The seemingly weak mote of starlight suddenly transformed into several streaks of cold-light sword qi as it neared within ten feet of Ning Xian.
They struck toward her vital points.
It was not a lethal move, but it was sinister and vicious, intended to test her strength and carry a hint of humiliation.
Ning Xian’s gaze turned cold, and without even a wasted movement, she simply shifted her intent.
In front of the incoming sword qi, space rippled like water, and those sharp streaks of cold-light sword qi were like a clay ox entering the sea, vanishing completely into the spatial ripples.
"What is the meaning of this?" Ning Xian looked up at Dao Yi, her voice remaining clear and cold, betraying no emotion.
The playful smile on Dao Yi's face deepened.
Dao Yi clapped his hands lightly: "It is nothing. I simply felt... that the divine soul and law essence of a lingering immortal are far more delicious than those of ordinary Tribulation Crossing cultivators. Especially..."
"An injured lingering immortal who is not in peak condition. Such an opportunity is truly once in a millennium."
Before his voice had even faded, Ning Xian had already moved.
She pressed her fingers together and made a light horizontal slash against the void beside her.
Without the slightest hesitation, she took a step toward the resulting rift.
Since she could not win while protecting her junior brother, she chose to retreat for now.
Once she recovered, she would return to deal with them one by one.
"Suppress!"
Dao Yi seemed to have expected this. He softly uttered a single word and flicked his sleeve, causing a palm-sized ancient compass to suddenly fly out.
It suspended itself in mid-air, emitting a hazy clear light.
The clear light cascaded down, instantly locking the space in that area...
......
"Ugh!" Ning Xian let out a muffled groan, forced to interrupt her movement into the rift. The recoil force made her blood and qi churn, making her already pale face even whiter.
In that lightning-fast moment, Dao Yi's attack had already arrived before her.
He pressed his fingers together like a sword and made several rapid points in the air.
Several streaks of sword qi, ten times more fierce than the previous test, tore through the air and stabbed directly toward Ning Xian's major acupoints.
Ning Xian's clear eyes turned icy as she raised her right hand, intending to channel sword intent to counterattack.
But as soon as her arm moved, the injuries from forcibly channeling space sword intent to kill Liu Yuan and resisting the space-suppressing backlash suddenly flared up.
A piercing pain shot through her left arm, and the flow of spiritual power in her meridians turned chaotic; she could no longer dodge.
Just as those streaks of sword qi were about to hit her body—
"Clang!"
A sound like the resonance of an ancient bell suddenly rang out.
With one hand, Fang Xuan pulled Ning Xian back, while with the other, he held Yunchang and delivered a simple horizontal slash.
Those fierce streaks of sword qi collided with the heavy black blade and were brutally shattered and dispersed.
He stood in front of Ning Xian, facing Dao Yi's narrowed eyes across the black sword held in his horizontal guard.
"Oh?" Dao Yi raised an eyebrow, the playful look in his eyes growing even stronger.
"Interesting... A mere Transformation Realm cultivator can actually take a strike of mine? This sword is interesting, and you, junior, are even more interesting."
"What's wrong, Dao Yi? Do you need help?" From the side, the Six-Armed Demonic Venerable, who had been watching the show, seemed a bit bored. He picked his ear with one finger and asked in a muffled voice.
Dao Yi didn't even look back, his gaze still locked onto Fang Xuan, a smile curling on his lips: "No matter. Today... I have suddenly developed a great interest in playing, Hahaha!"
Amidst his long laughter, he opened the five fingers of his right hand and made a hollow grasping motion toward Fang Xuan and Ning Xian.
Boom!
Natural spiritual energy gathered frantically, and a massive hand manifestation appeared directly above Fang Xuan's head!
The giant hand's fingers were splayed wide, carrying a terrifying momentum that could crush mountains, as it clawed downward violently.
Fang Xuan did not retreat but instead advanced. Pushing off the ground with his toes, he soared into the air, actively meeting the descending giant hand.
The black sword slashed into the palm of the giant hand.
That seemingly invincible giant hand actually had a massive hole carved into its palm by that pitch-black, lusterless ancient sword.
Spiritual power dissipated, and the manifestation instantly became unstable.
"Hahahahaha!"
Dao Yi was not angry but instead laughed, his interest growing even more intense.
"Too interesting! I must have this sword! I will also take your physical body and divine soul; they will surely be top-grade materials for refining medicine or puppets!"
Before his laughter died down, his figure blurred and he vanished from his spot.
In the next instant, he appeared like a ghost beside Fang Xuan, pressing his fingers together like a sword and pointing toward Fang Xuan's right wrist holding the sword!
He was so fast that he left only a trail of afterimages in the air.
Fang Xuan reacted extremely quickly, flipping his wrist and using the momentum of the black sword to slash diagonally, blocking Dao Yi's fingers.
At the same time, his footwork changed, and his movements were agile.
In an instant, the two exchanged rapid blows, the sounds of clashing metal ringing out in dense succession.
Dao Yi's movement was elusive, his fingers, palms, fists, and claws all delivering lethal moves containing traces of the laws of heavenly mechanism. He could often predict Fang Xuan's movements and strike where he was forced to defend.
Meanwhile, Fang Xuan fought steadily, the Yunchang in his hand carrying great weight and momentum, along with a domineering sword intent that sought to break all with a single sword.
In the blink of an eye, the two had exchanged dozens of moves.
Dao Yi became increasingly alarmed as they fought.
Was this kid really just in the Transformation Realm? This physical strength, this level of spiritual power refinement, and this thick, pure sword intent... it was simply ridiculous!
Furthermore, that black sword was definitely something with a great origin!
When his attacks landed on the blade, he felt a strange lack of purchase, and the recoil force even made his fingers go numb!
"Bang!"
Another hard collision occurred.
Fang Xuan seized a tiny opening in Dao Yi's defense, and his black sword, carrying the power to split mountains and rocks, slashed heavily against the protective spiritual power Dao Yi had hastily gathered.
Dao Yi's figure swayed, and he was actually knocked back several yards by this brute force, his feet plowing two faint white streaks in the air.
He stabilized his form and cracked his neck.
The playful smile finally faded from his face, replaced by the indignation of an ant having provoked him.
"This little game of playing house... ends here!"
Dao Yi's voice turned cold, and the aura around him began to climb steadily. He no longer concealed the pressure belonging to a lingering immortal, causing the expressions of the three observers in the distance to change slightly.
As his last word fell, Dao Yi's figure blurred abruptly. When he reappeared, he was directly in front of Fang Xuan, less than three feet away!
He curled his left fingers into a claw and grabbed Fang Xuan's head, violently slamming him toward the ground below.
"Get down there for me!"
"Junior Brother!" Ning Xian's expression changed, and her suppressed injuries nearly spiraled out of control due to the shock to her mind.
In the air, Fang Xuan directly tore off the bandages on his right arm, and hundreds of streaks of space sword intent instantly shot out.
Dao Yi's eyes turned cold, but out of wariness, he could only hurriedly retreat.
However, Fang Xuan continued to fall, slamming heavily onto a giant rock.
As the dust slowly cleared...
In the center of the massive crater, Fang Xuan's upper body clothing had completely disintegrated under the intense impact.
His black hair had broken free from its ribbon and hung loosely around him.
The white bandages wrapped around his right wrist were mostly loose, fluttering gently in the wind.
His left arm hung down, seemingly drained of strength, but his right hand holding the black sword remained steady.
He raised his left hand and wiped away a trace of blood overflowing from the corner of his mouth.
Then, he looked up, calmly gazing at Dao Yi in the sky, whose expression had become arrogant once again.
The mountain wind blew, lifting his scattered black hair and broken bandages.
Dao Yi floated in the air, but the smile of victory on his face gradually froze when he saw Fang Xuan's eyes.
He narrowed his eyes, for the first time truly scrutinizing the youth in the pit, who now possessed an aura like a fierce sword drawn from its sheath.
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