The Forbidden Path to Immortality - Chapter 160

Chapter 4: Lightning

Li Xun was unaware of Mingji’s thoughts. His attention was now completely focused on the fleeing Qingyin.

Although they had previously split up and fled in separate bodies, he had locked onto Qingyin’s presence. Despite the distance, the sense of presence was still strong. He gritted his teeth, twisting his body, his Blood Shadow Demon body at full speed, spun in a circle, pursuing her once more.

As he soared, his body transformed into a formless blood shadow, absorbing the surrounding heaven and earth’s vital energy, forcibly carving a nearly vacuum of space, truly surviving a thousand miles in the blink of an eye.

Qingyin’s speed, according to Li Xun’s perception, was not slow, but the gap was unbridgeable.

It took Li Xun only half an hour to close the gap between them. Another quarter of an hour would allow him to intercept Qingyin.

He had already made up his mind, and when he saw Qingyin, he would kill her without a word. As for the mysteries and emotions, let that woman turn to ash!

Tonight, he would put an end to everything.

The blazing poisonous fire and Li Xun’s thoughts gradually intertwined, wearing down his patience and intensifying his resentful aura. Wherever he passed, the creatures on the mountain were startled awake by the murderous aura, and for a moment, they fled in panic. Over

a thousand miles passed in a flash. He sensed Qing Yin was already within a hundred miles. Though he repeatedly asserted this, it paled in comparison to the Blood Shadow Demon Body’s speed.

“In ten breaths, I will kill you!”

Killing intent radiated through the air. Their auras connected, and a light explosion echoed in the air, closing the gap to within fifty miles.

Qing Yin’s aura remained unaffected, calmly adjusting his direction and employing his skills to close the gap by several miles.

Unfortunately, Li Xun saw this as a desperate struggle.

As he activated the Blood Shadow Demon Body, he channeled his spiritual consciousness into the void, connecting with You Yi in another dimension, ready to launch the puppet directly at the target, leaving Qing Yin no chance of escape.

Five breaths had passed.

Li Xun’s bloody shadow nearly vanished, slaying everything in its path. From afar, he could already see a hazy azure rainbow ahead. It seemed within his grasp. Just as he

was about to release his puppet, Li Xun’s vision suddenly lit up. A surprisingly strong mountain breeze blew, infusing the near-vacuum surroundings with a wisp of vital energy. Though it was drained away in an instant, the aftereffects seemed endless.

Li Xun’s spiritual consciousness radiated through the void, sweeping away the scattered consciousness scorched by the poisonous fire. Suddenly, a sense of recovery emerged.

“Have we reached the range of the mountain protection ban?”

Here, the moonlit night sky shone brightly, and the winding mountains, the trees and streams scattered across the mountains, were clearly visible. Yet, hidden from view, subtle wisps of energy shifted and shifted with the rising and falling yin and yang of heaven and earth.

Li Xun knew this was the sign of the Mingxin Sword Sect’s mountain protection ban being fully activated.

This was within his expectations. Having discovered this “blood demon,” it would be strange if he didn’t move once he entered Zhiguan Peak. This wouldn’t bother him in the slightest.

After Zhong Yin ascended, he almost single-handedly oversaw the refinement of Lianxia Mountain’s forbidden mountain laws. His understanding of these laws is unparalleled.

The Mingxin Sword Sect’s forbidden mountain laws encompassed a vast area, encompassing all seventy-two peaks of Lianxia, including a small portion at the base of Zuowang Peak. Li Xun knew their boundaries like the back of his hand, and upon seeing this, he immediately knew his position.

Zuowang Peak and Zhiguan Peak were adjacent to each other, roughly a thousand miles away, making this location incredibly close to the core of the Mingxin Sword Sect.

After briefly estimating the sect’s reaction rate and concluding it wouldn’t affect his actions, Li Xun returned his attention to Qingyin. However, his eyelids twitched as he cast his gaze.

The scene he witnessed was truly bizarre.

Qingyin had already entered the forbidden mountain laws’ area, and her flight path was clearly unfamiliar. Yet, her aura was surprisingly adaptable to the random transformations of the various forbidden mountain laws.

Conversely, Li Xun’s own resistance to the forbidden laws was naturally reduced due to the heavy blood-killing aura emanating from him.

“Something’s strange!”

Li Xun’s spiritual acuity, embodied in the form of a blood-shadow demon, had reached an incredible level. Though he struggled to understand the reason, his instincts still sensed danger. He suddenly stopped, his remaining strength still fading as he created a massive vortex around him, instantly sucking away all the air for miles.

Simultaneously, Qing Yin’s presence suddenly dimmed, shrouded by the orderly flow of vital energy around him. After several shifts, it vanished from his perception, just as it had in the bamboo building.

This time, both of them were in the vast mountains, making it difficult to determine their location as they had been in the confined bamboo building.

Li Xun wasn’t anxious about this; he had a thousand ways to locate Qing Yin. What truly terrified him was the sudden sense of danger before the disaster.

He paused, surveying the surroundings, his familiarity with forbidden techniques gradually untangling the vast network of energy between heaven and earth, striving to locate the source of his palpitations.

Three or five breaths passed in the blink of an eye. Li Xun’s heart skipped a beat, still unable to find a clue. This time, his perception was even clearer.

From the southwest, behind the dense network of energy, a chilling chill emanated from the far distance, like a beam of light sweeping across the vast mountains and ancient society, obliterating all living things wherever it passed.

That was the direction of Zhiguan Peak.

Li Xun frowned, stepping back, a sense of alarm building in his heart: “So, ‘that thing’ has also been activated? That’s troublesome!”

The so-called “that thing” referred to was the Sky-Slashing Divine Sword atop Zhiguan Peak.

Zhong Yin had carried this sword since his debut, and over the millennia, it had witnessed his journey from a youthful virtuosity to a supreme master of the profound arts. Its connection with Zhong Yin’s energy had long been spiritual.

During his ascension, Zhong Yin used his supreme magical power to penetrate the sword into the front courtyard of the Unknown Temple atop Zhiguan Peak. This seemed to hold a deeper meaning. Unable to grasp the true meaning, the sect’s cultivators simply used the sword to guard the forbidden array’s center, leveraging its spiritual power to tighten the mountain’s protective barrier.

Under the divine sword’s aura, no living being could escape its scanning and lock-on. This was somewhat similar to Li Xun’s ability to sense life with his Blood Shadow demonic body. However, the divine sword’s aura was even more sensitive to demonic energy. Once locked onto it, it instantly absorbed the spiritual energy of the mountains and rivers, nurturing its might. Once the divine sword sensed something, it activated like thunder, unleashing its ultimate dominance. However, in recent decades, the mountain gate had been untouched, leaving this forbidden technique unused. He didn’t want to be the first unlucky person to test it.

This delay would make Qing Yin’s whereabouts even more difficult to

track down. Although Li Xun wasn’t quite frantic, his sense of danger intensified.

Especially now that he had found the source of the sensitivity, his anxiety remained undiminished. Clearly, the danger lurking within was far greater than he had currently anticipated.

The Sky-Slashing Divine Sword… Zhong Yin!

His greatest takeaway tonight was the realization that once Zhong Yin was involved, no matter how minor or important, there would be no small or good thing!

That cowardly man may have left the scene, but his words and actions back then were full of hidden meanings; his actions were full of back-up plans. Not to mention the thousand years of affection he’d poured into Qing Yin, who knows what else he might be planning.

“Perhaps killing Qing Yin so hastily wasn’t a wise choice,” Li Xun pondered, his mind wandering mid-air. “Back then, I was young and inexperienced, and my cultivation was so low. Even if Zhong Yin had tampered with me, I wouldn’t have been able to detect it… This is truly troublesome.”

The unusual experience tonight in front of the bamboo building had left a profound impression on him. That technique, subtle and invisible, silently swayed his thoughts, disorienting his mind and disorienting his spirit. Even if Shui Dielan had personally unleashed her peerless illusions, it wouldn’t have been so effective. And yet, this technique, left behind by Zhong Yin before his ascension, had endured for decades. Just the thought of it sent chills down his spine.

Who knew what other tricks he had yet to unravel?

It would have been nice if he hadn’t thought about it. But once he thought about it more, Li Xun realized that many of

his possessions bore Zhong Yin’s mark. The Blue Smoke Bamboo Shadow Sword Technique, the Bone Meridian Heart-Opening Technique, and

the Jade Evil-Repelling Art were all treasures gifted to Qing Yin by Zhong Yin, who in turn passed them on to him. The most crucial of these, of course, was the Bone Meridian Heart-Opening Technique. It was with this that Li Xun integrated and fused three diametrically opposed techniques. Without this, the conflicting forces of the three true energies would have left him crippled by now.

It was precisely because the Bone Meridian Heart-Opening Technique held such a crucial position that Li Xun grew increasingly concerned. What if Zhong Yin tampered with it?

Even if the odds were slim, it would still be enough to ensure his demise.

“Why not return to Wuyinxuan? Shui Dielan and Yin Sanren are both top figures in this world, with broad vision and profound awareness. Together, the three of us can eliminate

this threat first, and then we can discuss other matters.” His thinking was considered prudent. However, Qingyin was also facing an urgent and pressing matter, and if he let it go, who knew what the consequences would be.

This was the so-called dilemma.

The activated mountain protection forbidden spell was systematically controlling the surrounding heaven and earth energy, coordinating with the Slashing Sky Divine Sword on Zhiguan Peak, ready to be deployed.

Li Xun, no longer arrogant as before, carefully restrained his aura. Drawing on his understanding of the forbidden spell, he moved at a moderate speed, but in a backward direction!

Even so, he could not completely avoid the sword’s aura’s sweep.

The heaven and earth energy within a radius of dozens of miles echoed with the Slashing Sky Divine Sword’s aura, each wave of energy making the energy’s combination more distinct. The resulting violent reaction was completely hidden beneath a veneer of order, waiting to be deployed.

“Do I really have to take the annihilation lightning head-on?”

Seeing he couldn’t avoid it, Li Xun felt a surge of reluctance.

He truly wanted to see the effect of his own forbidden technique, driven by the Sky-Slashing Divine Sword. Besides, perhaps a head-on attack like this would have a positive effect…

Before the thought had fully formed in his mind, his brows twitched. His body, already braced for a fight, suddenly retracted, then swung hundreds of times within the confined space, harnessing this intense vibration to generate explosive force, transforming into a streak of blood-red light that pierced the thin clouds in the sky.

The divine sword’s spiritual light followed him closely, but the massive amount of vital energy still delayed his reaction.

With this miniscule difference in time, Li Xun avoided the optimal contact point of the Great Five Elements annihilation lightning.

The divine sword’s spiritual attack hadn’t yet begun, but he knew to conserve his energy, using only the spiritual light to lock onto the target. If he didn’t get a better opportunity, he would gather his strength.

Simultaneously, a familiar sword light, a hundred miles away, abruptly emerged, leveraging the turbulence of the surrounding vital energy. Within a few breaths, it was close at hand.

Li Xun, locked in the divine sword’s aura, could only watch helplessly as the sword’s light bore down upon him, a wry smile in his heart.

“Do we have such a deep grudge, Master Mingji?”

If there was even the slightest possibility, Li Xun wouldn’t have wanted to confront Mingji under these circumstances.

It wasn’t that he was afraid or wary of anything, but rather the emotions that had been pent up within him for decades.

As he had once realized, the Mingxin Sword Sect had never wronged him in the dismemberment of Zhong Yin and Qing Yin, the adulterous couple. He was the only one who owed the Mingxin Sword Sect anything.

He wasn’t a good person, but he didn’t want to resort to the treachery of repaying kindness with resentment.

“Perhaps it’s time to leave.”

Li Xun’s physical form was intangible, but his mood shifted, and the blood mist surrounding him rippled slightly. In an instant, it was split in two by the cold sword light.

The sharp sword energy radiated through the surrounding blood mist, but Li Xun remained unfazed. Mingji’s sword light, however, dimmed slightly.

The situation was as simple as that. Even if Li Xun stood still and allowed Ming Ji to strike him a hundred or eighty times, he wouldn’t likely injure him. On the contrary, Ming Ji himself might not be able to withstand the blood shadow demon’s absorbing power, and his cultivation would be damaged.

It wasn’t that the difference in their cultivation levels was drastic, but rather that the Blood God’s method was too strange, and he couldn’t find a suitable remedy, so he had to resort to forcible suppression with a higher level of power. But Ming Ji clearly couldn’t do that now.

Li Xun still harbored a hopeful hope that Ming Ji would give up, but even a simple thought proved that it was impossible.

Sure enough, the sword failed, and Ming Ji showed no sign of weakness. A clang echoed in the air, and another sword strike struck through the air.

“Using the Lingxi Jue to activate the Ziwu Sword Qi?” Li Xun, with his exceptional eyesight and profound familiarity with the sect’s methods, could discern the underlying situation. He nodded, then shook his head. “Using the inversion of yin and yang to explore the interplay of life and death is a good idea, but it’s still inappropriate.”

Although he still posed no threat, Li Xun didn’t want to allow Mingji to strike him down. This would be reckless and easily arouse suspicion.

The blood mist surrounding him swirled, condensing into a dark glow

that rushed towards the sword energy. The sword energy and the blood light collided like boiling water pouring over snow, melting away in an instant. Although she was a hundred feet away from the blood light, Mingji’s qi and blood flowed. The qi flowed, and her Tianling and Huangting acupoints felt slightly numb, as if possessed by leeches intent on devouring her vital energy. Her vision was also filled with a thick blood light, and countless vengeful spirits surged and screamed, ready to burst forth. They were so dense that it seemed as if even the breath she exhaled would be absorbed by them, a terrifying sight.

Mingji knew the scene before her, a mixture of reality and illusion, possessed not only a powerful force that shook her heart but also a diabolical effect that devoured her essence and blood.

However, her centuries of dedicated cultivation had forged her single Dao heart into a steely, yet crystal-clear form. Facing the multitude of demons before her, her composure remained unshaken. Her four-foot-long sword responded with a swift,

pulsing, swirling sword energy through the air. The sword energy evoked by the Spiritual Harmony Jue wasn’t as powerful as other techniques, but it was of the highest purity. Under Mingji’s control, it was as ordinary as a finger. As the sword energy swirled through the void, it possessed a supreme spirituality, like the heart of heaven reflecting and controlling all things.

Li Xun initially dismissed it, but as he lunged at Mingji, he felt a surge of powerful forces from all directions, seemingly pressing him to the bottom of the deep sea, a sensation somewhat similar to that felt within the Nine Nether Devouring Realm.

He remained stunned. The sword light flashed before him, spreading like a mighty wave, its power immense and profound, completely different from the essence of spiritual harmony.

When the pressure was imminent, Li Xun’s spiritual awareness darted in all directions, and he was startled to realize that within a radius of dozens of miles, the vital energy of heaven and earth had surged with Mingji’s sword force, a magnificent and overwhelming surge.

Behind this surging appearance, the nearby mountain-protecting forbidden magic naturally merged with Mingji’s energies, connecting them to one another.

Mingji’s striking strike unleashed a massive surge of vital energy stored in the mountain’s spiritual acupoints, a veritable collapse of the mountain.

“This is possible?”

Li Xun’s eyes would have popped out if he hadn’t been in a temporary physical form.

It was common for all sects to deploy large-scale forbidden magic to grant certain benefits to cultivators practicing their own methods within the restricted area. However, Mingji’s use of the forbidden magic to draw upon the spiritual energy of the surrounding mountains with a single sword strike was unprecedented.

Li Xun was certain he hadn’t set up such a setup. Surprised, the sudden surge of pressure reached his body. The blood mist around him trembled violently, then solidified under the pressure. In the intervening moments, the Blood Shadow Demon Body finally sustained some damage.

This was probably a combination of a ditch upheaval and an eighty-year-old mother trying to hold her child’s hand.

Li Xun felt both angry and amused, yet his heart felt more at peace.

In his Blood Shadow Demon form, his observations differed significantly from those of ordinary people, yet he was surprisingly perceptive. He quickly realized that Mingji’s mastery of forbidden techniques was beyond her ability to master this complex arrangement.

She was like a small boat riding the tide of vital energy, bobbing with the current. While her technique was exquisite, the question of whether she was driving the tide or the tide was driving her remained unclear.

Regardless, Li Xun could no longer handle it easily.

Even though his form resembled mist and smoke, the overwhelming pressure from the outside world, like a tidal wave, crushed the dense celestial energy within it, nearly condensing it like droplets. The collisions formed countless vortices of varying sizes in the virtual and real world, exerting forces in vastly different directions, threatening to rip the Blood Shadow Demon’s body into shreds.

The source of everything was the thread of Mingji’s sword energy, hidden behind the raging tide, waiting for an opportunity to strike, determined to find a flaw in the Blood Shadow Demon’s body and deliver a decisive blow. This method bore some resemblance to the spiritual light emanating from the Sky-Slashing Divine Sword…

divine sword spiritual light?

Li Xun suddenly noticed something odd. The divine sword spiritual light that had previously controlled the surrounding forbidden spells had suddenly vanished, though it still locked onto him. Control of the forbidden spells had been taken away by Mingji.

Did he plan this…

Li Xun’s mind suddenly snapped, but he was still a step too late.

Certain turbulent flows within the tide of vital energy suddenly converged, rubbing against each other. A little earlier, Mingji’s sword energy pierced through the raging tide and stabbed forward.

Thunderous roar of sword!

A thunderous roar erupted from the mountain. Blazing white lightning ripped the night sky in two. The vast energy stored in the surrounding mountains and rivers’ spiritual cavities for decades now erupted with the most violent force.

The explosion was so resounding that within a breath, the soundwaves drowned out everything else, leaving nothing behind except the thunder.

The Great Five Elements Annihilation Lightning, a powerful forbidden technique personally developed and refined by Li Xun, was finally his first opportunity to experience.

Even more devastating, this wasn’t just annihilation lightning; it was a sword-force lightning fire, driven by Mingji sword energy and catalyzed by the Celestial Soul Resonance. The Annihilation

Lightning disrupted the Five Elements’ mutual generation and restraint, destroying everything on contact. The Celestial Soul Resonance was penetrating and perceptive, adept at exploiting weaknesses and flaws. The combination of these two created a terrifying, lethal attack that would have forced any opponent to retreat.

The sword energy and lightning arrived instantly.

Deep within the blood mist, the blood core, controlling the body’s vital energy, sensed the profound danger and trembled slightly. In this situation, Li Xun’s composure only grew.

He didn’t dodge. Due to the inherent connection between heaven and earth, the sword energy was impossible to avoid. Instead, he made a decisive move. The Blood Shadow Demon Body instantly solidified into a solid form, his flesh and clothing instantly taking shape. His right hand, piercing the sword energy from his sleeve, clasped it tightly.

A sharp, twisted whine erupted, and the blood color on Li Xun’s hand instantly faded. The Great Annihilation Lightning, upon contacting the solid form, easily shattered the protective layer of Burning Blood Essence, colliding seamlessly with the Blood Shadow Demon Body.

Thousands of lightning bolts exploded in front of Li Xun’s chest. His newly formed right hand was instantly crushed into a bloody mist, then purged by the lightning.

The remaining force shattered half of Li Xun’s arm, along with the sleeve of his robe. Hot blood splattered in all directions, and he instinctively absorbed the surrounding rich energy, entwining it with the residual lightning, dissipating the initial and most powerful force of the thunder blast.

“Ah!”

The pain from his mutilated limb instantly ignited the suppressed poisonous fire within Li Xun. He screamed wildly, his body resisting the immense impact without retreating, but instead advancing. His intact left hand delivered a piercing punch, gathering almost all the strength within it, striking the center of the explosion of thunder and fire before him.

This was the ideal contact point for the Great Five Elements’ annihilation lightning, and naturally, the gathering point for the accumulated spiritual energy of the mountains and rivers within a radius of dozens of miles.

Using the supreme and unyielding power of the Hunyuan Pestle, Li Xun channeled a murderous and poisonous aura, striking with a force that could ward off thousands of enemies. The

collision of these two forces seemed to shake the entire Zuowang Peak, instantly opening countless fissures in the mountain within a radius of dozens of miles. A howling hurricane swept through, sweeping away the thin clouds in the night sky. Even the unobstructed moonlight was distorted by the violent surge of vital energy.

This single impact destroyed fifty to sixty percent of the surrounding forbidden techniques.

Li Xun had learned this technique from Biao Luan back at Razor Peak, and now it was being put to good use.

The impact of the punch further confirmed Li Xun’s suspicions.

Whether it was Mingji’s sword energy, the convergence of essence, or the transformation of forbidden techniques, the seemingly natural yet exquisite integration of the three essences was beyond Mingji’s current capabilities.

The chaotic state created by the collision of two immense forces could no longer sustain the harmonious blend of the three, and the underlying hidden elements began to reveal themselves.

The only thing that remained unchanged amidst the turbulent flow of essence energy was the divine sword aura radiating from Zhiguan Peak.

It remained locked onto Li Xun, showing no sign of “disengaging” despite his shifting physical and mental forms.

As time passed, Li Xun felt the chill grow from being exposed to the aura for so long, as if the Slashing Sky Divine Sword were inching closer, aiming for his neck.

Were the Slashing Sky Divine Sword and the divine sword aura truly inert?

Even Mingji, who had unleashed that earth-shattering blow, could no longer withstand the torrent of energy, and his body drifted back. Though her expression forced a calm, her eyes, twinkling like morning stars, showed she had clearly gained something from the attack.

However, she quickly recovered from the joy of her breakthrough and fixed her gaze on the Blood Demon, whose arm was missing, not far away. But the figure wasn’t paying attention to her.

Mingji noticed that the figure didn’t care about the limb, nor did Qian Que harbor any resentment or hatred towards her. His gaze wandered, first toward Zhiguan Peak in the southwest, then along a vague trajectory, to a point to her side.

A flash of light captured the scenery in that direction. The sight left her stunned.

Amidst the night sky, distorted by the turbulent flow of vital energy, a cyan figure suddenly appeared. Illuminated by the moonlight, a shimmering light seemed to flicker around the slender figure, yet it seemed as ethereal as water vapor.

Such a striking sight made one feel as if the figure had been lurking there for a long time, only to be revealed by the raging vital energy.

As soon as this thought crossed her mind, the cyan figure vanished from Mingji’s sight.

Mingji’s heart tightened, realizing she hadn’t sensed the man’s aura from the beginning, nor had the sharp divine sword’s aura reacted.

Alarm bells rang in her heart, and she was too hastily to comprehend the reason when the blood demon facing her suddenly made a move.

At first, Mingji could just see the shadow of the physical body passing by, but then the blood demon’s body transformed into a blinding bloody light, charging towards her at a speed faster than she could react.

Fortunately, Mingji had already reached a level of awareness, and the four-foot-long sword in her hand swung out a wave of clear sword energy to protect herself. Only then did she realize that the bloody light wasn’t coming straight at her, but was slightly offset from her.

Due to the angle, there was no contact at all. If there was, it was merely a gentle collision between the protective sword energy and the residual energy of the opponent’s flight. Mingji was able to detect the Blood Demon’s flight path from this slight vibration.

That was…

While Mingji was puzzled, Li Xun’s mind was perfectly clear.

So far, the developments had been largely under his control.

He used the “Hunyuan Pestle” to counter the sword energy and thunder and fire. Besides identifying the hidden factors, the most important thing was to use this explosive energies to disrupt the inherent energies, revealing the woman who had somehow concealed herself within the mountain protection technique.

As expected, the violent tremors exposed Qingyin. Although she quickly adapted, Li Xun was still able to track her presence for a short while. It was then that Li Xun finally understood Qingyin’s destination.

Zhiguan Peak!

That was clearly the direction of Zhifeng Peak. What was she doing there? Was she walking into a trap?

In a flash, he had crossed paths with Mingji. Only then did he consider how he could escape Mingji’s pursuit.

The combined goals of these two were absurd, a simultaneous pursuit and flight.

Qingyin’s aura faded again, the surging tide of vital energy providing her with even greater cover.

Li Xun momentarily neglected to lock onto her aura, remaining ever more cautious to prevent Qingyin from switching targets and luring him in.

The Blood Shadow’s speed was incredibly rapid; within a mere ten miles, before it even reached the chaotic zone of vital energy, the distance between them had closed again, so close that Li Xun once again considered whether to kill Qingyin at the foot of Zuowang Peak.

Behind him, Mingji, though also desperately pursuing, could not stop at the approach.

“Why not give it a try this time…”

Li Xun suppressed his last shred of hesitation, his murderous intent rising again.

Qingyin seemed to sense the danger had finally dissipated. Unfortunately, her form hadn’t been concealed, and Li Xun’s gaze locked upon her. He silently calculated the distance between them while accumulating enough power for a fatal strike.

At that moment, Li Xun’s ears suddenly pierced with a clear sword chant, accompanied by a familiar whisper: “Lianxia Mountain may be vast, but it welcomes no unwelcome visitors.” As soon as

the words fell, a cold star emerged from the void before his eyes, as if it had been waiting there for a long time, completely silent and silent. In fact, the moment the starlight flickered, Li Xun’s ears ceased to hear any sound.

The roar of turbulent vital energy, the whistling sound that cut through the sky, even the flow of his own burning blood energy, the trembling of his blood core. All sounds, both grand and subtle, were instantly cut off.

Li Xun’s entire mind was violently pulled away from elsewhere and plunged into the flickering starlight before him, almost overwhelming him.

Of course, it was only “almost”.

The wavering of his mind lasted only a blink of an eye. Before the cold star embedded itself in Li Xun’s trembling head, a blazing poisonous fire erupted from the deepest part of his blood core, instantly spreading to every corner of his body. His half-closed eyes suddenly opened, and blood-red light shot out for several feet, almost as if it were a substance.

The pressure exerted by the opponent’s sword energy on his mind and spirit suddenly dissipated. Simultaneously, Li Xun finally understood why all the sounds within and without had suddenly ceased.

With a single strike, the attacker had managed to channel the energy of a ten-mile stretch of mountains and rivers, calming them from their frenzy. The residual force even controlled his own vital energy, resulting in such an incredible result.

“Qingming has arrived with the Hidden Star Secret Sword!”

With this thought in mind, he swung his broken right arm downward, his blood radiating thickly like soup. A single white finger emerged from the bloody glow. At the point of the void, a burst of blood-corroding spiritual light shot out, and beyond the finger, his palm, wrist, forearm, and other limbs solidified into form, identical to before.

The shadow rolled again, connecting even the shattered sleeve of his robe. Stretching in the air, it obscured his arm.

Five miles ahead, Qingming, sword in hand, stood in the air, his expression unmoved, only his inky black beard fluttering gently in the breeze.

He had arrived immediately after receiving the message from Mingji Flying Sword, fearing for his beloved disciple’s safety. His timing was perfect.

He was standing in Li Xun’s path, forcing him to stop and face the sect leader.