Chapter 298: The True Power of the Moonlight Pearl

He dared not let the Sect Master of Joyful Union discover his identity. He immediately put on the mask of Shadow Guard No. 1. At the same time, he hid his distinctive zither, black sword, and purple sword under the carriage's seat cushions, keeping only the recently acquired Lament Frost tucked into his back.

As he finished these preparations, the Sect Master of Joyful Union had already caught up. Seeing the carriage ahead, she jumped onto it, using it as a springboard to leap into the air. With an angry flick, she shot her silken threads towards the Silver-winged Thunder Roc in mid-air. She cried out, "You vile beast!" She had been pursuing it for days, yet it had always eluded her. Now it had brazenly come outside Joyful Union City and wantonly killed people, which was nothing short of a provocation to her, the Sect Master!

But, the Silver-winged Thunder Roc had already witnessed the power of the Tianshan Silken Threads. Already prepared, it flapped its wings and soared higher into the sky, causing the attack to miss its mark. What was even more cunning was this: it had predicted the Sect Master of Joyful Union's attack, and seizing the opportunity while she was still in mid-air with no leverage, it suddenly flapped its wings. A torrent of feathers, shimmering with lightning arcs, shot out like sharp arrows!

The Sect Master of Joyful Union's expression changed slightly. She was not Xu Qingyang, who could easily deal with the exploding feathers. She hastily retracted her silken threads while simultaneously using a high-grade martial art palm technique to detonate the feathers one by one from a distance. But there were too many feathers; she couldn't destroy them all quickly. Furthermore, her silken threads had not been fully retracted, rendering them useless. What was more troublesome was that she was in mid-air with no leverage, so she had no opportunity to dodge. Her expression changed drastically as she exclaimed, "I've been tricked!"

Seeing this, the Silver-winged Thunder Roc scoffed, then plummeted down, aiming to deliver a second blow to the flustered Sect Master of Joyful Union. Just as it began its dive, a hint of a playful smile appeared at the corner of the Sect Master of Joyful Union's lips. "Stupid bird, I was just toying with you!" She swiftly pulled a talisman from her bosom and threw it forward.

With a thunderous boom, the myriad silver feathers were blasted into scorched fragments, prematurely detonating their lightning arcs. A few stray feathers, due to the force of the explosion, were deflected and failed to cause effective harm to the Sect Master of Joyful Union.

Seeing the Sect Master of Joyful Union so easily resolve its attack, only then did the Silver-winged Thunder Roc realize that the Sect Master of Joyful Union had intentionally revealed a weakness to lure it in! It hastily flapped its wings, trying to stop its dive. But its massive body carried immense inertia. By the time it finally came to a halt, it was already quite close to the ground! Without hesitation, the Sect Master of Joyful Union flicked her sleeve, and the Tianshan Silken Threads shot out, coiling around the Silver-winged Thunder Roc's neck. With just one powerful tug, this Silver-winged Thunder Roc would suffer the same fate as the previous one, its head severed.

The Silver-winged Thunder Roc immediately panicked, clearly knowing its impending doom! But it quickly reacted. To survive, it couldn't allow the Sect Master of Joyful Union to retract the Tianshan Silken Threads! It could only fight for its life! Instead of fleeing, it flapped its wings and charged straight towards the Sect Master of Joyful Union. A sharp, menacing claw viciously swiped at the Sect Master of Joyful Union. This scene surprised the Sect Master of Joyful Union! She had expected the Silver-winged Thunder Roc to flee into the distance, but the result was precisely the opposite. As a result, the Tianshan Silken Threads couldn't be pulled taut, preventing them from severing its neck.

"You vile beast, quite clever!" the Sect Master of Joyful Union snorted coldly. "But to clash head-on with me? Are you worthy?" Her late-stage Core Formation realm aura suddenly erupted. Boundless spiritual power surged into her palm. With a raised hand, she delivered a single palm strike!

*Crack—*

The sky instantly rained blood! The Silver-winged Thunder Roc's desperate struggle was a mere joke in front of a human cultivator at the late Core Formation stage. Even its proud, sharp claws couldn't save it. More than half of the Silver-winged Thunder Roc's body was pulverized into a bloody mist. Its upper half crashed heavily onto the ground. Its proudly raised neck let out a mournful cry before crashing down. Its wings flapped weakly once, then lost all strength.

Inside the carriage, Jiang Fan and Little Qilin watched clearly. Little Qilin was so frightened that it pulled its neck in, trembling in Jiang Fan's mind, "What a terrifying woman! Master, you... you should stay far away from her. I'm scared."

Jiang Fan retorted exasperatedly, "Who wouldn't be scared?" His expression was incredibly serious. Although he had previously speculated that the Sect Master of Joyful Union had suppressed a significant amount of her strength when sparring with him, only by witnessing it himself did he realize how terrifying the Sect Master of Joyful Union's true power was. This woman was certainly not to be provoked!

*Thud—*

The Sect Master of Joyful Union landed on top of the carriage. She let out a long breath, "You vile beast, killing you was truly tiresome." She jumped towards the Silver-winged Thunder Roc, just about to finish it off. Jiang Fan's expression, however, changed slightly. He had witnessed the cunning of the Silver-winged Thunder Roc before. Playing dead was their strong suit!

"Be careful, don't let your guard down!" Jiang Fan warned.

The Sect Master of Joyful Union paused. For a moment, she had a strange feeling, as if she were being admonished by Jiang Fan back at the bottom of the cliff. It was precisely this brief moment of distraction that cost her the chance to dodge! The Silver-winged Thunder Roc, with its eyes tightly shut, suddenly raised its neck. An incredibly sharp beak, swift as lightning, lunged towards the Sect Master of Joyful Union's head! Even if she was at the late-stage Core Formation realm, she couldn't withstand the Silver-winged Thunder Roc's desperate dying attack! By the time the Sect Master of Joyful Union reacted, her vision went black; the giant beak was already upon her, obscuring her entire view. Her heart sank. A thought emerged in her mind. It was over.

But then, a wisp of astonishing, bone-chilling coldness brushed past her head. Immediately after, a powerful arm wrapped around her waist, pulling her away from her original position. She felt a sudden disorientation, as if the world was spinning. When her vision cleared, she couldn't help but be stunned! She saw the Silver-winged Thunder Roc completely frozen, its neck still extended in an attacking posture. It had turned into an ice sculpture. She turned her head to look. A mysterious masked figure, clad in a wide robe, whose age was indiscernible, held a long sword that radiated astonishing cold. It was he who had acted and saved her.

The Sect Master of Joyful Union was astonished. This person's speed was incredible. She hadn't even had time to react, yet he had arrived seemingly late but still intervened. And what's more, he used a top-grade magical artifact. In the lands of the Nine Sects, only Sect Masters and a handful of powerful elders were equipped with top-grade magical artifacts, weren't they? Who was this mysterious person in front of her?

Jiang Fan released his arm from her soft waist, bowed towards her with cupped hands, and silently walked back to the carriage, preparing to continue his journey. He certainly didn't want any further interaction with the Sect Master of Joyful Union. What if his identity was exposed? Jiang Fan was not confident he could escape from her a second time.

"Wait!" The Sect Master of Joyful Union called out to the mysterious figure. He had saved her; if she didn't show any gratitude, wouldn't it be rumored that she, the Sect Master of Joyful Union, was ungrateful? "May I ask which sect you are from, fellow Daoist? For this act of salvation, I wish to express my sincere gratitude."

Gratitude? If you don't imprison me, I'll be thanking my lucky stars. He waved his hand without turning back and said indifferently, "It was nothing. Farewell."

The Sect Master of Joyful Union was surprised. His voice sounded very young. Did the Nine Sects have such a powerful young elder? She quickly went through the list of elders from each sect in her mind, but found no one matching his description. As her curiosity grew, the elders quickly arrived, and seeing the successfully slain Silver-winged Thunder Roc, relieved smiles appeared on their faces. This vile beast was finally dead!

"Sect Master, what should we do with this bird?" Elder Ling asked, his eyes gleaming as he looked at the Silver-winged Thunder Roc's corpse. "This bird's entire body was a treasure!"

The Sect Master of Joyful Union replied with a somber expression, "How else can it be handled? Of course, we'll send it to the Myriad Sword Sect as an apology!" The previous incident was indeed not her doing, but she couldn't possibly explain the matter of the Tianshan Silken Threads. With the beast tide imminent, the relationship between the two sects couldn't afford to be strained, so she could only grit her teeth and accept it. The thought of it made her seethe with anger: "That utterly wretched thing! Don't let me catch you!"

The elders looked regretful, but they also knew that this was the best way to handle it. Elder Ling sighed, "Very well, let's just send it to the Myriad Sword Sect as a gesture of apology. However, we shouldn't just give it away for nothing. The Myriad Sword Sect's Sword Forest is about to open. We can use the Silver-winged Thunder Roc's corpse to exchange for a few qualification tokens for the Sword Forest for some disciples below the ninth level of Foundation Establishment, can't we?"

The Sect Master of Joyful Union's eyes lit up slightly. "That's a good suggestion. The Sword Forest is not only a cultivation sanctuary for Foundation Establishment cultivators, but also a place where one can comprehend excellent sword arts. Senior Xu Qingyang's Sword Control Art was enlightened within the Sword Forest. I hear many disciples are already preparing to go. Even elite disciples from various sects, currently fighting demonic beasts on the Giant Sect frontline, are preparing to take time out to visit."

Jiang Fan, who was about to drive away, felt a stir in his heart. If that's the case, will Liu Qingxian go to the Myriad Sword Sect?