Li Guanqi knew that if nothing changed, Fang Yishan would eventually catch up. He might as well save his strength and face the threat head-on.
Ye Feng drew his sword and fell into a defensive stance. Cao Yan strapped on his flaming vambraces, his aura flaring to life. Then he tossed several talismans over and explained quickly, “These are some talismans I drew earlier. Stick them on yourselves!”
Li Guanqi glanced back at Zhao Yang. Gritting his teeth, he stored him inside the sword box.
Ye Feng and Cao Yan were stunned. Everyone in the cultivation world knew living beings couldn’t be stored in ordinary spatial tools. There were exceptions, but they were rare.
And as it turned out, this was one of those exceptions.
Far in the distance, Fang Yishan also witnessed Li Guanqi place Zhao Yang into the sword box. His eyes lit up.
“That’s no ordinary sword box,” he muttered.
Wind howled and thunder cracked as Fang Yishan closed the distance in a blink.
A sharp sword cry echoed as the Red Lotus Sword flew into Li Guanqi’s hand. The moment he gripped it, his entire demeanor shifted. Vital force surged through his body, exerting pressure on the space around him. He’d only just broken through to the mid Golden Core Realm, but his aura was firm and steady, showing no hint of a recent breakthrough.
Li Guanqi gritted his teeth, and his gaze turned icy.
The three of them charged at Fang Yishan in a semicircle formation.
Fang Yishan’s eyes burned with murderous rage. He growled, “You fuckers! Were you the ones who killed my son? I don’t care who you are. You’ll all pay in blood!”
With a shake of his Thunder Wings, Fang Yishan vanished.
Li Guanqi saw a blurry after-image through his divine consciousness and had a realization. He turned and shouted, “Cao Yan! Careful!”
Cao Yan spun around before Li Guanqi finished speaking. His fire vital force erupted, and he threw a punch straight behind him.
A fiery shockwave erupted outward in all directions. Had any cultivator of the same realm taken that punch, they would have been skinned alive, if not killed outright. The talismans stuck to his body gave his movements a sudden, unnatural speed.
Fang Yishan reappeared behind Cao Yan. Before he could swing his sword, Cao Yan’s powerful fist was already heading toward him.
A flicker of shock crossed Fang Yishan’s face. With no time to dodge, he snapped his Thunder Wings shut in front of him as a shield.
Cao Yan’s punch slammed into Fang Yishan’s wings, fire bursting out with terrifying force. He was knocked into the air like a severed kite, tumbling out of control.
Unbeknownst to him, Ye Feng was waiting behind him. Several golden blades of sword light shot toward him in quick succession.
Fang Yishan forced himself to steady mid-air, a powerful aura exploding from within. He glared at Ye Feng and lashed out.
A streak of milk-white sword light flew at terrifying speed. In the next moment, the two had exchanged tens of blows.
Clang clang clang! Clang!
Boom! Boom boom! Clang clang!
They clashed in brutal close combat, seizing every opening. Fists, feet, and steel combined as they unleashed a relentless barrage of attacks.
Despite his efforts, Ye Feng was outmatched. Fang Yishan’s superior strength, cultivation, and battle experience proved too much. Ye Feng's youth and inexperience left him unable to anticipate Fang Yishan’s attacks.
Li Guanqi stepped in, sword in his left hand, moving with blinding speed. His unpredictable footwork was from the Traceless Darkness Step, a technique he’d learned at the Daxia Sword Sect.
It had been a gift from Northern Heavenly King Wang Longqu. Though only a low-tier sprint technique, it was enough to keep up with Fang Yishan.
Fang Yishan’s eyes narrowed. He could sense a faint trace of Fang Hao’s scent on Li Guanqi.
Suddenly, Fang Yishan’s cultivation surged.
Clang clang clang! Clang clang clang!
His sword was now thirty percent faster, every strike brimming with killing intent. Sword qi exploded in all directions, gouging deep craters in the mountains. Tall, ancient trees fell in droves.
“You bastard!” Fang Yishan snarled. “You killed my son!”
Li Guanqi’s expression didn’t change, but his movements sharpened. His strikes grew faster and more precise, the momentum beginning to tilt in his favor.
“So what if I did?” he snapped. “Let me tell you something, you old bastard! The moment you laid hands on a Daxia Sword Sect disciple, you sealed the fate of your entire Great Wind Mountain Residence.”
Fang Yishan started to dart around unpredictably, flapping his Thunder Wings. Ye Feng and Cao Yan joined the fray, and the three of them fought in unison, gradually suppressing Fang Yishan despite his superior cultivation.
Fang Yishan’s drooping, triangular eyes burned with venom.
Blood streaked across his face as he suddenly erupted into manic laughter. “So it was you… You’re the one who left behind the projection stone and the note, weren’t you?”
He glared at Li Guanqi and parried the three-pronged assault with a flurry of strikes. When Li Guanqi didn’t respond, Fang Yishan laughed again.
“Hahahaha! You killed my son, then triggered that idiot cousin of mine. And now? I’ve killed my cousin and my second uncle with my own hands. I really didn’t expect this. All of it… because of you.”
An unbearable pressure burst from Fang Yishan. His Golden Core Realm aura trembled, then began to rise. He was crossing the threshold. Updates are released by 𝔫𝔬𝔳𝔢𝔩~𝕗𝕚𝕣𝕖~𝙣𝙚𝙩
He was now at the half-step Nascent Soul Realm.
Now, all that remained was for his golden core to transform into a nascent soul. Wave after wave of air rippled outward from him, forcing them back tens of zhang.
Their faces went pale. None of them had realized just how terrifyingly powerful Fang Yishan truly was.
Even if they wanted to escape, it was far too late.
Ye Feng and Cao Yan’s cultivation levels were still too low. And if Li Guanqi had to rely on himself…
Just Fang Yishan alone was enough to drive the three of them to their wits’ end.