Chapter 170: Sword Saint White-Hair, Sneaky Lu Xingzhou

"Clang!" The ice sword slid from its sheath, pointing straight at Wang Yueshen.

Wang Yueshen hadn't even finished his harsh words when the killing chill was already upon him.

Gooseflesh broke out all over his body; he immediately flashed backward, and a great cauldron had already descended from the void to crush down atop Miss Qingli's head.

A magic treasure!

As a Mr. of the Alchemy Academy, he was of course a Dao cultivator! The sword qi he'd unleashed earlier was a form of spellcraft, not Wu Xiu. Miss Qingli had indeed misjudged for a moment, but the momentum of her sword did not lessen in the slightest — on the contrary, quite contrary to the laws of physics, it abruptly grew another third faster.

Using the sword to carry her body, she shot out of the cauldron's coverage like an afterimage.

"Clang!" The cauldron crushed empty air; Miss Qingli, trailing a white afterimage, her person and sword had already reached Wang Yueshen's throat!

Wang Yueshen flicked a finger, and a deflection spell exploded ahead. Miss Qingli's sword grazed past, slicing a bloody line across his arm.

Wang Yueshen was drenched in cold sweat all over — had this girl really not broken through to third grade?

This incomparably fierce sword — calling her third grade is no problem at all…

And the girl on that side, having passed him in a flash, immediately plunged into a raging formation of flames.

The greatest difference between a third-grade Dao cultivator and a low-level cultivator is this: when a Dao cultivator is at a low level, their spellcasting and incanting are very slow, and they often have to use talismans to save time. But after breaking through the great barrier of third grade, they begin to activate the Spirit Platform in their cultivation, and a great many spells can be cast instantly by silently reciting them in the mind with divine thought.

Therefore, Dao cultivators at low levels are often suppressed by Wu Xiu of the same grade, but after third grade the gap closes, and going higher it actually reverses, giving them a slight advantage.

And a third-grade Dao cultivator fighting a fourth-grade Wu Xiu should be at the level of an instant kill — yet unexpectedly it was Wang Yueshen who took a light wound first.

Even more unexpected was that Miss Qingli, having fallen into the flame formation, was completely like someone who felt nothing at all — she simply stood in the fire, twisted her body, and delivered another sword strike.

Wang Yueshen, quite startled, drifted back once more; as he drifted and drifted, he simply took to the air.

In his hand he began to condense the shape of a fire dragon; the dragon's head roared, its might savage and violent.

"You can ignore this fire art? Then try this old man's Fire Dragon Chant?"

Miss Qingli, standing at the center of the flame formation, abruptly raised her head. A fire dragon of scorching, unmatched heat came roaring in with bared fangs and claws; its aura even seemed to carry a hint of spiritual sentience, as if it were a true dragon.

Miss Qingli's eyes were still as a frigid river; with one sword she shot up like lightning, charging straight into the fire dragon.

In Wang Yueshen's eyes, it was as if he saw the head of an ice-blue phoenix — the sword tip like a beak, crying out as it soared to the heavens. Her flowing white hair was like the phoenix's feathers of ice; this was the first time Wang Yueshen had perceived the beauty of this white-haired woman — a beauty that shocked the heart and moved the soul.

"Crack…" It was clearly the collision of sword gang and flame, yet it produced the sound of ice crystals splitting.

Spiderweb-like cracks began to spread from the sword tip; the phoenix-like image shattered.

Wang Yueshen started awake in sudden realization, only to discover that his own fire dragon had also vanished without a trace. That sword tip was already at his lower abdomen.

"Clang!" At the last critical moment, the great cauldron set itself in front of him once more, blocking this sword strike. Miss Qingli flipped backward and landed back on the ground; while still midair she flung out another flying sword, which happened to collide with a small-sword magic treasure that Wang Yueshen had launched in ambush from behind the cauldron. With a "crack," that ambush treasure was directly smashed to pieces.

The sword light dispersed; Miss Qingli landed back on the ground, standing steady and firm.

Wang Yueshen was drenched in cold sweat all over.

This ambushing small-sword magic treasure, though its power was ordinary, represented the most typical difference between third grade and fourth grade — divine-soul attack!

When the two collide, the usual result is a direct invasion of the Spirit Platform; a weak opponent's divine soul will scatter entirely, and even a strong one should at least have to contend within the Spirit Platform! Yet this Miss Qingli simply charged her sword straight in — her Spirit Platform was steady as Bingshan, and his magic treasure had barely had any effect at all!

Is this fucking fourth grade?

Then that so-and-so Qi Tuizhi — was he fighting this kind of opponent with his head?! That battle at the tavern, Miss Qingli was completely just playing with a child!

Miss Qingli, who had been fierce and silent all along, suddenly spoke at this moment: "Among alchemists, you count as strong."

Wang Yueshen: "…"

You're critiquing me now, are you?

"Just right — third-grade strength, not as strong as a third-grade expert who specializes in combat, yet more like a third grade than alchemists who can't take a single hit… an opponent like this is simply the most suitable whetstone for me right now." Miss Qingli calmly raised her sword to point at the sky: "Master didn't deceive me — my path of third grade is indeed here."

Wang Yueshen: "…"

Are you insane? At a time like this, what you're thinking about is tempering yourself to break through?

Do I have no choice but to play along with you?

Grandpa can fly!

The moment this thought crossed Wang Yueshen's mind, he immediately felt this was the correct answer. What he needed to do was deal with Lu Xingzhou — what kind of business was it to keep entangling himself here with a crazy woman? Just fly away directly; she can't fly, at most she can ride her sword for short bursts of soaring flight, she can't keep it up long — how could that compare with his own cloud-riding ascent to the heavens?

Thinking this, he directly sent the great cauldron to crush down atop Miss Qingli's head, turned around, and rose on the clouds, heading straight for the center of the desert.

But he had only flown a few zhang when his scalp went numb.

He turned his head in horror to look — a dazzling white radiance, like a meteor assaulting the moon, came shooting toward him. That fierce and wild sword gang was simply a full double stronger than that ice-phoenix sword strike from before; the biting chill nearly froze the entire space, making blood and soul throughout his body feel as if they were about to congeal.

The limits of Wang Yueshen's comprehension could not imagine how cultivation at mere fourth grade could launch such a flying sword.

In his panic, the great cauldron teleported to his front.

With a thunderous "Clang," the great cauldron — which had stood immovable on the upper hand through several clashes — this time actually split open with cracks!

The backlash of force and the explosive invasion of the Spirit Platform made Miss Qingli's lips also overflow with a trace of blood, yet her eyes grew even colder and fiercer.

"This is your life-bound magic treasure, isn't it?" Miss Qingli's voice came across. Wang Yueshen was horrified to discover that his own Spirit Platform had instead been invaded by this fourth-grade junior.

The great cauldron was a cauldron he used for alchemy, refined into a life-bound magic treasure; a life-bound magic treasure is naturally tied to his very life, directly connected to his divine soul.

It was like a crescent moon reflected within the sea of soul; the moonlight was like a sword, piercing into the center — no matter how he tried to drive it out, it remained stubbornly reflected there, as if unmoved since time immemorial.

The moonlight is merely reflected — how could it be moved away?

"Crack!" The ice sword brutally pierced through the great cauldron; the entire body of the cauldron froze into ice inch by inch, then rapidly crumbled apart.

Wang Yueshen spat out a mouthful of fresh blood with a "puh." The magic treasure was damaged, and his own Spirit Platform was likewise damaged — just as that moon in the sea of consciousness had carved a deep ravine.

"The wonders of the divine soul — I have now understood."

The ice crystals from the shattered great cauldron flew about inch by inch, then suddenly all became sword-shaped, hovering in the air, surrounding Wang Yueshen's every path of escape in a tight ring.

"Swoosh swoosh swoosh!" Ten thousand ice swords erupted in an instant; Wang Yueshen let out a wretched scream, his body already pierced into a honeycomb.

"I am a man of the Alchemy Academy — you cannot kill me at will!" Wang Yueshen screamed out: "The Imperial Court and the Holy Land are at odds — can you bear the responsibility?!"

"Noisy." Miss Qingli flashed past; Wang Yueshen's throat once more showed a flash of blood, all words cut off in his gullet, and he fell backward with eyes wide open.

The final image was the girl's back, white hair streaming, ice sword tilted, fresh blood dripping from the sword's tip — like a poem.

In Wang Yueshen's heart, enlightenment dawned.

This is a genius talent that suppresses an entire era, a young woman destined to walk the path of the Sword Saint; the direct lineage of Tian Yao cannot be judged by ordinary grades.

She had clearly intended to use herself to temper her sword and gain experience, so why did she suddenly go berserk the moment he planned to fly to the desert? Is there something over there more important than her tempering and breakthrough?

Wang Wang Yueshen could not figure it out; the world had already plunged into darkness.

…………

After Wang Wang Yueshen's flying sword sneak attack was blocked by Dugu Qingli, Lu Xingzhou's side had originally faced no danger.

Although the sandstorm swept through and the scene was chaotic, the main target of the Gui Ao was the Fire Seed; everyone was outside the range, so it was still manageable to hold out.

A Nuo protected Lu Xingzhou's rear to prevent sneak attacks amidst the chaos, while Sheng Yuanyao directly grasped Lu Xingzhou's left hand to avoid getting separated. Under the protection of these two great guardians front and back, Lu Xingzhou could briefly gather his spirit to focus on controlling the Flame Demon to extract the fire.

The Fire Seed was also of the Dark attribute, its nature extremely close to that of the Flame Demon's avatar after it turned into black flames; it did not need to be taken, but merged!

Directly merge the Fire Seed into one's own body to strengthen magical power.

The Gui Ao, which had endured for several years to gather Water-Element power to strike the Fire Seed, suddenly discovered the Fire Seed had changed...

A Flame Demon devil face, grinning, replaced the original Fire Seed; its momentum surged, scattering all its Water-Element power.

"Roar!" The Gui Ao let out an angry roar, and its skeleton-formed turtle foot stomped down fiercely.

This meant Lu Xingzhou and the Gui Ao had clashed; it was the most dangerous moment.

Just at this moment, a sword like a fairy descending from the heavens pierced straight for Lu Xingzhou's face amidst the sky-filling sandstorm.

A third grade sword cultivator!

It was not Chen Yu... Chen Yu did not possess such strength.

But Lu Xingzhou showed no surprise; the black flames over there, which seemed to be clashing with the Gui Ao, directly dissipated, turning into scattered sparks, and when they gathered again, they had appeared at the sneak attacker's side.

At the same time, he pressed down on the wheelchair armrest.

The wheelchair suddenly shot downward, heading straight for the Gui Ao.

The Gui Ao, having lost its target of the Fire Seed, instinctively charged directly toward the direction where the black flames had dissipated and then gathered.

That sword from the heavens pierced straight into the Gui Ao's back shell; with a "Crack," the powerful turtle shell, seemingly half a li in circumference, was pierced through by a single sword strike.

"Roar!" The Gui Ao, enraged, rolled in mid-air.

Even though the sneak attacker was stronger than the Gui Ao, suppressed by this natural size disparity, he had to temporarily avoid the sharp edge and, while retreating, let out an incredulous exclamation: "Lu Xingzhou, you knew I was here all along?"

Lu Xingzhou had already dragged his whole family down to the area beneath the Gui Ao, where the original Fire Seed had been.

Hearing this, he sneered: "I don't even know who you are... but in a Demon Suppression Domain, a place where one can set up ambushes in advance, if some people don't even set an ambush here, only planning against my classmates and Mr., then their intelligence is better suited for staying out of the court... I knew there were others from the very beginning."

"Since you knew, do you think this Gui Ao can stop me?"

As the words fell, a loud explosion rang out; the turtle shell shattered into pieces, and the Gui Ao was clearly already slain by this person.

But at roughly the same time, a crack opened where the original Fire Seed had been; terrifying magical power erupted suddenly, as if a demon lord was drilling out from within.

Lu Xingzhou, who had been hiding on the side, saw the demon lord burst out and immediately dragged his whole family to jump into the crack: "Please enjoy this demon lord escaping from the second floor; our family is going on a tour of the second floor. Goodbye."

(End of this chapter)