Chapter 21: Fangtian Sword

The sky was still azure and clear, with several long, golden wisps of clouds stretching across the distant mountain peaks.

“This is indeed the place,” Xu Yang murmured.

He stood atop a high point within the secret realm, surveying his surroundings. The landscape gradually merged with his memories.

Years ago, his little attendant had established a renowned major force here: the Skywind Sect.

However, many years had passed, and both the sect and the attendant had vanished into the river of time.

“Wait,” Xu Yang suddenly sensed something. A smile appeared on his face as he turned to look at Ling Qingshu.

“You’ve just practiced a new sword technique. Would you like a treasure sword from me?”

Ling Qingshu looked at Xu Yang with a surprised expression. “Yes!”

“Alright, then let’s go retrieve it,” Xu Yang said, his figure swiftly darting in a certain direction. Ling Qingshu followed closely behind him.

The Skywind Sect once possessed a sect-guarding treasure called the Vast Sky Sword. It served as the core of the sect's protective grand formation, located within the Abyssal Ice Mountain at the center of the secret realm.

Just now, Xu Yang had detected a faint fluctuation from the grand formation.

Although the formation was no longer active, it hadn't completely disintegrated! The Vast Sky Sword, as its core, still existed.

Back in its heyday, the Sky Mist Sect would have had countless spirit swords of the Vast Sky Sword’s caliber.

However, the Sky Mist Sect had fallen into decline. Ling Qingshu, as its current sect leader, was still using a battered old sword.

Since they were here, it was natural to retrieve the Vast Sky Sword, which originally belonged to Xu Yang anyway.

They hadn't traveled far when suddenly, four figures appeared from the north, south, east, and west, encircling Xu Yang and Ling Qingshu.

Leading them was a short, corpulent man with distorted features. "Ugly" was insufficient to describe his appearance; "grotesque" was more fitting.

The three individuals behind him were decent-looking, but surprisingly, these three fools deferred to the fat man as their leader.

“Robbery? Highwaymen? Or what?” Xu Yang asked with a cold expression, a hint of mockery playing on his lips as he looked at the group.

“That’s right, you guessed it! We are the Four Fierce Tigers of Ten-Mile Pavilion. Have you heard of us? Leave everything you have and you can scram,” the leading fat man blustered.

“Exactly! Our boss is at the Mid Golden Core stage, and we’re also in the Golden Core stage. You’d best hand over your possessions obediently, or we’ll kill you for resisting!” another henchman-like figure arrogantly added.

Xu Yang’s lips twitched. Four ordinary Golden Core cultivators, impressive? To think they would try to rob him—they had a death wish.

Ling Qingshu swiftly drew her sword, pointing it at the four bandits. “You scummy wretches, I’ll chop you to pieces!”

As soon as she finished speaking, Ling Qingshu activated her Extreme Life Sword technique, ready to attack.

Xu Yang quickly restrained her.

“Calm down. You’re a girl, can you please not be so quick to resort to chopping and killing? Let me talk to them first.”

Xu Yang felt it was imperative to criticize Ling Qingshu’s fiery temper.

Ling Qingshu stomped her foot, seemingly unconvinced, her gaze still fixed intently on the four bandits, as if she would swing her sword and slay them the moment anything seemed amiss.

Xu Yang slowly stepped forward, approaching them, and slowly extended a single finger.

“I’ll count to three. Disappear within three counts, or else, do you see her? She will make you vanish from this world.”

The four bandits looked at Xu Yang in disbelief. After confirming he was merely at the Qi Condensation stage, the leading fat man sneered.

“You have a death wish! You’re just a Qi Condensation cultivator, not hiding behind your companion, yet you dare to prattle on? I think you’re looking for death!”

“Everyone who thought I was at the Qi Condensation stage has died,” Xu Yang said calmly.

“You’re not at Qi Condensation?”

“I am at Qi Condensation. I’ve been at Qi Condensation for a very long time,” Xu Yang said wistfully.

“Pah! Playing games,” the fat man sneered, then said, “What are you waiting for? Kill the woman. As for the man, he’s quite handsome; keep him for her.”

“Yes,” the three henchmen said with sinister smiles, approaching Xu Yang, not taking him seriously in the slightest.

“Keep the man? Haven’t they always kept the women? Damn it, they’re not… gay, are they?” A shiver ran down Xu Yang’s spine.

“Since you’ve chosen death, don’t blame me,” Xu Yang said. As his words fell, his figure abruptly closed in.

“A mere Qi Condensation cultivator, yet so arrogant.” The three also simultaneously punched towards Xu Yang’s head, vowing to smash him into pulp with a single blow.

Crack…

Several sounds of bones shattering and collapsing echoed as Xu Yang clashed with the three Golden Core cultivators.

The three Golden Core cultivators spurted blood. In a flash of lightning, their wrists were pulverized by a powerful force.

Bones throughout their bodies were also affected, making cracking sounds as they rapidly fractured and disintegrated!

In an instant, all three Golden Core cultivators died!

Ling Qingshu watched this scene, gaining a deeper understanding of her ancestor’s formidable power. To effortlessly kill three Golden Core cultivators in an instant—how could one do that without being at the Grotto-Heaven stage?

Just then, a spiritual beast resembling a small puppy bounded out, swallowed the three cultivators’ Golden Cores in one gulp, then contentedly jumped onto Xu Yang’s shoulder, rubbing against his cheek.

The previously arrogant fat man instantly froze in shock, a faint smell of urine emanating from his crotch. Even he, as foolish as he was, knew he had messed with the wrong person this time.

“Those three are dead. Now it’s your turn,” Xu Yang said, turning to face the fat man.

“Aren’t you at Qi Condensation?! You’re not at Qi Condensation!” The fat man was so terrified he could only repeat this single phrase.

Yet no matter how he looked, Xu Yang truly seemed to be only at the Qi Condensation stage…

To perfectly conceal one’s cultivation from Mid Golden Core cultivators, one must be… at the Nascent Soul stage!!

The fat man nearly died on the spot at the thought.

“I really am at Qi Condensation,” Xu Yang stated very seriously.

“Alright, I’ve wasted enough time talking to you. You can die now, and be satisfied.” Xu Yang’s palm shot towards the fat man’s crown.

The fat man was, after all, a Golden Core cultivator who had lived a life on the edge for years, possessing strong mental fortitude.

Suddenly, his arm shot up, palm facing skyward. A black vortex gathered in his hand, sucking in everything around it and turning it to dust.

“What if you are at the Nascent Soul stage?! I won’t just wait here to die!”

“Essence-Devouring Gale Slash!” the fat man roared, confronting Xu Yang. The Gale Slash was his signature technique, and now he unleashed two hundred percent of his strength, pushing himself to the brink of death to deliver the greatest possible power from his Essence-Devouring Slash.

Boom…

Xu Yang and the fat man moved in a blur. Xu Yang effortlessly dodged the fat man’s attack, raised his hand, and slapped him across the face.

The fat man spun several times in the air before falling to the ground, utterly lifeless.

“You, of all people, why choose to be a bandit when there are so many other things you could do?” Xu Yang scoffed.