Dark night, howling wind, torrential blizzard.
Helian Zhaoyu whipped his head around, his eyes like ice blades fixed on his opponent, itching to carve out two great chunks of flesh.
Qin Ming did not even glance at him. Facing the bitter wind and treading across the snowy ground, he dashed forward at the front and called out, "Hurry up. I'm short on time."
Helian Zhaoyu stared at his back, his eyes growing fathomlessly profound in an instant.
Before the duel had officially begun, the two were already clashing. Helian Zhaoyu was brimming with aggression, while Qin Ming handled it with effortless nonchalance, diffusing everything with light, airy strokes.
A crowd trailed behind them, trekking through the biting chill as several low whispers and discussions broke out among them.
"Why did Helian Zhaoyu challenge Qin Ming?" someone asked in bewilderment.
Anyone could see that this was no friendly spar; it looked far more like a premeditated challenge.
Qin Ming was currently a guest in the pure land, yet Helian Zhaoyu acted this way, showing not the slightest hint of goodwill.
"Are you that out of touch? You don't even know this? Back in the mountain city of the sun elves, Helian Zhaoyu and Wei Cheng tried to pressure Qin Ming, only to have a mouthful of teeth knocked out. Given his temperament, could he swallow such humiliation? Even without an excuse, he'd find an opportunity to strike!"
"Actually, the main reason is that Helian Zhaoyu is wildly ambitious. He has his eye on the revived Eight Trigrams Furnace—that is an extraordinary weapon. Word has it that Li Qingyue might have obtained the 'control art' to wield it, and since she and Qin Ming are close, Helian Zhaoyu is probably worried someone else will snatch it away first..."
Instantly, the looks in everyone's eyes shifted. During the great war in the Western Border, the terrifying might of such special weapons had been clear for all to see.
The damaged Sky-Measuring Ruler in Leng Mingkong's grasp and the broken arrow wielded by Helian Chengyun had once slaughtered demon gods and demon immortals; their deterrent power was simply overwhelming. Who wouldn't covet them?
"Hasn't it yet to be confirmed whether Li Qingyue obtained that 'control art'?"
Undoubtedly, undercurrents were surging regarding this matter, and many had already heard whispers of it.
"By the time the news is confirmed, it'll be far too late! The moment there's any suspicion, certain people won't be able to keep their hands to themselves!"
Especially Helian Zhaoyu, backed by the Yuxian Sect with an ancestor presiding above who could slay immortals. If he pursued this by becoming dao companions with her, he truly stood a fair chance.
Across the pitch-black world, the wild wind wailed like a vengeful ghost, instantly swallowing the murmurs of the crowd.
Qin Ming halted abruptly. Opposite him, Helian Zhaoyu, clad in black, came to a stop as well.
The night was like an abyss, the furious wind hurling down a torrential blizzard.
Yet far in the distance, within the pure land, golden haze rippled and lush greenery glistened with dew. In the very same world, separated by mere footsteps, lay two completely different scenes.
"You asked me if I had ever shone brightly? Then let me tell you: during the years I roamed the night mist world under an alternate identity, entering perils and matching with seeds from all paths, you were still begging for food on Black-White Mountain."
Clearly, Helian Zhaoyu cared deeply about Qin Ming's earlier remark. Otherwise, he would not have pursued him and responded with such a chilled expression the moment he caught up.
"Three years ago you were already meeting seeds from all paths, yet even now you can't look down upon them?" Qin Ming looked at him with an air of mild surprise.
Helian Zhaoyu realized that every time he swung a heavy blow, his opponent merely tossed out a wisp of light cotton, leaving his strength spent in vain.
He drew a deep breath, quickly calming himself down.
Using a secret voice transmission audible only to the two of them, he said indifferently, "Everyone claims you are blessed with two seeds in one body, but I know full well that you are merely a seed of the Newborn path whose heavenly light is blended with conscious force. To advance this fast, you must have consumed great medicines. In time, your progress will inevitably grind to a crawl, and your true colors will be exposed..."
"Get to the point," Qin Ming cut him off impatiently.
Helian Zhaoyu's anger surged wildly, almost erupting through the crown of his skull. He realized that he and this opponent could never walk the same path.
He spoke coldly, "In your state, with this fake dual-seed bearing, you are not suited to walk beside Li Qingyue. You must understand: whenever immortal seeds of the fourth realm travel, they are flanked by jade-armored drudges. As a false immortal seed of the Newborn path, you'll be lucky if you even reach the fourth realm of a jade-armored drudge by the time your temples are frosted with white hair! Within the pure land, golden haze stretches ten thousand fathoms, colossal dragons stride across the sky, and even divine medicines can be seen growing upon sheer cliffs. What kind of environment do you normally live in? Exactly what lies before us—boundless desolate wilds, an endless dark night devoid of light, freezing ice, bitter snow, and utter barrenness. Having grown accustomed to the sun and moon suspended overhead, how could she resign herself to crawling beneath the mud like a mole cricket, scraping by in humble squalor? Most importantly, Li Qingyue has obtained the 'control art,' and you cannot protect her. Almost all the founding ancestors are currently nursing injuries; otherwise, these waters would run even murkier."
Qin Ming's expression remained calm. "As expected of Helian Yunji's biological grandson—the exact same virtue."
Helian Zhaoyu rested one hand behind his back, his black robes snapping in the wind and snow. "To put it simply, her standing beside me in the Yuxian Sect is far better than walking close with you. It can keep her safe and sound."
Qin Ming looked forward and said, "A minor immortal seed like you thinks he can sway the decisions of the various ancestors? You think too much. Stop living in your own dreams!"
Immediately after, he opened his Eye of the Newborn and said, "You're... in the third realm? After all those years of accumulation, your cultivation is actually this low? And yet you dare make such brazen boasts."
Helian Zhaoyu replied blandly, "What do you know? The realm I pursue is beyond your comprehension. It is the strongest domain in the same tier revered by the ancient sages—impervious to myriad arts! Wherever I stand, cultivators of my generation must yield and retreat."
He raised his chin in the wind and snow, standing with his hands behind his back, brimming with immense conceit. "Long ago, I broke through the heavenly barrier and stepped into the fourth realm, only to temper myself back down to the third realm through the Method of Myriad Forgings. Even if an ancient sage were resurrected and returned to their youth, they would not necessarily be a match for me in my domain."
Qin Ming summarized succinctly, "Others advance, yet your cultivation falls. You've really degraded yourself!"
Helian Zhaoyu had no wish to speak with him further, for every forceful remark and glorious accomplishment ended up feeling like a punch landed on soft cotton.
Yet Qin Ming took the initiative to speak: "I'm not like you. I never turn back. Wherever I reach, the ground I stand upon is the strongest domain."
Helian Zhaoyu's expression turned frigid. In his bones, this opponent was even more conceited and arrogant than he was!
By now, he didn't want to utter another word. He only wanted to strike down his foe immediately.
Seeing Qin Ming open his mouth to speak again, he drew his sword without hesitation, refusing to hear another word of his breezy ridicule.
Feathery snowflakes fluttered across the boundless expanse of snow.
Many spectators grew invigorated, waiting to watch a fierce battle of dragons and tigers.
Those in the know understood that Helian Zhaoyu was ridiculously powerful. Cultivated from childhood by Grandmaster Helian Yunji, he had been taken through various places in the night mist world to be tempered. At one point, his killing intent had been so intense that birds and beasts dared not approach him; only after practicing an exotic art had he managed to dissolve it.
Meanwhile, Qin Ming possessed a glorious combat record from the Western Border battlefield, shining with dazzling brilliance.
Bringing the two together naturally drew the eyes of everyone in the young and middle generations of the pure land.
Qin Ming drew his saber. After a period of nourishment, the mutton-fat jade iron saber had fully restored its pristine state.
Helian Zhaoyu let out a long cry. A nearby snow mountain rumbled with a thunderous roar as an avalanche cascaded down like thousands of charging troops.
At that very instant, he struck with his sword! A radiant sword light cleaved through the snow-white frozen world and tore open the dark night sky, extraordinarily dazzling.
In a flash, he slashed dozens, hundreds of sword lights, impossibly swift.
For that split second, the wind and snow between heaven and earth seemed to halt, time and space freezing amid the sword radiance.
Only the surging sword qi tore through the snowy night, hurtling toward the opponent before him.
Qin Ming met the attack with calm composure. The mutton-fat jade iron saber swept across the air, its blade radiance shining like a blazing sun. This was the result of a flawless fusion between conscious spiritual power and heavenly light; unleashed in full, it could leave even heavenly demon seeds strewn as corpses!
Under the night sky, the frozen wind and snow suddenly detonated. As the saber radiance shone, heaven and earth returned to their wild state—wind roaring violently, blizzard raging, swirling everywhere.
Saber light and sword radiance clashed violently. Two silhouettes, like gods and devils traversing the night sky, fought their way from the frozen earth up into the high heavens in the span of a breath.
Both could suspend themselves briefly in midair, exchanging thunderous saber and sword blows. Conscious spiritual light splattered and heavenly light poured down, terrifying beyond measure.
With a resounding boom, both crashed onto the ground, shattering the earth beneath their feet. Not only did the surface rupture, but massive waves of snow surged out in all directions and surged high into the sky.
For a moment, the battlefield where they stood was completely submerged beneath white tidal waves of snow.
Many spectators watching this contracted their pupils.
On the battlefield, massive sheets of snowflakes fell anew, pouring down like a waterfall.
In this world of endless frost, the two figures moved like lightning, cleaving through night mist and shattering snow cascades, ceaselessly trading strikes of blade and sword. A single lapse from either would end in blood splattered on the spot.
Qin Ming admitted that this was an exceptionally formidable adversary, worthy of being called a rare archfoe.
The two swept across the earth and the dark night sky like streaks of lightning. The storm and snow cascade were thrown into chaos by their clashes, painting the entire region stark white.
Only when saber light and sword radiance flared could one glimpse their ghostlike, demonic figures. Sword and saber collided, sparks flying and lightning erupting.
Li Qingxu arrived, remaining somewhat silent. As an adherent of the cultivation realm faction, he locked his brows tightly as he watched the two figures on the battlefield, not uttering a word for a long time.
At this moment, everyone was watching the two in the field with bated breath.
Even Li Qingyue was astonished. She held great confidence in Qin Ming, but she had not expected Helian Zhaoyu to be this strong as well—the two had nearly fought a hundred exchanges.
"My foolish younger cousin, you've hidden your strength quite deeply," Helian Yaoqing whispered softly.
Wei Cheng, as Helian Zhaoyu's "bosom friend," took an easygoing attitude. It didn't matter to him; he wasn't the one fighting, so whether his friend won or lost was fine by him, and he simply watched with detachment.
Pei Shuyan's expression was grave. He had known long ago that Helian Zhaoyu was no simple figure, and today he finally saw the depths of the man's foundation.
With a resounding crack, as the two clashed atop a snow mountain, the precipice itself fractured, and snow roared down in a world-engulfing deluge.
Helian Zhaoyu spoke blandly amid the wind and snow: "My apologies. Even after doing everything I could, I was only able to sever my cultivation from the fourth realm down to the middle third realm, dissolving only a portion of the cultivation tainted with 'impurities.' Beyond that, my cultivation could no longer be trimmed down, standing as indestructible as an immortal golden core."
He felt that the season of harvest had arrived; he had tasted the domain impervious to myriad arts revered by ancient sages, where peers had to bow and step aside before him.
Qin Ming, radiant in the eyes of others, blessed with dual seeds, who had slain future heavenly demons in succession, was held at bay by him—and he had yet to exert his full strength!
Qin Ming sneered amidst the wind and snow. "The way I see it, if you hadn't used the Method of Myriad Forgings to sever your cultivation realm, I might have retreated. As for who you are now, this so-called proximity to the domain of ancient sages has merely allowed you to barely walk up close enough to stand before me!"
Helian Zhaoyu regretted speaking to him. He let go of his grip, and that brilliant sword shot into the night sky like a streak of flowing light, bringing with it boundless, suffocating pressure.
At this moment, the myriad mountains and ravines shook, and the endless ice and snow seemed to boil, rumbling ceaselessly.
For a time, the snow mountain beneath his feet seemed ready to soar into the night sky, resonating with the flying sword.
Avalanches erupted across every peak, boundless white cascading down before waves surged upward toward the vast heavens.
To onlookers, as the snow waves surged, every great mountain seemed to uproot itself, carrying immense momentum and vibrating in harmony with that gorgeous flying sword.
Helian Zhaoyu pointed a finger. As if carrying the full might of the entire frozen world, the flying sword slashed toward Qin Ming. The pitch-black night was rendered incomparably dazzling, and this streak of sword light seemed to become eternal.
Many hearts trembled. Even from far away, spectators retreated involuntarily, feeling as though a streak of sword qi had slashed straight into their hearts.
Everyone knew this was an ultimate technique of the Yuxian Sect: forget about wielding swords—legend had it that it could even command immortals!
Helian Zhaoyu's cold voice rang out: "All things can be governed; even when surging seas overturn the world, when the Yuxian Sword comes forth, whom among all third-realm foes under heaven can it not slay?"
"Is that what you claim?" Qin Ming rode his saber forward. Around him, flames soared to the heavens and thunder roared, the subterranean fire linking with the heavenly thunder in the night sky as if the world itself were about to collapse.
"I claim it! When Yuxian Qi comes forth, all creation obeys my command: flowers dare not bloom red, night dares not turn dark, and the sky dares not turn blue!" Three currents of qi rose from Helian Zhaoyu's body like three surging rivers, plunging into the flying sword as it tore across the night sky and cleaved downward.
Beneath Qin Ming's feet, saber light surged, merging with thunder and fire, while the radiance of his fists became terrifying beyond measure. One fist illuminated creation and destruction; one fist mirrored flourishing and decay. Black and white light alternated, reflecting the image of a yin-yang diagram.
Chapter 344