Even Li Sansi had broken through to the Internal Organs Realm?
This was absolutely a big blow for the Overlord.
The Overlord was totally convinced that Nie Changqing and Ning Zhao had realized the breakthrough. After all, these two were disciples of White Jade City. They already had one foot in the Internal Organs Realm and the support of the mysterious and powerful Lu Ping’an.
It did not seem weird to the Overlord that they had realized the breakthrough.
However, how did Li Sansi also break through to the Internal Organs Realm?
Looking at Li Sansi, the Overlord could not believe it at all.
The Overlord was stronger than Li Sansi when they were in the Secret Realm of the Hidden Dragon Ridge earlier, and Li Sansi didn’t have many achievements there. How could Spirit Transmission Sword Transcript be enough to make Li Sansi a cultivator in the Internal Organs Realm?
The Overlord had made such a big effort trying to realize the breakthrough. He had received so many beatings, and he had been persisting despite the mysterious black shadow’s cruel torture. However, despite all of this, he hadn’t broken through to the Internal Organs… How did that guy beat him to it?
The Overlord was unhappy with such a result, but even though he was unhappy, nothing would change.
The Immortal encounter, Immortal encounter… It was certainly unexpected.
Xiang Shaoyun breathed out. His look became less intense.
He was more mature. He was not that impulsive, reckless Overlord anymore.
“I’m lagging behind, but I’m confident I’ll surpass you eventually.”
The Overlord’s eyes were ablaze like lit torches.
In a Daoist robe, Li Sansi held his wooden sword in hand. His clothes were blowing. His face grew a little stiff when he had seen Nie Changqing and Ning Zhao in the distance. The sight of Nie Changqing especially put him embarrassed.
They were both in the Internal Organs Realm. However, during his fight against Nie Changqing outside of Beiluo City, he was so frustrated by the latter that he even doubted himself.
He started to reflect on himself after that fight. He knew the problem must lie in how he had realized the breakthrough.
Zhu Long helped him—maybe even forced him a little—to realize the breakthrough. As a result, compared to Nie Changqing, who had gone beyond his limits by mastering his strength via trial and error, Li Sansi was weaker…
At least in terms of mastering his strength.
That was why Li Sansi came. He went into the Dragon Gate Secret Realm and went across the iron chain bridge. Here he was before the central palace.
A powerful Secret Realm ruler would be at the center of the eight Dragon Gates, just like that Ancient Qi Practioner sleeping in the coffin in the Secret Realm of the Hidden Dragon Ridge.
In fact, Li Sansi had struggled a lot before he made up his mind to come here.
It was mainly because he could only find a few places in the Great Zhou Dynasty where he could improve himself.
There was only one—and that was White Jade City.
Since Nie Changqing had just frustrated him, it would be quite inappropriate to go there again for the moment.
Besides, White Jade City also had Lu Ping’an.
Li Sansi figured if he went there to challenge them, he might not be able to go back.
So weighing his minimal options, he went back to Daoist School in the end. He went into the Dragon Gate Secret Realm, went across the iron chain bridge, and reached this place.
But it was a surprise for him that Nie Changqing, Ning Zhao, and the Overlord were also here.
“What… What a coincidence.”
Li Sansi smiled. He looked a little awkward.
Nie Changqing, carrying his butcher knife, threw Li Sansi a look. His white robe was fluttering.
“You are here to challenge the ruler of the Secret Realm?” Nie Changqing asked.
Li Sansi nodded.
“Your courage is commendable. Young Master said that this ruler isn’t an average Internal Organs…” Nie Changqing explained.
Then he raised his hand to gesture at Li Sansi.
“After you.”
Li Sansi was a little pale.
The ruler in Internal Organs Realm in this palace even got Lu Ping’an’s recognition. Did it mean he was dreadfully strong?
To relieve his awkwardness, Li Sansi looked at the Overlord.
“Overlord, it has been a long time since we last met…” Li Sansi said.
He found the Overlord’s energy seemed to remain in Qi Core Realm and has not achieved the Internal Organs Realm.
So he was kind of surprised.
His surprise really hurt the Overlord, who threw him a cold glance.
“Wanna fight?”
The Overlord raised his axe and shield. He struck the long axe hard against the shield. A clanging sound echoed all over the palace.
Li Sansi waved his hand. His face was a little stiff. Why was this Overlord so irritable, as if he had eaten chilly peppers?
Ning Zhao simply wasn’t paying any attention to them.
She touched the ground lightly with the tips of her toes. With her white dress blowing, she jumped out. She turned into a straight white light.
She raised her Cicada Wing Sword horizontally before her.
Nie Changqing followed her, grasping the handle of his butcher knife.
They almost rushed into the dark palace shoulder to shoulder.
Li Sansi breathed out. With his Daoist robe fluttering, he also followed them.
The Overlord closed his fist tightly. He walked ahead into the palace as well, without hesitation.
All of the others were in the Internal Organs Realm.
But he was not, and the Overlord was not happy.
He needed more pressure to force himself into the Internal Organs Realm!
******
On the second floor of White Jade City Pavilion, Lake Island.
Lu Fan was sitting in his wheelchair. On the gold-rimmed nanmu table, a wine-filled pot was on the stove.
The wine in the pot was boiling, giving off an intoxicating aroma. He picked up a green plum with chopsticks and put it into the pot. The green plum submerged in the boiling wine immediately.
Lu Fan was paying attention to those in the central palace of the eight Dragon Gates, challenging the ruler together.
“The Overlord hasn’t achieved the Internal Organs…”
“As expected, the Overlord is much stronger than average cultivators in the peak of Qi Core Realm after his demonification… So he needs more pressure than average cultivators in the peak of Qi Core Realm if he wants to break through to the Internal Organs Realm.”
“Well, fortune and misfortune are two buckets in the same well.”
Lu Fan stirred the wine in the pot with a bamboo tube. Then he scooped some, held it to his lips, and tasted it.
He narrowed his eyes.
A little bit excited, he diverted his attention to what was happening on the opposite shore of the island.
******
Opposite shore of the island.
Several Jianghu people were standing on the shore. As time went by, they were getting impatient.
Some of them were not happy with the current situation, so they started to make noise.
Luo Yue was standing carrying his knife with a poker face. Beiluo’s soldiers grasped the handles of their swords to stop those Jianghu people.
Some ruffians had a hunch that something was not quite right.
So they wanted to leave.
“Let me go! I give up. I don’t want to join White Jade City anymore, okay?” A second-class martial arts practitioner shouted when he had intended to leave but had been stopped.
Luo Yue threw that man an indifferent look.
Although he didn’t know this man, he smelled blood in this Jianghu individual. Apparently, this man once killed people and not just a few.
And judging from the gloomy and hideous look of this man, he must be a cruel person.
Started by this man…
More and more Jianghu people protested.
The peace by the lake was instantly broken.
“We want to go. Why won’t you let us go?”
“White Jade City is such a bully. We came here with admiration to join you, but this is what we got. How disappointing!”
“Cultivation power? You are just like those schools and sects in the martial arts world, who are just a bunch of posers! You are all the same!”
******
Several Jianghu people had started cursing.
Luo Yue looked at those people coldly. Maybe some of them genuinely wanted to join White Jade City.
However, most of them were just coming along for the ride or trying their luck.
After all, if they could join the number one cultivation power in the world by chance, then they would acquire an extraordinary position in the martial arts world.
Even if they were evicted after joining White Jade City, they could still boast to others that they had somehow joined the number one cultivation power in the world. No matter where they went, they could bully people by flaunting their powerful connections. Some small aristocratic families might even treat them as distinguished guests, and they could reach the pinnacle of their life this way.
Luo Yue had seen too many people like this.
“You came without permission. Now you want to leave without permission too… What kind of place do you think Beiluo City is?”
“What kind of place do you think White Jade City is?”
The slack flesh of Luo Yue’s face shook.
The next second, he unsheathed the knife he had been carrying at the waist. Its cling-clangs echoed all over the lake.
The soldiers there also unsheathed their swords.
The martial arts practitioners went into the disturbance. What was this for?
However, no battle erupted in the end.
Luo Yue lifted his head. He saw a boat rocking back and forth on the lake.
At the front of the boat, a white-robed man carrying a rosewood sword box on his back, with four swords inside, was sitting straight with his arms folded across his chest.
The boat was rocking on the lake, splashing water.
The man seemed a little bighearted and determined in the diffuse fog.
“Young Master said you could join White Jade City if you could go onto the island.”
“However, to go onto the island, you must defeat me first,” the white-robed man on the boat said slowly.
His voice drowned out the noise. Those Jianghu people were stunned.
The corner of Luo Yue’s mouth lifted as he sheathed his knife.
“Deserters will be killed,” Luo Yue said emotionlessly.
The Jianghu people on the shore couldn’t help but tremble.
“Are you a disciple of White Jade City?” Someone asked Jing Yue, who was approaching the shore on the boat.
Jing Yue got to his feet slowly. Standing with his arms hanging down, he shook his head.
“Not yet.”
“But I’ll be one after defeating you,” Jing Yue said.
As soon as he finished speaking, those Jianghu people almost all burst into a storm of abuse as if water was suddenly being boiled.
They were here to join White Jade City.
However, a man showed up, telling them he wasn’t White Jade City’s disciple yet, but he would be one as long as he defeated them.
Were they just his stepping stones or what?
Most importantly…
This man was way too arrogant.
There were thousands of martial arts practitioners there…
Not thousands of ordinary soldiers, but thousands of martial arts practitioners. If their Qi and blood burst, Jing Yue would be drowned.
“It’s said White Jade City’s disciples are arrogant, and White Jade City’s leader is even more arrogant…”
“And now, a person who isn’t even a disciple of White Jade City is also being so arrogant!”
One Jianghu individual sneered.
Several people rolled their eyes. They were actually tempted.
If they could kill Jing Yue or injure him, they would have something to boast after leaving Beiluo City.
Regardless of whether Jing Yue was a disciple of White Jade City or not, as long as they were outside of Beiluo, they could just announce to the world that they had injured White Jade City’s disciple. They could use that as an advantage for aristocratic families in some small places.
Therefore, several people looked at Jing Yue, eager to fight him.
He pulled the boat to the shore.
Jing Yue jumped onto the steps.
Looking at the densely packed, 1,000 martial arts practitioners, Jing Yue felt pressured.
This pressure made him really want to turn around to run. He wanted to flee from the bottom of his heart.
That was Jing Yue’s instinct whenever he ran into difficulties.
He wanted to flee. He wanted to survive.
Jing Yue pressed his trembling lips. He gave himself a hard pinch. It hurt, but it alleviated his fear.
When they saw Jing Yue’s reaction, several martial arts practitioners mocked him.
“Are this guy’s legs trembling because of fear?”
“One versus a thousand martial arts practitioners. Who does he think he is? Lu Ping’an from White Jade City? Well, it’s normal that his legs would tremble because of fear.”
“I always have the feeling that this guy will turn and run away the next second!”
Those martial arts practitioners burst out laughing.
However, several people acted while they were laughing. These people were cruel and experienced in fighting.
They unsheathed their knives and swords to attack Jing Yue’s vital parts.
All of these martial arts practitioners who acted first were dangerous killers. A great number of people had died at their hands.
They were very ferocious and ruthless.
Jing Yue let out a long sigh.
He raised his hand and pressed two of his fingers against each other. Then he flung his arm forward.
A sword whizzed out of the sword box with cling-clangs.
A Jianghu person, struck by the sword in the chest, was sent flying and spitting out blood.
The sword then went back into Jing Yue’s hand.
He looked resolute. Since Young Master gave him this chance, he must seize it.
Otherwise… Young Master could suppress this disorderly mob easily by merely placing a chess piece onto the chessboard. He wouldn’t have needed to send Jing Yue to clear them. This was more effort, indeed.
Jing Yue stilled considered the thousand martial arts practitioners, although all of them were second-class or even worse, a big pressure.
Besides, among these martial arts practitioners, there were some first-class ones and Grandmasters!
He unsheathed another sword kept in the box.
Jing Yue rushed out with two swords.
He didn’t use any Spirit Qi, because he understood that once Spirit Qi was used up, he would have to hold on with the stamina. Even if he were a martial arts Grandmaster, he wouldn’t be able to defeat a thousand people.
Therefore, he needed to use his brain to find a sally port.
Those Jianghu people lunged at him.
Jing Yue kept throwing his swords. Several Jianghu people were sent flying, bleeding in the chest.
Several people fell on the ground, screaming.
All of a sudden…
Jing Yue raised his sword to stop a second-class martial arts practitioner.
Looking askance at that person, Jing Yue said coldly after recognizing him, “You were once a bandit. You slaughtered a small village.”
He turned the sword in his hand to pierce into that martial arts practitioner’s body. He pushed the latter onto the ground and killed him.
All of the four swords in the box went out.
Jing Yue became more and more fierce. He had been holding back. However, as these Jianghu people showed their intention to kill him and kept exerting fatal moves, Jing Yue…
He certainly didn’t need to hold back anymore.
In his hands, the movements of the four swords were really dazzling.
Holding two swords in either hand, he pierced them into his enemies’ bodies. While their bodies were rolling in the air, he pulled the swords out and went on killing more enemies.
Suddenly…
Jing Yue felt like a viper was aiming at him.
A martial arts Grandmaster launched an attack. He threw his knife toward the back of Jing Yue’s head, intending to kill Jing Yue quickly.
Jing Yue turned around. He mobilized one wisp of Spirit Qi in his Qi Core.
His sword swept out.
This Grandmaster was sent flying, spitting up blood in the air.
Jing Yue started to pant.
More and more people were approaching him.
At the periphery…
Luo Yue, staying there in case anything happened, turned serious at such a sight.
Seeing Jing Yue swallowed up in the crowd of ferocious Jianghu people, he didn’t think Jing Yue could win.
Jing Yue was much weaker than Nie Changqing or Ning Zhao.
He didn’t have too much Spirit Qi, either. Four or five wisps, that was all he had.
Once he had consumed all of his Spirit Qi, then he would be worn out very soon.
This battle was difficult for Jing Yue.
Jing Yue was panting. It sounded like someone was pulling bellows.
Many of the martial arts practitioners looked at him ferociously. They brandished their weapons. Jing Yue was almost swallowed up in the crowd.
The images before his eyes started to blur and overlap.
That burning village, those falling corpses, the ground stained with blood…
Numerous children and women were crying and screaming.
These images were his most significant pain. And they emerged before him at the moment.
His heart ached little by little. He was in a trance.
His parents were screaming, telling him to run as far as he could so that he could survive.
He ran thousands of miles, from West County to South County…
He had been running away in his entire life.
In Sword Sect, everyone laughed at his cowardness.
And at this moment, did he still want to run away?
A sharp pain woke Jing Yue up.
A martial arts practitioner was ravished with joy. He wounded Jing Yue. He was on the brink of winning!
However, the next second, he was sent flying by Jing Yue’s sword that was carrying Spirit Qi.
Jing Yue leaned against the sword in his hand, leaving the other swords behind.
He had been cold-shouldered on Lake Island for a long time. Jing Yue knew the reason. It was because he always wanted to run away when he ran into danger. Lu Fan had not accepted him as a member of White Jade City because he was worried Jing Yue would be the first to flee if Lake Island was in crisis.
That kind of betrayal would let Lu Fan down, and he would rather not have any hopes than being let down.
However, Lu Fan still gave Jing Yue a chance.
And Jing Yue really cherished this chance. He had made up his mind to prove himself. He really wanted to join White Jade City.
He liked the atmosphere in White Jade City.
Actually, White Jade City was like home to him.
On the island, there were Ni Yu, who farted a lot but was good at refining elixirs; Nie Shuang, who was practicing fist methods very hard and motivated and ambitious; the cool girl Ning Zhao; Nie Changqing, who experienced all that life had to offer; and Yi Yue, Lv Dongxuan, Lv Mudui, and the others…
And there was the mysterious and strong Young Master, Lu Ping’an.
The Sword Saint had told Jing Yue to go with him together before he left, but Jing Yue refused.
He liked White Jade City. He liked to stay on Lake Island.
Standing with the sword and gazing at those hideous Jianghu people…
Jing Yue suddenly burst out laughing.
This time, he could not flee. Nor did he want to flee.
He wanted to confront this difficulty bravely.
He wanted to try hard.
He walked ahead, dragging the sword on the ground. The tip of the blade grated as it was dragged on the flagstones.
Jing Yue was smiling.
Determined, he rushed at those martial arts practitioners. His white clothes were stained with blood. He was swallowed up in the crowd.