Ling Xiao had originally intended to remain a bystander. In his eyes, most of these hidden families and sects weren’t good people. Their very purpose and motive for coming to Penzes City were malicious. If he appeared weak and easy to bully, who knew how harsh they might become? If it weren’t for Tiger, an expert at the Sword Emperor level, at his side, would they really be speaking to him so politely?

But this Gou You was truly going too far. Even if he was targeting Li Yan, this was ultimately Ling Xiao’s territory. An attitude like that was tantamount to showing no respect for Ling Xiao, the host, whatsoever!

Before Ling Xiao could speak, Li Yan was already furious. Staring coldly at Gou You, he said, "You and I are of equal strength. Do you really think I’m afraid of you? Do you dare to fight me outside the city?"

Gou You seemed to have been waiting for just those words. "Why wouldn’t I dare!" he replied readily, standing up and heading for the door.

The four men with Gou You also stood up without a word and followed him out.

Li Yan cupped his fist toward Ling Xiao. "Young friend Ling Xiao, please allow me to handle this. I will speak with you in detail when I return!" With that, he and his men also turned and left.

Ling Xiao smiled. "It’s rare to witness a battle between two Sword Sect masters. Why don’t we all go watch?"

Li Yan nodded. "That would be fine."

As the group left the city, many commoners and passersby, sensing some excitement, began to follow them out.

As they passed the city gate, Ling Xiao beckoned over a captain from the City Gate Army and told him to bring some soldiers to maintain order.

A battle between experts of the Sword Sect level had to be watched from a great distance. Getting even a little too close could be fatal. These commoners didn’t understand the danger; there was no telling if they’d crowd right up to the front to spectate.

A couple of miles outside the city, Gou You stopped. He looked arrogantly at Li Yan and sneered, "With its beautiful mountains, clear waters, singing birds, and fragrant flowers, this place will make a perfect grave for you!"

A High-tier Sword Sect master’s Mental Cultivation is incredibly solid, and their Spiritual Power is vast. Once they commit to a fight, their concentration is absolute, completely unmoved by external provocations. Li Yan was no exception. He certainly wasn’t going to be angered by Gou You’s taunts. "Whose grave this will be remains to be seen," he said calmly. With a slight movement, he appeared in the sky, a hundred meters above the ground!

Only then did the spectating commoners realize this was a duel between two peerless experts. There was no need for soldiers to maintain order; they all scrambled backward on their own. Although they had never witnessed a battle between High-tier Martial Artists, they all understood one thing: the higher the tier, the more powerful the Sword Qi. If even a wisp of it touched them, they would be dead!

Gou You’s figure also flickered as he soared into the sky, a powerful aura erupting from his body. The sky was a pristine blue, bathed in the light of the scorching sun. Suddenly, Ling Xiao’s expression tightened. He realized what Gou You was counting on. As Gou You stood suspended in the air, his body abruptly became like a giant vortex, pulling in countless rays of light from the blazing sun!

Li Yan was also taken aback, but he reacted decisively. With a flick of his wrist, a sword as black as ink appeared in his hand. The longsword let out a hiss of grayish-white light. As he swung it, the grayish-white Sword Qi broadened, forming a virtual greatsword of pure energy more than ten meters wide and dozens of meters long.

Li Yan roared, "Clear Light Lightning Slash!"

The massive sword of energy tore through the air, hurtling toward Gou You!

Gou You, still absorbing sunlight, shot backward several hundred meters. A dark green longsword appeared in his hand. With a roar, he condensed a huge, blinding sphere of light on the blade, like a miniature sun. He then pointed his sword at the approaching greatsword of energy.

"Break!"

The greatsword of energy vanished without a trace, like a clay ox sinking into the sea. Horror filled Li Yan’s face. "You’re not from the Dragon Valley Gou Family!" he shouted. "The Gou Family doesn’t have a Sword Skill like this!"

Gou You glared with his beady, triangular eyes and sneered. "You’re just a frog in a well. How many members of the Gou Family have you even met?"

As they spoke, the blinding, watermelon-sized sphere of light, having devoured the greatsword of energy, shot rapidly toward Li Yan!

Li Yan ascended higher into the sky, but the sphere of light accelerated, seeming to grow larger under the glare of the blazing sun.

"BOOM!"

With a tremendous explosion, the sphere of light detonated beneath Li Yan’s feet. Myriad rays of light shot out, and a blistering heat wave washed through the air! 𝓯𝙧𝙚𝒆𝙬𝙚𝒃𝙣𝙤𝒗𝓮𝓵.𝙘𝙤𝙢

Li Yan let out a pained scream. Like a leaf caught in a gale, his body was instantly blasted hundreds of meters away!

A shower of crimson blood rained down from the sky.

Unwilling to let his advantage slip, Gou You became a blur as he shot after Li Yan to press his attack.

Both men were Tier Six Sword Sects, so the pressure from their Spiritual Power had no effect on one another. However, Li Yan was at a disadvantage against a Sword Skill he had never seen before and was thus heavily injured by Gou You’s single strike.

But how could a Tier Six Sword Sect be so easily defeated? While tumbling through the air, Li Yan pulled an Elixir from his robes, tossed it into his mouth, and let out a furious roar.

His longsword was instantly wreathed in countless arcs of lightning. Above him, a dark cloud over a hundred meters wide gathered from nowhere, roiling with thunder.

The spectators below watched, dumbfounded. They never imagined these two men could fight like Divine Spirits—one summoning a miniature sun to attack, the other commanding the weather and conjuring storm clouds!

Was... was this something a human Martial Artist was even capable of?

The Messengers from the other hidden families and sects watched the two men in the sky, their faces grim. One of them said, "The Sword Skills of these two families are at least at the Upper Tier of the Saint Level! And both have clearly been cultivated to an extremely high realm to possess such might!"

The others nodded in agreement. They had all witnessed the power of Sword Sects and even Sword Emperors, so their understanding of Sword Skills was naturally profound. They could tell at a glance that not only were Li Yan’s and Gou You’s skills high-level, but both had been practiced to a High Realm! Otherwise, even a Divine-level Sword Skill couldn’t unleash such power at a low level of mastery.

’It seems the progress made by the hidden families and sects over the years cannot be underestimated,’ they thought.

Li Yan stared coldly at Gou You. "You have your sun, and I have my storm cloud. I was careless and you wounded me, but you don’t have the strength to kill me!"

Gou You’s expression was grave, but he sneered, "Enough nonsense. Let’s see what’s so special about that lightning Sword Skill of yours!"

As he spoke, another sphere of light condensed on his dark green longsword, this one even more blindingly bright than the last!

Down below, the commoners who had been watching from a great distance suddenly felt a chill and shivered involuntarily. They quietly retreated even further, until the two figures in the sky looked incredibly small!

Ling Xiao watched the two battle in the sky with a solemn expression, thinking, ’This is what a true Sword Skill of this world looks like! The skills in the Mortal World, regardless of their level—even the one Father practiced—can’t be cultivated to such a high realm. If Father’s Sword Skill could have reached the Great Perfection Realm, he probably would have had a chance to break through to Sword Sect!’

’Sword Skill and cultivation level are inextricably linked! ’ At this thought, he glanced at the giant Tiger beside him. ’Tiger the Beastman is truly powerful! He managed to reach the level of a Sword Emperor relying entirely on his own diligence... and perhaps the High Priest’s modifications. If Tiger had possessed a High-tier Sword Skill and cultivated it to a High Realm back when we sparred, the outcome would have been far from certain!’

’My own heaven-shattering sword strike is powerful, but using it before I reach the Golden Core Stage would bring endless trouble. In a one-on-one fight, I’m confident against any Martial Artist below the Sword Emperor level, but in a situation like today’s, I absolutely cannot make a move unless I’m forced to!’

’Looks like it’s time I taught Tiger a Sword Skill!’

Ling Xiao thought.

In the sky, the two were already locked in a fierce battle. The roiling thundercloud remained condensed over Li Yan’s head, growing ever larger and casting his face in an increasingly pale light.

Similarly, countless streams of scorching white Sword Qi shot out from Gou You’s dark green sword, blanketing the sky as they flew toward Li Yan.

Li Yan’s wrist was a blur. In an instant, his black sword struck out thousands of times, each thrust landing with pinpoint accuracy on the streams of white light. Even the slightly weaker Messengers from the hidden families couldn’t see how many times his sword had struck!

Suddenly, Li Yan roared. The entire storm cloud above him surged madly into his black sword. His face flushed red as he unleashed the most refined technique of his Sword Skill, bellowing, "Peerless Black Dragon!"

The black longsword absorbed all the storm clouds and lightning. Then, with Li Yan’s roar, the energy surged out again, forming a long, black dragon. Spitting lightning, it bared its fangs and brandished its claws as it lunged at Gou You.

Gou You also let out a furious roar. "A creature of darkness dares to act so arrogantly under the blazing sun!"

His dark green longsword was suddenly enveloped in a blinding white light, forming a club-like pillar of pure light more than ten meters long and over a meter in diameter!

Howling, it smashed down toward the Lightning Black Dragon!

Everyone below stared with wide eyes. This was a sight they would likely never forget!

A battle between High-tier Martial Artists was this terrifying!

In comparison, Elder Peng, whom Ling Xiao had defeated with a single sword strike, seemed far inferior in terms of power, despite also being a Sword Sect!

The hidden families were truly on another level!

Ling Xiao narrowed his eyes, watching as Gou You’s massive pillar of white light slammed viciously into the Lightning Black Dragon!

Li Yan violently spat out a mouthful of blood, his expression instantly slackening.

The Lightning Black Dragon was struck so hard it nearly dissipated, but it held together!

Like a Spiritual Snake, it coiled around the pillar of light. Though it was visibly dissolving at a rapid rate, it continued its dive toward Gou You below!

Gou You obviously recognized the danger. If that black dragon caught him, he would be injured as well!

’And in this situation, if I get injured, I’m afraid these people will swarm me and capture me,’ he thought. ’So...’

Gou You’s hand suddenly let go of his sword, and he shot backward several hundred meters!

Without its master’s support, the white pillar of light on the dark green Light Saber instantly dissipated. The black dragon, having lost its target, suddenly shot toward the ground!

"Ah!"

Nearly everyone’s first instinct was to flee. How could anyone possibly withstand the full-power attack of a Top-tier Sword Sect?!

"BOOM!"

The black dragon exploded upon hitting the ground!

The ground split as if mountains were collapsing! A huge mushroom cloud rose into the air. At the same time, a figure as fast as lightning shot into the billowing dust and snatched the falling dark green sword from the air.