Symphony of Saber.
Entering the battlefield, saber in hand. Blade of the saber, feasting on the blood of enemies; spreading one's might far and wide, nobody dares to disobey...
That was the gist of the battle intent contained within the tune Hua Cheng was playing. It made Du Xuanhao feel like he was currently in a battlefield, causing him to forget everything and to focus only on killing the enemy before him with an unyielding determination.
Du Xuanhao erupted with all the combat prowess available to him, including the hidden potential he had yet to discover. His eyes turned bloodshot as he started slashing his saber madly. The power behind his slashes grew, instantly filling the entire sky with saber energies that encircled and attacked Linggu Haonan.
Linggu Haonan had evidently not expected Du Xuanhao to suddenly grow so strong. The growth of strength combined with the saber intent was now enough to be a threat to him. After blocking a few attacks in a row, his energy barrier was broken by the saber energy, and a wound was left on his shoulder, causing him to become infuriated.
"A damnable bug like you dares to wound me? Die!" He roared and unleashed more power and swung the Silverfox Saber madly, destroying Du Xuanhao's saber energies. He then used a powerful saber technique that created numerous silver foxes that pounced on Du Xuanhao from all directions.
Illusionary Fox Massacre!
The foxes possessed the ability to trap others in illusions, and they were also capable of powerful physical attacks. Having his potential pushed out by the zither tune, Du Xuanhao's saber intent reached a brand new level as his saber flew out of his hand and attacked through his will. He had actually reached the saber steering stage.
The crude-looking saber enlarged to over a thousand times in size, crushing everything in its way. The silver foxes were directly destroyed by the saber, which was immune to their illusionary attacks.
"How is this possible?" Linggu Haonan was filled with disbelief.
He did not stay shocked for long, however, as he once again attacked with a different technique. The two sabers clashed fiercely as saber energies hailed down on the world below, causing the Cloud Margin Pavilion's defensive barrier to tremble unceasingly.
This was a battle between top Emperors. Without the defensive barrier, just the shockwaves from their battle was enough to destroy the entire Cloud Margin Pavilion. To the side, Hua Cheng turned more and more pale as time went on, and blood dripped out of the fingers she was using to play the zither.
It was obvious the battle song she was playing was exhausting a great amount of energy, to the point even a Dragon Ascension Realm cultivator like her was having a hard time with it. Du Xuanhao seemed capable of sensing that Hua Cheng had reached her limit. With a roar, he gathered all his power into his saber and unleashed one final attack at his opponent.
Destroyer of Sun and Moon.
It was a slash that seemed capable of destroying both the sun and the moon, an incredibly terrifying attack. A massive amount of raging flame was unleashed, and it felt as if the entire world had been ignited.
Even Linggu Haonan feared the dreadful attack as he quickly retreated and jabbed his finger in the direction of Hua Cheng. The jab was extremely fast and hard to notice. Not even Murong Qing, Yue Yuze, and Luo Zihan, who were standing guard around Hua Cheng, could react in time. The only thing they heard was a wail from Hua Cheng before she dropped from the sky with her zither. Blood was gushing out of her.
"Hua Cheng!" Murong Qing cried out in alarm. He flew over and grabbed her and the zither, stopping their fall.
"Br-Brother Duan..." Hua Cheng called weakly.
Without the support of the battle song, Du Xuanhao instantly grew weaker, and the attack he was about to release was canceled. The abrupt cancellation caused him to suffer a backlash, sending him flying away while coughing up blood with a pale face.
"Die!" Linggu Haonan slashed his saber at Du Xuanhao.
As a commander of his group, he was actually forced into such desperation by an Emperor of a tiny city. He could not accept that, and the only way to vent his anger was to kill Du Xuanhao.
"Halt!" At this moment of crisis, a new expert arrived along with a furious voice.
A series of overbearing fist energies appeared and hailed down at Linggu Haonan, forcing him to shift his focus from killing Du Xuanhao to protecting himself.
"Who dares to get in my way? Are you tired of living?" cursed Linggu Haonan.
An old man appeared noiselessly beside Du Xuanhao and said, "I don't know who you are, but this is the Cloud Margin City, not a place you can do whatever you want!" The newcomer seemed to be even stronger than Du Xuanhao, and he was surrounded by a boundless aura.
"Brother Chen, you're here!" Murong Qing cried out in excitement.
The newcomer was none other than the ancestor of the Chen Clan, Chen Jiayan. He was the number one Emperor of the Cloud Margin Pavilion and was an eighth-stage Dragon Ascension Realm expert. Chen Zilong was his descendant.
Apart from Chen Jiayan, two other Emperors of the Chen Clan had also arrived, greatly boosting the number of Emperors on Cloud Margin Pavilion's side. Of course, in terms of overall strength, they were still incomparable to Linggu Haonan's group. However, they no longer looked like some easy pickings.
"Do you think you are enough to stop us?" asked Linggu Haonan.
"Sure, you are very strong. But we will not sit idly as we are killed," said Chen Jiayan unyieldingly.
"Commander, just slaughter them all!" suggested Yun Feng.
Linggu Haonan narrowed his eyes as he stared at Chen Jiayan. Ignoring Yun Feng, he said, "You only need to tell us where to find a certain person. We will then leave immediately. Otherwise, all of you will die today."
Inwardly, he cursed, If it wasn't for that old bastard Duo Ji luring the elders away and the Demon Emperors that had killed many of us at the Hundred Beast Mountain Range, I wouldn't even need to bother talking to them like this!
"We really don't know who Xiang Shaoyun is!" repeated Yue Yuze.
"You don't know, but that doesn't mean she does not know either," said Linggu Haonan as he pointed at the injured Hua Cheng.
"Hua Cheng, if you really know who Xiang Shaoyun is, tell them what you know," persuaded Murong Qing.
A look of hesitation covered Hua Cheng's face. She was completely unwilling to reveal Xiang Shaoyun's whereabouts.
"If you want everyone here to die for him, feel free to keep hiding the information. We still have other methods of locating him," warned Linggu Haonan.
With great difficulty, Hua Cheng finally spoke, "He is not here. He has gone to the Land of Soul Springs."
"Where is the Land of Soul Springs?" asked the overjoyed Linggu Haonan.
"I know that. Let me tell you," said Yue Yuze, who proceeded to give Linggu Haonan the location of the Land of Soul Springs.
"See? All this trouble could have been avoided if you had told us earlier," said Linggu Haonan. "Consider yourself lucky. We will be taking our leave."
Thus, they left for the Land of Soul Springs at top speed.