Chapter 190: Sword Saint White Hair, Old Six Sails

"Clang!" The ice sword unsheathed, pointing directly at Wang Yueshen.

Wang Yueshen hadn't even finished his harsh words when a chill already enveloped him. Goosebumps prickled his skin, and he immediately flashed backward as a large cauldron flew down from the void, aiming to suppress Dugu Qingli's head.

A magic artifact!

As a teacher at the Pill Academy, he was, of course, a Dao cultivator! The sword energy he just unleashed was a manifestation of a Daoist spell, not a martial art. Dugu Qingli had indeed misjudged slightly, but the sword's momentum remained undiminished; in fact, it seemed to defy physical laws, suddenly accelerating by a third.

The sword pulled her along like an afterimage, shooting her out of the cauldron's suppression range.

"Boom!" The large cauldron struck empty air. Dugu Qingli, trailing a white afterimage, had already brought her sword to Wang Yueshen's throat!

Wang Yueshen flicked a finger, and a deflection spell erupted before him. Dugu Qingli's sword grazed past, leaving a bloody mark on his arm.

Wang Yueshen was drenched in cold sweat. Had this young girl truly not broken through to the third rank? With this sharp and unparalleled sword, there was no doubt she was at least third rank…

As the young girl moved past him, she immediately plunged into a raging flame array.

The greatest difference between a third-rank Dao cultivator and lower-level cultivators lies in the slow casting of spells and incantations at lower ranks, often requiring talismans to save time. However, after breaking through the third-rank barrier, they begin cultivating the Spiritual Platform, allowing many spells to be instantly cast by silently chanting with their divine sense. Consequently, Dao cultivators are often suppressed by martial cultivators of the same rank at lower levels, but after third rank, the playing field evens out, and at higher ranks, they even gain a slight advantage. A third-rank Dao cultivator fighting a fourth-rank martial cultivator should be capable of an instant victory, yet unexpectedly, it was Wang Yueshen who suffered a minor injury first.

Even more unexpectedly, Dugu Qingli, caught in the flame array, acted completely unfazed. She simply stood in the flames, twisted her body, and unleashed another sword strike.

Wang Yueshen, greatly surprised, floated back again, then simply took to the air. In his hand, a fiery dragon began to coalesce, its head roaring with furious power.

"If you can ignore this flame spell, then try my 'Fire Dragon's Roar'?"

Dugu Qingli, standing in the center of the flame array, suddenly looked up. The incomparably hot fire dragon roared towards her, baring its fangs and claws. Its aura even seemed to possess a hint of sentience, as if it were a true dragon.

Dugu Qingli's eyes were as still as a cold river. With a lightning-fast sword strike, she shot upward, directly charging into the fire dragon. In Wang Yueshen's eyes, it was as if he saw the head of an ice-blue phoenix, its sword tip like a beak, letting out a long cry as it ascended to the sky. Her flowing white hair resembled the feathers of an ice phoenix. This was the first time Wang Yueshen had felt the breathtaking beauty of this white-haired woman.

"Crack..." It was clearly a collision of sword energy and flames, yet it produced the sound of ice crystals cracking. Spiderweb-like cracks began to spread from the sword tip, and the ice phoenix-like image shattered.

Wang Yueshen suddenly realized with a start that his fire dragon had also completely vanished. The sword tip was already at his lower abdomen.

"Clang!" At the critical moment, the large cauldron reappeared before him, blocking the sword. Dugu Qingli executed a backward flip, landing back on the ground, and while still in mid-air, flicked out another flying sword. It directly collided with a small sword artifact Wang Yueshen had launched from behind the cauldron. "Crack!" The ambush artifact was instantly shattered.

The sword light dissipated, and Dugu Qingli landed back on the ground, standing steadily.

Wang Yueshen was covered in cold sweat. This small sword artifact, despite its average power, represented the most typical difference between third and fourth ranks—a soul attack! When these two collided, conventionally, the Spiritual Platform would be directly invaded. Weaker opponents would have their souls scattered, while stronger ones would at least have to contend within their Spiritual Platform! Yet Dugu Qingli's sword directly crashed into it, her Spiritual Platform as steady as an iceberg, rendering his artifact almost completely ineffective!

Is this truly a fourth rank? How could someone like Qi Tuizhi possibly contend with this? The battle at the inn, Dugu Qingli must have just been toying with children!

Dugu Qingli, who had always been ruthless and silent, suddenly spoke: "Among alchemists, you are considered strong."

Wang Yueshen: "..."

So now you're critiquing me?

"Perfect. Third-rank strength—not as formidable as battle-hardened third-rank experts, yet more like a third-rank than easily defeated alchemists… Such an opponent is simply the most suitable whetstone for me right now." Dugu Qingli calmly raised her sword to the sky. "Master didn't lie to me; my path to the third rank is indeed here."

Wang Yueshen: "..."

Are you insane? At a time like this, you're thinking about training and breaking through? Can't I just opt out of this? I can fly!

With this thought, Wang Yueshen immediately felt he had the correct solution. His goal was to deal with Lu Xingzhou; what was the point of endlessly tangling with a crazy woman here? He could just fly away. She couldn't fly; at most, she could briefly glide on her sword, which wouldn't last long. How could that compare to his ability to ride the mists and clouds?

With that thought, he brought the large cauldron down on Dugu Qingli's head, then turned and rode the clouds away, heading straight for the center of the desert. But he had only flown a few yards when his scalp began to tingle.

He turned his head in horror. A brilliant white light, like a meteor attacking the moon, shot towards him like lightning. That fierce and powerful sword energy was almost twice as strong as the previous ice phoenix strike; its biting cold nearly froze the entire space, making his blood and soul almost solidify. To the limit of Wang Yueshen's comprehension, he couldn't imagine how a mere fourth-rank cultivator could unleash such a flying sword.

In his panic, the large cauldron instantly appeared before him.

"Clang!" With a loud bang, the large cauldron, which had remained unshaken and dominant through several clashes, actually developed cracks this time! The backlash of power and the explosive invasion of her Spiritual Platform caused blood to trickle from Dugu Qingli's lips, but her eyes became even colder and sharper.

"This is your natal artifact, isn't it?" Dugu Qingli's voice reached him. Wang Yueshen was horrified to find that his own Spiritual Platform had been invaded by this fourth-rank junior. The large cauldron was an alchemy cauldron he had refined into his natal artifact. A natal artifact is naturally linked to one's life and directly connected to one's soul. It was as if a crescent moon was reflected in his Sea of Souls, its moonlight like a sword, piercing the center. No matter how he tried to dispel it, it stubbornly remained, as if unmoving since ancient times. Moonlight is merely a reflection; how could it be moved?

"Crack!" The ice sword forcibly pierced through the large cauldron. The entire cauldron body froze inch by inch, then rapidly shattered. Wang Yueshen spat out a mouthful of fresh blood. His artifact was damaged, and his Spiritual Platform suffered similarly, as if that moonlight had carved deep ravines within his Sea of Consciousness.

"I now comprehend the marvels of the soul."

The shattered ice crystals of the large cauldron danced inch by inch, then suddenly transformed into sword shapes, hovering in the air and completely surrounding all of Wang Yueshen's escape routes.

"Swish, swish, swish!" Ten thousand ice swords suddenly erupted. Wang Yueshen let out a miserable scream, his body already riddled like a honeycomb.

"I am from the Pill Academy, you cannot kill me arbitrarily!" Wang Yueshen screamed, "The royal family and the Sacred Land are already at odds; can you bear the responsibility for this?!"

"Annoying." Dugu Qingli flashed past. Blood reappeared on Wang Yueshen's throat, all his words cut short in his throat as he fell backward, eyes wide open, staring at the sky.

The last image he saw was the girl's back, white hair fluttering, the ice sword pointed diagonally, blood dripping from its tip—like a poem. A realization dawned in Wang Yueshen's mind. This was a genius talent that would dominate an era, a young girl destined to become a Sword Saint. A direct disciple of Tianyao could simply not be judged by ordinary ranks. Yet she clearly intended to use him as a whetstone for training; why did she suddenly go berserk when he planned to fly to the desert? Was there something more important over there than her training and breakthrough?

Wang Yueshen never figured it out, for his world had already plunged into darkness.

After Dugu Qingli intercepted Wang Yueshen's flying sword ambush, there was originally no danger on Lu Xingzhou's side. Although a sandstorm raged and the scene was chaotic, the Turtle-Beast's main target was the Fire Seed. Everyone else was outside its range, making it relatively manageable. Anu protected Lu Xingzhou from behind to prevent sneak attacks amidst the chaos, while Sheng Yuanyao directly held Lu Xingzhou's left hand to keep them from getting separated. Under the protection of these two great guardians, Lu Xingzhou could briefly concentrate on controlling the Flame Demon to acquire the Fire Seed.

The Fire Seed was also dark-aligned, its nature extremely similar to the Flame Demon after it transformed into black flames. It didn't need to be acquired; it needed to be fused! Directly fusing the Fire Seed into himself, strengthening his demonic power. The water elemental power that the Turtle-Beast had accumulated for several years, which was assaulting the Fire Seed, suddenly found the Fire Seed had changed…

"Roar!" The Turtle-Beast let out an angry roar, its bony turtle foot stomping fiercely. This meant Lu Xingzhou was now directly confronting the Turtle-Beast—the most dangerous moment.

Just at this moment, a sword, like an immortal descending from the heavens, struck directly at Lu Xingzhou's face amidst the swirling sandstorm. A third-rank sword cultivator! Not Chen Yu… Chen Yu doesn't have this strength.

But Lu Xingzhou showed no surprise. The black flames that had seemed to be confronting the Turtle-Beast directly dissipated, turning into specks of starlight, and when they reconvened, they had already appeared at the side of the attacker. At the same time, he pressed the armrest of his wheelchair. The wheelchair suddenly shot downward like lightning, directly towards the Turtle-Beast. The Turtle-Beast, having just lost its Fire Seed target, instinctively charged directly towards the direction where the black flames had dissipated and then re-converged. That sword from beyond the heavens literally pierced the Turtle-Beast's back shell. "Crack!" The seemingly half-a-mile wide, powerful turtle shell was pierced through by a single sword.

"Roar!" The Turtle-Beast was enraged, rolling in mid-air. Even though the attacker was stronger than the Turtle-Beast, under the suppression of its natural size, they had to temporarily avoid its edge. As they retreated, they let out an incredibly surprised sound: "Lu Xingzhou, you already knew I was here?"

Lu Xingzhou, however, had already brought his entire entourage to the spot beneath the Turtle-Beast where the original Fire Seed had been. Hearing this, he scoffed, "I don't even know who you are... But in a place like the Demon-Subduing Domain, where one can set up ambushes in advance, if certain individuals don't even bother with such preparations and only scheme against my classmates and teachers, then their intelligence is clearly unfit for the imperial court... From the very beginning, I knew there were others."

"Since you knew, did you think this Turtle-Beast could stop me?"

As his voice fell, a loud explosion ensued, and the turtle shell shattered into pieces. The Turtle-Beast had clearly been slain by this person. But at roughly the same time, a crack appeared where the original Fire Seed had been. Terrifying demonic power surged out suddenly, as if a demon were crawling out from within.

Lu Xingzhou, who had been hiding nearby, saw the demon rush out and immediately, with his entire entourage, jumped into the crack. "Please enjoy this demon escaping from the second layer, esteemed sir. Our family is off to tour the second layer. Farewell."