Longevity by Grinding Skills

Chapter 372: Chapter 372: The Celestial Demon Is Coming, I’ll Borrow Your True Qi

CRACK!

The three thousand six hundred threads of blood, as if crushed by a colossal, invisible pincer, snapped in unison.

The Old Woman’s sword-wielding right arm twisted grotesquely. Strings of blood blisters bulged beneath her skin as the rampaging Tribulation Sword Qi turned on her from within.

Xu Yunfan formed a sword with the fingers of his left hand and pointed gently from a distance.

PFFT!

A bloody hole burst open between the Old Woman’s eyebrows. But it wasn’t fresh blood that gushed forth. Instead, the Blood River True Qi she had painstakingly cultivated her entire life poured from her seven orifices like a breaking dam, transforming into a crimson-gold torrent that flowed into Xu Yunfan’s palm.

Her withered body plummeted like a sack of rags. Before it even hit the ground, her skin visibly turned ashen and shriveled. It finally hit the stone steps with a THUD, becoming nothing more than a skeleton draped in a Sword Robe.

A deathly silence fell before the mountain gate.

Elder Bai Mei’s sword hand trembled slightly. His Cold Soul Sword Intent, running wild from his terror, caused the frost coating his Sword Scabbard to flake away with a faint SHUSH.

The Sword Pavilion disciples watching from a distance fared even worse. Some collapsed to their knees, a foul-smelling liquid seeping from their crotches.

Xu Yunfan glanced down at his palm, where a wisp of crimson-gold Sword Qi swirled around his fingertips. "The Sword Intent was passable. The person, less so."

His tone was as flat as if he were critiquing a dish that wasn’t to his liking.

’Tribulation Sword Qi. It has an impressive name, but with my Heart Sutra of Nirvana Dust, my Hundred Bone Profundity Technique, and the broadened perspective I gained from the Wansheng Sword Sect’s path of Wansheng Sword Transformation, this Sword Qi is merely passable.’

’It might be enough to look down on others in the Nine Realms of Qi Cultivation, but in the Land Immortal Realm, it’s not worth a second glance.’

"Second Sister!"

Elder Bai Mei’s eyes looked fit to burst. His Ancient Sword was finally unsheathed.

Before the sword’s light even arrived, ten miles of the sea of clouds had already frozen into a curtain of ice. A hundred-zhang ice dragon roared forth from the blade’s edge, a Cold Soul Sword Intent potent enough to freeze a person’s blood held in its maw.

At the same time, the Sword Elder slammed his Iron Staff on the ground. Seven Sword Spirit Crystal Stones, recently revived by the Heaven and Earth Spiritual Qi, shattered. They transformed into seven rivers of Sword Qi, like miniature star rivers, converging on Xu Yunfan from all directions to destroy him.

This was the killing move from the Void Nether Sword Manual, "Seven Stars Fall into the World." Each stream of Sword Qi contained the power of Geng Metal from the Earth Veins. Even a Ninth Realm Body Cultivator would be flayed to the bone by it!

Xu Yunfan finally moved.

Xu Yunfan stomped his left foot forward, and the entire mountain peak shuddered violently. A blinding golden light erupted from his spine, like a great dragon raising its head. The surging Ten Extremes True Qi condensed outside his body, forming nine crimson Flood Dragons.

The Flood Dragons’ scales and claws flashed. Molten, fiery True Runes flowed across each individual scale. As they coiled, they scorched the air within a ten-zhang radius, creating distorted, heat-haze ripples.

This was the Red Flood Dragon Mountain Coiling Strength from his Thousand-Pound Mountain-Shaking Hammer Technique, manifested using his Ten Extremes True Qi. With his profound understanding, condensing such a vast amount of True Qi naturally allowed him to form nine True Qi Flood Dragons.

The corner of Elder Bai Mei’s eye twitched uncontrollably.

"True Qi Transformation?!"

And the sheer, terrifying vastness of that True Qi made him feel like a lone skiff facing the colossal waves churned up by a raging, storm-tossed sea.

Xu Yunfan’s expression was indifferent. He pushed his right palm forward, and the nine Red Flood Dragons twisted together into a single crimson-gold torrent.

Wherever the edge of his palm passed, the green flagstones on the ground were silently annihilated. Even space itself seemed to cave in under the pressure of the blow, causing vision to distort slightly.

The Protective Sword Qi of the two remaining Supreme Elders tore like tissue paper. Elder Bai Mei’s Cold Soul Ice Dragon evaporated into mist the moment it touched the Red Flood Dragons. The Staff-Carrying Sword Elder’s Seven Star Sword Qi let out a mournful shriek, like shattering metal, as it was consumed by the torrent.

The aftershock of the Palm Force swept over the mountain gate. The entire Sword Pavilion archway cracked with a great CRUNCH, a scorched black palm print spanning a hundred zhang across it. Molten gold liquid oozed slowly from the edges of the mark.

The moment the ice dragon slammed into the Flood Dragon, it shattered like colored glass. The Cold Soul Sword Spirit was swallowed in a single gulp by the Flood Dragon. As for the seven streams of Star River Sword Qi, they disintegrated on their own upon touching his black robes, turning into pure Metal Qi that flowed into Xu Yunfan’s Dantian.

"The sword is also poor. And the man, even poorer."

Xu Yunfan commented, each word a dagger to their hearts. At the same time, he formed a sword with his right-hand fingers and swiped gently through the air.

SCHLICK!

Elder Bai Mei’s sword-wielding right arm was severed at the shoulder. No blood flowed from the wound, only a golden, cauterized scar seared by the Ten Extremes True Qi.

The last two Supreme Elders finally realized the gap between them.

The Sword Elder said coolly, "Form the Two Forms Sword Array!"

He sighed inwardly. ’If Junior Sister Hex hadn’t died, we could have used the Three Talents Sword Array. By weaving our three Sword Intents together, we might have had a chance to stand against Xu Yunfan.’

Elder Bai Mei’s brow furrowed deeply. He knew there would be no peaceful resolution today. Xu Yunfan had already become a Land Immortal. Their great Sects had backed the wrong side and would now naturally face the consequences.

"Xu Yunfan, what will it take for you to stop?"

Elder Bai Mei asked in a low voice.

Hearing this, a trace of surprise appeared on the Sword Elder’s constantly placid face for the first time.

"Senior Brother, you..."

"There are still people behind us..."

The Sword Elder heard him and glanced at the crowd of Sword Pavilion disciples behind them. His mouth opened and worked for a moment before he closed it, saying nothing.

Xu Yunfan said coolly, "Yesterday’s cause, today’s effect. Now that I have entered the Land Immortal Realm, I’ve naturally come to the Sword Pavilion to collect something."

As Xu Yunfan’s voice fell, a dead silence descended before the Sword Pavilion’s mountain gate.

The pupils of the disciples standing guard with their swords constricted, and their hands trembled unconsciously.

They had just witnessed Xu Yunfan slaughter a Ninth Realm expert as if killing a chicken. He had single-handedly suppressed the entire Sword Pavilion, and even the famously intractable Hex Yilin had been effortlessly slain on the spot, her vast reserves of True Qi drained completely.

But when the three words "Land Immortal Realm" came directly from his own mouth, the formless pressure, like a Celestial Fall, crushed any lingering hope they had.

"A Land... Immortal?"

A young disciple repeated in a mumble, his voice as hoarse as if it had been scraped with sandpaper.

His sword fell to the ground with a CLANG, but no one laughed. The faces of his fellow disciples around him were just as deathly pale.

The Elders on the upper floors of the pavilions looked even more ashen-faced.

When the Merak Sword Master had ambushed Xu Yunfan yesterday, they had assumed he was merely a somewhat stronger Peak of Nine Realms expert. Even if Merak won, he would have had to pay a price.

But now...

’No wonder... no wonder he wasn’t afraid to face our Sword Pavilion’s three Supreme Elders...’

A white-bearded Elder swallowed hard, his back already soaked with cold sweat.

He had practiced the Martial Dao for nearly a century and prided himself on having seen all the world’s heroes, yet at this moment, he didn’t even have the courage to meet Xu Yunfan’s gaze. Those eyes, shimmering with a golden luster, had already transcended the mortal plane!

The mountain wind swept past, carrying the lingering stench of blood.

Elder Bai Mei said, "What do you want?"

Xu Yunfan seemed oblivious to the shock of the crowd. He simply raised his eyes toward the depths of the Sword Pavilion and said coolly, "Nothing much. The Celestial Demons will soon arrive. I must stand for all living beings, so I will borrow your True Qi for a while..."

These words struck the heart of every Sword Pavilion disciple like a death knell.

Borrow True Qi? The desiccated corpse of Hex Yilin was still right before their eyes.

"How sanctimonious!"

Elder Bai Mei sneered, no longer clinging to any hope. He twitched a finger, and the Sword Elder at his side, understanding the signal, stepped forward.

The two stood back-to-back. Using their Essence Blood as a catalyst, an ancient Array Pattern suddenly lit up in the ground beneath the Sword Pavilion’s mountain gate.

Xu Yunfan looked slightly surprised. "It seems your Sword Pavilion has some foundation after all. You actually managed to revive an Array from several thousand years ago."

The Heaven and Earth Spiritual Qi in this place is extremely thin. Activating an original ancient array must have consumed a vast amount of resources.