Your version is too low. You wouldn't understand.
Crystal keys kept being found, and the towering pillars of light that rose from the ground, visible from dozens of miles away, kept moving through the [Mirage Thousand-Faced Realm].
"Almost there. Just a few more turns."
With a single step, the stern man in close-fitting black martial clothes flashed forward. Relying on his legs alone, his speed could almost rival certain escape techniques.
First place in this assessment is surely mine, Wen Zong's, for the taking.
A cold gleam in his eyes, Wen Zong reached for the eight-faceted sword hanging at his waist.
As a sword cultivator.
He had not only mastered [Li Fire Sword Qi] and the [Round Light Sword Formation].
His cultivation had also reached the Qi Refining Fourth Layer, placing him firmly among the tiny handful at the very tip of the outer manor's pyramid.
"In battles between those of the same realm, no one can match a sword cultivator. I, Wen Zong, will claim first place!"
As he drew closer to a towering pillar of light, coldness crept into the corners of Wen Zong's eyes. The sword at his waist hummed, as though sensing its master's growing murderous intent.
"Found you!"
Sweeping past a crystal wall, Wen Zong immediately locked onto a figure several hundred meters ahead. The towering pillar of light was radiating from his body.
This man was the crystal key holder.
With his target in sight, Wen Zong immediately stirred his True Qi. His figure became an afterimage in an instant, whipping up a terrifying gale as he charged straight at the crystal key holder.
"Hand over the crystal key, and I can let you leave unharmed."
Standard practice in the Holy Sect: say one thing, do another.
Even a handsome young man with thick brows and large eyes like Wen Zong had picked up the Holy Sect's fine traditions.
Though he spoke of letting the man leave unharmed, True Qi surged through his sword-wielding right hand. Scarlet Li Fire True Qi flowed fiercely along the blade, radiating terrifying heat.
Hearing him, the crystal key holder slowly turned around.
Yet his face showed neither the panic nor the grim resolve Wen Zong had expected, only an almost numb bitterness.
Facing Wen Zong's ferocious charge, he slowly shook his head, a trace of indescribable pity in his eyes.
Hmm?
The crystal key holder's reaction left Wen Zong utterly baffled.
Just then, a young figure wearing a grayish-white cloth robe slowly appeared a dozen or so meters behind him, a faint smile at the corners of his mouth.
What fine bait. I've hooked another one!
Sword Qi flickered at his fingertips. Qi Yun swept his hand, and two keen, bluish-white streaks of Sword Qi instantly shot out, tearing through the air toward Wen Zong's back.
Clang, clang-
Two piercing, deafening metallic crashes rang out.
The bluish-white Sword Qi collided violently with the Li Fire sword blade, blasting out a visibly transparent ring of shock waves! The Sword Qi shattered on impact, dissolving into specks of spiritual light.
Slowly flexing his numbed wrist, Wen Zong stared gravely at Qi Yun opposite him. He had sensed something amiss just in time and turned to shatter the Sword Qi.
He opened his mouth to speak, but the young Daoist before him swiftly formed hand seals and recited an incantation.
"Basic Sword Qi?"
As a sword cultivator, Wen Zong naturally knew the hand seals and incantation for [Basic Sword Qi]. He sneered.
You dare ambush me with such a dime-a-dozen Law Technique!
Likewise forming hand seals and chanting, Wen Zong poured the purer, more powerful Li Fire True Qi within him madly into his sword.
Scarlet light blazed from the blade, and roaring flames rose from it. The terrifying heat made even the nearby ground sizzle!
"I'll show you what real Sword Qi looks like!"
With a light snort, Wen Zong raised his sword and slashed. A huge, dazzling gold-and-red streak of Li Fire Sword Qi, like a torrent of molten lava, tore through the air with a piercing shriek. Bearing the searing heat and tyranny to burn everything to nothing, it slashed ferociously toward Qi Yun!
An utterly terrifying wave of heat struck Qi Yun head-on, making his robes flap loudly and bathing his face in red light.
"Kakakaka!"
As the Li Fire Sword Qi drew near, a white-bone skull shot out at tremendous speed, cackling strangely. Billowing, sinister Corpse Qi poured from its mouth as it fearlessly slammed into the Li Fire Sword Qi that could burn the heavens and boil the seas.
Boom-
The instant the Li Fire Sword Qi collided with the white-bone skull, a massive impact swept outward. The violent shock wave mingled with scorching air and icy Corpse Qi, forming a storm that swept in every direction!
Amid the surging smoke and dust.
The white-bone skull spun back to Qi Yun's side with only a small part of its cranium remaining. Blocking that streak of Li Fire Sword Qi had nearly destroyed it completely.
"You blocked that strike. What about the next?"
Looking at Qi Yun and the almost completely destroyed white-bone skull beside him, Wen Zong spoke softly, a trace of mockery in his eyes.
Li Fire ignited on his sword once more as he pointed it at Qi Yun, victory firmly in his grasp.
"The next strike? It'll handle that too, of course." Stroking the white-bone skull, now reduced to a small fragment of cranium, Qi Yun smiled faintly.
"That thing? I could blow it apart with a single breath..."
Before Wen Zong finished speaking, his eyes suddenly widened as though he had seen a ghost!
The charred cracks on the nearly ruined skull were closing at a speed visible to the naked eye.
The shattered bones grew and reassembled madly, as though alive!
In just a few breaths, the ghastly white skull had been restored to its original state.
"That isn't [Skull Incantation]?" Having never seen a [Skull Incantation] automatically restore itself after being damaged, Wen Zong could only conclude that it was not [Skull Incantation].
"Of course it is." Raising his chin slightly, a trace of pride flashed through Qi Yun's eyes, and he added inwardly.
It's just that mine is version 5.0!
[Skull Incantation (5.0): New mechanic-White Bone Regeneration. The white-bone skull will automatically repair itself after sustaining damage. Consuming True Qi can accelerate the repair process.]
"Bullshit!" Believing Qi Yun was merely trying to fool him, Wen Zong's eyes flashed viciously. He burst into motion, lunging straight at him.
With that white-bone skull protecting you, ranged Sword Qi won't work easily. Then I'll cut you down up close!
"Ah, your version is too low. You wouldn't understand."
Shaking his head, Qi Yun formed a hand seal. The white-bone skull beside him let out a shrill screech and abruptly opened its jaws wide.
A grayish-black column of Qi, several times denser than before and carrying bone-piercing cold and a heavy corpse stench, erupted like a flood bursting through a dam.
It swallowed the charging Wen Zong completely!
Enveloped in Corpse Qi, Wen Zong immediately felt a foul stench assault his nose and found it difficult to breathe. He promptly circulated his True Qi to expel the Corpse Qi.
But the very next second!
Qi Yun materialized out of thin air before him. Holding two fingers together like a sword, he abruptly shot out two streaks of bluish-white Sword Qi condensed to the utmost, straight at his eyes.
"You..." Having completely failed to see how Qi Yun had reached him, Wen Zong could not dodge in time. The two streaks of Sword Qi instantly sliced across his eyes, spraying scalding, bright-red blood everywhere.
"Aaaah!!!"
The loss of his sight, coupled with the agony in his eyes, drove Wen Zong nearly mad. The True Qi within him erupted at full force, unleashing Li Fire Sword Qi of terrifying heat. Streak after streak of uncontrolled Li Fire Sword Qi blasted wildly into the surrounding crystal walls, producing deafening booms and dazzling sparks!
The instant he blinded Wen Zong, Qi Yun had already leaped backward, lest he be injured by a dying counterattack.
From several dozen zhang away, Qi Yun quietly watched the hysterical Wen Zong vent for the moment and let out a long breath.
Over the past few days, he had relied on this crystal key holder to wait by the stump for rabbits, ambushing and killing more than a dozen outer manor disciples who came to seize the crystal key.
Though most of them were so poor their empty pockets jingled, their pockets cleaner than their faces.
A few did have considerable resources.
These people still did not know that they would not truly die in the [Mirage Thousand-Faced Realm].
Under threat of death, they could only hand over their possessions, after which Qi Yun sent them out with a single sword strike.
"There are still six days before the assessment ends. Quite a few people have probably learned by now that they won't really die in the [Mirage Thousand-Faced Realm].
"It probably won't be easy to trick them again.
"And at this point, those remaining are about to start getting serious." After pondering carefully for a while, Qi Yun heard Wen Zong gradually fall silent in the distance and hurried over. Upholding the spirit of finding joy in helping others, he sent him out with a single sword strike.
Yet when True Person Ling's means rescued Wen Zong, his eight-faceted sword fell behind with a clang.
After casually glancing at the sword, Qi Yun abruptly turned his head back.
Hmm? Is this... a Law Artifact?