Chapter 582: The Sword Cleaves the Dragon Fiend!

With a furious shout from Long Aotian, vast immortal power spread across the heavens. Immortal light surged in his claws as the primal qi within a ten

li

radius compressed toward Wang Sheng! To make matters worse, heaven and earth themselves trembled and attempted to restrain the sword cultivator as well!

Golden light flickered on Lishang's forehead. She was ready to soar skyward at any moment.

With his sword in hand, Wang Sheng walked through the air. He pushed his Dual-Polarity Sword Intent to its limit and made four faint Tai Chi diagrams appear around him. The Tai Chi diagrams rotated gently, dispersing all surrounding pressure. Sword radiance from Flying Cloud surged and withdrew as countless strands of sword energy scattered across the sky with a casual sweep.

The combatants circled one another in midair. Long Aotian's momentum was fierce and overwhelming, yet Wang Sheng maintained an air of calm composure as he danced before the dragon claws.

The dragon fiend already somewhat regretted being overly confident, but he still believed that he could easily subdue Wang Sheng without relying on any treasured artifact. Hence, he launched a flurry of attacks.

With a thrust of his claw-like hand, immortal power and primal qi condensed into a dragon claw phantasm that was dozens of meters wide. It smashed straight down on Wang Sheng's head.

Wang Sheng's sword intent shifted continuously. Traces of the Big Dipper trailed behind him as he stepped on a lotus and drifted past the dragon claw phantasm by the narrowest of margins.

While the hem of his robe settled lightly, he flicked his sword, making it look like a returning swallow. It left a subtle fragrance in its path.

Each move made Wang Sheng's long hair flutter, dazzling quite a few female cultivators. However, though his movement technique was especially graceful, his clashes with Long Aotian were growing increasingly ferocious.

The dragon fiend had taken the initiative, but not one of his several consecutive attacks managed to hit his target. Already seething with irritation, he resorted to more and more strength, causing his assault to grow ever more violent. Now, it seemed as though he planned to smash the entire Xinghai Sect with a single strike.

Wang Sheng pointed his sword toward the east. Long Aotian's techniques were powerful and gave him immense momentum, but they were slow. Taking advantage of that weakness, Wang Sheng danced left and right through the air as he used his Dual-Polarity Sword Intent to borrow and redirect his opponent's attacks.

The more ferocious Long Aotian's attacks were, the more force Wang Sheng could borrow, and the more composed he evaded.

Amid their battle, Wang Sheng's eyes shone. What he perceived in his mind was not exactly what he could see physically.

Within a hundred

li

around him, he discerned every fluctuation of primal qi and eruption of immortal power with perfect clarity. He also saw the sword heart resting within him, the sword in his hand, and his left hand still clasped behind his back.

This was the power of perception—the one area where Wang Sheng held an absolute advantage over Long Aotian in raw capability.

After dozens of exchanges, the dragon fiend had grown furious.

He was a late-stage Heavenly Immortal, an elder of the Celestial Wind Sect, and an undeniably significant figure among the thirteen qi planets. Moreover, he possessed many talents and divine abilities. Nevertheless, a mere True Immortal was pushing him on the defensive.

He felt as though he was throwing punches just to repeatedly hit nothing but empty air. His vast cultivation had become utterly useless.

Sword energy continued to assault him. Though it caused neither pain nor injury, he would rather expend more immortal power to shatter each strand of it around him than allow himself to appear even more battered.

If the sword cultivator's goal today was simply to humiliate him, then he had succeeded. Still, Long Aotian wouldn't just let his opponent keep humiliating him so easily!

A vast dragon phantasm appeared, reared its head, and roared behind Long Aotian. The fiend formed a circle with his hands and let out a low shout, instantly dimming the area within ten

li

to a gloomy gray!

One after another, eighteen hundred-meter-long, jet-black phantasms that looked like the Azure Dragon burst forth from between his palmsand flew toward Wang Sheng. He had begun using fiendish divine abilities that he normally wouldn't lightly show others!

Wang Sheng frowned and rapidly dodged, but the eighteen phantasms pursued him relentlessly. They even accelerated as they attempted to tear him apart.

Long Aotian maintained the circle with his hands as a faint smile appeared on his squat, winter-melon-like face. In his eyes, all Wang Sheng could do now was flee.

I might not be able to kill this brat since Lishang is around, but I can at least make him suffer!

The eighteen dragons soared and coiled, sealing off Wang Sheng's retreat from all directions. Some of them then simultaneously lunged at him. A hit from one would gravely injure him—if he even survived at all. The sight made many of the Xinghai Sect's immortals break out in a cold sweat.

At that moment, Wang Sheng's sword momentum transformed!

He lifted Flying Cloud high as a bolt of lightning descended from space, cleaving onto the sword and filling Wang Sheng with crackling electricity.

However, that was nothing more than a feint meant to deceive the eye.

With lightning flickering around him, Wang Sheng locked onto one of the incoming dragons and charged toward it. He swayed continuously through the air, leaving behind layers of afterimages that resembled a gently drifting lotus!

Wang Sheng wasn't unleashing his Green Lotus Ultimate; he didn't even wield his small wooden sword. After all, he found no reason to use his strongest trump card here. Still, he moved the same as when he initiated Green Lotus Ultimate. He also looked dazzling yet difficult to actually perceive.

Wang Sheng's incomparably profound Dao Rhythm was just about to collide with the dragon phantasm when Long Aotian's immortal perception lost track of Wang Sheng's presence. Since the eighteen dragons were manifestations of his divine abilities and moved according to his will, they also consequently lost their target, forcing them to simply continue along their original paths.

In the blink of an eye, Wang Sheng appeared to the left of the dragon he was targeting. Long Aotian immediately made it swing its tail, but Wang Sheng simply slipped gracefully past it. He then formed a sword finger with his left hand and used the Sword-Controlling Art to control Flying Cloud.

Immortal light burst from the sword as Wang Sheng made it carry him straight toward Long Aotian. Due to the unity of man and sword, it flew as fast as him when he used Soaring Red Feathers!

Now that Qinglin's prowess had reminded him of the Sword-Controlling Art's potential, Wang Sheng had finally begun to comprehend it deeply and seriously.

Since the eighteen dragons couldn't catch up to their target, Long Aotian merely snorted coldly and closed his hands, making them collapse all at once. They transformed into streams of immortal power and flowed back into him.

He then faced Wang Sheng and inhaled sharply. As Wang Sheng flew closer, he opened his mouth.

Roar!

Clouds and mist dissipated, primal qi surged, and ring after ring of shockwaves exploded in front of Long Aotian.

Wang Sheng took the brunt of the attack. The tremendous force coming at him blasted him backward and made his Primordial Spirit tremble.

Long Aotian sneered, opened his left palm, and clenched it toward Wang Sheng. A mysterious, thousand-meter-long dragon claw appeared and attempted to trap the sword cultivator within it.

Wang Sheng quickly adjusted his stance and used his Dual-Polarity Sword Intent to create a path of retreat. A trace of blood appeared near his ear, yet his expression showed no joy or anger.

That old dragon is certainly difficult to deal with.

Wang Sheng's battle intent burned fiercely in his eyes. Approaching Long Aotian once more, he channeled his Human Dao of the Sword and prepared to attack with it.

Long Aotian charged straight at him. Failing to take his opponent down even after such a long fight was clearly making him anxious.

At close range, Wang Sheng's sword techniques proved to be far too agile. Although he couldn't unleash his Heavenly Ziwei Sword Intent and Heavenly Tribulation Sword Intent, Long Aotian still couldn't break the profundity of his Dual-Polarity Sword Intent.

The two clashed in the sky. Long Aotian attacked to defend himself, while Wang Sheng kept using hit-and-run tactics. Since they seemed evenly matched, the power that Wang Sheng displayed astonished the immortals of the Celestial Wind Sect and the Xinghai Sect.

Watching him hold his own against Long Aotian reminded them of Lishang before she had broken through to the Heavenly Immortal Realm.

The Xinghai Sect naturally felt gratified. After all, the more experts the sect had, the safer its members felt. The Celestial Wind Sect delegation, on the other hand, wore solemn expressions.

The two sects had become enemies, showing their hostility toward each other openly and secretly. Considering Lishang alone was already putting significant pressure on the Celestial Wind Sect, its members didn't even want to imagine what would happen if the sword cultivator also reached the Heavenly Immortal Realm.

For a moment, the mind of every immortal raced. Some harbored murderous intent, others considered strategy.

Frowning, Xiao Ende transmitted to Wei Fu, "That young cultivator has been concealing his strength; he truly made us misjudge him."

He then slowly shook his head.

"His Dual-Polarity Sword Intent and earlier Green Lotus trajectory should be enough proof to confirm our previous deduction: an extremely powerful expert is supporting him. Otherwise, he couldn't have made so much advancement in his Dao of the Sword in just a few decades."

Wei Fu transmitted back, "It's fortunate that we didn't forcibly take him to the North-River Sword Sect before. That would've likely angered his supporter."

"It would be best for us not to stir up trouble. Since that young man is only against the Celestial Wind Sect, this has little to do with our North-River Sword Sect."

"It seems the Celestial Wind Sect has run out of luck."

"

Mm.

Martial Nephew Tianyao is decent, but his father's sect has little potential left among the thirteen qi planets. The Xinghai Sect will inevitably rise, while the Fengli Sect remains unpredictable. In contrast, the roots of the Celestial Wind Sect have started to decay."

"

For a force of unaffiliated practitioners to survive for more than a hundred thousand years is no easy feat.

"

While watching the battle in the sky, the two continued to chat idly and occasionally commented on Wang Sheng's skill with the sword. They also discussed the future of the Thirteen Stars.

It was unclear what Wang Sheng would think if he heard their conversation. Chun Yangzi, who had been confirmed to be alive, certainly surprised him.

He did have Chun Yangzi, who had been confirmed to be alive, behind him. However, for all he knew, that forefather of theirs could be wandering freely somewhere or living in decline. He had little information about him and mostly had to rely on his own efforts to investigate. Regardless, this mistaken assumption worked in his favor; it gave him a protective measure.

Long Aotian roared again. While reengaging Wang Sheng in close combat, a second cut appeared on his cheek.

It was shallow, barely breaking the skin. After all, Flying Cloud was sharp, but it had its limits. Even with Wang Sheng's immortal power, Long Aotian's deep cultivation prevented the sword from penetrating his thick skin[1]."

Even so, to Long Aotian, this was a grave insult—an intolerable mockery!

It showed that despite his absolute superiority in cultivation, he was still inferior to a mere True Immortal in other ways.

Have my twenty thousand years of grueling cultivation all been for naught? Is there even any merit in reaching the Heavenly Immortal Realm?!

Long Aotian roared again, pushing Wang Sheng back and making his Primordial Spirit shake violently once more. However, the sword cultivator quickly stabilized himself.

A surge of purple-black fiendish qi erupted around Long Aotian as he shot upward and spun, causing his robes to billow. Transforming into a ten-thousand-

zhang

-long dragon, he opened his enormous maw at Wang Sheng. Inside, a dark-colored treasured orb spun wildly. An immensely powerful suction force then enveloped the sky, as if trying to swallow it whole.

I've already seen this scene and divine ability!

Wang Sheng had been in this situation before. Back then, he had lowered his stance and dropped his pendant, hoping the dragon would spare him. Instead, he ended up trapped for centuries in the blood mine!

Rage welled up in his heart. His immortal power exploded, fighting to resist the pulling force.

His intense mental fluctuations seemingly summoned the small wooden sword before the Primordial Spirit, which lightly flicked it. The suction around Wang Sheng immediately vanished, allowing him to leap and hurl Flying Cloud at the left eye of the dragon fiend.

The small coiling dragon by his side let out a roar, and Wang Sheng grabbed the Dragon Sword with his other hand. Right after, he dove down and used momentum to spin. Pure Yang Immortal Power flowed into his greatsword, igniting a faint golden flame.

Wang Sheng descended like a golden fire wheel from the sky, striking Long Aotian straight at the center of his massive head before he could retract his divine ability.

Dragon Slayer!

1. The author uses "thick skin" here to describe both Long Aotian's defenses and his shamelessness. ☜