At this, Xu Yunfan suddenly let out a cold laugh. "So it’s Daoist Guanshan! And the Five Great Sects! You use my Taoist Sect as bait just to get a piece of the pie?!"
Daoist Guanshan replied, "This matter was started by your Taoist Sect. We are merely turning your own plan against you..."
At this, a smile crept onto his face. "Daoist Master Bi Yuan’s little stunt has drawn out quite a few old monsters. It will be difficult for your Taoist Sect to survive this calamity. You’ve truly dug your own graves!
"Let this humble Daoist be blunt: the Taoist Sect is now surrounded on all sides by the Three Temples and Nine Gates. Even if Daoist Master Bi Yuan has heaven-defying abilities..."
Xu Yunfan’s heart sank. He knew the situation was dangerous, but he had never imagined it would be this severe.
’No wonder... No wonder when Bi Yuan gave me my instructions, the last thing he said was that the Taoist Sect was placing all its hopes on me, and that I must not let them down.’
’If I fail in Jade Capital City, the Taoist Sect will be destroyed in an instant. If I succeed and use the martial examinations to gradually enter the Imperial Court, the Taoist Sect’s position will naturally be strengthened.’
’Did Bi Yuan really make such a huge gamble?!’
Xu Yunfan was dumbstruck, not daring to be careless.
"Bullshit!"
Xu Yunfan’s roar cut him off as the Red Fire Dragon-Swallowing Mace came crashing down.
"My Taoist Sect dared to use its full power to help me enter the Ninth Realm! We never planned on leaving you a way out!"
Before Xu Yunfan’s roar had even faded, the Red Fire Dragon-Swallowing Mace, wrapped in Ten Extremes True Qi, came smashing down ferociously.
The crimson flames on the mace flared, and the engraved dragon patterns seemed to come alive, transforming into a fiery dragon that roared as it pounced on Daoist Guanshan.
The air warped from the scorching heat. The green flagstones on the ground cracked and shattered, sending countless shards of rock flying.
Daoist Guanshan’s expression changed drastically. His Duster of three thousand white threads transformed into a Vajra Spear to hastily meet the attack. The instant the spear and mace collided, his Dragon and Tiger True Qi slammed into the crimson Dragon Flame, erupting in a visible shockwave of air.
Daoist Guanshan grunted, retreating seven steps in a row. Each step left a footprint half a foot deep in the ground, and a trace of blood trickled from the corner of his mouth.
The Duster-turned-Vajra-Spear in his hand buzzed and trembled; several of its threads had actually been snapped.
"What domineering True Qi! It can actually manifest in so many different forms!"
Daoist Guanshan’s expression flickered, and then he realized something.
"The Ten Extremes Martial Arts of Celestial Sword Dugu Jiu?!"
Xu Yunfan raised an eyebrow. "Elder Guanshan is truly well-informed. To think you even know of the Ten Extremes Martial Arts."
"Heh, that Dugu Jiu was a delusional fool. He tried to merge a hundred Scriptures to achieve Ten Thousand Laws Return to the Stream and nearly killed himself in the process. I never thought someone would actually succeed in cultivating it."
Daoist Guanshan took a shallow breath. He formed a hand seal with his left hand, activating the Mysterious Truth Dragon Tiger Secret Technique. Nine golden, seal-script talismans appeared and formed a barrier around him.
This was the foundation of the Profound Daoist Sect’s power. Now that Heaven and Earth Spiritual Qi had returned to the world, its might could finally be displayed once more.
However, Xu Yunfan’s assault was like a raging tidal wave, and his second mace strike followed immediately.
There was nothing fancy about this strike. It was purely the Dragon Fall Eight Desolates Mace Technique powered by the Mixed Element True Seed. The Dragon Fall into the Wilderness effect made the mace as heavy as a mountain, and Daoist Guanshan’s Golden Talisman barrier shattered like glass.
"CRACK!"
Daoist Guanshan’s Duster finally gave way, its three thousand threads snapping one by one.
The shockwave blew Daoist Guanshan’s Daoist Hat from his head, and his white hair flew about, making him look like a crazed demon.
He stumbled backward, crashing through a screen wall behind him. The crimson flames had burned a charred hole in the chest of his Daoist robe, revealing a suit of soft armor that glittered with starlight underneath.
The corner of Xu Yunfan’s eye twitched. The Six Great Sects of Da Zhou were simply too wealthy. It seemed every Ninth Realm Qi Cultivator they sent out was protected by Divine Armor.
He recognized it as the Star Heavenly Silkworm Armor, a Tier Seven Divine Armor forged for the Profound Daoist Sect back when he was at Divine Weapon Ridge.
"Star Pattern Steel mixed with Celestial Silkworm Threads? Divine Weapon Ridge even used its most prized treasures?"
Daoist Guanshan’s eyelids drooped. "And who do you think it was," he said faintly, "that wielded a Divine Weapon to smash Divine Weapon Ridge to the ground?"
"Trying to piss me off?"
Xu Yunfan sneered. The Red Fire Dragon-Swallowing Mace spun in the air, and his third strike shot straight for Daoist Guanshan’s skull. "Let’s see how many hits this turtle shell can take!"
A grave expression appeared in Daoist Guanshan’s eyes as his Dragon and Tiger True Qi manifested a dragon and a tiger to protect him.
The force behind Xu Yunfan’s Heavy Mace was simply too terrifying; two strikes had been enough to shatter the Tier Seven Divine Weapon Duster in his hands.
Just as he was about to use his Profound Daoist Secret Martial Arts, a heaven-shaking, maniacal laugh echoed from the sky. "Guan Mountain, you old long-nose! I never thought I’d see you in such a state!"
The voice boomed like a Thunderbolt as a dark figure dove down from the clouds.
The man was bare-chested, his gnarled muscles looking as if they were forged from Refined Iron. His right arm was tattooed with a Nine Suns Totem. The wind from his fist, before it even arrived, had already sucked the air into a vacuum for hundreds of yards around.
This single punch actually knocked Xu Yunfan’s Red Fire Dragon-Swallowing Mace three inches off course. The mace’s edge grazed past Daoist Guanshan’s ear and obliterated half a pavilion, turning it to dust.
"Chu Sheng, the Jiuyao Sect’s ’Venerable Lieyang’!"
Xu Yunfan’s pupils contracted. He could only feel his hand go numb.
The newcomer was none other than Chu Sheng, the Jiuyao Sect’s strongest contemporary Nine Realms Qi Cultivation Grandmaster. He was a Horizontal Training Extreme Expert, famous throughout the Great Zhou for cultivating the Great Sun Glaze Body to the point where his physical body could clash directly with Divine Weapons.
Chu Sheng landed like a falling meteor, and the flagstone ground collapsed into a huge, web-like crater.
He cracked his neck, the joints popping like firecrackers. "Old man Bi Yuan used the Dragon Vein Xuanhuang Qi to rush you into the Ninth Realm. A pity you’re just a pretty, hollow frame."
"A hollow frame?"
Xu Yunfan grinned, forced to withdraw his Red Fire Dragon-Swallowing Mace.
Since his mace strike had failed to kill Daoist Guanshan, he had no choice but to pull back.
These experts from the great Sects were more than just a cut above your average Ninth Realm Qi Cultivator.
"I’m talking about you!"
As Chu Sheng spoke, he suddenly threw a punch at Xu Yunfan’s face. True Qi surged from his fist, and the Nine Suns Totem tattooed on his arm lit up one by one.
"Let me show you what a true Ninth Realm physique looks like!"
Xu Yunfan’s expression remained unchanged. Ten Extremes True Qi erupted from the soles of his feet, and his body slid back dozens of yards like a slippery fish.
The spot where he had been standing was blasted into a ten-yard-deep pit by the force of the punch, and the flying debris actually burst into golden flames in mid-air.
This was the "Gold-Burning, Iron-Melting" effect of the Jiuyao Sect’s Sect’s Ultimate Skill, the Great Sun Glaze Body, when cultivated to its peak.
Wherever his fist went, metal and stone turned to ash! The pores of Chu Sheng’s body spewed colored flames, and the Nine Suns Totem flowed like lava beneath his skin. Every inch of his flesh and blood had been tempered to be comparable to a Tier Seven Divine Weapon.
Even more terrifying, he had long ago cultivated the Nine Luminaries Swallowing Qi Technique to the Vast and Mighty realm. With a single breath, he could drain all the Heaven and Earth Essence Qi for hundreds of yards around. His Blood Qi was like a great sun’s furnace, and his True Qi was as vast and powerful as a surging river.
Ordinary Ninth Realm Martial Artists would lose half their courage before even starting a fight with him!
Xu Yunfan’s expression was unchanged. He said lightly, "Sect Leader Chu, instead of trying to take back your sect’s mountain from Daqian, what are you doing joining the fun over here?"
"Killing you is more cost-effective. Maybe I’ll even be able to enter the Land Immortal Realm. You think you can escape?"
Chu Sheng gave a savage grin and slammed his fists together, sending out a shower of blinding sparks.
Golden flames erupted from his pores as his entire body transformed into a humanoid sun and lunged forward.
With nowhere to retreat, Xu Yunfan held the Red Fire Dragon-Swallowing Mace horizontally before his chest. The instant the dragon engravings on the mace met his opponent’s fist, it let out the ear-piercing shriek of scraping metal.