Xuanqing Guard

Chapter 312: Chapter 312: Spectacular

Dare or not?

This was a straightforward provocation. If it were just a friendly match, they would have said, "Please offer your guidance," or "I humbly ask for your instruction."

Especially since Nie Yun’s target was a disciple of the Mountain of Ten Thousand Books. Considering their respective statuses, this left no room to back down; regardless of the result, you had to accept the challenge head-on.

This left the other party no option to refuse. Because if they did, it would damage much more than personal pride.

The old woman Zhong Hongye’s expression instantly turned ugly. She hadn’t expected that, within Jingxi Territory, someone would repeatedly challenge the dignity of the Mountain of Ten Thousand Books in public. If she didn’t intervene, the reputation of Mountain of Ten Thousand Books in Jingxi would be seriously undermined in the future.

But before Zhong Hongye could speak, Fairy Qing Wan at her side stood up first.

"Qing Wan, what are you doing?"

"Master Aunt, since this man is provoking us, of course I must accept the challenge. Master once said, whenever you face the provocation of someone who overestimates themselves, you must slap them down, otherwise there will never be peace for your ears."

Zhong Hongye’s mouth twitched; she really was speechless regarding her senior brother, Qing Wan’s master. What kind of person had he trained? It was bad enough that she was so stubborn and inflexible, but her way of looking at things was even more peculiar. Forget it, she’ll try to slowly fix her. Besides, given the current situation, there was no room for Qing Wan to back down anyway.

"Go ahead. There’s no need to hold back—cripple him." Zhong Hongye nodded, sending a voice transmission straight into Qing Wan’s ear. Hearing this, the latter nodded to indicate her understanding.

Another graceful figure floated down from the spectator’s platform, landing three zhang in front of Nie Yun.

"Clang!"

A longsword was unsheathed, body tilting sideways as the tip pointed straight toward Nie Yun ahead.

"Fairy is willing to enter the arena—Nie Yun is fortunate indeed. However, I am a coarse person and know nothing about cherishing beauty. If I overstep in any way, I hope Fairy will forgive me."

While Nie Yun spoke and cupped his fists, no one knew when his hands had donned a pair of silver gloves, and his aura was rapidly soaring. Disciples and Elders of Chang Baifeng who stood a little closer could distinctly sense the increasingly intense killing intent radiating from Nie Yun’s body!?

What’s going on? Isn’t this just a match? How come there’s killing intent rising already?

Even Fairy Qing Wan across from him was clearly stunned. She thought about it—she didn’t recall having any enmity with this person before, did she? Why was the killing intent so pure and direct? Could it be this man truly intended to kill her?

For some reason, the previously calm and confident Qing Wan suddenly felt inexplicably tense, as if she’d intended to slaughter a chicken, only to discover it was a hungry wolf preparing to eat her instead.

Two Profound Sea Realm Elders from Chang Baifeng came to the edge of the arena, and even Great Elder Xu Lingyan moved to the side to stand by in case of emergency. If something happened to either Nie Yun or Fairy Qing Wan, it would be a huge problem for Chang Baifeng to explain.

Perhaps only Shen Hao on the viewing platform truly understood Nie Yun’s killing intent. It wasn’t aimed at Fairy Qing Wan, but rather arose from entering a full-combat state. This was quite common among mortals—some street brawlers fought with killing aura, looking as if they’d fight to the death, when in reality, fatal cases among them were rare.

Put simply, it was just another kind of momentum. It’s just that these sect cultivators likely rarely witnessed such direct and crude fighting style, hence their surprise.

"You two, this is a duel—no fatal injuries allowed. Be careful!"

"Begin!"

Xu Lingyan personally stepped in to mediate, announcing the start of the match. In the next instant, the arena was filled with blossoming sword flowers, dazzling and ceaseless, conjured from thin air and almost crowding the ten-zhang radius. Several Profound Sea Realm cultivators had to retreat further back again.

"Such dense Sword Intent in these sword blooms!"

"Yes! There’s sharpness, entanglement, oppressive weight... So many kinds of Sword Intent!"

"That’s the Mountain of Ten Thousand Books’ Ten Thousand Swords Return to Essence Technique—integrating myriad kinds of Sword Intent into each move, both offensive and defensive. It’s an incredibly powerful technique. And look, this girl practices Water and Ice attribute cultivation technique; combined with Ten Thousand Swords Return to Essence, it’s endlessly variable."

"Her master is Xuan Tianqing from the Mountain of Ten Thousand Books?"

"Heard she’s Xuan Tianqing’s closed-door disciple, with rare talent for Six Appearances of Floating Light. Soul, meridians, everything about her is top-notch, and she’s just nineteen this year."

"Nineteen and already at Primordial Pill Realm Ninth Layer..."

"In terms of cultivation alone, Nie Yun is a bit stronger—he’s reached Perfection. Plus, I think Nie Yun has more experience. As for fighting style and magic, we’ll have to see for ourselves."

The high-tier cultivators on the side spoke their minds, while inside the arena, the battle was already white hot from the start.

The sword techniques contained diverse Sword Intents, raining down in dazzling showers, but not a single one was able to injure Nie Yun in the slightest. Huge silver hands, about a zhang wide, appeared from the void, and with a few rough sweeps, all the sword flowers were cleared away. Instantly, his figure shot toward Fairy Qing Wan like an arrow leaving the bowstring, and a finger pointed at her.

This point made Fairy Qing Wan’s face change dramatically. She retreated violently, but still couldn’t escape the swirl of grey-white mist released from Nie Yun’s fingertip.

"Heaven-Deceiving Finger!"

"Didn’t expect Nie Yun to have mastered Li Shuyang’s hallmark technique to such a degree—his perception is truly exceptional."

"Heh, if that girl can’t get out of Heaven-Deceiving Finger’s range, she’ll lose."

Heaven-Deceiving Finger—deceiving the heavens and crossing the sea. Anyone struck by it becomes unable to gather Heaven and Earth Energy; even their soul and True Qi cannot form outside the body. Their overall strength is suppressed by more than half!

Elsewhere it could be shrugged off, but in a duel like this, Fairy Qing Wan’s retreat space was severely limited—she looked unable to escape its control at all.

Nie Yun pressed on; with his other fist he struck, invisible fist force homing in on Fairy Qing Wan’s position. His fist technique was savage, his cultivation slightly higher—if the fist force landed, her situation would worsen dramatically.

"Ten Thousand Swords Drawn!"

Nie Yun’s eyes suddenly narrowed in the absolute advantage he held, and his charging figure instantly reversed, leaping backwards. Before him, a sudden blast of brilliant white sword light exploded, both hands moving to shield his chest as he condensed a True Qi Shield just in time for a rapid barrage of slashing and stabbing sword strikes to rain down upon it.

He retreated five zhang before regaining his footing. His Heaven-Deceiving Finger was just broken, and the opponent nearly seized the chance to turn the tables.

"She condensed all the Sword Intent of Ten Thousand Swords Return to Essence into one erupting surge. Instantly, she scattered Nie Yun’s finger force! Beautiful counter! And if Nie Yun’s reaction had been slower, he’d be crippled if not killed!"

Shen Hao could make no sense of the situation—the battle was simply too fast. He could only sidle up to some sect elders in his row and listen to their commentary, nodding along while secretly at a loss but feeling that it was awesome.

This was real combat between top experts of the Primordial Pill Realm? It was far more thrilling than the previous matches!