Chapter 856: Who Dares Harm My Junior Sister?

A commotion erupted from all directions. In the blink of an eye, two Half-Saint successors had arrived. Joining them were various influential figures, renowned across different regions. The situation instantly became precarious.

Xiao Wanfeng, seeing the formidable lineup, felt his courage about to shatter. At that moment, he yearned for Young Master Xu's presence, thinking, "If Young Master Xu were here, how could these people dare to be so audacious?"

Su Qianqian, however, showed no signs of worry. If things went south and she couldn't win, she could always escape with the spatial origin stone. All she needed to do was hold out for a while, and support would surely arrive. As for Xiao Wanfeng, she was even less concerned. As long as he revealed his affiliation as a "subordinate of Young Master Xu, the Half-Saint Successor," even if they captured him, they wouldn't dare to do anything more. Furthermore, besides the 100,000 points gained from locating the spatial origin stone, Xiao Wanfeng possessed nothing else of value. Harming him would only provoke Young Master Xu's wrath. Who would be foolish enough to court such trouble?

"Have you made your decision?" Jiang Xian spoke. However, his question wasn't aimed at Su Qianqian, but rather at the numerous formidable figures present, as if discussing how to distribute the spatial origin stone next.

Before anyone else could speak, Su Qianqian had already raised her sword once more, her gaze resolute.

"All of you, come at me at once!"

"My grandfather never retreated, even when facing a formidable foe like the Eighth Sword Immortal. How could she surrender to merely a few hundred or a thousand people before her?"

"How presumptuous!" The trial participants were provoked by her arrogant stance. "A mere Sword Sect disciple, who couldn't even defeat a Half-Saint Successor, how dare she speak of fighting everyone alone?"

"In my opinion, we should seize this woman directly. As for how to distribute the spatial origin stone afterward… each to their own methods!" Someone in the crowd yelled, and everyone stirred with anticipation. But despite their eagerness, before launching their assault, they still had to seek approval from the Half-Saint Successors.

Jiang Xian grew impatient. "Just a Sword Sect disciple," he mused. He had encountered them before. Since the young woman refused to submit, he was content to claim both the spatial origin stone and her points.

Miss Duo'er, observing that Xiao Wanfeng had no intention of snatching the origin stone to offer it, merely shrugged and glanced away indifferently. She was waiting to make her move last, because the ensuing chaotic melee clearly wasn't suited for individual intervention. At that moment, the only rival in her sights was Jiang Xian.

Tang Zheng, however, chuckled as he hefted his great saber: "Alright, come at me all at once! You can charge first, but if you want the spatial origin stone, you'll have to get past me. As for the losers... hehe, just hand over your points obediently!" He cared nothing for the spatial origin stone, only the points of everyone in the arena.

"Kill!"

The outcome was obvious: no one paid attention to the boorish man. After all, Tang Zheng wielded only one saber, and he was clearly not suited for group combat, only able to strike one person at a time—a fact that had been revealed during the previous scramble for the fire-elemental origin stone.

And so, the pack of "wolves" unleashed earth-shattering roars and began their charge.

"Rumble, rumble, rumble..."

The mountains trembled. As nearly a thousand trial participants charged, their myriad energy fluctuations barraged the air. Before even reaching their target, the sheer force caused the mountains to hum and tremble like an earthquake, sending shattered stones rolling.

"'I can only withstand one wave. After that, we'll split up and run,' Su Qianqian said, no longer daring to be overconfident, as she turned to Xiao Wanfeng."

Xiao Wanfeng was speechless. "'Where would I even run?'"

Just then, under the watchful eyes of Jiang Xian, Duo'er, and the others, Su Qianqian once again raised her great sword, Guixue. With a soft hiss, a vortex of energy unfurled at her feet. The Grand Dao of Emptiness was invoked, causing the thousand charging figures to simultaneously slow to a crawl.

"'This... is the Time Rule, comprehensible by only one in ten thousand, within the Illusionary Sword Art?' Jiang Xian exclaimed in surprise." He had not witnessed Su Qianqian's previous sword strike, only heard accounts of it after his arrival. Witnessing it firsthand now, he realized Su Qianqian's capabilities were even more impressive than he had initially imagined.

"'A true genius...'" Miss Duo'er of the Blackheart Fruit Clan likewise showed astonishment in her eyes. "At such a young age, to comprehend and execute such a sword art... Such talent would be considered extraordinary, even within a Half-Saint noble family. 'No wonder they say Eastern Region sword cultivators are not to be trifled with. Are all of them truly this formidable?'"

Duo'er seemed to recall some unpleasant memories. Soon after entering the Cloud Lun Mountain Range, she had indeed once provoked a sword cultivator from a distance, which explained Jiang Xian's teasing remarks when he invited her to act together that night. However, on that occasion, neither side actually engaged in combat; they merely vied with each other using their auras from a distance. Yet, even through sheer aura, the might of that Sword Dao Throne left Duo'er feeling profoundly uncomfortable. Had it come to a true fight, she wasn't even entirely confident she could escape with her life.

Of course. That was a Sword Dao Throne! But this small Sword Sect disciple before her had clear limits to her power. She couldn't stir up much trouble.

"Charge!"

The clamor of roars, accompanied by the energy fluctuations of various Xiantian and Grandmaster experts, was so intense that the very color of the sky seemed to be swallowed at that moment. In Su Qianqian's eyes, only the tragic hues reflected by the myriad elemental spirit techniques remained. She stood firm and unmoving.

It was only when all these energies, with immense difficulty, finally breached the time barrier and arrived before her, that the great sword, as if it had been gathering power for an entire lifetime, barely showed a subtle, almost imperceptible tremor in her hand.

"Huuuuuuum—"

With merely that tremor, a startling wave of vibration directly forced Xiao Wanfeng to stagger backward repeatedly. The young man was terrified. He felt as though Su Qianqian's small body harbored a volcano that had been suppressed for ten thousand years. And that volcano was, at this very moment, on the verge of eruption!

"'The Path of Tremor...'"

The great sword Guixue executed a reverse sweep, tearing open a thick, dark spatial arc in the void. Then, facing the myriad energy attacks, Su Qianqian's body was lifted high by the sword's momentum, arcing backward into an inverted semicircle in mid-air. Her great sword rotated nearly three hundred sixty degrees, sweeping from before her body, over her head, down her back, and finally stopping at her heel!

At this instant, time seemed to halt. The massive sword, having swept back and accumulated power to its absolute limit, swung back with devastating force, slamming into the ground in an instant, before the nearly thousand trial participants could even react.

"'Path of Tremor: Force — Shatter Mountains and Rivers!'"

A thunderous roar erupted. The instant the great sword Guixue struck the ground, a visible, gaseous shockwave erupted from its epicenter, expanding outwards in a radius of several hundred meters. With the force of collapsing thunder, the shockwave instantly spread beyond a hundred meters. Su Qianqian's single sword strike not only engulfed the myriad energy attacks but also enveloped all the spellcasters—the nearly thousand trial participants.

"Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh!"

The only three individuals on the scene who managed to react were Jiang Xian, Duo'er, and Tang Zheng, who was still secretly accumulating points. In that instant, all three felt their hair stand on end and retreated hundreds of meters away as if insane. Only then, with horrified expressions, did they turn to gaze back at the scene unfolding before them.

"BOOM!!!"

An earth-shattering explosion erupted, following Su Qianqian's sword strike that had carved out a deep chasm. It was as if a small nuclear bomb had detonated on flat ground. The exploding dust was swept outwards by the shockwave, but instead of dissipating, it was confined. Ultimately, it could only surge upward into the sky. A colossal mushroom cloud, iteratively pushing towards the heavens, underwent over a dozen transformations in an instant, expanding from its smallest form to its final, sky-shrouding size. The heavens and earth were completely plunged into darkness!

The three who had retreated from the immediate vicinity witnessed the aftermath of Su Qianqian's sword: trial participants were sent flying, bodies mangled, with severed limbs and scattered remains, some even decapitated.

"'The Path of Tremor?'"

Jiang Xian's face was aghast as he muttered, "'The Path of Tremor from the Three Thousand Sword Daos? What level of comprehension does this young woman possess? Even if she had cultivated from birth, it would be impossible for her at this age to have both grasped the Time Rule of the Illusionary Sword Art and developed the Path of Tremor to such a degree, surely? Whose disciple is she, truly?'"

Miss Duo'er covered her mouth and nose, her eyes wide with shock, but then suddenly burst into laughter. "'I find her far more entertaining than Xiao Wanfeng,' she declared. 'This person, I claim her!'"

Tang Zheng stared, dumbfounded, at the preceding scene. "'This is the Three Thousand Sword Daos?' he mumbled. 'I haven't even grasped the profundity of my great saber, and this young woman is already so far ahead of me? No wonder Master told me to stop messing with sabers and focus on body tempering…'"

Piercing wails echoed from all directions. After a momentary vacuum, sounds of agony emanated from everywhere.

"'My leg, ahhh...'""'My jade pendant, damn it! This is a protective jade pendant that can withstand a blow from a Throne expert!'""'Didn't they say this girl was already in a weakened state? How could she still unleash such an attack?'""'My head... no, my body, where did it go?'""'My hand!!'"

Grandmaster experts might have endured the shockwave, surviving by relying on their various defensive spirit artifacts. However, not a single one of the cannon fodder Xiantian cultivators who had charged with them managed to escape. Without defensive spirit artifacts bestowed by their clans, they were either crippled or killed. Ninety-nine percent of them were instantly expelled from the Cloud Lun Mountain Range.

"Pfft!"

On the field, Su Qianqian, leaning on the great sword Guixue, couldn't help but cough up a mouthful of blood. The Three Thousand Sword Daos were indeed too taxing. This particular sword strike had also been charged to its absolute limit. The sheer recoil alone nearly pulverized her internal organs; after all, she didn't possess a Xiantian physique.

"'Run quickly, I can't hold on any longer...'" Su Qianqian struggled to even turn her head, but still managed to instruct Xiao Wanfeng. When she unleashed the sword, she had already ensured the protection of Xiao Wanfeng, a mere mortal. Otherwise, the residual impact of the battle alone would have likely pulverized him.

"'I...'" Xiao Wanfeng took a step back, then gritted his teeth, turned, and went forward to support Su Qianqian, intending to carry her and flee together. As he helped her, he could distinctly feel every muscle in Su Qianqian's body twitching. Moreover, the young woman's hands, which had gripped the sword, were already cracked from her shoulders down to the web of her thumb, with blood seeping from the fissures. Clearly, unleashing such a sword strike was beyond the capacity of a mere Sword Sect disciple.

"'Put me down, we'll run separately!'" Su Qianqian weakly turned her head, her voice full of determination. Since no support was coming, she had to carry the spatial origin stone and draw the attention away. Staying with Xiao Wanfeng would only result in both their deaths.

"'Impossible,' Xiao Wanfeng stated." He dismissed the idea without a second thought and scooped up Su Qianqian. She felt weightless in his arms, and he immediately began to sprint wildly.

"'My sword...'" Su Qianqian's face was pale as she pointed at the abandoned great sword Guixue, her eyes filled with sorrow. "This was the heavy sword passed down from her grandfather, weighing as much as ten thousand jun! After she acknowledged it as her own, she could wield it effortlessly. However, for an outsider, let alone Xiao Wanfeng, a mere mortal, even a Grandmaster might not be able to budge it an inch. It was simply unrealistic for Xiao Wanfeng to carry both her and the sword."

"'What a nuisance! How much easier would a wooden sword be!' Xiao Wanfeng grumbled, but understanding that a sword was a sword cultivator's lifeblood, he immediately turned and ran back with Su Qianqian in his arms."

"'Don't go back!' Su Qianqian exclaimed anxiously. 'That's my grandfather's sword! You can't possibly pick it up, and no one else here can lift it if we leave it!'"

"Whoosh!" With a light sound, Xiao Wanfeng hung the wooden sword on his back, continued to hold Su Qianqian with one arm, and with his free hand, effortlessly scooped up the great sword Guixue.

Su Qianqian: ???

At this, she froze in disbelief. "'Huh? He... he picked it up?'"

"Huuuuuuum!!!" Gripped by an outsider, the great sword Guixue immediately began to struggle violently. The frequency of its vibration was so intense that it could easily crack the web of an unprepared Xiantian cultivator's thumb. Yet, Xiao Wanfeng held it as if nothing was amiss, his hand trembling with the great sword's high-frequency vibrations. All the immense power was perfectly neutralized.

Su Qianqian: ???

She was utterly bewildered again. "'What... what is happening now?'"

She had indeed sensed earlier that this young man was extraordinary. At the very least, that subtle, almost imperceptible Sword Sect aura, if fully unleashed, seemed capable of matching her own. But... Guixue clearly had a master! How could it fail to even shake off a mere mortal?

"'Quiet!'"

As Su Qianqian's mind raced, Xiao Wanfeng evidently lost his patience with Guixue's resistance and let out an angry roar. And astonishingly, Guixue actually quieted down! Su Qianqian could even sense a faint, almost imperceptible trace of fear from her own sword spirit...

"'Fear?'"

Su Qianqian: ???

She was astonished for the third time. "How could Guixue be afraid of an outsider? This was her grandfather's former personal sword! As the former wielder of the renowned sword 'Mingcheng Xue' from the Sword Tomb, her grandfather had weathered countless storms throughout his life. In this world, the only ones capable of instilling fear in Guixue, one of his former swords, without even engaging in combat, would surely be individuals at the level of the Seven Sword Immortals, wouldn't they?!"

"Xiao Wanfeng..."

"Was he a disguise of one of the Seven Sword Immortals?" This absurd thought flashed through her mind, and then Su Qianqian saw that Xiao Wanfeng had stopped.

"'What is it?' She finally regained her composure, refocusing on the chaotic scene before them."

"'It seems... we don't need to run anymore,' Xiao Wanfeng said, his ear twitching slightly, a hint of uncertainty in his voice."

Su Qianqian looked at the Grandmasters who, after the initial shockwave, had regained their composure despite being injured by the backlash and were preparing to retaliate. She immediately understood.

"'Put me down...' she whispered, raising her hand, and Guixue swiftly flew back into her grasp. 'I can still fight.'"

"'No need,' Xiao Wanfeng said, setting her down, but still trying to dissuade her."

"'I can unleash similar attacks twice more,' Su Qianqian said, coldly smirking at the Grandmasters. She might have been injured by the recoil, but she was no pushover."

"'And what about after those two times? Will you still be alive?' Xiao Wanfeng retorted. He paused, then clarified, 'When I said "no need," I meant that our reinforcements seem to have arrived.'"

He glanced at the ground. On the ground before them, a swaying flower suddenly broke through the soil and bloomed. Its fragrance was intoxicating and refreshing. It instantly washed away all fatigue from one's heart.

Su Qianqian paused, startled by his words, then turned her gaze to the void, murmuring, "'It seems... they really have arrived...'"

High in the distant sky, just as Jiang Xian, Duo'er, and Tang Zheng all believed Su Qianqian was powerless to resist and were about to rally their forces for another assault, a furious roar, brimming with killing intent, struck them like a bolt of lightning from a clear sky.

"'Who dares to lay a hand on my junior sister!'"