Testing a Celestial with a Sword

In front of the Martial Pavilion.

Huai’an stopped her footsteps, raising her head to size up this high pavilion.

“What a fine Martial Pavilion,” she praised softly.

“It is built to look even more grand than Imperial Father’s Wuji Tower.“

As she spoke, she reached out her hand to push toward the pavilion door.

“What person? You actually dare to rashly break into the Martial Pavilion!“

The pavilion door was suddenly opened from the inside.

Three figures rushed out like ghosts and monsters, blocking in front of the door.

The one leading them was a man dressed in black, his countenance cold and strict, holding a long sword, being precisely the Jinghong Guard Bai Qi.

The two people behind him were likewise in black clothes, their auras deep and condensed.

“Three of the Ninth Realm.” Li Hanyi stood behind Huai’an, opening his mouth faintly.

Huai’an’s beautiful eyes narrowed slightly, a trace of surprise flashing through them.

The Zhennan Prince’s Mansion… still had this many experts?

“Audacious,” Huai’an berated in a cold voice, her gaze like a knife.

“You actually dare to be rude to this palace!“

Bai Qi’s eyebrows knitted tightly, his gaze scanning across Huai’an’s body, and falling upon Li Hanyi’s body behind her.

When he sensed that deep and bottomless aura of Li Hanyi, his pupils gave a slight constriction.

The Celestial Realm!

“Princess?” Bai Qi’s voice was low and deep.

“Which princess?“

“This palace is Huai’an.” Huai’an raised her chin.

“What, this Martial Pavilion, this palace cannot enter?“

“The Martial Pavilion is a forbidden area of the prince’s mansion, and outsiders are not permitted to enter.” Bai Qi yielded not a single step, the long sword in his hand slightly raised.

“Princess, please return.“

Huai’an smiled, smiling brightly, yet the depths of her eyes were completely ice-cold.

She turned her head to look toward Li Hanyi: “Teacher.“

Li Hanyi was expressionless, only raising his hand, aligning his fingers like a sword as he gave a hollow point toward Bai Qi.

There was no sound of wind, no burst of strength, and not even any killing intent.

Yet the faces of Bai Qi and the other two people simultaneously changed color sharply, as if hit in the chest by an invisible massive hammer, retreating three steps in unison, with every single step treading out deep footprints upon the green stone ground.

A thread of blood spilled out from the corners of the mouths of the three people at the same time, their hands holding the swords trembling slightly.

Just a single finger.

The Celestial Realm and a martial artist were as far apart as heaven and earth.

Seeing this state, the smile at the corners of Huai’an’s lips grew even deeper.

She no longer paid attention to Bai Qi and the other two, raising her foot as she was about to step into the Martial Pavilion.

Right at this moment…

“Shuai! Shuai! Shuai!“

Inside the Martial Pavilion, more than twenty figures suddenly gushed out.

A uniform color of black clothes, a uniform color of long swords, and a uniform color of ice-cold looks.

They gushed out like a tide, instantly surrounding Huai’an and Li Hanyi in the center.

More than twenty auras of the Ninth Realm exploded at the same time, like more than twenty small mountains pressing down simultaneously, and even the air became stagnant.

The smile on Huai’an’s face finally froze.

She looked around at her surroundings, looking at those more than twenty pairs of ice-cold eyes, and for the first time, a chill welled up in her heart.

This many of the Ninth Realm…

Just how many hidden cards did the Zhennan Prince’s Mansion hide?

A look of surprise also flashed through Li Hanyi’s eyes.

His gaze swept across these more than twenty people, finally falling upon their standing positions…

Seemingly casual, yet in reality secretly matching a certain array formation, their auras connected to one another, actually having a momentum of faintly contending against a Celestial.

“Interesting.” Li Hanyi said softly.

He raised his hand once again.

This time, it was no longer a casual single finger.

His five fingers spread slightly, his palm facing down, slowly giving a press.

“Boom—!“

The spiritual qi of heaven and earth gathered together frantically, transforming into an invisible giant palm, pressing down squarely upon the heads of the more than twenty Jinghong Guards.

If this palm strike landed solidly, even if they were more than twenty of the Ninth Realm, more than half would have to die or be injured.

But at the exact instant the giant palm fell…

More than twenty Jinghong Guards moved at the same time.

Their steps interchanged, their figures shifting, and the long swords in their hands were lifted up in unison.

The blade lights interwove, condensing into a massive sword net in the empty air.

Every single streak of blade light precisely resisted against the weak point of the giant palm, more than twenty forces converging at a single point.

“Buzz—!“

The sword net collided with the giant palm, sending out a muffled booming roar.

The air wave exploded open, shocking the wind bells at the corners of the Martial Pavilion’s eaves into shaking frantically, clinking and clanking noisily.

The sword net trembled violently, yet… it did not break.

More than twenty Jinghong Guards simultaneously let out a muffled groan, the green stone slabs beneath their feet splitting apart inch by inch, yet they still supported the sword net with a death grip, actually truly blocking this strike of Li Hanyi!

A look of shock finally revealed itself inside Li Hanyi’s eyes.

Although this palm strike of his did not use his full strength, it had also used seventy percent of his force.

An ordinary twenty of the Ninth Realm should have been turned to ashes long ago.

Yet these people…

“An array formation?” he muttered, his gaze sharp as a sword as it swept across the standing positions of the Jinghong Guards.

“The Jinghong Sword Formation… Luo Jinghong’s handwriting.“

A trace of complexity flashed through his eyes, immediately transforming into determination after.

Since it was so—

His right hand was slowly lifted up, aligning his fingers like a sword, a strand of pure white sword qi condensing at his fingertips.

That sword qi was originally thin as a hair at the start, turning in the blink of an eye to rise violently to three feet, the sword intent bitter and cold, cutting the surrounding air until it let out hissing sounds.

“Stop!“

Jun Ao’s figure came walking with rapid steps from the far end of the long corridor.

Behind him followed A’Qing and A’Shui!

“Mr. Li, what is the meaning of this?” Jun Ao saw that Bai Qi and the others were injured, and the anger inside his heart rose up.

Li Hanyi did not speak.

Huai’an, however, said, “Heir, this palace wants to live in this Martial Pavilion, yet they wouldn’t allow it, so Teacher only taught them a lesson, that’s all!“

Jun Ao forced down his anger.

“Princess, the Martial Pavilion is a forbidden area of my Jun family, how can it permit you to enter casually?“

Huai’an sneered:

“Under the wide heaven, is there anywhere that is not the king’s land? This palace is a princess of the Great Wu, living in this Martial Pavilion, what is unacceptable about it?“

Jun Ao said in anger:

“Princess, don’t be too excessive!”

“Excessive? Heh heh, this palace insists on being excessive today! Unless you promise this palace that this palace will be your primary wife, otherwise…”

“Dream on!” Jun Ao refused flatly.

“A’Qing, A’Shui.” Jun Ao turned around, looking toward the two women behind him.

“Take the Jinghong Guards to experience Mr. Li’s sword.”

The moment his words fell, A’Qing and A’Shui took a step forward.

More than twenty Jinghong Guards dispersed silently, their standing positions seemingly casual, yet secretly matching the numbers of the Heavenly Dipper and Earthly Fiend.

The swords were not drawn from their scabbards, yet the air of the entire yard suddenly became stagnant.

For the first time, a grave look revealed itself inside Li Hanyi’s eyes.

He slowly drew out the wooden sword at his waist.

“Teacher,” Huai’an retreated to beneath the eaves of the Martial Pavilion, her voice carrying anticipation, “let the heir experience your Muliu Sword.”

Li Hanyi gave no response.

He only looked at that sword formation for the duration of three breaths.

Then, he moved.

There was no testing, and there was no reservation.

He pointed his wooden sword forward.

This sword strike used ten tenths of his strength.

“Buzz—”

The sword qi departed his finger, growing as it met the wind.

It was no longer three zhang, but a ten-zhang-long pure white sword rainbow, like a white dragon bursting out through the empty air.

Everywhere the sword rainbow passed, the green stone slabs on the ground turned into powder without a sound, leaving behind a trench that was over a foot deep.

The sword intent was bitter and cold, forcing back all of the dust within a ten-zhang radius, and even the wind stopped.

This single sword was enough to cut down a small mountain.

The sword rainbow stabbed straight into the center of the sword formation.

A’Qing and A’Shui raised their hands at the exact same time.

“Raise the formation.”

More than twenty long swords were drawn from their scabbards at the same time, the sword ringing sounds converging into a clear and long chant.

The figures of the Jinghong Guards interchanged, their steps treading the Seven Stars, the blade light like quicksilver pouring upon the ground, instantly tying together an entirely natural sword formation.

Right in the center of the sword formation, A’Qing and A’Shui stood shoulder to shoulder.

The long swords in the hands of the two people were one green and one blue, their blade tips meeting together, slowly turning.

Following the turning of the blade tips, the entire sword formation came alive.

More than twenty streaks of sword qi rose up from every single Jinghong Guard, meeting together in midair to transform into a massive sword qi vortex.

The vortex rotated slowly, devouring the surrounding spiritual qi of heaven and earth frantically.

That ten-zhang sword rainbow of Li Hanyi plunged headfirst into the center of the vortex.

Right after that—

It disappeared.

Like a drop of water falling into a massive sea, not even stirring up a ripple.

The smile on Huai’an’s face froze.

Li Hanyi’s pupils sharply constricted.

His full-strength single sword was actually by this sword formation… vividly swallowed?

No, it was not swallowed.

It was dissolved.

The operation of that sword qi vortex secretly matched the ultimate principles of heaven and earth, overcoming the unyielding with softness, decomposing and transforming that ultimate unyielding and ultimate sharp sword qi of his, turning it into the energy of the sword formation itself.

Inside the sword formation, the blade tips of A’Qing and A’Shui turned even faster.

The sword qi vortex accelerated along with it, and a phantom figure faintly surfaced at the center of the vortex…

That was the figure of a woman, in white clothes, carrying a sword, and though her countenance could not be seen clearly, she possessed a sword intent that looked down upon the world.

“Luo Jinghong…” Li Hanyi muttered.

This was no simple sword formation.

This was Luo Jinghong branding her own sword intent inside the array formation, and as long as the array formation operated to the absolute limit, it would then be able to call out a single sliver of her sword intent projection.

Although it was only a single sliver, it was already something that ordinary mortals could not oppose.

Li Hanyi took a deep breath.

Swinging out a single sword, the color of heaven and earth changed.

The winter sweets inside the yard moved without any wind, the leaf pieces rustling as they fell down, being shredded by the sword qi before they had even landed on the ground.

The wind bells at the corners of the Martial Pavilion’s eaves clinked and clanked in a mess, lines of fractures surfacing upon the bell bodies.

This single strike was already the strongest of Li Hanyi’s life.

Inside the sword formation, A’Qing and A’Shui opened their eyes at the same time.

There was no dread inside their eyes, but only a patch of empty clarity.

“Jinghong… Flying Snow!”

The two people let out a light shout in unison.

The sword formation changed abruptly.

More than twenty Jinghong Guards stepped out a single step at the same time, their steps as orderly as if they were a single person.

The long swords in their hands drew out profound trajectories, and the sword qi no longer converged into a vortex, but instead transformed into flying snow that filled the sky.

It was true snow.

Piece after piece of snowflakes were all transformed from sword qi.

The snow fell without a sound, yet it completely shrouded Li Hanyi’s sword rainbow inside it.

No more than three breaths.

Li Hanyi’s sword rainbow dissipated to the very last drop.

Only rustling falling snow was left inside the yard.

Li Hanyi stood on his spot, his face slightly white.

His right hand trembled slightly, and the sword qi upon the Muliu Sword had already scattered away.

Defeated.

Striking with full strength, he actually could not break this sword formation.

He could not even… achieve making the sword formation shake.

Huai’an held her mouth open, unable to speak even a single word.

She looked at those more than twenty black-clothed figures inside the yard, looking at their looks that were peaceful as water, and for the first time, felt the small of her back turn cool.

Where were these guards?

These were clearly more than twenty… monsters.

“Mr. Li,” Jun Ao looked toward Li Hanyi, his tone peaceful, “the sword has been tested, are you still satisfied?”

Li Hanyi fell silent for a long time, slowly spitting out a breath of air.

“The Jinghong Sword Formation… indeed lives up to its reputation.”