Chapter 317: One Sword

Yu Xiaogui squinted, gazing into the distance. The deep cyan lake water reflected a cloudless sky. Not far away, the perpetual lightning and thunder from an island in the lake occasionally illuminated a large area, and then a white speck floated into view.

As the distance closed, Yu Xiaogui discerned that the figure was a white-robed man holding a sword. He walked on air, and the lake water beneath his feet surged and roared, transforming into various forms of flood dragons and sea beasts that clustered around him as he slowly approached.

“Father! Father!” Yu Mugao called out several times. Yet, Yu Xiaogui remained motionless, staring at the horizon with a grim expression, clutching his sleeves tightly, his lips pressed together without a word.

Yu Mugao’s heart skipped a beat, a strong sense of ominous foreboding rising within him. He quickly followed Yu Xiaogui’s gaze into the distance but saw nothing.

“Father!” Yu Xiaogui’s aura erupted, his sleeves flapping loudly in the wind, his gray robes emitting a faint magical glow. He gritted his teeth, a hint of fear in his voice, and uttered, “Li Tongya…”

“Li Tongya. Li Tongya!” Yu Mugao looked as if he had been struck by lightning. His face instantly turned pale, and his body froze in mid-air. He opened his mouth, unable to speak, and murmured, lowering his gaze, “How is this possible? How can this be?! Impossible!”

“Impossible… Something is definitely wrong with Li Tongya! Something is definitely wrong with Li Tongya!”

The sky gradually darkened. Dark clouds, scattered by the north wind, drifted from the south, and fine, dense rain began to sprinkle the earth. Yu Mugao, eyes wide, indeed saw a white-robed man walking on the lake.

This man walked through the air, yet he rode on flood dragons and drove sea beasts. The water of Moon Gaze Lake surged, and deep cyan flood dragons, baring their fangs and brandishing their claws, appeared lifelike, slithering obediently beneath his feet. He was simply dressed in a white robe, with long, gentle eyebrows, thin cheeks, and broad shoulders, exuding a magnificent demeanor. He carried a sword in his arms, its form hidden in the scabbard.

“Rain… It shouldn’t be raining now… It has never rained on the north shore…”

All the Yu family members looked up at the sky. Fine, cold raindrops struck their faces. Startled by the heavy and oppressive atmosphere, they spontaneously stopped their movements, looking far towards the lake shore.

“Moon Scythe Sword Li Tongya!”

“Li Family Patriarch… Foundation Establishment Sword Cultivator Li Tongya!”

The cultivators from both families fixed their gaze on the white-robed man. They whispered to each other, filled with dread. Thirty-six Qi Cultivators and over a hundred Fetal Breath Cultivators were instantly subdued by his aura, daring not to move.

“It’s raining…”

Li Tongya stood by the shore, merely holding his sword. He reached out to catch the falling raindrops. They felt bitingly cold to the touch, yet did not freeze into frost or snow, but fell one drop after another.

Li Tongya rarely wore white robes, but the Huashang Fruit in his abdomen made his true essence surge, his fighting spirit irrepressible. He had never felt so good, and, feeling a rare inspiration, he put on flowing white robes. His immortal foundation was unstable, and his cultivation constantly leaked, yet relying on this precious medicine, which damaged his meridians and qi sea, temporarily pushed him to an unprecedented peak. Even the celestial phenomena were affected by the aura of the boundless sea, and he actually possessed some of the majesty of a peak Foundation Establishment cultivator.

In the air, Yu Xiaogui’s eyes were filled with terror. For a moment, he didn't know what to say. He cautiously extended his spiritual sense, only to feel that the person before him was as vast as the sea, with infinite might. “What cultivation level is this… Mid-Foundation Establishment? Late-Foundation Establishment? How is this possible!”

Li Tongya merely standing on the shore had already caused celestial phenomena to change. Coupled with his renown for "sword slaying Maha," Yu Xiaogui already felt timid, almost wanting to flee.

“Senior Yu.” Li Tongya looked up at him, his bright eyes filled with calm. He gently stepped, ascending into the sky step by step, walking before the Yu family members. His tone was as unyielding yet polite as it had been years ago when he, as a seventh-level Qi Cultivator, met Fei Wangbai and Yu Xiaogui at the lakeside banquet; it was steady and powerful.

“Long time no see.”

The effects of the precious Huashang Fruit spread through his internal organs, making the wrinkles on his face gradually fade, and his white hair turn black, spreading out behind him in a rather elegant manner. Li Tongya’s face also transformed from the worried look of an old man to the steady and generous appearance of a middle-aged man, then slowly reverted to the handsome and sharp features of his sixteen-year-old self. This appearance had been prematurely buried by him in the annals of his life, never before revealed.

At that time, he had not yet embarked on the immortal path. He left early and returned late, often threshing wheat in the fields, facing the morning sun, toiling with sweat in the thin mist, a smile always on his face. Li Xiangping chirped noisily beside him, while his elder brother Li Changhu sat on the field ridge, smiling.

“Greetings… fellow Daoist…” Yu Xiaogui silently swallowed a mouthful of saliva, feeling the overwhelming power emanating from Li Tongya. The terror in his heart was ineffable, and even his speech was trembling. He looked at Li Tongya, who appeared as a sixteen-year-old youth, as if seeing a venomous snake, dormant for years, finally baring its fangs and claws; or a protective eagle, finally free of burdens. Simply standing still in the air, he was like a suspended white immortal sword, making Yu Xiaogui’s hairs stand on end.

Only then did Li Tongya come back to himself, his gaze sweeping over the Yu family members. He said gently, “The Fei Clan has done no wrong. I ask your esteemed clan to withdraw your troops.”

These words were domineering, autocratic, and unquestionable. Spoken from Li Tongya’s mouth, they seemed like a long sword howling, terrifying all the Yu family members and leaving them anxious and uneasy. Yu Xiaogui’s face flushed, but he dared not utter a single word of defiance.

Yu Xiaogui’s hand, hidden in his sleeve, trembled continuously. He felt a suffocating sensation, as if his throat were choked. The air was so heavy it felt like water would drip from it. The Yu family cultivators had already silently put away their magic artifacts, exchanging glances. But then a man’s voice roared, “He’s bluffing! Attack!”

“Li Tongya! You’re bluffing! You’ll never get away unscathed! Cast your spells! What are you looking at? Cast your spells!”

The voice was hysterical, cold, and agitated. It exploded over the pin-drop silent Cold Cloud Peak, jolting everyone. It was Yu Mugao, eyes bloodshot and bulging, shouting, “Li Tongya! Impossible! Stop pretending!”

Li Tongya did not commit to anything, merely staring at him calmly. Prompted by his eldest son, Yu Xiaogui finally broke free from the intense shock. Greed welled up, and a trace of hope appeared in his eyes. He gritted his teeth and said, “Cold Cloud Peak is ours by right, fellow Daoist, you have offended us!”

He immediately flicked his sleeve, and a fist-sized Jade Mist Mountain floated out. It grew with the wind in the air, immediately using its full power as it appeared, transforming into the size of a small hilltop and crashing down directly.

“By decree!”

Li Tongya’s white robes fluttered in the wind. Facing the sky-obscuring Jade Mist Mountain, a gentle smile appeared on his face as the Azure Ruler Sword in his arms leaped out by a foot.

*Clang!*

Azure-white light shone from the peak of Cold Cloud Peak. Heaven and earth grew dim, dark and lightless. Fine, hair-like rain fell continuously. The intense azure-white light stung everyone’s eyes, making them unable to open them.

An azure-white moon lit up the north shore.

*Boom—*

The Jade Mist Mountain, heavy as a great mountain and capable of suppressing spells, paused for only half a breath in the air. In an instant, it was sent tumbling by the surging azure-white sword light, slamming hard into the Cloud-Gathering Southern Sky Array and causing Cold Cloud Peak to shake from top to bottom.

“What?!”

The Jade Mist Mountain, like a deflated ball, spun and shrank back to fist size. Yu Xiaogui, however, suffered a terrible fate. Before the sword qi even reached him, he was already struck by a backlash from his own artifact, spitting out a mouthful of blood. He cried out, “Fellow Daoist, spare my life!!”

Yu Xiaogui slammed his storage bag, and three Foundation Establishment talismans, accumulated over many years, surged out, transforming into three golden or white magical shields. The sword qi arrived powerfully, instantly slicing through all three magical shields. Then it lightly landed on his waist, splitting him in two.

“Father!” The Yu family fell into chaos. Yu Mugao was greatly shocked; all he could see was the azure-white sword light. It was only when Yu Xiaogui’s painful cry startled him awake that he quickly caught his father’s two halves, using his spiritual power to stop the bleeding and piece them back together.

“Fellow Daoist, spare my life!! Fellow Daoist, spare my life!” Yu Xiaogui’s eyes were filled with azure-white, and he screamed repeatedly as if his soul had left his body. Li Tongya simply watched silently as the Yu family members rescued him. The azure-white sword in his hand gently lifted, and in that instant, everyone on Cold Cloud Peak felt their hair stand on end and a chill run down their necks.