Chapter 383: Senior Brother, Let’s Fight!
The wind and snow howled on the mountain peak, spiritual lights colliding, making the heavens and earth flicker.
Atop a towering snow pine on the high ground, Ye Anping, wearing a bamboo hat and with the Snow Jade Myriad Spirit Sword wrapped around his back, stood there. He covered the hat with his hand, his deep purple eyes exceptionally calm.
In his eyes was the golden dragon and black python coiled on the mountainside. The battle between the two beasts had already dispersed the Snow-clothed Guards and demonic cultivators surrounding them.
At this moment, the golden dragon was clearly at a disadvantage. It was likely that in another half hour, it would perish in the black python’s maw.
However, even if he went to help now, it would only prolong the golden dragon’s survival for a while longer.
Ye Anping was silent for a moment, then turned his gaze towards the direction of the mountain peak, where lightning and fire continued to boom, occasionally accompanied by sword light swirling and dancing.
His junior sister and Yunluo seemed to be locked in a stalemate with Jiang Mojiao as well…
However, this was within his expectations. With just his junior sister and Yunluo alone, without the Nine Heavens Sword Art of the Feng Yu Die and without the Snow Jade Myriad Spirit Sword, it was indeed no easy task to destroy Jiang Mojiao’s Nascent Soul.
But with Granny Si’s protective amulet, Yunluo and his junior sister were actually the safest among everyone present.
“Hoo…”
Ye Anping let out a long breath and glanced towards the cave where Li Longling was hiding.
To be honest, Li Longling’s situation was what worried him the most.
Li Longling was blind and only at the Mid Foundation Establishment stage, while Lu Meimei, though not strong in direct combat, was a Core Formation stage cultivator. The difference between them was a whole major realm.
“Longling, hold on a little longer, it’ll be over soon…”
With that, Ye Anping lowered his bamboo hat slightly, turned his head, and swiftly teleported towards the silver dragon spear projection to the east.
… …
————
Bang—
The spear light flashed, breaking through the daylight.
On a dragon spear inlaid with a double dragon playing with a pearl totem, vast ice spiritual energy transformed into an ice dragon, stirring up the wind and snow, and charging towards the man and woman in mid-air.
The two people’s eyes widened, and they quickly flew upwards on their swords to evade. However, the ice dragon suddenly raised its head and swallowed one of them in a single bite.
The female demonic cultivator who had evaded the ice dragon saw this and shouted:
“Husband!!!”
She then heard her husband’s ear-splitting scream:
“Ahhhhhh—!”
Her eyes widened, and she looked up at Xu Mulan, who was flying on her sword. Grinding her teeth, she formed a sword finger at her chest:
“You! Big-chested woman!!! Give me back my husband’s life!”
Vast blood qi surged from her skin, and the female cultivator transformed into a blood-skinned tiger, pouncing fiercely towards Xu Mulan.
Upon seeing this, Xu Mulan’s eyes widened as well. She retracted her spear and met the attack.
“Break!!”
With a roar, the ice dragon and blood tiger collided head-on in mid-air.
Boom—
The air waves from the spiritual energy collision uprooted all the snow pines below, and then, amid a sharp female scream and the dissipation of the blood tiger, silence returned.
“Ahhhhhh—”
With a sound like muffled thunder, Xu Mulan’s spirit spear pierced the female demonic cultivator into the ground, then twisted the spear.
With a crisp cracking sound.
The female demonic cultivator, spitting blood, had her core shattered and died. Her skin and bones instantly shriveled into a mummy.
Xu Mulan staggered to her feet, looking around. All she saw were tilted snow pines due to the battle and the corpses of five or six Snow-clothed Guards. She gritted her teeth, wanting to dismember this demonic cultivator under her spear, but reason made her suppress her anger.
“Where are Fairy Pei and Young Master Xiao…”
Xu Mulan glanced at the lightning and fire on the summit and the massive golden dragon and black python. Knowing that Pei Lianxue and the others were still fighting, she immediately wanted to go and help.
However, as soon as she took a step, her knees buckled uncontrollably.
She dared to say that the two Core Formation stage demonic cultivators she had just killed were the most difficult she had encountered in decades.
Even her armor, personally bestowed by the State Preceptor of Hantian Kingdom, had been split by their combined attacks in several places.
Xu Mulan knelt on the ground ignominiously, holding her spear. Gritting her teeth, she took out healing pills from her storage bag and swallowed them.
However, just as the pills were about to enter her mouth…
Whoosh— Whoosh—
The sound of air being broken reached her ears.
Following it was a chilling killing intent.
Xu Mulan’s eyes slightly opened, and she immediately drew her long spear from the ground to parry.
Clang—
Sparks flew.
A gauntlet fiercely struck the spear shaft. The gust of wind and waves directly blew the corpse of the demonic cultivator below to smithereens.
“Another body cultivator?!”
Xu Mulan’s eyes widened as she looked at the owner of the fist. It was a man who looked about twenty years old.
Unlike the demonic cultivators she had encountered along the way, although this person exuded demonic energy, judging solely by his appearance, he did not have the “madness” of a demonic cultivator.
Wu Tianci struck Xu Mulan’s spear shaft with a punch to restrict her swing, then raised his knee and struck her chest armor with a knee attack at close range.
Xu Mulan was unable to parry and could only quickly protect herself with spiritual energy. However, the dragon-elephant strength of a Core Formation stage body cultivator, like that of a mountain-breaker, was not something she could block with spiritual energy.
“Haa—”
The cold iron chest armor was instantly dented with a kick. Blood spewed from her nose and mouth, and Xu Mulan was sent flying backward, her back breaking several snow pines in half.
She struggled to control her posture, kicking her foot guards into the ground to force herself to stop. She raised her head to look at Wu Tianci, who had suddenly appeared.
However, the moment she looked up, she saw a gauntlet swinging towards her face.
The word “death” was clearly etched in her heart.
This person’s gauntlet was no ordinary item. When it struck her spear shaft just now, she felt her spirit spear scream. If she hadn’t used a clever technique to deflect the force, her spirit spear would have been broken by this person’s fist in an instant.
But her spirit spear was also made of a hundred-year-old cold profound iron. Even a full-power strike from a Nascent Soul stage cultivator would not damage it in the slightest…
Not good! Very not good!
What should I do?
It is said that everything in the eyes of a person who is about to die will feel like years passing in seconds.
However, Xu Mulan could not think of any way to dodge this direct strike…
Her body couldn’t move!!
She couldn’t dodge!!
“…Ah!”
Wu Tianci watched a trace of despair flash in Xu Mulan’s eyes. His eyes narrowed slightly, but then he suddenly seemed to sense something and looked to his left.
A white figure shot out rapidly from the snow forest.
Ice-blue spiritual energy drew a cross in mid-air, directly positioning itself in front of Xu Mulan’s nose.
Clang—
In Xu Mulan’s eyes, she saw a long sword completely wrapped in bandages.
Ye Anping suddenly appeared in front of Xu Mulan, blocking Wu Tianci’s gauntlet with a move of the Inquiring Sword Art. Then, he made a horizontal slash, but Wu Tianci quickly dodged by leaping backward.
Whoosh—
Wu Tianci leaped into the air, twisting three and a half times before landing about thirty feet away. He narrowed his eyes, looking at the white-clothed, bamboo-hatted man who had suddenly appeared, a hint of confusion flashing in his eyes.
Ye Anping raised his hand and made several arcs with the bandage-wrapped Snow Jade Myriad Spirit Sword around his body, blocking in front of the kneeling Xu Mulan. He glanced at her sideways:
“Just in time, Commander Xu.”
“Ye… Young Master Ye?”
A hint of surprise flashed in Xu Mulan’s eyes, but she immediately became serious and said, “That’s a body cultivator, and his gauntlets are likely a profound treasure… You…”
“I know.”
Ye Anping interrupted softly, took a step forward, and looked at Wu Tianci, who was scrutinizing him closely. A hint of surprise appeared in his deep purple eyes, and he chuckled, “Oh? This face, I seem to have seen it somewhere. Let me think…”
Wu Tianci frowned slightly but did not reply.
He was not someone who liked to talk during a fight, adhering to the principle that too much talking leads to mistakes. Usually, after a few exchanges, he could gauge the opponent’s strength.
However, the strange ice-blue spiritual energy just now, and the spirit sword wrapped in bandages in his hand now, made him hesitant to probe directly.
If he rushed forward without knowing the opponent’s foundation, it would be suicide…
Moreover, the aura of this white-clothed man was not that of an ordinary minor character.
However, Ye Anping rested his chin in his hand and pondered for a moment, then seemed to realize something and raised an eyebrow, “Could your surname be Wu? I previously encountered an old demonic cultivator who knew formations in Chi Long Mansion. He was quite… weak. His shoddy formation looked very flashy, but it didn’t hit me once.”
Hearing this, a trace of anger flashed in Wu Tianci’s eyes, but it was quickly suppressed.
He’s trying to infuriate me… He knows my background…
“Liang Xiaoliu…”
“Oh?” Ye Anping smiled and replied in a foppish tone, “It seems Agu often mentions me to you, junior brother? This is truly an honor.”
“Agu…”
“We’ll talk about Agu later. Let’s first talk about that old demonic cultivator who used formations. I heard he spent a hundred years creating that formation, only for it to be so easily defeated. Guess how he died?”
“…”
“He died of anger because his shoddy formation didn’t hit me once. Then, with a loud boom, he self-destructed. That scene… tsk tsk tsk… blood mist flying everywhere.”
Xu Mulan, kneeling on the ground behind Ye Anping, was completely stunned. Listening to Ye Anping’s tone, for a moment, she felt that the Ye Anping standing before her was the demonic cultivator.
His tone, like that of a cannon fodder, made her teeth itch.
Wu Tianci also gritted his teeth at this moment, but he knew that Liang Xiaoliu was trying to provoke him, and he could still barely control himself.
Until—
Ye Anping made a sword finger gesture and took out a scroll from his storage bag, saying, “I got this from his storage bag… The Thousand Punishments Formation Diagram. He spent a hundred years writing this shoddy thing… sigh—”
Saying that, he directly set the scroll ablaze with spiritual fire.
Seeing this, Wu Tianci could no longer hold back. He stomped his forefoot, sending a hundred feet of snow mist flying up from the snow, and instantly appeared before Ye Anping.
At this moment, the playful look in Ye Anping’s deep purple eyes instantly disappeared. He gripped the Profound Ice Spirit Sword and swung it upwards, simultaneously releasing the scroll that was burning in his right hand.
Swish—
The cold light flashed and disappeared.
The clash between the two lasted only for an instant before they separated again.
Ye Anping frowned slightly, his face veil slowly falling. Wu Tianci, who had retreated thirty feet away, stood with the spirit fire-scorched scroll in his hand. The left shoulder of his robe suddenly burst open, and his back was frozen with profound ice.
Wu Tianci’s eyes widened. He extinguished the spiritual fire on the scroll with his spiritual energy and unfolded it.
Upon seeing the contents of the scroll, he suddenly understood.
Despite his utmost caution, he had still been provoked by this Liang Xiaoliu.
The first page of the scroll read: “Hahaha—”
The second page contained five accompanying golden lightning talismans.
?!
The totems on the lightning talismans slowly emitted a dazzling spiritual light.
Boom—
The forest was instantly filled with flying snow dust, almost obscuring the sky.
“Haaah—!”
Wu Tianci roared and punched, lowering his stance into a horse stance, dispersing all the snow dust around him. But the next moment, he saw the bandage-wrapped sword swinging towards his neck.
He immediately raised his left gauntlet and struck upwards from below, hooking the spirit sword with an uppercut, attempting to break it.
His gauntlet was a profound treasure personally bestowed by an elder of the Tian Mo Sect, capable of breaking invisible spells and even spiritual energy.
However—
Clang—
As the gauntlet landed on the sword’s surface, the bandages wrapped around the spirit sword suddenly disintegrated, revealing the ten-thousand-year-old profound ice on its blade.
The cold air spread everywhere, instantly covering his gauntlet with a layer of frost.
“This sword…”
Wu Tianci could not hide his astonishment, but he did not freeze. He quickly leaned back, retreating five feet with an extremely bizarre footwork.
But the next moment, a vertical frost wound was left on his shoulder.
What’s going on?
He swung horizontally, so why is this wound from top to bottom?
This Liang Xiaoliu’s sword and sword art are both extremely bizarre…
Wu Tianci gritted his teeth slightly. He no longer dodged, but instead stepped forward and charged fiercely towards Ye Anping:
“Liang Xiaoliu!!!”
“Yes, yes… I’m not deaf. Why are you shouting so loudly?”
Ye Anping’s eyes were exceptionally calm. He stomped his feet directly into the ground, rapidly rotating the Profound Ice Spirit Sword in his hand, parrying and then counter-attacking.
Neither of their feet moved at all. They were two feet apart, their swords clashing.
Clang— Clang, clang, clang—
Boom— Boom, boom—
Spiritual energy exploded in the forest, and waves of sonic wind raged around the two of them.
Xu Mulan, who was lying on the ground nearby, was utterly dazzled.
This was her first time seeing a sword cultivator in a stationary fight with a body cultivator.
In such a situation, a sword cultivator would clearly be at a disadvantage.
A sword art that lost its footwork could not unleash its full power, and a sword cultivator’s physique was by no means as refined as a body cultivator’s.
I have to help!
Xu Mulan gritted her teeth and struggled to stand up, only to find that she could barely hold her spear now.
“Young Master Ye…”
Facing Wu Tianci’s barrage of fist winds, Ye Anping clearly felt the pressure.
If he weren’t in a hurry, he would never fight a body cultivator like this.
He had a hundred ways to kill Wu Tianci without injury, but now Li Longling and his junior sister were waiting for him. The faster he finished off Wu Tianci, the lower the chance of them getting into trouble.
The handful of high-grade golden lightning talismans in the initial scroll should have greatly depleted Wu Tianci’s physical energy and spiritual energy.
The verbal provocation could keep him focused on himself and prevent him from choosing the better option of “escaping.”
If Wu Tianci knew that he was pressed for time, he would definitely treat this as a skirmish and not engage too deeply with him.
Then!!
Clink Ka—
An unusual sound of metal striking exploded.
Countless veins bulged on Wu Tianci’s forehead. His entire body seemed to be boiling, spraying hot, gaseous sweat out into the snow forest.
He clamped Ye Anping’s sword blade with his right-hand gauntlet, then clenched his left fist and smashed it into Ye Anping’s abdomen.
Boom—
The white robe instantly exploded, revealing his lean upper body. The muscles in his abdomen seemed to lose their eight-pack shape and curled up like a roll.
But Ye Anping did not move at all. Instead, he patted the sword hilt with his left hand.
Swish—
Numerous tiny ice-blue spiritual lights instantly appeared on Wu Tianci’s right-hand gauntlet gripping the Snow Jade Myriad Spirit Sword. Then, his entire arm exploded into minced meat and scattered.
“Ahhhhhh—!!!”
With a roar, Wu Tianci gathered all his spiritual power into his remaining left hand, and with a straight punch, he swung towards Ye Anping’s chest, aiming for his vital point.
However, at the same time, Ye Anping half-turned his spirit sword and, with a horizontal slash, grazed the position of his Dan Tian’s Golden Core at his waist and abdomen.
Crack—!
Swish—!
The sound of bone shattering echoed out. Wu Tianci’s left gauntlet struck Ye Anping’s chest, and a vast wave of blood qi erupted on his back.
The actions of the two stopped simultaneously.
The wind and snow seemed to stop at this moment. Only the sound of their breathing remained in the forest.
“…”
“…”
Looking at Ye Anping’s calm face, Wu Tianci’s blood-gushing eyes flashed with disbelief.
Why is this person, after taking two of my punches, still acting like nothing happened?
How could a sword cultivator at the early Core Formation stage calmly take two full-powered punches from me, without even changing his expression?
“You…”
Ye Anping interrupted in a clear, cold voice, “Go find your father. I was lying just now. Your father’s formation, created over a hundred years, is truly exceptional.”
“…”
Wu Tianci’s eyes widened, and then his upper body from the waist up slid down, falling to the ground, becoming a half-body sculpture.
The light snow finally managed to approach the two of them, falling on his lower body, which remained standing in place.
Ye Anping closed his eyes, took a deep breath, made a sword finger, took out a few Fire Element talismans, and threw them onto Wu Tianci’s body, cremating and pacifying him. Then, he sheathed his sword and walked towards Xu Mulan, who was staring dumbfounded.
“Commander Xu… are you alright?”
“Ah…”
Xu Mulan looked at Ye Anping’s upper body, which was devoid of any clothing, and then looked down at her own chest armor.
Just now, Wu Tianci had kicked her cold iron chest armor and dented it, but Ye Anping’s physical body had withstood two direct hits from the gauntlets.
Could Ye Anping’s body be harder than her cold iron armor?
“Ye… Young Master Ye, are you… are you alright?”
“Do I look like I’m alright?” Ye Anping said with a wry smile, stepped forward, took out a pill, and fed it to her. He then turned and looked behind a snow pine tree, “You two… hiding behind the tree, quickly send Commander Xu back to the boat to recuperate.”
Xu Mulan looked confused and turned to look, only to see two Foundation Establishment stage Snow-clothed Guards, covered in injuries, hiding behind a snow pine tree.
It seemed they had been hiding there the whole time, intending to find an opportunity to help, but they did not expect Ye Anping to slice apart this Core Formation stage body cultivator in just a few breaths.
The two limping Snow-clothed Guards walked over. They looked at Ye Anping’s lean, perfect physique and couldn’t help but blush. They cupped their fists and said, “Thank you, Senior Ye! We were just…”
Ye Anping raised his hand and interrupted:
“…We’ll talk later. First, take Commander Xu to recuperate.”
“…Yes.”
Xu Mulan paused, then quickly said, “No need, I can still…”
“Hurry back. We’ll handle the rest. If you fall, the Snow-clothed Guards will be in disarray. There are still so many demonic cultivators to deal with…”
“…”
Xu Mulan looked at Ye Anping, suddenly hesitant to meet his gaze, and faintly nodded:
“Mm… Then Young Master Ye, you be careful too. I… I’ll wait for your return.”
Seeing the once majestic commander of the Snow-clothed Guards now acting like a young girl in love, Ye Anping pursed his lips slightly and nodded:
“Mm.”
The two Snow-clothed Guards stepped forward, one supporting Xu Mulan by each shoulder. They then summoned their flying swords, stepped onto them, and carried her away towards the distant boat in rapid flight.
Left alone in the snow forest, Ye Anping watched the three depart with a smile.
Then…
He knelt on the ground, clutching his stomach, his entire face instantly turning pale.
“Hiss— Ugh… Cough, cough, cough—”
Then he spat out a mouthful of blood and rolled on the snow, trying to use the snow to alleviate the intense pain in his chest and abdomen.
“Hah— Hah— Hah— I’ll definitely never fight like this again… Ughhhh—”
After rolling a few times, Ye Anping took out pain-relieving pills from his storage bag and threw them into his mouth.
Once the pills’ effects started to take hold, he managed to prop himself up, took a spare set of clothes from his storage bag, put them on, and quickly ran towards the direction of the golden dragon and black python.
The golden dragon in the distance, which resembled a mountain dome, had its neck bitten by the black python and did not look like it could hold on much longer.
Ye Anping took a deep breath and quickened his pace, all the while shoving healing pills into his mouth. After running about half a mile into the forest…
Two ethereal yet somewhat tragic female voices drifted from afar:
“Roar—!”
“Tsk…”
*Slap*—
A resounding slap echoed through the forest.
“Are you a dog?!”
“Roar—”
“Let go!!!”
“Ouch ouch ouch… Stop pulling my hair!! You darkie!!”
“Hiss— You golden sparkler!! Hey!! Where the hell are you biting?!”
?
Hearing this strange hissing sound, Ye Anping’s footsteps stopped. His facial features contorted, and his heart was filled with mixed emotions, but he still quickened his pace towards the source of the sound.
… …
