A sharp sword aura seemed to brush past, leaving a chilling sensation. Li Fan looked down at the now-obliterated mortal city, which had turned into a massive crater, and couldn’t help but twitch his face.
Fortunately, he reacted quickly. If he had been hit by that sword light, not only would his body have been destroyed, but even the foundation of his inner cave-heaven might have been damaged.
Luckily, he wasn’t too unlucky and hadn’t been too close. Otherwise, if he had been covered in the Immortal-Mortal miasma, he might have truly perished on the spot!
“To be affected this much even from such a distance from the statue…” Li Fan’s expression turned serious. He extracted and replenished his lost fortune using the power of the Black Bird Feather and quietly activated [Domain of Mandate] to prevent further loss of his fortune energy.
As the smoke below dissipated, at the bottom of the crater, a wooden sword was firmly embedded into the ground.
It seemed… somewhat familiar.
“Ah! Fellow Daoist, my sincerest apologies!”
At this moment, the owner of the wooden sword finally arrived, wearing a look of embarrassment and guilt as he spoke to Li Fan.
“It’s all my fault for lacking mastery in my techniques—I nearly cost you your life!”
This was none other than the famous second-generation immortal of the Ten Thousand Immortal Alliance, the obedient son of Immortal Sage Fei Xue, and the one known by the moniker “I Am Invincible”—Shuo Feng!
However, in the recent “friendly exchange duel” between the Ten Thousand Immortal Alliance and the Five Elders Association, Shuo Feng had appeared as a Soul Transformation cultivator.
Yet now, he appeared to only be at the Foundation Establishment realm!
“It’s not a concealed cultivation… Did he undergo some kind of enlightenment, disperse his power, and restart his cultivation?” Li Fan’s gaze swept over Shuo Feng, his eyes flashing with a hint of undetectable curiosity.
“So, it’s Fellow Daoist Shuo Feng!” Li Fan cupped his hands in neither an overly respectful nor dismissive manner. “I almost thought it was another scoundrel from the Five Elders Association causing trouble!”
Shuo Feng’s face reddened slightly.
He wasn’t surprised that Li Fan recognized him but hurriedly explained, “It’s a misunderstanding! A total misunderstanding. I was in mid-air, comprehending my cultivation, but for some reason, this wooden sword suddenly lost control. Fortunately, you reacted fast, or else I would have unintentionally committed a great sin!”
“Heh, no worries. I can tell you didn’t do it on purpose. However… what happened to your cultivation, Fellow Daoist Shuo?” Li Fan examined him deliberately, pretending to be puzzled.
Shuo Feng didn’t hide anything and replied frankly, “Nothing much. I just felt I was on the wrong path before, so I decided to start over!”
Although Li Fan had already guessed as much, he still put on a shocked expression. Studying Shuo Feng for a moment, he shook his head slightly and sighed, “Reaching Soul Transformation is already the ultimate goal that most cultivators dream of… Yet, Fellow Daoist, you had the resolve to start over just like that…”
“Truly admirable! Admirable!” Li Fan cupped his fists in praise.
Shuo Feng chuckled, indifferent to the compliment. “I’m not as extraordinary as you make me out to be. I simply have my mother backing me up. Even if I fail this time and remain a Foundation Establishment cultivator for the rest of my life, how many in the Ten Thousand Immortal Alliance would dare to look down on me? But for an ordinary cultivator, if they fail… that would be a true disaster.”
Li Fan smiled without commenting, neither agreeing nor refuting the remark.
Instead, his gaze shifted to the wooden sword embedded in the crater below. Frowning slightly, he remarked, “Even though you restarted your cultivation, you’re clearly not an ordinary Foundation Establishment cultivator. Judging by the speed and power of that wooden sword, it could likely kill an average Golden Core cultivator with ease.”
Shuo Feng nodded in agreement. “You have sharp eyes, Fellow Daoist. This wooden sword…”
He paused momentarily before continuing, “To be honest, this sword is a natural treasure that I acquired upon rebuilding my foundation. However, despite successfully using it to establish my foundation, I still can’t fully control it.”
“It’s quite the headache,” he added, pointing downward.
Yet, the wooden sword in the crater merely trembled slightly, refusing to heed his summons and remaining firmly stuck in the ground.
Even with his usual composure, Shuo Feng couldn’t help but show a trace of awkwardness.
Clearing his throat, he tried casting multiple techniques, three in total.
Finally, the wooden sword reluctantly returned to his hand.
Li Fan carefully observed the wooden sword before him. The term “plain and unremarkable” wasn’t enough to describe it.
There were no engravings on the sword, no mysterious aura emanating from it.
In fact, it looked incredibly simple—almost like a child’s toy, carved crudely from wood.
However, given the overwhelming power of its earlier strike, Li Fan knew this weapon was far from ordinary.
A thought flashed through his mind, and Li Fan suddenly suggested, “This sword is quite interesting. Coincidentally, I have some insights into the way of the sword myself, but I’ve long struggled to find a worthy opponent to spar with. How about…?”
Shuo Feng’s eyes lit up upon hearing this and clapped his hands in excitement. “I’ve just made a breakthrough and was worried about finding a sparring partner. Fellow Daoist, your words are exactly what I was hoping for!”
His expression turned serious as he gripped the wooden sword lightly, taking a few steps back to put some distance between them. He pointed his sword at Li Fan and declared, “Just to the point of learning!”
“Agreed!” Li Fan responded loudly.
Before his words had fully left his lips, eighty-one azure water swords had already taken shape, assembling into a sword formation and whistling toward Shuo Feng.
This was Li Fan’s adaptation of Cloud Water Palace’s “Sea-Stabilizing Divine Sword”, utilizing the water-attribute power of his inner cabe-heaven. He did not hold back, even though Shuo Feng was only a Foundation Establishment cultivator—he mobilized the full power of his domain.
“Water Dragon Roar!”
The azure water swords, guided by Li Fan’s battle cry, spread out like a sea of dragons, surging toward Shuo Feng from all directions.
Yet, instead of fear, Shuo Feng showed exhilaration.
Closing his eyes, he made a single, slow-yet-lightning-fast sword swing just as the eighty-one water swords reached him.
“Ding!”
“Ding!”
“Ding!”
The wooden sword flickered like white lightning, weaving through the storm of water dragons.
With each strike, a crisp metallic clang echoed as his wooden sword clashed with each of the water swords.
In the blink of an eye, his wooden sword had parried all eighty-one attacks.
Shuo Feng withdrew his sword.
It seemed to have drained all his strength, his arm trembling slightly.
But in the next moment, something astonishing happened—the eighty-one azure water swords, which should have been under Li Fan’s control, suddenly turned against him, reversing their trajectory and charging at him!
Moreover…
A faint mysterious transformation had taken place—the assembled azure water dragon seemed to come alive in Li Fan’s eyes.
Faintly, he could even hear a dragon’s roar, and the sword aura surged as the water dragon roared toward him.
“This is…”
A sharp gleam flashed in Li Fan’s eyes, yet his reaction was swift.
In an instant, the sky was bathed in blue light.
A single sword radiance slashed out from Li Fan’s position, cutting through the water dragon like a blade through paper.
And without losing momentum, it streaked toward Shuo Feng’s face.