Final Battle at Lingyun Grotto

Three days passed in the blink of an eye.

After settling Madam Liu and her two daughters in Leshan Town, Li Chenfeng brought the Sword Servant to the banks of the Min River. They found a patch of bushes and hid within.

As time slowly reached the Hour of the Snake, Li Chenfeng and his servant remained quietly concealed in the bushes. Yet in Li Chenfeng's senses, another group was also hiding roughly a hundred meters away.

Judging by the sharp aura emanating from the three, two of them should have been sword experts. The other felt somewhat elusive and indistinct to Li Chenfeng.

That should be Bu Jingyun, Death Slave, and Prison Slave. With that thought, Li Chenfeng concealed all his presence and Sword Intent.

Suddenly, a deafening boom came from the Min River. Li Chenfeng swiftly turned his gaze toward the river...

A small boat, unable to withstand the raging current, was driven violently into the riverbank and smashed to pieces on impact!

Yet at the instant the boat shattered, two figures shot up from it like lightning. Borrowing the momentum, they leaped onto the bank.

Though they were several hundred meters away, Li Chenfeng could still make out that one was an adult and the other a child. The elder had a large saber strapped to his back, and cold glints occasionally flashed from his eyes, enough to make anyone shudder.

The child beside him looked about eleven or twelve. His features were unusually gentle, touched with what seemed like seven parts helplessness. He was the complete opposite of the adult.

So these are Nie Renwang and Nie Feng, father and son? Li Chenfeng thought to himself.

Everything that followed unfolded just as expected.

He watched Duan Lang lead Nie Renwang and his son to the Buddha's Knee of the Giant Buddha...

Suddenly, an incomparably fierce, destructive aura surged down from the Buddha Summit, pressing down so heavily that it was hard to breathe.

Sword Intent—Duan Shuai's Sword Intent!

Li Chenfeng's eyes flickered. He had not expected Duan Shuai to condense such powerful Sword Intent. Those old men who had made such great names for themselves in the martial world truly possessed real skill!

After steadying himself, Li Chenfeng turned his gaze back toward Nie Renwang's group.

In the field, Nie Renwang also raised his head toward the Buddha Summit and thought, What sharp Sword Qi! What domineering Sword Intent! Duan Shuai, you have waited five whole years. Today, I shall grant your wish!

He then removed Snow-Drinking from his back and handed it to Nie Feng beside him, reminding him, "Feng, stay here for now and keep Snow-Drinking safe for Father."

Seeing that his father was actually setting aside his treasured saber before battle, Nie Feng had no idea what his father was thinking and grew even more worried. He called softly, "Father..."

Nie Renwang smiled faintly. "Don't worry. Father will certainly win this battle, and I will return to spend the rest of my life with you!"

Nie Renwang transformed into a fierce gust of wind and leaped into the air, charging straight for the Buddha Summit. Only young Nie Feng and Duan Lang remained below.

Li Chenfeng still made no move. Since he already knew Bu Jingyun was nearby and that their goal was likewise the two divine weapons, he naturally would not expose his whereabouts too soon.

From the Buddha Summit, Li Chenfeng could now sense the saber force and Sword Qi radiating from above. Even the white clouds in the sky were being churned to pieces.

Nie Renwang and Duan Shuai had begun their battle.

Li Chenfeng glanced faintly toward where Bu Jingyun's group had been hiding. The three were no longer there. While Nie Renwang and Duan Shuai fought, they had climbed the Buddha Summit from the other side, since their aim was the Fire Qilin Sword and the Snow-Drinking Saber.

However, knowing what was about to happen, Li Chenfeng did not ascend the summit. Still, continuing to hide around the Buddha's foot was not an option either, because if nothing unexpected happened, the waters of the Min River would soon rise dramatically.

Water would flood the Buddha's Knee, and fire would consume Lingyun Grotto...

Next, it would be the Fire Qilin's entrance!

Events did not disappoint Li Chenfeng. Just as in his memories, without the Snow-Drinking Saber, Nie Renwang was still injured by Duan Shuai.

And in order to force Nie Renwang to reveal his true abilities, Duan Shuai, influenced by the Fire Qilin Baleful Aura, did not hesitate to attack Nie Feng...

Fire Kirin Eclipses the Sun!

The final and strongest move of the Duan Clan's inherited Fire Kirin Swordsmanship. When performed by Duan Shuai while wielding the Fire Qilin Sword, even Nie Renwang with Snow-Drinking in hand would not dare take it lightly.

Yet the one facing this sword strike now was merely eleven-year-old Nie Feng!

The sword net blazed like a rainbow, its sharp Sword Qi capable of cutting gold. It sliced the ground within a two-zhang radius around Nie Feng into fragments. Sand and stones flew wildly as the sword net, like a bolt of silk, tightly enclosed him.

"What a move, Fire Kirin Eclipses the Sun!" Even Li Chenfeng, hidden in the distance, could feel the power of this attack.

If he put himself in Nie Feng's current position, could he escape alive beneath this sword strike?

After careful comparison, Li Chenfeng's conclusion was—no!

A blazing light flashed in his eyes as Li Chenfeng stared without moving at Duan Shuai's sword strike.

The sword net rapidly contracted, hurtling toward Nie Feng at its center!

The grim sword net was like a gigantic bell, sealing Nie Feng tightly from above. At this moment, Nie Feng saw only darkness all around him, without even a trace of light or hope...

Fire Kirin Eclipses the Sun did not merely eclipse the sun or devour the light. It also devoured the hope of survival in a person's heart.

It truly was an exceptionally despairing move!

Yet at this moment, Nie Feng was still thinking of how he and his aging father could once again live the ordinary life they had once shared—working at sunrise and resting at sunset.

He still wished to spend his entire life repaying this father who had been abandoned, adding whatever happiness he could to his father's rough and difficult fate...

He absolutely could not give up hope of survival so easily. He absolutely could not die!

The Ice Heart Formula automatically surfaced in Nie Feng's mind. At the critical moment, he calmed his heart once more and fixed his gaze upon the descending sword net.

He was naturally intelligent, and his cultivation of the Ice Heart Formula was not weak. Coupled with his unextinguished will to survive, he suddenly discovered a nearly imperceptible thread of light within the sealed sword net.

A flaw! This was the flaw in Fire Kirin Eclipses the Sun!

Nie Feng raised the Snow-Drinking Saber in his hand. At this moment, so long as he used any one technique from his family's Six Frosty Techniques to slash at that point, Fire Kirin Eclipses the Sun would surely collapse!

Yet things that appeared simple were often unimaginably difficult to actually accomplish!

Duan Shuai's decades of cultivation were immensely profound, and with the overwhelming force of his descent from more than ten zhang above, even if Nie Feng found the flaw and could break the move, he would still inevitably be killed when the sword force shattered all five viscera and six bowels within him.

But he had no choice but to strike this slash. It was his only path to survival.

At that moment, Nie Renwang's knees had been shattered, making it difficult for him to fully use his lightness skill. He could only slowly slide down the Buddha's Knee. When he saw the sword strike descending upon Nie Feng's head, even as his eyes split wide, it was already too late to save him...