Chapter 516: You Temper? I Temper!

At the instant Su Hongxiu turned her gaze back.

Du Weiguang actually felt a sudden, sharp pang of dread. As a personal disciple of the Banshan Sect, he was quite confident in his own strength.

He didn't quite think that he alone, a personal disciple of an elder, could stand shoulder-to-shoulder with the Dao Child of the Heavenly Sword Sect, but when it came to the powers in Yu Nanhong's territory, he couldn't help but carry a measure of contempt.

That woman's simple glance contained a killing intent so pure and extreme that it gave him the feeling she was more dangerous than facing his own sect's Dao Child.

One had to know that although the Banshan Sect's scale couldn't compare to the Seven Sons of Nanhong, it still far surpassed a single Heavenly Sword Sect.

Moreover, Nanhong had been tucked away in a remote corner for so many years, while the Banshan Sect had been exchanging and interacting with the entire Hongze region. As one rose and the other fell, after so many years the gap should have grown even wider.

This gap was reflected not only in the Banshan Sect having opened up a new Dao Merging treasure land, possessing two Dao Merging realm titans.

Even just looking at sect disciples, they should be stronger as well.

"..."

Du Weiguang's earlier mocking words were actually just because he couldn't stand watching this group of Nanhong savages come to the Banshan Sect to act wild. With so many elders seated in the great hall, he wanted to salvage a little face.

They had indeed deliberately cold-shouldered these few Nanhong Dao Children.

Mainly because the Banshan Sect had more important matters to attend to right now. It just so happened that the West Long Gong had dispatched a great army to press into Nanhong, which also relieved some of their pressure.

Yet they also worried that the Seven Sons of Nanhong would feel the Banshan Sect wasn't taking this matter seriously, creating a rift, and then refuse to give their all in resisting the Long Gong, which would instead cause more trouble for West Hong.

So they simply entertained them with fine food and drink, stalling for time, waiting until the sect finished the matter at hand before discussing further.

Given the scale of the Seven Sons of Nanhong, even if the West Palace and South Palace truly became murderous and attacked with full force, they could hold out for quite a long time.

Who would have thought that this woman from the Heavenly Sword Sect would dare use such a crude method, forcing them to have no choice but to come out and meet her—simply outrageous!

Now the words had already been spoken.

Du Weiguang stared silently at the woman below whose sword intent pierced the heavens. Seeing that she had absolutely no intention of showing deference to the elders within the sect's main hall, for a moment he felt as if he had been pinned in place.

With his cultivation of having just opened two cities, if they really fought, he probably couldn't last a single sword strike.

"..."

Su Hongxiu slowly took a step forward. High above the sky, the gates of three full great cities trembled in unison, as if in the next breath they would spew forth dense radiance.

The three personal disciples of the Banshan Sect elders instinctively retreated several zhang backward.

Let alone them—even Bai Wu shut his mouth, not daring to speak further… Given Su Hongxiu's temperament, without the Heavenly Sword Sect Master to suppress her, opening the cities meant blood would be drawn, and even life and death would be decided.

The problem was, they had come to request reinforcements. Even if they couldn't bring aid back, it shouldn't come to a blood feud the moment they stepped out, should it?

Thinking of this, Bai Wu subconsciously looked toward Shen Yi.

Although he didn't know if the other party was as afraid to speak as he was, at the very least the other's title of Sect Master was legitimate. If he was willing to step forward, Su Hongxiu might listen to a word or two?

"Let me handle this."

Wei Yuanzhou hadn't forgotten his duty on this trip. He stepped forward a pace ahead, slightly raising his arm to block Su Hongxiu.

The conversation had already reached this point; to keep being modest would be rather impolite.

This breath of resentment definitely had to be vented, but the severity of the matter needed to be carefully controlled.

Su Hongxiu would most likely let these few take one sword strike from her.

But this group would definitely be unable to withstand it.

"..."

Su Hongxiu cast a cold glance at Wei Yuanzhou, then swept her gaze toward Shen Yi at the side and rear. After a moment's deliberation, she drew a deep breath and slowly clenched her five fingers.

With the motion, the three great cities in the sky vanished once more into clouds white as silk floss.

She withdrew the purple qi rainbow.

Su Hongxiu retreated without a word, her gaze fixed coldly on the void—clearly forcibly restraining her fury.

Whether she could truly calm her anger would depend on how Wei Yuanzhou performed.

"Dao Child of Lingyun Sect, Wei Yuanzhou."

Wei Yuanzhou turned his gaze back toward the horizon, then earnestly cupped his hands. As his long robe fluttered slightly, his voice was calm: "I ask the three of you to grant me instruction… or if there are other Dao friends willing to enter the fray, you may grant me instruction together as well."

The moment these words were spoken, the mountains surrounding the Banshan Sect's main hall fell into Tianyan Siji all at once.

Countless gazes converged on this spot—to be precise, converged on the figure in the gold-threaded Bai Shan robe.

No matter how strong the Seven Sons of Nanhong were, if you took any single sect out and placed it on the scale of the entire Hongze region, it would only be a second-rate power.

The aura Su Hongxiu had revealed earlier was already shocking enough, but Wei Yuanzhou's words at this moment made it even harder for them to save face. Could it be that the Dao Children of the other Nanhong sects were also such heaven-gifted prodigies?!

Seeing this, Bai Wu raised an eyebrow, a touch of emotion flashing through his eyes. Wei Yuanzhou, this person, usually looked like a modest gentleman, but once Su Hongxiu was involved, he did have a bit of reckless spirit.

The two Dao Children stepping forward could truly be said to have given the Banshan Sect no face at all.

"..."

Du Weiguang forced himself to appear composed, but inwardly he was cursing.

He couldn't quite read Wei Yuanzhou's depth, but judging from those words alone, the other party definitely had some real strength.

Sensing the clearly displeased attitude of the various elders in the main hall behind him.

Du Weiguang glanced at the two fellow disciples beside him, suddenly thought of something, and a mocking smile resurfaced on his face: "Zhu Shixiong Wei certainly knows how to say pretty words. You, a dignified Dao Child, count as half a Sect Master. Now you want to bully us mere disciples with your greater status, and yet you can still make it sound so grand and heroic—I'm impressed, truly impressed!"

Hearing this, Wei Yuanzhou slightly furrowed his brow.

Before he could respond.

Du Weiguang slowly crossed his arms: "Of course, our sect's Dao Child isn't at the mountain gate right now. Asking you to wait for him would make it seem as if we're cowardly and making excuses. How about this instead…"

As he spoke, he slightly tilted his head: "To be fair, neither of us borrows the external power of that Bai Yu Jingxiancheng. A real fight with real weapons?"

The moment these words were spoken, Bai Wu's expression suddenly turned strange, and he sighed: "Haven't seen each other in years, didn't expect the Banshan Sect to still be this fair and square. How truly fair."

Everyone in Hongze knew the Banshan Sect had risen to prominence through their Spirit Body arts.

Neither side using Bai Yu Jingxiancheng?

The phrase "real fight with real weapons" sounded somewhat absurd no matter how you heard it.

"..."

Even if Wei Yuanzhou were the most rigid of traditionalists, he would not fall for such a crude provocation.

But Du Weiguang had spoken one truth.

As a Dao Disciple, whether he was right or wrong, the moment he engaged in a verbal dispute with these direct disciples of the Banshan Sect, he would already have lost half the advantage.

Therefore, he could only remain silent.

As for truly abandoning his strengths to compete with them in Spiritual Body cultivation... no one so foolish could ever become a Dao Disciple.

"Zhu Shixiong Wei seems rather unwilling."

Du Weiguang raised an eyebrow, suddenly shifting his gaze toward Bai Wu, who was preparing to speak, and smiled with clear provocation: "How about you try?"

As long as his skin was thick enough, he could completely ignore the other's words.

"I..."

Bai Wu opened his mouth, then forced a bitter smile.

If he faced three opponents alone, even with the Xiancheng activated, he might win only with great difficulty; let alone without revealing his cultivation.

However, while Wei Yuanzhou was too proud to speak, Bai Wu himself did not care about such things.

Just as Bai Wu was about to continue his mockery.

Du Weiguang let out a cold sneer and swiftly averted his gaze.

Yet that gaze passed directly over Su Hongxiu, who was staring straight at him.

It was not that he believed he would lose the Spiritual Body contest to that woman; mainly, he did not trust her to hold back her temper. Once she truly lost her cool, she might just draw her Dao Weapon and strike with a single sword slash.

Thus.

Du Weiguang's gaze finally settled upon the figure in the dark robe: "Neither of them dares. How about you try?"

He stared intently at that Bai Xi face, this time not rushing to look away.

When the Bai Sect was established over ten days ago, only three Dao Disciples were introduced.

That meant the remaining one was truly someone they could attack.

"Of course, if you dare not, I also..."

"Good."

Before Du Weiguang could finish his attempt to save face, he saw that young man lightly nod his chin.

He was stunned for a moment, unable to react immediately, and instinctively wanted to restate the rules: "I mean..."

"I said good. Anything works. Activating the Xiancheng or not, it's all the same."

Shen Yi casually took a step forward, his clear gaze sweeping over the three of them.

In fact, more than ten days ago, upon first meeting that elder of the Banshan Sect, he had already become deeply interested in these cultivators.

This was the first time since Shen Yi left the General Nanyang Sect that he had seen cultivators who primarily practiced the Spiritual Body method.

Perfect. He also wanted to test how much gap existed between the Divine Phoenix Immortal Sword Body he had deduced and the orthodox techniques of these body-refining sects.

"..."

All three Dao Disciples, including Su Hongxiu, stood frozen in place, having never imagined this matter could even be linked to Shen Zongzhu.

No Xiancheng, a direct clash?

Whether Shen Zongzhu is "hard" or not is unknown, but last time when he slew Liu Xingshan, he did not activate the Xiancheng.

Su Hongxiu also came to her senses; the anger in her heart dissipated by more than half, and a hint of interest flickered in her eyes.

She could indeed sense the aura of the Dao Weapon Shen Yi had summoned at that time, but that did not mean others could sense it. With such a concealment method, these few direct disciples of the Banshan Sect would likely suffer a severe and humiliating defeat.

"Heh."

Du Weiguang held his breath for a long while before finally exhaling sharply.

Whether it was Wei Yuanzhou's disregard or Bai Wu's sarcastic tone, in terms of lethality, neither compared to the casual indifference, unforced yet unmistakably clear, contained in the dark-robed youth's words.

The opponent did not, like Wei Yuanzhou, utter grand boasts to scorn the disciples of the Banshan Sect.

He simply, with the calmest expression, scorned the very foundation upon which the Banshan Sect was established.

Anything works... Activating or not, it's all the same...

"Do not regret this."

The expressions of Du Weiguang and the other two turned uniformly cold.

Even within the main hall of the Banshan Sect, numerous displeased auras spilled forth, dimming the heavens and earth, and the wind suddenly ceased.

In an instant, three figures simultaneously vanished from their spots.

The surrounding air abruptly fell into an eerie heat, as if skin were rubbing against the spiritual energy of heaven and earth, causing the blood and qi to burn and boil!

They indeed did not activate the Xiancheng, but the moment they struck, they directly unleashed the overwhelming aura unique only to the Bai Yu Jing!

Crack.

Not to mention Bai Wu; even Wei Yuanzhou's face now flushed with anger.

You must understand, the Banshan Sect does not know Shen Zongzhu Shen Yi's true identity.

Earlier, facing a Dao Disciple, they claimed to be bullying the young to establish this rule; targeting Shen Yi was unreasonable to begin with, and to still choose to fight three against one was simply shameless!

Su Hongxiu, however, looked intently at Shen Yi's right arm.

She truly wished to witness once more that palm strike from the Seven Disciples Assembly.

Yet this time, the arm beneath the dark sleeve remained utterly motionless.

The change appeared on Shen Yi's Bai Xi face.

More precisely, within those two pitch-black eyes.

Su Hongxiu once again smelled that essence of the Sword Body, and then, as purple flames rose within Shen Yi's eyes, the depth of that Sword Intent instantly transformed from a small stream into a vast, raging Dahe!

Boom—

The three direct disciples of the Banshan Sect appeared almost simultaneously.

One man's arms swelled, nearly bursting his clothes; his skin looked as if coated in gold and silver. His two palms, one above the other, used short, thick fingers to ruthlessly clamp onto Shen Yi's calves and arms.

This is the Pushing Mountain Style!

Even if what stood before were a towering high mountain, it could be violently flipped away.

On the other side, a Banshan Sect direct disciple used an almost identical move. If one person flipping a mountain was impressive, then flipping it from both sides simultaneously meant the vast force was enough to crush anything!

The ferocity of their strikes was terrifying to hear of.

Shen Yi finally moved.

He still did not use the No-Life Palm that Su Hongxiu had imagined.

At the very moment the Banshan Sect direct disciple clamped onto him, his slender right leg, moving at a speed invisible to the naked eye, viciously became a blur and whipped out, crashing down with a boom onto the back of that direct disciple's neck!

Crack—

The Banshan Sect direct disciple had not yet snapped out of the shock of the opponent easily breaking free from his hand's restraint when his eyes suddenly bulged wide, nearly popping out of their sockets.

Under the surging, vast force rushing at him, his entire spine arched high like a great dragon, nearly bursting through his skin, then suddenly shattered, turning into bone fragments like broken jade that stabbed outward, scattering everywhere with a clatter!

Shen Yi did not glance sideways; he gazed silently ahead.

In his eyes, where purple flames surged, a hint of disappointment flickered.

To his right, another direct disciple using the Pushing Mountain Style was completely dazed, head hanging, staring blankly at the dark shadow protruding from his chest.

That elbow, wrapped in the black robe, had quietly shattered his body.

Boom!!

Only at this moment did the immense force suddenly erupt, violently blasting his ruined body hundreds of zhang away, smashing through the mountain ridge, producing a rumbling boom, and raising clouds of dust.

Even without fully unleashing Xiang Tianyan's Sijiu, Shen Yi, relying solely on his basic fist and palm techniques, was enough to handle such a small scene.

And at the point where his gaze fell.

As the final strike appeared, Du Weiguang's face was covered in stupor and disbelief; only his raised fist, still under the control of his body's instinct, carrying the momentum of splitting a mountain, smashed out violently.

Shen Yi's black robe rustled all over his body; between the rolled-up sleeves, those five slender fingers had clenched at some unknown moment.

Clearly forming a fist with a palm, yet it looked as if he held a sword.

A divine phoenix sword that was neither dead nor immortal, brimming with vitality, under the support of Hongmeng Chen Ziqi, caused the wind sounds of heaven and earth to rise again, gathering into a high-pitched phoenix cry, or perhaps a piercing sword sound!

The calm on Shen Yi's face finally showed a ripple.

Sword Out, No Return!

His sharp knuckles, avoiding nothing and yielding to nothing, crashed straight onto Du Weiguang's fist.

The two fists met; like a precious sword breaking brittle bamboo, Shen Yi's right fist easily tore through Du Weiguang's forearm, then his arm, then his shoulder, until more than half of his body turned into a rain of blood and flew out in a near-death state.

"Pfft—"

Fear, regret, and other emotions all surged into Du Weiguang's mind, along with deep incomprehension; yet under the erosion of that fierce immense force, he had no room for much thought at all, and even his soul shook violently, plunging directly into unconsciousness.

Inside the Banshan Sect's main hall, a mighty spiritual force surged out of the hall door, quickly wrapping around him, then dragging him into the hall.

Shen Yi simply watched quietly, then lowered his arm, showing no intention to pursue further.

He merely wanted to test his sword; although these sword-testing stones were somewhat poor, there was no need to completely destroy them.

After all, they were still on Banshan Sect territory, and the great masters of the Dao-Integration realm had not yet appeared.

Such an act, bringing no benefit and merely placing himself in danger, was something he did not like.

The Divine Phoenix Immortal Body had only just reached great completion; it had not yet attained the perfect realm. It was only that the Hongmeng Chen Ziqi forging all eleven heavenly palaces was truly too abundant, granting this spiritual body and dharma the strength comparable to Bai Yujing.

But it should be around the level of one or two Xianchengs.

It was just that these Banshan Sect cultivators, renowned for refining their bodies, were not even up to this realm; it was inevitably somewhat unsatisfying.

"Hah."

Su Hongxiu finally stopped holding her breath.

She did not see the palm technique she had expected, but instead witnessed another terrifying method of Shen Zongzhu.

The opponent clearly hailed from the General Nanyang treasure land and was not renowned for spiritual body dharma, yet without activating a Xiancheng, he could horizontally suppress three Banshan Sect body-refining cultivators.

It was truly something that made one's heart feel... somewhat bitter.

But then again, with the support of a full eleven heavenly palaces, whatever technique would become terrifying.

Su Hongxiu's previously privately calculated odds of victory now had to be reduced further.

She raised her gaze to look at the slightly swaying black robe ahead, sighed softly; this young Shen Zongzhu truly managed to surprise her every single time.

"You seem not angry anymore?"

Bai Wu quietly leaned over, but received only a flat, unrippled glance from Su Hongxiu. He gave a sheepish smile: "Not activating a Xiancheng to fight? That's just being out of one's mind... Who is like him, knowing everything? I wonder what kind of free time he must have to cultivate such interests. Truly, having great talent allows one to do whatever one wants."

Qingyue Daozi seemed to be complaining, but it was also the truth.

People who have time to learn everything like this are truly rare in the sect; the last one should have been Senior Xiang Tianyan.

One can only say General Nanyang Sect produces only monsters!

Thinking of this, Bai Wu looked again at Wei Yuanzhou, clicked his tongue; he guessed Daoist Brother Yuanzhou would be disappointed for a while again. Having finally found an opportunity, he was blocked back with a single sentence, with a whole set of strength having nowhere to be used, plus the comparison with Shen Zongzhu...

Obviously.

Wei Yuanzhou was not at all the kind of person Bai Wu thought he was.

After the fighting began.

His thoughts were entirely on Shen Yi; matters concerning the Shen Zongzhu allowed no carelessness from him.

While surprised by Shen Yi's such powerful body-refining methods, he quickly gathered his spirit and looked toward the main hall on the opposite side of the mountain.

At this moment, within the Banshan Sect main hall, several auras far surpassing those of these direct disciples were beginning to stir restlessly.

As expected, within two or three breaths.

Figure after figure leaped out of the main hall, stepping through the air, all hanging suspended in the sky.

Roughly counting, there were sixteen cultivators in total, faces both old and young, including elders and direct disciples, all of the Bai Yujing realm!

You must understand that unless a major event occurs, it is impossible for all the powerful figures of a sect to be gathered within the sect at the same time.

In other words, the current strength of the Banshan Sect likely far exceeds what Wei Yuanzhou previously judged; it may be equivalent to the combined might of two of the Seven Sons of Yu Nanhong, or perhaps even higher.

With their first appearance, they displayed the true demeanor of a major sect.

At this moment, led by the eldest elder, they all looked down, their gazes falling entirely upon Shen Yi.

"Heh."

Wei Yuanzhou suddenly let out a laugh he found hard to understand.

He had thought there might be elders or direct disciples guarding the main hall, but he never imagined there were so many.

Moreover, with so many experts stationed here, the Banshan Sect still refused to discuss with them the matter of resisting the Long Gong.

Compared to having the will but lacking the strength, this deliberate indifference was clearly harder to accept.

Of course, even though the other side now displayed this formation.

The several Dao Sons still showed no sign of alarm.

After all... the Seven Sons of Yu Nanhong would not be split apart; if one truly weighed their backgrounds, a mere Banshan Sect was simply not enough to be taken seriously.

However, what puzzled Wei Yuanzhou was...

These powerful figures of Bai Yu Jing, who had emerged one after another, clearly still held anger on their faces as they left the main hall.

But now, hovering in the air, as several breaths passed, the anger on their faces gradually vanished; instead, as if seeing some fine material or beautiful jade, a strange joy surged in their eyes.

"Yang Yunheng, the Grand Elder of the Banshan Sect, greets all Daoist friends from Yu Nanhong."

The old man at the head appeared quite aged, yet his spirit was vigorous; though he addressed them as several Daoist friends, his gaze never left Shen Yi.

As he spoke.

Even Su Hongxiu could not help but furrow her brow slightly.

This old man gave her a somewhat dangerous feeling; at least during her time in Yu Nanhong, she had never sensed a similar aura from a cultivator of Bai Yu Jing.

Perhaps they had opened three cities, their Dao Soldiers were of good quality, and they possessed a formidable Spiritual Body Technique?

Su Hongxiu gathered her thoughts, took a light step, and quietly moved to stand behind Shen Yi.

"No need to be tense."

Yang Yunheng forced a smile, glanced at the two dying figures beneath Shen Yi's feet, and said, "Young friend, they were simply outmatched; the Banshan Sect admits defeat. Please stay a few more days, and we will certainly provide you with sufficient compensation. However, now... could you return them to this old man?"

Compensation?

Hearing these two words, Shen Yi raised an eyebrow.

In fact, he had never intended to kill them in the first place; now there was even an unexpected gain.

He still remembered that when they arrived, Wei Yuanzhou had introduced that this sect had been searching for all kinds of heavenly treasures and earthly gems... he wondered if there was anything suitable for his Divine Phoenix Immortal Sword Body.

"Do as you please."

Shen Yi nodded lightly.

His calm demeanor, victorious yet unarrogant, fell into the eyes of the Banshan Sect crowd, causing this group to instinctively exchange glances once more.

"Then many thanks to you, young friend."

Yang Yunheng clasped his hands in a bow and casually sent those two direct disciples back into the main hall as well.

(End of this chapter)