Ice Spiritual Root, Peerless Genius!

The Immortal Fairy felt that what Xie An said made complete sense. This sort of thing truly was very addictive—she used to do it all the time with Jiang Lianyi and Ao Ling. Lu Yang thought to himself, *I knew there was something off about you, Xie An. Great Xia doesn't have beggars; the old beggar was in disguise, so could you, the little beggar, actually be a real beggar?* *What kind of character test is this anyway? It's anyone's guess who's testing whom.* *Senior Brother Dai, what kind of lousy list did you give us? The very first person isn't normal!* "Then we wish you happy cultivation, Venerable. The two of us will take our leave." Lu Yang shot a glance at Old Meng. Earlier, his brain had slipped, and right in front of Qiao'er, he had exposed Xie An's identity, ruining Xie An's plan of an old ox grazing on tender grass, leaving him feeling terribly guilty. The two backed away to leave the dilapidated temple. "Wait," Xie An said, glaring unpleasantly at Lu Yang. *You brat blurted out my true identity in front of Qiao'er; how am I supposed to get along with her in the future?* After Qiao'er learned that Xie An was a great Tribulation Transcendence stage cultivator, her expression was dazed, clearly terrified by the revelation. "Senior, is there something else?" Lu Yang plastered a smile on his face, looking as respectful as one could possibly be. "Since you address me as 'Senior,' I can't be stingy either. How about this: I'll suppress my cultivation realm to the early Nascent Soul stage, and we'll have a spar so I can teach you how to fight!" Lu Yang: "..." *Senior, if you want to beat me up, you can just say so directly; there's no need to go through so much trouble.* "Fighting or not?" Xie An evidently possessed the magnanimity of a senior, not using his realm to overpower others. Lu Yang sighed, seeing that a fight was inevitable. "Then I ask Senior for your guidance." The two walked out of the dilapidated temple. This was outside the city, where travelers were rare—otherwise the temple wouldn't have fallen into ruins. Xie An released part of his suppression, his cultivation realm climbing step by step: Qi Refinement stage, Foundation Establishment stage, Golden Core stage, early Nascent Soul stage! With his vast magic power, he simulated what he had once been like during the Nascent Soul stage, even simulating his Nascent Soul. Simulating the Nascent Soul stage was a breeze for him; he had done the same thing the last time he restored his Dao heart. "Kid Lu, come at me!" Xie An struck a stance, displaying senior demeanor by letting Lu Yang make the first move. Lu Yang did not dare to be careless. He faced his opponent with the Green Blade Sword, drawing it like flowing water. The sword glow was razor-sharp, his quintessence, qi, and spirit unified, his sword intent ethereal enough to shame sword cultivators throughout the world. "Good swordsmanship!" Xie An's eyes lit up. This kid's Sword Dao level had advanced another level since the grand battle against the Heavenly Court Cult at the celebration! If he were a real early Nascent Soul cultivator, he truly might not be this kid's match. Fortunately, he was currently a Nascent Soul cultivator endowed with the vision of the Tribulation Transcendence stage! *Crack!* A nine-section whip lashed out, its tip striking the air and sending sparks of lightning splashing everywhere. The nine-section whip used softness to overcome hardness, moving like a flood dragon in the water, endlessly shifting and unpredictable. A mere graze of the whip against the Green Blade Sword deflected the blade's edge; no matter how powerful the strike was, missing rendered it useless! With a flick of Lu Yang's wrist, the sword transformed into four blades, making it impossible to discern which one was the real Green Blade Sword. Sword light gathered sword qi, descending from the ninth heaven to tangle with the aquatic flood dragon in an intense, inseparable clash. Next, both Three Flavors True Fire and Golden Bird True Flame flew forth together. The temperature surged abruptly, the air scorching and warping. Xie An spat out purple lightning, and as thunder and flame collided, an earth-shattering roar erupted like the shattering of heaven and earth. Lu Yang used Drawing a Prison to trap Xie An underground. Xie An laughed heartily as countless water dragons surged from beneath his feet to rupture the prison. Lu Yang countered with water-parting techniques; before the water dragons could even touch Lu Yang, they dissipated into vapor in the air. Lu Yang dove underground, and the Twin Conjoined Lotus blossomed, producing twins. Two people with two swords attacked Xie An simultaneously. Xie An shifted his footwork, slipping through the gap between the two swords. At the same time, a Nascent Soul flew out from between his brows, wielding a nine-section whip and tangling in melee with both Lu Yangs. The two exchanged spells and techniques, locked in a tight, deadlocked battle. "Good kid, you can actually trade blows back and forth with me." Xie An's lips curved into a chilly smile. *Did you think this was all I have?* *Today, I'll let you witness just how terrifying a Nascent Soul with the insights of a Tribulation Transcendence cultivator can be!* Xie An trod the Grand Supreme Wuji Steps, sketching out a great formation with his footwork. Within the formation, spiritual energy surged wildly, soil burst apart, and vegetation grew frantically. This formation could control all plant life within its range and required an extremely high level of precision—a formation that no Nascent Soul cultivator could ever execute under normal circumstances! Wild foliage surged, dragging along heavy clumps of earth, while overhead, the Nascent Soul brandishing the nine-section whip sealed off every avenue of escape! "Break!" Lu Yang gave a soft shout as the Green Blade Sword and Dark Moon Sword slashed out simultaneously. Wood splinters exploded, cleaving an opening, but before he could charge through, wildly growing trees blocked it once more. Lu Yang soared into the sky, intending to break out, but Xie An's Nascent Soul blocked the way above, making escape impossible! Lu Yang looked enviously at Xie An's Nascent Soul wielding a nine-section whip in battle. *Why does my Invincible Nascent Soul only beat me up... Wait, it seems the Invincible Nascent Soul doesn't only hit me.* "Senior, forgive my offense!" Lu Yang executed his technique, severed his connection to the Invincible Nascent Soul, and sent it straight into Xie An's dantian. Xie An laughed loudly. "If you have tricks, bring them on and show me. Let's see how much of Yun Zhi's elegance you have... What the fuck is this?!" Before Xie An could finish laughing, the Invincible Nascent Soul burrowed into Xie An's dantian and started beating up anyone on sight. He had lived for several thousand years and had never seen anyone's Nascent Soul fight like this! Xie An hurriedly recalled his own Nascent Soul to battle the Invincible Nascent Soul inside his dantian. Alas, every strike the Invincible Nascent Soul unleashed was exquisitely brilliant and supremely deft, every single blow landing squarely on Xie An's most agonizing sore spots. Even with the insights of a Tribulation Transcendence cultivator, he couldn't cope with such attacks; the agony drove him to the ground, soy-bean-sized beads of sweat rolling down his forehead. Suddenly, boundless power erupted from within Xie An, expelling the Invincible Nascent Soul from his body. Lu Yang reconnected with the Invincible Nascent Soul and smiled. "Senior, that wasn't early Nascent Soul combat strength just now." Moments ago, to avoid getting beaten senseless by the Invincible Nascent Soul, Xie An had subconsciously exerted a fraction of his true power. "Fine, fine, I'll count it as your win! If there's nothing else, hurry up and get lost!" Xie An waved his hand irritably, conceding defeat. Lu Yang cupped his fists, sheathed his sword, and turned his head to call out, "Old Meng, let's head out." "Wait a second. This little girl's root bone is extraordinary," Meng Jingzhou said, his tone brimming with delight. Meng Jingzhou was holding a palm-sized root bone stone of the finest quality. It required no physical touch; merely placing it beside a mortal would detect their root bone. Seeing Lu Yang and Xie An locked in an intense battle earlier, he had thought he might as well use the opportunity to test Qiao'er's spiritual root. Placed beside Qiao'er, an ice crystal devoid of the slightest impurity appeared within the transparent stone. A mutated single spiritual root—an Ice spiritual root! "This girl has an Ice spiritual root!" "What? Something this good?" Lu Yang was thrilled to hear it; this was an unexpected windfall. "Oh, I forgot to mention earlier: that girl is also at the Tribulation Transcendence stage. You saw her at the celebration; she's the Supreme Elder of the Charm Sect," the Immortal Fairy chimed in helpfully. Lu Yang: "..." Miss Qiao'er finally snapped back to reality from the fact that her sweetheart was Venerable Wuji. She radiated an extreme chill that sent shivers down one's spine. "Wuji, to think it was you!" She had been calling him Brother Xie for nearly half a year, planning to secretly feed Xie An resources, revel in the thrill of nurturing him, and finally reveal her identity to marry him. Who could have imagined Xie An was that old bastard, Venerable Wuji! Feeling that familiar power, Xie An's expression changed, and he flew into an equal rage. "Qianjiao, it's you, you old witch!" He had been thinking of cultivating together with Qiao'er, braving numerous perils, winning her heart, being forced to reveal his identity at a critical juncture, defeating enemies, and flying off together as a couple. Who could have imagined Qiao'er was that old witch, Venerable Qianjiao! Lu Yang felt that Qiankun Purple Cloud Palace truly had immense fortune—to actually take in two Tribulation Transcendence cultivators as disciples was something not even the Dao Seeking Sect had the capability to pull off.