Testing Divine Abilities

In the city, Xu Yan walked along without hurry or concern, looking thoroughly at ease.

From time to time, he stopped at the stalls lining the road. The middle section of the immortal city had the greatest number of cultivators, and the stalls were filled with spiritual materials and treasures. Xu Yan also tried sensing them with the Edict Script, but found no particularly rare treasures.

Finding the Primordial Yin Treasure Jade back then had truly been a stroke of good fortune.

"You are... Xu Yan?"

Someone recognized him, stared wide-eyed, and hurriedly moved aside.

"Fellow Daoist, did you really kill Huangfu Ziyang?" A wandering cultivator ran into Xu Yan on the road and said, "Fellow Daoist, what skill!"

But as soon as he finished speaking, he hurried away, afraid that someone from Nine Star Kui Island might spot him.

Thanks to Murong Yan, Xu Yan had become somewhat famous within the city.

In quite a few places around the city, notices from Nine Star Kui Island had been posted, declaring that whoever brought them the head of Half-Immortal Xu would receive spiritual-material rewards from Nine Star Kui Island.

After the time it took an incense stick to burn, Xu Yan arrived at the city's Dao Field.

It was ancient and majestic, a black-stone Dao Field several hundred zhang wide. The Mirror Stone stood at its center, with the names upon it exceptionally eye-catching.

It was just past noon. Most cultivators had left the city, all because the Mystic Gate Sky Boat had appeared five hundred li east of the city, drawing a large number of cultivators to fight over it.

Only a dozen or so people remained on the Dao Field. They were either practicing divine abilities or testing the grade of their spiritual veins.

Unless there was a blood feud, few people fought here.

As Xu Yan stepped inside, he felt the restrictions that had been weighing upon him in Spirit-Sealing City abruptly vanish. His entire body felt incomparably refreshed.

"Let me see how much this cultivation of mine has improved!"

Xu Yan's gaze narrowed slightly. The Green Pattern Sword was the first to fly out of his Qiankun Bag, circling through the air.

A series of more than ten crisp clangs rang out.

Under the use of the Hundred Sword Art, the Green Pattern Dharma Sword split into sixteen blades!

Their sword bodies were wreathed in the Green Pattern Sword's own astral qi, as well as Xu Yan's deep and domineering Primordial Mystic Qi. Killing intent spiraled through the air as Xu Yan controlled the flying swords with his divine sense, slashing from left to right, from above to below.

The furthest distance he could control them was within fifty zhang.

Although Xu Yan's divine sense could extend eighty zhang, controlling sixteen dharma swords at once made fifty zhang his limit. It was already astonishing enough.

What a pity I can't cultivate the Manifest Sage Method for now. Otherwise, my divine sense could improve tremendously, and controlling them then would be like a fish returning to water.

Xu Yan thought to himself.

With a sweep of his hand, he recalled the dharma swords. Then, stepping on the Chaos Step, his body flickered back and forth across the Dao Field.

It was like shrinking the earth into inches. He still remembered that when he had just entered Pulse Opening, he could not sustain this escape technique for even the time it took an incense stick to burn. But now, not only was his Mystic Qi vast and surging, his divine ability had also become increasingly practiced. He could sustain it for a full half hour.

Afterward, Xu Yan tested the Primordial Chaos Palm as well. This technique still consumed an enormous amount of Mystic Qi. Xu Yan could now unleash its fifth resounding strike, but it drained fully half his mana.

Yet its power was truly tyrannical and terrifying. It was the most powerful divine ability Xu Yan could currently use!

Stepping upon Mystic Qi, Xu Yan rose into the air.

The pitch-black Primordial Mystic Qi beneath his palm surged like great rivers and mighty streams. Within it, wind, fire, thunder, lightning, and the celestial forces of all phenomena evolved. When his palm struck down, the sound was like thunder crashing into the earth, reverberating throughout the entire Dao Field!

The dozen or so cultivators trembled in fright and all turned to look at Xu Yan, staring at him in astonishment.

"Let me test this Primordial Qi Force."

Xu Yan had not neglected this defensive divine ability either. After trying it out, his Dao body was already covered by a layer of domineering Mystic Qi, hard beyond compare. Xu Yan tried striking it with the Green Pattern Sword, only for the sword to be sent flying back by the qi force.

After practicing for a while, Xu Yan stopped. He sat cross-legged on the Dao Field by himself and began resting.

Just as Xu Yan had expected, it was not long before—

People from Nine Star Kui Island came looking for him.

Hurried footsteps sounded from outside the Dao Field.

There were three of them, all dressed in Nine Star Kui Island robes. They appeared on the terrace outside the Dao Field and looked inside, immediately locking onto Xu Yan, who was meditating in cultivation.

Xu Yan naturally caught sight of them from the corner of his eye. These people were unfamiliar faces; he had not seen them before.

The young man in the lead wore a fierce expression as he called out loudly.

"You are quite leisurely. You killed a disciple of my Nine Star Kui Island, yet you still dare swagger around here!"

Hearing the commotion, Xu Yan turned to look.

After briefly sensing them with his divine sense, he found that the young man was at the fifth level of Pulse Opening, while the two disciples beside him were both at the fourth level.

Most cultivators in the middle section of the immortal city possessed this level of strength. Besides, even those with some cultivation had gone outside the city at this time to fight over the Sky Boat.

"Didn't Murong Yan say this man was at the second level of Pulse Opening? How is he at the fourth level?" one disciple said with a frown.

"That explains it," the other said. "With Young Master's strength, how could he have been killed by a wandering cultivator at the second level of Pulse Opening? This man must have concealed his strength and joined forces with other wandering cultivators. Only then did Young Master meet such a poisonous end."

Xu Yan rose unhurriedly and said calmly, "Gentlemen, life and death inside the Immortal Treasury are left to fate. Fellow Daoist Huangfu lacked sufficient strength himself; no one else can be blamed for what happened to him. We did indeed have some conflict with Fellow Daoist Huangfu, all because of the Ancient Teleportation Array. But he escaped at the time. With his escape technique, I, Xu Yan, could not catch up to him."

The young man snorted coldly and demanded, "So you admit that you killed Young Master?"

"If that is what you believe, there is nothing I can do about it. I acted only in self-defense. If Young Master Huangfu had not come looking to make trouble for me, I, Xu Yan, would not have bothered to fight him." Xu Yan's expression darkened slightly, though his tone remained calm. "However, Huangfu Ziyang was not killed by me. Whether you believe it is for you to decide."

Xu Yan brought out the Green Pattern Sword and flicked its blade, looking utterly at ease.

"Cousin, why waste words with him? Since he is courting death himself, we will finish him here!"

"Words are useless. Make your move!"

The young man frowned, seeming deep in thought, but said nothing.

He took a step forward and unleashed an escape technique, swooping down like a great hawk.

Huangfu Ziyang had died within the Immortal Treasury. They had to give the Huangfu Clan of Nine Star Kui Island an explanation. A direct-line heir could not simply die without rhyme or reason.

The young man had suspected that Huangfu Ziyang's death might have had another cause, but the man was already dead, and the dead could not testify. Murong Yan had also insisted that Huangfu Ziyang had been severely wounded and died because of Xu Yan.

They could only come for Xu Yan.

The young man's escape speed was swift. Under Xu Yan's divine-sense perception, he discovered that the man possessed Windwalk spiritual veins. Sharp astral qi rushed at him head-on.

He brought out a long saber, its blade wreathed in rolling astral qi that sent chills down one's spine, and slashed directly at Xu Yan's face!

Xu Yan raised his hand and spread his five fingers. Primordial Mystic Qi began gathering in his palm as immense black mana surged forth. After five crackling blasts like thunder, Xu Yan stepped upon the Chaos Step. Neither retreating nor dodging, he charged straight forward.

Boom!

Palm and saber collided, and a deafening explosion erupted across the Dao Field.

The tyrannical power of the Primordial Chaos Palm's fifth resounding strike collided head-on with the young man's astral-wind saber qi. Ripples of mana burst outward in all directions, sending dust billowing across the Dao Field.

Xu Yan's palm suddenly sank, and Primordial Chaos Mana howled forth!

The young man's eyes flew wide open. He felt as though the web between his thumb and forefinger was about to split apart. The domineering mana was like a small mountain crashing into him, and his long saber shook without end. After that clash of divine abilities, his dharma artifact was sent flying away.

The Primordial Chaos Palm landed solidly upon his Dao body.

Pfft—

A sweetness rose in the young man's throat as he felt his blood and qi churn. He spat out blood at once, his eyes bulging wide, his face ashen, and his gaze fixed upon Xu Yan in utter disbelief.

What kind of spiritual-vein manifestation does this man possess? How can his mana be so tyrannical?

He thought.

He felt as though the meridians in his chest were about to be shattered. Blasted back by Xu Yan's palm, his body flew ten zhang across the Dao Field before crashing heavily to the ground.