"Have you noticed? Junior Brother Li Yan's Quicksand Art is different from most people's. His casting time is too short. I've rarely seen that among the Foundation Establishment cultivators I've encountered," remarked a Malevolent Spirit Sect disciple.
"That's true. In the time it takes for others to cast one Quicksand Art, Junior Brother Li can cast four or five. How… how is that possible?"
"Hiss… that would require an extremely strong physical foundation to prevent the meridians from being damaged by the instantaneous surge of a massive amount of Spirit Power!"
...
In a short time, discussions erupted everywhere. All the cultivators who came to Windy Cool Mountain were at Foundation Establishment or above, so their judgment was naturally sharp. They quickly noticed the issue with Li Yan's art.
Gong Yuantai's group, who had been composed moments ago, soon found their expressions souring. Although the two had only exchanged a few blows, the development seemed to have exceeded their expectations.
This Li Yan from Little Bamboo Peak, with just this one Quicksand Art, had already left them all in the dust. None of them could achieve such a feat.
'How many years has this person been in the sect? To have just advanced to the Pseudo-Core Realm is already a result of Martial Uncle Wei's painstaking cultivation. How can he be so formidable in immortal arts as well?'
'This isn't something that can be achieved just by piling on medicinal pills. It requires exceptional talent and a vast amount of practice, but even then, one might not necessarily achieve such a casting speed.'
Gong Yuantai thought to himself, but for a moment, he couldn't find an answer. He knew he couldn't do it; he couldn't even achieve half the power of this Junior Brother Li's technique.
Although he had heard that Li Yan from Little Bamboo Peak had come to Windy Cool Mountain, their Green Bat Battalion and the Heavy Peak Battalion were responsible for scouting in different directions, so they had little interaction. He hadn't known Li Yan's cultivation level before. If he were to compare it to a month ago, his jaw would probably drop in shock.
For a moment, the cultivators present were lost in a myriad of thoughts, but most were filled with confusion. Everyone knew that a cultivator's time was precious. On one hand, they had to race against time to advance to higher realms to increase their lifespan. On the other hand, no matter how well one cultivated a low-level fundamental immortal art, it couldn't match the power of casually practicing a single mid-level immortal art.
Far away, Bu Luo, who was already hovering in the air, pursed his lips and muttered under his breath, "I knew this would happen! A person who can unleash an immortal art, which only Qi Condensation cultivators would bother practicing, with several times its normal power? Only someone who is full and has nothing better to do would waste time on this instead of practicing higher-level immortal arts."
Seeing that Li Yan had filled the entire courtyard with rolling yellow sand using only his Quicksand Art, leaving only Divine Sense to perceive the situation inside, Wang Ning also raised her guard amidst the dancing sand, remaining vigilant.
She was already surprised by the yellow sand that could contend with her sword qi and shatter the ribbons of light, but she was more concerned about the sand itself.
What were Malevolent Spirit Sect cultivators? They were all from a lineage of poison cultivators, and the strongest poison cultivating sect on this continent at that. Their endless array of poisonous insects and poison pills was infamous throughout the Desolate Moon Continent.
To say their reputation was notorious in the past would not be an overstatement. Facing them, Wang Ning had long since activated her Spirit Power shield. The memory of Tang Minglong being ambushed was still fresh in her mind; how could she fall for the same trick?
However, after truly seeing Li Yan's methods, the coldness on Wang Ning's pretty face softened slightly. At least from this, it seemed the superiors' decision to appoint this person as captain was not an act of nepotism. They weren't playing with their lives.
Now, the ribbons of light that Wang Ning had unleashed were almost completely entangled, and the seemingly rushing, dragon-like ribbons were slowly dissipating.
'I can't hold back anymore!'
With this thought, Wang Ning spoke in a delicate, soft voice, "Fellow Daoist Li, be careful!"
Just a moment ago, she was worried she might accidentally injure him severely, but now it seemed her worries were unnecessary.
She no longer sent out individual ribbons of light. A great blue light suddenly erupted from one of her jade-like hands, creating a crystalline azure brilliance. A powerful aura spread out as she slapped her palm against the body of her sword.
The well-forged longsword in her other hand vanished. In a blur, small swords appeared by Wang Ning's side, like fish swimming in water. There were over a hundred of them, darting back and forth around her like a school of fish.
Wang Ning quickly raised her hands, about to form a sword seal and execute the "Fish Swimming Through Green Lotuses" art. But at that moment, Li Yan, who was standing far away controlling the Quicksand Art with one hand, let out a light laugh.
"So Fellow Daoist Wang cultivates a set of Parent-Child Swords. No wonder you don't use a Sword Casket!"
With his cultivation having just been refined by absorbing the Essence Blood of the Undead Nether Phoenix, Li Yan was confident he could have controlled his opponent within two moves. But doing so would be too shocking, which was something he wanted to avoid.
So he drew out the fight a little longer. There was another reason for this: Li Yan wanted to see where Wang Ning's Sword Casket was. A master of the Inner Sword who also cultivated the Outer Sword would be extremely terrifying.
Now that he knew Wang Ning was purely an Outer Sword cultivator, and that her Sword Casket was also the parent sword, he decided not to let her execute her follow-up techniques.
Ultimately, Li Yan was a person who would repay every grievance. It might have seemed like he didn't care about the taunts from Gong Yuantai and the others, but he had actually taken them to heart.
Although he had no intention of retaliating, he suddenly didn't want them to see any more of his or Wang Ning's techniques.
This Wang Ning also wanted a quick battle and was about to use some of her trump cards. When a cultivator's trump cards are seen by others, it can be of some benefit and inspiration to the onlookers.
Even if it wouldn't guarantee a win against Wang Ning next time, they would at least be mentally prepared, and it could serve as a reference for their own cultivation.
Li Yan didn't know how many people here had fought Wang Ning, but right now, he just didn't want her to continue her display. This was especially true when he saw the glint in Gong Yuantai's eyes as Wang Ning's longsword transformed into swimming fish.
It was clear that Gong Yuantai, at least, was unaware of Wang Ning's techniques. He looked eager to see the immortal art she was about to perform.
A mischievous thought arose in Li Yan's mind. Those who were gloating thought they could benefit from his situation? Then he would let Gong Yuantai's anticipation turn to utter disappointment in the next moment.
Li Yan thought this was an excellent idea. It would make others feel aggrieved and uncomfortable, while he himself would be quite happy.
Thus, as everyone's gaze focused on Wang Ning, just as her snow-white hands were about to form the seal, Li Yan, from a distance, softly uttered a single word: "Detonate!" Then, with a series of "pang, pang, pang" sounds, the vast expanse of yellow sand filling the courtyard turned into clouds of fine powder.
"It's poison mist!"
"There's poison!"
"Dammit, this is the only trick the Malevolent Spirit Sect knows!"
"What did you say? What's wrong with my Malevolent Spirit Sect? What skills do you have to show us…"
For a moment, chaotic noises rose again, accompanied by figures soaring into the sky.
Even Gong Yuantai and his group were no exception. Although they were also poison cultivators, it didn't mean they were immune to the techniques of other poison cultivators. Only a fool would try to withstand it head-on.
"As expected!" Wang Ning thought, seeing that just as she was about to use a high-powered art, her opponent would indeed try to preemptively interrupt her casting.
The yellow sand was indeed poisonous. Although she was mentally prepared, Wang Ning's hand seal still faltered, and her Divine Sense immediately scanned her entire body.
She discovered that as the fine powder from the rolling yellow mist struck her Spirit Power shield, the shield showed no signs of damage, and she felt no discomfort. Only then did she breathe a sigh of relief.
The reason the Malevolent Spirit Sect could make the other three sects secretly join forces to resist them was because their methods of insidiously harming and killing people were too vicious. Not only were they endless and impossible to guard against, but they would also resort to any means necessary.
Wang Ning had long heard that the incidents of low-level Malevolent Spirit Sect disciples killing high-level cultivators were far more common than in the other three major sects. Their combat strength wasn't necessarily strong, but once their opponents were hit, the result was often an agonizing end.
Wang Ning didn't know Li Yan's temperament, but she had heard that the vast majority of Malevolent Spirit Sect cultivators were of a malicious and venomous nature. Although it was unlikely that Li Yan would use a deadly poison here today, she was unwilling to have anything left on her body.
She usually didn't pay much attention to her appearance, but if a scar or some strange smell were to be left on her skin, she would certainly be overcome with shame and anger.
Wang Ning's Spirit Power shield was enveloped by layers of yellow mist. Although she was unharmed, she suddenly felt her Spirit Power consumption increase dramatically. The yellow mist was constantly corroding her shield. How could she dare to linger?
With a tap of her foot, a circle of blue ripples spread out from her body. The speed at which the hundred small swords swam around her increased dramatically. In an instant, they formed another circle of sword qi outside her Spirit Power shield, immediately shredding and scattering the yellow mist within the sword qi.
At this time, her body began to rise into the air. In this situation, the first priority was naturally to escape this patch of yellow mist.
But just then, Wang Ning suddenly felt a faint, undetectable dark wind strike her shoulder. This dark wind came with incredible speed and absolutely no warning. If Wang Ning hadn't already raised her entire body's magic power to its peak, she would not have noticed it at all.
Before she could think, the rapidly rotating sword qi around her faltered. A crack instantly appeared in her Spirit Power shield, and a puff of yellow mist drifted in.
Wang Ning was momentarily dazed. As the dark wind struck her shoulder, a faint, strange smell entered her nostrils. Her heart sank in terror. She wanted to hold her breath, but there was no time to react.
She felt the world spin, and the circulation of Spirit Power in her body became sluggish. As a result, the fish-like sword qi around her slowed down simultaneously, and more yellow mist took advantage of this gap to cover her Spirit Power shield once again.
Wang Ning knew things were bad, but knowing was one thing; her reactions could no longer keep up. More of the strange smell entered through the crack in the Spirit Power shield on her shoulder.
With a "clang," Wang Ning could hold on no longer. The fish-like sword qi by her side instantly merged back into a single, water-like longsword and fell to the ground in the next moment.
At this point, Li Yan, from a distance, immediately waved his large sleeve. The yellow sand and mist that filled the courtyard were immediately sucked toward his sleeve. In an instant, he had collected all of it, and the courtyard returned to clarity.
And now, in the middle of the courtyard, Wang Ning was supporting herself with one jade-like hand on the ground, kneeling on one knee, her water-like longsword discarded to the side.
Her body was trembling, on the verge of collapsing. She barely managed to raise her head, her beautiful eyes looking at Li Yan in the distance, filled with confusion and bewilderment.
"Fellow Daoist Wang, you've let me win."
Li Yan simply cupped his fist at her.
"I… I admit defeat!"
Li Yan's words finally snapped Wang Ning out of her daze. She was quite straightforward. Though her head was still spinning, she could only force herself to speak.
At this moment, several figures had already flown over from a distance. Before they even arrived, someone shouted anxiously, "Fellow Daoist Li, Senior Sister Wang has already admitted defeat. Please help her with the antidote quickly!"
Behind these few, many others also landed from the air, looking at Wang Ning with anxious eyes, their faces filled with deep concern.
It was clear that these first few people were familiar with Wang Ning, perhaps even from the same sect. Everyone knew that the sooner a poisoned person was treated, the better, to prevent the poison from entering the internal organs, which would be troublesome.
Li Yan, however, remained standing where he was, without even the slightest intention of moving. This caused the gazes of those people turning toward him to flicker with coldness and killing intent.