"Elder, I heard there are sword cultivators ambushing those who are rushing to aid Zhican Valley in the primitive forests of the Hengduan Mountains..."
In the azure sky, over twenty sword cultivators were flying swiftly on their swords.
As they flew across the sky, they left behind more than twenty arc-shaped sword trails of various colors, along with twenty streaks of pure white cloud vapor. The sight was quite magnificent and beautiful.
Among them, a young sword cultivator spoke to the leader, "According to reports, the Boundless Sword Sect has sent their core disciples to conduct indiscriminate killings. They intend to eliminate all sects coming to aid Zhican Valley."
"Killings?" The leading sword cultivator, a tall and robust man, sneered upon hearing this and said, "To resort to such underhanded tactics... The more the Boundless Sword Sect acts this way, the more it shows they're afraid. They know their strength isn't enough to face the Hengduan Mountain Alliance head-on, so they're forced to use such methods."
"So this is the Boundless Sword Sect?" He sneered, "It seems the position of the strongest sword cultivation sect in the Land of Immortal Legacy should belong to our Celestial Sword Sect now."
"Perhaps our Celestial Sword Sect has already surpassed the Boundless Sword Sect," the questioning disciple replied confidently. "It's just that the Boundless Sword Sect is lucky to be so far from us, with rare sword art exchanges, which is why people still think they're stronger than the Celestial Sword Sect."
"Actually, the Boundless Sword Sect disciples I've encountered in recent years are quite average. They don't deserve to be called the strongest."
The Celestial Sword Sect was the strongest sword cultivation sect in Yan Han Country.
Many years ago, they had fought against the Boundless Sword Sect and narrowly lost. Since then, they had remained in second place among the sword sects in the Land of Immortal Legacy.Obviously, Zhican Valley understood the art of diplomatic maneuvering, maintaining good relations with this major sect far away in Yan Han Country.
It was also clear that the Celestial Sword Sect's purpose in helping Zhican Valley wasn't purely altruistic.
The Celestial Sword Sect was indeed powerful, sending twenty-five people to aid Zhican Valley. Among these twenty-five, there were three Yuan Ying realm sword cultivators, seven Golden Core realm sword cultivators, and fifteen Foundation Establishment sword cultivators.
Their lineup was truly among the strongest among the reinforcing sects.
By now, evening was approaching, with the distant sunset nearing the western mountains, its amber light soft enough to look at directly.
The questioning disciple, named Yu Qingshan, looked at the distant sunlight, then glanced down at the approaching primitive forest below, and asked the leading elder, "Elder Wu, shall we push straight through to Zhican Valley?"
As sword cultivators with solid cultivation bases, even if they forced their way to Zhican Valley, they would only need to travel through the night for the time it takes to drink a cup of tea.
"No..." Elder Wu, whose full name was Wu Lan, shook his head and said with a grin, "Tonight we'll camp in the forest. I want to see if the Boundless Sword Sect people have the courage to come ambush us."
Yu Qingshan laughed along, saying, "The fact that the Boundless Sword Sect sends people to ambush smaller sects shows their strength is quite considerable. I'm also curious to see just how powerful their core disciples really are."
"Senior Brother Yu is overestimating them!" disciples behind him chimed in, "If they dare come, we'll handle them ourselves. No need for Senior Brother Yu to act!"
Yu Qingshan was consistently ranked in the top three of the Celestial Ranking of the Celestial Sword Sect.
The Celestial Ranking was equivalent to the Geniuses Ranking of the Dao Sword Sect. If comparing the Celestial Sword Sect to the Dao Sword Sect, then Yu Qingshan would be equivalent to someone like Li Shiyin, or more precisely, Liu Baixuan.
"Hahaha..." Yu Qingshan laughed heartily at this, "Remember what you said - you absolutely can't compete with me, I want to test the Boundless Sword Sect's strength myself."
The group descended into the primitive forest while chatting and laughing, riding their swords.
They found a flat area in the forest, cleared some trees to make a clean space, and stopped to rest.
Most Foundation Establishment disciples meditated to recover their spiritual energy, while the Golden Core disciples took time to hunt some bird-like and deer-like demon beasts. Using the cut trees, they started a fire and began barbecuing.
"The Hengduan Mountains truly live up to their name, the resources here are so abundant!" a disciple laughed, "Just a short walk around and we can hunt such delicious demon beasts." Ȓâ𝐍òᛒĚs̈
"Demon beasts are just one aspect, wild spiritual herbs are the key," someone added, "I heard the entire valley of Zhican Valley is spiritual soil... That's how they became the number one in alchemy in the Land of Immortal Legacy."
Someone else pointed out: "The Dao Sword Sect is also incredible, their entire mountain is made of spirit stones!"
"Ah, when will we be able to enjoy these resources of the Hengduan Mountains?"
Yu Qingshan, who was preparing deer meat, smiled and replied: "Once we destroy the Dao Sword Sect and our Celestial Sword Sect moves in, won't we be able to enjoy these endless cultivation resources?"
"Senior Brother speaks truly!" disciples quickly agreed, "After we destroy the Boundless Sword Sect, we can also obtain their sword manuals, sword dao insights, and legendary swords."
"I think you're all dreaming..." someone criticized with a laugh.
Amidst the laughter, night gradually fell.
Everywhere else was pitch black, only their two bonfires dispelled the darkness, illuminating the surroundings. The Celestial Sword Sect disciples ate, played, laughed, and made merry in the firelight.
Suddenly someone called out: "Wine, does anyone still have wine? Let's warm it up."
"Do you still have meat over there?"
"No more, go get some yourself... Remember to get plenty."
A Foundation Establishment disciple stood up drunkenly, took out a sword from his storage bag, and stumbled into the pitch-black forest to hunt.
Because there were many people, few paid attention to him, until...
"Bang!"
He was suddenly thrown back by an enormous force, flying backward through the crowd and crashing into the bonfire.
The festive atmosphere instantly vanished, and sudden silence fell around the bonfire.
Only the "crack-pop" of the wood from the other bonfire seemed particularly loud.
But the silence came as suddenly as it went.
"Boom!"
The crowd erupted with a magnificent combined aura!
"Enemy attack!" someone shouted.
"Shing shing shing..."
More than ten precious swords were drawn simultaneously, and more than ten Celestial Sword Sect disciples turned in unison to face the enemy's direction.
There were four people there, two men and two women, two at Yuan Ying realm and two at Golden Core realm, all carrying swords, emerging silently from the darkness, each standing on a branch of a large tree.
They all wore expressionless faces, coldly and disdainfully looking down at them.
Wu Lan walked forward to the front, looked up at the four people, laughed "Hahaha," and asked, "Boundless Sword Sect?"
No one answered.
"Since you've suddenly visited, might I know your esteemed names?" Wu Lan asked again.
"I am the emperor among swordsmen, known as the South Emperor Sword Immortal..." one of them, a man of ordinary appearance but extraordinary bearing and straight posture, spoke up, "This is my junior brother North Beggar Sword God, junior sisters Central Divine Power and Eastern Evil Sword Immortal. Along with Western Poison Old Freak who's resting tonight, we are known as the Eastern Evil, Western Poison, South Emperor, North Beggar, and Central Divine Power of the Boundless Sword Sect."
"Eastern Evil and Western Poison?" Wu Lan frowned. He knew something about the Boundless Sword Sect but had never heard of this combination.
Of course, given the great distance, poor communication was normal.
He didn't dwell on it too much.
"I am Wu Lan of the Celestial Sword Sect, and behind me are all disciples of our Celestial Sword Sect," he introduced.
"I know," the South Emperor Sword Immortal nodded and asked, "Do you know why we've come tonight?"
Behind Wu Lan, Yu Qingshan pulled up the disciple who had crashed into the bonfire and asked, "How are you?"
The disciple's face was pale, very weak, clutching his chest, but shook his head and said, "It's nothing, I can handle it."
Yu Qingshan smiled and patted his shoulder, praising, "Not bad!"
Then asked, "What's your name?"
"Leng... Leng Ya," the disciple gasped, "Senior Brother, I'm Leng Ya!"
"Good!" Yu Qingshan stood up, handed him to a nearby disciple, and smiled, "I'll remember you."
He took out a sword from his storage bag, turned to stand beside Wu Lan, and looked up at the four people in the trees, especially the leading South Emperor Sword Immortal.
This person was very powerful; he couldn't see through his strength at a glance.
"I don't care why you're here," he spoke up, "I only know that tonight, you'll die here."
The South Emperor Sword Immortal looked at him, studied him carefully for a moment, then nodded in approval: "Not bad cultivation!"
"Not bad?" Yu Qingshan laughed. This was the first time in his cultivation journey that he had received such an evaluation. He raised his sword, pointing it at the South Emperor Sword Immortal, and said, "Before you die, I can give you a chance - a chance to fight me one-on-one."
"Oh?" The South Emperor Sword Immortal pondered briefly before nodding, "Very well!"
After their exchange, both fighters soared into the sky, engaging in fierce combat in the pitch-black night.
Yu Qingshan practiced the Celestial Sword Sect's foundational sword technique - the "Nine Suns Sky-splitting Sword Art."
Each move was like a blazing sun, with sword energy as magnificent as a rainbow, and techniques of unmatched power. Every sword strike seemed capable of tearing apart the night sky. His sword energy rippled through the darkness, emanating heat so intense that those on the ground could feel its scorching presence.
"This man is formidable," the Eastern Evil Sword Immortal couldn't help but comment.
The North Beggar Sword God nodded in agreement, but then suddenly shook his head for some unknown reason.
"He ranks among the top three on our Celestial Ranking. How dare you presume to judge him?" a Celestial Sword Sect disciple mockingly called out.
"I wonder how many moves the South Emperor Sword Immortal can last?" another person questioned.
While the Celestial Sword Sect disciples were gleefully trash-talking below, Yu Qingshan fought above with growing frustration.
It wasn't that he was losing or at a disadvantage, but rather...
The fight felt strange.
It seemed as if the South Emperor Sword Immortal wasn't using his full power.
After more than ten exchanges, facing such an opponent, the South Emperor Sword Immortal hadn't released any sword energy, and his sword intent was nowhere to be seen. Yu Qingshan couldn't even determine what type of cultivation technique his opponent practiced.
Yet facing this situation, Yu Qingshan only found it peculiar, assuming his opponent wasn't giving it his all because...
His opponent was facing him!
How dare they not fight at full strength?
Surely the opponent was just practicing some special technique... that must be it!
After another dozen exchanges, Yu Qingshan forced back the South Emperor Sword Immortal with a sword strike and coldly declared, "An opponent like you isn't worth fighting!"
With that, he flew back to the ground.
The South Emperor Sword Immortal, calculating that the time was about right, followed him down.
"How did it go?" Wu Lan, seeing both return unscathed, asked with furrowed brows.
"He must have practiced some special technique that's all defense and no offense. Fighting him was pointless," Yu Qingshan replied.
"A sword technique that only defends but never attacks?" The Celestial Sword Sect disciples burst into laughter. "In all the world, we've never heard of such a sword technique!"
However, only the four people on the other side knew the true situation. The Eastern Evil, North Beggar, and Central Divine Power looked at Yu Qingshan with pity.
"Move!"
Suddenly, the Eastern Evil Sword Immortal shouted, and four sword lights burst forth!
The Celestial Sword Sect side was startled and released various sword energies, preparing to meet the attack.
But in the next moment, the four figures in the trees turned in unison, mounted their swords, and vanished into the darkness.
Voices drifted back from the darkness: "They actually have three Yuan Ying cultivators!"
"To think they had someone ranked in the top three of the Celestial Ranking..."
"The Celestial Sword Sect's power is truly terrifying!"
Their voices grew fainter until they disappeared completely into the darkness.
"???"
The Celestial Sword Sect cultivators were dumbfounded, unable to process what had just happened.
"They... ran away?"
"What's going on?!"
"Weren't they here to ambush us?" someone asked. "They just left like that?"
"Seems they're the type to bully the weak and fear the strong..." someone concluded. "Seeing our strength was too great, they didn't dare to fight."
"Elder Wu, should we pursue them?"
Wu Lan shook his head grimly: "No pursuit. Be wary of traps."
"Hah!" someone sneered. "So this is the caliber of Boundless Sword Sect disciples?"
"Looks like the Boundless Sword Sect isn't all that special."
"The Celestial Sword Sect can replace them!"
"Senior Brother..." Leng Ya stumbled to Yu Qingshan's side and asked, "You weren't injured, were you?"
Yu Qingshan shook his head: "The South Emperor Sword Immortal was no match for me... I just couldn't be bothered to fight him."
"That's good..." Leng Ya looked up toward the direction where the four had disappeared into the darkness, frowning with unspoken words.
Seeing this, Yu Qingshan asked, "Did you notice something?"
"They could have killed me, but didn't..." Leng Ya hesitated. "They were very powerful and could have killed many of our disciples, but didn't... Something feels strange about all this."
Yu Qingshan recalled how the South Emperor Sword Immortal had seemed unfathomable at first, yet fought so differently in reality. It was indeed strange.
He narrowed his eyes, analyzing the darkness: "Could they have been Dao Sword Sect disciples? Are the three sects of the Hengduan Mountains engaged in some kind of power play?"
"Be careful..." Wu Lan warned, "There might be more to come."
However, there were no further developments - not until dawn, not even until they reached Zhican Valley. Nothing else unusual occurred.
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