Chapter 617: Settling Old and New Grudges!

Lishang exuded a commanding presence as she looked across the scene without the slightest trace of anger. "Who are you calling arrogant?"

Long Aotian's tone immediately softened. "I was wondering who it was. We meet again, Vice Sect Master Lishang."

His expression was as cold as frost, yet a hint of vigilance flickered in his gaze. He immediately used voice transmission to inform the ten behind him, "That woman has an innate divine ability that makes her extremely troublesome to deal with. I'll hold her back when the fight starts. All of you, strike hard and end this fight swiftly."

Among the eleven Heavenly Immortals on the frontlines, six were from the North-River Sword Sect. Aside from Xiao Ende and Wei Fu, two of Li Tianyao's martial uncles and two of his senior brothers had also come. The rest were the Celestial Wind Sect's Heavenly Immortal Realm elders, all of whom had a certain reputation among the thirteen qi planets.

On the way here, they had already heard Long Aotian describe what it felt like to be sent flying. Now that they were actually facing Lishang, they didn't dare show the slightest carelessness.

The two groups of experts faced each other across space. Wang Sheng's immortal armor and Lishang's golden armor were especially eye-catching.

Aside from the sect master, all of the Fengli Sect's experts had also already gathered. An elderly woman at the late stage of the Heavenly Immortal Realm took two steps forward.

Coldly, she said, "Long Aotian, wishing to face us head-on is one thing. However, you're borrowing the North-River Sword Sect's might and prestige to bluff, bully, and persecute the cultivators of the thirteen qi planets! How laughable and shameless! You and your sect truly are unworthy to be our enemy!"

Wang Sheng could not help but sigh deep down.

This grandmother's scolding skills definitely rival those of a certain Mister Zhuge.

Long Aotian, who stood at the forefront of the opposing side, looked slightly irritated. He calmly replied, "There is no need to speak further. You and I shall each rely on our own abilities to see who gets the last laugh. Vice Sect Master Lishang, do you dare battle me beyond the skies?!"

Lishang immediately furrowed her delicate brow. She didn't fear him, but his intention to lure her away was far too obvious. Unfortunately, if she refused now, she would have already lost half the battle.

The Fengli Sect's sect master had yet to appear. Among those present, it seemed that only Lishang could match Long Aotian.

The elderly woman who had just spoken hesitated slightly, but she still decided to step out and face him. Just as she was about to accept the challenge in Lishang's stead, a soft laugh came from the side.

With Spiritless slanted at his right side, Wang Sheng stepped forward. "Elder Long, why don't we continue our unfinished business?"

His challenge echoed throughout the battlefield.

Long Aotian said coldly, "You dare challenge me? You're just a brat who still reeks of milk! I was merely humoring you with a few moves last time. Do you truly think I can't kill you?"

"Kill me?" A glimmer of starlight flickered in Wang Sheng's eyes. "Let's settle our old and new grudges once and for all!"

Long Aotian swept his sleeve in irritation. "Come at me!"

Spiritless shone brightly as it unleashed a burst of sword radiance. Like a meteor streaking across the sky, it cleaved the incoming force straight in half!

Wang Sheng took two more steps forward. Standing at the very front of his regiment, he faced Long Aotian.

At that moment, one of the Celestial Wind Sect's elders cried out in alarm, "Elder Long! Look at his armor!"

Long Aotian frowned. After staring at Wang Sheng for several moments, his eyes widened. He ground his teeth and furiously shouted, "So it was you! You destroyed my blood mine, seized my precious treasures, and caused the deaths of my sect's many experts!"

Wang Sheng lifted Spiritless. His cultivation realm surged rapidly as Yaoyun merged her spiritual power with his Pure Yang Immortal Power.

"You're blaming me for destroying your blood mine and seizing your treasures? How ridiculous! Have you forgotten, Long Aotian? I was only at the Ascended Immortal Realm back then. I merely passed along the edge of your restricted ground to pursue my enemy, yet you swallowed me in one gulp and dragged me into the blood mine!

"I suffered from the fiend-blood energy's corrosion for several hundred years! If not for a fortunate coincidence and the help of a senior's spiritual consciousness residue, I would have long since turned into a pile of withered bones in there! Everything I did at the time was simply revenge for your attempt to take my life!"

Long Aotian narrowed his eyes. He was about to retort when Wang Sheng shouted again, his words exploding like thunder.

"Elder Long, have you also forgotten that your sect planted spies in my sect to get our journey's route? You all then sent Tan Lang, who was as renowned as you, with Lin Feiyao to set up a grand array, ambush us, and kill us both!

"Lishang and I barely survived the countless dangers we faced! To make matters worse, after the incident, your sect shamelessly claimed that Tan Lang had long since left the sect. You must pay for attempting to assassinate us!"

Long Aotian immediately tried to refute him. "Tan Lang had indeed—"

Wang Sheng furiously shouted, "If his remnant soul is here watching now, will your Dao Heart still feel no shame?!"

"

Hmph!

How many of our immortals do you think you've slain?! When it comes to cruelty, no one can match even half of yours! What right do you have to claim that you will settle all your grudges with my Celestial Wind Sect?!"

Wang Sheng suddenly threw back his head and laughed. However, it was imbued with boundless desolation and sorrow. "

Hahahaha!

How noble your sect is! Would you like to know how Tan Lang lost to us, Long Aotian?

"He brought five war slaves for the ambush, and one of them was my sect's forefather. Our forefather should have fallen on the ancient battlefield over a hundred thousand years ago, yet your sect instead captured and turned him into a puppet!

"Despite being gravely wounded, he still regained his clarity and personally tore off the jade nails from the back of his head. He then fought desperately at the cost of his own soul, delivering a devastating blow to Tan Lang. Thanks to him, Lishang and I managed to survive!

"Not only did you try to hunt me down and kill me, but your sect also humiliated my forefather and defiled my Daoist heritage. Do those not count as hatred? As enmity?!"

Wang Sheng stepped forward. As starlight blazed in his eyes, a massive purple star slowly rose behind him, and an indescribable majesty surged forward like a roaring tide!

Wang Sheng's rebuke made Long Aotian's Dao Heart tremble. The elder even subconsciously retreated half a step, but he immediately remembered that the one before him was merely a True Immortal. As one of the Celestial Wind Sect's venerable elders, he couldn't show fear!

Through clenched teeth, Long Aotian forced himself to shout coldly, "It seems I can't spare you after all!"

His aura surged violently. However, just as he was about to charge, someone called out from behind him, "Elder Long, is he the sword cultivator you have mentioned so many times? The one who practices the Heavenly Dao of the Sword?"

A handsome and refined middle-aged sword cultivator—one of Li Tianyao's martial uncles—stepped forward. The mid-stage Heavenly Immortal donned a black robe, had two treasured swords crossed on his back, and had his long hair simply bound. As his eyes shone with divine light, the snow-white streaks at his temples seemingly told the story of a thick book called "the past."

"Let me test his sword techniques and see whether they're truly as wondrous as you all claim."

Long Aotian slowly nodded and shifted aside with a gesture of invitation. Afterward, the Heavenly Immortal of the North-River Sword Sect took several steps forward, fixing his gaze upon Wang Sheng.

The scholar-like swordsman smiled faintly. After carefully appraising Wang Sheng, he silently praised the sword momentum that Wang Sheng currently displayed.

"Meng Wuxue, North-River Sword Sect. I would like to exchange insights in the Dao of the Sword with you, Daoist Friend."

Wang Sheng's gaze remained utterly indifferent as he slowly nodded. "Does the North-River Sword Sect truly insist on entangling itself in this karmic affair?"

"In the pursuit of immortality, there is no place for righteousness; only the pursuit of one's longevity."

Meng Wuxue extended his right hand. The sword behind his left shoulder shot out of its scabbard, traced a brilliant arc through the air, and landed in his palm.

"My martial brother asked us to come and lend him our support. It would not do to stand aside and watch. Moreover, worthy opponents are rare, and a cultivator who practices the Heavenly Ziwei Sword Art is even rarer. Today, I wish to befriend you by crossing blades with you. Should my sword break, I will harbor no regret."

The immortal sword in his hand trembled softly. Snowflakes suddenly drifted down within a hundred-meter radius, and behind him appeared a sword phantasm condensed entirely from snow.

Wang Sheng nodded slightly. "If the North-River Sword Sect faces calamity one day, it will all stem from you."

Behind him, the purple star condensed into an astral sword phantasm that shimmered gently. The starry sky also manifested above him, causing layers of astral power to descend and shield him.

Meng Wuxue's eyes lit up. "Using the stars as the sword's source. That truly is the Heavenly Dao of the Sword."

Streaks of lightning tore across the starry sky, like countless lightning dragons howling and rampaging. Heavenly tribulation aura surged forth, its faint yet overwhelming heavenly might instantly making many immortals look surprised.

A bolt of lightning struck, swallowing Wang Sheng whole. As it converged, it condensed into a sword phantasm of interwoven violet and cyan, hovering behind him alongside the astral sword phantasm.

Shock filled Meng Wuxue's eyes.

Is that a heavenly tribulation? No, a sword intent... condensed from it? Is it also under the Heavenly Dao of the Sword?

As a sword cultivator and a member of the North-River Sword Sect, his insight and understanding of the Dao of the Sword naturally surpassed that of ordinary unaffiliated practitioners.

Wang Sheng's Astral Sword Intent alone was already astonishing, yet now he revealed a sword intent forged from the heavenly tribulation's power.

Is there truly a sword technique capable of unleashing heavenly tribulation?

At that moment, a Tai Chi diagram appeared and slowly rotated beneath Wang Sheng's feet. It manifested the Dual Polarity, dividing yin and yang. The Dual-Polarity Sword Intent had condensed and now hovered behind him.

Immediately after, a scorching radiance flared from Wang Sheng's chest, and the Pure Yang Sword Intent appeared beside the other sword intents. Its blazing, pure yang aura spread outward, accompanied by an overwhelming sense of density and solidity.

A draconic roar then reverberated, and a cyan dragon phantasm soared through the starry sky. The Dragon-Slaying Sword Intent floated behind him, looking down at all the soldiers.

Wang Sheng had summoned five of his great sword intents!

He didn't unleash the Myriad-Slaying Sword Intent, which the little wooden sword still suppressed. After all, he considered it his ultimate trump card. Nevertheless, the North-River Sword Sect's sword immortals looked visibly shocked as they stared at the layers of sword intents behind Wang Sheng, whom they had been searching for so long.

When news spread that an unaffiliated practitioner had a sword art under the Heavenly Dao of the Sword, they immediately thought of seizing it for themselves. However, they had just personally witnessed his five great sword intents emerge.

Ziwei was at the center. Dual Polarity acted as support, Pure Yang as guard, and Dragon Slayer as vanguard! To top it all off, he also had that unfathomable Heavenly Tribulation Sword Intent!

They couldn't help but wonder who exactly the young man was and if he had a powerful being supporting him from the shadows.

Wang Sheng had deliberately revealed his sword intents to intimidate the North-River Sword Sect, and the effect was immediately apparent.

He calmly said, "Make your move."

Meng Wuxue chuckled bitterly. As the longsword in his hand trembled lightly, the sword phantasm behind him merged into him. Strands of sword radiance also bloomed around him.

"I have given you my word; I do not intend to go back on it. Please, enlighten me."

Crystalline snowflakes drifted all over a thousand-mile radius. Meng Wuxue then vanished. Right after, the raging wind and snow swept toward Wang Sheng.

Wang Sheng's expression turned solemn. The sword intents behind him vibrated in unison before swiftly returning into him.

With his immortal power surging, he leaned forward and unleashed Soaring Red Feathers. Flames raged as the manifestation of the Golden Crow beat its wings and plunged headlong into the snowstorm!