Hard Counter

"So it is Fellow Daoist Yun Zhi." Liu Ningxuan watched Yun Mengmeng warily. Since she dared to intervene in their battle, she had to have some degree of confidence. "Thank you for your assistance, Fellow Daoist Yun Zhi! The Sword Tower will surely repay you handsomely!" said the Sword Tower Supreme. Both Liu Ningxuan and the Sword Tower Supreme were figures of ancient times and had never heard the name Yun Zhi. As it happened, everyone present besides the two of them had heard of Yun Zhi. The Sword Tower leadership looked at Yun Mengmeng with rather odd expressions. Not only had they heard of Yun Zhi, but they had also met her numerous times. Anyone could tell at a single glance that she wasn't Yun Zhi, all right? Tower Master Guan held a different view. "No, she might actually be Yun Zhi." "How so?" "Think about it. She calls herself Yun Zhi, and she's clearly very close with Lu Yang. On top of that, Yun Zhi has always maintained a low profile and dislikes showing her face in public. It would be completely normal for her to wear a disguise." "That makes sense." He was the Tower Master for a reason; he always thought one step further than them. The sword cultivators who had come to attend the Grand Sword Inquiry Ceremony had only ever heard Yun Zhi's name and had never seen her in person. "Yun Zhi... If I remember correctly, she's the Eldest Senior Sister of the Dao Seeking Sect. It's just that she rarely fights in public, so no one really knows how strong she is." "There shouldn't be any problem. I heard our Sect Master say that Yun Zhi is at least at the Tribulation Transcendence stage, and possibly even a half-immortal. She's terrifyingly powerful." A sword cultivator of notable background shared deeper secrets. Only Lu Yang wore a bitter expression. *Miss Yun, I haven't treated you badly at all! How could you set me up like this?* "One Sword of Heaven and Earth!" Liu Ningxuan roared, seizing the initiative. Eliminating Yun Mengmeng first was the only way to restore the balance between himself and the Sword Tower Supreme! Sensing the destructive sword intent within the Chengying Sword, Yun Mengmeng tried to dodge, but it was already too late. She was struck directly by the One Sword of Heaven and Earth and blasted backward, lodging right into the wall of the Sword Treasury. "And here I thought you had real skill—turned out to be nothing more than a little girl who just crossed her tribulation." Liu Ningxuan laughed loudly. To think he had been tense for so long; she was only this much. A mere early Tribulation Transcendence stage cultivator didn't have the weight to overturn the balance. "Fellow Daoist Yun Zhi!" The Sword Tower Supreme was stunned. The battle had barely begun—how was she already taken out? Lu Yang, however, was astonished by Yun Mengmeng's cultivation realm. Yun Mengmeng and Eldest Senior Sister were sisters, which meant their ages couldn't be far apart. Dai Bufan was around the same age as Eldest Senior Sister and was only at the middle Body Integration stage. Yun Mengmeng was already at the Tribulation Transcendence stage? This level of cultivation talent could only be described as terrifying. "Scared me to death, scared me to death!" Yun Mengmeng wriggled out of the wall, still shaken. She had rarely fought anyone, let alone engaged in a life-or-death battle. Having sailed smoothly all the way to the Tribulation Transcendence stage, she truly hadn't been able to react when Liu Ningxuan caught her off guard with that sword strike. "You didn't even say anything before attacking! I thought I was a goner." With lingering fear in her chest, Yun Mengmeng also felt the move wasn't actually all that impressive. Liu Ningxuan's brow furrowed. That strike of his was enough to impale an early Tribulation Transcendence member of the Black Tortoise Clan, yet how had it landed on her without leaving a scratch? He wouldn't misjudge someone's cultivation realm. Something was strange. "Come on, do it again! I promise you won't hit me this time," Yun Mengmeng said with a giggle. "Extinction Sword Technique!" Liu Ningxuan swung his sword fiercely once more, his speed even more astonishing than before. Even though Yun Mengmeng was mentally prepared, she still couldn't dodge. The speed of this strike exceeded the reaction limits of an early Tribulation Transcendence cultivator! Boom! Yun Mengmeng was struck again and blasted backward. Liu Ningxuan stared at her in disbelief. This time, she was still completely unharmed! "I don't believe this!" Just as Liu Ningxuan was about to unleash an even more potent wave of sword qi, a torrential surge of sword qi attacked him. "Do you take me for dead air?!" the Sword Tower Supreme cried out sharply. Seeing that Yun Mengmeng had something mysterious about her, hope surged in her heart. It seemed Yun Mengmeng wasn't as weak as she had appeared just a moment ago. "Soul Sword Dao Domain!" "Extinction Sword Dao Domain!" The two grand Sword Dao domains manifested once more, blotting out heaven and earth. Yun Mengmeng mounted a fiend and charged toward Liu Ningxuan. Liu Ningxuan sneered coldly. Foolish. Any living being that stepped into the Extinction Sword Dao Domain would be shredded by the intent of destruction—without exception! Sure enough, the moment the ferocious fiend mount planted a foot in the Extinction Sword Dao Domain, its soul scattered and was obliterated on the spot. Yet after leaping down from her fiend mount, Yun Mengmeng charged forward as though nothing had happened at all. "That's impossible!" She pushed a palm out gently. "Falling Cloud Palm." As the palm struck forth, pristine white clouds billowed behind Yun Mengmeng like an undulating sea, so soft they could lull anyone to sleep. The pure white clouds coalesced into her palm, transforming into a palm seal that slammed onto the hilt of the Chengying Sword. The blow sent the Chengying Sword somersaulting, tumbling several times through the air. None of the onlookers understood why Yun Mengmeng was completely unaffected by the Extinction Sword Dao Domain. Even the Sword Tower Supreme could only pit domain against domain and dared not enter with her true form. Only Lu Yang roughly understood. *She has a rudimentary Dao fruit!* While it was true that Yun Mengmeng was at the early Tribulation Transcendence stage, early Tribulation Transcendence cultivators could also possess rudimentary Dao fruits! She wasn't merely at the early Tribulation Transcendence stage—she was a half-immortal! *She took attacks without taking damage, and she is unaffected in the face of the Extinction Sword Dao Domain. Her Dao fruit must be related to defense—like an Adamantine or Immovable rudimentary Dao fruit—or does she possess a rudimentary Dao fruit with the property of Immortality?!* A grin spread across the Immortal Fairy's face. "You guessed right. Hers is a rudimentary Immortal Dao fruit." Immortality—constant, unchanging, everlasting. It was the absolute antithesis of extinction! The intent of extinction that Liu Ningxuan was so proud of didn't affect Yun Mengmeng in the slightest. Unless Liu Ningxuan possessed a rudimentary Extinction Dao fruit! And a sword spirit could never possess a rudimentary Extinction Dao fruit! Lu Yang understood. No wonder the Immortal Fairy had said that a third party joining would change the situation. She was a hard counter to Liu Ningxuan! "It's just that the little girl lacks combat experience. She's clumsy in a fight, and restricted by her cultivation, her offensive power is lacking." The sword cultivators had no way of understanding any of this. Seeing Yun Mengmeng seemingly possessed by gods and demons, like a legendary golden-bodied Arhat impervious to all arts, they immediately felt that Yun Zhi was indeed terrifying beyond measure—to actually suppress Liu Ningxuan in combat! Yun Mengmeng held the front line, and no matter what sword technique Liu Ningxuan unleashed, he couldn't harm her in the slightest. "Stay away from me!" Seeing Yun Mengmeng charge at him again, Liu Ningxuan would have broken into a cold sweat had he not been a sword spirit. The Sword Tower Supreme followed close behind Yun Mengmeng. Raising the Hanguang Sword, she let out a sharp cry: "Sever!" Runes flared across the Hanguang Sword and sank into the blade. Humming fiercely, it cleaved downward with the might to sweep across the world. The Chengying Sword was directly chipped by this blow. Liu Ningxuan's figure flickered between light and darkness; his foundation had finally been damaged! Just as the Sword Tower Supreme and Yun Mengmeng prepared to join forces to snap the Chengying Sword in two, the sky suddenly turned pitch-black, shrouded in an ominous aura. A figure slowly emerged above the ruins of the Sword Treasury. With an indifferent expression, he held a broken bowl and tossed it into the sky, casting its cover over the entirety of the Sword Tower. He looked upon the Hanguang Sword and the Chengying Sword, a faint smile gracing his lips. "I happened to be lacking some materials to forge an immortal sword. You two will serve to make up the difference." Seeing that figure, Lu Yang's expression shifted slightly. Immortal Ying Tian!