https://novelcool.info/chapter/Chapter-176-Spoils-of-War-Dedicated-to-the-Southern-Alliance-Leader-of-the-Holy-Land-/12590298/
Chapter 175: Instant Kill
Chapter 175: Instant Kill
Fang Xing maintained the escape speed of a sword cultivator at the Foundation Establishment stage as he flew to a place surrounded by mountains. Suddenly, he sensed something and came to a halt in mid-air, facing the howling wind.
A giant swallow falcon as white as jade descended, carrying Tianyu Zhenren and a man in black.
"Tianyu, why are you blocking my way?" Fang Xing's face turned slightly 'alert', and he coldly shouted, "I am a true disciple of the Celestial Sword Sect. Don't bring harm upon yourself!"
"Brother Feng, let me handle this." Tianyu Zhenren turned to the man in black and said indifferently, "Although the rules of the Celestial Sword Sect only allow them to give true disciples some self-preservation items like substitutes or escape tools, and not actual treasures for combat or high-level talismans... it's still a good idea to test him with a puppet first."
"Alright, go ahead, Tianyu." The man in black let out a strange laugh and stepped aside.
To him, the most important target was that third-tier body cultivator, Fang Yun. A mere Foundation Establishment stage sword cultivator was not worth his time.
Tianyu Zhexian's wide sleeves fluttered, and one white jade terracotta warrior after another flew out, exuding a Foundation Establishment stage spiritual power fluctuation. They continued to grow in size in mid-air, each holding a shield or a bow... quickly surrounding Fang Xing.
He was famous for his puppets, and now he was using a puppet battle formation! Although these were only second-tier 'White Jade Soldier Puppets', their combined formation was still a threat even to a Fake Golden Core cultivator!
"Command!"
One by one, the white jade soldier puppets holding large shields stepped forward and raised their shields high.
On the shields, array patterns lit up, drawing on the spiritual energy of the middle-grade spirit stones embedded in their cores, suddenly transforming into light screens that protected the entire formation without any gaps.
Behind the shields, three rows of soldier puppets holding crossbows stood in neat rows. The first row of puppets had their arms lit up with various patterns, and the crossbow arrows in their hands burst into a brilliant light.
Flames, ice, lightning, corrosion...
The arrows, imbued with various effects, manifested their respective phenomena and fell like rain.
Whoosh!
A sword cry suddenly rang out in the void. It started as a faint sound, gradually growing louder until it resembled rolling thunder. A sword energy that was platinum in color and speckled with twinkling cyan starlight appeared and instantly divided into countless strands, resembling a curtain of rain.
The two 'curtains of rain' intersected, and the countless magical crossbow arrows were split evenly in half, losing all their power.
'Sigh... As per Dujian Zhenren's words, a False Core is not considered as having achieved Core Formation... There's some truth to that. The pressure this person is giving me is absolutely not threatening at all...'
Fang Xing sighed in his heart, but a puzzled expression appeared on his face as he asked, "Tianyu, I have no grudges or enmity with you. Why do you insist on doing this... Could it be because of my senior?"
"Good sword technique, refining the sword into silk, and overcoming the five elements... It really does have the style of a sword cultivator's single sword breaking through all techniques."
Tianyu clapped and sighed, "But... how many swords can you draw? How many shields can you break?"
In the mortal world, sword masters were as easy to kill as dogs in the eyes of the Wang dynasty because their energy would be exhausted. If they were besieged by armored soldiers, they would be fortunate to break through two or three before being hacked to death.
In the cultivation world, puppet masters used a similar strategy against sword cultivators—drowning them with numbers!
Of course, Tianyu was one realm higher, which was why he dared to play this game.
After all, according to the intelligence, Fang Xing was only at the early Foundation Establishment stage, and his spiritual power was limited.
How many more swords could he draw?
In the battle formation, the puppets with shields kept pressing forward, forcing Fang Xing to consume his sword energy.
Fang Xing's face turned cold, and his sword struck like the wind and thunder, slicing through a shield.
Although these shields were mass-produced, they were surprisingly second-tier upper-grade spiritual tools. It was clear that Tianyu had spent a lot of money on them.
Even a sword cultivator at the late Foundation Establishment stage would suffer a significant loss of spiritual power and sharpness of their flying sword after consecutively slicing through dozens of shields.
Therefore, Tianyu was very calm and deliberately forced Fang Xing to reveal his 'trump card': "It's better for you to surrender, young master. I just want to meet your senior... I have no ill intentions towards you."
His words seemed to carry a kind of spiritual sense interference, meant to make Fang Xing lower his guard.
'Most puppet masters have exceptional spiritual sense... This person's spiritual sense is probably comparable to a real Golden Core cultivator. To use this kind of spiritual sense attack on purpose is truly despicable...'
Fang Xing cursed in his heart.
"Alright, hurry up and capture him. If you want to know something, I can just soul-search him..." The black-robed cultivator named Feng urged.
"As you wish."
Tianyu smiled and was about to take out another puppet from his sleeve.
He was a master of puppets, and this was far from his only battle formation.
What made him famous were his two quasi-third-tier puppets. With the help of these two puppets, his strength was at the top of all the False Core cultivators, which was why he could preside over the Northern Li Immortal City.
Even more astonishing was that with the support of the black-robed man's background and the funding of a third-tier puppet legacy and some rare puppet materials, Tianyu had finally crafted a third-tier lower-grade puppet! With this step, he had truly become a third-tier puppet master!
His status could now be compared to that of a regular Golden Elixir cultivator.
However, he had always kept this a secret trump card. Now that he saw Fang Xing's bravery, he wanted to test out his newly crafted third-tier puppet.
"Ah... I can't be bothered to play with you anymore."
With that, Fang Xing sighed, and the Rusty Sword appeared in his hand.
The aura of a quasi-treasure caused Tianyu Zhenren's eyes to twitch.
Then, Fang Xing stimulated the Nine Apertures Golden Pill within his body, and the spiritual power fluctuations around him surged.
He was no longer at the early Foundation Establishment stage...
But had broken through all the way to the Fake Core realm!
Terrifying sword essence poured into the Rusty Sword, causing the quasi-treasure to burst forth with dazzling brilliance.
"Great Freedom Sword!"
Fang Xing casually swung his sword! A brilliant and splendid sword silk, thin as a thread, appeared and swept across the White Jade Puppet Battle Formation!
Along with it, the Falcon Puppet, Tianyu Zhenren, and the black-robed man riding on it were swept away!
Whoosh!
A gentle breeze blew.
Clang!
The huge shields split in two, separating into top and bottom halves, revealing a smooth and glass-like cross-section.
The White Jade Soldier Puppets behind the shields also split in two, and were instantly annihilated by the sword!
Not only that, the White Jade Falcon in the sky split in two and disintegrated in mid-air.
Tianyu Zhenren's face was filled with shock as he watched his body and arm, still reaching into his sleeve. He couldn't help but feel a sense of unwillingness...
"I... My third-tier puppet... I haven't even taken it out yet..."
"If I had taken it out... I definitely wouldn't have... died!"
Bang! His head dropped to the ground, and the headless corpse fell with a thud.
"Such a fast sword!"
A voice filled with astonishment and wariness sounded.
"Eh?"
Fang Xing looked at the black-robed man. "You're not dead? Oh... So you have a special body. Is this... demonic cultivation?"
In his vision, the black-robed man was waist-cut... but not a single drop of blood flowed from his body.
Not only that, as he pinched a strange incantation gesture, his body was enveloped in rolling black demonic energy.
His upper and lower body seemed to transform into two blobs of black demonic mist, exuding a shocking killing intent. They then merged in mid-air, revealing a man with a cold demeanor, a high nose bridge, and a black robe—a Demon Cultivator at the Golden Core stage!
Demonic energy was different from ordinary killing intent; a cultivator with spiritual sense would never mistake it.
"What a coincidence... I was originally planning to go to Zhenguo to investigate, but I didn't expect to meet a Demon Cultivator here!"
Fang Xing's mouth curled up slightly. "And a Golden Core Demon Cultivator, at that!"
"You're actually at the Fake Core stage? Your sword light is so fast... Tianyu really died unjustly."
The Golden Core Demon Cultivator took out a shield-type treasure and held it firmly in front of him before speaking in a hoarse voice.
Fang Xing's Great Freedom Sword's essence was renowned as the fastest sword speed, and without sufficient defense, most cultivators would easily be at a disadvantage.
Especially someone like Tianyu Zhenren, who had neither cultivated his body nor prepared adequate defenses.
Of course, Tianyu Zhenren's death was indeed unfair.
After all, in his eyes, Fang Xing was already trapped within the puppet battle formation and was like a turtle in a jar.
Furthermore, although he hadn't taken out a high-tier puppet, he had been maintaining a Fake Core-level protective barrier.
Yet, he never expected Fang Xing's sword silk to be so sharp that it sliced through his Fake Core-level protective barrier like tofu.
Thus, before he could even bring out his high-tier puppet, he died an extremely unjust death.
"Are you from the Five Sects and Ten Countries, or even further south?"
Fang Xing tapped his sword with his finger, feeling the thrill of a Sword Cultivator's swift killing for the first time.
"Hehe... Do you think you have me figured out? You're merely at the False Core stage... No, you've achieved the False Core stage with the aid of external objects, and your Elixir Foundation is not even perfect... Your sword art is indeed astonishing and enough to threaten ordinary Golden Core cultivators. But I cultivate the 'Wind Killing Demonic Art', which can refine my demonic body, making it impermanent and ever-changing. You cannot harm me..."
The Golden Core Demon Cultivator coldly smiled while secretly astonished in his heart.
The 'Wind Killing Demonic Art' he cultivated was extraordinary in its might, and coupled with the unique traits of his demonic body, it was the reason he dared to come here to capture a third-tier Body Cultivator with only the assistance of a Fake Core cultivator.
After all, his 'Wind Demon Body' was invulnerable to almost everything except a few orthodox talismans for demon-subduing, third-tier sword intent, and pure yang fire, among a few other rare exceptions.
Only a Body Cultivator with sheer brute force could harm him.
Not to mention, he also had Tianyu Zhenren, who could manipulate a third-tier puppet and two quasi-third-tier puppets to besiege their target.
After refining a third-tier puppet, Tianyu Zhenren's strength was comparable to an ordinary Golden Core cultivator.
Yet, he never expected to be at such a disadvantage right from the start and to fail so miserably at the hands of Fang Yun's junior.
At this moment, he only wanted to capture Fang Xing and interrogate him thoroughly.
As for capturing 'Fang Yun'? He would probably have to contact his sect and dispatch more elders.
"Wind Killing Demonic Art?"
Fang Xing recalled the books he had read and immediately understood. "So you're from the Southern Demon Sect."
In the Southern Demon Sect, there was a great sect at the Nascent Soul stage called the 'Myriad Phenomena Demon Sect', which had four divisions—'Wind, Rain, Thunder, and Lightning'. Each division cultivated a powerful demonic art that could reach the Nascent Soul stage!
The secret art passed down in the 'Wind Division' was this 'Wind Killing Demonic Art'!
"What? Do you from the Myriad Phenomena Demon Sect want to go to war with us from the orthodox path? Us, the Celestial Sword Sect, have been waiting for this moment."
Fang Xing laughed heartily. Suddenly, he and his sword became one, like a white rainbow piercing the sun, as he struck out with his sword towards the Golden Core Demon Cultivator!
(End of Chapter)
Chapter end
Report
