The handsome man answered and moved, appearing higher in the sky almost instantly.
Yun Lie had just pierced the giant palm. The black-gold greatsword hovering beside him had shrunk after that blow.
Much of its sword intent had been consumed.
The handsome man reached into the void and produced a long spear.
The spear was entirely black, forged by some unknown method and engraved with countless runes. Its tip was so sharp that it seemed capable of piercing space itself.
He attacked without hesitation, thrusting his spear. Ripples spread through the surrounding space, and formidable power gathered around its point.
Yun Lie’s expression remained icy. He turned his wrist, and a short sword appeared in his palm.
The weapon was shorter than his forearm. It had not yet fully matured and was still little more than a sword embryo. Yet the spiritual awareness glimmering within its blade was extraordinary; no one would dare underestimate it.
Yun Lie shook his arm and merged the sword embryo with his black-gold greatsword. In an instant, the sword aura surged to a length of a hundred zhang, its force and presence far exceeding what they had been before.
The black-gold sword met the spear. In the space of a breath, they clashed hundreds of times.
The ringing of metal never ceased. The spear techniques were crafty and unpredictable, the sword forms razor-sharp. For a time, neither combatant gained a clear advantage.
But the man wielding the spear possessed far higher cultivation. For every zhang that Yun Lie extended his sword aura, the spear’s radiance stretched ten.
As the contest continued, the spear gained ground little by little with each exchange.
That was how important cultivation level remained. No matter how exquisite one’s understanding of a martial art, insufficient cultivation made it possible to be overpowered by sheer force.
Yun Lie did not panic. He remained extraordinarily calm.
He had experienced hundreds, even thousands, of battles. Not every enemy had been easily crushed, nor had every encounter resulted in an effortless victory.
He had stood on the edge of life and death many times. The chance of surviving this particular fight was merely smaller than usual.
That was not enough to shake his Dao heart.
The more dangerous the situation, the colder and steadier he became.
The handsome man had originally followed the demonic path before changing to immortal cultivation. He was someone who had once lost his body and taken possession of another to live again.
He had been a Nascent Soul ancestor in his former life. Years of cultivation, scheming, and conflict had given him experience far exceeding Yun Lie’s.
Thus, despite loudly proclaiming he would avenge his “darling,” the man’s arrogance was only superficial. His thoughts remained perfectly clear. He did not underestimate Yun Lie merely because the sword cultivator was at middle Golden Core.
The Jin brothers stood nearby. Seeing Ancestor Bliss eyeing them with murderous intent, they told Yun Lie quickly, “We’ll deal with that one. You take care and don’t die so casually. Xu Ziqing would be heartbroken.”
Yun Lie’s seven emotions remained frozen. He replied without disturbance, “My thanks.”
The handsome man’s expression changed. “How dare you bully my darling!”
As he spoke, the spear quivered. Its point divided into hundreds upon hundreds of spear tips, covering a hundred-zhang area.
The Jin brothers were also within that range.
Yun Lie moved his sword, producing myriad sword shadows that met the attack without retreating.
The Jin brothers flickered into motion. Each struck with a palm, shattering the residual spear light. Then they appeared directly before Ancestor Bliss.
“Old man, let us brothers keep you entertained!”
Ancestor Bliss had been admiring his lover’s prowess. Hearing this, he drew his fine brows together. “You two brats! Who are you calling an old man?”
He separated his hands and conjured two gigantic fists intended to crush the twins.
They leaped upward with astonishing agility and somehow diverted the fists away from themselves. Both blows missed and struck two solitary peaks.
With several tremendous explosions, the peaks were leveled.
Jin Shi raised his brows. “My, this old fellow has quite the temper!”
Jin Cheng laughed. “He’s such an unappealing old thing. Perhaps even his own man is tired of him. No wonder he’s so touchy.”
Jin Shi joined in. “Exactly. Some people prefer a fresh face. Who would choose someone so ancient?”
Jin Cheng laughed harder. “Perhaps his partner is simply using him. Who can say whether there’s any affection at all?”
These remarks struck Ancestor Bliss directly where he was most vulnerable. He had always considered his looks ordinary, while his lover was magnificently handsome and powerful. Deep down, he felt inadequate. Cultivators might claim appearance mattered little, but someone truly in love could hardly remain indifferent.
The two had spent years practicing energy-extraction techniques, often working with beautiful younger companions. Although Ancestor Bliss knew such encounters were meant for cultivation, he feared that one of those companions might turn his lover’s heart away from him.
Had the two formally become Dao companions, he would not have been so insecure.
But before they could marry, his lover had suffered a disastrous injury that destroyed his Nascent Soul. Ancestor Bliss preserved his primordial spirit and painstakingly selected a new body for him to possess, but all his cultivation had to be rebuilt from the beginning.
His lover had been a famed expert of the demonic path. Indeed, Ancestor Bliss had originally formed his own Nascent Soul partly through the man’s guidance, proof of his formidable attainment. After his Nascent Soul was destroyed, the man could have begun cultivating demonic techniques again. But Ancestor Bliss wanted to return to his sect, so his lover willingly switched to immortal-path cultivation and entered the sect as his foremost direct disciple.
From then on, Ancestor Bliss devoted himself to helping his lover recover his cultivation. Until the latter had advanced sufficiently, a formal wedding and dual-cultivation union could not easily be arranged.
Thus, even after thousands of years of sweet words and affection, insecurity remained lodged within Ancestor Bliss’s heart.
The twins’ taunts made that insecurity sting. He screamed, “You two know nothing but how to flap your tongues! Mere early Nascent Soul cultivators dare behave so insolently before this ancestor!”
He attacked more savagely, raining down fists with a thunderous roar.
The Jin brothers were extremely skilled at exploiting emotional vulnerabilities. Seeing his reaction, they knew they had struck the right nerve. They mocked Ancestor Bliss and his lover mercilessly, calling them ill matched, questioning their affection, and trying to drive the ancestor into making more mistakes.
Jin Shi laughed loudly. “We’re both at the peak of early Nascent Soul! You may be stronger, but you’re only middle Nascent Soul yourself. Two against one, why should we fear you?”
Jin Cheng added, “I suspect your cultivation used to be higher. Did you sacrifice it for someone else?”
Both had noticed the signs. Ancestor Bliss had once been stronger, but something had reduced him to middle Nascent Soul. That was why the brothers could stand their ground against him.
They were secretly relieved. Had his cultivation not fallen, they would hardly have volunteered to help in this fight. They would have fled long ago!
Ancestor Bliss was so angry that his eyes grew bloodshot and his attacks lost their former precision. The brothers managed to withstand him while dodging and taunting.
The handsome man was deeply focused on his battle with Yun Lie, but even he noticed Ancestor Bliss’s increasingly wild behavior.
After another spear thrust, he listened for a moment and caught the Jin brothers’ insults.
He flew into a rage. “Those brats dare go so far?”
He naturally wanted to kill them. Unfortunately, despite Yun Lie’s lower cultivation, his Sword Dao attainments were extraordinary. Suppressing him was manageable, but killing him outright and breaking free would take time.
Yun Lie would never allow an opponent to leave a battle easily.
As he moved, piercing killing intent erupted from his body. Blended with his Ruthless Slaughter Sword Intent, it turned the entire region around them into bitter frost.
The handsome man’s face darkened. He put still more ferocity into his spear techniques.
He would have to dispose of this sword cultivator first.
Elsewhere, Ancestor Bliss’s enraged aura distorted the very space around him.
The Jin brothers were masters of attacking a weakness. Ancestor Bliss’s cultivation had fallen from peak late Nascent Soul to middle Nascent Soul precisely because he had expended so much to help his lover form a Nascent Soul again. In his own eyes, restoring his lover’s former strength had been well worth it. But being mocked for it felt like a slap across the face.
In his fury, he bit his tongue and spat out a bloody streak. “Go!”
A black awl the length of a finger shot out at an uncanny angle, heading straight for Jin Shi’s face!
The twins reacted immediately, both thinking that the ancestor had finally brought out something precious.
They moved swiftly, forming the same seal. A small cauldron appeared, spinning rapidly.
Clang! Clang!
The cauldron deflected the black awl, but the weapon seemed able to see. After staggering aside, it immediately rushed forward again.
The cauldron’s lid sprang open.
An overwhelming suction burst from within, forming a long white rainbow that struck the awl.
White and black radiance flashed as the rainbow and the awl struggled fiercely against each other.
Ancestor Bliss’s anger made his control unstable. The twins, by contrast, coordinated perfectly. They poured their full strength into the cauldron.
With a hum, the white rainbow wrapped around the black awl and dragged it inside.
The lid snapped shut. The little cauldron flew back into Jin Shi’s hand and disappeared.
Ancestor Bliss’s face grew more dreadful still.
His fingers trembled with rage. His aura surged until violence seemed to pour from every pore.
Kill! Kill! Kill!
That was the only word remaining in his mind. He suddenly emitted an ear-splitting shriek.
Sonic waves surged skyward. The Jin brothers were struck first.
They had not expected Ancestor Bliss to become so reckless that he would pour half his true essence into a single sonic attack.
Blood ran from their eyes, ears, noses, and mouths. The blood within their meridians surged violently, nearly bursting through their bodies.
Across the battlefield, the handsome man grew still more worried for his lover. His attacks on Yun Lie grew heavier and faster.
Yun Lie had managed to resist until now, but under the spear’s endless assault, his exquisite technique could no longer compensate for his insufficient cultivation.
His embryonic Minor Cosmos had already suffered too much damage to endure another collision and could not be deployed.
Then the handsome man heard Ancestor Bliss’s anguished cry. A terrifying aura immediately gathered around him.
He shook his dantian and poured all his true essence into the spear.
Black radiance erupted, as dark as a lifeless sea and as turbulent as a storm.
The light covered hundreds of li, seeming to obscure even the red sun.
Then it contracted suddenly, concentrating all its power at the spear tip.
Danger!
Yun Lie sensed it and retreated at once!
He moved with astonishing speed, but could not outrun that soul-shaking thrust.
The distance between them vanished rapidly: a hundred zhang, dozens of zhang, ten zhang!
In only a breath, the spear nearly caught him.
With no way to divert the attack, Yun Lie abruptly withdrew another step.
At the same instant, he poured all his true essence into his sword embryo. The black-gold greatsword blazed brilliantly.
He met the thrust head-on!
An impact capable of shaking heaven and earth followed. The two forces canceled each other out.
But a white figure was hurled downward like a kite with a severed string.
He fell toward an exceptionally hard stone peak.
If he struck it directly, his body, with so much true essence already consumed, might be impaled upon the rock.
At that desperate moment, several scarlet shadows suddenly surged upward.
They caught the white-robed figure in midair.