Bombarding Cultivators with Cluster Artillery

Jiang Ding was far enough away.

Their battle went undisturbed.

In a short period of time, several moves were exchanged, and Wu Makong was forced to continuously retreat. His entire body’s Inner Qi shook and scattered chaotically, inferior in the comprehension of ’momentum’ to Li Qingyun.

With the assistance of Song Qing, ranked ninth on the Dragon and Phoenix List, the situation grew increasingly dire for him.

Furthermore, during the delay, disciples from the Qingniugong and the armored cavalry cleared out the forces colluding with the Zhendong Marquis and began rapidly converging here.

”Wu Makong, surrender now and I will plead for mercy on your behalf before our master to spare your life,”

Li Qingyun clapped his palms together, adhering and releasing, two bursts of completely different force enveloped Wu Makong, one after the other, like a giant millstone deforming his body movements, turning his complexion crimson and clearly inflicting internal injuries.

”Die!”

Wu Makong growled, sidestepping Song Qing’s Sword Qi, his fingertips gathering ashen Inner Qi, cold and forbidding, stabbing towards Li Qingyun’s face.

”Stubborn and foolish, so be it.”

Li Qingyun shook his head slightly, revealing a trace of solemnity. With a series of palm strikes, a wild surge of four successive currents of force shattered the Shadow Spirit Finger strike and trapped Wu Makong from the front and back, rendering his figure almost immobile.

After giving a final glance to this young man, second only to himself in Jianghu, he struck out towards Wu Makong’s chest with lightning speed.

Jiang Ding showed a look of great interest.

”Senior brother, be careful!”

Song Qing’s complexion suddenly changed.

Behind the wall, where Wu Makong kept retreating, a sword enveloped in a shadow of swirling flowers burst forth from behind him at great speed.

Midway through its trajectory, a transparent, blurry form split into ten differently colored flowers of Sword Qi, cutting through the air in high-speed rotation, a terrifying aura diffusing outward.

’Ten Flower Sword Fairy’ Wan Qianyu!

Somehow concealing her presence, she ambushed a young successor from the Dragon and Phoenix List, a senior figure of Xiantian.

”Daoist Qing and Ku Shi refuse to unearth Qingyi Building and find the murderer of my son, so I’ll kill your disciples to let you experience my agony!”

Wan Qianyu’s white hair danced in the breeze, her expression fierce.

Li Qingyun’s expression also changed.

In his haste, he quickly changed his palm strikes, two violent bursts of force aimed at the ten magnificent blossoms behind him. Unable to fully gather his Inner Qi, he still managed to smash six rotating flowers of Sword Qi successively.

”My son was once a youth of such talent...”

Wan Qianyu’s eyes brimmed with even deeper hatred as the remaining four streaks of Sword Qi flowers shot straight for Li Qingyun’s back; their pointed centers, spinning rapidly, easily pierced through the Inner Qi shield and robes to penetrate flesh and blood.

”Ah!”

Li Qingyun screamed, erupting his Inner Qi throughout his body, pushing his palms out again in a desperate attempt to block the two sharp centers of the flowers, frantically fleeing into the distance.

”Escape?”

Wan Qianyu sneered, her sword thrusting forward, silent as it broke through the air. In terms of speed and sharpness, it far surpassed the previous single flower of Sword Qi, reaching Li Qingyun’s back in an instant.

With the dignity of a Xiantian powerhouse, she ambushed with full force, proud of her might.

”Senior brother!”

Song Qing was terrified. Seeing no recourse, he turned to flee, only to be confronted by a chilling black silhouette blocking his path, a dark grey finger strike targeting him.

”Friend! Save me, and Qingniugong will reward you handsomely!”

Song Qing’s defenses were breached by several Sword Qi strikes. In shock, he shouted towards the direction Li Qingyun had indicated earlier, convinced that someone capable of infiltrating silently must be skilled.

But he saw no one there.

”A genius with talents far superior to mine, perhaps to fall here...”

Around another corner, Jiang Ding quietly savored the scene.

As for saving, what was there to save? A life in Jianghu ends in Jianghu—killing others and being killed is normal, and Righteous Path and Diabolism are cut from the same cloth.

Clang!

A sound of sword ringing with a strong spiritual resonance.

Jiang Ding felt as if he saw a Longsword, soaring through the clouds, pursuing freedom its entire life without compromise, even in the face of impending death.

”Is this...touching the threshold of Sword Intent?”

Jiang Ding’s expression grew focused.

This matter was no blind spot in his knowledge; Sword Intent refers to a Swordsman or Cultivator whose Divine Soul experiences a specialized transformation in Sword Dao, undergoing a slight structural change, thereby exhibiting abilities far exceeding those of other martial artists or cultivators of the same level in a particular Sword Dao.

Such individuals are considered prodigies in the Extra-terrestrial Immortal Sect.

As for the Immortal Sects, they are extremely rare, treating cold weapons more as a means for cultivating sentiment, unlikely to give rise to such a phenomenon.

The sword shadow before her eyes embodied a bit of this idea.

Upon closer observation, she saw a jade ornament at Li Qingyun’s waist shatter. A sword qi shadow flew out from it, with ease it split open Wan Qianyu’s strike, which was infused with all her Xiantian True Qi, and shot straight towards her throat.

”Daoist Qing!”

Under the sword qi shadow, Wan Qianyu couldn’t suppress the fear in her heart. In a life-or-death moment, she could only use her finger as a sword, gathering all her Xiantian True Qi around it, barely managing to lift it upward amidst numerous illusory flower shadows.

Upon collision, an abrasive metallic friction sounded, and the somewhat weakened sword qi shadow was finally blocked.

It didn’t pierce through her throat but instead grazed past her body, narrowly opening a shallow wound on her chest and causing blood to spill out in large quantities.

”Master...”

Wan Qianyu’s face displayed fright as she used True Qi to close the wound, thankful that after multiple expenditures, the remaining sword qi was not substantial. Otherwise, just a slight breach of the skin would have meant certain death.

”Master?”

Jiang Ding stared intensely at the gradually fading sword qi shadow, feeling shaken.

”An ordinary Xiantian martial artist, if not kited at a distance, can pose a serious threat to mid-stage Qi Practicing cultivators. Yet a Master can easily unleash a sword qi from who knows how long ago and nearly kill one.”

”What level of strength does that Master have?”

”Late-stage Qi Practicing? No, definitely more than that. He must be in the peak of Qi Practicing, and not a weak one among those cultivators.”

”What on earth happened that would allow a martial artist to be compared to the peak of Qi Practicing?”

Jiang Ding marveled to himself and dared not underestimate the martial arts accumulation of a world spanning countless years.

”Criminal of the court, Wan Qianyu is here!”

The first batch of over twenty red-armored cavalrymen had finally arrived. Looking at the white-haired woman with an injured chest and a large amount of fresh blood spilled, greed flashed in the eyes of the two leaders.

Kill Wan Qianyu, be ennobled as a Marquis of ten thousand households!

”Spears ready!”

The risk was quickly overlooked, and the two leaders exchanged glances, both roaring, their speeds reaching their peaks as they raised their three-meter-long spears high and then tilted them down.

”Charge!”

The twenty-odd red-armored cavalrymen charged with their spears. Their leaders and captains were all above the Internal Qi Realm, and their soldiers had all achieved Body Refining Grand Success, not falling short even compared to Chen Chen’s elite troops.

The iron spears were like a forest, like a cage!

”Seeking death!”

Wan Qianyu said coldly.

Her figure flashed, and before anyone knew how, she was beside the charging red-armored cavalry. A sword qi wrapped in a Hundred Flowers Illusion passed by, and several soldiers had their heads severed and flung away, their blood spraying.

The two leaders were greatly alarmed and quickly turned their horses to charge at her but found she had already disappeared. Only in their peripheral vision, there were streaks of sword qi enveloped by Hundred Flowers Illusions, and they felt pain in their throats.

”Her injuries weren’t so severe.”

One leader thought in annoyance as his vision gradually darkened.

”Flee!”

The remaining red-armored cavalry fell into panic and fled in all directions, being successively slain within a few breaths.

A cavalryman, running in disarray, smashed through a wooden door on the street revealing two frightened siblings inside.

”Great hero, spare our lives!”

”Get out of the way!”

The red-armored cavalryman didn’t even glance at them as he rode by, heading straight for the back door

A white sword brutally cut through his throat, decapitating him, and his head flew through the air. His hot blood splashed onto the siblings, frightening them into loud wailing.

”Sister, don’t cry, this grandma has come to save us!”

The boy maintained considerable composure, covering his sister’s mouth, and looked up flatteringly at the elderly woman before them with white hair, a face full of wrinkles, but skin as tender as a child’s.

”Grandma? Who’s your grandma?”

Wan Qianyu said coldly as she swung her sword towards the two small heads.

”Two annoying brats, not nearly as cute as You’er when he was little.”

Whoosh!

A crimson flying sword appeared out of nowhere, wrapped in scorching sword qi, and repelled her longsword.

Wan Qianyu abruptly turned around.

In the distance, a down-on-his-luck middle-aged swordsman was watching her, his brows furrowed.