Boom!!
A deafening explosion suddenly tore through the sky!
Beneath the thunderclouds stood the disheveled man, his entire body charred black. Raising his sword as he took flight, he unleashed an all-out, supreme strike!
Winds of mysterious, profound pressure rippled outward!
Sword intent!
Li Guanqi stared blankly at the silhouette charging into the lightning!
Wherever the sword radiance passed, the void fractured into dense networks of pitch-black fissures!
Boom!!!
The sword light shattered the lightning and cleaved open the immensely thick heavenly tribulation clouds cloaking the dome of heaven.
The world and void began to tremble faintly as world spiritual energy surged like an uncontrollable deluge toward the charred, battered man whose flesh hung in tatters!
Lu Kangnian's chest heaved violently, yet his eyes shone brilliantly clear, his thoughts unimpeded and free.
Everyone watching looked on with utter disbelief.
*He… reached the Soul Formation Realm just like that?*
That single thought echoed in the minds of all the cultivators witnessing the battle.
Meanwhile, the elders of the various sects narrowed their eyes, their thoughts racing in wildly different directions.
The elder from Xuanmen Palace could not help but mutter under his breath, "It seems all of us underestimated the Great Xia Sword Sect—and we underestimated Lu Kangnian!"
"The sky over the Northern Region is about to change…"
As origin energy rapidly restored throughout Lu Kangnian's body, the charred crust began to slough off.
Wafts of profound, enigmatic aura materialized around him.
In an instant, hundreds of sword qi flared and whistled about his figure!
His gaze sharp as blades, Lu Kangnian radiated an overpowering, terrifying aura.
This pressure crashed down upon the disciples of Ziyang Palace, instantly destabilizing every Foundation Establishment disciple riding the air, sending them tumbling from the sky!
Meanwhile, the aura Han Tiange unleashed was fully blocked by the elder before him.
Han Tiange could only watch helplessly as Lu Kangnian did as he pleased.
"Lu Kangnian!! If you dare use your realm to bully the weak, my Ziyang Palace will fight you to the death!!"
A cold sneer tugged at the corner of Lu Kangnian's lips. "Han Tiange, do you think words like that still hold any meaning now?"
Boom!!
In a flash, Lu Kangnian pointed one hand toward the void in front of Shen Lan.
The spirit swords circling him shot forth toward the tall and short Nascent Soul cultivators!
The pair's hearts pounded violently. Without a second thought, they abandoned Li Nanting and Shen Lan, intending to teleport away.
Yet immediately after, a boundless, crushing momentum came crashing down!
A yellowish halo spread like ripples of water, instantly engulfing the two of them!
Their eyes filled with terror as Lu Kangnian's origin energy domain disrupted their teleportation, violently dragging them out of the void.
It felt as though a mountain a hundred zhang high was pressing down on their backs, slowing their movements to a crawl!
Seeing the spirit swords about to pierce through the two men, Han Tiange roared, "Lu Kangnian! How dare you!"
Boom!!!
A greatsword of blazing fire swept through the void across a radius of a hundred zhang.
Han Tiange hastily drew his blade to block this wild, unrestrained strike.
Ling Daoyan said coldly, "Worry about yourself first!"
That horizontal slash nearly cut Han Tiange in two at the waist!
The flaming blade sliced open a wound nearly a chi long across his midsection.
The flesh was scorched and charred, and the searing agony drew a muffled grunt from Han Tiange.
Ling Daoyan tapped the void with his toe. In an instant, the hundred-zhang expanse around them transformed into a sea of crimson fire!
"Fiery Domain, open!"
A cold gleam flashed in Han Tiange's eyes, and dazzling reddish-gold radiance erupted all over his body!
In an instant, the hundred-zhang expanse of sky was blanketed by golden light.
With a sullen roar, he bellowed, "Domain, open!"
Instantly, the golden radiance and the power of flames each seized half the sky.
The colossal power agitated the fire and metal spiritual energy within a thousand-zhang radius to a frenzy.
Influenced by the origin energy domains, the energies surged madly into their respective fields.
The metal origin energy under Han Tiange's command grew exceptionally violent.
Terrifying sword radiance coalesced into a sky full of golden spirit swords, hurtling toward Ling Daoyan.
Only now did Han Tiange finally gauge the old man's true strength—the peak of the middle Soul Formation Realm!
Moreover, the old man's foundation ran exceedingly deep. Han Tiange had only reached the middle Soul Formation Realm a century ago, whereas the old man had been at this level for at least four hundred years!
A sharp light flashed in Ling Daoyan's eyes, and countless flaming spirit swords materialized behind him.
Endless thunderous roars erupted within their overlapping domains.
Around Han Tiange, layers of golden shields formed in rapid succession.
Within his own origin energy domain, these manifested with a mere thought.
With his nascent divinity churning, innumerable threads of divine sense spread through the void, perceiving every detail around them with absolute clarity.
Yet the sword in the old man's hand was simply too fast—so fast that even Han Tiange's divine sense could only catch a blurred afterimage.
Even when he managed to discern the sword's trajectory, his body had no time to react!
Meanwhile, trapped in Lu Kangnian's origin energy domain, the two Nascent Soul cultivators were impaled through the chest by dozens of spirit swords!
A rain of blood scattered, and the Nascent Souls of the two cultivators instantly burst from their bodies!
The slightly ethereal blue figures darted at extreme speed into the sleeve of another Ziyang Palace elder.
Having secured their Nascent Souls, that elder fled toward the horizon without even looking back!
Seeing this, the remaining elders of Ziyang Palace broke off combat one after another, employing their movement techniques to escape over a thousand zhang away!
Boom!!!
Explosive flames shattered the golden domain, and a somewhat battered figure shot out from the blast.
His robes in tatters and his hair wild and disheveled, Han Tiange's expression was as dark as could be!
Yet he fled no slower than the rest. With a wave of his broad sleeve, he pushed back all the disciples locked in combat by dozens of zhang.
The disciples of both sects parted, each side holding half the sky!
In less than an hour of battle, however, the casualties on both sides had reached a harrowing scale!
Thirty-nine Foundation Establishment disciples and twelve Core Formation disciples of the Great Xia Sword Sect had fallen in battle!
Six Nascent Soul elders were gravely wounded, and the rest were covered in cuts and bruises.
On the side of Ziyang Palace, fifty-two Foundation Establishment disciples were dead, and twenty-seven Core Formation disciples had been killed!
Li Guanqi and Wu Bing accounted for the greatest share of those kills.
Most devastating of all, Ziyang Palace had lost two Nascent Soul elders, their physical bodies destroyed!
Severely wounded, Han Tiange glared icily at Lu Kangnian.
His voice dripped with malice. "Good, good, good! Well done, Great Xia Sword Sect!"
"From this moment forth, Ziyang Palace declares full-scale war on the Great Xia Sword Sect!"
"I hope you can bear the wrath of my Ziyang Palace!!"
Hearing this, the Great Xia Sword Sect disciples, their eyes already bloodshot from slaughter, stirred in agitation.
Shouts and curses instantly erupted between the two sides!
"A bunch of old bastards acting all righteous!"
"Declare war? As if we're scared of you!"
"Fuck them! Why waste breath? We're all here right now anyway! Keep killing them!"
The disciples of Ziyang Palace were likewise red-eyed, their chests heaving as they raised their swords, eager to charge.
Soon, however, the restless disciples on both sides were held back by their respective elders.
Ling Daoyan sheathed his sword and stood behind Lu Kangnian.
Lu Kangnian leveled his sword calmly at Han Tiange and said in a heavy voice, "No need for waste words. If you want war, then war it is!!"
With a sullen face, Han Tiange retrieved a scroll, crushing it with a loud snap.
A mysterious glow immediately enveloped everyone from Ziyang Palace, and they vanished without a trace.
Just before disappearing, Han Tiange spat coldly, "I hope you don't regret this!"
Chapter 164