Sweeping Away

The perimeter of Canglang Mountain was merely twenty or thirty miles around.

An elite of the fourth rank who had refined Qi into Gang stimulated his True Qi, letting out a loud shout like a thunderclap that shook the entire mountain.

Immediately, the entire Canglang Sword Sect fell into turmoil.

"Qin Lian, it's the head of the Qin family!"

"External rumors said he was already heavily wounded and dead? Why would he suddenly appear on our Canglang Mountain, and... he comes with ill intent!?"

"The Qin family members have charged over! Quickly, quickly report to the Sect Master!"

"Run! Run quickly! This is Qin Wudi, the one who caused "Sword Presses Taibai"! A grandmaster figure who has refined Qi into Gang, we simply cannot fight him!"

"My mother only let me learn martial arts at the Canglang Sword Sect for a few years to get some standing, so that it would be easy to pull strings and arrange for me to be a catcher in the county yamen when the time comes. She didn't say anything about fighting, let alone fighting a fourth-rank grandmaster!?"

Countless people wore looks of terror and panicked together.

Up and down the mountain, it was even more chaotic.

A man's reputation, a tree's shadow.

Over the past ten years, even while residing in Chunyang, every time "Qin Lian" made a move during family visits, he invariably displayed his strength of traversing Taibai.

Especially in the past four years, stationed permanently at Dragon Abyss Mountain, he was all the more like a sword hanging overhead, pressing down so heavily that all factions dared not breathe.

If not for the news coming from various sources indicating that Qin Lian, this top-tier expert, had suffered severe vitality damage and was on the verge of death after a battle with the Blood Demon, Sect Master Wu Meng of the Canglang Sword Sect, Elder Ning Chuan, and others would never have dared to jump out and become enemies with him.

Even with the intention of replacing him, the higher-ups of the Canglang Sword Sect only dared to probe privately first, not daring to openly announce the matter for fear of causing widespread panic.

Under these circumstances, upon learning that "Qin Lian" had stormed over with the intent to wipe out the Canglang Sword Sect...

The higher-ups were somewhat better, but the ordinary disciples simply collapsed.

They scattered in a flurry.

Qin Lian bounded up the mountain, and not a single disciple dared to block him.

Even those official disciples who had attained a rank and theoretically shared honor and disgrace with the Canglang Sword Sect were no exception.

If a few could stay behind and follow at a distance, that could already be considered showing immense loyalty to the sect.

Soon, Qin Lian had already arrived at the center of the Canglang Sword Sect.

Wu Meng, Ning Chuan, Wu Li, and various other elders who had just received the news had just finished assembling.

Looking at Qin Lian, who had manifested here and seemed full of vigor, everyone had some disbelief in their eyes.

"Qin Lian, you..."

Wu Meng's heart trembled.

Yet Ning Chuan reacted extremely quickly: "Qin Lian is already outwardly strong but inwardly dry, he is definitely putting up a bluff! The Canglang Thirty-Six Swords, obey orders, follow us together to deploy the Canglang Sword Formation!"

This stern shout also woke Wu Meng from his terror.

The enemy had already stormed to their doorsteps.

How his injuries were, did that still matter?

At this time, they had to take advantage of the fact that the stewards and true disciples were still dazed and had not reacted, making their move at the fastest speed possible.

Otherwise, facing Qin Wudi whose momentum was at its zenith, the entire Canglang Sword Sect would face the danger of collapsing without a fight.

By then, ordinary disciples might find a path to survival, but as the Sect Master and several high-ranking elders, they would surely die.

Instantly, Wu Meng gave a sharp shout.

"Deploy the formation!"

Those disciples and stewards who were still in terror instinctively crowded in front of Wu Meng, Ning Chuan, Wu Li, and the others at this stern shout, wanting to form a formation...

If he had been the original owner, perhaps he would still care about some grandmaster demeanor.

Yet Qin Lian...

He had already come to eradicate the sect, who would still watch you peacefully deploy a formation?

If not for not wanting to involve the innocent, that roar of his wouldn't have even been shouted.

Almost simultaneously with Wu Meng's order to deploy the formation, the Azure Firmament sword in his hand had already left its sheath.

True Qi erupted!

The "energy" throughout his whole body surged mightily, following a special circulation method, transforming into a thunderous momentum as it poured into the Azure Sky treasure sword in his hand.

Rushing Thunder Sword Art!

The thick True Qi condensed into a sword Gang that stirred up muffled thunder, carrying an indestructible sharpness as it charged directly in front of Wu Meng, who had not yet had time to form the sword formation.

"Dammit!"

This scene made Wu Meng both startled and enraged as he drew his sword to intercept: "You, a grandmaster..."

"Sect Master, watch out! The Rushing Thunder Sword Art's momentum is like rushing thunder, swift as lightning, it cannot be met head-on..."

Ning Chuan shouted, joining the encirclement with his sword.

Yet just as Wu Meng's sword was about to intercept the Azure Firmament sword, and Ning Chuan was able to follow up closely to form a pincer momentum, the speed of the Azure Firmament sword's blade surged violently.

Qin Lian...

Not only did he preempt the attack, but he also held back a trick, and at the very moment of their clash, he employed the newly synthesized "Swiftness" attribute.

Even a lion hunting a rabbit uses its full strength!

The fourth rank and the fifth rank differed by a mere rank, leaving him no room for the slightest slack.

"Whoosh!"

The Azure Firmament sword in the swift state resembled a silver ribbon, and amidst a roar, it bypassed Wu Meng's interception at an unimaginable speed, piercing through the skull of this Canglang Sword Sect Master.

"Screech!"

Stab the sword, pull the sword!

Without a shred of stagnation.

Qin Lian's body likewise shuttled across with a speed so fast it exceeded everyone's imagination.

The Vertical and Horizontal Art was deployed.

He resembled an arrow loosed from a string, shooting forth and instantly breaking free from the sword light shroud of the great elder Ning Chuan, man and sword as one, piercing toward another nearest True Qi realm elder.

This elder's combat experience was indeed extremely rich.

As his figure retreated violently, the sharp sword in his hand actually intercepted Qin Lian's incoming sword tip with absolute precision.

Yet...

One was Fourth-Rank True Astral!

The other was Sixth-Rank True Qi!

It was almost equivalent to using a steel sword tempered a thousand times to slash at a block of raw iron just dug from the ground!

The gap in quality was far too great.

"Bang!"

Sparks flew!

Even though this elder relied on sensitivity to the extreme and experience to judge the sword art trajectory of Qin Lian's thrust, under the double advantage of Gang Qi eruption and a superior treasure sword, the sharp sword in this elder's hand shattered directly.

"No!"

The fractured broken sword and iron chunks acted like indestructible hidden weapons under the shock of the Gang Qi, slamming toward this elder's face and instantly tearing several gaps across his face.

And amidst all the "fragments," the blade of the Azure Firmament sword drove straight in, piercing through this elder's skull.

"Sect Master!"

Not until this moment did a burst of grief-stricken shouting spread out.

They finally saw clearly the result of the lightning-fast clash between the two fourth and fifth-rank experts.

Exclamations permeated.

Accompanied by them was also an emotion of irrepressible terror.

A single exchange!

Merely a single exchange, and the Canglang Sword Sect's premier expert, the Sect Master Wu Meng who had already been working on refining True Qi into Gang...

Just like that, he died!?

Over these past years, Qin Wudi had swept through Dragon Abyss Mountain and fought all over Mount Tai Prefecture, and everyone knew he was strong.

Yet they never expected him to be strong to this extent.

Wu Meng, a fifth-rank peak expert whose True Qi had reached completion and whose Hunyuan Wulou was intact, could actually not even block a single exchange from him!?

Not only were the people of the Canglang Sword Sect shocked by Qin Lian's strength, but Qin Lian himself also deeply felt his own extraordinary nature amidst this clash.

The surging mighty power erupted by the circulation of True Qi.

The indestructibility when Qi Refining into Gang adhered to the sword blade.

The speed and lightness brought by the Swiftness attribute...

Caused him to generate an unprecedented feeling.

A feeling of...

Truly transcending humanity.

This euphoria was something that not even being promoted, receiving a raise, possessing massive wealth, or wielding supreme power in his past life could compare to.

This was cultivation truly gathering thousands of mighty forces into one's own person!

"Cultivation! Cultivation!"

This was the human evolution brought by cultivation!

A human...

Could actually rely on cultivation to reach this stage step by step!

If Fourth-Rank True Astral was already like this, then the third rank, second rank, first rank, and even the Nation-Guarding Martial Saint surpassing the first rank, just how strong should they be!?

Opening a mountain with a single palm?

Severing a river with a single sword?

Opposing a country by oneself?

He possessed divine anomalies, and merely needed to diligently cultivate; one day in the future, he would be able to reach the supreme realm of martial arts.

For a time, Qin Lian's mind soared with yearning.

Looking again at the people of the Canglang Sword Sect, he only felt they were increasingly meddlesome.

If not for them, he would still be slowly grinding proficiency points and clearly feeling the inch-by-inch growth of his own strength right now.

"Time to kill!"

Qin Lian's thoughts flowed: "Quickly finish this!"