Clash

Nangong Wan pushed the door open and entered.

Lu Shang had not looked closely at her aboard the other spirit boat. Only now did he realize that, with her cultivation no longer concealed, Nangong Wan possessed an added air of distinction.

She wore blue-and-white robes, and her flowing black hair gave off a faint fragrance.

Sword-like brows, star-bright eyes, and a compelling heroic air-these were fitting descriptions of Nangong Wan now.

Perhaps Lu Shang had been too absorbed in other matters inside the secret realm to notice.

Seeing that Lu Shang had been staring at her ever since she entered, Nangong Wan could only speak up. "Fellow Daoist Lu, have you looked your fill?"

With that, Nangong Wan closed the door.

Without the slightest change in expression, Lu Shang smiled. "You jest, fellow Daoist. Your beauty could topple a nation, Fellow Daoist Nangong. How could I ever look my fill?"

Then Lu Shang continued, "What brings you here, Fellow Daoist Nangong? I certainly hope you haven't come to ask whether I'm a spy sent by the Six Demonic Sects, too."

Lu Shang picked up his teacup with one hand and continued sipping.

Nangong Wan paused at his words.

"I'm afraid I really must disappoint you, Fellow Daoist Lu Shang. That is indeed what I came to ask."

"Hmph. I never imagined you were so forgetful, Fellow Daoist Nangong. Didn't we meet during the Blood Trial a few years ago? How could you fail to recognize the aura of a demonic art?" There was a teasing note in Lu Shang's voice.

Although Nangong Wan had fainted shortly after seeing Lu Shang back then, she certainly should have been able to recognize that his aura came from practicing a demonic art.

"So, Fellow Daoist Lu, are you admitting

it?"

As she spoke, Nangong Wan sat down across the table from Lu Shang.

"You saved my life back then. This time, I'll help you once in return. Leave on your own."

Nangong Wan secretly sent those words to Lu Shang through voice transmission.

"Hahaha!" Lu Shang could not help bursting into laughter.

"Leaving aside whether I belong to the Six Demonic Sects, even if I did, these people couldn't possibly keep me here!" Lu Shang made no effort to lower his voice.

"You!" Nangong Wan was startled.

"I thought you were all aboard the other boat because you'd decided to leave me alone. Who knew you were secretly hatching another scheme?"

Lu Shang infused his voice with spiritual power, allowing even those aboard the other spirit boat to hear him clearly.

A moment later, a voice rang out.

"Such boldness, fellow Daoist! Why not come out and exchange a few moves?"

Lu Shang rose, intending to go out and take a look.

"Are you really going?"

Lu Shang lowered his head to look at Nangong Wan, who sat before him.

It was a strange angle.

In Lu Shang's eyes, she was not merely a woman struggling to conceal her worry. She seemed more like...

He could not put it into words, nor could he quite make it out.

Lu Shang's mindset had long since settled into place. Without several extraordinary surprises, it would be difficult to change.

"There's no need to worry. Cultivators should settle things through a cultivator's methods. If I don't display a few divine abilities, I'm afraid it will be difficult for me to gain a foothold in the Southern Heaven Cultivation World."

Lu Shang gave Nangong Wan a reassuring look, then flew out.

Outside, a Core Formation Stage cultivator was already waiting for Lu Shang.

"I am..."

"Spare me the introduction. You may not even be worthy of having me remember your name," Lu Shang interrupted.

This man had been the most enthusiastic of those who had supported that Core Formation Stage cultivator earlier, so Lu Shang had no intention of treating him politely.

Although Lu Shang's contempt filled the man with anger, he could only swallow it.

"Then let's begin!" the man said.

He swiftly attacked Lu Shang.

"It seems that unless I show some strength today, every Core Formation Stage cultivator in Heavenly South will want to try his hand against me!"

With that, Lu Shang stopped concealing his aura.

Lu Shang mobilized all the spiritual power in his body and began activating the Wild Desolation True Demon Art.

In an instant, demonic qi surged out.

The man immediately stopped at the sight.

"He really is a Demonic Cultivator! Everyone, join me in taking him down!"

The man had finally found his opportunity. In a situation like this, someone only needed to stir things up, and others would surely join in.

"Come at me together!" Lu Shang called out.

"Let me show you the true Wild Desolation True Demon Art!"

As he finished speaking, the crimson armor surrounding Lu Shang immediately expanded, ultimately becoming a four-armed demon over a hundred feet tall.

"Attack!"

Seven or eight Core Formation Cultivators immediately cast spells and launched their attacks.

A moment later, Lu Shang said, "If you won't bring out your real abilities, let this pointless battle end here!"

With that, he appeared before a cultivator in an instant. Before the man could react, Lu Shang seized him in a crushing grip.

The others came to their senses and began scattering.

In the blink of an eye, Lu Shang appeared beside another man.

Again, he seized him with one hand.

Lu Shang held the two men fast beside him in his demonic hands. No matter what they did, neither could move.

"Hmph!" Lu Shang snorted contemptuously.

"This man's cultivation technique is strange. Put some distance between us first." With that, the speaker retreated farther away.

"You want to put some distance between us? Do you think you can move faster than I can attack?"

As he spoke, Lu Shang gathered spiritual energy into the hands gripping the Core Formation Cultivators.

"Aah! Aah!!"

As Lu Shang's spiritual power gathered, the two men howled in agony.

He flung both hands outward, hurling the two men like stones. Each slammed through two others before crashing into a mountain peak and finally coming to a stop.

"That should about do it!"

Lu Shang had intended to draw his Life-Bound Magical Treasure, the Silver Frost Dragon Halberd, and deliver one final slash to end the battle completely.

"Fellow Daoist! Could you stop? With demonic forces from other nations invading, this is no time for our nation's cultivators to weaken one another."

Lu Shang, still in demon form, looked down.

"Li Huayuan."

Lu Shang deactivated the True Demon Art.

"They're not quite dead, but making a full recovery before the war against the demonic forces ends will be something of a problem."

With that, Lu Shang flew toward the other spirit boat again.

"His strength is not something we Core Formation cultivators can easily overcome. Unless a Nascent Soul cultivator intervenes, I doubt there are even five people in all of Heavenly South who could contend with him," said the Core Formation Cultivator who had presided over their earlier discussion, watching Lu Shang's departing figure.

"You jest, fellow Daoist. Our shallow cultivation certainly left us at a disadvantage, but that was all because of his strange demonic art. Even if he has no equal among those at his level, Heavenly South has plenty of late Core Formation Stage cultivators. Don't fan that Demonic Cultivator's arrogance."

The old man shook his head.

"Forget it. As long as he isn't from the Six Demonic Sects, that's enough. Pass the word along and tell everyone to be more careful. As for the other four fellow Daoists, I'll send people to take them back to their sects."

A moment later, Lu Shang returned to the spirit boat.

He entered the room again.

Lu Shang discovered that Nangong Wan still had not left.

"Fellow Daoist Nangong, could it be that you were worried about me and deliberately stayed here to wait?" Lu Shang asked casually.

"Yes."

Lu Shang continued walking, her answer not registering at all.

Only after he sat down before Nangong Wan a moment later did it sink in.

Wait, isn't that far too direct?! Lu Shang was secretly startled, and he could not quite keep it off his face.

"Ahem, ahem!"

"You should hurry back to your sect. The fact that I'm a Demonic Cultivator is plain enough," Lu Shang said, trying to send her away.

Nangong Wan did not leave immediately. Instead, she sat in a brief daze, seemingly expecting Lu Shang to say something more.

After waiting a while without hearing anything further from Lu Shang, Nangong Wan could only turn and leave.

Once Nangong Wan was out of sight, he checked with his divine sense. Only after confirming that she had truly left did he stand up.

"Although they say cultivators are more forthright than most mortals in this regard, still..." Lu Shang trailed off, swallowing his final words.

For Lu Shang, whose mindset was still that of a young man in his early twenties, this was rather difficult to accept.

At most, the two of them had shared a kiss inside the secret realm. How had things... ended up like this?!

What Lu Shang did not know was that saving her in the secret realm back then had done more than leave a deep impression.

Under the Ink Flood Dragon's influence, even though she had been alone in the illusory realm that day, the Maiden Reincarnation Art had unwittingly locked onto Lu Shang's aura.

Before the discussion, she had already detected Lu Shang, even before boarding the spirit boat.