Wan Qingshe believed he could easily kill opponents of a higher rank. This was actually due to the nature of sword cultivator techniques; what they practiced were the sharpest killing skills in the world.
Wan Qingshe's cultivation was mostly focused on practicing attacks and nurturing his flying sword. Breaking an opponent's defense was often as easy as splitting bamboo; it was the most formidable attack in the world.
However, the weakness of sword cultivators was also obvious. Although their magical power was pure, it was not abundant. But they didn't care, because with a sword in hand, their opponents were almost no match for them in a single strike.
Often, a fierce battle could be ended in a few breaths. Therefore, if they encountered a cultivator who practiced earth-attribute techniques, it would be a contest to see who had the sharpest spear and who had the sturdiest shield.
Unfortunately, in six or seven out of ten cases, it was the sword cultivator who defeated the enemy with a single strike. Their daily diligent cultivation was to hone the way of breaking ten thousand arts with one sword.
Today, Wan Qingshe met Li Yan. Li Yan's magical power was almost equal to that of a Late-stage Great Cultivator; the only difference was the Late-stage Great Cultivator's deeper understanding of the laws of heaven and earth.
The water-attribute cultivation method was the softest and strongest in the world. It emphasized the words "toughness" and "thickness." Supplemented by the secret arts and magical treasures of the "Five Immortal Sects" for a direct confrontation, it was a fool's dream for Wan Qingshe to want to break Li Yan's defense.
Wan Qingshe instantly arrived five hundred zhang in front of Li Yan. As he rushed forward, his hands quickly formed a sword seal in front of his chest. A small white phantom appeared at the tips of his fingers.
A fierce glint flashed in his eyes, and he pointed towards Li Yan.
The long, narrow green flying sword above his head, which had been following him, instantly surpassed Wan Qingshe, flashed forward, and in the next moment, merged into the void.
Immediately after, a hundred long, narrow green flying swords suddenly appeared in front of Li Yan, raining down like a torrent of fiery arrows.
"Shattered Shadow Sword!"
One of Wan Qingshe's ultimate killing techniques. Among the hundred long, narrow green flying swords, only one was real. And which one was real and which was fake was entirely up to Wan Qingshe's thoughts.
He could instantly switch the real sword to any of the others. This sword technique was impossible to defend against. Those Nascent Soul-level Wind Beasts had suffered greatly from this technique, and some had even died directly under it.
Wan Qingshe's divine sense was also firmly locked on Li Yan. To his surprise, Li Yan just stood there, neither dodging nor evading.
Facing the whistling, dense rain of flying swords, he suddenly raised one hand. Black and yellow light flickered at his fingertips, and he made a lightning-fast clamping motion in front of his dantian.
At the same time, he completely ignored the hundred or so flying swords, glinting with a cold light, that had also shot towards him, letting them strike his body directly.
"Clang!"
With the sound of metal clashing, Li Yan's body was pierced by dozens of flying swords. But not a single drop of blood flew out from his body, and even his clothes were not damaged in the slightest.
At this moment, in one of Li Yan's hands, his two fingers had clamped onto a long, narrow green flying sword.
At the tips of his fingers, black and yellow light flickered. The flying sword was constantly trembling, as if struggling unwillingly, but it could not escape Li Yan's grip at all.
"You... how could you..."
Wan Qingshe, who was flying, immediately stopped in mid-air. For the first time, a look of shock appeared in his eyes.
Even when his two previous strikes were blocked and he suffered a backlash, it was not as shocking as this.
His ultimate killing move, which he had always considered his trump card, was like child's play in front of the other party. He was confident that among those in the Nascent Soul realm, there were not none who could see the flaw in his technique, but the chances were minuscule.
That would require the other party to have cultivated a special technique similar to the Buddhist Sect's "Heavenly Eye Power," or for their cultivation to be far stronger than his own.
But his attack just now had been almost continuous. Even after being consecutively broken, the follow-up was very smooth.
And he hadn't detected anything unusual about Li Yan. He had just simply extended two fingers and instantly and accurately clamped onto his real sword, giving him no chance to switch the main body of the flying sword.
At this moment, in Wan Qingshe's heart, he believed that Li Yan must have cultivated some special technique, which was why he had so coincidentally broken his third strike.
Li Yan looked at the other party placidly. Wan Qingshe's combat power far exceeded his own realm. In the rankings of the Mid-stage Nascent Soul, he would probably be considered among the top-tier experts.
Even a veteran Mid-stage Nascent Soul like the Third Elder would not have an easy time winning against him. But compared to Li Yan, he was not on the same level.
Li Yan's divine sense and combat power had already reached the Late-stage Nascent Soul. He could easily crush the previous two realms. It was only when facing a true Late-stage Nascent Soul Great Cultivator that he was not confident of winning, but he was confident of escaping.
As long as there was a switch between reality and illusion in Wan Qingshe's "Shattered Shadow Sword," under Li Yan's crushing divine sense, there would be spatial fluctuations.
Even if Wan Qingshe tried his best to conceal it, when controlling the real and fake, the divine sense attached to the sword bodies was still different.
This difference could be balanced through the cultivation of the technique itself, making the auras of each tend towards each other. In high-speed flight, the spatial fluctuations created could be used to hide, ultimately making it impossible for others to distinguish.
But if the difference in the divine sense of the two parties was too great, it could not be compensated for by technique.
No matter how highly Wan Qingshe estimated Li Yan, what he could imagine was a Mid-stage Nascent Soul cultivator who might be able to contend with a Late-stage Nascent Soul for a while with magical treasures and secret arts.
But he had only heard of cultivation methods that enhanced divine sense in legends; he had never encountered one in reality. He didn't think he could encounter such a cultivator in the lower realm.
Moreover, if Li Yan were a Late-stage Nascent Soul Great Cultivator, he probably wouldn't have chosen to fight him. He would only deal with the Tianli Clan cultivators when he was confident.
At this moment, several sounds of breaking air were rapidly approaching from behind.
"Fellow Daoist Wan, three moves are over! If you haven't found anything related to the people in the jade slip, please return!"
The Third Elder's cold voice came over.
Li Yan did not speak, just quietly looking into the other's eyes. Seeing Wan Qingshe's fighting spirit rapidly fading, he flicked the long, narrow green flying sword clamped between his fingers towards the other party.
"You've become so powerful. Have you considered joining our merchant guild as a deacon elder?"
The sound of breaking air from behind Li Yan was already close. Su Hong's voice, like that of a yellow oriole, rang out.
On the other side, Wan Qingshe's dazed expression had now returned to normal.
He also saw several figures rapidly approaching. The Third Elder's face had lost its previous gentleness and was somewhat cold and beautiful.
And Su Hong behind her was all smiles. They had just looked at the jade slip Wan Qingshe had given them. Cultivators have powerful memories, and they could quickly verify the magical arts Li Yan had displayed against those in the jade slip.
Of course, for the Third Elder and Su Hong, they were just curious about some of the contents inside. They would never compare it with Li Yan. They knew where Li Yan came from better than anyone else here.
Looking at Su Hong, who was smiling radiantly, her beautiful pupils shining with a bright light, Wan Qingshe suddenly felt a boundless jealousy rise in his heart.
He could see that Su Hong's smile was from the heart. He had been so attentive to Su Hong all this way, but the other party wouldn't even let him get close.
Although she also smiled and talked with him along the way, he could of course feel that it was a polite smile.
Before, he hadn't paid much attention to this. After all, they had only known each for a short time, and some things, especially emotions, needed time to accumulate.
But now, seeing Su Hong's every move, every smile, as if she had opened her heart to another man, the jealousy in Wan Qingshe's heart instantly reached its peak...
A fierce glint suddenly flashed in his eyes. With a thought, the long, narrow green flying sword that had just been flying back suddenly trembled slightly, leaving only an afterimage in its place.
At the same time, at Li Yan's right neck, a small snake with eyes that glowed with a ghastly green light and a body covered in jade-green scales had instantly appeared!
The snake's head was cone-shaped. From its upper jaw extended two snow-white, long, curved fangs. While its body was still blurry, it had already opened its mouth and bitten towards Li Yan's neck.
All this happened too quickly. Almost at the same time as the three parties reacted, the little green snake appeared, and Li Yan had already withdrawn his magical power.
"Be careful!"
"Fellow Daoist Li..."
Two cries of alarm rang out one after another in an instant. It was the voices of the Third Elder and Su Hong. And Li Yan was just slowly retracting his arm.
"Chi!"
The protective light shield at Li Yan's neck, upon contact with the two curved, bone-white fangs, was as if corroded. In an instant, a puff of black smoke rose, and the pair of sharp fangs fiercely chiseled into Li Yan's skin.
Li Yan seemed to have only reacted at this moment. He let out a cold shout.
"You're courting death!"
He fiercely swung a palm and slashed at the little green snake's body. The little green snake was sent flying by his slash.
At the same time as his cold shout, Li Yan's body had also disappeared from its original spot.
"Hmm?"
Wan Qingshe only felt that in his divine sense, he had suddenly lost track of Li Yan in front of him. An uncontrollable sense of danger immediately rose in his heart.
Almost without thinking, Wan Qingshe instantly retreated backwards, pulling the entire hem of his robe straight forward. He pushed his speed to the extreme.
As he retreated rapidly, he suddenly felt a huge force well up from behind him. This force appeared too suddenly, without any warning.
Her face became even more unsightly. This Wan Qingshe had agreed to three moves, yet he had suddenly launched a sneak attack. In her anxiety, the Third Elder's beautiful face changed drastically.
"I... I am... not an enemy of the Tianli Clan. If... if not pushed to the brink, how could... could I have forced him to use his ultimate technique!"
As Wan Qingshe spoke, his bone-white teeth were stained with blood. As he opened and closed his mouth, strings of blood formed, looking exceptionally chilling.
"Cut the crap, hand over the antidote within one breath!"
As the Third Elder spoke, she quickly floated towards Wan Qingshe.
Seeing this, Wan Qingshe's body immediately retreated rapidly again, pulling away from the Third Elder.
"The... the antidote I will give. Fellow Daoist Li's cultivation is extraordinary, he won't be in trouble for a while. We still need to..."
As he retreated, a cold glint flashed in Wan Qingshe's eyes. Even if he gave the antidote later, he would still delay for a moment, at least to let the poison seep deeper, to make Li Yan spend the next ten-odd years in healing and pain.
The Third Elder said no more, her beautiful eyes were icy cold. Her hands suddenly formed a seal, and a strange talisman appeared in her snow-white jade hands. She was about to cast a spell.
"Third Elder, there's no need!"
At this moment, Li Yan's voice came over.
The actions of the several parties were too fast. Only now did the blurry figure of Li Yan's previous attack solidify and appear.
Hearing Li Yan's voice, the Third Elder immediately scanned behind her with her divine sense, and her expression couldn't help but freeze.
Because Li Yan, dressed in a green scholar's robe, had a normal complexion, and his aura was as calm as the dark tide of the sea. He showed no signs of being poisoned and unable to hold on.
"Fellow Daoist Li, are you alright..."
Su Hong finally arrived, brought over by her two companions. It was clear that the two black-robed, masked elders did not want to get involved, so their flying speed was much slower. This made Su Hong a little dissatisfied, but she did not say anything.
Wan Qingshe also saw Li Yan at this time. He had originally wanted to let the poison of the "Green-Scaled Profound Serpent" act up a little more. With a Nascent Soul cultivator's magical power, he could still resist for seven or eight breaths.
After all, his "Green-Scaled Profound Serpent" was only third-rank when it was refined; it was impossible to kill a Nascent Soul cultivator in one hit.
But Li Yan's current state showed no signs of the symptoms he should have. Logically, after being bitten, the symptoms of the poison should have appeared within half a breath.
At this moment, a grayish-green light also appeared above Wan Qingshe's head. It was the "Green-Scaled Profound Serpent" that had been sent flying by Li Yan's palm strike. But its current state made Wan Qingshe greatly alarmed!