Chapter 425: Sangmu Has Only the Strength to Parry

Seeing that Sangmu did not "Listen to the Blade," Xinyi only smiled to himself.

Admittedly, having Sangmu along on this journey had indeed been of great help, but Xinyi did not trust him.

This was only human nature; just as Lingxiang had not trusted him when she first learned of Xinyi's background.

However, Sangmu had his own reasons for doing so.

It was not that Sangmu was not giving his all, but rather that when dealing with Feilian, the "Listen to the Blade" state was actually more dangerous.

Having spent many years in the Demon Realm, Wumin Jun had explained the backgrounds of the various commanders to Sangmu very clearly.

Although Feilian was small in stature, he was known for his monstrous strength and speed.

Especially his speed; if it were an ordinary cultivator, they would likely not even be able to see his shadow.

And Sangmu's "Listen to the Blade" required remaining in a static state; facing such an opponent, it was no different from being a living target.

But it was fortunate that Xinyi could keep up; it seemed his cultivation was not to be underestimated either.

When Sangmu clashed with Xinyi three years ago, it was not entirely to stop them; it was more at the command of Wumin Jun to probe their true strength, just to test the depth of their group.

In Sangmu's view, Long Qi's group at that time had low cultivation and could not possibly contend with the Demon Realm.

But unexpectedly, Qingmian Hu had actually died at the hands of Lingxiang.

Even Wumingjun had not expected Lingxiang to have such capability.

With Qingmian Hu dead, and coupled with the ascension of Ancestor Yuanqing, the Demon Lord would have no more reservations and would certainly take action.

And since the Demon Lord had already become suspicious of Wumin Jun at that time, Wumin Jun had avoided Lingxiang after arriving in the Demon Realm.

Sangmu cast a subtle glance at Xinyi.

In the end, he had been too cautious; it seemed that after the battle of Yuanqing, these Daoists had grown quite a bit.

But then he thought again, anyone who encountered such things would change to some degree.

Sangmu steadied himself and focused on Feilian, no longer thinking of other things.

Seeing the two of them looking solemn, Feilian mocked them with a sneer.

"Just by relying on you two dogs, you dare to bark at this young master? Today, this young master will let you understand how a stray dog should treat its master."

As soon as the words fell, Feilian's figure vanished, as if he had never appeared at all.

Xinyi and Sangmu gathered all their focus, standing guard without moving, listening carefully to their surroundings, attempting to find Feilian's tracks from the slightest movement.

However, apart from the sounds of the struggle between the various Daoist Sect members and the Demon Soldiers, not a single sound could be heard.

Sangmu took a deep breath and calmed his heart to sense the disturbances around him; Xinyi also pinched a finger seal, holding his breath and focusing his mind, ready to cast Witchcraft at any moment.

It was not that Xinyi had thoughts of escaping, but rather that the Lu Family's Forest Shadow Flying Trace technique was meant for concealing one's form, waiting for an opportunity to act, and launching surprise attacks to defeat the enemy; facing them head-on, the chances of winning were not high.

Everything seemed to have fallen into a standstill, and all things around them seemed to have nothing to do with the two of them.

Suddenly, a storm of attacks followed one after another; Feilian, relying on his own strength alone, was rapidly weaving between the two, slashing continuously.

The weapons of the three clashed, sparking incessantly; the "clang-clang" sounds were endless, and even in such a noisy situation, they remained clearly audible.

At the same time, there was an arrogant laughter that did not match Feilian's youthful appearance.

Feilian seemed to have split into two people, leaving a residual image in front of Xinyi and Sangmu while constantly slashing.

The huge sickle blade was swung like a windmill, emitting a "whoosh" sound. The blade was barely visible, with only a glimmer of cold light seen occasionally.

This scene looked inexplicably comical; one who didn't know better would think it was some family's brat playing around with a stick.

In the blink of an eye, Sangmu felt his arms aching, yet he had to force himself to hold on against the flurry of blades. Xinyi was no less pressured, forced to draw his blade to respond, with no gap to cast any spells.

Facing Feilian, the two of them were only able to parry.

It was rumored that among the thirty thousand ghost soldiers of Fengdu, Feilian had defeated them single-handedly, which was how he attained his current status and position.

Facing such a powerful enemy, that he had actually harbored thoughts of contending with him was simply ridiculous.

Sangmu couldn't help but smile self-deprecatingly, yet he dared not relax his hands in the slightest; in this crushing situation, this could only be considered finding joy in suffering.

The strength in his body was becoming increasingly lax; Sangmu felt the long blade in his hand was incomparably heavy, as if he would not be able to hold it the next moment.

Xinyi was slightly better off; when resisting Feilian's attacks, he used more leverage.

This was thanks to Lingxiang's "Water Art" and "Willow Catkin Sword Technique."

The "Willow Catkin Sword Technique" was a Sword Formula from the Langhuan Pavilion, similar in effect to Liu Xia's Weeping Willow Sword Technique; the sword intent was like four ounces moving a thousand pounds, relaxed and natural, continuous and endless, very elegant and transcendent.

After losing an arm, Xinyi understood that he could never again rely on brute force to face enemies as he had before.

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So in the days that followed, Xinyi made slight modifications to this "Willow Catkin Sword Technique" and combined it with the "Water Art," integrating their strengths into his own blade technique.

This—it was truly quite effective; after practicing hard for a period of time, not only were his moves more refined, but his cultivation had also improved significantly, and he was on the verge of rising to the Golden Core Stage Containment Realm.

But do not underestimate this small realm; it was a state that many cultivators might not reach even after a lifetime of effort.

Moreover, Xinyi was only relying on the cultivation of Martial Dao.

If he were to put some effort into Daoist mental cultivation, his future would surely be limitless.

Lingxiang naturally understood this point back then, so when she took Xinyi to the Langhuan Pavilion, the books she chose for him were mostly of the Dao Theory and Witchcraft variety.

Although he had practiced for some time, these things could not be achieved overnight; without putting in the effort to study them deeply, how could they easily show results?

Later, there was the training down the mountain, and afterwards, he was entangled in various matters, so Lingxiang had no opportunity to teach Xinyi deeply.

This could be considered the irony of fate.

Over these three years, although he had been exhausted by the matters of the Living Corpse, fortunately, there were always some fragmented times when he could receive guidance from Fuyin Zhenren and his fellow disciples, which was quite effective.

It was just that this bit of progress was, after all, a drop in the bucket when facing a powerful enemy like Feilian.

The two of them fought desperately to respond to Feilian's moves, not daring to slacken in the slightest, but their physical strength was ultimately unable to keep up.

However, just when Sangmu thought he could no longer hold on, Feilian's attack stopped.

Xinyi and the other were finally able to catch their breath, but they did not understand why Feilian would do this.

After all, Feilian's reputation preceded him, and both had heard of it; they did not believe this little brat would show mercy.

Feilian, who was being criticized in silence, sniffed his nose at this moment, then looked toward the direction where Liu Xia and Huiwu had disappeared.

He had only ever smelled this scent in the human world; it was the scent of wind.

Just then, the small pebbles underfoot actually began to move slowly in one direction.

Xin Yi and Sangmu panted heavily as they looked at each other, both completely bewildered.

While the two were still astonished, a gale rose in an instant.

Wisps of dust and sand were stirred up by the wind, flying toward the direction of Liu Xia and Huiwu.

Wind?

In the land of the Nine Serenities, where would a great wind come from?

The dust and sand billowed, blurring everyone's eyes, and all those on the battlefield were trapped by it.

Yet Feilian curled the corners of his mouth—

That dog Huiwu isn't entirely useless after all.

(End of this chapter)