Chapter 187

"Hmm?!"

The Cold Sword Elder's brow twitched slightly, and he suddenly opened his eyes; a trace of rare solemnity and confusion flashed in those turbid yet sharp old eyes.

"Truly a strange thing..."

He muttered to himself, his brows twisted into a "chuan" shape, "Why do I always feel restless today."

When the martial arts realm reached a certain level, one could already vaguely feel the impending danger.

However, in this Huangxin Prefecture, who else could make him feel danger?

After the Cold Sword Elder pondered for a moment, he stepped out of the secret chamber of his seclusion slowly.

The night was like ink, everything was silent in Cold Jade Valley, and the ice crystals glowed with a bleak, cold light under the moonlight.

He scanned the surroundings, everything was as usual.

The next instant.

A killing intent that was extremely yin and cold poured down from above without warning, like a cold wind blowing from the depths of the Nine Nether Hell, silently shrouding his entire person.

"This killing intent..."

The Cold Sword Elder's heart suddenly tightened.

However, he was not an ordinary martial artist after all, and his experience from hundreds of battles played a role at the critical moment.

He almost instinctively urged his dantian, and a biting cold ice divine qi erupted from his body; the icy divine qi radiance condensed into a thick ice armor on his body surface, and the cold air and killing intent collided fiercely in mid-air, making a hissing sound of erosion.

The ice divine qi was like an invisible barrier, forcibly isolating the omnipresent killing intent three feet away.

"What kind of rat, daring to come to the Cold Sword Sect to seek your own death!"

At the same time, he roared, his right hand turning his fingers into a sword, the cold radiance at his fingertips surging, and a biting cold ice divine qi shot out, growing as it met the wind, instantly turning into a fathom-long giant ice sword.

The giant sword was crystal clear, cold light flowed on the sword edge, and wherever it passed, the moisture in the air condensed one after another, leaving a trail of fine, bead-like ice flowers.

Swish—!!!

The sword divine qi arrived in an instant, piercing through the canopy of an ancient tree in the valley, grinding the branches and leaves together with the ice crystals covering the trunk into powder.

The shadow under the tree exploded under the impact of the sword divine qi, revealing a figure dressed in a black robe.

That person was clearly locked onto by this sword, yet he didn't retreat a single step, just slightly raised his head under the hood, seemingly looking at the giant ice sword stabbing toward him with interest.

The moment the sword edge was less than half an inch from his face, the black-robed person unhurriedly stretched out a palm that was so pale there wasn't a trace of blood color.

That pale palm's five fingers spread slightly, and a pale golden divine qi suddenly burst forth from his palm.

That divine qi wasn't particularly magnificent or dazzling, but it was refined as if it were tangible, glowing with a cold luster under the moonlight, unfolding in a semi-arc shape, like half an inverted eggshell, steadily protecting his upper body.

The giant ice sword collided fiercely with the pale golden divine qi.

A harsh sound of metal clashing exploded in the silent valley; under the shock of the sound waves, several fathom-long ice crystals on the cliff wall broke in unison, and broken ice poured down like a rainstorm.

The next instant.

That giant ice sword, which was enough to penetrate a fathom-thick black ice, actually began to collapse inch by inch the moment it touched that pale golden divine qi.

The sword edge disintegrated first, then cracks spread along the sword body, and finally, the entire giant sword turned into sky-filling, crystal-bright ice shavings in front of the black-robed person, drifting away with a rustling sound.

Seeing the pale golden divine qi on the black-robed person, the anger on the Cold Sword Elder's face suddenly froze, and those old eyes of his almost locked into needle points.

A look of unbelievable horror flashed between his brows, and he exclaimed in shock:

"Primordial Divine Qi... are you a Primordial martial artist?!"

Martial artists at the Divine Qi Realm, after refining the divine qi in their bodies to the extreme, could draw the primordial qi into their bodies and integrate it into themselves.

If one could be fortunate enough to step into the Primordial Realm, the true divine qi in the body could transform into Primordial Divine Qi, from then on transcending the mundane, and be called a "Primordial True Person."

And the pale golden divine qi on that black-robed person, besides being refined, also carried a trace of the mystery of drawing heaven and earth qi.

It was exactly the Primordial Divine Qi unique to Primordial martial artists.

"Not bad... you are a Sect Master after all, actually able to refine water-attribute true divine qi to this extent..."

The black-robed person nodded slightly, his hoarse voice carrying a trace of appreciation.

The Cold Sword Elder's expression, however, was ugly to the extreme.

He stared fixedly at that black-robed person, cold light flickering in his eyes, his thoughts spinning rapidly in his brain.

Within Linzhou, Primordial martial artists could be counted on one's fingers, and every one of them was a person of status.

This person in front of him was hiding his head and showing his tail, and possessed that kind of extremely yin and cold killing intent; almost without much thought, he had already guessed the other party's origin.

His voice had returned to cold composure: "Are you from the Qisha Sect?!"

After the initial shock, his heart actually gradually calmed down.

As a Sect Master, he naturally had his own foundation.

Even when facing a Primordial martial artist, if it really came to a fight to the death, he was not without the strength to fight.

Just at this moment.

"You've got some guts; I thought you would run away immediately after recognizing our identity."

Another voice, cold and devoid of any emotion, came from behind him.

The Cold Sword Elder scanned with the corner of his eye, only to see another black-robed figure standing silently ten steps behind him without knowing when.

It just happened to block his retreat.

That person was also wearing a black robe, his aura also deep as an abyss, holding a long blade as black as ink, with dark red blood light faintly flowing on the blade body.

"Another Primordial martial artist..."

The Cold Sword Elder, who had originally thought of fighting to the death, had his expression stiffen, and his heart sank to the bottom in an instant.

Tianyangfeng, Tiankui Herb Garden.

A figure, thin and withered with a straight back, stood in the center of the herb garden's open ground like a pine, motionless.

Jiang Ye's eyes were slightly closed, his body wrapped in layers of heaven and earth spiritual energy that was thick to the point of being viscous; those energies refracted fine water light under the moonlight, and looking from afar, it was as if he were wearing a hazy water-mist garment.

Following his long and deep breathing, that layer of water mist thinned circle by circle at a speed visible to the naked eye, being slowly absorbed into his body through his pores, merging into his meridians, and finally pouring into that water-blue pill deep in his dantian.

I don't know how much time passed, but when the last wisp of heaven and earth spiritual energy was also completely absorbed by him, Jiang Ye suddenly opened his eyes.

A wisp of water-blue brilliance suddenly flashed in those old eyes; that light wasn't dazzling, but it had a heavy feeling as deep as an abyss, like an undercurrent surging in the depths of the deep sea.

Following that, the corners of his mouth slowly curled into an arc.

His water-attribute true divine qi was finally complete.

At this moment, the water-blue pill in his dantian had completely transformed.

The surface of the pill, which was originally smooth as a mirror in its true qi state, was now covered by a layer of restrained and deep divine qi radiance.

His heart moved, and a wisp of water-blue true divine qi immediately emerged from his fingertips.

That true divine qi danced lightly at his fingertips; it looked like only a tiny wisp, but it was so refined that it seemed capable of piercing through all things.

If the previous water-attribute true qi was like a pond.

Shallow, clear at a glance.

Then the current water-attribute true divine qi was a bottomless lake, calm on the surface, but harboring the power to crush everything underneath.

He walked slowly to a half-person-high mountain rock.

Jiang Ye lowered his finger, and that wisp of water-blue divine qi at his fingertip fell quietly like a drop of ordinary morning dew.

The moment the water drop landed on the top of the mountain rock, there was no earth-shattering explosion, only a very light and fine muffled sound, as if a water drop had pierced through a layer of thin paper.

He withdrew his finger and stood with his hands behind his back.

The surface of the mountain rock was still intact, not even a single crack.

But if someone were to squat down at this moment and look upward from the bottom of the mountain rock, they would be shocked to discover.

That water drop had already penetrated the entire half-person-high mountain rock from top to bottom, leaving a hole as fine as a hair in the very center of the rock heart, the hole wall smooth as a mirror, as if it had been polished by the most exquisite craftsman using the finest drill bit.

Water dripping through stone was embodied vividly at this moment.

Jiang Ye lowered his eyes to look at that tiny hole, and a look of satisfaction flashed in his eyes.

The power of this water-attribute true divine qi was more than a notch stronger than the previous water-attribute true qi.

At this moment, with two true divine qi in hand, his strength had quite a bit of improvement again.

Just at this moment.

A burst of hurried footsteps suddenly came from outside the herb garden.

Jiang Ye withdrew the wisp of water-blue true divine qi that was still swirling at his fingertip, looked toward the sound, and a look of surprise flashed in his eyes.

The person coming was dressed in a blue-gray deacon robe unique to Jiding Peak, with a black iron token hanging at his waist, his expression solemn.

Jiang Ye had been staying at Tianyangfeng for these days and had long since understood the division of labor among the deacons of various peaks.

Deacons like this, who were directly under the Sect Master, rarely left Jiding Peak on weekdays; once they appeared, nine times out of ten it was no small matter.

Jiang Ye immediately walked forward slowly.

As soon as the deacon saw Jiang Ye's figure, he couldn't care about being out of breath from running all the way, hurriedly bowed to pay his respects, his speaking speed very fast, his voice carrying a bit of irrepressible urgency:

"Elder Jiang, the Sect Master has an urgent order, please go to the Profound Heaven Hall immediately!"