Bloody Battle Between the Two Sects!

A sharp glint flashed deep in the eyes of the bowed elder. It seemed that from now on, the sky above the Northern Region was truly going to change. After Long Qu finished speaking, a golden storage ring radiating dazzling light appeared beside the elder. Inside it was an entire high-grade spirit vein, more than thirty zhang long! Beyond that were numerous other rewards, as well as three Earth rank cultivation methods! A single Earth rank method was already terrifyingly rare. To bestow three all at once was unheard of. With these resources accumulating over time, it would not take long for the overall strength of the Great Xia Sword Sect's disciples to rise by an entire tier. Perhaps a hundred years from now, a place among the top sects of the Northern Region would certainly be theirs! However... The ceaseless rumbling in the sky never stopped. Gu Xiong's strength was not to be underestimated either; in the end, it took Qin Xian and Tu Kui fighting together just to battle him to a draw. Deprived of these two major combatants, the elders of the Great Xia Sword Sect suddenly found themselves at a disadvantage. Shen Lan was likewise fighting one against two, her sword tracing arcs of aqua-blue sword light. Before long, fresh wounds began to multiply across her body! Not far away, Li Nanting saw this and felt his eyes nearly tear apart at the corners. Breaking away, he cut down two Core Formation cultivators and flashed toward the woman in an instant! Surrounded by peril, Shen Lan maneuvered with the nimble grace of a swimming fish, constantly shifting positions in the sky. Forming hand seals with one hand, she unleashed several spirit incantations in rapid succession! With a flick of his sleeve, Li Nanting hurled three purple talismans and bellowed, "Spirit incantation! Two-Sixty Binding Thunder!!" *Boom!!* In an instant, three bolts of purple lightning wrapped tightly around the two enemy cultivators! One tall and one short, two powerful Nascent Soul cultivators were actually bound by the three cords of lightning! *Bang!!* Yet the three lightning cords managed to hold them for merely a single breath! Even so, that single breath was enough to let Shen Lan pull back to safety. And Li Nanting struck with thunderous speed, instantly slashing twice! *Bang! Bang!* Two muffled booms erupted in quick succession. Li Nanting's two beams of sword light forcibly shattered both cultivators' origin power barriers! Having broken free of the lightning bindings, the two shifted their footing slightly and barely dodged the blades. Blood trickled slowly down their necks. The stout man's eyes turned vicious as he growled, "Well done, Li Nanting!" The tall, gaunt elder's face darkened like stagnant water. His triangular eyes glared fixedly at Li Nanting as he licked his lips, killing intent roiling around him. Ignoring her wounds, Shen Lan yanked Li Nanting behind her. Her brows knitted together, and she barked in a low voice, "What are you doing jumping into this! Both of them are in the middle Nascent Soul realm! Do you have a death wish?!" A vast aura radiated from the old man, but his expression remained calm as he said softly, "Am I supposed to stand back and watch you fall into danger?" "I can't do that." At his words, Shen Lan was so exasperated that she laughed, snapping, "Well, you finally sound like a real man for once!" The elder stood beside her, sword in hand. This time, he did not shrink back. The corner of Shen Lan's mouth curved slightly, a faint smile touching her lips as she murmured softly, "You hid from me for three hundred years. Why act like this today?" Li Nanting pressed his lips together and said nothing. Yet words were unnecessary now. Shen Lan's eyes reddened faintly. She naturally knew why. Over the past three hundred years, ever since she broke through to the Nascent Soul realm, Li Nanting's pride and self-esteem had kept him from humbling himself before her. Yet he still cared for her. Taking a deep breath, Shen Lan's gaze turned sharp, and she said resolutely, "I take the lead to kill, you cover my flanks!" Li Nanting's eyes narrowed. He nodded as lightning crackled beneath his feet, and his body shot forward violently! *Boom!!* In an instant, all four clashed in a furious melee. As sword light flickered, every single strike carried terrifying might. Deep craters burst open across the surrounding peaks in rapid succession. Having an eight-hundred-year lifespan, Core Formation Li Nanting's power was not to be taken lightly. Or rather, no one possessing a lightning spiritual root was ever easy to provoke. Even though Li Nanting was merely at the peak of the Core Formation realm, his lethality was not a bit inferior to an early Nascent Soul cultivator. Down below, Li Guanqi charged forward with the Red Lotus Sword in hand, slaughtering his way through the fray! A crimson glow shimmered along both edges of the Red Lotus Sword. Arcs of lightning danced across the blade. Amid the roaring origin power, within thirty exchanges, he struck down and slew a Core Formation disciple of Ziyang Palace! Having stepped into the Core Formation realm, Li Guanqi fully revealed his horrifying sword cultivation. Against disciples of the same realm, he possessed near-absolute dominance! In the brief span of an incense stick, three Core Formation cultivators of Ziyang Palace had already fallen to his blade. Although Li Guanqi's eyes were blood-red, his spiritual terrace remained completely lucid. Even now, he found the power of the Red Lotus Sword terrifyingly formidable. Once the so-called Soul Release was activated, the sword's abilities reached their absolute peak. The power bestowed upon the Red Lotus Sword by the Sword Ruins was slaughter! The most direct manifestation of this slaughter was that every single strike he made possessed overwhelming force! Moreover, the Red Lotus Sword weighed a thousand jun. When swung, its sheer physical force was something few within the same realm could withstand. On top of that, its blade was exceptionally sharp, far surpassing the Canglang Sword. Measuring three feet and one inch, it suited him perfectly. The massive golden core within his dantian radiated an intense violet-gold hue, covered in countless intricate and profound patterns. Mobilizing origin power took only an instant. It was countless times faster than drawing upon inner strength during his Foundation Establishment stage. *Swish! Swish!!* Several piercing whistles abruptly sounded in his ears! Sharp sword rays screamed through the air, heading straight for Li Guanqi! Yet Li Guanqi did not even turn his head. He merely hooked a finger. Instantly, the golden core inside him hummed, unleashing immense origin power that surged through his meridians. *Rumble!!* Six spears of lightning shot down from the sky! In a flash, the two Core Formation cultivators from Ziyang Palace were impaled clean through by the spears! Immediately after, a sword light as swift as the wind flickered past! *Thwack! Thwack!!* Two heads went flying into the air! The youth, his face drenched in blood, quickly drew the attention of Ziyang Palace's upper echelon. The rumbling along the horizon persisted unabated. Lu Kangnian's Soul Formation tribulation was nearing completion. His robes in tatters, the man's eyes were sharp as blades. Surveying the tragic carnage around him, his vision was laced with bloodshot veins. The final three bolts of the heavenly lightning tribulation remained! Yet across another stretch of the sky, Han Tiange, a mighty Soul Formation expert, was being suppressed throughout the fight. His magnificent purple robes had long been reduced to charred shreds. No fewer than a dozen sword wounds covered his body, including one across his neck. Had his reactions not been fast enough, a single strike from Ling Daoyan would have ended his life! The plump old man with the bulbous red nose wielded his sword with one hand. The bursts of flaming sword light blurred into an unbroken blaze, so fast that even Li Guanqi could not discern the trajectory of his swings.