Chapter 1830: Azure Moons Homecoming (II)

Chapter 1830: Azure Moon's Homecoming (II)

Shing!

Wind and clouds surged between heaven and earth. Countless swords hummed, and every sheathed longsword began to tremble. All the cultivators looked up together, their faces filled with disbelief and awe.

Li Minggong, who had hurried back from the east out of concern that Li Jiangchun had ventured deep into enemy territory, abruptly stopped and looked up.

The youth high in the sky had green-white eyes, and a sword mark had appeared between his brows! It lent a murderous edge to his formerly graceful, handsome face as the waning moon waxed full once more, its sharpness boundless!

He drew his sword in a flash!

Yet no sword light filled the sky, nor did any vast surge of sword qi appear. Every trace of sword light was concentrated upon the blade, faintly spilling forth into countless phantom visions.

Only a flood of green-white light swept past.

Shing.

The green sword was already sliding back into its sheath.

Far away, Li Nitan struggled to turn his head, his expression blank as he thought, Sword... Intent...

Li Jiangchun had already attained a profound mastery of Sword Essence. Now, with Qingche in hand, he resonated with the Sword Dao inheritance. This strike was not merely the fourth form of the Law of Celestial Moon, following [Autumn Moon's Harmonious Echo]. It was also driven by Sword Intent!

[Azure Moon's Homecoming]!

Li Nitan’s head flew into the air, exposing the cleanly severed flesh and bone of his neck. His three internal Mansions were destroyed at once, their mystical energy instantly extinguished. His body, however, had yet to react. It drifted onward for a short distance before finally falling!

Rumble!

Gray clouds and yellow earth erupted into the sky!

Like the Chi Family prodigy who had been helpless before a single sword strike years ago, this grandson of the Mount Tan Li Family's Purple Mansion Realm cultivator was slain on the spot from fifty kilometers away!

Sword Intent played a significant role even in battles involving divine abilities, let alone at Foundation Establishment Realm! Without a divine ability, there was simply no way to restrain it. Moreover, everything Li Jiangchun possessed, from his cultivation technique and Dao lineage to his dharma artifacts, ranked among the very best available at Foundation Establishment Realm!

Sword Intent!

Chen Yang's pupils widened as far as they could. Cold sweat covered his face, and his cheeks ached fiercely. He stood motionless in the sky as the sword immortal's icy voice rang out before him.

"Whoever advances east... dies."

Rumble!

The cultivators stopped in their tracks. Silence fell!

The Tingzhou cultivators reacted with joy or astonishment. Their steadily retreating battle line abruptly solidified, bringing the fighting to a stalemate. Sudden delight filled Li Suining as he realized, With General Ding here, we held out for these extra two hours... and things really have changed!

He turned eagerly, only to find Li Minggong staring transfixed, her expression complicated as she murmured, "Back then... when our elder defended the river... it was just like this."

Back then, too, a single arrow had halted the enemy, and a single roar had stopped their advance! Yet her first response was fear, and alarm flooded her heart.

Where is the Daoist Master... Where is Uncle... What if someone... tries to kill him!

————

Great void.

A radiant heavenly gate stood within the great void. Beneath it, a man in white-golden Daoist robes sat casually, toying with a wisp of brilliant white flame between his fingertips. However, dazzling though it was, gray light encircled it.

Not far away in the great void, two divine abilities were fiercely locked together. Brilliant radiance collided as lightning and Bright Yang heavenly light clashed again and again, sending out wave upon wave.

The man in white-golden Daoist robes paid it no heed. Deep within his eyes lay an unmistakable joy. Golden-white radiance continuously circled behind him, seemingly a Fate Divine Ability. It extended faintly down from the great void, already sheltering the sword immortal in the manifest world.

At the other end of the great void, a pale-faced man stood with his hands clasped behind his back. His expression was grim, and he remained silent for a long time.

As their divine abilities clashed with increasing ferocity, the man's injuries seemed to flare up. He gave a slight cough and said hoarsely, "Fellow Daoist, we are kin, after all. Must you take things this far?"

"Kin? My junior is acting on my orders to defeat the enemy and slay their commanders. I know of no kin among them."

Li Ximing scoffed, throwing back the very words the man had once offered Li Zhouwei. The man's face grew paler with anger before Li Ximing continued calmly, "When your Mount Tan Li Family shunned Moongaze like a plague and called us outsiders, did you think of us as kin? When you marched here with Qing Jifang and brazenly provoked us, did you think of us as kin? Now that your cultivators have invaded our lands and slaughtered our people, have you thought of us as kin?

"Now that your direct descendant is about to die and you have to intervene to save him, you suddenly remember that we are kin."

He sneered and said, "Lord Li cares little for blood ties and has plenty of descendants. Surely you can spare this one."

The pale-faced middle-aged man before him was none other than Li Muyan of the Mount Tan Li Family, Li Nitan's own grandfather!

Back then, he had sought an injury and received one, taking a serious beating from Li Zhouwei. He had barely managed to recover before Qing Jifang, who scarcely treated him as a person, hurriedly dispatched him to the Great Western Plains. After suffering a crushing defeat, he had returned wounded once more, only to be sent rushing into the Great Desert to oversee the fighting.

Only upon arriving did he learn that his own grandson, a crucial direct descendant entrusted with guarding the Great Desert for the Mount Tan Li Family, had been sent by the Qing Family, accompanied by two men from Mount Changhuai, deep into the Li Family's territory on this sort of mission!

This is plainly meant to get someone killed! Either I kill the people of Tingzhou, or they kill him!

He had only recently broken through to the Purple Mansion Realm, and the senior Purple Mansion Realm cultivator in his family was still alive. No fine treasures had been passed down to him, either. Already injured, how could he dare confront Li Ximing? He naturally dared not provoke a fight and could only stand silently in the great void.

The hateful chill in his heart at that moment was easy to imagine!

Qing Jifang has never treated others as people, but I never imagined he could be so ruthless... He begrudges even the smallest reward, even the slightest pretense, and now... now... he has gone this far!

Li Ximing discerned something of his thoughts and said coldly, "Fellow Daoist, you know perfectly well how the Mount Tan Li Family came to be... Whether you've managed to sever those ties completely is hard to say, but you've certainly been quick to bring ruin upon Mount Tan!

"I know your family has little choice in the matter. Then let me oblige you!"

With his intentions exposed in a single remark, Li Muyan felt deeply embarrassed, but beneath that lay fear. He gave Li Ximing a long look and gritted his teeth, seemingly suppressing anger.

Only after a long silence did he speak. "The Mount Tan Li Family will remember your family's generous gift."

At those words, Li Ximing actually rose to his feet and burst into laughter. His gaze fixed on Li Muyan, filled with a ferocity that was like fire and lightning.

He flicked his sleeves and berated him with a laugh. "Well, Li Muyan! So now you dare vent your anger on me! Who doesn't know you have Qing Jifang behind you? He uses you like a dog, and you gladly accept it. That's why you dare cross the border and threaten me to my face. Without him, who the hell would you be?!"

He laughed and said, "Come! The King of Wei will arrive any moment. If you have the fucking nerve to repeat those exact words to his face, I'll give you some respect!"