Chapter 204: The Sword Pavilion's Second Grade True Art

"Fairy, you would do well to withdraw for now."

"This place is Yin Dragon Water; it offers no small benefit to my cultivation. Of course, if the fairy insists on using it, she is welcome to bathe alongside me."

High in the mid-air, Sui Ying, that descendant of the Dragon Lord, let out a soft chuckle, his serpent eyes fixed straight upon Ye Guyue as if concealing some primal wildness.

Dragons are by nature lecherous; this Dragon King already boasted over ten thousand beautiful wives and concubines overseas, with countless offspring besides. Yet alas, everyone who saw him behaved with utmost reverence. Now, encountering a cold and aloof fairy like Ye Guyue, whose background even surpassed that of the Four Seas Sect, his desires naturally surged wildly.

Facing such a gaze, Ye Guyue merely raised her embroidered eyebrows slightly.

She showed not a trace of anger, simply glancing at the Dragon King before responding indifferently, "Creatures clad in fur and horns, born of dampness or hatched from eggs, dare to ask me to withdraw?"

At these words, Sui Ying's expression instantly changed!

"Wretched bitch...!"

The Four Seas Sect was established by overseas demonic creatures, yet the current era belongs to human rulers; Daoist lords from all factions have used great magic power to establish the heavenly principle that cultivation must be pursued in human form.

As long as one possesses a human shape, one can cultivate with half the effort and twice the result.

But if one lacks a human form, then no matter how superior or excellent one's bloodline, the effort will be doubled while the results halved.

Thus, even a dragon descendant like Sui Ying must transform into a human body when traveling abroad; otherwise, he would find it difficult to even inhale and exhale the spiritual energy of heaven and earth!

This was inherently a predicament.

Now, with a single phrase—"clad in fur and horns, born of dampness or hatched from eggs"—Ye Guyue had pinpointed his origins with every word, essentially telling him he was merely a monkey wearing a crown!

In an instant, a dragon's roar erupted once more!

Sui Ying's human form rapidly faded, replaced by a towering dragon body that climbed the clouds to reach the heavens, its frame spanning over a thousand li, too vast to be taken in at a single glance.

A dragon head massive as a mountain range hung down from the clouds, opening its mouth to exhale.

"Heavenly River Mouth!"

In that instant, it was as if the Heavenly River's dikes had burst; brilliant blue oceanic light surged from the depths of the dragon's maw, crashing down toward Ye Guyue like a cliffside of Mount Tai!

This innate divine ability was formed by the fusion of the Heavenly Gang Ren Water with the Earthly Sha Tuntan; Tuntan, also known as Shen, represents the Heavenly Gate, the mouth of the Heavenly River, where Ren Water finds its birth. Capable of draining the metallic qi of the West, this divine ability excels precisely at dealing with sword cultivators like Ye Guyue!

This was the reason Sui Ying had been so fearless from the start.

Yet upon seeing this, Ye Guyue remained utterly unperturbed; mockery instead surfaced in her beautiful eyes. She rotated the sword pill before her, likewise manifesting the splendor of a divine ability.

"Ji Golden Radiance!"

Under the coverage of this divine ability, Ye Guyue's sword light, far from losing its luster under the scouring of Sui Ying's "Heavenly River Mouth," instead grew increasingly dazzling and brilliant!

"Slash!"

In the next second, Ye Guyue was about to drive her sword forward to cleave open the "Heavenly River Mouth" in one breath, but just then, a faint chill suddenly arose in her chest.

The chill spread from her chest to her internal organs and limbs, finally rushing straight to her spiritual platform; just as it was about to seep into her soul, she jolted awake. Without hesitation, her precious robe erupted with light, attempting to block this chill, yet the effort proved futile.

'Is this the Invisible Sword of my Sword Pavilion!?'

In the flash of lightning and spark, the sword light Ye Guyue had just condensed exploded violently, and her dharma body likewise disintegrated into a sky-full of brilliant colors.

"Boom!"

In the next second, the spot where Ye Guyue had stood was stripped away like a thin veil, revealing Lu Yang's figure along with an invisible sword.

A sneak attack!

Lu Yang had seized the moment of battle with impeccable precision, striking exactly at the instant Ye Guyue was committing her full strength to slash at Sui Ying, inflicting heavy injuries upon her in that split second!

Although Ye Guyue possessed protective magic treasures, their quality was clearly inferior to Lu Yang's Invisible Sword. This superior spiritual treasure harbored three marvelous abilities, one of which, "Pan Steel," possessed the power to reverse logic and order; ordinary defensive measures could not block it, and thus it was shattered by his single sword strike.

"Pity... I nearly achieved complete success."

Holding the Invisible Sword in reverse grip, Lu Yang sighed with some regret; after all, Ye Guyue was not King Qing, and at the critical moment, she had still managed to evade the fatal blow.

For in that final instant, her body had not been shattered by his slash; rather, Ye Guyue had voluntarily detonated her flesh, scattering herself to avoid the remaining sword qi. Although he had tried his utmost to slay her, he had only managed to shave off a mere tenth or two, while the vast majority had escaped with their lives.

"However, this divine ability does not seem like that of a sword cultivator."

Lu Yang gazed outward, seeing that in the distance, the scattered sword light was re-condensing, the sky-full of brilliant colors merging once more, actually reforming a bodily shape.

It was just missing one arm.

In the next second, Ye Guyue took out a flowing, colorful pill, swallowed it, and instantly flesh grew and bones lengthened, restoring the missing arm.

Yet Lu Yang saw clearly: this elixir was an emergency remedy. Though it appeared to restore completeness at first glance, it was actually depleting her foundational qi; it was likely a life-preserving item for critical moments, now forced out by Lu Yang's single sword strike. Her overall strength would likely drop by several tenths.

Looking at Lu Yang, Ye Guyue's beautiful eyes turned cold, her silver teeth grinding tightly as she spat, "Demonic fiend..."

"Your grandfather is right here!"

Lu Yang laughed loudly, then reversed his hand to draw out another spiritual sword. Blood light swirled around the blade; clearly, he had been building up momentum for a long time, waiting only to unleash a single slash.

"Abaci Sword!"

Lu Yang simply could not be bothered to converse with Ye Guyue or give her time to recover. As the Abaci Sword was sacrificed into the air, it immediately erupted with an excited sword hum.

Immediately following was a long rainbow of blood!

Unlike the insidious and poisonous Invisible Sword, the Abaci Sword's light was broad and sweeping, relying on overwhelming force to suppress the enemy. Moreover, after the battle in the State of Qing, Lu Yang had used the Abaci Sword to annihilate the Shangxuan Sword Sect; under the加持 of the "Human Butcher" marvelous ability, which specialized in countering sword cultivators, its power had doubled!

At the same time, Sui Ying also reacted.

Without any hesitation, a pair of dragon horns atop his head flashed with brilliance, rolling up surging clouds and water waves to directly block all of Ye Guyue's escape routes.

Kicking someone while they were down!

They were enemies to begin with; reducing their numbers by one was always a gain. Furthermore, as a being from overseas, Sui Ying would naturally show no softness or slowness when dealing with inland cultivators.

Even as he struck, he was speculating on Lu Yang's identity.

'This person arrived long ago, deliberately hiding outside and patiently waiting until this exact moment to strike. So insidious... could he possibly be a True Person of the Chusheng Sect?'

Meanwhile, Ye Guyue let out a sigh.

'The demonic fiend is cunning; there is no possibility of victory this time. Moreover, with a true dragon added to the mix, I must withdraw temporarily, regroup, and return to fight him another day.'

With this thought, Ye Guyue altered the hand seal in her grasp.

In the next second, the qi mechanism of her body shifted; magnificent patterns appeared between her brows, causing her cold temperament to suddenly become bewitchingly seductive.

Then she slightly parted her lips and let out a Daoist shout:

"Nine Sons Mother Heaven-Demon Sword Art for Slaying Immortals!"

In the next second, the sword light around her body surged violently; yet the sword light, originally clear as snow, now inexplicably bore nine mournful and gorgeous blood veins.

"Boom!"

The sword lights collided and then exploded, as if countless thunders had burst forth in an instant, while endless fierce gales raged across the dome of the sky.

Facing the combined attack of Lu Yang and Sui Ying, Ye Guyue naturally could not withstand it; yet there was not a trace of despair on her face. Her form gradually dimmed until it vanished completely from the spot, replaced by a nude beauty whose appearance closely resembled Ye Guyue's, yet whose figure was illusory.

"Snap!"

With a light sound, the nude beauty perished, having absorbed the full force of Lu Yang and Sui Ying's attacks. As for Ye Guyue herself, she had already vanished without a trace.

"... scaped?"

Lu Yang's eyebrows rose slightly; the Daoist method Ye Guyue had employed at the end was utterly different from the ordinary techniques of the Sword Pavilion, giving him a very familiar feeling.

It was just like—

"It is a Second Grade True Art!"

Within the Myriad Souls Banner, Patriarch Tingyou, who had been observing the battle the entire time, finally spoke: "Not only that, she should have already completed the step of 'Gathering External Qi'!"

Upon hearing this, Lu Yang immediately narrowed his eyes.

"Eh, Patriarch, you are making things too difficult for me."

To be honest, since he himself had no interest in women, he had initially planned to kill Ye Guyue outright, but now it seemed his strategy would have to change slightly.

(End of Chapter)