Chapter 636: Evenly Matched Battle

Lu Yang was currently conflicted about whether to continue learning the Immortal Slaying Sword Formation.

He had just begun to learn the basics when he heard the shocking truth about the sword formation's origins, which severely dampened his enthusiasm.

If he didn't learn it, there were no other sword formations available.

If he did, it was the Qilin Immortal's trick to appease his wife, and its power was unknown.

He worried that he might learn it all only to find its purpose was to make sword tips soft.

"That won't happen," the Immortal Fairy immediately refuted after hearing Lu Yang's concerns.

"Don't worry about the sword formation's power; it's very strong. The Qilin Immortal and the Heaven-Responding Immortal just tampered with the immortal swords themselves."

"Fairy, do you understand sword formations?"

"By intuition."

"...Is your intuition reliable?"

"My intuition tells me that my intuition is very reliable."

Lu Yang was silent for a moment, then sighed, showing a hint of resignation. He decided to learn it. Regardless of its power, in terms of rank, it was certainly the highest-level sword formation the Dao Inquiry Sect possessed.

Jiang Lianyi agreed with the Immortal Fairy, also believing the sword formation to be powerful and worth learning.

Lu Yang found Jiang Lianyi's opinion unconvincing—he had never seen Jiang Lianyi disagree with the Immortal Fairy.

"There's one more thing I need to tell you, Senior Brother," Jiang Lianyi said with a serious expression.

"What is it?"

"I've lived in the Dao Inquiry Sect for over two months now and have grasped the basic situation of the current cultivation world. It's time for me to go out and travel. While I'm at it, I'll look for Daoist Buyu and the talented junior from the Phoenix Clan. I also promised to teach her, and I must keep my word."

Lu Yang thought to himself, 'As expected.' Jiang Lianyi couldn't stay in the Dao Inquiry Sect indefinitely, nor could she stay by the Immortal Fairy's side. Her departure had another purpose, which Lu Yang could guess even without her saying it.

The whereabouts of the Qilin Immortal and Ao Ling.

Jiang Lianyi's feelings for these two were no less than her feelings for the Immortal Fairy.

"Then I wish you a smooth journey, Senior Lianyi, and may all your wishes come true. May you achieve your goals soon."

Lu Yang clasped his hands and smiled. Although he had revealed that his master was the author of "Dragon and Phoenix Transformation," he hadn't told Senior Lianyi that the Senior Sister could find his master, allowing his master to live a bit longer.

As a disciple, he had done his utmost.

The Immortal Fairy also popped out to bid farewell to Jiang Lianyi, saying sternly, "Achieve your goals as soon as possible and come back quickly! If anyone bullies you outside, tell me, and I'll have that girl Yun teach them a lesson!"

"I will."

Jiang Lianyi did not leave immediately. Instead, on the fifth day of Lu Yang's sword formation comprehension, she quietly departed one afternoon.

Two more days passed, and Lu Yang's mastery of the sword formation became increasingly proficient, with significantly less energy consumption than before.

"I just lack a target to test the sword formation's power."

After so many days of practice, the lawn had been cut down several layers by the sword formation. Lu Yang felt it was powerful, but without a reference object, he always felt something was missing.

There were only so many potential targets on Heavenly Gate Peak. The Senior Sister was definitely out, and so was the Third Senior Sister. That left only the accursed puppet...

Thinking of the puppet that had always suppressed him since the beginning of his cultivation, Lu Yang felt he should be fine now.

The most suitable experimental subject!

No sooner said than done.

Heavenly Gate Peak wasn't very big, so Lu Yang soon found the puppet digging a hole to plant a tree under a pine tree.

"Hehe, I finally found you! Let's settle all our old and new grudges!"

A seemingly evenly matched battle began.

Ten breaths into the battle, the Invincible Infant fled.

Twenty-five breaths in, Lu Yang was beaten black and blue, howling as the iron shovel struck him.

One minute into the battle, Lu Yang was buried in the dirt, becoming 'brothers' with the pine tree planted next to him.

The battle ended, with the puppet narrowly winning.

Only after the puppet, shovel on its shoulder, slowly ambled out of the pine forest did Lu Yang dare to crawl out, still shaken.

"As expected of the puppet that's been beating me up since I was young. It's quite capable. Looks like I'm still no match for it at this stage."

During the fight with the puppet, Lu Yang didn't even have time to activate the Immortal Slaying Sword Formation before the battle concluded.

Given Lu Yang's cultivation level, which was at the bottom of Heavenly Gate Peak, it was indeed difficult to find a target against whom he could freely deploy his sword formation.

"Old Lu, are you there?"

Meng Jingzhou's voice echoed through the pine forest. He had come looking for Lu Yang; the commotion from the recent battle had caught his attention, making him think Lu Yang might be nearby.

Hearing this, Lu Yang quickly dusted himself off, determined not to give Meng Jingzhou a chance to mock him!

He removed the pine needles stuck in his hair, tidied himself up, and then, feigning annoyance as if he had just heard, said, "Stop shouting, I'm here!"

"Your face... those injuries..."

The puppet had acted with great precision; the swelling on his face could only disappear naturally.

Lu Yang replied casually, "It's nothing. I just took a pill, but the medicinal properties were too strong to digest. Senior Sister helped by striking acupoints on my face to speed up the absorption of its effects."

Meng Jingzhou looked at Lu Yang suspiciously, feeling certain that this brat was spouting nonsense.

"Oh, by the way, I just mastered a sword formation. Want to try it out?"

Lu Yang quickly diverted Meng Jingzhou's attention, lest he notice anything amiss.

Besides, wasn't this guy the most suitable target?

"Oh, so you've started learning sword formations? I'd like to see how powerful your sword formation is!"

Sword formations were a sword cultivator's trump card. Meng Jingzhou could gauge Lu Yang's strength through his sword formation.

"Then you'd better be careful!"

Lu Yang knew Old Meng would agree, so without ceremony, he flicked both hands, and nine long swords appeared, glittering brightly above Meng Jingzhou's head. The sharp sword energy was chilling.

Meng Jingzhou let out a soft cry, manifesting his Three Heads and Six Arms, with six arms holding up the sky, intending to withstand the blow head-on.

"Immortal Slaying Sword Formation!"

"Hold on, what did you say your sword formation was called...?"

As soon as Meng Jingzhou heard Lu Yang call out the sword formation's name, he had a bad feeling; it sounded ridiculously powerful!

Before the sword formation could even descend, Meng Jingzhou, with his six arms holding up the sky, plummeted to his knees with a thud, his posture perfectly standard.

Startled, Lu Yang quickly retracted his hands, dispelled the sword formation, helped Meng Jingzhou up, and beamed with delight.

"Old Meng, you didn't have to bow like that just to make me stop."

Meng Jingzhou flew into a rage: "Nonsense! Who was bowing to you? It was clearly your sword formation that made me kneel!"

Lu Yang was utterly confused.

Seeing Lu Yang still playing dumb, Meng Jingzhou grumbled, "Don't play innocent with me! You deliberately made your sword formation have the effect of making people kneel. I was standing under it, and my legs just wouldn't obey me!"

Lu Yang had never stood beneath the sword formation, so he didn't know it had this effect. He scratched his head, realizing the experiment had indeed been effective and yielded an unexpected bonus.

But why would the Immortal Slaying Sword Formation have such an effect?

The Immortal Fairy pondered for a moment, then, understanding something, explained, "I get it now. The Qilin Immortal must have been worried that his kneeling posture wouldn't be standard enough to earn Lianyi and Little Ling's forgiveness, so he added an 'automatic kneeling formation' to the sword formation!"

"I always said the Qilin Immortal was meticulous in his work; he wouldn't just set up a simple sword formation."

Lu Yang: "..."

Good thing Senior Lianyi left early. What if she found out about this?