Li Yi leaped out of the Earth Gate, the formation space, and upon looking ahead, saw that only the few formation masters were outside the formation, with no other Golden Core cultivators who had ventured into the formation emerging yet.
"Where are they?" he asked aloud, "Has no one come out yet?"
Elder Lin's expression was grave as he slowly shook his head.
"The guardians of the formation are all masters, the battles are complex, and the times vary. Let's wait a bit longer," Li Yi said.
Elder Lin looked at him, noticing his severed arm, his pale face due to excessive blood loss, and his weakened aura from severe injuries. He sighed, "You've worked hard!"
Hard work?
"..."
Li Yi looked at his bleeding stump of an arm, his expression blank, momentarily speechless.
"Golden Core cultivators can regenerate severed limbs," Elder Lin comforted, "After this battle, Zhican Valley will certainly not treat you unfairly, ensuring your breakthrough to Golden Core."
Li Yi's face remained expressionless as he merely nodded.It was true that physical cultivators could regenerate limbs upon reaching the Golden Core stage.
However, the problem was that as a physical cultivator, if his limbs were incomplete, especially with an entire hand missing like his, the difficulty of breaking through to Golden Core would increase exponentially.
Breaking through to Golden Core was already difficult. Thus, Li Yi didn't know if he still had a chance to break through.
After treating his wounds, Li Yi waited outside the formation for half a day, but no one else emerged.
"What exactly is the formation space like?" Elder Lin asked Li Yi.
"The Mountain Gate I entered was filled with countless towering rocks, with extremely abundant earth elements.
But I speculate that different formation spaces will have different scenarios," Li Yi replied, "The guardian of the formation space was an earth-rooted Golden Core cultivator, probably at the late Golden Core stage. His cultivation technique and attributes were in harmony with the formation space, greatly enhancing his combat power.
"Additionally, there were ten Golden Core cultivators of varying levels and twenty Foundation Establishment cultivators hidden within. As for whether there were more cultivators, I am not clear."
"A Golden Core cultivator at the late stage, further enhanced by the formation space..." Elder Lin sighed, "They probably won't come out."
Those who ventured into the formation were all Golden Core cultivators, encountering such a situation, it was most likely they were dead.
Li Yi recalled his own circumstances, silently nodding. If not for Liu Tu's cowardice, he would certainly not have come out.
Having roughly understood the situation within the formation space, Elder Lin and the other formation masters studied for another half a day before seeking out eight Golden Core cultivators, each bringing ten late Golden Core cultivators, preparing for a second venture into the formation.
"Within the formation, there will be a relatively strong Golden Core cultivator at the late stage guarding, who benefits from the formation space's enhancement, his strength might rival that of a Golden Core cultivator at the early stage... There are also ten ordinary Golden Core cultivators and twenty Foundation Establishment cultivators assisting..."
Elder Lin described the situation within the formation to these eighty-eight cultivators, "Your most important task is to slay the guardian within, the other cultivators can be ignored. Our research has found that this formation relies on the cultivators..."
The eight Golden Core cultivators nodded upon hearing this, indicating their understanding.
Zhang Wei, a Golden Core elder of the Boundless Sword Sect, had had many dealings with Qin Ran and his disciple, both overtly and covertly.
Years ago, at the end of the Devouring Demon Willow calamity, he had once clashed with Qin Ran over the Willow's Dao fruit; last year on the battlefield of Xuanqin and North Chu, he had been tasked to kill Qin Ran, but had been inexplicably swayed by Qin Ran, indirectly relieving the crisis of North Chu.
Compared to others, he had had multiple dealings with Qin Ran, this old fox, and had a good understanding of him. Despite several attempts, he had not yet been outwitted by Qin Ran, which was quite rare.
Now, leading a team to break the formation through the Heaven Gate, if asked what he was thinking...
He wished he could stab himself with his sword!
Why had he been swayed by Qin Ran on the Xuanqin battlefield and failed to end this scourge with a single sword strike?
In addition to the two overt encounters, in secret:
He knew that the Dao Sword Sect's medicinal crisis was resolved by Qin Ran; he knew that the news of Zhican Valley's cooperation with the Boundless Sword Sect was discovered by Qin Ran; he knew that Zhican Valley's forced attack on the Dao Sword Sect was coerced by Qin Ran; he knew that the Zhican Valley massacre was masterminded by Qin Ran; he knew that the current great formation was set up by Qin Ran...
This scourge, the Thousand-faced Poison Lord! Zhang Wei truly regretted it, his intestines twisted and his teeth clenched.
As he led ten Golden Core cultivators, his face livid, into the Starry Space, he looked up and saw Li Shiyin and the Mu Ran Sword in the sky.
"So it's you guarding the formation?" he sneered, his expression vicious, "It's truly the will of heaven! Perfect!"
If he remembered correctly, this rather attractive woman was the disciple of that scourge, someone he had failed to kill.
Li Shiyin stood up in mid-air, looking at the eleven people who had entered the formation space. The leader was a black-clothed youth she had met before, a Golden Core sword cultivator, a flying sword cultivator.
"Boundless Sword Sect..." she said, "I am Li Shiyin, what is your name, senior?"
"Shoo!"
The black-clothed youth did not answer. Did he not know her name? He merely pointed his finger, and a flying sword flew out from his Universe Bag, lightning-fast, towards Li Shiyin.
"Dead people are not worthy to know my name!" he said coldly, "I will kill you. I will also personally kill your master!"
The flying sword was incredibly fast, but fortunately, Li Shiyin was fully alert. She pointed her hand, and the Mu Ran Sword instantly flew into her grasp, raising it to block...
"Dang!"
She accurately blocked this sword strike.
But this was a Golden Core cultivator's flying sword, and the immense impact force struck the Mu Ran Sword, sending Li Shiyin and the sword flying.
A Golden Core cultivator's flying sword technique, even an ordinary strike, was extraordinary.
"Golden Core!"
Li Shiyin's heart sank. Her internal energy surged frantically, instantly bringing her combat power to its peak. Facing a cultivator an entire realm higher than her, she had to do so.
She stabilized her retreating figure, then without hesitation, she sidestepped and thrust her sword, precisely blocking the flying sword's next attack.
The two sword tips collided, producing a muffled "thud," and she was again pushed back several zhang.
"Such terrifying strength!"
She had no time to adjust, as the flying sword followed immediately.
"And such speed!"
The War Spirit Art began to operate, her combat power rising from ten to eleven, then twelve.
At twelve combat power, she could no longer be pushed back by the flying sword.
Of course, she could barely hold her ground but could not advance.
Remote techniques were certainly not a match for a flying sword cultivator. Without close combat, she would always be on the defensive.
"Dang!"
Another sword strike.
Her combat power rose to thirteen, finally allowing her to engage normally with this flying sword.
Having caught her breath, she immediately executed the Immortal Seeking the Way!
Her figure flickered, closing in on the black-clothed youth.
For a qi cultivator or a flying sword cultivator, close combat was a weakness. For a physical cultivator or a sword cultivator, without close combat, it was difficult to inflict damage.
"What kind of technique is this so magical?"
The black-clothed youth could see clearly that Li Shiyin's combat power was being exerted beyond her limits, she had a technique that allowed her to challenge higher realms.
He pointed his finger again, and another flying sword flew out from his Universe Bag, accurately aiming at Li Shiyin's landing point in the Immortal Seeking the Way.
Although the Immortal Seeking the Way was powerful, it had its limits. It could not make Li Shiyin instantly teleport to any place in the world upon execution. Currently, Li Shiyin could, at most, flash a hundred zhang in one move.
And obviously, in battle, a cultivator could not directly fly a hundred zhang. One could not use all their strength, or it would be easy to get into trouble.
As soon as Li Shiyin landed, a flying sword accurately aimed at her.
"Dang!"
She reacted to the extreme, narrowly blocking it.
But blocking this flying sword forced her to pause, and as she paused, the other flying sword had already caught up.
She had to turn back to deal with it,
Losing the opportunity to close the distance.
"This won't do!"
She frowned, operating the War Spirit Art again, her combat power directly spiking to fifteen! "Dang!"
This time, she could accurately block the flying sword and even knock it away.
"Dang dang" two strikes, she directly knocked away the two flying swords, closing the distance to the black-clothed youth.
"Impressive!"
The black-clothed youth shook his head.
He pointed his finger again.
"Shoo shoo shoo..."
Ten flying swords flew out from his Universe Bag.
The ten flying swords flickered in front of him, instantly disappearing, attacking Li Shiyin from all directions.
"Ten swords!"
Li Shiyin's eyes narrowed, and the War Spirit Art began to operate once more!
Twelve flying swords forced her to halt her advance, compelling her to wield the Mu Ran Sword with all her might to fend off the onslaught.
"Clang! Clang! Clang..."
In an instant, ten flying swords were knocked away by her strikes!
At this point, her combat power had been amplified to twice her normal state through the War Spirit Art!
In her current state, the black-clad youth's single flying sword could no longer match her strength. Each strike she delivered could deflect a flying sword. Once a flying sword was repelled, it needed a long time to recover before it could attack her again.
"No wonder you're Qin Ran's disciple! Indeed formidable!"
The black-clad youth praised her again.
With a wave of his hand, his Universe Bag opened wide, and in an instant, a dense array of flying swords appeared before him, totaling a hundred!
"Go!"
He pushed his hand forward, and the hundred flying swords all shot towards Li Shiyin.
The battle situation became intense.
Li Shiyin continuously knocked away the incoming flying swords, but more kept coming; she had no choice but to simultaneously employ Immortal Seeking the Way, changing her position and using her movement skills to dodge the flying swords.
The entire star space was filled with flying swords, and the sound of "clang clang clang" echoed throughout, with Li Shiyin's afterimages everywhere.
The flying swords were incredibly powerful, fast, and numerous, leaving Li Shiyin no time to employ other sword techniques.
She seemed to have lost the ability to counterattack, only able to endure until death.
"A cultivator at the Nascent Soul stage connects with the heavens, linking their dantian with the external world, ensuring a continuous flow of spiritual energy that never runs dry." Li Shiyin now understood the fundamental difference between the Nascent Soul and Golden Core stages.
She also realized what had happened on the Xuanqin battlefield when she had chased down a Nascent Soul cultivator. That cultivator had clearly focused on survival rather than combat. His Cicada Sloughing technique, as long as he had spiritual energy, could be used indefinitely. She could kill him once, but she could never truly eliminate him.
Now, she faced the same problem. She could knock away the flying swords and continue fighting the black-clad youth's swords, but his spiritual energy would never run out.
Although she had the star space as her backing, ensuring her spiritual energy never ran dry, her body would tire. The black-clad youth didn't need to move, only control the flying swords with his spiritual energy.
"If this continues, I will surely lose."
She clearly recognized this.
Thus, in the subsequent battle, she began to adjust her position, consciously moving closer to the black-clad youth each time she used her movement skills.
But before she could close the distance significantly, the black-clad youth noticed her intent.
"Heh!" The black-clad youth sneered, "How naive!"
He started intentionally controlling the flying swords to intercept and chase Li Shiyin. After a few attempts, Li Shiyin was forced back, widening the distance once more.
"Can't get through?"
Li Shiyin frowned.
Looking at the swarm of flying swords around her, she felt for the first time the annoyance of a flying sword cultivator.
"Huff!"
"I have to take a gamble."
The flying swords' power was inferior to hers, their speed was inferior to hers; they were merely numerous.
She just needed to bypass them.
To completely encircle her, the black-clad youth's hundred and eleven flying swords formed a complete circle around her, above her, and below her. If she forcibly broke through from one direction, she would actually only face twelve flying swords.
Twelve flying swords?
Li Shiyin's eyes narrowed, determined to take the risk!
She shifted her position, charging towards the black-clad youth, and slashed with her sword, knocking away two flying swords; she continued forward, closing the distance with the ten flying swords coming at her, her sword whirling to knock away two more; eight flying swords were now right in front of her, about to pierce her body in the next second, but she didn't stop...
"What is she doing? Is she crazy? Charging into my swords!" The black-clad youth was puzzled but didn't hesitate. He channeled his spiritual energy, pushing his hand forward, and the remaining eight flying swords shot towards Li Shiyin with full force.
Li Shiyin ignored them, allowing the flying swords to strike her. Just before the swords pierced her, she managed to deflect three more.
The final five flying swords finally hit her...
"Puff puff puff" three sounds rang out, three flying swords accurately pierced her Tanzhong, dantian, and heart.
"Mmm!" The immense impact forced her to endure it fully, causing her to grunt and blood to spill from the corner of her mouth.
The flying swords struck her, their impact immense, but they didn't pierce through her body!
The flying swords tore through her clothes, revealing the inner armor beneath.
The inner armor...
Her sect's assessment reward. At this moment, it finally served its purpose, blocking the flying swords of a Nascent Soul cultivator.
It blocked three flying swords...
Yet, she still wasn't safe!
Because a total of five flying swords had hit her!
Two more flying swords aimed for her eyes!
The rapidly enlarging pair of flying swords, the air-piercing aura, scratched her delicate face.
"Master would never deceive me!" A thought flashed through her mind.
Her nascent soul flew out from her forehead, and her nascent soul's power suddenly acted on the flying swords right in front of her face.
"Hum!"
The flying swords paused!
"Puff!"
Using her weak nascent soul to directly block the flying swords, Li Shiyin was counterattacked and spat out a large mouthful of blood!
The flying swords moved forward again!
She ignored everything, once more urging her nascent soul, its power acting on the flying swords again.
The flying swords stopped, halting just before her eyelashes, which were severed. The sharp aura of the flying swords caused her eyeballs to crack and bleed.
Despite the two nascent soul exertions, she still couldn't completely stop the flying swords; they moved forward again, about to pierce into her brain through her eyes!
"Clang!"
Her Mu Ran Sword swung back, slashing the flying swords that had been stopped twice by her nascent soul, knocking them away!
Breaking through the flying sword encirclement, there was no longer any obstacle between her and the black-clad youth.
Her nascent soul returned, her eyes bleeding, she coldly glared at the black-clad youth, and then...
Disappeared!
"What was that?!" The black-clad youth was astonished by Li Shiyin's method of immobilizing his flying swords, "How did she do that?!"
But he didn't have time to think, because the next instant, a cold sword aura approached him.
The sword aura emerged from the star space first, and Li Shiyin's figure slowly materialized from the star space.
"You're done for!" She said.
The sword aura, along with her voice, struck the black-clad youth.
However, the black-clad youth's expression was only one of surprise, not fear.
Li Shiyin's all-powerful star sword aura struck the black-clad youth, producing a "clang" sound.
The black-clad youth remained unharmed.
The sword aura shattered!
A thick and sharp sword intent suddenly emerged from the black-clad youth's body!
Boundless Sword Qi!!
A massive sword enveloped the black-clad youth, directly shattering all of Li Shiyin's star sword auras, and then slashed down, aiming at the shocked Li Shiyin!
"Boom!"
A huge sound rang out, Li Shiyin's protective sword aura summoned in an instant was shattered, and she was sent flying by the giant sword into the depths of the star space, buried under stars and darkness.
Looking at the place where Li Shiyin disappeared, the black-clad youth laughed, "Do only sword cultivators with swords in hand have a lifebound sword? This is my lifebound sword!"
Li Shiyin slowly crawled out from the star space on the ground, her hair disheveled, her clothes torn, mostly held together by the inner armor, preventing her from being exposed.
But more serious than her external appearance was the severe injury caused by the black-clad youth's lifebound sword strike!
"Do only sword cultivators with swords in hand comprehend sword aura?" The black-clad youth looked down at Li Shiyin and said, "This is my sword aura!"
"I didn't expect the Boundless Sword Technique to also be a flying sword technique!"
Li Shiyin was covered in injuries from forcibly suppressing her power, her eyes bleeding.
She spat out a mouthful of blood, got up from the ground, and casually stuck the Mu Ran Sword into the ground. She wiped the blood from the corner of her eye, tore off a piece of cloth from the remnants of her pants, and tied her straight, long, round, and strong legs, unable to cover them completely, revealing cracked bloodstains.
She knelt on the ground, bit the cloth strip with her teeth, gathered her hair with both hands, and tied it into a single ponytail. She held it with one hand, took the cloth strip from her mouth with the other, wrapped it around, and tied her hair into a single ponytail.
She stood up, pulled out her sword, looked up at the black-clad youth in mid-air, and said seriously, "Unfortunately, you're still a bit short."
The black-clad youth who was waiting for her to tie her hair asked curiously, "What's missing?"
"You didn't kill me directly!" Li Shiyin said.
She raised her left hand, and in this star space, all the stars began to surge towards her left hand.
"Oh!"
The black-clad youth suddenly understood, recalling what Elder Lin had said, that the array space would enhance the strength of the guardian.
"But, so what?" He was disdainful.
He waved his hand, and the one hundred and eleven flying swords flew over. From his waist pouch, another thousand or so flying swords "whooshed" out, totaling one thousand two hundred and ninety-six flying swords.
All the flying swords obeyed his will and flew towards Li Shiyin!
However, the flying swords did not attack Li Shiyin but stopped around her, arranged in a mysterious pattern...
It was a sword array!
On the battlefield of Xuanqin, Qin Ran had set up a sword array using Li Shiyin's sword aura, isolating sight and sound, and turning the black-clad youth Zhang Wei and the red-clad woman Zhang Yan against their side.
This move was remembered by the black-clad youth. After returning to the sect, he studied many sword classics, combined with his own understanding, and learned this move.
When all the stars converged towards Li Shiyin, over a thousand flying swords also surrounded her.
She raised her left hand high, condensed the stars, and held her sword in her right hand, dragging the galaxy. She looked at the black-clad youth setting up the sword array indifferently.
For her, it was truly "never seen a pig run, but eaten pork." She didn't understand arrays at all, but her master was a high-level array master. She had been influenced by him, so although she couldn't set up or break arrays, she had the knowledge...
When all the stars surged into Li Shiyin's body, the black-clad youth's sword array was also completed.
When the chaotic power in Li Shiyin's body couldn't be contained and surged, the black-clad youth's sword array also activated.
Each flying sword emitted sharp Boundless Sword Qi, one thousand two hundred Boundless Sword Qi in the narrow array space stabbed and twisted towards Li Shiyin!
"No matter how strong you are!" The black-clad youth was very satisfied with his newly comprehended sword array, "you're just a small Golden Core cultivator."
He raised his hand, signaling the Golden Core cultivators behind him, "Prepare to kill the cultivators in this array space."
Ten Golden Core late-stage cultivators responded, their spells ready to be unleashed, preparing to kill the Dao Sword Sect cultivators who were exposed after the stars were all absorbed by Li Shiyin.
But at that moment, a clear female voice suddenly came from the sword array:
"Sky... Outside... Flying... Immortal!"
The words fell...
"Boom!"
A star sword aura as thick as a person protected a figure and suddenly burst out from the array space, breaking the sword array!
After breaking the sword array, the star sword aura did not dissipate but continued to rush towards the black-clad youth.
In the process of rushing over, it was like Li Shiyin performing Immortal Seeking the Way, flashing and flickering, unpredictable and untargetable.
Seeing the powerful, solid, and sharp sword aura rushing towards him, the black-clad youth formed a sword finger with both hands, pushed upwards, and shouted, "Just a small trick!"
His lifebound sword flew out from his body, and under his control, the huge sword collided with the star sword aura!
"Boom!"
The two seemingly unremarkable but extremely solid powerful swords collided, causing a tremendous roar and shaking the entire star array space.
Shaking and showing signs of instability.
"Heaven Gate?"
Outside the array, Elder Lin and other array masters saw the shaking array space and couldn't help but get excited.
"Heaven Gate?"
On the peak of Dan, Qin Ran sensed the situation of the array and stood up from under the Devouring Demon Willow, looking at the position of the Heaven Gate, murmuring, "Shiyin..."
He used his movement technique to fly up from the ground and flew out of the Dan peak.
Inside the array, the roar subsided, and the aftermath of the collision between the sword aura and the flying sword calmed down. Thirty cultivators on the left and ten on the right all stared at the collision point.
"Who won?" They all thought, and then hoped for it.
Because the outcome of those two was closely related to their lives.
After extreme stillness...
"Crack!"
The sound of ceramic breaking was very clear in this star space.
"Which sword cracked?"
Everyone in the array space looked at the two swords, their vision sharp...
A crack appeared on the solid sword, and then it cracked!
"Crack, crack, crack..."
The crack spread rapidly!
"Snap!"
The solid sword shattered into pieces! Falling into the endless darkness.
The black-clad youth's sword shattered!
The Nascent Soul cultivator lost!
"Pfft!"
The lifebound sword was related to cultivation, body, and soul, which was why it was powerful. But at the same time, if the lifebound sword was damaged, the cultivator would suffer serious injuries.
The black-clad youth spat blood, blood spraying as he fell from mid-air, crashing onto the dark ground, blending with the darkness, as if exiled to the endless void.
The star sword aura in mid-air dissipated, and a disheveled, single-tailed beauty holding a galaxy-like sword appeared. She stood with her back to the ten Golden Core cultivators and the black-clad youth, her clear but lazy voice said indifferently:
"Master said, trying to draw a tiger but ending up with a dog. You died in the sword array!"
She held the sword and walked towards the dark depths without stars, instructing the Dao Sword Sect members, "Kill them!"
In the next moment, the dark array space under her final control restricted the combat power of the ten Golden Core late-stage cultivators from the Hengduan Mountain Alliance, while the thirty Dao Sword Sect members charged towards the ten Golden Core late-stage cultivators.
Another bloody and brutal battle.
But Li Shiyin had done everything she could.
She had exhausted all her strength, using all the enhancement of the star space, to defeat, heavily injure, and disable a Nascent Soul cultivator head-on. This was her limit.
She walked out of the array space and saw her master waiting for her there.
Seeing her come out, her master smiled with heartache, flew over, hugged her, and took out clothes to put on her.
She clung to her master like a sloth, weak but proud, saying, "Master, I defeated a Nascent Soul cultivator."
"Mm!" Qin Ran held her butt with one hand and gently stroked her back with the other, softly saying, "My Shiyin is the best."
They chatted in detail and flew back to the Dan peak.
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