Longevity by Grinding Skills

Chapter 411: Chapter 411: Times Change

Such a method, dissolving flesh and bone, was simply too vicious.

His gaze grew cold as he turned to look at Li Ergou.

Having someone like that by his side, he couldn’t rest easy.

"S-Senior Brother Xu..."

Li Ergou sidled over, wringing his hands, his face still etched with a timid, cowering expression. If not for the blood—Hua Ling’s blood—still dripping from his sleeve, one would have thought he was genuinely a coward.

"Shouldn’t we be..."

His words came to an abrupt halt.

Before Li Ergou could finish his sentence, the cowardly look in his eyes turned sharp and vicious. A bloody light erupted from his sleeve, and an incredibly sinister little cyan sword shot out, aiming straight for Xu Yunfan’s back!

Meanwhile, far away in the heavens, the clash between the two Foundation Establishment Daoist Masters had reached its zenith. The aftershocks from the collision of sword light and rosy waves stretching for a thousand li were like a raging tsunami, shattering the cloud layers for miles and making the entire world tremble violently.

Yet thousands of miles away, in a crevice of the Extreme North Icefield...

HUMMM!

A faint golden halo suddenly bloomed around Xu Yunfan. The righteous aura of the True Martial Demon Suppressing Scripture blazed forth like the rising sun, glorious and majestic. The moment the sinister little sword touched the golden light, it dissolved like snow in boiling water, vanishing completely!

Li Ergou’s pupils contracted, the feigned cowardice on his face freezing in place.

He had premeditated this strike for a long time; even a typical Late-Stage Qi Cultivation cultivator would have found it impossible to guard against. Yet Xu Yunfan hadn’t even turned his head, neutralizing the attack with his Protective True Essence alone!

"Qi Cultivation... Great Perfection?!"

Li Ergou’s voice trembled. He finally understood that he had picked a fight with the wrong person.

The man before him had an aura as deep as an abyss and True Essence as vast as the sea. This was clearly the realm of a Half-Step Foundation Establishment!

’How could I possibly hope to assassinate someone like that?’

In his heart, he couldn’t help but curse Xu Yunfan. ’This guy isn’t human! He’s utterly shameless!’

Xu Yunfan had clearly reached Qi Cultivation Great Perfection. He had likely even finished his preparations and was just one step away from establishing his Dao Foundation and becoming a Foundation Establishment Daoist Master.

’And he’s still here playing the wolf in sheep’s clothing?’

’When did this become the norm in the Primordial Sect?!’

"You’re not bad. If you hadn’t run into me, you might have lived a long time."

At some point, Xu Yunfan’s Dragon Scale Armor had covered his right arm. His five fingers closed around Li Ergou’s skull, slowly lifting him off the ground.

His Martial Arts Celestial Eye saw faint glimmers of light within the man’s Dantian, carrying a sharp, piercing aura.

’So that’s it.’ Xu Yunfan thought. ’No wonder Zhao Ti risked leaving the Primordial Sect’s territory and pursued him all the way here.’

’He really was tracking something.’

’This Li Ergou was hiding a great secret.’

"The thing Zhao Ti was looking for."

Xu Yunfan’s voice was colder than arctic ice. "Hand it over."

Li Ergou’s legs thrashed wildly. He suddenly tore open his shirt, revealing a Blood Talisman over his heart bearing the insignia of the Primordial Sect’s Microdust Peak. "You don’t dare kill me! I’m..."

SNAP!

The snap of his neck bone echoed the cry of a sword in the distant sky.

After using his True Martial Demon Suppression True Essence to completely dissolve the flesh and blood from Li Ergou’s body, Xu Yunfan flung the corpse into the Ice Abyss and retrieved a bone fragment that was neither gold nor jade from the man’s robes.

"Yu Jin’gen..."

Xu Yunfan stroked it carefully for a long moment before Yuu Congling’s voice suddenly spoke in his mind.

A glint appeared in Xu Yunfan’s eyes. "You know what this is?"

"It’s a supreme refining material. If refined properly, it could certainly be forged into an Upper Grade Magical Treasure."

’A Magical Treasure!?’

Xu Yunfan’s eyes lit up.

He hadn’t just been burying his head in his cultivation lately. He knew that while the names Magical Artifact and Magical Treasure sounded similar, the difference between them was like that between the heavens and the earth.

’This thing...’

Xu Yunfan suddenly felt it was too hot to handle.

’There were definitely a lot of people after this. At the very least, Zhao Ti clearly knew that Li Ergou was carrying something precious.’

’Although the clues suggested he didn’t know exactly what it was, that didn’t mean he would give up.’

At this thought, Xu Yunfan sighed. If he’d known Li Ergou was carrying such a treasure, he would have dealt with Zhao Ti and his group right then and there.

’But now...’

He took a careful look at the palm-sized Jin Yugen in his hand, then casually tossed it next to Li Ergou’s corpse and departed without a backward glance.

The sword light to the north suddenly flared.

The Cyan Nether Daoist Master seemed to sense something and glanced in his direction.

Xu Yunfan immediately felt a prickling on his back, as if being watched. The True Martial Grinding Disc in his spine spun frantically to withstand the weight of that single glance.

At the same time, the image of an entwined turtle and snake appeared around him, causing his aura to rapidly dissipate.

The Cyan Nether Daoist Master seemed to have merely sensed a presence, casting a casual glance before looking away. But even so, that brief look left Xu Yunfan drenched in a cold sweat.

’I’m already at Qi Cultivation Great Perfection, yet I can’t even withstand a single glance from a Foundation Establishment Daoist Master.’

’So this is the might of the Foundation Establishment realm...’

He was inwardly horrified.

’A single glance made the True Essence in my body stagnate. If I were to face one head-on, I’d probably be crushed to death before I could even make a single move.’

Just as he was about to retreat, a seven-colored light erupted from the Dragon-slaying Place. A young, completely translucent Ice Flood Dragon was being forced out by a wave of Sword Qi!

"ROAR!"

The flood dragon’s cry shattered the ice for a hundred miles.

But the Cyan Nether Daoist Master just laughed, pinning the Ice Flood Dragon in mid-air with a light twirl of her sword-fingers.

"How dare you!"

The other Foundation Establishment Daoist Master’s voice was laced with fury. With a flick of his hand, he revealed his Cloud and Mist Dao Foundation, which spread out for a thousand li, in an attempt to block her.

"Mere clouds and mist, and you dare to obstruct me?"

The Cyan Nether Daoist Master chuckled. With a sudden downward press of her sword-fingers, the Green Jade Flying Sword erupted in a blinding, cold light. The blade trembled, letting out a clear, sonorous ring like a dragon’s cry!

SHIING!

The Flying Sword moved like lightning, piercing through the clouds and through the Ice Flood Dragon’s skull in an instant. The Sword Qi then erupted, shredding the creature’s entire body inch by inch until it scattered into the air as a cloud of fine Ice Crystals.

"Li Qingling, you’re courting death!"

The other Foundation Establishment Daoist Master roared in fury. His robes billowed as a crimson Blood Saber flew from his palm. Ghastly Demon Qi coiled around the blade, and the very air sizzled and corroded in its wake.

"The Blood Evil Saber? You wretch. So you’ve truly fallen to the demonic path."

The Cyan Nether Daoist Master raised an eyebrow, showing not the slightest hint of panic.

She formed a hand seal, and nine cyan sword phantoms materialized around her. Each one was as solid as a real blade, its tip radiating an unparalleled sharpness.

"Nine Swords of Cyan Nether, go!"

The nine sword phantoms slashed out, crisscrossing like roaming dragons as they collided thunderously with the Blood Saber!

BOOM!

A blinding Spiritual Light flashed, and a violent gale swept out for a hundred miles. The aftershocks tore through the ground, carving dozens of bottomless ravines into the earth.

When the dust settled, the Blood Saber lay shattered in several pieces, its Demon Qi completely dissipated.

Meanwhile, the Cyan Nether Daoist Master’s nine sword phantoms still hovered in mid-air, their tips aimed directly at her opponent’s throat!

"You..."

The Foundation Establishment Daoist Master’s face was deathly pale. A trickle of blood escaped the corner of his mouth, his eyes filled with disbelief.

"I accept your concession."

The Cyan Nether Daoist Master calmly recalled her sword. The nine phantoms instantly merged back into one, transforming into the Green Jade Flying Sword, which then vanished into her sleeve.

’It wasn’t that she didn’t want to kill him, but while he wasn’t as strong as her, she couldn’t stop him if he was determined to flee. Not unless another Foundation Establishment Daoist Master from the Wansheng Sword Sect were to arrive...’

She let out a soft breath. ’This trip is a private matter. I can’t let a third party find out about it.’

With a slight movement of her fingers, the Sword Qi flowing from their tips wove into silken threads that formed a cage. Her every gesture displayed the Foundation Establishment might of "Sword Control Heaven."

More astonishingly, she flicked three Sword Seals from her sleeve. They transformed into three streams of rainbow light—gold, silver, and purple—and sank into the dying flood dragon’s remains.

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