Chapter 583: Serpent Tail Strike, Dragon Flies Ten Thousand Li

Long Aotian revealed his true form to use Sky Devourer, his divine ability.

However, Wang Sheng's small wooden sword protected him and broke him free from it. Exploiting the moment that the dragon fiend could not counterattack, he spun in midair and swung at him with full force.

The Dragon Sword cleaved straight into the dragon fiend's head. Before he could even expand to his full size, Sky Devourer was forcibly stopped, and blood splattered from his injury.

𝒻𝘳𝘦𝘦𝘸ℯ𝒷𝘯𝘰𝑣ℯ𝑙.𝘤𝑜𝘮

Long Aotian roared in pain and raised his head. He tried to bite Wang Sheng, making his giant mouth look like a large chasm. Even so, Wang Sheng still continued his assault with the Dragon Sword, lunging after the wound that he had just inflicted.

Surprised and enraged that his divine ability could not harm Wang Sheng, Long Aotian emitted and indiscriminately spewed waves of fiendish qi around. They melted like snow upon crashing against Wang Sheng's Pure Yang Immortal Power, but he couldn't dispel the sheer force behind them; it still pushed him back.

The injured fiend was furious. Like a raging mountain, he bore down on Wang Sheng. Spiraling fiendish qi emerged from his palms and quickly sealed the space around the sword cultivator, causing him to sway left and right in the air.

Heaven and earth seemed to tremble nonstop!

The fact that Long Aotian dared manifest his true form meant that he had a divine ability to deal with Wang Sheng. Whether with his maw or claws, he stuck to the same plan: crush his opponent under a flood of power a hundred times greater than the sword cultivator's.

For a moment, the ferocious blood-stained fiend forced Wang Sheng onto the defensive. Wang Sheng couldn't even get close enough to engage him, which was one of a sword cultivator's major weaknesses.

Before Long Aotian's vast, overwhelming fiendish qi, Wang Sheng's immortal power seemed almost negligible. Fortunately, the elder's true form slowed him down. Wang Sheng could still evade and protect himself with Dual-Polarity Sword Intent for as long as he went all out.

This could be seen as a classic case of quantitative accumulation leading to qualitative change. Long Aotian's fiendish qi, or in other words, his immortal power, exceeded that of ordinary late-stage Heavenly Immortal Realm human experts by more than tenfold.

Wang Sheng floated in the fiendish qi like a lone boat on the sea or a solitary wild goose in a storm. Danger surrounded him, preventing him from launching an effective attack.

Though he had ways to fight Long Aotian, his Heavenly Ziwei Sword Art and Green Lotus Ultimate were unsuitable for this situation. Two of the North-River Sword Sect's elders were below them. Unless he could forcibly trap the duo and all the Celestial Wind Sect members, exposing his Heavenly Sword identity would inevitably attract the North-River Sword Sect's scrutiny.

He hid even his Sword-Controlling Art because of this concern.

Since Wang Sheng was constantly evading, he failed to notice that the sect's defensive array above them had already disappeared.

What should I do now?

He knew deep down that with his strength, killing the dragon fiend here would be extremely difficult. Even if he could use Green Lotus Ultimate twice, the recoil earlier was enough evidence that he could only severely injure Long Aotian at most. If Long Aotian retreated, Wang Sheng wouldn't be able to stop him.

Long Aotian was as famous as Tan Lang, yet the two had completely different fiendish Daos, or rather, their origins differed greatly. Their strengths were incomparable.

Still, stopping now would leave Wang Sheng with a sense of dissatisfaction. And even if he wanted to, he couldn't just choose to stop, either. Long Aotian was so enraged that he was frantically clawing at him. One misstep could pulverize him.

At that moment, someone sharply commanded from the side, "Enough!"

Long Aotian ignored it. His draconic eyes glowed with killing intent; he planned to cut down Wang Sheng here.

A thunderous, cold snort reverberated. "

Hmph!

"

A sweep of golden light flashed in front of the palace. Right after, Lishang appeared right in front of Long Aotian's dragon head. She ignored the surging fiendish qi around her.

Lishang's serpentine tail and long hair had turned purely golden. Her eyes were cold, aloof, and exuded hard resolve.

"I said, enough!"

However, Long Aotian was ruthless. He opened his mouth and attempted to chomp down on her.

Lishang raised her fine eyebrows. With a sweep of her tail, a golden tail phantasm extended upward from below and expanded to nearly a thousand

zhang

. It struck Long Aotian and blasted him into the air.

Rolling with fiendish qi, the massive dragon fiend tore through the clouds. He arched upward, a mix of blood and saliva spraying from his mouth.

Wang Sheng rushed past Lishang and attacked with his greatsword, but he couldn't find his target. He stopped. Looking up, he finally realized that the dragon fiend had been blown thousands of

li

—beyond even the atmosphere!

Wang Sheng's Dao Heart shook slightly. Momentarily speechless, he glanced at the golden, radiant Lishang, who resembled a divine spirit from the Ancient Era. He then looked at Long Aotian, who now looked like a star in the sky.

Lishang's golden light receded. She clearly intended to scold Wang Sheng, but she instead frowned slightly and remarked with a touch of gentleness, "Your cultivation is still shallow. Why compete with him?"

"Alright—" Wang Sheng coughed. When he finally regained composure, he saluted Lishang. "You're right, Vice Sect Master."

"

Mm.

Return to the rear mountain to recuperate. You are punished with three years of seclusion. No wandering about."

"Yes, Vice Sect Master," Wang Sheng obediently replied, sheathed the greatsword, and recalled Flying Cloud. With some resentment and helplessness, he transformed into flowing light and flew toward the rear mountain.

Lishang turned and flew downward, her tail already back to its blue color. When she landed before the great palace, all the nearby immortals instinctively took half a step back, not daring to look at her directly.

The two North-River Sword Sect elders exchanged a glance, then smiled bitterly.

Lishang's tail had repelled not only Long Aotian in his true form, but also nullified every advantage that the Celestial Wind Sect had previously held over the Xinghai Sect. The power behind her attack was enough to deter the enemy faction and shake the thirteen qi planets.

Not long after, Long Aotian flew back from beyond the skies as if nothing had happened. Yao Xingzi also stepped forward proactively, but he didn't mention the earlier sparring at all.

A rare warmth graced his smile. "Everyone, please go back into the palace. I have ordered our disciples to prepare some wine. Please rest for a while."

"No need." Long Aotian gave the sect master a strained smile that did not reach his eyes. He was certainly shameless; he even acted as if he hadn't just been sent flying moments ago. "Now that we've offered our congratulations, we should not impose further. We'll take our leave now."

"Oh? If so, then please take care on your journey, Elder Long and other fellow Daoists. I still have things to do, so I won't be seeing you off."

Yao Xingzi cupped his hands in salute. The Celestial Wind Sect delegation returned the salute, then turned and departed in disgrace.

They had probed Lishang's strength, which was what they had come for today. However, the whole affair ended up being an embarrassment to them. Their opponent had just used their most powerful Heavenly Immortal as a mere tool to showcase their strength and had even thoroughly humiliated him in the process.

Still, they had gained an unexpected piece of information: the Xinghai Sect possessed yet another combatant who could rival Heavenly Immortals.

Wang Sheng and his sword heart.

On the return journey, Long Aotian muttered something about going into secluded cultivation and went straight back to his own cabin. The elder who had accompanied him had no choice but to stay with the two North-River Sword Sect elders, engaging in an awkward conversation in the flower hall of the celestial tower ship.

The three spoke mostly of the extraordinary nature of Nuwa's descendant, but they also discussed the unexpectedly strong sword cultivator who wielded a sword heart.

Xiao Ende lightly stroked his beard. "Lishang is strong enough to fight us in single combat. In my humble opinion, the Celestial Wind Sect should refrain from targeting Xinghai in the future lest you invite disaster."

"Oh? What makes you say that, Elder Xiao?"

Instead of elaborating, the two North-River Sword Sect elders merely shook their heads.

Lishang's power shocked not only the Celestial Wind Sect immortals but the two elders as well. Still, their experiences were vast, and they had seen several Golden Immortals before. Although Lishang was strong, she didn't exude the kind of pressure that was unique to Golden Immortals.

The two also perfectly knew just how strong Long Aotian was. Their disdain toward him stemmed purely from his fiendish origin.

For Lishang to so easily send Long Aotian flying despite being in his true form meant that she could instantly kill an ordinary Heavenly Immortal.

The thirteen qi planets were truly about to change.

***

Xinghai Sect's rear mountain.

Wang Sheng's place of seclusion was still beside the sect master's small pavilion. While he and Lishang were away, Yao Xingzi had already ordered a pavilion built for him.

After a brief adjustment, his Primordial Spirit fully recovered from the dragon fiend's roar. He had suffered no injuries aside from that.

Wang Sheng carefully reflected on his battle with Long Aotian and ran through it in detail. Even after multiple mental simulations, he still concluded that he wasn't strong enough to kill Long Aotian with ease.

Considering he still had to improve his Daoist realm, and he had no idea how long it would take for him to break through to the Heavenly Immortal Realm, he currently had no way to deal with Long Aotian. It truly wasn't time for him to exact vengeance yet.

He had been a bit too impatient.

Still, he could at least strike and kill the Celestial Wind Sect's other Heavenly Immortals if he encountered them.

Should I go out and harass them again?

After some thought, Wang Sheng dismissed the idea of using guerrilla tactics against the Celestial Wind Sect again. Mu Wanxuan would be arriving soon, and he still had to prepare to receive her.

The Xinghai Sect already had sufficient deterrence. The real question was what to do with her once she arrived.

Wang Sheng very much wanted his senior sister to stay in the sect, but he then thought of Huai Jing and the others. There was no reason for her to be in the sect while the others remained in Xinghai City.

Should they all join the Xinghai Sect?

After thinking it over, Wang Sheng set the matter aside.

This should be discussed with everyone once Senior Sister and the others arrive. I can't be overly domineering and insist that everything be done my way.

From outside his pavilion, Lishang asked, "Were you injured?"

She had come straight to his residence after handling matters at the front palace.

Wang Sheng stood up and jumped straight down from the window, finding Lishang standing outside the courtyard.

Wang Sheng shook his head and sighed. "I'm fine. Long Aotian is simply too strong. It was rather straining to push his immortal power back."

"Your cultivation is still too shallow. There is no need to rush," Lishang replied softly. "I'll be going into seclusion at the lotus pond. I won't be coming out unless something urgent arises. Considering what happened today, the Celestial Wind Sect probably won't come to disturb us again.

She then raised her pale hand. A jade hairpin slowly flew over and landed on Wang Sheng's palm.

"This is for you. When your senior sister arrives, call me out of seclusion. I'd like to meet her."

Wang Sheng smiled and nodded. "That will still take a while."

"

Mm.

"

Lishang bowed slightly at Wang Sheng, then turned and left. Only then did Wang Sheng notice that Lishang's serpentine tail had transformed into human feet, shod in embroidered shoes.

When will Senior Sister arrive?

After giving it some thought, Wang Sheng decided to prepare now and then go wait quietly in the large Buddha statue.

He absolutely wouldn't allow Mu Wanxuan to come out only to realize that her junior brother wasn't around.

Ahem

. Of course, he was also going to welcome his sword spirit.