Chapter 167: Crushing
“Rude,” Mu Lanyan’s lips trembled with anger.
Jiang Huai’s insult, calling her “dog son,” had infuriated her. How many years had it been since anyone dared to berate her like this? This young man before her was simply overestimating his abilities. Even if his master was Chu Xianning, so what? Her Dao companion, Mu Chenyun, was at the Eighth Level of Mahayana, the undisputed number one of the Eighth Realm in Linglong Continent.
Before she could speak, someone behind Mu Lanyan stepped forward. He wore an exquisite brocade robe adorned with dragon patterns that seemed to gleam with golden light. He looked at Jiang Huai, his voice chilling, “Shut your dog mouth.”
“I am your father.”
“You ill-mannered…”
“I am your father,” Jiang Huai repeated slowly.
Sometimes, vulgarity only revealed one’s lack of confidence and irrational rage. But at other times, it was incredibly satisfying. Jiang Huai occasionally played the part of a gentle and refined gentleman, but he also knew when to play dumb or go mad.
The man who stepped out from behind Mu Lanyan was clearly the older brother of the cultivator injured by Bai Li. His cultivation level was at the seventh layer of Spirit Transformation. Considering he was only about twenty or twenty-one years old, such cultivation could indeed be considered that of an unparalleled prodigy.
“What’s your name?” Jiang Huai glanced at him, his gaze more dismissive than the other’s.
“Mu Jiaoyang.”
“Oh, so you’re the one shielding your imbecile brother and attacking my Dao companion and Spirit Beast?” Jiang Huai unhurriedly took out his Yening Sword, raised it, and pointed its tip at Mu Jiaoyang. “Matters between juniors should be resolved by juniors first, right? You, along with your brother, dare to have a Sword Discussion with me?”
At this moment, not only Mu Lanyan but also Luo Yueguan were slightly stunned.
Jiang Huai’s tone was a bit too… arrogant.
Luo Yueguan instinctively reached out to grab Jiang Huai’s sleeve, intending to pull him back. But the moment her hand extended, she suddenly froze. She realized that Jiang Huai wouldn’t do something he wasn’t sure of. Although he appeared impulsive and disrespectful now, merely seeking verbal victory, Luo Yueguan knew he wasn’t a reckless person.
So, her lips moved, and she transmitted a message into Jiang Huai’s ear, “How confident are you?”
“Completely,” Jiang Huai replied in a low voice. Thus, Luo Yueguan stopped interfering. The spiritual energy surging around her receded completely. She crossed her arms, a smile playing on her lips, and looked at Mu Lanyan. “What? Matters between juniors, why don’t we let the juniors settle it?”
Mu Lanyan glanced at Mu Jiaoyang before her. He was her biological son. Before entering the Immortal Spirit Secret Realm, he had already reached the first layer of Spirit Transformation. Moreover, he had obtained a Dragon Crystal from a young age and slowly refined it, imbuing his body and bones with some of the Dragon Clan’s strength. His swordsmanship talent was inherited from his father, having cultivated the Mu family’s ancestral “Counter-Flow Sword Technique” to an extremely high level.
Currently, his cultivation had reached the seventh layer of Spirit Transformation. There was no reason for him to lose to this guy before him who clearly had no spiritual energy. However, when something goes against the norm, there’s usually a reason. Where did he get so much confidence to act crazy?
“Clown,” Mu Jiaoyang sneered and took another step forward.
Seeing him advance, Jiang Huai chuckled. He also took a step forward. He didn’t even bother to awaken Ning in the Yening Sword. Awakening Ning would add a bit of sharpness to the Yening Sword, but it wasn’t necessary.
The Mu Jiaoyang before him was indeed at the seventh layer of Spirit Transformation.
But having cultivated the Overlord Art, his physique was now comparable to the tenth layer of Spirit Transformation. His soul had reached the tenth layer of Spirit Transformation half a year ago. All he lacked was spiritual energy, and he still had three high-level Experience Scrolls in his possession.
However, before he could even consider using the Experience Scrolls, Mu Jiaoyang already drew his sword. The three-foot-long blade in his hand shimmered with a cold, eerie light. The moment their eyes met, Mu Jiaoyang’s figure turned into an afterimage, his sword tip aimed directly at Jiang Huai’s throat.
At that very instant, Mirror Flower activated.
In Mu Jiaoyang’s line of sight, his sword had indeed struck Jiang Huai’s neck. Jiang Huai even seemed to be in a daze. He could almost feel the blood splattering on his face. For a moment, confusion and shock filled his heart. He wondered, “He’s clearly so weak, why is he still so arrogant?” Just then, a sharp pain erupted from his back.
Jiang Huai had appeared behind him at some unknown time, and his Yening Sword had pierced his spine. The tip of the sword emerged from his lower abdomen, and in the next moment, it was pulled out again. As Mu Jiaoyang endured the intense pain and turned around to try and sense Jiang Huai’s presence, Jiang Huai’s aura vanished without a trace in an instant. Before him was only a pure white light, and Jiang Huai seemed capable of appearing in any corner of that light.
After this sword strike, Jiang Huai had a general assessment of Mu Jiaoyang’s strength. He sheathed the Yening Sword and clenched his fists. The next moment, Mu Jiaoyang’s face was met with a heavy punch that left him dizzy. Immediately following was another punch. He couldn’t find Jiang Huai’s presence, and his movements with the spirit sword were like a child flailing a stick.
To onlookers, Jiang Huai was clearly always by Mu Jiaoyang’s side, yet Mu Jiaoyang seemed completely unable to see him, consistently misjudging Jiang Huai’s position. Every time Jiang Huai appeared before him, he dodged, only to be struck heavily on the side.
Luo Yueguan’s eyes were filled with shock.
She could clearly see that Jiang Huai possessed absolutely no spiritual energy. He was purely relying on his physical strength to contend with Mu Jiaoyang. No, this couldn’t be called contending… this was a complete one-sided crushing.
She remembered that Jiang Huai practiced the Immaculate Golden Body. However, the Immaculate Golden Body could at most contend with opponents at the early Nascent Soul stage. Where did the explosive power emanating from his body come from now? She could clearly see Jiang Huai’s body seemingly radiating a jade-like light, and his punches seemed to surge with wind and thunder.
Seeing Mu Jiaoyang being so humiliated, Mu Lanyan naturally wanted to intervene the next moment. However, Luo Yueguan blocked her path, her smile laced with contempt and mockery. “What? You previously tacitly agreed to the fight between juniors, but now that your child is losing, you want to intervene? Have you no shame?”
Mu Lanyan knew she had no grounds for argument. She looked at Mu Jiaoyang in the distance, suppressed her spiritual energy, then turned back to Luo Yueguan, her eyes chillingly fixed on her. “Don’t celebrate too early.”
The moment she finished speaking, Mu Jiaoyang let out a roar that seemed to contain dragon might. Following this roar, Jiang Huai’s soul trembled momentarily, and the Mirror Flower he was maintaining shattered. Mu Jiaoyang seized the opportunity, tightened his grip on his spirit sword, and its edge slashed directly at Jiang Huai’s neck. This time, Jiang Huai seemed unable to dodge.
The sword’s light and shadow enlarged in Jiang Huai’s pupils. It would only take a single thought, a fleeting moment, for it to reach his neck. Jiang Huai raised his hand, blocking with the Yening Sword. Mu Jiaoyang’s burst of power at this moment was no less than Jiang Huai’s earlier strength. Jiang Huai saw his eyes turn red, veins bulging all over his body, as if fire was flowing within him. The spiritual energy around him became incredibly hot, clearly indicating he was using some kind of Daoist magic, rapidly consuming spiritual energy to acquire incredibly strong physical power.
Mu Jiaoyang had been slowly refining a Dragon Crystal since childhood. Now, he had refined seventy percent of it. Both his soul and physique contained a portion of the Dragon Clan’s power. The roar he had just emitted had finally dispelled Jiang Huai’s Mirror Flower. And now, by burning spiritual energy, his blood and vitality surged, unleashing more than three times the power he had before.
The complete absence of spiritual energy was indeed a fatal flaw for Jiang Huai. He could fight Mu Jiaoyang with pure physical strength for at least the time it takes an incense stick to burn, while maintaining a subtle advantage. But after that time, his stamina would be exhausted, while Mu Jiaoyang would still have spiritual energy to support him.
Mu Lanyan glanced at Luo Yueguan, a smile already on her lips. Her son was the number one prodigy of Linglong Continent. Perhaps due to carelessness earlier, Jiang Huai had gained a slight advantage, but once Mu Jiaoyang unleashed the power of the Dragon Crystal, Jiang Huai could only retreat. Even if his physical strength was tough, it would eventually be depleted.
“I should have used the Yening Sword to stab him a few more times earlier, before he activated the Dragon Crystal,” Jiang Huai thought.
With that thought, he tightened his grip on the Yening Sword and executed the sword techniques taught to him by Chu Xianning. With each swing of his sword, Mu Jiaoyang’s spiritual energy shield cracked a little more, but the blade ultimately failed to pierce through his spiritual energy shield. Mu Jiaoyang still had plenty of spiritual energy to expend, but Jiang Huai was already showing signs of physical exhaustion.
Victory seemed predetermined. Luo Yueguan was already preparing to intervene and stop the competition. She didn’t care about saving face, but the moment her lips parted, she suddenly lost her voice, and Mu Lanyan, who had been smiling, froze.
Because Jiang Huai, who had previously possessed no spiritual energy, had suddenly, in an instant, reached the cultivation level close to the third layer of Spirit Transformation.
What astonished them both was that this change happened almost instantaneously, without any warning. Even a drop of rain falling from one’s palm to the ground took a moment, but his cultivation aura seemed to appear out of nowhere, completely defying all reason.
This was the terrifying power of the System’s Experience Scrolls. By simply reciting the command to use them in one’s heart, they could be successfully activated with a single thought, disregarding any cultivation bottlenecks or worldly rules. These three Experience Scrolls were the gold coins dropped from completing Xu Qing’s mission. Jiang Huai had initially planned to save them for the future Five Regions Grand Competition, but facing the number one prodigy of Linglong Continent now, it could be considered giving him a lot of face.
Mu Jiaoyang, the number one prodigy of Linglong Continent, son of two cultivators at the Mahayana realm, had been refining a Dragon Crystal since childhood. He was rumored to have unparalleled talent in the Sword Dao. Among the younger generation of Linglong Continent, he was undoubtedly the best, his brilliance unmatched by any. Countless cultivators in Linglong Continent believed he would be a strong contender for the championship of this Eastern Region Grand Competition.
Unfortunately, in the next moment, his spiritual energy shield was shattered by Jiang Huai’s sword. Jiang Huai had even deliberately slowed down his strike, giving him time to redirect all his spiritual energy to defend against it, but the outcome remained unchanged. His body arced through the air, sent flying far by the remaining force of the sword. Jiang Huai did not pursue, but took a step back, arriving beside Luo Yueguan.
He didn’t even spare Mu Jiaoyang another glance, as the victory was already decided.
Mu Lanyan hurriedly used her spiritual energy to guide Mu Jiaoyang’s body, embracing him. Mu Jiaoyang spat out a large cloud of blood, his face pale, his vital energy flowing in reverse. In the next moment, his vision went black, and he fainted.
