ancient Method Cultivator!
A cruel smile appeared on his face. When he was young, he had been tested and found to possess the aptitude for cultivation, with exceptional natural endowments. Yet his talent was simply too poor; he could not even break through Nurturing Life, becoming an object of ridicule for all. In the end, he had no choice but to throw in his lot with the Ancient Method Cultivators. Because of this, he hated every cultivator capable of practicing modern methods, especially people like Xiang Qi, whose comprehension was extraordinary. Torturing them to death, watching them die with expressions of agony, gave him a twisted pleasure.
Anyone more talented than me deserves to die!
With that thought, the offensive in his hands accelerated further.
Xiang Qi's defenses were already tottering on the brink of collapse. Every strike from the Nascent Soul Cultivator shook her Foundation Base, as though a heavy fist had struck her internal organs. A thread of blood spilled from the corner of Xiang Qi's mouth, a shocking sight. She knew clearly that she could not hold on much longer.
At that moment, a heaven-shaking Sword Intent shot over from afar!
"A turning point has arrived." Sensing that strand of Sword Intent, Zhen Chanzi spoke calmly.
"What?" Wang Qi had no idea what he meant. Among everyone present, his strength was the weakest, and his senses were the dullest in matters like this. At this moment, even the three Foundation Establishment Cultivators searching for him had stopped moving and stared blankly into the distance.
"That boy surnamed Li has returned... No, there's another Ancient Method Cultivator beside him, at the peak of Nascent Soul! That cultivator is preventing little Li from returning to provide aid!"
Wang Qi asked, "Will he make it in time?"
"I don't know. Judging from his aura, this Ancient Method Cultivator would have absolutely been an elite among elites in our era." Having seen Xiang Qi resist a Nascent Soul Early Stage Cultivator with Foundation Establishment Late Stage cultivation, he was no longer too surprised that Li Ziye, at Golden Core Middle Stage, could tangle with an Ancient Method Nascent Soul Late Stage Cultivator. "That Nascent Soul Cultivator's cultivation method... Wait, this, this is?"
There was actually a trace of panic in Zhen Chanzi's voice.
Damn it! Something had indeed happened!
When Li Ziye saw the firelight coming from the direction of Dabai Village, he knew something was wrong.
Dabai Village lay deep within the southeastern heartland of Shenzhou, where Ancient Method Cultivators should have been fewest. He truly could not understand why he had been unlucky enough to encounter a Nascent Soul Late Stage Cultivator the moment he ran into one. When he sensed that something had happened in the direction of Dabai Village, he faintly realized that he had likely fallen into a conspiracy laid long ago.
"Don't run! Take this move!"
The one fighting Li Ziye was a cold-faced young man in white robes who looked under thirty and wielded a heavy sword. With a furious shout, he swung the heavy sword in his hand, transforming it into countless heavy sword shadows that rushed at Li Ziye.
This strike was a sword technique derived from the peerless ancient inheritance, the Emperor-Grade Heaven-Splitting Dao—supreme and tyrannical, fierce and unmatched! Li Ziye did not dare be careless. His spiritual awareness surged out like water, enveloping the battlefield. The Myriad Dharma Sect's cultivation art, Yao Ding Suanjing, operated at full force, calculating his opponent's sword moves. Then he raised the heavenly sword in his hand and stabbed toward the sword shadows.
Clang! The heavenly sword's incomparably light and nimble thrust struck precisely at the flaw in the sword momentum, when the opponent's old force had been spent and new force had yet to arise! The power of the heavenly sword erupted at the same time, unleashing tremendous force. After taking that blow, the cold-faced young man felt his magical heavy sword nearly fly from his hand!
So strong!
Such praise had actually come from a Nascent Soul Cultivator toward a Golden Core Cultivator. This would have seemed inconceivable in the age of the Ancient Method, but now, modern cultivators could almost all kill Ancient Method Cultivators above their level. Even outstanding Ancient Method Cultivators like the cold-faced young man found it difficult to defeat modern cultivators of the same level!
Li Ziye stabbed repeatedly with the heavenly sword, shattering the cold-faced young man's sword momentum in an instant. How could the cold-faced young man dare receive head-on with his body the heavenly sword, known as the strongest weapon of modern cultivation? He hurriedly retreated.
Yet forcing back his enemy did not bring Li Ziye the slightest peace of mind. Because of that obstruction, his escape technique had slowed once more. And he could already clearly sense that Xiang Qi's situation was hanging by a thread!
The Ancient Method Cultivator fighting Xiang Qi seemed to understand as well that as long as he killed Xiang Qi before Li Ziye arrived, it would count as victory for him. If he joined forces with that cold-faced young man, then had his three subordinates set up a formation, killing Li Ziye might not be impossible either!
Xiang Qi saw the key point as well. Forcibly drawing in a breath, she prepared to unleash a secret technique that would overdraft her potential.
Li Ziye let out a piercing howl. Becoming one with his sword, his whole body transformed into a streak of Sword Light and shot toward that Nascent Soul Early Stage Cultivator!
Wang Qi's Concealing Breath Technique could not fool him, but it happened to work perfectly against Ancient Method Cultivators. For now, Wang Qi appeared able to hold out a while longer, but whether Xiang Qi and that Nascent Soul Early Stage Cultivator lived or died concerned the outcome of the entire battle.
How could the cold-faced young man allow him to go support Xiang Qi? Sword in hand, he charged forward to stop this formidable enemy. Suddenly, he froze for a moment, and his movement technique slowed. Li Ziye actually brushed past him. Li Ziye did not encounter the interception he had expected. Though surprised, he had no time to think further and rushed toward Xiang Qi. The Nascent Soul Early Stage Ancient Method Cultivator, however, was horrified, because the cold-faced young man's action was no different from selling him out to Li Ziye.
At that instant, Wang Qi felt the black jade ring on his hand grow slightly warm. Almost at the same time, Zhen Chanzi roared in his mind, "Run! Run now! Toward Li Ziye! He is a disciple of the Emperor-Grade Heaven-Splitting Dao! The Emperor-Grade Heaven-Splitting Dao!"
Li Ziye knew nothing of Zhen Chanzi's abnormal reaction. He quickly brought that Nascent Soul Early Stage Cultivator within his attack range, then swung the heavenly sword down with all his strength! A golden Sword Qi howled as it tore through the air and pounced toward the Nascent Soul Early Stage Ancient Method Cultivator.
The man was attacking Xiang Qi with all his strength. How could he have time to defend? The protective spiritual radiance around him burst like foam at the touch of that Sword Qi, and the violent Sword Qi immediately tore apart his flesh. Xiang Qi seized the chance, spraying a mouthful of vital energy onto three sword discs. The three sword discs shot out like lightning, and with three muffled puffs, pierced through his chest.
Upon seeing this, Xiang Qi could no longer hold on. She coughed up a mouthful of blood and collapsed limply.
Li Ziye breathed a sigh of relief and turned, preparing to have a proper fight with the cold-faced young man. But then he saw a scene that made his eyes split with fury—
That cold-faced young man was charging directly toward Wang Qi's location!
Wang Qi's expression was furious. Seeing that he could no longer evade the pursuit of a Nascent Soul Early Stage Cultivator, he shouted, "Bastard! I should've known you were a walking trap!"
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