Puff!
The blood-red sword light encountered a massive hand encased in white jade armor, dispersing like waves crashing against rocks and instantly shattering.
“Little girl, you’re still too inexperienced to match wits with me!” The leader of the Kou Clan sneered menacingly, his tone mocking.
Ruan Dan, being only at the Mid Qi Refinement realm, posed no threat with her red ribbon or mirror magical artifacts against him, protected by the white turtle shell.
As for the unexpected flying sword?
With his left hand gripping the blade, he gently flicked it away. The short sword emitted a mournful cry as it spun off into the distance.
Just as Ruan Dan prepared to dodge, she felt a sudden sharp pain in her right arm.
In the next instant, the Silver-armored Demon appeared beside her, seizing her wrist.
With a casual twist, her right arm contorted into a twisted knot resembling a pretzel.
Puff!Ruan Dan swiftly unleashed a burst of sword qi, severing her own arm, and retreated hastily, battered and disheveled.
“Not bad, little girl. You’ve got some grit; I like that!” Holding her severed hand, the leader of the Kou Clan praised nonchalantly. “Your master has a deep grudge against me, so I’ll make sure to torment you thoroughly before spreading the news far and wide. Ha ha, let’s see if she dares to return then…”
“You dare not touch me!”
Ruan Dan’s eyes turned bloodshot as she clutched the wound on her arm.
A severed arm was relatively easy to heal with various potent spiritual medicines. However, when twisted like a pretzel and completely rupturing the qi passageways, recovery became significantly more challenging, requiring rare tier-2 spiritual pills or direct intervention from a Core Formation patriarch.
Such severe injury would hinder Ruan Dan’s future cultivation; even if she could still reach Peak Qi Refinement, breaking through Foundation Establishment would become exponentially harder due to the increased difficulty of overcoming blood qi barriers!
In essence, her Dao path had been largely obstructed!
“Chuckle…” Kou Clan’s leader sneered, flames igniting in his palm as he reduced Ruan Dan’s arm to ashes. “Next, I’ll destroy your dantian and sea of qi, rendering you utterly useless! Don’t even think about self-destruction; in my presence, suicide is not an option…”
Ruan Dan’s face paled involuntarily.
“Oh? And pray tell, what grudge have we ever shared?”
In the next instant, petals danced wildly across the sky!
A figure gracefully appeared, emanating the formidable magical energy characteristic of Peak Qi Refinement!
“Master!” Ruan Dan felt both elated and deeply regretful…
Her joy stemmed from finding salvation at the brink of despair, but her regret…
“Haha, still haven’t achieved Foundation Establishment!”
Kou Clan’s leader laughed uproariously. “Today, finally, I will avenge my second brother!”
“Second brother, that voice… You must be the leader of the Kou Clan?!”
Ruan Xingling’s flight abruptly halted; within just a few exchanges, she had deduced the identity of the Silver-armored Demon.
“So what if you know? Time to die, bastard!” The Kou Clan leader’s magical energy surged as he wielded a massive black sword with one hand and summoned a golden flood dragon hammer with the other.
Suddenly,
Puff, puff, puff!
The ground cracked open, and tendrils like tentacles emerged, binding the Kou Clan leader’s limbs.
“Peach Bell Fairy, my apologies for arriving late!” Amidst a long laughter, Fang Xi steered the Black Feather Boat, rushing to the scene with Lu Guo and others in tow.
“It’s the Island Lord!”
Seeing Ruan Xingling arrive, Hua Chanjuan and her companions felt emboldened and fiercely reengaged the Plunderer Cultivators below.
“Another Late Stage Qi Refiner?” Kou Clan’s leader frowned deeply.
The difference between Mid and Late Stage Qi Refinement was significant, nearly doubling one’s magical energy—a far greater disparity than the slight increase from seventh to eighth layers of Qi Refinement!
This newcomer represented a substantial game-changer!
Of course, his team of Plunderer Cultivators boasted several experts, but both the second-in-command at West Twin Peak and Mo Qingyu heading towards Jade Valley…had gone silent without any updates!
“Could it be him?!” Ruan Dan stared at Fang Xi, particularly sensing his surging magical energy at the seventh layer of Qi Refinement, feeling utterly humiliated, as if he’d become a laughingstock!
“Damn it, another old foe resurfacing! Is Mo Qingyu truly a fool or already dead?”
With a fierce shout, the Kou Clan leader activated a paper talisman placed on his chest.
Instantly, his body swelled, nearly ripping the white turtle shell apart as he transformed into a small armored giant.
The special vines binding his hands and feet also snapped simultaneously.
Puff!
He swung his black heavy sword, which streaked like lightning, swiftly closing in on Fang Xi!
Bam!
The Green Turtle Shield’s water elemental barrier shattered instantly, followed by the turtle shell itself, splintering under the impact of the black sword.
However, this significantly slowed down the momentum of the blade.
Fang Xi slightly bent forward and struck the heavy sword with his palm.
Clang!
The pitch-black sword flew sideways, revealing a faint crack on its surface.
Just for show, far inferior to my Black Iron Sword!
If not for needing to conceal his identity, Fang Xi would have eagerly drawn the Black Iron Sword to dispatch this adversary in one swift blow.
It was high time to settle their fateful entanglement with the Kou Clan brothers!
In mid-air, Ruan Xingling stood atop her basket magical artifact, controlling a flying sword that fiercely battled against the golden flood dragon hammer, seemingly gaining the upper hand.
Once reliant on specialized artifacts, her cultivation had now reached the great circle of Qi Refinement, allowing her to evenly match skills with the Kou Clan leader alone.
Moreover, having Fang Xi nearby, already at Late Stage Qi Refinement, further added pressure on their opponents.
“Fellow Daoist Fang, could you please distract him momentarily…”
Ruan Xingling produced an ancient bronze sword, covered with rust and displaying a simple, antiquated design. It even bore traces of soil, as if freshly unearthed.
“Perfect!” Fang Xi nodded, drawing his peach wood sword, and charged forward immediately.
Having recently broken through to Late Stage Qi Refinement and also advancing to the third layer in Body Tempering was quite advantageous.
With this dual cultivation approach, despite having a slightly weaker cultivation base, he could still effectively contain Kou Clan’s leader for some time.
Initially, Fang Xi had no intention of involving himself in Ruan Dan’s fate.
However, upon seeing that Ruan Xingling had already returned, it seemed natural to lend support on the battlefield.
Whoosh!
The peach wood sword in Fang Xi’s hand became a streak of dark green light, each strike targeting vital points on Kou Clan’s leader without fail.
While Kou Clan’s leader dared to directly face Ruan Dan’s flying sword attacks, he genuinely feared confronting Fang Xi’s sword glares and hastily avoided them instead.
Pfft!
Under the sword’s impact, a shallow mark appeared instantly on the white turtle shell.
In the next moment, Fang Xi’s figure flashed, evading one of Kou Clan leader’s lightning attribute paper talismans.
“Damn… This guy’s movement is too swift!”
Kou Clan’s leader attempted several times to eliminate Fang Xi first but was consistently thwarted by Fang Xi’s agile maneuvers, leading to mounting frustration.
Meanwhile, Ruan Xingling muttered incantations under her breath, channeling vast amounts of spiritual energy into the ancient bronze sword, causing it to emit a terrifying aura!
“That’s…a unique treasure?!” Fang Xi’s pupils contracted slightly, observing the battlefield continuously with his divine sense.
Qi Refinement cultivators use magical artifacts! Foundation Establishment cultivators employ spirit artifacts! Core Formation patriarchs wield magical treasures!
And unique treasures belong to a separate category, distinct from this hierarchy!
The primary difference lies in their universal compatibility; anyone can refine them without designated ownership. Once acquired, there is no need to erase previous magical energy imprints, unlike with magical treasures that cannot be stored within oneself.
Some exceptionally powerful unique treasures can even greatly benefit Core Formation patriarchs.
However, Ruan Xingling’s ancient bronze sword was clearly not of such caliber, but rather among the lowest tier, suitable for showcasing prowess during the Qi Refinement stage!
Despite its limitations, when wielding this unique treasure, her attacks likely surpassed only those achievable by using ‘talisman treasures,’ which sacrifice some potency for ease of creation.
Noticing that Ruan Xingling had activated her unique treasure, Fang Xi deliberately took a punch from the Kou Clan leader, using the impact to swiftly retreat and create distance.
His divine sense also detected that the Kou Clan leader likely harbored a formidable trump card, yet chose not to waste it on him!
If they continued entangled until his opponent faced imminent peril, the outcome could become unpredictable!
Regardless, Fang Xi had already demonstrated what a typical Late Stage Qi Refinement cultivator plus a body refinement practitioner could achieve. It was now time for Ruan Xingling to handle the rest herself.
“Go!”
In mid-air, Ruan Xingling extended her right hand, holding the ancient bronze sword aloft, which emitted a brilliant aura.
The sword glint shimmered, resembling a frenzied dance of a celestial dragon, swiftly striking towards Kou Clan’s leader’s chest.
In rapid succession, he hurled multiple paper talismans:
Flames!
Ice Rain!
Lightning!
Countless magic spell auras flickered but were effortlessly pierced by the ancient bronze sword, directly impaling his torso.
“Ugh!”
Kou Clan’s leader coughed out a mouthful of blood, yet a triumphant smile appeared in his eyes.
Under the cover of exploding spell lights, a tiny black thunder pellet silently materialized beside Ruan Xingling and suddenly detonated!
Boom!
Terrifying lightning surged, engulfing Ruan Xingling within its blast.
“No!” Witnessing this, Ruan Dan couldn’t help but scream in anguish.
“Haha… Finally… finally… avenged!” Kou Clan’s leader muttered, gazing at the ancient bronze sword lodged in his chest. The blade had penetrated through the white turtle shell, deeply piercing him as blood continuously dripped down.
With a thud, Ruan Dan collapsed onto the ground, his life force extinguished.
“Revenge?” A soft voice echoed unexpectedly - it was Ruan Xingling!
She gracefully approached from another direction, her attire pristine and undamaged, showing no signs of injury.
“Island Lord… you’re unharmed?” Fang Xi feigned surprise.
In truth, his divine sense had already detected that after summoning the ancient bronze sword to attack, Ruan Xingling secretly used an ‘illusion talisman’. This created an identical phantom to take the blow while she discreetly employed the Invisibility Spell to distance herself unnoticed.
“I’m not sure why this person harbored such deep hatred towards me, so I had to be cautious,” Ruan Xingling calmly replied, her tone turning cold. “The Silver Armored Demon is dead; shouldn’t you all surrender immediately?”
“Oh no, our boss is dead!”
“Quick, run!”
The Plunderer Cultivators scattered hastily, with many falling victim to the pursuing Peach Blossom Island cultivators.
Ruan Xingling merely observed this scene indifferently, without joining the pursuit.
She approached the fallen leader of the Kou Clan, retrieved her ancient bronze sword, and then turned to Fang Xi, saying, “This enemy was slain by our combined efforts, Fellow Daoist Fang. Let’s divide the spoils equally, how about it?”
“Your prowess is exceptional, Island Lord. I only provided minor distractions…”
Fang Xi picked up the dead leader’s bag of holding and handed it to Ruan Xingling.
Using her magical energy, Ruan Xingling erased the imprint on the bag, then tossed it back to Fang Xi, stating, “Choose first… you lead.”
Fang Xi accepted the bag, scanning it with divine sense. He discovered its internal space was surprisingly large, even containing a flying boat over thirty feet long!
Unfortunately, most items inside were not particularly useful for him.
After some thought, he glanced at the golden hammer lying abandoned after losing control: “I’ll take this high-grade magical artifact!”
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