The old man was no weakling. Though he was still far from the level of a top Celestial Immortal, he was countless times more powerful than the most ordinary Celestial Immortals. Thus, even after Ju Hua had brought all his comprehension of the Dao of the Sword to bear, for a time he could do no more than fight the old man to a standstill.
The two battled fiercely for a long while, yet neither could gain the upper hand.
By now, the old man was cursing his rotten luck nonstop. In truth, he had no deep-seated grudge against Tianyang Old Ghost of the Zhuanshui Clan. The two had merely clashed a few times in the past!
This time, he had only struck on a whim, thinking he might as well kill this junior of the Zhuanshui Clan and vent the anger he'd been carrying since those old days! The Illusion Demon Realm was dangerous to begin with; a Loose Immortal dying here was nothing unusual!
But who could have guessed that this casual strike would land him in such a mess?
The old man had no doubt that Zhuanshui Juhua was no weaker than Immortal Jiuhua, the nominal commander of the army sent to conquer the Autumn Mountain Great Marsh!
One had to know that Immortal Jiuhua had lived for more than one and a half million years, and the Celestial Immortals all agreed that he could live for at least another million!
Such strength was beyond what an ordinary Loose Immortal who had lived for a million years could match!
"Fellow Daoist, this old man misjudged you. Though you follow the God-Fiend Path, your strength in battle comes from your sufficiently high level of comprehension of the Dao. Your body still couldn't withstand even one or two blows from me!" the old man called out. "This conflict between us was merely a misunderstanding. It would hardly be worth it for us to fight to the death over this! Let's call it quits here. Wouldn't that be for the best?"
"..."
Ju Hua ignored the old man's words. He simply continued to wield his sword, and whenever an opening presented itself, waves of fierce attacks surged toward the old man like a storm.
The old man's face turned ashen, but with Ju Hua doggedly hounding him, he couldn't escape and had no choice but to brace himself and fight.
Still, perhaps it was just his imagination, but the old man had the vague feeling that Ju Hua's swordsmanship was becoming more fluid and increasingly difficult to deal with as the battle went on.
No one knew how much time had passed. Gradually, the sword in Ju Hua's hand began to change. His swordsmanship, which had been as fierce as the Milky Way plunging from the heavens, suddenly turned ethereal. The change came about so subtly that it went unnoticed, yet at a certain moment it abruptly reached its peak. At that very instant, the six giant swords in Ju Hua's hands transformed into countless afterimages.
Countless sword shadows instantly crashed into all the black spikes. In an instant, the countless black spikes that had been able to fight Ju Hua to a standstill were all sent flying.
At this sight, the old man's expression changed dramatically. Several defensive magic treasures around him immediately blazed with light!
But what puzzled the old man was that Ju Hua didn't seize the opportunity to attack. On the contrary, he even dispelled his Law of Heaven and Earth and Three Heads and Six Arms divine abilities!
"What do you mean by this?" The old man didn't act rashly. He had seen what happened just now clearly, and was ninety percent certain that this Loose Immortal before him had just made another breakthrough.
If Ju Hua had broken through, the old man knew he was no match for him. He felt an urge to flee, but he was a Celestial Immortal, after all. It was hard for him to swallow the thought of being driven into a humiliating retreat by a Loose Immortal!
"You helped me break through, Senior. Naturally, I ought to repay you!" Ju Hua said expressionlessly. "I'll make just one move. If you can withstand it, I'll spare your life. How about that?"
"One move? Hmph, how arrogant!" The old man snorted in displeasure, but said nothing to reject the offer.
Although he was on guard, he didn't believe Ju Hua meant to kill him outright.
For one thing, he was here on Emperor Xia's orders to investigate the Illusion Demon Realm. If he perished here, the Loose Immortal before him would have a hard time explaining himself.
The old man didn't even consider that Ju Hua was an obscure nobody. He merely thought Ju Hua had been so low-key that he'd never heard of him! But just because he didn't know of him didn't mean no one else did. If he died here, Ju Hua—who was also in the Illusion Demon Realm and possessed strength no weaker than a Celestial Immortal—would inevitably be implicated.
Besides, Ju Hua had clearly just made a breakthrough, yet instead of pressing his advantage, he had put away his divine abilities. Didn't that show that he bore no killing intent? Otherwise, given the terrifying swordsmanship he had just displayed, the old man would have been lucky to escape without being skinned alive, even if he survived!
As for this so-called one-move agreement, the old man thought it was merely Ju Hua giving them both a way to save face!
The old man felt that though his strength wasn't among the very best of the Celestial Immortals, he was no weakling, either. Even if the Loose Immortal before him had an absurdly high level of comprehension, it would be ridiculous if he couldn't withstand even one of his moves!
Ju Hua could guess most of what the old man was thinking. Everything he had done up to this point was precisely to make the other man think that way, so he wouldn't flee in a panic!
The old man before him was a Celestial Immortal, after all. No one knew how many means he had to escape. If he actually got away, Ju Hua would be in an awkward position.
Though he didn't think Ju Hua intended to kill him, the old man was still on high alert. Ju Hua didn't hesitate. He waved his hand, and nine immortal swords appeared before him.
The nine immortal swords instantly formed a grand formation. The fierce aura made the old man's expression shift slightly. These nine immortal swords were all top-grade immortal-rank magic treasures, and they even formed a complete set.
"Senior, be careful!"
Ju Hua gave a reminder. The next moment, boundless elemental energy from the world surged toward the nine immortal swords.
Terrifying Sword Intent soared into the sky. In that instant, the old man's expression, which had only changed slightly before, turned fearful.
Yet before he could do anything, the terrifying sword formation seemed to cross through space, appearing before him in an instant.
"Residual Sword Style!"
Ju Hua softly cried out in his heart. The terrifying sword formation instantly split into countless parts, surging toward the old man from every direction. The defensive magic treasures enveloping him crumbled at the first touch, and countless terrifying attacks fell upon his body in an instant.
The old man had a Celestial Immortal's body, but how could it possibly withstand such terrifying attacks?
Before he could even scream, the old man's body, soul, and most of his treasures were ground to dust by the countless, incomparably terrifying sword shadows.
"."
Ju Hua gazed at the space that had become utterly empty and fell silent for a moment. Then he raised a hand and recalled the Litian Sword Formation.
At the same time, he collected the spike-shaped magic treasure the old man had left behind. As for the old man's other treasures, most of them had been destroyed by that terrifying attack just now.