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Chapter 626: 632 Chapter: Madness
The face of the Elder from the Sword Sect darkened as he frowned and glanced over. Why would he speak up for a mere Golden Core Loose Cultivator?
Loose Cultivator!
At that thought, a bright light flashed through the Elder’s mind. Had someone from the Ten Thousand Swords Sect taken an interest in her? Wanted to take her as a disciple?
If that were the case, he could no longer take action against her.
"This little amount of money, our Sword Sect can certainly afford!"
The Elder retorted before turning his head to the trembling disciples below the dueling platform and scolded with a cold face, "A bunch of fools, who taught you to do such shameless things!"
It is said that those in the same trade are enemies, and the Ten Thousand Swords Sect and the Sword Sect are just that.
One might wonder from their names if the two had any tangled affiliations. In fact, it was just a coincidence.
Both were competing for the title of number one in the Sword Dao, and inevitably, some conflicts arose from their collisions. As a result, the relations between the disciples of the two Sects were really poor, usually settling their superiority in the Sword Dao competition each year.
However, in recent centuries, the Ten Thousand Swords Sect had gained a slight upper hand, not just in overall strength, but also in the competitions, managing to suppress the Sword Sect.
The Sword Sect was certainly not pleased, but there was little they could do with the disparity in strength so evident.
Especially this year, the performance of the Sword Sect’s disciples was extremely unsatisfactory, with only three or four likely to advance to the next round. In contrast, the Ten Thousand Swords Sect had at least ten disciples, and even the slightly less powerful Qingcheng Sword Faction had five or six.
This gap ignited a wicked fire in the Elder’s heart, leading him to vent his frustration on Li Zhixuan, a ’Loose Cultivator’ without any background, only to be severely humiliated—a near complete loss of face for the Sword Sect!
Facing the Elder’s scolding, Hongyan and the others could only lower their heads and admit their faults. Even the slightly wiser cultivators knew the real situation, but outwardly, they had to maintain the face of the Elder and the Sect.
Li Zhixuan on the platform, blocked by the Formation, did not hear the scolding from the outside and after defeating another Sword Sect disciple, she chose another person to come up.
After he was defeated, Li Zhixuan realized that several of the remaining Sword Sect disciples had already withdrawn their Sword Commands.
"What, you don’t dare to come up? A bunch of trash!"
Since she had already torn her face with the Sword Sect and was using a false identity, with a human skin mask to boot, there was no risk of involving her family. With nothing to worry about, she took the opportunity to trample fiercely on the dignity of the Sword Sect.
"Hiss!"
Due to her fierce combat earlier, a large number of cultivators had been attracted to watch. As these words were uttered, everyone in the audience gasped in shock.
It’s important to note that the Sword Sect was a powerful force with several Divine Transformation figures. Even though their gate wasn’t in the Central Region, no one dared to underestimate them, nor think they lacked the ability to occupy a place in the Central Region.
Besides that sound, many cultivators dared not make another peep, with some even quietly walking away, fearing being implicated.
"How audacious!"
Some Nascent Soul Sword Cultivators looked on with interest. Since the disgrace wasn’t their own, they treated it as a form of entertainment.
"Impudent!"
The Sword Sect Elder erupted in fury, his killing intent boiling as he glared at Li Zhixuan and said coldly, "Wench! Kneel down and apologize, and sever one of your arms, and I might spare your life."
"Who do you think you are? A despicable and shameless villain, what right do you have to demand an apology from me?" Li Zhixuan glanced dismissively at him, her demeanor calm as if she felt no pressure from the Nascent Soul at all.
The cultivators who had been surrounding the arena fled toward the distance, their faces filled with terror as they looked at the black-clad woman standing proudly with her sword.
Everyone thought she was insane to dare insult a Nascent Soul True Lord.
"Very good, very good!" The Elder of the Sword Sect, despite his years of training in composure, couldn’t suppress the urge to act. How could he endure being cursed at by a junior in front of so many people?!
With one step, he pointed a finger at Li Zhixuan, his Sword Qi engulfing her in waves upon waves, like the tempestuous waves atop an ocean, surging violently, without end, rushing toward her.
"Should we intervene?" the Nascent Souls of the Ten Thousand Swords Sect pondered this question as Li Zhixuan spoke.
Privately, although she was a bit presumptuous, she was, after all, the person Master Wu Xin had pointed out to meet, and possibly their future junior sister. If they did nothing, she might fall right then and there.
Publicly, this was a Sword Dao contest hosted by the Ten Thousand Swords Sect. For whatever reason, they shouldn’t allow a Nascent Soul to disrupt the event by intervening.
"Don’t be hasty in taking action; this girl is deliberately provoking the opponent, planning to make a breakthrough to the Nascent Soul stage," Ancestor Wu Xin, who had returned at some unknown time, looked at Li Zhixuan with a hint of appreciation.
In the eyes of others, her audacious insults toward a Nascent Soul might seem wilful and unnecessary, but to him, it was shrewd, decisive, and daring.
It wasn’t hard to see that Li Zhixuan’s initial intention had been to simply defeat the disciples of the Sword Sect and cause them to lose face, but after noticing that they had retrieved their Sword Commands, she provocatively tested them.
To her surprise, the Nascent Soul took the bait immediately, exploding in anger and attacking after just a couple of provocations.
Of course, Li Zhixuan’s high-stakes gamble was perilously dangerous, with the slightest mistake leading to severe injury or even death. And even if she made it out unscathed, there was no guarantee she would break through her bottleneck, but she resolutely stepped onto the gambling table!
"Let me see just how wide the gap is between myself and a Nascent Soul Sword Cultivator!"
Li Zhixuan tightly grasped her lifebound Magic Sword in both hands, her body trembling. This wasn’t fear, but excitement!
Having practiced outside for so many years, this was her closest moment to reaching the Nascent Soul stage!
Boom!
Pouring all her spirit and energy into this one sword strike, she chopped down fiercely, and an overwhelming Sword Tao of Slaughter and malevolent energy burst forth, intertwining and transforming into an enormous black and red greatsword that slashed toward the giant waves.
"Such terrifying intent to kill!"
The Nascent Soul Sword Cultivators present were moved by that sword strike, watching Li Zhixuan with solemn expressions as she stood pale but still as proud as ever.
"Very good, very good! No wonder I felt that this woman had a connection with me; she cultivates the Sword Tao of Slaughter too!" Master Wu Xin laughed heartily. He had finally found a successor to inherit his lifelong teachings!
The killing intent was sharp and unstoppable, shattering the waves into fragments. The Golden Cores watching were dumbstruck. They couldn’t believe that a Golden Core Sword Cultivator could overpower the Sword Qi of a Nascent Soul!
But the two couldn’t be crudely compared; the Sword Sect Elder had acted in anger, not even using his Magic Sword, while Li Zhixuan had unleashed her most powerful strike.
"Hmph!"
Seeing the situation turn grim, the Sword Sect Elder coldly snorted and secretly channeled Mana. He had already lost enough face that day; losing to a Golden Core would mean he would never be able to show his face again!
The waves surged tumultuously, lifting layer upon layer of giant waves, covering Li Zhixuan’s Sword Qi, continuously erasing it until it was completely engulfed.
"Hahaha!" Li Zhixuan suddenly burst into frenzied laughter and said, "Elder, you’re not so impressive after all!"
Accompanied by her laughter, the aura on her body suddenly shifted, exuding the oppressive force of a Nascent Soul!
