Chapter 160: First Battle with Jiange

Above the Starry Sea, sword qi soared into the sky, sweeping the jade cosmos clean, dispersing clouds for a thousand li, merging sea and sky into one seamless hue, a truly magnificent sight.

"Pity someone is spoiling the view."

Lu Yang sighed, then turned his gaze to the sword-browed young man glaring at him from directly ahead: "Fellow Daoist, you have chased me all this way; may I ask your name?"

"Yushu Jiange, 【Tian Xing】!"

Ye Xingfeng made no attempt to hide his identity; indeed, sword cultivators of Yushu Jiange never deigned to conceal their origins, taking immense pride in their lineage.

After all, even the Chusheng Sect could only stand as an equal to Jiange!

Throughout the history of wars between Orthodoxy and Demonic paths, while the Dao Court and the Pure Land merely went through the motions, only Jiange charged forward without hesitation, clashing with the Holy Sect in a fight to the death.

The blood feud between the two sides spoke for itself.

Thus, seeing this, Lu Yang could only sigh: "This humble one has only been at Foundation Establishment for a century and has never killed anyone from Jiange; surely we bear no grudge against each other, Fellow Daoist?"

Ye Xingfeng shook his head upon hearing this: "No grudge, yet there is karma; you obtained the inheritance of the Witch-Ghost Path and joined the Jiangbei Mo Sect to commit evil deeds—this is the evil cause. Today I come to kill you, which is the evil consequence. This is your own doing, the result of accumulating no merit; by rights, you should suffer this tribulation."

"... ruly worthy of Jiange."

Lu Yang recalled Yun Yun Miaozhen whom he had met before and felt no surprise; after all, if they were already so mad at the Qi Refining stage, it was only normal for a True Person to be even more absurd.

"The height of shamelessness...!"

Behind Lu Yang, Patriarch Tingyou trembled with rage, recalling the words spoken a thousand years ago when that Golden Core True Person slaughtered the Witch-Ghost Path with a single sword strike.

【You were born of the Demonic Path yet forcibly sought what did not belong to you; this is the evil cause. Today I kill you to eliminate demons and protect the Dao, which is the righteous fruit. Considering your cultivation was not easy, now that you have attained this righteous fruit, you have formed a karmic tie with my Jiange; when you reincarnate in the future and become human again, I will guide you to join Jiange for cultivation.】

The meaning of this sentence was simple:

Although I killed your entire family, I did it for your own good; although your whole family died, you gained an opportunity, and after reincarnation, you can join my Jiange.

Was this something a human would say?

The moment he thought of reincarnating in the future, unable to pierce the mystery of the womb, only to muddle-headed ly join Jiange and treat the enemy who annihilated his sect as a friend,

Patriarch Tingyou felt hatred drive him to the brink of madness!

If not for this, how could he have chosen to reincarnate only within the Secret Realm, forcing himself to survive? He would rather have his soul scattered than become a disciple of Jiange!

Killing intent surged fiercely in Patriarch Tingyou's heart, yet in the end, he calmed down, turning to look at Lu Yang: "This person cultivates the 'Great Yi Heavenly Gang Sword Fiend' and has built the 'Great Yi True Golden Dao Foundation'; he should have long refined an innate divine ability, and his cultivation is a notch higher than yours."

"Moreover, sword cultivators are naturally adept at magical combat... let us avoid his sharp edge for now."

Patriarch Tingyou's tone was calm; Lu Yang was the sole hope of the Witch-Ghost Path now, and compared to him, his own hatred was insignificant.

Yet the next second—

"Ridiculous, I avoid his sharp edge?" Holding the Abi Sword steady, Lu Yang sneered: "At this moment, the one who should avoid the sharp edge is him!"

Swish—!

Before his voice had even faded, Lu Yang had already launched the Abi Sword in his hand; a scarlet sword light slashed straight toward Ye Xingfeng, having gathered power for a long time, a single strike that could divide the Four Seas!

"Well done!"

Seeing this, Ye Xingfeng was not alarmed but delighted; he actually launched a sword pill, which swallowed spiritual essence, spun rapidly, and instantly differentiated into over a hundred strands of sharp sword qi.

These strands of sword qi spread out like a peacock fanning its tail or mercury spilling across the ground, directly covering the scarlet sword light of the Abi Sword; the trajectory of every strand was as elusive as an antelope hanging its horns by its horns, leaving no trace, yet exquisitely precise, striking exactly at the weak points of the Abi Sword's light.

Crack!

In moments, the scarlet sword light Lu Yang had charged was shredded to pieces by the sky-filling sword qi, which then gathered together, reforming the appearance of the sword pill.

This object was Ye Xingfeng's natal flying sword.

Looking across Yushu Jiange, most direct descendants of True Person lineages like him would begin refining a natal flying sword from countless precious materials starting at the Qi Refining stage.

For this purpose, Jiange had even created a unique secret art that allowed one to fuse the natal flying sword into the Dao Foundation during Foundation Establishment; this not only increased the success rate of Foundation Establishment by ten percent but also allowed the sword to be wielded as a divine ability afterward—the better the quality of the natal flying sword, the greater its power.

Take, for example, Ye Xingfeng's 【Starry River Sword Pill】.

This sword pill was crafted from 【Heavenly River Star Sand】, smelted together with the Five Metals, and even had a True Person intervene to extract a strand of 【Upper Chapter】 Geng Metal qi to fuse into it.

Even among superior magic treasures, this was a supreme grade item!

It contained fully three profound mysteries: 【Barrier Breaking】, 【Thought Severing】, and 【God Slaying】; without exception, all were mysteries of slaughter.

【Barrier Breaking】 could pierce defenses and obstacles, 【Thought Severing】 could cut through spiritual sense and souls, and 【God Slaying】 could destroy spiritual-energy-based divine abilities and spells; when these three mysteries overlapped and were catalyzed by sword intent, pushed to the extreme, they became the technique countless sword cultivators craved: One Sword Shatters Ten Thousand Laws!

"Boom!"

In an instant, Ye Xingfeng merged his body with the sword pill and slashed out; wherever the sword passed, the ringing of sword qi sounded like thunder, and in the blink of an eye, it arrived before Lu Yang!

The unparalleled sharpness made even Lu Yang narrow his eyes.

On that sword edge, spiritual light flickered faintly; it looked like nothing more than an inconspicuous white dot, yet once seen, one could not help but fall deeply under its spell.

Locked by sword intent, escape was impossible!

Even a lion uses full strength when catching a rabbit, let alone Ye Xingfeng, a direct disciple of the Golden Core? With this single strike, he simultaneously unleashed all his divine abilities!

Natal Divine Ability 【Ten Directions Great Yi Divine Edge】!

Innate Divine Ability 【Lord of Arms and Armor】!

At this moment, the Jiutian Instrument on Lu Yang's brow spun rapidly; opening his Dharma Eye, he took in all the divine abilities Ye Xingfeng displayed in the flash of lightning.

The surging sword intent even caused a stabbing pain in his brow.

The opponent's divine abilities were completely different from his own.

【Ten Directions Great Yi Divine Edge】 also possessed four profound mysteries, each simplified to the extreme: they were comprehensive amplifications, strengthening his sword pill!

As for the Innate Divine Ability 【Lord of Arms and Armor】, it too amplified the power of magic treasures; combining the two directly stacked his stats to an absurd level!

Facts proved that stacking stats was indeed effective.

The reason Wu Cang failed was simply because he was weak, his stats not high enough, whereas Ye Xingfeng's sword could sever any divine ability or karma with a single strike!

No mechanics, just pure stats.

With such statistical buffs, he needed no extra maneuvers; simply drawing his sword and slashing forward made him invincible and unstoppable!

"So strong, too strong..."

Lu Yang sighed in admiration, then threw out 【Baoshou Mountain】.

The next second, sky-filling black light brushed down upon Ye Xingfeng's unparalleled sword qi, sealing the 【God Slaying】 mystery on his sword pill specifically designed to destroy divine abilities.

Although this mystery, under Ye Xingfeng's amplification, had become akin to a divine ability itself, capable of slaying even natal and innate divine abilities with one strike, 【Baoshou Mountain】 possessed transformations of void and reality; now manifesting as void as it fell, the sword qi could not touch it, leaving it free to press down upon his body.

"Boom!"

Instantly, Ye Xingfeng's qi presence rapidly declined, and his sword light dimmed significantly; though still incomparably sharp, it no longer possessed the power to shatter ten thousand laws with one strike.

Almost simultaneously, Lu Yang's fingertips rubbed out another strand of colorful light.

【Determine Closeness】!

"Goodbye."

Before Ye Xingfeng could react, his vision suddenly spun wildly; by the time he managed to stabilize his posture, where was there any sign of Lu Yang?

They were already ten thousand li apart.

(End of Chapter)