A Fierce Battle Looms

"What's wrong?" Zhang Rumeng asked, looking at Chen Jingjing.

"I saw Water Heaven Prison in an ancient book on Heavy Sword Peak. It's a Water-element spell with astonishing sealing power." Chen Jingjing's expression was grave as she considered how to help Chen Fan escape.

Zhang Rumeng looked toward Chen Fan. The watery curtain was shaped like an upside-down bowl, clamped tightly around him, its surface rippling swiftly like a flowing river.

"The currents have multiplied Water Heaven Prison's defensive power several times over. It'll also draw the moisture from anyone trapped inside, drying them out until they die." Chen Jingjing was at a loss. If even Chen Fan couldn't break Water Heaven Prison, she had no chance of doing so.

"What a vicious spell," Zhang Rumeng said in a low voice.

Watching Chen Fan trapped, Nalan Yun couldn't help laughing gleefully.

"Chen Fan, I told you long ago that you'd die here today." Her eyes brimmed with glee.

Nalan Tian looked at Chen Fan with pity and shook his head. "This is the difference between the Foundation Establishment Realm and you—the distance between an immortal and a mortal."

With that, Nalan Tian roared, "Water Bullet Technique!"

Boom! Boom!

The air behind Nalan Tian suddenly twisted. Streams of spiritual power drifted restlessly, slowly gathering together.

One after another, perfectly round water spheres, each as large as a human head, appeared out of thin air. They hovered densely behind Nalan Tian, looking from afar like countless stars.

Nalan Tian slowly raised his hand and aimed his open palm at the water prison, as if he meant to seize the entire thing.

"Die!" Nalan Tian suddenly bellowed. The dense cluster of water spheres shot downward like thousands of arrows, crashing one after another into the water prison. They passed through its layers of ripples like a torrential downpour, hurtling toward Chen Fan!

Hum!

Amid the deafening din, a sharp, unexpected sword cry suddenly rang out!

The next moment, Chen Fan's figure blurred. Countless water spheres crashed into the ground, their booming impacts coming one after another until they nearly blended into a single roar.

Amid the dense, surging downpour, Chen Fan moved like a phantom, his body a blur as he swept between the water spheres. A string of keen sword cries trailed behind him, growing louder and louder, as if the blade were about to slip from his control and fly into the sky.

This was Nine Palaces Footwork: roam through three, evade through five, command the sword to strike the executioner! He moved faster and faster, gradually becoming a shadow within Water Heaven Prison.

"It's useless. Water Heaven Prison is sturdier than Water Heaven Wall. The more he moves, the faster the moisture in his body will be drained," a sword cultivator from the Immortal Sect said with a frown from not far away.

"But his footwork seems strange. A mere Water Heaven Prison probably can't hold him. Otherwise, Elder Han wouldn't be so cautious," another person said, shaking his head slightly.

Hum!

The sharp sword cry suddenly rose to a higher pitch!

Boom!

A shadow shot through the top of the water prison like a sharp arrow, trailing a high spray of water behind it!

Then came a thunderous crash. The water prison collapsed, and amid the spray, Chen Fan charged straight toward Nalan Tian in midair, a dazzling sword light flaring before him!

"You..."

Nalan Tian's face was filled with shock and fury. He'd thought Chen Fan was as good as dead inside Water Heaven Prison, yet the spell had been broken despite its formidable strength. Nalan Tian knew he couldn't have achieved such a feat himself. But how could the dignity of a Foundation Establishment expert tolerate a mere Qi Refining cultivator's insolence?

Nalan Tian raised his palm. A talisman instantly transformed into a vast golden radiance, which he slammed forward!

"Five Dwellings Center!"

Chen Fan gave a quiet cry. Blazing Heaven Sword Qi covered his sharp sword, transforming it into a golden flying sword that whirled rapidly around him, forming a ring of golden light. Chen Fan stood at its center, protected as though by a golden river of stars, stirring the spiritual energy between heaven and earth.

This had far surpassed the limits of the Qi Refining Realm. Wherever the sword went, spiritual energy transformed into golden sword qi of boundless power.

"Immortal Sword Art!" The two sword cultivators from the Immortal Sect stared in shock and cried out.

"This man is far too heaven-defying. A Qi Refining cultivator has actually mastered Immortal Sword Art. We can't let him keep growing, or he'll become a great menace in the future," one of them said gravely.

"Senior Brother Liu and Junior Sister Bai still haven't arrived? My Sword Intent can barely wait to cross swords with him." The other man's eyes brimmed with fighting spirit.

"Don't be reckless. Now that we're here, we have to kill him for good. He's so fast that if he focuses on escaping, we'll be powerless to stop him. Only by using the Thunder Sound Golden Wheel to fight him can we be absolutely certain." With that, both men again turned toward the battlefield, their expressions grave.

Without a sound, Chen Fan's golden sword radiance swept toward Nalan Tian. He formed a sword sign with two fingers, and countless golden sword shadows burst forth wherever he pointed. The talisman's golden light collided with the golden sword shadows. The dazzling radiance suddenly shattered like fragile glass, breaking into countless tiny streams of light that slowly faded into the air, like flowers in a mirror and the moon in water.

Nalan Tian's face filled with panic. True Essence Power poured from him without pause, conjuring countless Water Heaven Walls to block the attack, but the golden sword shadows cut them all to pieces.

"Bastard!" he roared, retreating at top speed. He'd never suffered such humiliation before, being chased and beaten by a mere Qi Refining Ninth Layer sword cultivator.

Normally, Dao Cultivators above the Foundation Establishment Realm were stronger than sword cultivators. Yet Chen Fan possessed such an extraordinary Sword Art.

Just then, a flash of sword light appeared before Nalan Tian's eyes. His pupils suddenly contracted, but Chen Fan was nowhere to be seen behind the blade!

As Nalan Tian stared in astonishment, a calm voice rang out behind him, leaving no room for refusal. "Kneel!"

The sword shadow swept across both his legs!

Nalan Tian looked bewildered as his body involuntarily turned toward Chen Jingjing and the others and dropped to its knees.

"Ah..."

Only then did Nalan Tian let out a piercing scream.

Chen Fan's sword shadow had shattered his kneecaps. His legs could no longer bear his weight, and he collapsed to his knees. Only then did the bone-deep pain spread through Nalan Tian's body.

At his hair-raising scream, Nalan Yun and the other Heavy Sword Peak disciples finally came to their senses. They stared at Nalan Tian in shock and disbelief, at the blood seeping through the knees of his ornate robes.

"Brother!" Nalan Yun shrieked, covering her face. She couldn't believe what she was seeing.

"Whoosh!"

A piercing whistle cut through the air. A sharp sword, wreathed in blinding light, came to rest steadily against Nalan Tian's throat.

"Apologize!"

Chen Fan's voice was ice-cold, and his gaze was like a sharp sword, making Nalan Tian's eyes sting.

"Apologize? I, Nalan Tian, am the future head of the Nalan Family. Why would I apologize to trash like you?" Nalan Tian remained arrogant, still spewing insults as he knelt on the ground. The pain in his knees twisted his entire face into a savage grimace.

"You're already on your knees. What pride do you have left?" Zhang Rumeng said with a cold laugh.

"So all of you deserve to die. Only your deaths can wash away the humiliation I suffered today! Chen Jingjing, Zhang Rumeng, you two bitches, I—"

Before Nalan Tian could finish, Chen Fan suddenly swung his sword, smashing the flat of the blade across his mouth!

"Pa!"

The resounding slap echoed across the open ground. Nalan Tian was sent flying, blood arcing from his mouth along with several teeth.

"Your dog's mouth can't spit out anything decent," Chen Fan said coldly.

"Who are you calling a dog? Chen Fan, you're the dog—a mangy cur that's always underfoot!" Unable to accept the result, Nalan Yun leapt up like a wildcat with its tail stepped on and swung at Chen Fan's face.

"Pa!"

Another sharp slap rang out, and Nalan Yun was sent flying!

The one who slapped her was Chen Jingjing!

"Nalan Yun, you're nothing but a mad dog now." Chen Jingjing's face was livid as she glared at Nalan Yun.

Zhang Rumeng covered her slightly open mouth and stared at Chen Jingjing in disbelief, murmuring, "Who knew this little girl had such a savage side?"

"Chen Fan, Chen Jingjing, just you wait. The Nalan Family won't let you get away with this." Nalan Yun clutched her swollen red cheek and glared viciously at Chen Jingjing.

Chen Fan didn't pay her the slightest attention. He kept walking toward Nalan Tian, who was struggling on the ground.

"Apologize, or die." Chen Fan stared expressionlessly at Nalan Tian.

"Trash, you don't dare kill me. If I die, the Nalan Family will hunt you down across the entire world." Nalan Tian finished speaking and laughed arrogantly again. Looking at Chen Fan, he continued, "I, Nalan Tian, am the future—"

"Pfft!"

The cold gleam of the sword flashed across Nalan Tian's throat. He clutched his neck as blood gushed from it like a spring, his eyes wide as he stared at Chen Fan, unable to believe that Chen Fan had truly killed him.

"Ah..." A shrill scream burst from Nalan Yun's mouth. She pointed at Chen Fan in a crazed fury. "Chen Fan, you murderer! You dared to kill my brother! You're finished! You and Chen Jingjing are both finished! The Nalan Family—"

"Shut up." Chen Jingjing slapped her again, this time with enough force to send Nalan Yun unconscious.

The world fell silent once more. All the Heavy Sword Peak disciples stood dumbstruck, not a single one daring to speak.

An expert at the Foundation Establishment Early Stage had actually died at Chen Fan's hands.

They knew it wasn't that Nalan Tian was weak. Chen Fan was simply too monstrous.

"Brother." Chen Jingjing walked to Chen Fan's side, keeping a wary eye on the two sword cultivators not far away.

"Jingjing, you and Rumeng go hide. These are several powerful talismans I made. I've written how to use them on this paper." Chen Fan took a pile of yellow talismans and a sheet of white paper from his Storage Ring and handed them to Chen Jingjing.

"Brother, you..." A foreboding feeling rose in Chen Jingjing's heart.

But Chen Fan waved a hand, stopping her from continuing. He turned to Zhang Rumeng and said, "Rumeng, this is the Sword Art I'm proudest of, Blazing Heaven Sword Art. With your aptitude, you can certainly master it."

With that, Chen Fan handed Zhang Rumeng a blue-covered ancient book.

Only then did he speak slowly. "People from the Immortal Sect will be here soon. This will be a fierce battle, but I'll win."

With that, Chen Fan pointed his sharp sword diagonally at the ground. A glint flashed in his pitch-black eyes as he stared coldly at the two sword cultivators from the Immortal Sect.

Chen Jingjing and Zhang Rumeng were both stunned. They had clearly seen the confidence and resolve in Chen Fan's eyes.

"Brother, you have to win." Chen Jingjing nodded, then took Zhang Rumeng by the hand and headed toward the forest.

Zhang Rumeng glanced at Chen Jingjing in surprise again. Under ordinary circumstances, Chen Jingjing wouldn't have given in so easily.

"Jingjing, aren't you worried about him? Never mind Nalan Tian, but those two sword cultivators look much more dangerous than he was. And Chen Fan just said that more people from the Immortal Sect were coming." As she left with Chen Jingjing, Zhang Rumeng asked in surprise.

"Rumeng, do you think we can help here?" Chen Jingjing asked calmly.

At once, Zhang Rumeng shook her head without hesitation.

"That's why we have to leave. This will be a fierce battle, and my brother can't protect us. So we have to go far away and focus on cultivating what he gave us. He's getting farther and farther ahead, so we have to keep growing stronger and catch up with him." Chen Jingjing's eyes were full of determination.

Just then, a streak of light whistled through the air. It was a golden wheel with two figures standing on it, heading toward Chen Fan.