In the next moment, it seemed that Shuo Feng was about to be cleaved in half by Li Fan’s sword light.
But just then, Shuo Feng swung his sword once more.
“Clang!”
The sword light struck the wooden sword, producing a sound like a hammer pounding against a massive bell.
The two forces clashed momentarily.
Then, in an instant, the sword light abruptly changed direction and shot toward Li Fan with even greater speed and sharper momentum!
Once locked onto by the returning sword light, there was no way to dodge. Li Fan had no intention of revealing his true strength, and his probing attack had already served its purpose.
Thus, he extended his right hand, directly manifesting his Water-Attribute Cave Heaven, drawing upon the power of the domain to suppress the incoming sword light.
“Boom!”
Even though it was trapped within the domain, it did not lose its momentum. It roared forward with unstoppable force, determined to break through the restraints placed upon it.
Li Fan let out a cold snort and exerted a bit more power.
Only then was he able to fully suppress it.
When he looked back at Shuo Feng, the latter had not seized the opportunity to launch another attack. Instead, he seemed to be experiencing some kind of internal struggle, as he tried to calm the violently trembling wooden sword.
“Let’s end this sparring session here!” Li Fan sighed and shook his head. “I am two major realms above you, yet our battle was evenly matched. That alone means I have already lost.”
“A heaven’s chosen will always be a heaven’s chosen. A Foundation Establishment cultivator battling a Nascent Soul cultivator…”
“It’s simply beyond the reach of us ordinary cultivators.”
Li Fan appeared somewhat dispirited.
Seeing this, Shuo Feng, who had just regained control over his wooden sword, couldn’t help but console him. “Fellow Daoist, don’t be discouraged. The only reason I was able to fight on equal footing with you is largely due to the power of this wooden sword.”
Perhaps it was because Li Fan’s temperament resonated with Shuo Feng, or perhaps Shuo Feng simply had nothing to fear.
After hesitating for a moment, Shuo Feng spoke with a hint of pride. “To be honest, Fellow Daoist…”
“This sword… is a wonder of the heavens!”
“Your defeat is not a fault of battle!”
Gently stroking the wooden sword’s blade, a trace of infatuation flickered across Shuo Feng’s face.
Hearing this, Li Fan narrowed his eyes.
Feigning extreme shock, he stared at the unremarkable wooden sword in Shuofeng’s hand. “A wonder of the heavens?”
“Fellow Daoist, surely you must be joking? The Wonder of the Heavens are attuned to the Dao itself, elusive and unseen, never revealing themselves to the world. The only one widely known is the legendary Derivative Law Jade.”
“And you’re telling me this broken sword is a Wonder of the Heavens?” Li Fan deliberately voiced his skepticism.
Shuo Feng chuckled. “How could I be mistaken when I built my Foundation upon it? This Wonder of the Heavens… is called [Sword].”
As he spoke, Shuofeng lightly swung the wooden sword, forming a dazzling sword flower in the air.
“Sword?”
Li Fan’s heart trembled.
“Could it be… that this object is the embodiment of the very Dao of the Sword in the Xuanhuang Realm?” he couldn’t help but ask.
Shuo Feng nodded and pointed the wooden sword toward a lush, towering tree in the distance.
Under Li Fan’s gaze, the tree underwent a mysterious transformation.
A gentle breeze passed by, and as a leaf detached from its branch and drifted through the air, it brushed against another tree—yet in that moment, it was as if the leaf had become an incomparably sharp sword.
A single slash.
The tree was severed at its trunk.
Another gust of wind swept through, carrying countless leaves aloft. The tree, now imbued with the sword’s essence, moved like an unparalleled swordsman, continuously striking.
One tree after another fell in its wake.
This bizarre sight left Li Fan utterly dumbfounded.
“Perhaps… what Fellow Daoist says is true!” He feigned a stammer, as if in awe.
Shuo Feng smiled faintly. “Of course. I obtained this sword from the ruins of the former Heavenly Sword Sect, risking my life countless times to do so.”
Looking at the wooden sword in his hand, Shuo Feng recalled that moment. “If you had seen it with your own eyes, Fellow Daoist, you would never be able to imagine the shock I felt. Within the Heavenly Sword Sect’s Sword Tomb, over a million swords were buried. Those countless ancient swords, chaotically plunged into the ground, all bowed slightly in the same direction.”
“As if paying homage to the Emperor of Swords.”
“And at the very center of that million-sword tomb, I found this.”
A trace of pride appeared on Shuo Feng’s face. “That day, I knew—I knew that defying my mother’s wishes and insisting on retraining was the absolute right choice.”
“Otherwise, how could I have encountered such an opportunity?”
“The Heavenly Sword Sect… the Sword Tomb…”
Li Fan stared at the Wonder of the Heavens, [Sword], as countless thoughts flashed through his mind.
However, in the end, he abandoned the idea of immediately using his Binding Insect Divine Ability to claim the treasure for himself.
“A Wonder of the Heavens…” Li Fan’s eyes were filled with envy.
Then, as if suddenly realizing something strange, he asked, “Such a secretive matter, yet Fellow Daoist is casually telling a mere passerby like me? Aren’t you afraid that this information will spread and be known to all?”
Shuo Feng waved his hand boldly and declared, “I have always acted according to my whims. You knew my identity yet still fought me without reservation—that is commendable!”
“Besides, what if you tell others? If I possess such a divine treasure and do not flaunt it, but instead keep it hidden, how would that be any different from wearing embroidered robes in the dark?”
Li Fan hesitated. “But possessing such a rare artifact will inevitably invite covetous eyes…”
“Petty thieves coveting it?” Shuo Feng suddenly burst into laughter, exuding an undeniable dominance.
A radiant golden armor materialized over his body, emanating an overwhelming pressure. Even Li Fan instinctively took a step back.
“Though my Wonder of the Heavens is exceedingly rare, it is useless to cultivators of the Dao Integration realm and beyond.”
“And below Dao Integration, who can possibly harm me? Even if they could, I doubt they could break through the defenses of this armor.” Shuo Feng gestured toward the golden armor with a complex expression.
Li Fan had no words to reply.
“So this is the confidence of a top-tier immortal scion of the Ten Thousand Immortal Alliance…”
“But this works in my favor. If you weren’t this arrogant, I’d have to put in much more effort to extract information about this Wonder of the Heavens from you.”
Suppressing his thoughts, Li Fan looked at Shuo Feng, who had already retracted his golden armor, and asked, “Although your wooden sword is indeed extraordinary, I feel that it still falls short of the legendary Wonder of the Heavens.”
“Is it because Fellow Daoist has not fully mastered it yet?”
Shuo Feng smiled bitterly. “Your observation is sharp, Fellow Daoist! A Wonder of the Heavens is indeed extraordinary. Even though I have built my Foundation upon it, I still cannot fully control it. Sometimes, it even resists my will.”
“Just now, it almost wounded you—that was why.”
Hearing this, Li Fan suddenly recalled a past life battle between Shuo Feng and Su Xiaomei…