This world was greatly different from Qin Yun’s homeworld.
In Qin Yun’s homeworld, those that were not from the Godfiend or Physical Establishing Sage lineage would not fight in close combat. Instead, they would use their Dharma treasures to attack from afar! If things started to turn against them, they would immediately escape. Even Qin Yun killed his enemies with his flying sword from a distance away. The experts with weaker bodies would also place greater emphasis on life-preservation means. As for those with powerful bodies, they were extremely difficult to kill. Unless there was a qualitative difference in strength, it was typically difficult to actually kill an opponent.
But this world was different. There were no divine powers, Dharma spells, or Dharma treasures. Not even the Godfiend lineage.
Other than a few secret heritages, Connate experts had bodies that were considered normal. Once they failed to put up a resistance in close combat, it was common for them to be killed by a blade. Therefore, even if the foe was of equal strength, or just slightly weaker, they could be killed! In an intense fight, it was truly a life-and-death struggle.
However, in such life-and-death struggles, Connate experts would place great importance on the attacks used in close combat. Their close combat techniques were much more intricate than in his homeworld. All of them could be considered as having an impermeable defense. Those with equal strength would typically exchange more than a hundred blows before finding an opportunity to kill their opponent.
Yet Gongyang Can was killed on contact?
This was not a life-and-death struggle but a complete trouncing!
“Be careful!”
All the Connate experts from Blood Saber Palace felt jittery.
“Kill!” After killing Gongyang Can, Qin Yun did not stop. His heart which was as still as a mirror of ice reflected all the actions taken by his enemies. As his body phased away, he appeared beside two Connate experts. One of them held two axes and the other held a nine-segmented whip. They roared with hideous expressions as they struck out before retreating.
His sword struck out, producing frost around him. The crystalline sword flashes brushed past the neck of the expert using the nine-segmented whip.
Following that, Qin Yun retreated and turned to thrust out. Achieving an inconceivable angle, he managed to thrust his sword right through the hole between the two axes, stabbing straight into the heart of the Connate expert holding them.
“Brother Mu!” A voice shrieked.
Two Connate experts collapsed to the ground, dead. Blood flowed slowly, dyeing the ground red.
Qin Yun’s body did not stop moving and neither did his hands. He charged straight towards the other Connate experts.
The sects of this world also had inklings of Daoism, Buddhism, and the fiendish school of thought. For example, the Zhou Mountain Sword Sect was inclined towards Daoism while the Blood Saber Palace was inclined towards the fiendish way. It made the Blood Saber Palace infamous around the world. For example, Fang Chenshu’s nickname was Fiend Imbibing Saber. To have a nickname with the word ‘fiend,’ it reinforced the world’s view of him.
The blood trail Qin Yun left behind actually took on a certain order. He chose the most infamous of the fifteen Connate experts to kill first. He was not in a rush to attack those that were rather neutral.
He did so one by one.
After all, if the fifteen were to escape all at once, there was no way he could hunt all of them down.
“Meng Yiqiu, stop! Do you have the guts to fight me one-on-one?” Fang Chenshu roared angrily. His grayish-white hair was flailing as he charged at Qin Yun. However, Qin Yun ignored him for the time being. With another swing of his sword that was somehow both casual and extremely intricate, he produced a strike that had the exact right timing to rob the life of another.
“Pfft.” A Connate expert held his chest as he coughed out blood. He collapsed to the ground with widened eyes. Another Connate expert directly collapsed to the ground after having his glabella pierced.
Two Connate experts died, raising the total body count to five in a blink of an eye! And ‘coincidentally,’ the ones Qin Yun killed were Blood Saber Palace Elders.
“Frost Sword Art.”
“He’s using Frost Sword Art. It’s very powerful.” The members of the Zhou Mountain Sword Sect flushed red with excitement.
“With a heart as still as an ice mirror, he can predict the heavens and human behavior. The enemy falls right into his hands,” a white-bearded elder said excitedly. “Look, all the enemies are moving according to Yiqiu’s plans like wooden puppets. Their attacks just fall short before they are robbed of their lives.”
“What a coincidence. Evil Xue’s curved blade was just a little short but it failed to touch Elder Meng. Meanwhile, Elder Meng seems to be strolling leisurely. Is this the Frost Sword Art?”
“When has our Zhou Mountain Sword Sect’s Frost Sword Art ever been that terrifying?”
All the Elders and inherited-teachings disciples were excited.
Zuo Tang clenched his fists tightly as his eyes lit up. He peered at the frost taking form around him and Meng Yiqiu who was killing enemies with shimmering sword flashes. “Junior Brother is really a genius. A true genius. It appears he is no longer burdened by the poison. In fact, has his strength improved greatly? Master, do you see this? Yiqiu is alright. His strength has improved too!”
“Be careful of Fang Chenshu!”
“Fang Chenshu!”
The hearts of the Zhou Mountain Sword Sect members tightened.
Fiend Imbibing Saber Fang Chenshu finally got within range of Qin Yun after Qin Yun instantly killed the five Connate experts. Immediately, he cleaved with his saber.
Fang Chenshu was an expert on the Earth roll! He was ranked fifty-seventh! Just the mention of the Fiend Imbibing Saber was enough to make many sects, wealthy clans, and even the three imperial families dread him. Such an expert was able to steer the fate of a large sect. Earth-ranked experts could fly into the sky and burrow into the land. If one flew high enough into the sky and used Sword Qi or Saber Qi to kill their enemy, many mortal armies would easily perish!
“Die!” Fang Chenshu’s grayish-white hair flared in the wind while his eyes went red. Qin Yun had just killed five Blood Saber Palace Elders. The loss pushed him to the brink of insanity. The Blood Saber Palace only had a total of fifteen Elders!
“Fang Chenshu.” Qin Yun had deliberately avoided fighting him. But at that moment, he turned to meet him in battle.
Fang Chenshu cast his saber arts. Accompanied by fiendish auras, his strikes were ruthless and oppressive.
Qin Yun cast the Frost Sword Art, freezing frost around him. His attacks were swift and direct, aiming straight at Fang Chenshu’s critical points.
Peng! Peng! Peng…
The duo instantly engaged in an intense battle.
“Don’t be in a rush to escape. Watch first.” Some of the Connate itinerant cultivators that the Blood Saber Palace had invited had already begun fleeing. If it was an easy battle, they were naturally happy to take part. However, with the situation turning ugly, they were unwilling to die for the Blood Saber Palace. Therefore, the six Connate itinerant cultivators fled faster than anyone else. In a blink of an eye, they had fled to the mountainside.
However, they stopped before they got completely away.
They were either standing at the top of a towering tree or on a boulder. They watched the clash happening on the mountaintop.
“Let’s see who is more powerful. Fang Chenshu or Meng Yiqiu,” Qu Cang, an itinerant cultivator from the South Sea looked up and said.
“This Meng Yiqiu is too ruthless. All his strikes were lethal. It left my heart palpitating.” Another stocky man with a face full of beard also felt a lingering fear.
“Third Brother, Meng Yiqiu cultivates in the Frost Sword Art, one of the three best techniques of the Zhou Mountain Sword Sect. He must have cultivated it to an extremely high level so that his heart is as still as an ice mirror. Only with that could he have so easily seen our weaknesses. In addition, his movements are very brilliant, allowing him to kill his enemies in one strike,” said a yellow-robed elder nearby.
“I feel that Meng Yiqiu is stronger than Fang Chenshu. It’s best we distance ourselves a little more.”
“Yes, we should hide away further.”
Even the other Elders of the Blood Saber Palace were rapidly retreating, much less the six Connate itinerant cultivators. All the perfected Qi Refinement disciples were also retreating in full force. They tried their best to maintain a sufficient distance. Staying behind did not lend any help to Fang Chenshu.
“Wasn’t Meng Yiqiu poisoned by Spring Wind Warmth? And isn’t that said to be incurable?”
“Who knows? It’s supposed to be incurable, but no one can say for certain that Meng Yiqiu did not obtain some natural treasure. Some natural treasures can revive a person. Some can extend one’s lifespan. Some can cause a revitalizing effect. Something could have happened to cure him of his poison. Look at how formidable he is in battle at the moment. Does he look poisoned?”
“That’s true. It’s no wonder he dared to claim that he could fight all of us alone.”
“Oh no!”
“Old Fiend Fang is in trouble!”
“Bam!”
Qin Yun and Fang Chenshu were fighting in midair while exchanging blows at rapid speeds. But suddenly, Qin Yun withdrew his sword and retreated.
Fang Chenshu held his neck as blood spurted out. Sword Qi had long penetrated his body, destroying his innards.
“You, you…” Fang Chenshu stared at Qin Yun with widened eyes. “You are at the Paramount…” Following that, his eyes dimmed as he plummeted to the ground. The Fiend Imbibing Saber beside him fell as well.
Qin Yun shook his head gently.
“I’m not at the Paramount realm but instead, I have stepped into the Dao. All I did was to measure the strength of an expert at the Earth roll in this world by exchanging a few blows with you. You are ranked fifty-seventh on the Earth roll and your intent domain is only a hundred feet. In terms of your realm, you are not inferior to Nine Mountain Island Lord or Matron Centaurea. But your actual combat strength is much weaker. Your strength might only match twenty or thirty percent of Matron Centaurea’s strength. After all, you lack divine powers and Dharma treasures.” Qin Yun made the judgment.
Following that, Qin Yun landed.
“This world’s Heaven and Earth spiritual energies are just too thin. Even if there are Dharma spells passed down, their strength would be pathetic. Even flight requires one to use their intent domain to fly.” Qin Yun sighed. Those Connate intent realm experts were unable to fly. As for controlling the Heaven and Earth powers? The terribly weak Heaven and Earth powers were unable to lift a person high enough or long enough to fly.
Only domains were of use! If one’s domain was powerful enough, it could envelop a body to fly into the sky and burrow into the ground.
…
Fang Chenshu’s corpse plummeted from midair with Qin Yun descending after him. The Blood Saber Palace troops had already fled to the mountainside. As for the Connate itinerant cultivators, the remaining Blood Saber Palace Elders, and the disciples, they were fleeing in panic. All of them scattered as they fled.
“Fly into the sky and burrow into the ground.”
Upon seeing Qin Yun descent, the Zhou Mountain Sword Sect’s Zuo Tang, the five Elders, the inherited-teachings disciples, and the thousands of disciples looked up. All of them were extremely excited. Even the Elders that loathed Qin Yun previously were moved. They knew that with such an expert, it was akin to having an anchor for the Zhou Mountain Sword Sect.
“Yiqiu.” Zuo Tang went forward with a delighted expression. “Wonderful. Just wonderful. The Blood Saber Palace has suffered a double loss. Not only has it lost five Elders, even its Grand Elder, Fang Chenshu, has perished. Yiqiu, you will really become famous just from this battle alone.”