Sword Dao?
You? Instruct me?
Someone who hasn't even comprehended Sword Intent wants to instruct me?
Su Lianxin had comprehended Sword Intent not long ago. Across the entire Azure Yang Sword Sect, the only person capable of instructing her was her master, Lin Xuan.
No one else, not even the sect master or the supreme elder, Ancestor Xuanjian, was qualified.
This effeminate young man before her had not even comprehended the embryonic form of Sword Intent, yet he dared offer to instruct her?
What a joke.
Indeed, Yang Zhen's attainments in the Sword Dao were far from low. Even among the disciples of the entire Azure Yang Sword Sect, he ranked near the top.
But that depended on whom he was being compared to.
Compared with Su Lianxin and Wang Yan, he was not even in the same league.
"Thank you, senior brother, but there's no need for instruction."
With that, Su Lianxin rose and left with Wang Yan.
They left behind a dumbfounded Yang Zhen and the Qingwei Peak disciples around him.
Clearly, neither Yang Zhen nor the surrounding Qingwei Peak disciples had expected Su Lianxin to refuse, much less so decisively.
Yang Zhen's expression shifted between light and shadow as he tightly gripped the folding fan in his hand.
Several days later, the flying boat finally left the Tangqing Empire and entered the Moon-Reflecting Mountain Range.
The protective formation surrounding the flying boat quietly activated. The Qingwei Peak elders and disciples aboard no longer chatted and laughed as they had before.
The name Moon-Reflecting Mountain Range alone was enough to keep anyone from taking it lightly. This was a paradise for Demon Beasts. Even King Realm and Emperor Realm beings risked perishing if they entered.
The flying boat skimmed over the forest canopy, drawing the attention of countless Demon Beasts below. Pairs of ghostly eyes hid within, silently watching everything.
"Hmph!"
Aboard the flying boat, Qingwei Peak's grand elder stepped forward, instantly unleashing the pressure of the Tribulation Realm ninth level!
It was as though he were warning the Demon Beasts attempting to attack the flying boat to first weigh whether they were qualified.
That terrifying pressure instantly made the Demon Beasts that had been itching to act shrink back.
The Moon-Reflecting Mountain Range was terrifying, but that applied only to its inner regions. Though Demon Beasts were plentiful on the outskirts, most were below the King Realm.
For these, a single person at the Tribulation Realm ninth level was enough to keep them in check.
Whoosh-
Yet before those from Qingwei Peak aboard the flying boat could breathe a sigh of relief, a horrifying sound of something tearing through the air shook them all, body and soul!
From the forest ahead, an enormous golden spike shot toward the flying boat at an eerily fast speed! It slammed straight into the protective formation surrounding the boat!
Crack-
With a crack, fractures spread rapidly across the protective formation like a spiderweb before it finally shattered.
The flying boat, which had been speeding forward, stopped dead as though it had struck a mountain!
Pfft-
Aboard the flying boat, some of the weaker disciples spat out mouthfuls of blood, their faces as pale as paper.
"This is... a Demon King!!"
The Qingwei Peak elders cried out in horror, looking fearfully toward the direction the spike had come from. There, a gigantic purplish-red scorpion, dozens of zhang tall, appeared before everyone's eyes.
Even someone at Tribulation Realm ninth layer perfection could not shatter the flying boat's defensive formation in a single strike. Only a Demon King, the equivalent of a Human Race King Realm cultivator, could possibly do so!
Thus, this gigantic purplish-red scorpion was undoubtedly a Demon King!
But... these were the outskirts of the Moon-Reflecting Mountain Range!
Though Demon Kings were not necessarily absent from the outskirts, they were extremely rare.
Just how heaven-defying did their luck have to be?
To encounter a Demon King the moment they entered the Moon-Reflecting Forest?
The gigantic purplish-red scorpion fixed its pitch-black eyes on Qingwei Peak's grand elder at the very front of the flying boat. Under its unrelenting stare, the grand elder felt every hair on his body stand on end, and his body began trembling uncontrollably.
Inwardly, he wanted to cry but had no tears. By now, how could he fail to understand how he had enraged this Demon King?
Earlier, he had released his pressure merely to warn the low-level Demon Beasts eyeing them like hungry tigers. Who could have imagined a Demon King was hiding here? The Purple Scorpion Demon King had taken the grand elder's pressure as a direct provocation!
Boom!
Naturally, the sudden turn of events also alerted the Qingwei Peak Master, who had been cultivating quietly inside the flying boat, as well as... Lin Xuan.
King Realm pressure erupted from within the flying boat. The Qingwei Peak Master appeared above it, her gaze solemn as she looked at the Purple Scorpion Demon King nearby.
Lin Xuan, meanwhile, appeared on the flying boat's deck. A trace of heaven-shaking Sword Intent flowed through his eyes as he quietly watched everything.
"Peak Master!"
The Qingwei Peak Master's appearance allowed the Qingwei Peak elders and disciples to breathe a slight sigh of relief.
"Peak Master, I..." The Qingwei Peak grand elder cupped his hands in shame, but she waved him off. "This wasn't your fault."
Indeed, this was not the Qingwei Peak grand elder's fault. They could only blame their terrible luck.
Roar-
The Purple Scorpion Demon King let out a low roar, its enormous eyes constantly shifting. It seemed wary of something and never launched another attack.
At last, reason won out over rage. With a reluctant roar, the Purple Scorpion Demon King burrowed underground.
Its actions left everyone aboard the flying boat, including the Qingwei Peak Master, stunned...
Earlier, the Purple Scorpion Demon King had looked utterly enraged, as though it would fight those from Qingwei Peak aboard the flying boat to the death. Yet after the Qingwei Peak Master appeared, it had actually... chickened out?
This...
"The Peak Master is mighty!"
"All hail the Peak Master's divine might!"
The disciples and elders turned toward the Qingwei Peak Master, their expressions filled with reverence.
Some disciples even cried out in excitement.
In their eyes, the Qingwei Peak Master was incomparably imposing. Merely by standing there, she had frightened off a Demon King!
The Qingwei Peak Master opened her mouth, but something felt rather odd.
Though the King Realm and Demon King rank were equivalent, Demon Beasts were generally somewhat stronger than Human Race cultivators of the same realm.
This was especially true of Demon Kings.
Under normal circumstances, defeating or killing a Demon King of the same realm required at least two or even three Human Race King Realm experts working together before it became possible. Mind you, it was still only possible...
Just moments ago, the Qingwei Peak Master had been considering how to hold off the Purple Scorpion Demon King as best she could so that the others from Qingwei Peak could leave safely.
Yet before she could come up with a good plan, it had chickened out first?
This was entirely beyond her expectations.
She had considered many possibilities, but never that it would chicken out and retreat.
Still puzzled, the Qingwei Peak Master led the people of Qingwei Peak away.
What she did not know, however, was that three people had not left with her. Those three were naturally Lin Xuan and his two disciples.
After leaving a letter, Lin Xuan quietly disembarked from the flying boat with Su Lianxin and Wang Yan.
A Purple Scorpion Demon King should be worth quite a bit of money, right?
As he thought this, Lin Xuan flew through the air with Su Lianxin and Wang Yan, heading toward the place where they had encountered the Purple Scorpion Demon King.