As Li Qingxun grew serious, Wu Changkong's gaze took on a rare solemnity.
There was scrutiny in that gaze, along with a barely perceptible trace of wariness.
Li Qingxun was strong. Wu Changkong knew that well.
Naturally, he would not hold back.
He knew what Li Qingxun was capable of, and he knew that holding back could cost him the initiative.
Li Qingxun stepped forward and raised his hand. An Ice and Snow Long Sword condensed in his palm, frost spreading across its blade.
The next second, the sword split into nine, thrusting at Wu Changkong from nine directions with fierce, blistering speed.
As the sword lights crossed, they sliced sharp whistles through the air.
Most outrageous of all, each of the nine swords seemed to possess a spirit of its own. Their trajectories never wavered, and every angle was fiendishly tricky.
Their movements were impossible to predict easily, let alone anticipate in advance.
Seeing Li Qingxun strike first, Wu Changkong's gaze froze for an instant. He stepped forward, raising his hand at the same time.
Rather than retreat, he advanced into the oncoming swords, his aura rapidly climbing.
Powerful ice and snow energy condensed in his hand. The Frost Sword in his grasp suddenly shone, and as his third Soul Ring lit up, the sword abruptly expanded.
The Frost Sword transformed into a frost greatsword that bore down from midair, but half of the nine swords swept around it.
As the frost greatsword pressed down, even the ground seemed to sink beneath it, cold air spreading outward along the surface.
Yet the nine Ice and Snow Long Swords were as nimble as snakes, slipping around the greatsword's edge and continuing to thrust from treacherous angles.
Li Qingxun simply let the greatsword crash toward him, watching Wu Changkong bring out his Martial Soul directly.
Tang Wulin gritted his teeth and took the first step forward.
The Golden Dragon Claw appeared on his left arm. Golden light flared, and he charged straight at the Frost Sword.
Beside him, Xie Xie slipped soundlessly past Tang Wulin like a shadow, charging straight at Wu Changkong, who was surrounded by the nine swords.
Gu Yue raised her hand. Ice and fire energy condensed in her grasp, while an enormous ice sphere and fireball roared into shape behind her.
The twin spheres of ice and fire spun behind Gu Yue, waves of heat weaving through cold air and making the surrounding air warp slightly.
Then both hurtled in from the left and right, driven by tremendous power, fast and fierce.
Sensing the forces rushing toward him from all around, Wu Changkong raised his frost greatsword. As it chopped toward Tang Wulin, he abruptly swept it sideways.
Under the greatsword's sweeping blow, frost energy surged like a tide.
Four of the Ice and Snow Long Swords failed to dodge and were utterly shattered in an instant.
The Frost Sword met the Ice and Snow Long Swords, crushing them in the blink of an eye.
Sensing an approaching presence, Wu Changkong raised his foot and kicked straight at Xie Xie.
The kick was swift and vicious. The instant Xie Xie darted out, he had no chance to unleash Light Dragon Storm.
The kick struck him squarely in the abdomen, sending him flying backward to crash heavily off to the side.
On the other side, Wu Changkong casually flicked a stream of cold air at Gu Yue's incoming fireball and ice sphere.
Then he stood still, watching the five remaining swords.
Gu Yue's fireball and ice sphere collided with the cold air, bursting across the ground in a vast cloud of mist where heat and cold mingled.
Wu Changkong was about to slash downward with his Frost Sword, but Tang Wulin had already closed in and fiercely wrapped his arms around it.
The impact left Tang Wulin's arms numb, but he still clung tightly to the blade, refusing to let go.
He tried to restrain Wu Changkong with his immense strength, and sensing his Martial Soul being pinned down, Wu Changkong reacted.
Wu Changkong raised his hand.
Terrifying ice spread across his hand. Watching the five Ice and Snow Long Swords rush toward him, Wu Changkong swung his right hand sharply.
The ice energy surrounding him surged outward, and the two forces collided violently.
As the powerful shock wave struck, Wu Changkong nearly found himself driven backward.
Although he used his four-ring strength to withstand the shock of the collision, his expression grew somewhat strange.
Li Qingxun had only two rings. Fighting him with just two rings, he had nearly forced him back outright.
That power and potential truly shocked him. And the more shocked he was, the more Wu Changkong wanted to force out Li Qingxun's hidden cards.
So after raising his hand, he abruptly shattered the frost longsword in his grasp, sending the greatsword's remaining ice crashing toward Tang Wulin.
His gaze turned to Li Qingxun. He abruptly drew the longsword in his hand and unleashed Frost Slash in an instant.
The terrifying slash hurtled toward Li Qingxun, fast and vicious, without the slightest pause.
Seeing Wu Changkong come at him with lethal force, Li Qingxun froze for an instant, but his expression barely changed.
Li Qingxun guessed that Wu Changkong wanted to learn the full extent of his strength, and he did not mind revealing it.
As Li Qingxun raised his hand, deathly pale scales instantly covered the fingertips of his left arm.
The scales then spread from his fingertips over his entire left arm, revealing an eerie dragon claw covered in thick, pure-white scales.
At the sight of the dragon claw's form, a flicker of astonishment crossed Wu Changkong's eyes.
Then he saw Li Qingxun abruptly clench his fist, draw it back slightly, and surge forward with a punch.
The scale-covered fist collided with the slash. The full-power, four-ring slash struck the Fantasy Dragon's scales, yet left only a white mark.
With a deafening bang, the slash was extinguished. Li Qingxun staggered back two steps, but his expression remained calm.
As Li Qingxun raised his hand, his eyes instantly turned gold, those pale-golden eyes fixing on Wu Changkong.
Since Wu Changkong wants to see my hidden cards and know how strong I am, I might as well show him a little.
Li Qingxun saw no reason to conceal these things, because even if someone discovered them, it would do little good.
Unless a Limit Douluo came at him with lethal intent, anyone else would still find killing him exceedingly difficult.
As Li Qingxun stepped forward, eerie symbols condensed before him.
He directly simulated the ability of Sequence 8 of the Seer Pathway: Clown.
Perfect bodily balance manifested within Li Qingxun. He stepped forward, charging toward Wu Changkong at an extraordinarily strange and tricky angle.
Seeing Li Qingxun suddenly charge at him, Wu Changkong was momentarily stunned. After all, he was fighting these children with four-ring cultivation.
His strength far surpassed theirs, yet Li Qingxun dared to clash with him head-on. Even Wu Changkong found that astonishing.
But Wu Changkong was no rigid fool. As he raised his hand, countless sword-energy slashes fell in an instant, without pause.
His slashes were extremely fast. Without a Soul Skill behind them, they were almost entirely transparent and colorless.
Yet as dozens of consecutive slashes fell, Li Qingxun deftly avoided every one.
No matter how intricate or insidious the chained slashes were, Li Qingxun detected them without fail the moment they drew near.
Or rather, this should have been called anticipation.
Moreover, compared with an ordinary Clown, Li Qingxun's physical capabilities far surpassed those of normal people. His body was powerful enough.
As a result, all manner of highly difficult movements became far easier for him.
As Li Qingxun drew closer, the Fantasy Dragon claw on his left arm disappeared, and frost condensed in his hand once more.
With a gentle wave of his hand, countless flecks of frost before him transformed into cards, constantly flipping in his palm.
Fixing his gaze on Wu Changkong, Li Qingxun tossed all the cards into the air in an instant. The next second, they shot like arrows soaring into the sky.
They darted in from every direction, following exceptionally tricky trajectories.
Wu Changkong wanted to counter them with sword energy, but just as he prepared to use his power, he realized that the cards were coming from far too awkward angles.
Each seemed to target a spot that was particularly difficult for him to deal with, then shot toward his body without the slightest pause.
Forty-six cards rushed toward him from forty-six entirely different-or rather, entirely nonoverlapping-directions.
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