Chapter 117: Winds and Clouds Shift Abruptly

This is hardly a talented disciple of some aristocratic clan; clearly he is a survivor who has walked out of mountains of corpses and seas of blood after countless slaughter among vicious criminals.

"The seventh genius of the Wang family truly lives up to his reputation!"

Nie Xing stared in shock, unable to imagine what hardships his fellow clan disciple Wang Yicai had endured.

Li Qingshan's expression also changed greatly; he considered himself gifted, having reached the rank of Fourth Stage Grand Martial Master in his thirties, looking down on the entire Mingyue Empire. Though he acted politely toward these aristocratic clan disciples, he actually despised them.

Yet at this moment, seeing Wang Yicai covered in scars left him utterly astonished. Although aristocratic clan disciples possess enviable cultivation resources, their training is still beyond ordinary people.

"Brother Nie, let us two join forces to assist Brother Wang and take down Lu Fan!"

Hardly had these words left his mouth when Nie Xing came to his senses; together with Li Qingshan, they simultaneously shifted their stance, moving from individual formations to mutual support!

Wang Yicai slowly lowered his head, his gaze fixed on Lu Fan; his fierce hatred, as substantial as blade light and sword shadow, surged against Lu Fan's back.

He clenched his fists, his aura swelling as if he stood atop a ten‑thousand‑zhang mountain, looking down upon the world.

"Wang Ruolan, step aside and rest over there!"

His icy words carried no trace of anger, as if Wang Ruolan were a stranger, his indifference reaching the extreme!

Wang Ruolan's face changed dramatically; wearing an anxious expression, she looked at her brother whose aura had shifted, yet could not speak. Though worried, she could not put it into words, but everything was etched onto Lu Fan and Wang Wu.

Wang Wu finally came to her senses, feeling the astonishing changes around her. Using the power of the Wind and Wave Secret and the Formless Seal, the wind‑spiral sigil formation she had condensed lay in ruins. Even more shocking, Wang Yicai's body was covered in blade scars, his eyes indifferent to all living beings, like a peerless god of slaughter.

"Lu Fan, move aside!"

Her gaze hardened, battle spirit flaring. Wang Yicai had repeatedly provoked her, and she could not tolerate it. To a proud woman like her, fear and dread simply did not exist.

Lu Fan gave a faint smile, flickered, and actually vanished from before her eyes.

Wang Wu blinked, then involuntarily felt a twinge of annoyance. After all, he had promised to look after her inside the Dragon Pagoda, yet at the first sign of danger he fled faster than anyone—truly unreliable.

But the Wang Yicai before her eyes changed expression, his fury reaching the extreme, his pupils suffused with bloody slaughter, terrifying beyond measure, fixed rigidly on her back.

"This is..."

She felt somewhat bewildered, finding it extremely strange, and subconsciously turned her head—when a warm current suddenly blew at her snow‑white neck, causing an itchy, numb sensation along with something else.

Before she could make sense of it, a sturdy body pressed against her from behind, hard as steel and iron, as stable as a towering mountain.

"I said I would teach you a thing or two; at such a critical juncture, how could I just leave?"

Lu Fan smiled, his lips nearly brushing Wang Wu's earlobe as he whispered softly.

Before his words had even faded, Wang Wu had no time to react; Lu Fan's hands shot out and seized both of her bound wrists.

Then his right hand swept forward, dragging Wang Wu's jade‑bound arm, and pointed at the gradually dissipating wind‑spiral sigil formation from afar.

The wind ceased, the light faded. The remaining trace of the wind‑spiral sigil's power seemed to vanish like smoke, yet its form and presence lingered, condensed in the void in an immeasurable state, spanning the surroundings.

Wang Wu had no chance to notice these; she only felt her mind in turmoil, her body slightly heated, her forehead scorching.

She instinctively tried to shake Lu Fan off, but the energy she had just released dissipated at the sound of his voice.

"Your mind is in chaos—this is a major taboo of the Sigil Dao! Come, I will teach you!"

Lu Fan gave a soft whistle, his left hand pressing against Wang Wu's abdomen as he probed toward her lower dantian.

"Calm your mind and steady your breath, feel the true essence of the Sigil Dao!"

For no reason, the instant Wang Wu's palm touched her lower dantian, she suddenly grew calm. All external things vanished, Lu Fan disappeared from behind, only the great Dao of heaven and earth remained, along with the mysterious transformations of the unseen, still lingering in her heart.

"If you want to fight, I'll accompany you!"

Lu Fan shifted his gaze, his gentle smile gradually cooling as he glanced at Wang Yicai with a look of contempt.

That cry sounded like a battle horn, even more a demonic summons; Liu Yicai, furious to the extreme, finally erupted.

"Point to heaven, draw earth—Sword Dao Supreme!"

Wang Yicai had at some point sheathed his long sword, using his finger as a sword, and casually pointed at Lu Fan.

In an instant, sword qi burst forth and sword intent swept everywhere. Though it was merely a finger, it transformed into countless massive swords, coiling and intertwining, forming a sword array that flew down from the nine heavens.

"Sword intent! Interesting!"

Lu Fan lifted his head to glance at the sky, then lightly stepped forward, bringing Wang Wu into a soaring dance. He supported her waist with one hand and grasped her jade wrist with the other, guiding her as the mood struck.

At this moment Wang Wu once again fell into a mysterious realm. Just moments ago, the sudden appearance of Wang Yicai and his sister had interrupted her train of thought, but in an instant it returned.

In her eyes, all worldly things vanished; her internal energy transformed into boundless wind‑flow, and with casual point‑shots, sigil after sigil gradually took shape.

Originally Lu Fan had led her in casual pointing, but now it changed pattern, becoming her own active effort to condense sigils and gather the formation.

The wind‑spiral sigil formation suddenly began to turn again, wind howling like a sea roar, sigil seals flowing, mysterious light flashing—wild winds swept forth.

The first wave of giant swords plunged down, piercing the raging wind; supreme sword intent poured forth, directly tearing the wind apart. The dissipating force was about to vanish when a flash of light appeared, and a sigil condensed into form.

In that instant, time seemed to reverse; the torn wind reappeared, suddenly rolling up as if turning into a wind palm that gripped the giant sword.

Wang Yicai's expression shifted, yet he saw the wind palm lightly flick, reversing the trajectory of the giant sword's thrust.

"Clang—"

This giant sword collided with the giant swords shooting down from above, their forces clashing and mutually annihilating.

This scene occurred on the first wave of giant swords.

The wind‑spiral sigil formation, with inconceivable divine power, used Wang Yicai's "left hand" to strike his "right hand"—a feat almost beyond comprehension.

"Brother Nie, Brother Li, lend me your strength!"

Wang Yicai gave a loud shout, single‑handedly slashing; a sword shadow arose before him, then he leapt upon it, shooting up to the nine heavens.

He ascended to the high‑altitude sword array, pointing around; the successive waves of descending giant swords condensed into one, striking down with supreme divine might and the killing intent of the Sword Dao.

Nie Xing and Li Qingshan, however, each unleashed their true abilities. One threw a punch that crossed space, the other sent a soaring giant elephant flying forth; the third held aloft the Blazing Sun, continuously blasting out heaven‑shaking pillars of air that bombarded the vicinity of Lu Fan and Liu Wang Wu.

"It's over!"

Lu Fan snorted coldly, about to release Wang Wu and employ a marvelous technique to suppress the three—yet Wang Wu, who had fallen into a marvelous state, suddenly awoke.

"Lu Fan, you're courting death!"

That clear shout rang like the Nine Heavens Thunderclap, solemn and inviolable; it shook hearts and minds, froze the bones to the core, and was like a sudden snowfall that sealed the earth in ice.

Lu Fan's brows involuntarily twitched, his face instantly darkening. He had gone to some lengths to help Wang Wu grasp the power of the Formless Seal, yet now he felt he had erred, as if something terrible were about to happen.

As these thoughts arose together, he subconsciously pulled his left hand from Wang Wu's waist, and the pulling motion of his right hand instantly stopped, as he was about to draw back and retreat.

At that very moment, Wang Wu's pair of clasped hands moved. She suddenly hooked her right hand, reversing the situation, and grabbed Lu Fan's right wrist. A surge of icy true qi erupted, actually heading to seal Lu Fan's meridians.

At the same time, she thrust her left elbow outward, aiming it at Lu Fan's chest behind him.

Lu Fan's mind and spirit tightened; he suddenly turned his body, using an unimaginable arc, about to slide into place here. However, he forgot that one of his hands was still restrained by Wang Wu.

"Hmph! Let me see your true moves!" Wang Wu gave a light snort, her brow's killing intent undiminished, and she flung her right hand outward, following Lu Fan's retreat, pulling him straight to her front in one motion.

Originally one in front and the other behind, now they faced each other directly. Lu Fan's face showed rare astonishment; Wang Wu's move was somewhat beyond his expectation.

Although he was startled but not panicked, he actually chuckled hehe at Liu Wang Wu, his tone relaxed, and teased: "Junior sister, look at you—you're still reluctant to part with my teachings! Why don't I teach you two more moves?"

He spoke thus, but with absolutely no carelessness; his true qi surged, turning into mighty force, sealing Wang Wu's true qi and breaking through in an instant. Immediately he flipped his palm, striking back with a reverse strike.

How could Lu Fan allow himself to be easily manipulated? This Wang Wu, who claims to be his disciple, shows such disrespect; if he doesn't give her a lesson today, fearing that when his identity is revealed someday, she won't acknowledge it.

Having entered the master's gate, he naturally ought to respect the teacher and value the Way; he is by nature rather a traditional person.

"Hmph!" Wang Wu narrowed her eyes, her inner gaze flashing with icy killing intent, and her alluring red lips parted slightly.

"Wind Rolls Remnant Cloud!"

She mercilessly thrust her palm forward, landing it on Lu Fan's chest. Though she had hardly any strength, it was feeble to the point of being inaudible, even seeming like a caress.

But Lu Fan's pupils dilated, his face full of shock. Suddenly a fierce wind whipped up behind him, wrapping around his body and hurling him backward swiftly.

It was almost an instant; even before Lu Fan's reverse strike could be half-released, he himself had already been swept into the wind vortex's might.

"Howl howl" "Hiss hiss" "Click click"

Near Lu Fan's ears, a giant elephant trumpeted, a huge sword trembled, and moreover the radiant light of the blazing sun and vast yang burst forth with a roaring sound. Turbulent forces tore at his surroundings; his free-and-unrestrained martial artist's robe was ripped at the cuffs and sleeves, leaving him in a sorry state in an instant.

Just a moment ago he was still commanding with vigor, seated at the heart of the formation's mystic light, pointing out the profound secrets of the talisman Dao like an exalted adept. Now he felt trapped in prison. Wang Yicai and the others had been driven to the extreme, and their bottom‑box tricks seemed about to be used on him.

What also made him somewhat laugh and cry was that Wang Wu, too, clearly regarded him as her target.

"Everyone, seize this opportunity to capture Lu Fan!"