Chapter 182

At this moment, it had been nearly half an hour since Yang Kang and his three companions departed, and Nine Palaces Mountain was only three or four li away from here.

With the North Darkness Divine Skill to rely on and the Xiangyang Garrison providing support, even a pig ought to have climbed the mountain by now.

If that's the case, why bother wasting time with this disgusting, filthy trash? Not being able to win is just a matter of running, and hell, it's not like I've never run before!

Thinking of this, Niu Dingtian's pent-up anger finally could not be contained; with a clang he drew the Heaven-Reliant Sword and sneered, "Eunuchs are eunuchs! Even their brains are defective!"

"This sword of mine, since it left the forge, has tasted only my own blood and never anyone else's; today chopping up a eunuch dog would be a shame!"

As the sword tip pointed forward, Niu Dingtian's formless sword intent suddenly condensed, locking onto Juexing, who was gathering strength.

Dealing with this half-baked Innate expert was naturally a trivial matter.

Kuihua Laozi blinked in surprise, not expecting Niu Dingtian to suddenly attack; his face quickly turned dark.

"How many years has it been? No one has ever dared to be this presumptuous before me, the Old Ancestor, and no one has ever dared to mention those two words to me."

"You little brat, you really want to die!"

As he spoke, his originally reclining, graceful figure in the soft sedan slowly sat up; in the motion, his long, fair jade legs rubbed and shifted, as if trying to ensnare souls.

As he slowly rose, thread after thread of invisible, vast true qi swiftly spread around him, like an invisible net tightly ensnaring Niu Dingtian.

"Thud—thud~~"

Kuihua Laozi stepped out of the sedan, his feet not touching the ground, walking slowly about a foot above the floor.

The Innate Peak is terrifying indeed! In the next instant, Kuihua True Qi rapidly condensed beneath his feet; after stepping, it burst forth in golden lotus blossoms, then gradually faded like ripples.

With each step a lotus bloomed, his red robes fluttering; the very air on the street seemed to solidify, oppressive, suffocating, forcing one to kneel.

Beautiful as jade yet with a mad visage, amid the thudding footsteps, Kuihua Laozi in his scarlet garments, his robes rustling, pressed step by step toward Niu Dingtian.

Niu Dingtian's expression was icy, he stood tall, sword in hand; feeling the incoming true qi's suppression, his invincible will erupted.

At the same time, a sword's hum resonated in the street, buzzing fiercely; the soaring sword intent pierced his body, seeming to turn the illusory into reality, madly shredding everything around.

Clashes between Innate experts can occur in the intangible; divine wills meet, artistic conceptions clash, turning the unreal into real, harming without form.

Although neither had unleashed a move, the sudden collision of true qi and sword intent tore at the void itself, as if space were trembling and twisting, on the verge of utter shattering.

Such might, however, proved bitter for Juexing.

Earlier, Niu Dingtian had locked onto him with his formless sword intent; gradually, after the full-force clash unfolded, Niu Dingtian no longer paid him heed, but being on the edge of the confrontation, he could only press his palms together and resist with all his might.

Neither solid nor dispersed, having form but lacking spirit, such a quasi-Innate realm ultimately lies separated from a true Innate expert by a vast gulf.

Under the overwhelming pressure of the supreme sword intent and Kuihua True Qi, Juexing's complexion gradually turned as pale as paper.

"Pfft~"

"Thud~"

Finally, a mouthful of blood spurted out; with a sudden bang, his monk's robes were blown to shreds.

The next instant, his whole body, like a kite with its string cut, flipped and flew backward in an instant.

At the same time,

"Whoosh—whoosh—whoosh~~"

As Kuihua Laozi pressed closer step by step, fierce winds howled incessantly around Niu Dingtian; two terrifyingly violent gusts raged madly in their clash.

When he stepped to within several zhang of Niu Dingtian, Kuihua Laozi's feet hovered as if treading solid ground; the golden lotus blossoms manifested by his Kuihua True Qi beneath his feet burned fiercely like raging fire.

Gradually, under the invisible pressure, Niu Dingtian's expression grew solemn, then gradually turned pale.

Yet Kuihua Laozi's utterly beautiful visage suddenly twisted grotesquely, nearly demonic, as he howled madly, "What a magnificent invincible sword intent! To have held me off to this extent, heh heh heh—I never thought I'd see the day of facing an invincible sword intent again."

"Hahaha~ Dugu Laozei! Back then we couldn't kill you, but now we'll slaughter your disciple!"

As his words fell, a sheet of blood-red suddenly rose in the dim night; countless crimson phantoms of Kuihua Laozi's form instantly merged with the golden-flame-like Kuihua True Qi, and they roared downward from midair, rushing swiftly at Niu Dingtian.

Amid the churning and surging true qi, a thunderclap-like boom echoed, reverberating endlessly through the night sky.

Kuihua Laozi's eyes were frenzied and violent, his face utterly hideous; he pressed his five fingers together, his palm white as jade, and amidst the surging Kuihua True Qi around him, he slammed down a Heaven-Overturning Palm Seal.

Boom! Boom! Boom~~~~ Niu Dingtian felt as if heaven and earth were utterly drowned in a sky of blood and rolling flames, the scorching, skin‑piercing boundless golden fire crashing down like a collapsing heaven.

Afterward, the pavilions and houses within a ten‑zhang radius, under the violent shock of the mighty qi, instantly shattered into fragments that fluttered down.

Boom!!! At the same instant, under the scorching, rolling golden flames, Niu Dingtian glared, right hand gripping the sword, left palm turning; within him, his Yin Power spun wildly to the extreme.

The next moment, a mighty chill that seemed able to freeze the very void erupted from within Niu Dingtian, blasting upward to meet the pressing, rolling flames from above.

Kuihua Laozi's blazing, boiling true qi surged like stormy waves, pressing down heaven and earth.

Niu Dingtian's awe‑inspiring cold raged like a dragon returning to the sea, sweeping forward, unstoppable on the ground.

Boom! Boom! Boom! At the instant the two ultimate forces collided, a hissing, scorching sound rang out in the rising white mist, erupting into a devastating storm that devoured and destroyed everything; endless thunderclaps also rolled across the area.

The inn, already reduced to ruins, was flattened outright by this blow; viewed from above, half was charred and scorching, the other half cold as frost.

At this moment, the tremendous din of battle had long roused all of Xiangyang; within a radius of a hundred zhang around the fight, residents had fled cleanly. Only the arriving Xiangyang Garrison and a throng of martial‑world folk, faces shocked, encircled the area from afar.

"Cough—cough—cough~"

After a while, the smoke gradually drifted away; amidst the wreckage, Niu Dingtian was blackened all over, his clothes in tatters, swaying as he stood, he couldn't help but cough a few times, revealing a large white tooth stained with blood.

"Good, good, good,,,"

Kuihua Laozi's scarlet robes were likewise torn and stained, his fair face smudged with soot; compared to Niu Dingtian, he gazed at the ice crystals forming in his hand, gritted his teeth and spat out three 'goods,' yet still appeared full of vital energy.

"I never imagined there could be such icy internal power in this world—it actually suppresses my Kuihua True Qi dead‑on."

A flash of cold killing intent crossed Kuihua Laozi's gorgeous visage; upon looking again at Niu Dingtian, his features were twisted near to monstrous.

Even within the Innate realm there are heavens and earths; he never expected that a novice who had just entered Innate could wound him—a cultivator immersed in the Innate Peak for years—to this extent.

Even ants have shaken elephants; Niu Dingtian's internal cold, pushed to the extreme, made him feel his heart palpitate.

Being able to completely neutralize the Kuihua True Qi he prided himself on undoubtedly struck his vital point, deeply piercing his nerves.

"Have you seen my master, Father‑in‑law?" Niu Dingtian asked, astonished, enduring the pain within his body.

Simultaneously, the Taiyin technique runs silently, swiftly restoring the Taiyin power inside the body.

The gap between their realms is enormous: one has just entered the Pre‑Heaven stage, while the other has been immersed in the Pre‑Heaven realm for many years.

But the Taiyin power's innate counteracting effect on Sunflower true Qi is also extremely evident; it can linger for a while, naturally benefiting him in every way without any harm.

Moreover, from the earlier reaction it seems this Sunflower Elder Ancestor has already taken a considerable loss at the hands of his cheap master.

Seeing the Sunflower Elder Ancestor's murderous glint unchanged, Niu Dingtian reached out and wiped the fresh blood from his mouth corner, grinned and said, "I'm already like this, what are you still afraid of, Elder Ancestor? In fact I never met the master; I just happened to receive his sword‑intent inheritance."

"Elder Ancestor, if you still pity me, tell me about the Sword Demon's deeds before I die."

After speaking, Niu Dingtian's steps became even more unsteady; only by leaning on the Yitian Sword in his hand could he barely stay upright.

The Sunflower Elder Ancestor's fierce gaze froze for a moment; when he looked at Niu Dingtian, his complexion suddenly softened considerably, and his eyes said softly, "You little thing were just now still despising the Elder Ancestor, weren't you? Why now do you want the Elder Ancestor to pity you?"

"Elder Ancestor knows you want to survive; actually I am also a bit reluctant to strike."

"But at such an age to already possess such remarkable power, can you still obtain more? Tell me, Elder Ancestor, can I spare you?"

Niu Dingtian felt a chill in his heart, remained silent for a while, then gave a deep laugh, "Although I still have some talent, compared with the Elder Ancestor I am still far behind."

"If my guess is correct, the Elder Ancestor should have already reached the innate limit; thus, it won't be long before he breaks through the Heavenly Being realm."

"Below the Heavenly Being are all ants; the Heavenly Being cannot be opposed, how could ants ever defeat the heavens?"

Niu Dingtian's face turned as pale as paper, his body swayed as if about to collapse, and his words were filled with a desperate will to live.

At the same time, with the Taiyin Manual running at full power, the barely perceptible Moonlight force rapidly gathered inside him, repairing his shattered wounds.

The power of Heaven and Earth is naturally not comparable to mundane internal force, especially since it is the Supreme Yang true Qi that can be restrained innately.

Therefore, after a short while, the injuries in Niu Dingtian's body caused by the rampaging Sunflower true Qi had already healed by more than half.

"Elder Ancestor, are you worried that the cultivation power I've refined might counter you?" Niu Dingtian suddenly laughed at himself.

Hearing this, the Sunflower Elder Ancestor's eyelid twitched, and his slightly eased complexion instantly turned grim.

After his gaze slowly swept over Niu Dingtian, he suddenly brushed his disheveled hair lightly, and said expressionlessly, "What does restraint achieve? Can a difference in innate realms ever be compensated by a technique?"

"Since I cannot release you, and I cannot bear to kill you, Elder Ancestor, I will nullify your power, and then stay by the Elder Ancestor's side to serve well."

At that moment, a faint blush rose on the Sunflower Elder Ancestor's cheek, and he said softly:

"As long as you little thing can serve the Elder Ancestor comfortably, the Elder Ancestor will later personally pass you the divine skill."

Without waiting for Niu Dingtian's reply, with a dazed smile, his exquisite visage gradually turned into icy coldness.

The next moment, "Boom!"

The Sunflower Elder Ancestor's true Qi surged like a towering tsunami, overwhelming everything.

Then, a ferocious golden palm seal formed in that pure white jade hand, striking Niu Dingtian with a force that could erase everything.

Niu Dingtian was horrified.

When the two clashed, the condensed true Qi split at the slightest touch, exploding instantly, making even a hand hard to reach.

If this continues, even the fastest recovery of his Taiyin power cannot withstand such depletion.

Realizing this, Niu Dingtian's heart hardened; while swiftly retreating with Lingbo Light Steps, his technique roared wildly, instantly converting his Taiyin power into a massive icy chill that froze his entire body.

Bang! A deep, muffled blast rang out as the Sunflower Elder Ancestor's ferocious palm pierced the ice layer and struck Niu Dingtian's chest directly.

The next moment, an unmatched, overwhelming aura burst forth instantly.

Boom! Niu Dingtian's body, like a cannonball ripped from its barrel, was slammed outward, and in an instant crashed onto a building ten zhang away.

Under the undiminished palm force's shock, the three‑story loft collapsed in an instant. (End of chapter)