Chapter 310: Chapter 33 Li Qinglian, picturesque landscape
Jiang Li had Dream Butterfly observing from the side, and he himself conducted Divination, swaying the heart through words. After moving, he was directly facing the similarly moving Green-clothed Young Master.
At that moment, as the Green-clothed Young Master’s Sword Qi was about to emerge, Jiang Li flicked his finger. Surprisingly, his move, though executed later, arrived first, outpacing his opponent.
A thread of Innate Qi, silent as it pierced through the door frame, shot directly towards the Green-clothed Young Master.
"You truly have an ability to discern the human heart."
The Green-clothed Young Master, with his eyes closed, showed no disarray in facing the assault of Finger Strength. He lifted his sword finger slightly, and the Sword Qi that was about to shoot forth blossomed on his fingertip—a Qinglian Lotus opened up, swaying to meet the Innate Qi. The lotus petals danced like sharp blades, slicing through the Primordial Qi and revealing the delicate runes inside.
Jiang Li’s finger, transforming Innate Qi into a talisman, concealed runes within Finger Strength, harboring profound mysteries. Yet, it was easily split by the Qinglian, cutting right through the crucial point of the talisman, dispersing it silently.
It was not easy, yet not too difficult, to perceive Jiang Li’s Finger Strength with closed eyes. But to casually decode and dissect the talisman within was not something any ordinary person could achieve.
The Green-clothed Young Master neutralized Jiang Li’s Finger Strength and flicked his finger again. The Qinglian formed a floral-shaped hole in the door frame and seemingly leisurely but swiftly flew towards Jiang Li.
The fluttering lotus leaves were lifelike, looking less like a manifestation of Sword Qi and more like a real entity.
Jiang Li, his eyes cycling through three transformations, gently reached out and touched the Qinglian. It lightly twirled upon his fingertip, displaying various transformations with each petal akin to a sword tip, evolving into different sword styles, intricately combining into a miniature Sword Array that exhausted the variances of Swordsmanship.
Upon contact, Jiang Li knew his mastery of Sword Dao was insufficient to decipher this Sword Array. Although his Sword Dao had improved leaps and bounds under the empowerment of Dao Fruit, he had yet not reached this level.
Thus, he pointed out Innate Qi, forcibly assimilating the Sword Energy Green Lotus and embedding several talismans within. Then, Jiang Li moved, flicking his finger and releasing a purified Sword Qi Lotus.
"Your Sword Dao is indeed admirable, but forgive my ignorance, Jiang does not know your esteemed name."
"I am but a humble Li Qinglian, a recluse from the wilds, hardly a figure of renown."
Li Qinglian fired a thread of Sword Qi, hitting the center of the lotus, causing the petals to scatter and soar, following the Sword Qi back into the room.
Indoors and outdoors, the two conversed and moved leisurely, each employing their techniques. The Qi Force circulated back and forth, penetrating doors, door frames, and walls silently yet with myriad transformations, demonstrating their impressive might.
Jiang Li, employing various techniques through Innate Qi, though ensuring not to alarm Zuo Zhao, without intense force, still exhibited endless variations. But all these were effortlessly countered by Li Qinglian, without a hint of strain.
Li Qinglian’s prowess in Sword Dao was indeed the strongest Jiang Li had ever seen. Even Yuan Zhen, the disciple of Taibai True Monarch, was not his match. However, before Jiang Li’s Emperor’s Qi Observation Skill, Wind Queen’s Strange Gate, and Innate Qi, all sorts of sword styles had proven ineffective.
They took a total of seven steps, each gaining a basic understanding of the other.
"Within the Daode Sect, is there such a person as Li Qinglian?"
Jiang Li, while employing Wind Queen’s Strange Gate for calculations, inquired of Tianxuan.
"No!" Tianxuan swiftly answered, "Forget the Daode Sect, even considering the whole world, there was no mention of Li Qinglian before."
Dinghu Sect relied on the court, and Tianxuan could even utilize the court’s intelligence network, directing the Divine Travel Grand Protector. Yet she did not know of Li Qinglian, which was indeed peculiar.
In the Dao Fruit system, cultivators couldn’t possibly develop in complete isolation; no one could cultivate in seclusion for decades and then suddenly soar into prominence. Because Dao Fruit required evolution, and evolution would inevitably leave traces.
Even the Fourth Prince had left numerous traces, it was just because he had the allegiance of the men from the Southern Heavenly Department, coupled with the concealment of traces by Divine Dao Fruit Skills and the added fate from the court, that he remained undetected.
The lack of any trace of Li Qinglian was truly abnormal.
And judging by his strength and appearance, his age should not likely be very great.
Although Jiang Li had not deduced the man’s origins, from his perspective, Li Qinglian’s mental age seemed consistent with his youthful appearance, under thirty.
’Well, regardless, his strength is indeed sufficient.’
Suddenly, Jiang Li flourished his sleeves, and a whirlwind sprang up from nowhere, whisking the bamboo slips from nearby shelves into a storage magic tool, subsequently tearing open the roof of the cassock.
He had abruptly stirred up a commotion.
Previously, Jiang Li and Li Qinglian had restrained themselves in their encounter, which appeared intense but was actually silent in action, with their spoken words clear within close proximity but fading outside a certain range.
Thus, Zuo Zhao had not noticed the disturbance here before, but now as Jiang Li unleashed the whirlwind, it was like setting off fireworks in the night. The Southern Heavenly Department Director Zuo Zhao abruptly turned his head, looking this way.
His eyes gleamed with brilliant concentrated starlight, as if with stars in his eyes, clearly seeing the scene here, then stepped forward, leaving deep footprints on the ground as he rushed towards the temple master’s cassock.
"Southern Heavenly Department’s Zuo Zhao harbors a Fifth Grade Dao Fruit from among the Star Officials, the Star Sun Horse, which is one of the Vermilion Bird Seven Constellations located at the Vermilion Bird’s Eye. His Dao Fruit Ability greatly enhances eye power. Moreover, the Horse excels in running, aligning well with the Divine Travel Grand Protector Dao Fruit previously hosted by Zuo Zhao."
Tianxuan rapidly informed Jiang Li of Zuo Zhao’s details.
For cultivators, Dao Fruit is typically the most confidential information. However, those in the bureaucratic world had little secrecy. Especially considering that this Dao Fruit itself was provided by the court, how could it not be recorded?
Tianxuan, as a member of the Gongsun Family, naturally had a clear understanding of this intelligence, and Jiang Li also gained great benefits from it.
The wind was raging and howling; the former was Jiang Li’s wind, and the latter was the strong wind brought forth by Zuo Zhao.
A streak of starlight crossed the sky, transforming into the shape of a heavenly horse. The cold-faced Zuo Zhao, clad in dark clothing, nearly the instant he sensed the movement, had already arrived nearby.
The Star Sun Horse was a Star God, not of demon kind, but having taken the form of a horse, it naturally embodied associated symbolic meanings. Zuo Zhao’s charge was as formidable as a descending force from heaven.
"Whoosh!"
Only a sound of splitting the air echoed in the sky, immediately followed by a heavy atmospheric descent. The starlight transformed into the celestial horse that charged downward, causing a semi-bowl-shaped collapse in midair. As the heavenly horse descended, it struck with a thunderous impact.
"Boom!"
Both the cassock and the courtyard were flattened. In the rising dust, with the landing site of the heavenly horse at its center, a deep pit several feet deep appeared, and the forceful winds surged like raging waves toward the surroundings.
At the center of that large pit, Zuo Zhao scanned coldly, his eyes shimmering with starlight, locking directly onto two figures.
Jiang Li appeared like a phantom on the roof of a nearby hall. To his left, about thirty feet away, Li Qinglian also materialized, his form flickering with sword light.
’Fifth-grade strength is indeed strong; even I can’t match such power now,’ Jiang Li thought as he observed the Qi mechanism using the Emperor’s Qi Observation Skill, estimating in his mind.
He had exchanged blows with the Fifth Grade Mao Ri Star Official, Jiang Wuming, before. If he had taken a hit from Jiang Wuming then, death was certain. The reason he could kill Jiang Wuming was not because he was weaker, but because Jiang Wuming had miscalculated.
He had ambushed the Fourth Prince, who was of fifth rank, taking advantage of his unpreparedness. Without regard for Martial Virtue, he struck with a piercing blow. At that time, Jiang Li was far stronger than before, having seized every advantage, yet he could only injure but not kill the Fourth Prince, who revealed his strength and counterattacked, allowing Jiang Li to exploit the Five Vile Qi and get the better of him once.
However, that experience allowed Jiang Li to gauge the gap between himself and a fifth-rank.
Unable to match in power, but not necessarily unable to injure.
For Jiang Li, the gap between fifth and sixth ranks wasn’t as vast as commonly perceived.
It is known that Jiang Li had previously altered heavenly phenomena while exchanging blows with Yuan Zhen.
In a brief moment, their gazes surveyed the surroundings, crossed paths, then Zuo Zhao burst into the sky, carrying fierce Gang Wind as he shot towards Jiang Li.
Li Qinglian morphed into a streak of sword light, speeding like an arrow towards the direction of the ginseng fruit tree.
Jiang Li vanished into invisibility, moving like one of the escapees, chasing after Li Qinglian.
No words were necessary; all three had made the best choices.
Duty-bound to the Fourth Prince, it was natural for Zuo Zhao to prioritize confronting Jiang Li--his enemy. Li Qinglian understood this, which was why he quickly escaped.
And Jiang Li, the one who lured Zuo Zhao here, how could he be without countermeasures?
Naturally, Zuo Zhao would prioritize dealing with Jiang Li, but if Jiang Li ran towards Li Qinglian, Zuo Zhao’s attacks wouldn’t spare Li Qinglian either.
Since Li Qinglian could rescue Tong Yuanzi from under the Fourth Prince’s hand, it’s clear he was a capable individual.
In an instant, three silhouettes moved swiftly in the same direction. Zuo Zhao’s speed was incredibly fast, his Dao Fruit from Divine Travel Grand Protector and Star Sun Horse enabling his speed to surpass the others. The small distance was quickly closed, but Jiang Li also caught up with Li Qinglian at the same moment.
It doesn’t matter if you can’t outrun the bear, as long as you’re faster than the other person.
Although it couldn’t entirely apply to the current situation, the principle was somewhat similar.
Jiang Li swept up to Li Qinglian like the wind, even using his sword light’s momentum to fly, while Zuo Zhao stormed across the sky, one foot suspended in the air, splitting winds and clouds with "Eight Heavenly Seal, Sky Splitting."
Using his foot to pass the seal, splitting clouds, three powerful forces like wind and light charged at extreme speeds with lethal force, leaving trails in the air like sword marks.
"Sir, you truly lack courtesy."
Li Qinglian was utterly helpless with Jiang Li’s blatant approach but showed no panic against Zuo Zhao’s movements.
In midair, he directed his sword finger, summoning a burst of sword light. In a flash, his long sword danced, and Li Qinglian wielded his sword in the sky, as if painting a picturesque landscape behind him, using his sword to create a scene like a poem in painting.
"Three mountains half fall outside the azure sky, two rivers split at the Bailu Island."
The mountains stood tall, enveloped in clouds and mist as if hanging beyond the azure sky, with rivers dividing the land, the grandiose atmosphere of mountains and rivers vastness fully displayed.
With each stroke, his person and his sword evolved the landscape to meet the powerful forces.
Upon contact of sword power, a painted Jiangshan filled the sky, with endless collisions, clouds like swords, green mountains like peaks, clashing with the unyielding force of Sky Splitting by alternating between hardness and softness, with the massive sword intent of the rivers and lands striking head-on.