Terrifying Connections!

The newly arrived elder had no idea what he was about to face, and merely sneered. "Today, no one can save you!" With that, he raised his hand, condensing a palm print that came crashing down from the heavens! At the same time, an unimaginably potent spatial constriction bound Li Congxin rigidly in place! Li Congxin was weighed down so heavily that he could barely straighten his back. Yet looking up at the palm print descending rapidly overhead, he broke into a grin. A Body Integration old monster... was indeed not something he could contend with at his current level... Still... sitting idly by waiting to die had never been Li Congxin's style! Even knowing full well that an enemy was insurmountable, one still had to have the courage to draw their blade! With trembling legs, Li Congxin slowly pushed himself upright. Under the shocked gazes of the onlookers, his right hand reached slowly for the sword in his grip! "What is he doing?" "Facing the Xiang clan ancestor, does he actually plan to draw his sword across entire cultivation realms?! Is he mad?!" A gray-haired elder in the crowd muttered, brow furrowed. "What a terrifying young man. Reaching the middle Void Refining Realm at such a young age." "Yet... Xiang Zurong broke through to the Body Integration Realm a thousand years ago and has likely attained the middle Body Integration Realm by now. Isn't the kid just asking for misery?" A glint of disdain flickered deep in Xiang Zurong's eyes. He had seen far too many geniuses and prodigies, but of those supposed prodigies... far too many had perished before their prime! Sensing the frightening power bursting from Li Congxin, the elder narrowed his eyes into slits. *This brat must never be left alive!* *Once I suppress and kill him today, I'll investigate his background and silently exterminate his clan and acquaintances as well!* Xiang Zurong was truly a ruthless old fox. At this moment, Li Congxin pushed his sword intent to its absolute zenith, the primal energy surging like a tempest within him. A sword intent of boundless ease and grand freedom rose precipitously from the earth! In this instant, even Xiang Zurong could not help a flicker of shock passing across his eyes. "Sword Heart Realm sword intent!" "How is this possible? He is so young—how could his attainments in the way of the sword be this profound?!" As thoughts spun frantically through his mind, the hundred-zhang, earth-yellow palm print seemed to condense into something even more solid. The elder shoved his right hand downward with savage force, his beard and hair whipping wild! *Rumble!* Violent power tore through the horizon's void. In a flash, Li Congxin's sword erupted in an exceedingly terrifying sword light, slashing upward along the momentum! "Yanluo: Sword of Grand Freedom!" *Boom!* In that breath, all of his sword intent merged entirely into the sword light! Under the crowd's stunned gazes, the sword light instantly sliced into the descending palm print! Just then, the elder who had spoken earlier snapped to his senses, immediately wielding spatial power as he roared: "Protect the commoners!" Many experts snapped awake at once, hurriedly rushing to evacuate the populace. A hundred-zhang sword beam shredded space, carving a long, ragged tear along its path. Immediately after, the sword light cleaved right through the palm print, unleashing a colossal explosion. *Boom! Boom! Boom!* The spilling shockwaves nearly pulverized the entire northern quarter of Fenhe City! The spectating cultivators poured out all their strength, only then managing to shield all the ordinary mortals from harm. A radius of a hundred zhang around the battleground had long been flattened, structures collapsed in ruins amid billows of dust. "He didn't die, did he?" "What's the situation?" A gust of strong wind swept past, scattering the dust, and everyone was finally able to see the scene before them. Xiang Zurong stood midair with a darkened expression, not even the hem of his robes torn. Yet a deep gash had opened across his palm, dripping blood. Below, Li Congxin was drenched in blood, his red robe shredded to tatters. An invisible force shackled him firmly in place. Terrifying spatial power continuously squeezed his body, leaving his chest slightly caved in. "Cough..." "Old fogey... you're pretty tough..." Xiang Zurong's expression turned exceedingly grim. With a wave of his hand, several earth-yellow spirit swords condensed beside him and shot forward in a blitz! These spirit swords flew straight for Li Congxin's vitals, clearly aimed to claim his life without granting him any respite. *Swoosh! Swoosh! Swoosh!* Piercing sounds of cleaved air suddenly resounded across the sky, yet not a trace of fear showed in Li Congxin's eyes. "Good brothers! If you don't show up... your little brother is going to kick the bucket!" The moment his words fell, a jade-faced young man in purple robes materialized before Li Congxin! The man wore a jade crown, a playful smile playing on his lips. With a light lift of his hand, he pinched the incoming spirit swords into dust. Then he looked up, waving his sleeve to shatter the spatial binding pinning Li Congxin. Li Congxin wiped the blood from his face and let out a chuckle. "Sixth Brother..." The man turned to glance at the grinning Li Congxin and could not resist smacking the back of his head with a scolding scoff. "You only remember you have a Sixth Brother when you're in danger?" "You brat, weren't you afraid I wouldn't make it in time?" Li Congxin chuckled foolishly, rubbing haphazardly at his face. Just then, bursts of gasps and exclamations erupted from the surrounding crowd. Xiang Zurong narrowed his eyes, staring at the man with profound wariness. After furrowing his brows for a long moment, a name suddenly flashed across his mind! "Bishui Hall... Lu Yong?" The moment those words were uttered, the crowd's understanding of the figure before them became instantly clearer. A chorus of sharp intakes of breath swept across the square! "H-H-Him?! Is he the Clear Wind Sword, Lu Yong?!" "*Hiss*... Three Halls, Six Sects, and Ten Clans... Vice Hall Master Lu Yong of Bishui Hall!" "How could that young man know a figure of this caliber? And call Lu Yong Sixth Brother?" "Wasn't it said that Lu Yong entered secluded death-defying cultivation to assault the Mahayana Realm after returning from his travels across the continent a few years ago? How could he appear here?" By this point, Xiang Zurong's face was extraordinarily ugly. Bishui Hall was one of the three great halls of the Luoxia Domain, its power vastly superior to that of the Xiang clan by countless bounds! Lu Yong was a titled sword cultivator of renown, at the half-step Mahayana Realm! Lu Yong cast a calm, indifferent glance at Xiang Zurong, sneering in disdain. "On the merit of your petty Xiang clan... do you even think you're worthy of provoking A-Song?" As his words fell, space twisted uncontrollably, and a colossal, crushing pressure erupted with a roar! In an instant, Xiang Zurong plunged from the sky. His legs gave out, and his knees slammed onto the bluestone with a resounding crack, cratering a massive pit into the ground. Blood trickled from the corner of the kneeling elder's mouth as Lu Yong strolled unhurriedly before him. Looking down at the elder, he spoke in a frigid tone that dripped with chill. "On the merit of your petty Xiang clan... where did you get the nerve?!" Before his voice had even faded, one terrifyingly potent aura after another descended upon the area! Silver light flared across the void as figures tore through space, while others materialized from teleportation arrays. Several hundred-zhang-long cloud boats even breached the sky, sailing forward! At this sight, the spectating cultivators were utterly dumbfounded. "*Gulp*... Th-These people..." "Fu Yin, Hall Master of Shenghuang Hall... Cui Xian, Hall Master of Tianyuan Hall..." "Third Elder Ji Bu of the Youlong Sect, Chief Consecrated Elder Wei Tian of the Tianchan Sect, Discipline Master Xu Bao of the Yuxu Sect..." "Th-This... Just who is he?! How could he know so many people?!" "Practically every power of the Luoxia Domain's Three Halls and Six Sects has someone here! This guy's network..."