Sword Shatters the Gale, the Saint Takes Action

Boom—!!!

The Purple-Gold Sword Qi collided head-on with the Hundred-Foot Cyan Wind Blade!

There was no imagined stalemate, nor was there a violent explosion.

That wind blade, seemingly capable of cutting through anything, condensed from Winged Immortal's Daluo Realm mana and wind laws—

The instant it touched the Fate-Cutting Sword's qi, it unexpectedly let out a strange "hiss," like cloth slowly being sliced apart by a sharp blade!

The purple-gold Fate-Cutting Dao rhythm flowed endlessly over the Sword Qi. Violet light blazed in Xuan Chuan's eyes to its utmost limit as he pushed The One That Escaped to its absolute extreme.

He did not try to "resist" or "offset" that overwhelming power of the wind blade. That would be like a mantis trying to stop a chariot.

He was "searching."

Searching for the "core karmic threads" within this wind-blade divine ability that sustained its existence, operation, and eruption—the "trajectory of fate" that determined it would "inevitably strike" and "inevitably destroy its target"!

He found them!

In that one-billionth of an instant when the Sword Qi met the wind blade, Xuan Chuan's divine sense caught several of the most crucial—and most vulnerable—"nodes" in the wind blade's network of power!

They were the fixed constants where Winged Immortal's mana circulation and law connections converged when he cast this technique!

Break for me—!

Xuan Chuan roared inwardly. The Fate-Cutting Sword flared brighter, its Sword Intent condensed into a needle, and following that unseen sensation, it "pierced" those nodes with incomparable precision!

Crack!

A nearly inaudible shattering sound came from within the wind blade, yet it made Winged Immortal's golden vertical pupils abruptly constrict!

The next moment, a scene that left every onlooker dumbstruck unfolded: that hundred-foot wind blade, capable of tearing apart space—

And grievously wounding ordinary Zenith Heaven Golden Immortals, unexpectedly began to collapse and disperse inch by inch, like a long serpent whose bones and sinews had been pulled out, while it was still thirty feet above Xuan Chuan's head!

The violent wind laws lost their core restraint and turned into countless chaotic currents that shot in every direction, shredding the surrounding rocks and trees into a complete mess, yet failing to harm Xuan Chuan in the slightest!

Xuan Chuan swayed, his face paling somewhat as a thread of pale golden blood spilled from the corner of his mouth.

That sword strike had looked effortless, but it had actually drained more than half his focus and mana. He had even forcibly driven The One That Escaped into an overloaded deduction, and waves of stabbing pain coursed through his soul.

Yet he had ultimately held his ground. With the cultivation of a Golden Immortal—at least on the surface—he had directly "broken" an attack from a Zenith Heaven Golden Immortal!

"H-How is this possible?!"

"H-He blocked Martial Uncle Winged Immortal's divine ability?"

"What kind of Sword Intent was that? It actually dissolved the wind blade?"

Shouts of utter disbelief erupted below. A gleam flashed through Duobao Daoist's eyes, and a thoughtful expression appeared on his face.

Zhao Gongming's tightly clenched fist slowly relaxed, while extraordinary light flickered repeatedly in the Three Xiao Sisters' beautiful eyes.

High above, the frostiness and mockery on Winged Immortal's face cracked for the first time. In their place came a trace of astonishment, which then turned into deeper fury and... a sliver of barely perceptible gravity.

"You have some skill." Winged Immortal spoke coldly, but his voice no longer carried the same complete condescension as before. "No wonder you dared to be so arrogant.

Unfortunately, before absolute strength, every trick is futile!"

He no longer underestimated his opponent. Spreading his arms, the Dark Gold Wing Phantom that blotted out the heavens behind him suddenly became several degrees more solid!

"Wind Prison, rise!"

With his low shout, the space within a thousand-yard radius around Xuan Chuan was instantly filled completely with a Cyan Gale, sticky as glue and sharp as blades!

This was no ordinary wind. It was the Nine Heavens Astral Wind Prison, infused with the embryonic form of Winged Immortal's Daluo Realm domain!

Within the wind prison, every wisp of airflow was as heavy as a mountain and sharper than divine weaponry. Worse still, it contained a terrifying wind howl that could tear apart the soul!

At the heart of the wind prison, Xuan Chuan immediately felt as if he had fallen into a ten-thousand-foot-deep sea, with endless crushing and cutting force pressing in from every direction!

His protective immortal radiance flickered erratically at once, while the Sword Intent domain released by the Fate-Cutting Sword was compressed to within three feet of his body, creaking under the strain.

Even more terrifying was the all-pervading wind howl. It pierced directly into his sea of consciousness, churning his soul until it trembled and making even his mana circulation sluggish.

A Daluo Realm domain, even merely an embryonic form, was by no means something a Primordial Unity Golden Immortal could contend against! It was an absolute disparity in the level of life and mastery over the laws of heaven and earth!

Xuan Chuan's face flushed red and veins bulged across his skin. He desperately circulated The One That Escaped and the Fate-Cutting Sword Intent, struggling to preserve a shred of clarity and keep himself from collapsing within the wind prison.

He could feel his mana draining rapidly. His protective immortal radiance could hold out for ten breaths at most!

"Do you see it? This is the gap between us!"

Winged Immortal stood outside the wind prison, his golden vertical pupils looking down coldly at the struggling Xuan Chuan.

"I acknowledge that your cultivation has not come easily, so I will give you one final chance. Kneel, admit your guilt, and hand over the Purple Lightning Hammer!"

Xuan Chuan clenched his teeth, but his gaze remained sharp as a sword, without the slightest trace of submission. Kneel? Admit guilt? Hand over the treasure? Never!

"Stubborn beyond redemption!" Winged Immortal finally lost all patience. Killing intent surged in his eyes. "Then—fall!"

He formed a sword with two fingers and pointed from afar at Xuan Chuan within the wind prison.

The countless astral winds inside the prison instantly became ten times more violent, transforming into innumerable cyan wind blades condensed to the ultimate degree as they closed in on Xuan Chuan from every direction!

This was a killing blow, leaving no room for mercy!

Xuan Chuan's pupils shrank to their limit as the shadow of death descended upon him. He was nearly ready to throw caution to the wind and activate the Chaos Pearl Fragment and every trump card he possessed...

At that very instant—

Hum.

A faint sword hum, so soft it was almost inaudible, came from Biyou Palace atop the highest point of Golden Turtle Island—that majestic, ancient palace that seemed to have stood since time immemorial.

Then, a strand of Hazy Grey Sword Qi, utterly inconspicuous, drifted leisurely out from within Biyou Palace's gates.

That Sword Qi looked entirely ordinary. It was not fast, either—if anything, it moved somewhat unhurriedly.

It crossed the sky, passed through the gale domain laid down by Winged Immortal, and flew toward that terrifying wind prison.

Yet wherever this seemingly ordinary Hazy Grey Sword Qi passed, the leaden clouds blanketing heaven and earth, the astral winds tearing space apart, the wind prison that drove Primordial Unity Golden Immortals to despair...

Like snow and ice beneath the blazing sun, they silently melted away.

They were not shattered, nor were they dispersed. They simply... vanished as naturally as that, as though they had never existed.

The Sword Qi flew before Xuan Chuan, turned gently, and lightly "wiped away" the countless wind blades making their final killing strike. Then it became specks of flowing light and faded into the air.

Between heaven and earth, the wind stilled and the clouds scattered. Sunlight returned, as though the heaven-destroying scene from moments ago had been no more than a dream.

Winged Immortal's entire body shook. He gave a muffled grunt and staggered several steps back, his face alternating between green and white as his gaze toward Biyou Palace filled with reverence and unwillingness.

A calm, indifferent voice, yet one that seemed to contain the ultimate truths of heaven and earth, slowly resounded across Golden Turtle Island:

"Enough, Winged."

"Withdraw."

It was Master Tongtian!

Winged Immortal's expression changed several times. At last, he deeply bowed toward Biyou Palace and gritted out, "This disciple... obeys."

He raised his head and gave Xuan Chuan one final cold glance. The chill in that gaze was enough to freeze a soul.

Then his body turned into a streak of dark-gold light that shot into the sky and vanished into the distant heavens in an instant. He had come suddenly, and he left just as swiftly.

The Daluo Realm pressure weighing upon everyone's hearts dissipated. Only then did many disciples dare to take deep breaths, lingering fear still in their hearts.

Xuan Chuan also let out a breath and respectfully saluted in the direction of Biyou Palace. "Thank you, Master."

Yet within his mind, Master Tongtian's indifferent voice sounded separately, audible only to him:

"Resolve it yourself."

"This is tempering."

The voice vanished, and there was no further movement.

Xuan Chuan stood atop the mountain peak, bathed in the sunlight that had begun to spill down once more, watching the direction in which Winged Immortal had disappeared.

He then glanced at his fellow disciples below, their expressions varied—especially Golden Light Immortal and the others at the edge of the crowd, whose faces looked grim.

Resolve it myself... tempering...

He slowly wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth, and his gaze gradually became sharp and profound.

That was right. His master would not intervene in every matter. The trouble called Winged Immortal, and hidden dangers like Golden Light Immortal and the others, would ultimately have to be dealt with by himself.

The crisis had passed for now.

But the true trial, perhaps, had only just begun!