Chapter 202: Qing He, You Did Very Well.
Qing He held the Dehorned Blade in hand, while ten thousand identical blades manifested behind him.
"Where did this turtle-scented pile of dog filth come from? Strip off the shell and it looks just like a toad," Qing He cursed coldly. "Today I will smash your turtle shell to pieces."
Xu Yuan did not turn his head, yet his divine sense had already captured the Nascent Soul flood dragon behind him charging forward with a sword, as well as the ten thousand cold lights flashing toward him from behind Qing He.
It was as if the sky itself were torn apart, all in a single instant.
The sword light had already arrived.
Judging from this alone, there was no doubt that this flood dragon was raised by a major power, the kind only a great family or sect could nurture.
Otherwise, even a flood dragon would never be able to cultivate sword arts of such a level.
Xu Yuan hesitated for a brief moment, then tossed a protective treasure behind him, propped up a defensive barrier with demonic power, and completely ignored Qing He.
With the situation changing rapidly, a swift and decisive battle was the best course.
More importantly, precious demons raised by major sects usually carried quite a few valuable items on them.
Just the long sword in Qing He's hand was already something Xu Yuan had never seen before.
By extension, that Nascent Soul flood dragon should at least be carrying a treasure capable of resisting attacks at the Deity Transformation level.
Even if not, it should have something similar for safety.
Time was not on his side. Leaving aside the sinister brat who had ambushed him earlier, Xu Yuan did not even know whether a greater expert was rushing here behind this flood dragon.
Although he could no longer be considered a proper Deity Transformation great demon, Xu Yuan still had some confidence when facing an early-stage Nascent Soul flood dragon.
However, he had underestimated Qing He at full power.
The treasure Xu Yuan threw out was an Eight Trigrams Bronze Mirror. The instant it was released, spiritual energy surged from it, and under his control, a heavy Eight Trigrams barrier formed in front of Qing He.
The barrier's spiritual energy was like a city wall, with trigrams and stellar positions flashing upon it, resembling a portable ritual-grade treasure.
Qing He's expression was icy. The Dehorned Blade in his hand shimmered with cold light, yet instead of striking the treasure directly, he sent the ten thousand swords behind him forward in unison, bombarding the Eight Trigrams barrier.
In the blink of an eye, a thousand swords were blasted away by the trigrams. No matter how the blades stabbed and pierced, the Eight Trigrams barrier did not waver in the slightest.
Seeing this, Xu Yuan finally let out a breath of relief.
Strictly speaking, this defensive treasure was nothing special.
It was only capable of blocking attacks from Nascent Soul cultivators.
After all, Xu Yuan belonged to the turtle lineage. No same-tier treasure, no matter how hard, could be harder than his own shell.
Moreover, as a demon, most treasures came from human cultivators, and he truly could not obtain anything particularly good.
Having such an Eight Trigrams protective treasure was already considered fortunate.
He had not expected this flood dragon to attack so ferociously, yet with such ordinary means.
Qing He sensed that the timing was right and closed in. Facing the Eight Trigrams barrier, he coldly uttered two words.
"Return to One."
Qing He thrust the Dehorned Blade forward. The ten thousand swords scattered around instantly converged, gathering into his hand.
Cold light flashed, spiritual energy surged.
Heaven and earth seemed to pause, and all sound fell silent.
Even though his divine sense could still perceive what was behind him, Xu Yuan could not help but turn his head.
Because that was unmistakably the aura of a divine ability.
The silver-white long sword in Qing He's hand had already become transparent, countless streaks of white light flowing within it. Ten thousand swords had seemingly merged into a single blade.
Qing He swung his sword.
White light flashed, and heaven and earth turned the same color.
Silence filled the ears, and mountains and rivers shattered.
Even though Xie Lingyu had already retreated far away with Li Xingtian, and only the aftershock reached her, she still felt its terrifying power.
She looked toward the dazzling light, where the radiance still lingered. She could not see Qing He's expression, but it was likely utterly emotionless.
"Divine ability…?" Xu Yuan was forced to halt his movement by Qing He's sword. The battered ancient sword in his hand was barely blocking Qing He's translucent blade.
The Dragon-Slaying Sword erupted with an overwhelming aura of bloodshed, resisting the sharp intent of Qing He's sword.
Xu Yuan stared intently at Qing He. "I never thought humans would teach demons divine abilities. You little flood dragon, it seems being a dog suits you better than being a dragon."
Qing He did not respond. The sword in his hand shimmered once more, and several hundred swords flew out from the Dehorned Blade, quickly gathering around him.
After a brief stalemate, the hundreds of swords formed a sword formation, sword intent rapidly condensing. In only a moment, the hundreds of blades multiplied into a thousand.
After sensing the sword formation, Xu Yuan understood that if he did not deal with this flood dragon first, everything else would likely be meaningless.
"I wanted to spare your life," Xu Yuan said coldly. "You simply did not cherish it."
With a snort, Xu Yuan poured his origin power once more into the Dragon-Slaying Sword. The bloody aura instantly spread in all directions as he gripped the sword tightly and roared, pressing down on Qing He with all his strength.
Demonic power exploded from his body.
Qing He immediately felt the sword in his hand become unbearably heavy, the bloody aura beginning to disrupt the flow of energy within him.
At the same time, an instinctive fear arose from the ancient sword, a terror that made Qing He feel as though he were being targeted by a natural enemy.
Qing He had never felt anything like this before, as if a predator were locking onto him.
Even though he endured the fear, the gap in cultivation was still immense, accompanied by a strange sense of suppression.
A red light streaked across the sky, the clash erupting like a shattered firmament.
Moments later, Qing He's figure was smashed down into the riverbed.
Xu Yuan immediately followed, pressing down upon him. Holding the Dragon-Slaying Sword, Xu Yuan was now Qing He's greatest nemesis.
Qing He felt the previous strike weigh as heavily as a mountain, as if it were about to break his spine.
He took a deep breath and looked up at Xu Yuan descending from the sky.
Qing He had never lost face before outsiders.
"To hell with you, you useless trash!" Qing He crazily squeezed the spiritual energy within his body and roared, throwing the Dehorned Blade from his hand.
Once released, it transformed into a vast giant sword, shooting straight toward Xu Yuan.
Xu Yuan also discarded the Dragon-Slaying Sword and charged toward Qing He.
From the sky, an intensely red radiance descended, as if it were about to shatter the earth.
From below, a dazzling white heaven-piercing giant sword surged upward, as if to split the firmament.
They met in an instant.
The white heaven-piercing sword collapsed in a single moment.
The red light followed through.
Qing He watched as the ancient sword rapidly closed in. Gritting his teeth, he extended his partially dragonized hand, attempting to block it.
He could not hold it back even for a moment. The sword pierced straight through his palm.
Enduring the intense pain, Qing He clenched the blade and roared, forcibly shifting its path.
From striking his head, it became a strike that pierced through his shoulder blade.
The Dragon-Slaying Sword contained terrifying power, now wreaking havoc inside Qing He's body.
At this moment, Qing He's left hand and right shoulder blade were pinned beneath the riverbed by the Dragon-Slaying Sword.
Seeing that Qing He seemed unable to resist further, Xu Yuan descended onto the riverbed and reached out to pull the sword free, intending to deliver the finishing blow.
However, Xu Yuan had only just pulled out the Dragon-Slaying Sword when an extremely horrifying aura surged in, carrying a locking intent.
There was no time to retreat. He could only turn and raise the sword to block.
Boom!
Xu Yuan was blasted back a hundred zhang.
At the same time, a massive Nascent Soul hand fished Qing He out from the riverbed.
From afar, Xie Lingyu watched the chibi-like Nascent Soul manifestation of Chu Xingchen. In his right hand was a flowing water long sword, while his left palm protected Qing He, whose face was slightly pale.
Qing He looked at Chu Xingchen's Nascent Soul manifestation, a heavy weight lifting from his heart. So this kid really could fight. The one who ran was that old turtle bastard.
With a hint of grievance in his voice, Qing He said, "You black-hearted brat… Qing He hurts a bit… beat him up."
Chu Xingchen nodded heavily in assurance.
"Don't worry, I will. Qing He, you did very well. Go to sleep. When you wake up, I will treat you to a meal."
Dear Readers,
I have an important favor to ask of you today. If you've been enjoying the story, please consider switching to Patreon to support me directly.
By joining, you will instantly unlock 20 chapters and gain access to a total of 50 to 55 chapters every month.
To be honest with you, I am currently in deep financial trouble, and your support would mean the world to me during this difficult time. Furthermore, if I can get more members, I plan to add even more new fanfics by the end of this week!
Please consider supporting me on Patreon so I can continue creating content for you.
Thank you for your help
patreon.com/Alex_Cruise