Chapter 70: One Sword, One Fall

As the horde of demons shattered and fled, the demonic clouds Ningju ahead instantly dispersed.

Without the guidance of a Spirit Traveling realm demon, these minor demons dared not attack the city.

The towering, majestic city walls still exerted immense pressure on the minor demons.

Li Hao guided his flying sword in relentless pursuit; of the thousands of demons that had come, nearly half lay dead or wounded, the rest fled into the forests, hiding everywhere.

Li Hao glanced once, then spared no more time on these demonic pests—he turned and returned to the city wall, raised his hand, and the sword-light shot back to him, landing in his palm.

Looking around, Li Hao asked Wei Feng: “Where’s my Fu Bo?”

“Li Fu?”

Wei Feng snapped to attention and hurriedly said: “Li Fu told me to watch over… ah, Li Fu went to the northern wall—that’s where the demon army’s main assault is focused.”

“Northern wall?”

Li Hao lifted his gaze toward the north, his eyes narrowing.

There, thick demonic energy, like dark clouds, had already engulfed the northern ramparts.

His expression changed slightly; he wrapped his spiritual sense around Ren Qianqian’s sword and shot it swiftly northward through the air.

Cangyu City was perfectly square, less than fifty li in diameter; he stood at the western wall, not directly aligned with the north, but the distance had narrowed enough to fall well within his control range.

In fact, if he activated the special property of the chess manual “Fei Duan,” his control range could extend even further.

As the flying sword shot forth, Li Hao fixed his gaze on the northern wall.

Beside him, Li Yuanzhao, Yu Wei, Ren Qianqian, and others stared at Li Hao in stunned silence.

Most shaken of all was Li Yuanzhao.

He had never imagined that Hao Ge—whom he spent every day with, who painted in the courtyard, accompanied Second Master fishing, and sometimes even went to the kitchen to bake pastries—could be this powerful.

Fifteen li realm?

He felt suffocated.

Good heavens!

If Big Aunt and the others found out, wouldn’t they be overwhelmed with excitement?

But… how the hell did Hao Ge cultivate? He’d never once seen him touch a sword! Had it not been for Hao Ge’s speech and mannerisms still feeling familiar, Li Yuanzhao would’ve thought a demon had impersonated him.

The boy standing beside him radiated overwhelming pressure; Ren Qianqian, Du Qiuyue, and others stood frozen in daze.

They were roughly the same age, still stuck in the Zhou Tian realm, yet to inherit their soul.

But Li Hao had leapt past two major realms beyond them! This wasn’t just prodigious—it was absurd!

Ren Qianqian recalled her father’s words: her eighth-rank battle body, yet she had awakened her Sword Heart at age ten, unmatched among peers in sword art.

Once her sword cultivation reached full mastery, she would rival even the top prodigies… was this what “not falling short” meant?

Watching the young boy’s profile as he looked up, her breathing grew increasingly rapid.

That full moon still lingered in her heart, impossible to erase.

“Young Master…”

Yue Shuhong had witnessed Li Hao effortlessly slaughtering the Tiger Robe Immortal; though stunned now, he could still accept it—he bowed quickly: “I’m heading to the northern wall.”

Li Hao gave a slight nod; his attention was already fixed on the flying sword over the northern wall.

Yue Shuhong hurried toward the northern wall, while at the same time, the sword-light darted swiftly through the demon ranks there.

On the northern wall, countless arrows rained down.

Li Fu revealed his identity and coordinated defense alongside the garrison commander.

Among the demons, eight monstrous figures revealed their true forms, gathering around a Taoist clad in yellow robes, with two crimson eyebrows hanging to his chest.

“This small city has no more than three or five Spirit Travelers—we can handle it.”

“By the way, why hasn’t the Mighty Force True God arrived yet?”

“What are those bastards in Black Wind Mountain thinking?”

The demons gazed eastward—there should have been chaos there too, yet it remained eerily quiet.

“Kill them first!”

A demon shaped like a falcon suddenly dove toward the city, eager to strike first and impress the crimson-browed Taoist.

On the city wall, a blade of light slashed out—it was Song Yueyao, returning from Huicheng.

She hadn’t met Li Hao; upon hearing the news, she’d rushed straight to the northern wall to defend.

The falcon demon was also a Spirit Traveler; seeing Song Yueyao’s fierce sword intent, it immediately spat a cloud of demonic mist to shroud the rampart and unleashed a demonic technique.

As the demonic technique blocked their path, more demons swarmed the wall; archers lost their targets and drew swords to fight hand-to-hand with the climbing demons.

The other demons beside the crimson-browed Taoist didn’t pause—they surged forward. In an instant, Song Yueyao was attacked from both sides by two Spirit Traveling demons, her face paled, and she shifted from offense to defense.

On the other side, Liu Shunqing, head of the Liu family, and the Qi family patriarch also led their clan youths in defense.

Seeing the Demon-Suppressing Provincial Governor surrounded, they rushed to aid her.

But the enemy had far more Spirit Travelers; the three were quickly overpowered.

Li Fu, seeing this, immediately drew his blade and rushed forward to reinforce them.

His cultivation method to reach Spirit Traveling was top-tier or even supreme, his foundation profound—he was three-tenths stronger than other Spirit Travelers, and swiftly repelled one of the Spirit Traveling demons.

Seeing Li Fu so fierce, several other great demons broke off their attacks and surrounded him in a trio, launching brutal assaults; soon, Li Fu was on the defensive.

Puff! One demon, its body covered in scythe-like blades like a giant mantis, suddenly hooked Li Fu’s arm with a slash, tearing through his back armor.

Another demon, a seven-to-eight-meter-tall monkey covered in coarse purple fur, swung its club and smashed it hard against Li Fu’s back.

Li Fu’s vision went black; he collapsed onto the rampart, unconscious on the spot.

The garrison commander, seeing this, immediately ordered men to rush to his aid.

He himself was only at the peak of Soul Inheritance, not yet Spirit Traveling; just as he moved to help, a massive demon suddenly landed before him.

The demon resembled a giant toad, its body covered in bulges and spikes; it trembled slightly, and from each bulge spurted thick, emerald-green viscous poison.

Soldiers touched by the poison saw their armor rot instantly, screamed in agony, and died on the spot.

“Damn it!!”

The commander roared, drawing his sword to fight to the death.

But at that moment, a flash of cold light shot past.

The toad demon sensed something, its eyes just twitched—next instant, it was pierced through, its blood exploded outward like pulp, its massive head detonated, its nascent soul obliterated along with it.

The commander froze, staring in shock.

In the sky, the crimson-browed Taoist stared at the darting flying sword; his previously calm expression shattered.

Fifteen li realm?

He narrowed his eyes, scanning the surroundings—had the Xia family arrived? Yet he felt no fear; from his mouth he spat out a crimson sword, slashing toward the flying sword.

The blade seemed to sense his murderous intent, instantly veering off course and hurtling straight at the crimson-browed Taoist.

The crimson sword curled, emitting a low, dragon-like roar, as if it meant to sever Li Hao’s flying sword.

But the next instant, the flying sword surged forward, slicing past the oncoming crimson blade, then shot straight at the Taoist.

The Taoist’s pupils shrank; horror flashed across his face—his control technique was a rare treasure among top-tier methods, nearing supreme rank, with maximum speed of eighteen li.

Yet this flying sword’s maneuverability and speed far surpassed his? Whoosh! It struck like lightning.

The Taoist’s face twisted in panic; he spun to flee, calling his crimson sword back—but it was too late.

He curled his body, his robe loosened and fell away, revealing his true form: a massive crimson-scaled dragon.

He appeared ancient, with two long eyebrows.

His body coiled like a serpent; to strike his head, the flying sword first had to pierce through the layers of flesh shielding it.

Li Hao had no intention of brute force—this sword was borrowed, after all.

The flying sword spun midair, then blazed with sudden brilliance.

Hai Wuyan, Second Form: Sever the River!

If the first form, Tide, and the third form, Rising Moon, were area attacks, then Sever the River was a single-target annihilation technique.

In the heavens, the sound of rushing rivers seemed to echo.

It wasn’t a river—it was countless air currents and heavenly energies splitting apart.

One sword fell.

The crimson dragon shrieked in agony—its coiled body was cleaved clean into three pieces!

Its massive head split in two; its nascent soul burst forth, but before it could flee, the speeding flying sword cut it down.

Thud! Thud! Thud! The colossal dragon corpse plummeted from the sky, crashing into the demon tide below.

The thick, scorching, molten dragon blood splattered onto some demons, sending them into panicked screams.

The once-raging demon tide instantly descended into chaos.

The Spirit Traveling demons fighting fiercely with Liu Shunqing and Song Yueyao on the rampart heard the Taoist’s scream, froze—then turned to see the horrifying sight.

The crimson-browed Taoist had been slain by a single flying sword!

(End of Chapter)