Qi Long's first sword strike was blocked.
However, the resplendent pure Yang energy still set the ice-attribute plum blossoms ablaze, dazzling like scorched brown leaves in the autumn sun.
"Kill!"
Qi Long roared, his talismans flashing as the killing formation erupted.
"Scram!"
Mei Chuan shouted in fury. From her alluring body beneath the qipao, boundless winter plum blossoms surged forth, instantly forming a storm that swept outwards, destroying everything it touched.
But Mei Chuan knew that since Qi Long dared to set a trap to kill her, she wouldn't win so easily. She used the storm to ascend, soaring to the highest point of the sky until she touched the formation's boundary. Then, she quickly turned to look at the ground.
Qi Long was not on the ground.
He had followed her, sword in hand.
Mei Chuan's expression turned stern. Being pursued by Qi Long felt like an insult. She opened her mouth and spat out an endless blizzard, burying Qi Long.
Simultaneously, from behind her, a majestic, colossal phantom of a snow mountain appeared, spanning across the nine heavens and obscuring the sun.
"Die!"
"Bang!"
The young man roared, and amidst the blizzard and plum blossoms, a fiery pure Yang sword light slashed out. Qi Long, wielding the New Sun Immortal Sword, advanced unstoppably towards Mei Chuan.
At that instant, the sun, previously hidden by the snow mountain, reappeared, brighter than ever. Scorching pure Yang energy surged on its surface, plummeting like an extraterrestrial meteorite directly into the boundless phantom snow mountain.
"Rumble!"
The sun fell, the snow mountain collapsed.
Mei Chuan's Immortal Burial Plum technique was broken.
"Clang!"
With an explosion, Qi Long's sword struck Mei Chuan's domain barrier. Blazing pure Yang energy flashed, firmly suppressing her Frosty Great Dao.
"Pfft!"
Mei Chuan spat out a mouthful of blood, a trace of shock appearing on her exquisite face.
She hadn't expected that the ultimate technique of Plum Blossom Valley, her innate heart technique, the Immortal Burial Plum, could be so easily broken by Qi Long!
And he was merely in the Fourth Realm.
"Using the formation to offset the gap in our domains, and the pure Yang energy of the New Sun Sword to counter the frost plums, this is a killing setup designed for me."
"Qi Long, you predicted I would come?"
As Mei Chuan spoke, she pointed a finger forward. Ten thousand plum blossoms converged into a single point, then exploded outwards. The terrifying ice and frost Great Dao raged, freezing even the pure Yang energy.
This was the difference in realms. Qi Long could only block with his sword.
"Bang!"
Qi Long was repelled back to the ground, blood trickling from his lips. He wiped it away casually and charged back into the air, fearless.
"This is a fatal setup for you. Mei Chuan, repent for your past sins, and perhaps I'll leave you your corpse intact!"
"I have nothing to repent for. As for you, you should have died long ago!" Mei Chuan snorted coldly. From her clean sleeves, endless ice crystals emerged, coalescing into a snow dragon formed from frozen plum blossoms as they fell. It opened its maw and swallowed Qi Long whole.
"Explode!"
The moment she swallowed him, a huge gash appeared in the snow dragon's throat, as if cut by a bear's paw. Brilliant light erupted from within, clearly Qi Long's sword.
Mei Chuan knew this move wouldn't trap Qi Long. So, before he could break free, she detonated her plum blossoms. The ten thousand ice crystals instantly dissolved, and the frost plums exuded a cold, intoxicating fragrance.
Qi Long knew this was the scent of death.
So, he stomped on the New Sun Sword, burning the sun with all his might, transforming into a rainbow that shot upwards to escape the snow dragon. Like a falling meteor, he crashed into Mei Chuan.
"Boom!"
As the snow dragon exploded, Qi Long arrived.
Mei Chuan formed two plum blossoms with her hands, blocking in front of her chest, but she still couldn't withstand Qi Long's impact. She was shoved back over a hundred meters, smashing into the ground and creating a massive crater.
"Snow Burial!"
The light in space shifted, and the entire world instantly became a land of snow.
Mei Chuan lay at the bottom of the crater, her hands firmly gripping Qi Long's sword-wielding hand. Terrifying plum blossoms intertwined and fell from the sky, burying them both and forming a thousand-meter-thick barrier of ice and frost plum blossoms.
The sun shone from high in the sky, its scorching rays hitting the thick ice. Dense white mist rose, melting ice crystals into water that flowed outwards, beyond the range of the formation.
"Boom!"
The ice layer completely burst. In the vast expanse of water, Mei Chuan and Qi Long flashed and fought, one after the other. Their clashes were terrifying, and the aftershocks even reached outside the formation, affecting the outside world.
"Retreat quickly!"
Someone—Han, perhaps—shouted. The cultivators outside the formation retreated in panic.
They gazed at the sudden ocean before them and Qi Long, sword in hand, pursuing Mei Chuan. Their minds were filled with shock. Even An Jin stared at Qi Long in disbelief.
They couldn't understand why Mei Chuan's ice melted so quickly, nor why Qi Long, in the Fourth Realm, could chase and kill Mei Chuan, who was in the Fifth Realm.
Even if the formation could restrict Mei Chuan's domain, even if the New Sun Sword could counter her techniques, and even if Qi Long was prepared and had broken the Immortal Burial Plum, people still found the scene unfolding before them incredible.
Because Mei Chuan was a Domain Lord.
The difference between a Domain Lord and a Territory Lord was even greater than that between a Territory Lord and someone in the Third Realm, perhaps ten or a hundred times greater. Even the weakest Domain Lord couldn't be contended with by a Territory Lord. The combat power represented by these two realms was simply not on the same level!
"Ocean Burial Sword, you actually have the Ocean Burial Sword!"
Within the space sealed by Mei Chuan's formation, waves churned; they were the melted water from ice crystals.
Mei Chuan broke through the water, struggling to fend off the attacks from Qi Long's two swords. Her face was filled with horror as she yelled repeatedly, as if an ordinary person had seen a ghost.
Qi Long discarded the formation disk. His right hand, the New Sun Immortal Sword, burned the frost plums, melting the ice crystals into water. His left hand, the blue-purple longsword, turned all the water elements in the area into terrifying sword energy.
He had two swords!
Qi Long attacked with both hands, one blue and one red. As the two immortal swords of different attributes slashed out simultaneously, Mei Chuan resisted with all her might, even self-detonating her frost plums, but she couldn't escape the pursuit of the sword energy.
Mei Chuan was pushed back step by step.
This battlefield was Qi Long's absolute home ground. The frost plums would be countered by the New Sun Immortal Sword.
And the water elements, formed from melted ice crystals, would be utilized by Qi Long's long-prepared Ocean Burial Immortal Sword.
Moreover, Qi Long had long ago buried tens of thousands of fire talismans underground here and used the formation to create an artificial fire vein.
With favorable timing, geographical advantage, and human support, he could, as a Territory Lord, contend head-on with a Domain Lord.
...
"So the box contained a sword."
At the cave entrance, Xu Mu and Zuo Mingqiu watched the battle unfold with shocked expressions.
The small space was filled with an astonishing amount of ice, frost, sunlight, and water elements. On the seemingly endless expanse of water, a wooden box floated.
Xu Mu recognized it. It was the box the innkeeper from Peach City had given him to deliver to Qi Long.
He had speculated about what the box contained before, concluding it was most likely a rare magical treasure. He hadn't expected it to be a sword.
"Didn't the Demon Slaying Division buy the Ocean Burial Sword? Why is it in his hands!"
An Jin stood outside the formation, his expression shocked as he looked at the dark blue sword in Qi Long's left hand.
Like the New Sun Sword, the Ocean Burial Sword was forged by the Sword Pavilion, an extraordinary immortal sword capable of shaking the world.
Even in the entire history of the Sword Pavilion, the Ocean Burial Sword was a remarkably shining existence.
This sword had been acquired by a genius from the Golden Tent Kingdom. Subsequently, the genius's identity was exposed, leading to the pursuit of countless martial forces from the Great Zhou.
Predictably, the genius from the Golden Tent Kingdom died before he could even leave the borders of the Great Zhou.
But after his death, the Ocean Burial fell into the hands of a powerful cultivator from the Great Xia Dynasty. That cultivator was terrifyingly strong, and wielding the Ocean Burial, he carved a bloody path, from the Great Zhou to the Hundred Races Alliance. He was then escorted by forces from the Hundred Races Alliance and finally returned safely to Great Xia.
Everyone in the Great Zhou Imperial Dynasty had heard this story. Their forged immortal sword was first subdued by a prodigy from the Golden Tent Kingdom, and then fell into the hands of a Xia person. What a humiliation!
Every cultivator in the Great Zhou wanted to reclaim the Ocean Burial from the Great Xia Dynasty, but no one had ever succeeded. This was because the immortal sword was kept at the headquarters of the Demon Slaying Division.
With the Fisherman guarding it, it was said that only by launching a full-scale surprise attack on the Demon Slaying Division with the combined might of all the martial forces in the Great Zhou could this sword possibly be reclaimed, but this was fundamentally impossible.
Yet now, the Ocean Burial Sword was in Qi Long's hands.
Did Qi Long steal the Ocean Burial from the Demon Slaying Division?
The thought flashed through everyone's minds. An Jin quickly dismissed this conclusion.
He looked at Qi Long, recalling the conversation between him and Mei Chuan, and then his eyes widened. Pointing at Qi Long, he exclaimed, "So you're a Xia person!"