IVYSCP - Chapter 42

Chapter 42

"What a grand gesture." Nie Wenxiao's face was deathly pale, her hand trembling on the hilt of her blade.

She had fought the Demon Race before. She had witnessed a single arrow from Sun-Chasing Crossbow annihilate ten thousand demons.

"They are not here to search for evil spirits." Pei Si's voice was cold.

Ling Qingyue continued, "They say it is a search for evil spirits. Once Sun-Chasing Crossbow breaks open the Sect Grand Formation, whether Piaomiao Sect actually harbors evil spirits will be entirely whatever they decide."

"Activating Sun-Chasing Crossbow requires a tremendous amount of Spiritual Energy. Stall her. Protect the current Sect Grand Formation first."

Pei Si spoke to Nie Wenxiao, then flicked her sleeve and turned to leave. After a single halted step, she looked back at Ling Qingyue. "I am going to set the formation."

Ling Qingyue's fingertips went numb for an instant, then she nodded.

Nie Wenxiao summoned the peak elders and high-rank cultivators within the sect to guard the formation points.

"Do you think I can only rely on Sun-Chasing Crossbow to break this Sect Grand Formation of yours?"

Cui Heng extended her hand. Shards of blades materialized in the void, finally assembling into a sword.

Ling Qingyue frowned at the sight.

A sword was a sword. To shatter it and then reassemble it—had the sword given its consent?

The next moment, Ling Qingyue grew solemn. Cui Heng raised her hand and gathered a strand of Sword Qi. The Sword Qi was terrifyingly sharp, faintly revealing the might of Soul Formation.

Cui Heng was barely a hundred years old, yet her Sword Qi alone could reach such a level. Ling Qingyue thought she understood now why her senior sister had taken this person as a disciple. It was for her extraordinary natural talent. But this person's temperament was unstable. The killing intent within her Sword Qi was excessively heavy. If this continued, her path would surely go astray one day.

Nie Wenxiao's eyes also showed astonishment. "This—"

A bolt of Sword Qi suddenly slashed against the barrier. The entire territory of Piaomiao Sect trembled.

Immediately after, a second, a third—dozens of Sword Qi bolts struck the barrier in rapid succession.

Crack—

A crisp sound echoed throughout Piaomiao Sect. Hairline fractures appeared on the outermost layer of the Sect Grand Formation's barrier.

Ling Qingyue slowly turned her head toward Nie Wenxiao, her face full of shock. "This is your Sect Grand Formation?! This fragile?!"

Nie Wenxiao thought to herself that if Piaomiao Sect had not received its fortuitous opportunity and possessed sufficient Spiritual Energy to sustain the grand formation, it likely would not have withstood even three Sword Qi strikes right now.

When the Immortal Venerable had promised to construct a Sect Grand Formation for Piaomiao Sect, Nie Wenxiao had nearly wanted to perform the grandest bow to her.

"Protect the grand formation." Nie Wenxiao raised her voice.

Voices echoed back from the formation points. "Yes! Sect Leader!"

"What are you going to do?" Ling Qingyue sensed that Nie Wenxiao was about to act.

"Stall her."

Nie Wenxiao tapped the air with the tip of her foot. In a flash, she was already outside the barrier.

All of the Immortal Alliance's people who had come this time obeyed Cui Heng. Therefore, only Cui Heng needed to be stalled.

Nie Wenxiao raised her blade and gathered her strength, parrying a bolt of Sword Qi.

Cui Heng did not regard her as a threat at all.

The two figures flickered like ghosts. Amid the flash of blades and the shadows of swords, the flow of battle was impossible to discern.

The more Ling Qingyue watched, the more alarmed she became. This Cui Heng had actually mastered all thirty-six sets of Shangtianqiong Sect's sword arts and employed them with effortless ease. Every move flowed smoothly like drifting clouds and running water. Even though her cultivation was a full stage lower than Nie Wenxiao's, she was not at the slightest disadvantage.

Ling Qingyue narrowed her eyes. She even felt that Cui Heng was not using her full strength. She seemed to be hiding something.

As expected—

Cui Heng and Nie Wenxiao clashed head-on. Yet in the very next instant, the sword in Cui Heng's hand abruptly vanished. Sword Qi shot straight for Nie Wenxiao's back.

"Sect Leader!" Lu Yao cried out in alarm, her palms sweating.

Nie Wenxiao reacted swiftly, reversing her grip on her blade and blocking the strike. Her other hand met a palm strike from Cui Heng. Under this pincer attack, Nie Wenxiao was forced to cough up blood.

Heavenly Immortal Beyond Reach!

Ling Qingyue clenched her fists. Her senior sister truly held Cui Heng in high regard. She had even taught her this self-created sword move. Cui Heng had combined Heavenly Immortal Beyond Reach with her own sword and made modifications. This move was insidious, ruthless, and utterly unpredictable.

In midair, Cui Heng rotated her wrist, intending to take Nie Wenxiao hostage. A streak of Sword Qi tore through the sky toward her. She instinctively tilted her head to dodge it, but the Sword Qi dispersed before even reaching her.

Nie Wenxiao seized the opportunity to break free. She flashed back inside the barrier, coughing blood through the pain. She turned her head. "Thank you."

Ling Qingyue glanced at the sword at Lu Yao's waist beside her and pulled it free in one motion. "Borrowing this."

Before Lu Yao could react, both the person and the sword were gone.

Nie Wenxiao raised her hand, barely grazing the edge of a sleeve. She had not been able to stop the person either.

She screamed internally: What are you going out there to do when you are only at Foundation Establishment!

"Senior, can you beat her?"

Lu Yao spoke this sentence very softly, very quietly. Seeing her own sect leader return coughing blood, she was even more worried and frightened.

Although she knew Senior's swordsmanship was extremely formidable, still, still—

Lu Yao steadied her nerves, clenched her fists, and shouted, "Senior, go for it!"

The group of young cultivators who had previously seen Ling Qingyue fight in Linshui Town also shouted, "Senior, go for it!"

Nie Wenxiao's heart nearly stopped. The Immortal Venerable had gone to set the formation. If anything happened to her Dao companion, how could Piaomiao Sect possibly survive?

"Stop shouting!" Nie Wenxiao shot a glance at Lu Yao.

Seeing another person emerge, the contempt in Cui Heng's eyes deepened.

"I have heard that you studied under Sword Venerable Lou Wudu." Ling Qingyue slowly raised her sword and pointed it at her. "But I think your sword is nothing special."

Every person present drew in a sharp breath. This person truly dared to speak. In the current Immortal Realm, the only one who could say such a thing to Cui Heng was probably the Sword Venerable herself.

Nie Wenxiao was stunned as well. She thought to herself, Truly worthy of being the Immortal Venerable's Dao companion. Just barely at Foundation Establishment and daring to say such things. Once she reaches Soul Formation in the future, what then?

Cui Heng's lips twitched. Her gaze turned icy. She raised her sword and pointed it at Ling Qingyue as well. "Is that so? Do you wish to test it?"

Seeing her take the bait, Ling Qingyue raised an eyebrow and agreed. "Fine by me."

Cui Heng was undoubtedly a swordsmanship genius. And a genius of this age could least bear to hear others say she was nothing special.

"However, since we are going to duel with swords, our cultivation realms should not be too far apart. After all, what we are comparing is Swordsmanship, sword moves, and sword forms. Winning by overwhelming pressure from a higher realm would be rather dull, don't you think?" Ling Qingyue knew that once she said this, Cui Heng would certainly agree.

Impatience flickered in Cui Heng's eyes. "Then to what realm do you wish to suppress it?"

Ling Qingyue's expression remained perfectly calm. "Foundation Establishment."

Cui Heng: "?"

Cui Heng: "What?"

"Foundation Establishment." Ling Qingyue repeated it.

There was no way around it. Foundation Establishment was all she had right now.

Inside the barrier, Lu Yao sighed with admiration. "Senior is so smart! If both suppress their cultivation to Foundation Establishment, then it becomes a pure contest of Swordsmanship!"

Nie Wenxiao looked at her, her expression complicated. "..."

Cui Heng laughed from sheer disbelief. "You do not think that this will allow you to defeat me, do you?"

Ling Qingyue continued to provoke her. "You wouldn't dare, would you? Foundation Establishment's Spiritual Energy is negligible. You are afraid you cannot use that move, Heavenly Immortal Beyond Reach, to defeat me."

Cui Heng let out a cold laugh and first suppressed her cultivation to Foundation Establishment.

Seeing this, Ling Qingyue also withdrew the blinding technique she had used to mask her cultivation.

The cultivators who moments ago could not fathom her cultivation could now clearly see her realm.

Foundation Establishment's Spiritual Energy was inherently limited, making aerial combat impossible. Both descended to the ground outside Piaomiao Sect's main gate.

When dueling with swords, it was proper to bow to one another as a show of respect. But seeing that Cui Heng had no such intention, Ling Qingyue offered no courtesy either.

Cui Heng's entire aura lacked the ferocity she had shown when facing Nie Wenxiao just moments before. Ling Qingyue knew that her opponent did not take her seriously at all.

In that case...

Ling Qingyue's figure flashed, and she was already in front of Cui Heng. Cui Heng raised her hand to block but discovered that before her eyes were countless overlapping sword shadows. She could not distinguish which was real and which was illusion.

In this moment, she finally grew earnest.

Ling Qingyue gave her no chance to react. She struck Cui Heng's wrist, elbow, and shoulder in rapid succession, forcing her to stumble backward as she parried.

Both had suppressed their cultivation to Foundation Establishment. Every move, every form was fully visible to the watching crowd.

Lu Yao nearly could not hold back from shouting aloud. But seeing her sect leader right beside her, she forcibly swallowed it down.

Senior is so amazing!!!

Cui Heng reacted quickly, swinging her sword to create distance between them. Her eyes were dark and venomous as she fixed them on the person before her.

Ling Qingyue's sword tip tapped the air in turn at each spot on Cui Heng's body where she had been struck. Then, looking at her, she curved her eyes. "Awake now?"

Killing intent surfaced in Cui Heng's eyes.

Ling Qingyue was not afraid of her suddenly recovering her full cultivation. Cui Heng wanted to kill her now, and she would only want to kill her at Foundation Establishment, relying solely on Swordsmanship.

But by Swordsmanship alone, Cui Heng could not kill her.

Cui Heng flashed forward, closing in. Her sword was fast, but Ling Qingyue's sword was faster. Sparks flew where the two blades ground against each other, reflected in their eyes meeting in mutual gaze.

"Cui Heng, did your master ever teach you that greed is forbidden when studying the sword?"

What of knowing all thirty-six sword arts? The deeper meaning of sword arts was inherently distinct. Forcing them together would only create an utter mess.

"Today, I shall teach you how to use a sword!"

Ling Qingyue's voice was not loud, but every person present was a cultivator. They saw it, and they heard it.

To openly declare she would teach the Sword Venerable's disciple how to use a sword. Such an outrageously arrogant person.

Cui Heng's face darkened. The sword moves under her hand grew increasingly vicious, beginning to aim for the opponent's vital points.

Sweat beaded on Ling Qingyue's forehead. It was not that she could not handle the sword moves, but the wound on her back seemed to have split open. Warm blood trickled down her spine.

Seeing this, Cui Heng sneered mockingly. "I thought you were going to teach me how to use a sword?"

Ling Qingyue raised her eyes and replied, "So impatient for it. It seems you do already know that you cannot wield a sword."

Cui Heng choked, then glared furiously. "You!"

Letting the blood soak through her ritual robe, Ling Qingyue shifted from defense to offense.

Cui Heng raised her hand to receive the blows. Seeing the sword moves displayed, her expression shifted to shock. "Why do you know Shangtianqiong Sect's Sword Art?!"

Ling Qingyue gave a soft scoff. Seizing the right moment, she thrust out with her sword. The two blades pressed flush against each other. Taking advantage of the position, Ling Qingyue lifted her hand and launched a palm strike.

Cui Heng raised her hand to meet it, never expecting that her opponent would feint with a Lotus Step, making the palm strike feint a false move. That palm strike struck her sword-wielding right hand directly. A sharp pain shot through her wrist, and she lost her grip. Her long sword clattered to the ground.

Ling Qingyue had disarmed her, using the same method Cui Heng had just used to deal with Nie Wenxiao.

Paying someone back in their own coin.

For a Sword Cultivator, to have the sword in one's hand disarmed by an opponent during a sword duel was an act of the utmost humiliation.

In the past, when dueling others, Ling Qingyue would never treat an opponent this way. But today, she wanted Cui Heng to taste what it felt like to be publicly humiliated.

"You have lost."

Cui Heng stared blankly at her empty hand and at the sword lying at her feet. Her eyes slowly reddened. She gradually clenched her fist. The suppressed cultivation began to surge higher layer by layer.

Nie Wenxiao sensed imminent disaster. She shouted from inside the barrier, "Get back here, quick!"

Ling Qingyue slowly retreated.

"Run?"

Cui Heng raised her hand. The ritual sword on the ground scattered into shards of blades, then coalesced into a long sword in her hand once more.

"I will kill you!"

A light breeze brushed past Ling Qingyue's ear, then seemed to freeze in an instant. The tip of the sword stopped barely an inch from her brow.

"Kill her? Did you ask me first?"

A frigid voice echoed between heaven and earth. Behind Ling Qingyue, a figure tore through the void and arrived.

The woman slowly raised her hand, then made a descending motion.

In that instant, golden light blazed forth from the Sect Grand Formation of Piaomiao Sect. Thirty-six streaks of flowing light shot up from within Piaomiao Sect's boundaries toward the grand formation's barrier.

Hundreds of formations activated and merged into a barrier. Through the barrier, even within Piaomiao Sect's borders, the phantom image of a Sun-Chasing Crossbow manifested.

Formation complete!

A separate formation abruptly pressed down upon Cui Heng's head, kicking up clouds of dust and sand. Cui Heng raised her hand just in time to resist, yet the immense pressure of Spiritual Energy still forced her knees to bend. A stifling pain hit her chest, and she violently vomited blood.

Pei Si's eyes were icy cold. She continuously poured Spiritual Energy into the formation.

Cui Heng had stirred killing intent, and so had she.

No one was permitted to touch Ling Qingyue!

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