Chapter 2865: Such a Waste

Xuan Wuzong, a sword cultivator who had practiced a secret art called Sword Soul, activated it. His soul power transformed into a sword, instantly breaching Lu Ye's soul sea defenses. Seeing Lu Ye appear to be in a state of spiritual instability, Xuan Wuzong shook the long sword in his hand. Continuous sword energy, like dancing thunder snakes, surged towards Lu Ye, instantly engulfing his figure.

Relentless after gaining the upper hand, Xuan Wuzong swept forward with his sword light, appearing before Lu Ye and lightly thrusting his blade. This seemingly weightless thrust was, in fact, the convergence of all his strength.

At this very moment, within Lu Ye's soul sea, Jin Yao had already revealed herself. Gently shaking the Soul-Suppressing Bell, she sent out clearly discernible ripples. All soul swords that had entered the soul sea shattered into nothingness, failing to create even the slightest disturbance. The spiritual instability Xuan Wuzong perceived in Lu Ye was entirely an illusion.

"This Soul Sword Art is quite something," Jin Yao even remarked, clearly unconcerned. She was a Ba Qiu from another era, the strongest in the inner realm and qualified to advance further. While a portion of Ba Qiu's power stemmed from Shang's blessing, Jin Yao's strength was entirely self-derived, suggesting her foundation might be even deeper than Ba Qiu's. To receive such an assessment from her, Xuan Wuzong's secret art was indeed extraordinary. If Lu Ye hadn't acquired the Soul-Suppressing Bell beforehand, he might genuinely have been in serious trouble.

As Xuan Wuzong's sword thrust forward, he suddenly saw a flash of mirror light around Lu Ye, startling him and making him realize something was amiss. Under normal circumstances, this would have been an excellent chance for a surprise attack; Lu Ye's shaking spiritual power would have left him no opportunity to counter. However, that mirror light clearly signified the power of the Sky Mirror. As expected, with the mirror light's appearance, the continuous sword light that had blasted towards Lu Ye was entirely reflected back, striking him in a unified counterattack with hardly any loss of power.

He had noticed during his last battle with Lu Ye that the Sky Mirror seemed more powerful in Lu Ye's hands than it had been with Xue Jiu. He had dismissed it as an illusion then, but now he realized it was no illusion at all. The power of this supreme treasure was indeed significantly amplified.

By now, Xuan Wuzong fully realized that Lu Ye had not been affected by his Soul Sword Art at all. Cursing the "little thief" for his cunning, he could only frantically unleash his power to neutralize the continuous sword energy reflected back at him. Before he could fully deal with the reflected attack, a long saber, hidden beneath the swirling sword energy, slashed diagonally towards him. In the midst of his hurried defense, Xuan Wuzong could only raise his sword to parry. An immense, violent force struck him, causing his entire body to tremble.

With no time to breathe, Lu Ye's assault descended like a fierce storm, and in an instant, the two figures blurred into a whirlwind of motion. Such close-quarters combat was extremely perilous. Yet, both Lu Ye and Xuan Wuzong were seasoned veterans, having fought countless battles, big and small, throughout their cultivation. Their respective saber and sword arts had long become instinctive; every move was a killing blow, and they effortlessly countered each other's attacks while unleashing their own deadly techniques.

The situation was exactly like their last encounter: Xuan Wuzong detected no signs of Lu Ye mobilizing external forces, yet his opponent undeniably possessed the profound foundation of the Ten City Lords. More than shock, his heart was filled with doubt. With this level of power, how had he managed to slay Zong Shenliang?

The intelligence he had received claimed that Zong Shenliang, severely wounded, had fled into the Hehe Realm, only to be pursued by Lu Ye to the Initial Palace and beheaded with a single saber strike in plain sight. But it didn't add up. He was well aware of Zong Shenliang's strength, which was comparable to his own. While Lu Ye's current power was indeed formidable, his only discernible advantage seemed to be his superior physical strength. Zong Shenliang should by no means have fallen to this human! Unless... Zong Shenliang had been poisoned by this brat, leading to a significant loss of power. Having personally experienced the horror of that potent poison, he naturally knew the consequences of being afflicted by it.

Now, seeing Lu Ye once again adopt an unreasonable, injury-for-injury fighting style, Xuan Wuzong had no intention of indulging him. Wielding the Nine Heavens Thunder Marsh Sword, he protected himself with an impenetrable defense. In this exchange, Xuan Wuzong remained unharmed, while Lu Ye was repeatedly injured, blood spurting, looking utterly disheveled. He could win! As long as he didn't get greedy or rush recklessly, he would absolutely win!

Xuan Wuzong's confidence immediately soared. After all, he hadn't been forced back by Lu Ye alone last time; a Fu Wei had been assisting him, making it a two-on-one fight. He had only retreated after being poisoned. This time, as long as he avoided injury, there was no chance of him being poisoned again.

Just as he was thinking this, his heart suddenly skipped a beat, as if sensing something, and his pupils contracted sharply. He quickly looked at the long sword in his hand, noticing that the lightning on its blade seemed to have dimmed. Startled, he quickly probed it with his senses, and his face instantly turned pale! His supreme treasured sword... its power was diminished! Any other person might not have noticed such minor damage, but Xuan Wuzong did.

A similar situation had occurred once before. That was many years ago, during his first direct clash with Ba Qiu. He had achieved fame earlier than Ba Qiu; by the time Ba Qiu rose, he was already one of the Ten City Lords. Thus, in that particular confrontation, his strength was slightly superior to Ba Qiu's, as Ba Qiu had not yet reached her peak. He had been supremely confident he could defeat Ba Qiu, but after a direct confrontation with her, the power of his Thunder Marsh Sword was inexplicably diminished. It wasn't until many years later that he learned Ba Qiu's supreme treasure was a Weapon Clan artifact, capable of devouring the mysterious essence from other supreme treasures to empower itself. Consequently, he never again dared to directly confront Ba Qiu in such a manner, and the power lost by his Thunder Marsh Sword was never recovered.

To his dismay, the nightmare of many years past was recurring today! He suddenly looked at the long saber in Lu Ye's hand and exclaimed, "Is that a Weapon Clan artifact?" Ba Qiu wielded a great blade that was a Weapon Clan artifact; now, Lu Ye's long saber was also a Weapon Clan artifact. Only this could explain why the Thunder Marsh Sword's power was diminished.

Lu Ye sighed inwardly; it had been discovered after all. He had been careful enough, but although Liao devoured the mysterious essence within the Thunder Marsh Sword silently, Xuan Wuzong was its master, and after countless years together, he was bound to detect any abnormality in the Thunder Marsh Sword. As his thoughts raced, a fierce saber strike slashed forward.

Xuan Wuzong instinctively moved to raise his sword to parry but quickly abandoned the idea, unwilling to risk further consumption of his Thunder Marsh Sword's essence. Instead, facing the attack, he frantically channeled his Dao power to protect his body. Where the saber edge pointed, his protective Dao power lasted only an instant before shattering. To Xuan Wuzong's disbelief, blood spurted as he was sent flying like a rag doll. His eyes trembled with shock. How could this be! He had just clashed with Lu Ye and distinctly felt that Lu Ye's strength was still slightly inferior to his own, just as it had been last time. How could this single saber strike possess such devastating power, capable of directly inflicting a severe wound? Had he not sensed something was amiss and slightly dodged, that saber strike would have almost cleaved him in two. The sharpness of that long saber was such that even his Dao bones could hardly resist it. Compared to their last encounter, Lu Ye's strength had increased by far more than a little; it had grown by at least one or two thousand units of Dao power.

What terrified him even more was that this saber strike not only poisoned him as before, but also left an inexplicable force at the wound, tearing his flesh, and a familiar sealing power invading his body. It was Ba Qiu's power! But why was Lu Ye wielding Ba Qiu's power?

With the aura behind him clinging like a leech, intent on his demise, Xuan Wuzong dared not hesitate any longer. He shook his Thunder Marsh Sword, transformed into a bolt of lightning, and fled into the distance. At the same time, he called out to Hong Tu and Gu Mingyue, "Flee quickly!"

"Trying to run!" Lu Ye's gaze was fixed on the streak of lightning. With a wave of his hand, a massive chessboard descended from the sky, encompassing the surrounding area. The lightning enveloping Xuan Wuzong's figure was instantly ensnared within it. His figure swept through, crossing one chess square after another, quickly pursuing. However, the lightning was not entirely contained by the chess squares. The thunder within it grew fiercer, suddenly transforming into a lightning sword that forcibly broke through the chess game's blockade, piercing through numerous squares. While the Starry Chessboard was a supreme treasure, Xuan Wuzong's Thunder Marsh Sword was equally formidable and possessed the power to break through such formations. However, the vivid crimson on the lightning sword indicated that Xuan Wuzong had clearly paid a significant price for his escape. Lu Ye ultimately failed to restrain Xuan Wuzong; after breaking through the chess game's blockade, the lightning vanished in an instant, moving with incredible speed. Even with Lu Ye activating his shifting technique in pursuit, he was powerless to stop him. In his perception, the power of Liao and Shang that had infiltrated Xuan Wuzong's body rapidly receded.

Meanwhile, almost simultaneously with Xuan Wuzong's shout to flee, both Hong Tu and Gu Mingyue were startled. Both of them were struggling against Dragon Venerable and Phoenix Master respectively. They had originally hoped Xuan Wuzong would defeat Lu Ye and then come to their aid, or at least keep him stalled. They had already ordered troops to attack Sacred Dragon City from three directions, anticipating that Dragon Venerable and Phoenix Master would be forced to retreat once their forces reached the city walls. Then, they could unreservedly divide Senluo City's power.

Who knew that so soon, Xuan Wuzong would be severely wounded and in retreat! This guy... was he truly so incompetent? Getting injured by Lu Ye last time was one thing—at least Lu Ye had an assistant then. But this time, fighting alone, he seemed to have been beaten even more severely. Though annoyed, Xuan Wuzong had already fled. If they remained, it would inevitably end in tragedy for them. Thus, without a moment's hesitation, both Hong Tu and Gu Mingyue activated their secret arts and fled in different directions.

Hong Tu, a body cultivator by origin, was thick-skinned and durable. He allowed Dragon Venerable to relentlessly barrage him from behind; though disheveled, he never looked back, knowing they were merely superficial wounds that would heal with some rest. Poor Gu Mingyue, however, was spitting blood as he fled, beaten by Phoenix Master. Had his Water Spirit body not been formless and intangible, he surely would have found escape impossible.

Half an incense stick later, when Lu Ye returned to the vicinity of Senluo City, both Dragon Venerable and Phoenix Master had already returned, staring at him with bewildered eyes. Like Hong Tu and Gu Mingyue, they too couldn't understand how Xuan Wuzong had been so thoroughly thrashed. After all, Lu Ye had been slightly at a disadvantage during their previous encounter.