“Ordinary Sword Emperor, give face to the Sky Thrust Union and leave now.” The Black Lotus Altar Master said indifferently.
He might be an altar master, but he wasn’t confident in defeating Xu Pingfan.
“Do you think that is possible?” Xu Pingfan said with calm eyes.
“Hehe, I didn’t think it was possible either. Since that is the case, I shall test the brilliant skills of the Ordinary Sword Emperor.”
The Black Lotus Altar Master had yet to fight with any of the top 1000 rankers on the Great Emperor Rankings. In the history of the Sky Thrust Union, there was an altar master that once killed a great emperor that was ranked around 700th. The Black Lotus Altar Master was confident he could do the same and could do it even better.
“Void Black Lotus!”
A giant black lotus bloomed under the Black Lotus Altar Master. It then rapidly expanded before enveloping Xu Pingfan.
“Such incredible void dao martial art.” Xu Long’s eyes narrowed.
The black lotus made Xu Long dazzled. It felt as though there were layers of spatial zones within and once trapped inside, it wasn’t possible to escape.
Gong Yun took a deep breath and said, “I have heard of the Sky Thrust Union. It is a very mysterious and powerful saint faction. The hierarchy starts from star-rank members, joss masters, hall masters, altar masters and helm masters. As for the ranks above, no one knows. Putting aside star-rank members, Joss masters have strength to instantly kill bottom rankers of the Great Emperor Rankings. Hall masters are superior. As for altar masters, they are already comparable with top 1000 rankers. As for helm masters, they are at least equivalent to rankers in the top few hundreds. At first, I thought it was just nonsense, but from the looks of it, the rumors are true. The strength of the Sky Thrust Union is stronger than any saint faction and not inferior to our Swordsmen Guild. However, our Swordsmen Guild isn’t a consolidated organization and isn’t as tight as the Sky Thrust Union.”
(TL note: I changed joss chief to joss master to standardize with the rest of the masters)
The Swordsmen Guild was also as powerful. Xu Long and Gong Yun had only become grade 5 swordsmen during the recent years. They were considered to be the weaker members among the grade 5 swordsmen. There were some powerful grade 5 swordsmen who should be able to contest with joss masters from the Sky Thrust Union. A regular grade 6 swordsman would be able to contest with the Sky Thrust Union’s hall master. Top-notch grade 6 swordsman would be on par with altar masters. Xu Pingfan’s strength was at least at the pinnacle of grade 6 swordsmen. He might even be able to pass the grade 7 swordsman test.
However, the Swordsmen Guild was just a guild and there wasn’t any difference in hierarchy, therefore, it couldn’t be compared with the Sky Thrust Union.
Seeing that the black lotus was about to envelop him, Xu Pingfan drew his sword. Once the sword was unsheathed, his entire body looked like a hedgehog that burst out with countless swords. There were cracking sounds and the black lotus instantly shattered.
Xu Pingfan’s sword shocked everyone as soon as it was unsheathed.
The Black Lotus Altar Master took several steps back in shock. He had a grave expression as he pushed his hands forward. Countless black lotuses bloomed in the void and pressed towards Xu Pingfan.
Xu Pingfan’s expression didn’t change as he still executed one slash.
This time, there were layers of sword lights that looked just like the myriad of radiance from the sun. The black lotuses were all wiped out and even left streaks of sword wounds on the Black Lotus Altar Master.
“Attack together, form the Sky Scorpion Battle Formation.”
Xu Pingfan’s strength was beyond the Black Lotus Altar Master’s imagination. Or perhaps, the Black Lotus Altar Master overestimated his own strength.
In reality, the average combat strength of altar masters was around the top 1000 of the Great Emperor Rankings. It was extremely rare for any of them to make it above the top 1000, let alone rank 700th.
The Black Lotus Altar Master wasn’t the kind of person who cared too much about his reputation. Knowing that he wasn’t a match for Xu Pingfan, he immediately formed the battle formation to kill Xu Pingfan.
The Sky Scorpion Battle Formation was like a scorpion shape. The bewitching man and the Hundred Poison Hall Mistress were the pincers of the scorpion, while the Black Lotus Altar Master was the stinger.
Boom!
The attack this time finally made Xu Pingfan take one step back.
The Black Lotus Altar Master’s strength was already not too much inferior. With the battle formation, the Black Lotus Altar Master’s strength was now several times stronger.
“Ordinary sword dao!”
Taking a deep breath, Xu Pingfan didn’t emit any more sword light. Every move and stance was extremely ordinary, they were also extremely sharp. When the sword was unsheathed, it felt like the void was getting sliced open. The Sky Scorpion Battle Formation had multiple sword wounds.
But a battle formation would be able to rapidly reformed if it didn’t collapse.
“Die!”
The scorpion’s stinger violently thrust over.
This stinger had various trajectories that were hazy. It felt as though the stinger was in another world that it was hard to discern the attack trajectory.
It was very obvious that the stinger contained the Black Lotus Altar Master’s void law.
Clang!
At the crucial moment, Xu Pingfan blocked the attack, but he was still blasted away while he vomited fresh blood.
“Not good, the Ordinary Sword Emperor isn’t a match.” Everyone was extremely anxious.
If Xu Pingfan wasn’t a match, then they would certainly be dead today.
At this moment, no one realized that Li Fuchen12Li FuchenMain Protagonist had yet to make his move. They had already neglected Li Fuchen’s existence as they didn’t think a grade 4 swordsman could do anything here.
Clang Clang Clang Clang…
Xu Pingfan was able to contest with the two pincers of the sky scorpion, but he couldn’t do anything when facing the stinger. Everytime he would only be fast enough to block instead of dodging.
“Ordinary sword dao – Heaven and Earth Emotion.”
Xu Pingfan’s aura became increasingly ordinary while his sword vanished. Countless threads burst out from his palms and penetrated the sky scorpion.
This sword was already close to the extremity.
“What?”
Within the Sky Scorpion Battle Formation, the Black Lotus Altar Master could feel that the battle formation was penetrated by countless threads.
The threads were so sharp that the Sky Scorpion Battle Formation couldn’t resist.
Bang!
When the Sky Scorpion Battle Formation collapsed, apart from the Black Lotus Altar Master and the two other leaders, the rest were either missing an arm or a leg. Some were even severed at the waist or lost their heads. It was simply a bloody mess and extremely miserable.
Even the Black Lotus Altar Master and the two others didn’t have a good time. Due to the collapse of the battle formation, they vomited massive blood and had a great decrease in strength.
Pfff!
Xu Pingfan had also vomited blood. The Heaven and Earth Emotion was a move that he couldn’t control perfectly. A forceful execution caused his qi to circulate in a reverse flow, causing damage to many of his organs.
“This is a sword thread state!” Xu Long’s eyes were widened.
Once a swordsman reached a certain level, they could use the sword thread state. Once the sword qi was turned into thread, it could slice anything. Xu Pingfan’s sword thread state was obviously close to extremity. According to records, the true sword thread state could slice anything, even time and space. It was a top-class attack method and there was no one who could block sword threads at the extreme state. Even a body refinement martial artist of the same realm would be severely injured.
Xu Pingfan’s regular strength was ranked 700th on the Great Emperor Rankings, but once his sword qi was turned into threads, his strength would be stronger by at least ten times.
“How can he be so powerful?” The Black Lotus Altar Master had a twisted expression and was in disbelief.
The bewitching man and the Hundred Poison Hall Mistress were also shocked. Their hearts had a new understanding towards swordsmen.
No wonder it was said that among all daos in the world, the sword dao was most adept at killing. It was certainly true.
“Sword thread state at the extremity? Indeed incredible.”
Li Fuchen could see that Xu Pingfan was just slightly inferior to the Sword Rain Great Emperor. If Xu Pingfan had full control of the sword threads, he would be superior to the Sword Rain Great Emperor and possibly even stronger than Sword Extinct, Wu Chengjue.
Ordinary Sword Emperor, Xu Pingfan. Finding the unordinary within the ordinary.
“But… I still have to step in.”
Li Fuchen let out a sigh and said with a bitter smile. While speaking, he stood up and was preparing to walk out of the silver airship.
“A bunch of wastrels. Can’t even do a small thing.”
Just as everyone was shocked by Xu Pingfan’s strength, there was a hoarse voice that instantly echoed into everyone’s ears.
From far, a figure appeared from a ripple. In just a single step, the figure arrived in front of the Black Lotus Altar Master and the two others.
It was a handsome youth with blue clothes, but when paired with that voice, it made everyone felt particularly strange and dangerous.
“Helm Master.”
The Black Lotus Altar Master and the two others quickly bowed and cupped their fists. They didn’t dare to show any temper.
“Helm Master?” Everyone had a bad premonition.
An altar master was already so powerful. How were they going to fight a helm master?
In terms of grade, a helm master was already equivalent to a grade 7 swordsman.
Xu Pingfan’s expression turned grave. They were in the Sunflower Water Branch Helm’s territory. It was very obvious that this person was the Sunflower Water Branch Helm’s Sunflower Water Helm Master.
The Sunflower Water Helm Master stood there with hands on his back. He then said to Xu Pingfan indifferently, “If you have complete control of that sword move, you might be able to cross moves with me. But now, you are still not a match for me, furthermore, you are injured.”
“If I don’t try, how will I know?” Xu Pingfan took a deep breath and responded.
His ordinary sword was to find the unordinary within the ordinary and return it back to ordinary. Desperate situations were definitely able to help him break through.
“Heaven and Earth Emotion.”
Xu Pingfan executed his kill move again. Countless sword threads burst out and pierced towards the Sunflower Water Helm Master.
“Overestimating yourself.” The Sunflower Water Helm Master turned his left hand and produced an unfathomable layer water curtain to block the sword threads.
The sword threads were extremely sharp, but this water curtain was immeasurable even though it looked thin. Once the sword threads pierced in, the speed became slower and weaker. They then slowly vanished.
“Sss!” Everyone took a deep cold breath.
Xu Pingfan’s Heaven and Earth Emotion destroyed the Sky Scorpion Battle Formation in a single move, but was helpless against a layer of water curtain.
Rumble!
The Sunflower Water Helm Master shook his left hand and turned the water curtain into a water wave. It sent Xu Pingfan flying and violently vomiting blood.
The Sunflower Water Helm Master sneered and looked at the silver airship. “Friend, come on out!”
Huh?!
Xu Long and the others were confused. Who else was inside the silver airship? Seeing the Sunflower Water Helm Master’s attitude, he didn’t seem to be here for Madam Jin and was here for another motive.
The cabin door opened and Li Fuchen walked out.
When they saw Li Fuchen appearing, everyone’s minds were even more confused.
How could a grade 4 swordsman be the Sunflower Water Helm Master’s target?
“You know me?” Li Fuchen asked the Sunflower Water Helm Master.
“On the Flying Silver Island, you killed six of my Sky Thrust Union’s Joss Masters. Do you think I wouldn’t know you?” The Sunflower Water Helm Master grinned.
“I see. So you are here specially for me.”
Li Fuchen wasn’t surprised that the opposition could trace him down. The Sky Thrust Union’s forces were spread throughout the entire Saint Spirit Continent. It was inevitable for someone to see him. Furthermore, each city and town had surveillance arrays. They could see his image in the surveillance arrays.
The Sunflower Helm Master shook his head. “Actually, finding you is a coincidence. My subordinates are here for Madam Jin. Who would have expected for you to be with Madam Jin.”
“It is great, I can capture all of you at once.”
As the Sunflower Helm Master spoke, he blasted a palm strike at Li Fuchen.
It felt like the raging sea that was so massive and without any boundaries.
