Cultivation Begins with Daily Intelligence Reports

112: One sword killFeng Xixi gripped the ice-crystal longsword tightly with both hands and slashed out fiercely toward Xu Tianyuan!

A lifelike, massive ice dragon, formed from countless sharp ice crystals, condensed out of thin air!

It let out a deafening roar, carrying the extreme cold that froze all things and an unstoppable sharpness, tearing through the air as it charged violently toward Liu Tushan and Xu Tianyuan.

The momentum was so vast that it seemed as if it would freeze and crush the entire street.

This strike was not aimed at Liu Tushan, but the overwhelming pressure of bearing the brunt of it forced Liu Tushan’s expression to change drastically; he had to exert his protective spiritual light to its limit and sacrifice a jade tablet to block the terrifying cold current.

”Boom!”

The ice dragon collided with Liu Tushan’s defense, exploding into a sky full of ice shards, with cold air spilling everywhere.

Although blocked, the impact caused Liu Tushan’s blood to surge, forcing him to take a step back, unable to intervene for the moment.

In that split second!

Under the cover of the sky-filling ice shards, Feng Xixi’s figure appeared before the panic-stricken and retreating Xu Tianyuan as if teleporting, moving so fast that only an afterimage remained.

The ice-crystal bone sword in her hand, carrying the Soul-freezing killing intent and all of Feng Xixi’s fury, slashed down with the force of a mountain-cleaving strike, aiming straight for Xu Tianyuan’s head without any bells or whistles!

”No! Feng Xixi! Are you crazy? Do you really dare to kill someone in the Market Town...”

Xu Tianyuan was terrified out of his wits, the shadow of death instantly enveloping him.

He had completely failed to anticipate that Feng Xixi’s speed would be so fast and her murderous intent so resolute.

His survival instinct made him unleash all his potential.

”Qianyuan Shield! Block it for me!”

He roared, and a small, pitch-black round shield covered in ancient runes shot out from the Storage Pouch at his waist.

It grew upon meeting the wind, instantly transforming into a huge, incredibly thick black shield three feet in diameter, blocking in front of him. This was his strongest defensive Magical Artifact, a first-tier top-grade Magical Artifact.

He had only been able to buy it after receiving financial support from Liu Tushan and spending a small portion of his own net worth.

”Hum!!”

The ice-crystal bone sword, carrying all of Feng Xixi’s hatred and power, slashed fiercely onto the thick, glowing black shield.

Time seemed to freeze for an instant at this moment.

”Crack... Bang, bang, bang!”

A series of crisp tearing sounds rang out, followed by the teeth-aching sound of metal shattering.

That seemingly incredibly sturdy Qianyuan Shield, under the terrifying sharpness of the ice-crystal bone sword and the erosion of extreme cold, was split right down the middle as if it were rotten wood or withered branches.

The spiritual light instantly dimmed and extinguished.

How is this possible?

Xu Tianyuan’s eyes were filled with unbelievable shock!

His Qianyuan Shield... couldn’t even block a single sword strike?

The ice-crystal bone sword tore through the shield, its momentum barely diminished.

The cold sword edge rapidly enlarged in Xu Tianyuan’s desperately widening pupils.

”Shhh!”

There was no expected spray of flesh and blood, nor any shrill screams.

The ice-crystal bone sword cleaved into the center of Xu Tianyuan’s head, unstoppable, cutting straight down along his brow, nose bridge, mouth, throat, chest... all the way down.

Wherever the sword edge passed, the extreme cold instantly erupted.

Xu Tianyuan’s expression of extreme terror, the resisting spiritual power he had just gathered, and even the warm blood that sprayed out were all completely frozen within a ten-thousandth of a second by the terrifying, absolute-zero-like cold.

A clear, straight ice line extended from the top of Xu Tianyuan’s head all the way down to his crotch.

”Clang!”

The remains of the Qianyuan Shield, cleaved into dozens of pieces, crashed to the ground.

Following that, the two halves of his broken human body, covered in thick white frost like exquisite ice sculptures, fell silently to the left and right, crashing heavily onto the cold ground with a dull thud.

The severed surface was as smooth as a mirror, and everything inside, including bones and internal organs, was completely frozen, without a single drop of blood flowing out.

The whole scene was dead silent!

Only the sound of ice shards rustling off Feng Xixi’s sword tip and ice-crystal armor remained.

Powerful, beautiful, and peerless.

At this moment, she seemed like an Immortal descending from the heavens.

Liu Tushan froze in place, his face ashen, his lips trembling, but he couldn’t say a word. A chill, even worse than Feng Xixi’s ice sword, shot from his tailbone straight to the top of his head.

Just blocking that ice dragon earlier had already left him feeling lingering fear.

If he had used his trump card, he might have been able to save Xu Tianyuan.

But it would definitely have made him a mortal enemy of Feng Xixi.

To make an enemy of such a lunatic who dared to kill directly in the Market Town, from then on living in fear and worry, with attacks potentially appearing at any moment.

He wasn’t on friendly enough terms with Xu Tianyuan to that extent.

Feng Xixi slowly retracted her sword.

The ice crystals covering her body quickly faded, and the greyish treasure sword transformed back into three streaks of light that vanished into her sleeves.

She didn’t even look at the two ice corpses on the ground, her cold gaze sweeping across the entire scene before finally landing on the bloodless face of Liu Tushan, her voice like the north wind sweeping across a wasteland:

”Cleaning house, I’ve embarrassed everyone. Shopkeeper Liu, you just said... you wanted to go before the Market Master to discuss this with me?”

Liu Tushan’s Adam’s apple bobbed with difficulty, and he squeezed out a smile uglier than crying: ”Shopkeeper... Shopkeeper Feng, there’s a misunderstanding... The matter of Fellow Daoist Hua Yun... must have some underlying reason... it still needs... still needs to be investigated thoroughly... investigated thoroughly...”

That’s right, he had chickened out.

He didn’t want to go against this star of misfortune at all.

Before, no matter what, it was within the rules of the Market Town, but now that the rules had been broken, some methods could no longer continue to be effective.

Anyway, Daling Pavilion had already secured victory, and Miaoling Pavilion was now abandoned by all, with few people left besides a few trusted aides.

Even the previous cooperative Family channels and the like had all been cut off.

In the Market Town Pill Refining Grand Competition more than twenty days later, they probably wouldn’t even be able to scrape together a single official Alchemist.

Now, they just had to wait for Miaoling Pavilion to slowly die. Mastering the auction rights of the Southeast Market Town was the most important thing!

Feng Xixi stopped looking at him and turned to walk toward Yun Momo, who was clinging tightly to her arm with a pale face but eyes full of adoration, and Lin Jingyu, who was watching with surging emotions. The coldness on her face instantly melted into a spring breeze.

”I’ve embarrassed you, Benefactor, let’s go inside and talk.” Her voice returned to its usual gentleness, but deep in her eyes, that cold killing intent had not completely dissipated.

Lin Jingyu nodded and followed, his heart surging with waves like a sea in a storm.

Too strong!

A one-sword instant kill of a Cultivator of the same stage!

Only now did he understand that the thunder fiend talisman given by that Mysterious Youth earlier was truly only equivalent to a full-strength strike from someone at the fifth or sixth layer of Qi Refining.

This is how a Cultivator should be!

With the blessing of the Taihao Elixir Canon, he believed that in the future, he would only become stronger.

After the group left, the onlookers finally let out sounds of gasping.

”This is too powerful; I would believe it if someone said she was at the Foundation Establishment Stage.”

”I am also at the Ninth Layer of Qi Refining, but in front of Shopkeeper Feng, I couldn’t even block one sword strike.”

”Sigh, the gap between people is even greater than the gap between dogs and people...”

”Let’s go, let’s go. No matter how powerful the Shopkeeper of Miaoling Pavilion is, what’s the use? It’s a Pill Pavilion after all; without Medicinal Pills to sell, it will close sooner or later...”