Chapter 173: Prodigy? Nothing more! (6k)

Whoosh!

The next moment, Li Hanshan, carrying a black halberd, also rushed out from the city. A trace of surprise flashed in his eyes, but soon, that surprise was replaced by a cold expression, and a murderous aura faintly radiated from his body.

City Lord Hu Xuantang was also stunned. Feeling the terrifying killing intent of both sides, he couldn't help but shiver. Without a word, he hurriedly ran into the city and instructed everyone to retreat immediately.

The battle of the Nascent Soul realm could easily destroy the entire city.

At this moment, Li Hanshan's terrifying spiritual sense was released rapidly, and then he looked at Zhou Qing unexpectedly, with a bit of doubt in his eyes: "Only the three of you?"

Zhou Qing, however, looked calm. He stomped his feet lightly, and the soil layer beneath his feet rolled up instantly. Then, looking at him at eye level, he said, "Only the two of you?"

Li Hanshan, hearing this, was amused and said, "Have you always been this brave?"

"Why waste words with him? Since he took the initiative to deliver himself to my door this time, I will make him wish he were dead!"

Yu Ziqi's eyes were red, wishing he could devour Zhou Qing alive.

As he spoke, he took off the sword box behind him and slapped it hard. Blinding strong light rushed into the sky.

"Sword, rise!"

He saw nine swords, including the green snake sword, whistling out instantly, intertwining and shuttling in the air, forming a gorgeous sword net in an instant.

For a time, sand and stones flew, and heaven and earth changed color.

"Hurry and go!" Yan Xiaohu shoved a healing pill to Feng Cheng and then urged him to leave.

Feng Cheng wanted to say something, but Yan Xiaohu kicked him away directly.

Dawdling, not knowing the time.

Afterward, Yan Xiaohu didn't delay. His Nascent Soul amplification unfolded, and his cultivation instantly rose to the mid Nascent Soul stage.

His spiritual power surged, and he stood majestically by Zhou Qing's side, holding a broadsword, staring vigilantly at Yu Ziqi and Li Hanshan, ready for battle.

On Lu Yaoyao's side, layers of crystal-clear ice crystals quietly spread beneath her feet, continuously spreading and overlapping.

Behind her, an ice lotus slowly condensed in a trance, radiating a cold light.

Zhou Qing looked at the opponent expressionlessly, his expression as calm as water. With a wave of his hand, several formation flags were set up right in front of them.

"Enter the formation!" Zhou Qing said. Although his voice wasn't loud, it carried an unquestionable majesty.

Lu Yaoyao and Yan Xiaohu didn't hesitate in the slightest. Their figures flashed, and they entered the formation.

Afterward, Zhou Qing looked at Yu Ziqi and Li Hanshan opposite him, a faint smile on his face. He made a gesture of invitation, and then his figure flickered and disappeared into the formation.

Looking at this slightly provocative scene, Li Hanshan's brows furrowed.

"Mere three early Nascent Soul realm cultivators, what's there to be afraid of!" Yu Ziqi, carrying the sword box, snorted coldly and entered with a boom.

Li Hanshan, however, was not as impulsive as Yu Ziqi. He just looked vigilantly at the formation before him, constantly weighing the pros and cons in his heart.

After all, Meng Xing, Song Yuan, and Miss Sima Yaoji all died at Zhou Qing's hands. Perhaps they were also this careless at the time, which led to their deaths.

Since I can solve it neatly, why should I enter your formation and make a simple matter so complicated?

Thinking of this, Li Hanshan snorted coldly, and the light on the black halberd in his hand flickered.

As he lifted his foot lightly, his whole body was suddenly shrouded in black battle energy, thick and heavy, revealing a deterrent power that made people tremble.

The earth beneath his feet also cracked, and endless deep black gas surged out from it, like a surging sea of corpses tossing.

Where the halberd tip pointed, ripples appeared in space, as if easily torn by its sharpness.

This was the "Destruction" realm of understanding he had comprehended after observing the endless battlefield. Although it was currently just a prototype, it had powerful might.

It could make people feel as if they were deep in that tragic battlefield, instantly increasing their fighting spirit and igniting a burning fighting will. Looking at the enemy, they would involuntarily face the fear of the battlefield and feel the threat of death.

"Second, let's compare. Will you kill someone first, or will I break the formation first?"

Afterward, Li Hanshan roared, holding the halberd, his figure like electricity, and rushed directly toward the formation before him.

He saw the halberd tip pierce the sky, bringing a blood-red light. Within that light, the sounds of slaughter of thousands of troops and horses seemed to come faintly, carrying the majestic momentum of charging into battle as he charged.

As he thrust with all his might, the halberd seemed to turn into a roaring angry dragon, rushing directly toward the formation.

Hum—

When the halberd tip collided with the formation patterns, sparks flew instantly, and the entire formation shook violently. For a time, the light flickered crazily, emitting dull, loud noises.

"Interesting!" Seeing that this formation hadn't been pierced by his halberd, Li Hanshan's eyes flashed with surprise. Afterward, he gathered his strength again and thrust the second halberd at the formation...

Inside the formation, Zhou Qing, looking at Yu Ziqi who had broken in alone, was somewhat surprised, but it quickly turned into ecstasy.

To be honest, these two were half-step Soul Formation realm experts. Third Senior Brother and Lu Yaoyao could at most barely resist one late Nascent Soul realm expert.

Originally, he had thought that if it really didn't work, he would directly use the jade token left by the silver-haired woman. Now, it was good that the two had separated themselves first.

Sensing the fluctuations of the attacks coming from outside, Zhou Qing snorted coldly and immediately placed Third Senior Brother and Lu Yaoyao in the outermost layer.

In fact, this was a triple formation overlap. The outermost layer was the "Floating Pagoda Formation," which was the most solid. The second layer was the "Eighteen-Level Earthquake," and the innermost was the "Lei Yan Spirit-Devouring Formation."

"Don't go out, try your best to interrupt his attacks!" Zhou Qing transmitted his voice to the two.

The two understood tacitly and immediately aimed at Li Hanshan, who was preparing to gather strength for his second halberd, and launched an attack.

Li Hanshan felt the danger and retreated rapidly. He saw a sharp blade light, accompanied by traces of ice power, roar out like a silk ribbon.

At this time, his expression couldn't help but turn solemn. This was troublesome!

Meanwhile, looking at the heaven and earth entangled with thunder clouds and flames, Yu Ziqi stood proudly and snorted coldly. His eyes were like cold stars, staring fixedly at Zhou Qing in the air.

"The formation is not bad, but some things cannot be made up for even with external objects. You killed my Yaoji; this hatred is irreconcilable. Die!"

After saying this, he roared toward the sky. The nine blinding lights in the sword box rushed into the sky like nine evil dragons waiting to devour people, forming a sword net again, rushing toward Zhou Qing overwhelmingly.

"Good swords!" Zhou Qing praised as he looked at the nine swords of different colors, each radiating powerful spiritual fluctuations. He then summoned his Tetanus.

"Submit to execution!" Zhou Qing shouted loudly.

In an instant, the spiritual power around his body surged crazily, turning into wisps of azure thunder light, entangled around his body.

Afterward, it turned into an angry thunder dragon, roaring toward Yu Ziqi's sword net.

Boom boom boom!

A terrifying explosion occurred instantly. Yu Ziqi's expression changed, and the light of many runes on the sword net dimmed instantly.

"You are not in the early Nascent Soul stage?" Yu Ziqi was shocked.

Zhou Qing's hair, including his pupils, turned azure at this moment, and a huge Suanni roared out from behind him.

Majestic and imposing, as if waking from the primordial era, it gave people a powerful sense of oppression.

"When did I ever say I was in the early Nascent Soul stage!"

Zhou Qing said coldly. As his words fell, the Suanni rushed out. The original "Lei Yan Spirit-Devouring Formation" operated rapidly, and immediately after, a huge vortex formed in the air.

In the center of the vortex, thunder pillars as thick as water buckets descended with a boom, like divine punishment for destroying the world, and countless meteorites dragging long tails of fire whistled toward Yu Ziqi.

"So what if you hid your cultivation? I don't know how many late Nascent Soul stage cultivators like you I've killed. Today, let me show you the realm of understanding of the Soul Formation realm!"

Yu Ziqi's hands formed seals rapidly. In just an instant, the space around him seemed to shatter, and countless illusory sharp swords surged out from the cracks, densely suspended in mid-air.

Each sword flashed with a cold light, and the sword hilts were connected by faint silk threads, leading to the sword box behind him, like puppets under his control.

And Zhou Qing's eyes were somewhat unfocused. Looking everywhere, there were life-taking sword shadows, as if he had fallen into an unsolvable illusion.

Even the momentum of the "Thunderstorm Star Meteor Kill" he was originally controlling was greatly reduced, and it almost dissipated, but soon, his powerful spiritual power broke through this illusion, and he couldn't help but feel a lingering fear.

Is this the realm of understanding of the Soul Formation realm? Just a prototype has such powerful might. No wonder this Yu Ziqi is so fearless.

"This realm of understanding is called Thousand Illusions!" Yu Ziqi said proudly and immediately controlled the sword sea to kill.

Zhou Qing, seeing this, furrowed his brows, but didn't have the slightest intention of retreating. He increased his spiritual power output again. For a time, sword shadows, thunder light, and flames continuously intertwined, and every clash seemed to be heaven-collapsing and earth-shattering.

Even the surrounding space seemed unable to bear such violent power, rippling and twisting.

Time passed bit by bit. Yu Ziqi, however, became more and more shocked as he fought. He had to admit that he had underestimated Zhou Qing's strength.

He had originally thought that relying on his own means, dealing with Zhou Qing would be easy, but he didn't expect this kid to be so tricky, and the strength he erupted with was far beyond his imagination.

Zhou Qing was also shocked in his heart. Although this was the first time the two had clashed head-on, he could clearly feel that Yu Ziqi's strength was much stronger than Miss Sima Yaoji's.

But so what? Don't forget, he wasn't a pushover either.

But he couldn't waste time with him here. He had to find a way to end the battle quickly. After all, he could faintly feel that the outermost "Floating Pagoda Formation" probably wouldn't last much longer.

Since Li Hanshan wouldn't enter the formation, after solving Yu Ziqi, he would have to fight head-on.

"Formation, activate!"

Zhou Qing shouted loudly. Instantly, the thunder clouds and flames of the entire heaven and earth seemed to be shaken violently by an invisible giant hand.

Even the space where the formation was located vibrated violently at a high frequency visible to the naked eye, emitting buzzing roars, as if the angry roar of an ancient beast.

Yu Ziqi, caught off guard, only felt a force like a mountain and sea squeezing in from all directions. His body instantly lost its balance, and he swayed in the air, unable to steady his figure at all.

The scene before his eyes also changed rapidly with this violent vibration. Sometimes the sky spun and the earth turned, and sometimes it seemed as if the entire space was twisted and deformed.

Even with his spiritual power, at this moment, he felt nauseous and extremely uncomfortable.

The realm of understanding, which was still in a half-baked state, also dissipated instantly under this terrifying vibration.

At this moment, he only felt as if he were a small boat in a stormy sea, ready to be crushed by this terrifying force at any time.

"What the hell?"

Yu Ziqi couldn't help but curse loudly, but at this moment, he couldn't care about thinking too much. Without a word, he hurriedly forced his spiritual power to stabilize his figure, while controlling the nine flying swords, trying to resist the violent vibration force in the air.

But this vibration was too intense. The sword speed dropped sharply, and the originally sharp sword momentum became messy and unbearable, unable to exert its due power at all.

The next moment, Yu Ziqi suddenly felt a chill behind his back, his hair stood on end, and a strong sense of crisis surged in his heart. He subconsciously turned to block immediately.

Puchi—

However, it was still a step too late. He saw Zhou Qing, holding a broken sword, appear behind him like a ghost.

He slashed across his waist, directly opening a large wound, and a large amount of blood sprayed out like a spring.

After succeeding, Zhou Qing's feet flashed with silver light, his figure flickered, and he disappeared again instantly.

Yu Ziqi was both shocked and angry. After all, Elder Xuegu had said that this treacherous villain Zhou Qing was best at using poison, especially that broken sword. He didn't know what poison was quenched on it.

Sure enough, at this moment, no matter how he mobilized his spiritual power to treat the wound, it was to no avail.

The blood at his waist flowed out uncontrollably, and he couldn't stop it no matter what.

"Villain, ugh—" Yu Ziqi cursed angrily, but just after cursing, his stomach turned upside down again from the vibration in the formation.

He hurriedly rummaged through his storage bag and took out a large amount of antidote, swallowing them all at once.

Clang!

Just as he had slightly recovered, he suddenly felt a powerful spiritual power fluctuation coming from the right.

He hurriedly blocked with his sword, and sparks flew instantly.

Zhou Qing had actually killed him again like a ghost, his speed and timing grasped perfectly, making it impossible to guard against.

But before Yu Ziqi could curse, the broken sword in Zhou Qing's hand slid down, slashing hard at his left waist again. The movement was smooth and done in one go.

"Symmetry is quite good!"

Zhou Qing's lips curled into a smile, and he teased, then his figure flickered again, moving away from Yu Ziqi, disappearing into the smoke and light.

"I'll be—" Yu Ziqi was so angry that he was furious, his face flushed red, his eyes full of anger, wishing he could tear Zhou Qing into ten thousand pieces immediately.

Without a word, he pointed at his own brow. The next moment, his whole body seemed to split, and layers of phantoms appeared around his body.

Those phantoms gradually became clear, and even flesh buds appeared between the two, looking quite eerie.

Soon, a Yu Ziqi identical to him appeared. Whether it was his appearance or the aura on his body, there was almost no difference.

This was his Nascent Soul amplification, and the cultivation of the split clone would decrease, but it could save his life at a critical moment.

Sure enough, at this moment, the main body was covered in blood because of the injury, looking extremely embarrassed, while the newly appeared clone was intact and in good condition.

"I'll kill you!"

The two looked at each other, then flanked from left and right, attacking Zhou Qing directly.

Zhou Qing, seeing this situation, although somewhat surprised in his heart, was not afraid in the slightest.

Soon, a huge phantom of a three-legged Golden Crow slowly emerged from behind him, radiating scorching golden flames, letting out a heaven-facing shriek, and carrying a terrifying momentum, rushed to kill the two...

"Break for me!"

Li Hanshan, who had been attacking the formation outside and had been interrupted by the strong attacks from inside three times, also lost his patience at this moment.

Finally, seeing an opportunity, Li Hanshan shouted, and the black halberd in his hand swung forward fiercely.

He saw the halberd tip pierce the sky, carrying a majestic momentum of breaking through the enemy camp and moving forward, piercing toward the golden Floating Pagoda Formation.

As the halberd tip pierced the formation patterns, the formation patterns shook violently, and the light began to flicker crazily, as if making a final struggle.

"Crack!"

With a faint sound, as if ice was cracking, the formation patterns began to show cracks, the dim light dimmed, and the runes dissipated.

Under the nervous peeping of countless people in the distance, a heaven-shaking loud noise came, and the "Floating Pagoda Formation" finally couldn't hold on and collapsed with a boom.

The violent spiritual power aftermath spread like a surging tide, and wherever it passed, sand and stones flew, and the mountain rocks were instantly ground into powder.

Yan Xiaohu and Lu Yaoyao, who were in the formation, were caught off guard and hit by the powerful spiritual power aftermath.

They groaned, spat blood, and their figures flew backward uncontrollably, falling heavily to the ground.

Li Hanshan snorted coldly, his face full of disdain. He flicked his wrist lightly, and the black halberd turned lightly in the air, the tip pointing downward, and then he looked coldly at the dust-rolling formation.

Feng Cheng, in the distance, seeing this scene, changed his expression drastically. Anxious, he was about to rush up to help, but just as he took a step, he was hurriedly stopped by Hu Xuantang.

"My Old Brother Feng, don't be impulsive. This was originally a matter with no chance of winning at all. The other party is a prodigy of Cangyan Dao Palace, a half-step Soul Formation realm expert."

"If you rush up now, you're just throwing your life away; it won't have any effect at all. It's better to take advantage of the time now and run for your life!"

Hu Xuantang persuaded anxiously.

Feng Cheng, who was already injured, shook his head repeatedly, looking determined, and handed his storage bag to Hu Xuantang, "They fell into this situation because they saved me. No matter how useless I, Feng Cheng, am, I am still a member of Taiqingmen. Take care!"

After Feng Cheng finished speaking, he was about to rush forward, even if it meant self-destructing his Golden Core, he had to win a chance for Zhou Qing and the others to escape.

"Wait, look—"

Hu Xuantang glanced over there inadvertently, but suddenly shouted loudly as if he had seen something unbelievable.

Feng Cheng paused and turned around in confusion, his eyes widening instantly.

Outside the city, Yan Xiaohu reached out to wipe the blood from the corner of his mouth, endured the pain on his body, hurriedly helped Lu Yaoyao up, and blocked her behind him.

He stared vigilantly at Li Hanshan in front, ready to deal with the attack at any time.

And Li Hanshan, holding the black halberd, was about to step forward to finish these two off completely, but just then, his pupils shrank, and his eyes were full of disbelief.

He saw formation flags flying, and immediately after, the remaining barriers hidden behind were also actively removed at this moment. The lingering smoke gradually dissipated, and Zhou Qing's figure slowly emerged from it.

At this moment, although he was somewhat exhausted and covered in wounds, his posture was upright, and he was dragging Yu Ziqi, who was like a dead dog, walking out step by step.

Yu Ziqi had long lost his previous arrogance, his head drooping, and the blood from the wound between his waists was still gushing out, looking extremely miserable.

Zhou Qing's lips curled slightly, pulling out a mocking smile. He looked straight at Li Hanshan, his tone carrying a bit of teasing, and shouted loudly, "Prodigy? Nothing more!"

As his words fell, his originally withered aura seemed to be replenished at this moment, returning to its peak state.

"Fourth!"

"Zhou Shixiong!"

The two, seeing this, were shocked, then turned into ecstasy, and hurriedly went over.

They couldn't believe it. How long had it been, and Yu Ziqi had been beaten like this by Zhou Qing?

It was simply too cool!

Li Hanshan looked at Zhou Qing, his eyes narrowed. He knew he couldn't underestimate this person.

"Zhou Shixiong!" Lu Yaoyao, who had come to his side, immediately shoved the golden talisman from before into Zhou Qing's hand.

Last time, it didn't work when it scared the Blood Bone Old Ghost, but this time, it might come in handy.

Zhou Qing understood tacitly. With this, his chances would be even greater.

"It seems everyone underestimated you!"

Li Hanshan's expression remained calm, but the hand holding the halberd tightened again. Then, he pointed directly at Zhou Qing, cold killing intent in his eyes, and said slowly.

"I won't give you time to grow again!" Li Hanshan said again.

The speed at which the other party was growing was too fast. No matter what, he had to keep him here today.

Facing the threat, Zhou Qing just smiled. The broken sword in his hand also pointed at Li Hanshan without showing weakness, "Likewise, I'll return this sentence to you."

But just then, a strong sense of crisis surged in Zhou Qing's heart, and all the hair on his body stood on end.

He looked up at the sky suddenly. There, at some point, a red-robed figure stood with his hands behind his back, staring coldly at him, revealing a deterrent power that made people tremble.

Feeling this terrifying pressure, a jade token instantly appeared in Zhou Qing's hand, ready to be activated at any time.

Yan Xiaohu and Lu Yaoyao turned pale as paper instantly and hurriedly leaned toward Zhou Qing.

"Palace Master!" Li Hanshan, who also sensed this powerful aura, was overjoyed.

Sikong Yan just lifted his foot lightly and instantly appeared opposite Zhou Qing and the three, his speed so fast that there was no time to react.

The three retreated a step in unison.

Sikong Yan looked expressionlessly at Yu Ziqi, who was already dead, his eyes without a ripple, and then slowly looked at Zhou Qing and Yan Xiaohu.

"This is our first meeting, right!"

Sikong Yan said slowly, his voice low and cold, making people feel a chill throughout their bodies.

(End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 174 =====