Chapter 39: Seizing the Sword

Before Mu Yuan left the mountain, he had fought Zhou Huasheng and Wu Dejun multiple times. Disciples of their two factions had always been at odds, but any challenges or private fights only happened between cultivators of similar training years and age, never bullying the weak purely based on cultivation level. These two, especially Wu Dejun, had considerable talent. Having faced Mu Yuan in many bouts, Wu Dejun had won far more times than he’d lost. So when confronting Mu Yuan, Wu Dejun always swaggered with confidence!

Wu Dejun came from a wealthy family, unlike Mu Yuan. Back then, any disciple who completed the Qi Refining First Layer and advanced to the Second Layer of Qi Refining was sent down the mountain for training experience. This Wu Dejun had also just returned to the mountain recently.

After one clash, Mu Yuan’s robes fluttered wildly, his sash dancing in the air, yet he stood firm and unmoving. Wu Dejun, however, flushed bright red. He staggered backward several steps, wobbling like a drunkard, his limbs tingling and weak. He stared at Mu Yuan with sheer shock.

Mu Yuan’s trip down the mountain brought enormous gains, almost unbelievable, even freakish. Obtaining the Tidal Flow and mastering the Water Path through the Five Elements significantly aided his breakthrough in the Longevity Art. As for the fierce and mighty Dragon King’s Dynamic Force merging with his Longevity Qi, the biggest advantage was the vast increase in the Longevity Art’s killing power and shock force! Even more, the Longevity Sword now hovered within his Dantian, almost as if he’d achieved Elixir Formation. Many Divine Abilities previously restricted by his cultivation level could now be used freely. Wu Dejun, naturally, stood no chance.

Traditionally, when disciples from the two factions quarreled, those from Strange Abode Peak often hinted through words that Cang Qing Zi, from Cloud-Capped Peak, was an expert at seducing women – that was the real reason True Lord Qinghua had ‘condescended’ to marry him. To these people, a high Primordial Spirit expert like True Lord Qinghua becoming cultivation partners with a mere Core Formation Realm Cultivator was undoubtedly a ‘lowering’ of status!

Though restrained by Cang Qing Zi’s senior status in the Longevity Palace from stating it outright, neither side was foolish; they could taste the sarcasm. So, when Wu Dejun accused Mu Yuan of going down the mountain to seduce proper women and father children, he was indirectly attacking Cloud-Capped Peak for producing such a ‘renowned master breeds an outstanding student’. Mu Yuan might joke about his master, but having been raised by him since childhood, their bond exceeded mere master-disciple; it was father-son affection. Naturally, he couldn’t tolerate anyone slandering him. This was also why Mu Yuan was one of the disciples punished most often by the sect leader among the two factions!

Seeing Wu Dejun shake and tremble, Zhou Huasheng had no idea this was caused by the lightning force from the Dragon King’s Dynamic Force mixed within Mu Yuan’s Longevity Qi. He assumed Mu Yuan had tricked him. With a furious roar, he raised his hand and launched a flying sword. Green and lustrous like carved spirit jade, trailing a dazzling neon stream, it shot straight toward Mu Yuan for a swift kill!

Zha Feng, pulled behind Mu Yuan earlier, watched the opponent casually send out a beam of light – brilliantly flashing and gorgeously captivating – and couldn’t help shouting excitedly.

Seeing Zhou Huasheng strike savagely, Mu Yuan snorted coldly. Noting how pure and bright the flying sword’s radiance was, clearly a superior quality piece, he thought to himself, I’ll snatch your flying sword today. Let’s see what you have to say then. Perfect to give Feng’er for play, making it hard for you to even complain without sounding petty!

His mind made up, he splayed his five fingers wide. Not even using the Longevity Sword, the Zhenqi inside him whirled tempestuously. Green light spiraled around his arm, bursting from his palm to form a sword shape thick with tumbling neon radiance – countless swirling beams of light rising and falling, rolling back and forth. This was sheer sword energy channeled into weapon form!

The beauty of this energy weapon lay in its instant launch and retrieval. Its power involved complex twists and turns – tearing, sucking, dissolving… Indescribably intricate. Compared to a flying sword, it lacked agility but excelled in raw power!

Greenwood Divine Radiance didn’t emphasize delicate, clever changes. It triumphed through sheer force and momentum. It carried the philosophy of strength overcoming ten opponents, one sword shattering all techniques. Using it as an energy weapon was a perfect match! Furthermore, if talking aerial agility, Zhou Huasheng maneuvering his flying sword likely couldn’t surpass Mu Yuan, who had practiced Canglang Water Sword!

Zhou Huasheng hadn’t anticipated Mu Yuan possessing such skills. He and Wu Dejun had returned to the Longevity Palace a month prior. Though their trip down the mountain was beneficial – they were merely stepping into the Second Layer of Qi Refining when they left – now they neared its completion. The palace boasted a millennium of accumulated wisdom, having achieved near-miraculous levels in studying the human body’s meridian points. Clearing and then solidifying the meridians was vastly simpler in such surroundings. But escaping the mundane world solely for cultivation wasn’t its true essence; occasionally engaging with the bustling mortal realm offered immense benefits for their practice.

Returning to the mountain, both were gifted flying swords by their masters and began intensive sword technique study. They thought Mu Yuan, just back, lacked a sword at his hip. It seemed the perfect chance to exploit his weakness and humiliate him. Little did they imagine that Mu Yuan’s gains during his descent far surpassed anything they could conceive! Knocking Wu Dejun back with one blow, his torrential energy weapon trapped Zhou Huasheng’s flying sword within a mere few exchanges.

His energy beams coiled around it, peeling it away inch by inch. Zhou Huasheng’s face flushed crimson, but he felt a spiraling, crushing force transmit down his arm. If he persisted in controlling the sword, this power seemed ready to sever his arm along with the sword! Reluctant but powerless, the flying sword gradually slipped from his control, steadily drifting into Mu Yuan’s grasped hand!

Wu Dejun, seeing this, was jolted. The sight of swirling neon radiance trapping Zhou Huasheng’s Jasper Sword in mid-air prompted him to fight down shock. He flicked his wrist, launching a short, nimble spirit sword. Its gleaming light shot directly at Mu Yuan.

“Same old tactics!” Mu Yuan’s current cultivation far exceeded both of theirs. All his meridian points were refined and interconnected. He drew upon the vast energies of Heaven and Earth; even more than half of his Third Layer cultivation – Dharma Body forging – was complete. Half his meridians pulsed with full, swelling Primordial Qi. Moving his hands or feet unleashed immense power. Dealing with these two was effortless. With his left hand, he conjured Canglang Water Sword, blocking Wu Dejun with its fluid transformations, while with his right, Greenwood Divine Radiance roared forth at full force, determined to seize that Jasper Sword!

Wu Dejun wielded a specially designed Soul-Guiding Sword, forged from spirit-connecting stone. While not supreme quality, it had boundless unique uses in linking thoughts and spirit. Its greatest strength lay in its extreme agility. Guiding it with will and moving it with Qi surpassed other flying swords in effortless control. Yet against Mu Yuan’s Canglang Water Sword, it failed to gain even the slightest edge. Locked down by Mu Yuan’s deft, ever-changing swordsmanship, Wu Dejun felt his strength drain away like mud sinking into a great sea. Furious, he drove his flying sword harder, stirring sand and rocks, its strikes massively powerful!

Mu Yuan gave a low chuckle. Focused power surged into his right hand. The swirling force within his energy weapon turned ferociously violent, ripping the Jasper Sword away entirely. The spiraling energy morphed into a corkscrew propulsion blast, forcing Zhou Huasheng back several zhang, unable to close the distance!

Deprived of its master, the Jasper Sword simply hovered within Mu Yuan’s radiance. Zhou Huasheng had only refined it for just over a month. Mu Yuan, ruthless, activated his Longevity Sword directly. A burst of Sword Qi surged over the seized sword, instantly scouring Zhou Huasheng’s mental imprint into nothingness!

Back on Zhaoyang Mountain, the Longevity Sword could absorb souls! Zhou Huasheng’s feeble Spirit Refining stage mental inscription was child’s play!

Only after seizing the Jasper Sword did Mu Yuan’s rage slightly diminish. Both his colossal energy weapons surged wildly around him, sweeping unopposed. Zhou Huasheng and Wu Dejun, neither daring to face this raw edge, retreated far away!