Your Law Technique Version Is Too Low

About half a quarter of an hour later.

Having dispelled his [Fresh Breeze] state, Qi Yun sensed a trace of familiar presence. He slowly turned to look at the woods to his left.

Zheng Yi had arrived.

That trace of presence was his signal to him.

"It's time." Gently rubbing the space between his brows, Qi Yun's gaze darkened. He stepped forward, heading toward the stone forest below, toward Wu Tao.

In the stone forest, Wu Tao, who had long been waiting there, unconsciously stroked the sword hilt at his waist over and over with his right hand.

Crunch, crunch-

Faint footsteps crunching over gravel drew closer.

Hearing the sound, Wu Tao turned eagerly. At the sight of that familiar figure, intense delight involuntarily flashed through his eyes.

He was here.

Seeing Qi Yun arrive as promised, Wu Tao was overjoyed.

Brother Qi, oh, Brother Qi, you mustn't blame me. Who told you to have the gall to kill the True Person's blood relative?

With the True Person enraged, how could you possibly survive?

You and I both came from Ling Family Mountain, so we count as colleagues. You're going to die anyway. If you can help me enter the inner residence and become a disciple under the True Person, your death will have served a worthy purpose.

And I... will ascend to heaven in a single step!

The thought flashed through his mind, wiping away his last trace of guilt over betraying Qi Yun. Wu Tao licked his dry lips, plastered a familiar smile across his face, and strode toward Qi Yun.

"Brother Qi!" he called loudly, his voice warm, while secretly holding a jade talisman in his hand.

Seeing Wu Tao's manner and bearing, and especially sensing his smooth, rounded presence at the Qi Refining Third Layer, Qi Yun understood as clearly as if looking into a mirror.

He had originally still wondered whether Wu Tao had been coerced or controlled.

Now it seemed this little bastard had definitely gone over to the enemy willingly.

He had clearly received an enormous reward!

"Brother Wu, long time no see, long time no see." As he answered Wu Tao, Qi Yun silently surveyed their surroundings, trying to locate the Flower Moon Hall Master's disciple concealed in the shadows.

But just as the distance between him and Wu Tao narrowed to less than a hundred feet-

This "colleague," who had invited him here with two successive letters sent across prefectures, brazenly struck, abruptly crushing the jade talisman hidden in his hand.

Riiip-

The instant the jade talisman shattered, a vicious streak of Sword Qi, scarlet as dripping blood, blasted forth, cleaving the void as it swept toward Qi Yun with utterly terrifying killing power.

At this distance!

At this speed!

Qi Yun had no time at all to form hand seals and recite an incantation to defend himself with a spell.

"Brother Qi, better a fellow Daoist dies than this poor Daoist. Don't blame heaven or earth. Blame your own greed for clouding your heart and making you touch someone you shouldn't have."

After activating the jade talisman, Wu Tao still wore his earlier smile, but his eyes had turned cold and greedy.

This sword strike would not take Qi Yun's life. It would sever both his legs, leaving him no way to flee.

But just as Wu Tao prepared to watch this bloody, thrilling scene-

A ghastly white, shrieking blur suddenly flew from behind Qi Yun. Accompanied by piercing, shrill, eerie laughter, it slammed squarely into the scarlet Sword Qi!

Boom-

A deafening crash erupted. Even the ground shuddered violently, sending dust billowing up.

The Sword Qi was forcibly smashed apart by that bizarre blur!

The blur wobbled back to Qi Yun's side, bobbing up and down as it guarded him.

"What is that thing?! A Law Artifact?!" Witnessing this, Wu Tao's heart shook violently, and his expression turned ugly.

This bastard... had been prepared all along?!

Sweeping away the surging dust with his sleeve, Qi Yun chuckled and glanced at the [Guardian Skull]. A huge crack had split its head, and it had nearly been cleaved in two, yet it was still grinning and cackling eerily.

[Skull Incantation: added a sentry mechanism. Automatically casts upon encountering an attack. Activating sentry mode slowly consumes True Qi.]

This was the new mechanism added to version 2.0 of [Skull Incantation].

There was no need to cast it actively. As long as it sensed danger approaching, [Skull Incantation] would cast itself, manifesting to protect him.

And once this wondrous ability was activated, it would continuously consume Qi Yun's True Qi until it was exhausted.

Having blocked Wu Tao's sinister, vicious sword strike, Qi Yun kept a smile at his lips and continued walking toward his former colleague, step by step.

"Brother Wu, you were so earnest in your letters, constantly mentioning our bond as fellow men of Ling Family Mountain...

"What's this? Your greeting gift is a sword through the heart?"

Wu Tao's heart pounded under his icy gaze, and he instinctively retreated half a step.

"You... what Law Technique is that? How have I never heard of it!"

"Your Law Technique version is too low. Of course you've never heard of it." Slowly shaking his head, Qi Yun showed no mercy. He formed a sword seal, recited an incantation, and rapidly circulated his True Qi. A seemingly ordinary streak of Basic Sword Qi tore through the air, shooting straight at Wu Tao's heart!

"What's too low? Hmph! Mere Basic Sword Qi..."

During this time, Wu Tao had received considerable instruction from Zhou Hao, and his knowledge was no longer what it had been.

One look at the Method Formula Qi Yun formed, and he immediately recognized it as nothing more than ordinary [Basic Sword Qi].

True Qi surged within him. Flipping his palm, Wu Tao drew a magical sword roughly three feet long from thin air. Its blade was pitch-black, engraved with bright gold ancient seal script, and faintly exuded a sharp presence.

As True Qi flowed into the magical sword, the ancient seal script on its blade lit up, and an intangible Sword-Ray immediately flowed along its edge.

"Let me see how much progress you've made in these six months."

Wu Tao sprang forward with the magical sword in hand, completely unafraid of the Sword Qi Qi Yun had unleashed. His agile figure shifted, turning aside to dodge as he thrust his sword forward.

Hiss-

But the next second, the Sword Qi he had clearly evaded made an eerie turn behind his back.

With a wet squelch, it pierced through the utterly unprepared Wu Tao's chest.

Power comparable to Red Night Sword Qi instantly blasted a bloody hole through his chest.

His face suddenly stiffening, Wu Tao lowered his head in disbelief to look at his chest. The fierce surge of pain nearly made him lose his grip on the magical sword.

"How... how is this possible..."

I clearly dodged it...

The black sword in his hand clattered to the ground. He staggered and fell forward, his eyes wide, frozen shock and bewilderment written across his face.

Bloody froth pouring from his mouth choked off his unfinished words. His body twitched a few times, then went completely still.

I told you your Law Technique version was too low, but you wouldn't believe me.

Looking down at Wu Tao as the signs of life gradually faded from him, Qi Yun kept his gaze calm and silently scanned the dense shadows around him.

Wu Tao was merely bait.

A small piece of bait even less important than himself.

And now that he was dead, it was time for the real player to emerge.

Whoosh-

A sharp gust, impossibly fast and coming from an utterly treacherous angle, shot without warning from the darkest corner, carrying terrifying power.

Its target was the center of Qi Yun's back!

His hair stood on end. Almost instinctively, he jerked his shoulder aside and twisted his waist. Sword Qi grazed past his shoulder blade.

The scorching gust scraped painfully across his flesh!

Without the slightest hesitation, without even time to see his attacker clearly, Qi Yun pushed hard off the ground and shot toward the edge of the stone forest like an arrow loosed from a bow!

Yet a cold curve lifted the corners of his mouth.

The fish had taken the bait!