Chapter 296: Chapter 19: The Flight of the Swan
"Brave indeed!"
At this moment, the Fourth Prince was entirely devoid of his usual leisure and ease. With dark holes appearing in the upper, middle, and lower Dantians, he was filled with a fierce and twisted Qi mechanism. There was no royal dignity, only the eeriness of an Evil God.
He had thought himself a mere spectator, enjoying the sight of Jiang Li being surrounded and disturbed. But to his surprise, Fourth Prince Ji Chengyuan was also a player on this stage.
This momentary lapse led to him being stabbed. To avoid a meaningless death, the Fourth Prince had no choice but to reveal his true strength and foundation.
Blood and flesh writhed around the sword wound on his back, trapping the sword light while also exuding trails of dark Qi, which, like pitch-black long snakes, coiled around the sword light.
After revealing himself, the Fourth Prince simply didn’t hide anymore. He immediately sought to capture the sword light with a thunderous move, even to capture the attacker.
But at the same time, dark Qi began to form out of thin air, following the sword light as it charged towards the Fourth Prince’s body.
As a disgraceful sneaky attacker, it was only normal for Jiang Li to coat the sword with poison, wasn’t it?
Even if he wasn’t worried about being noticed by the Fourth Prince beforehand, he would have liked to directly attach the Five Viscous Evil Qi onto the sword and stab it into the opponent’s body.
When the Five Viscous Evil Qi and the pitch-black long snake met, it immediately let the eerie snake taste the essence of evil Qi, causing it to start collapsing, even turning the Fourth Prince’s back into a shade of pitch black.
"Bang!"
The Fourth Prince pressed a palm against his chest, unleashing a palm force that forcefully expelled the sword light from his body.
He had intended to simply ensnare the sword light. Little did he expect that his opponent would not adhere to Martial Virtue. The sword light was "poisoned", forcing the Fourth Prince to cut his losses in time.
In just a moment, Jiang Li had already exchanged two moves with the Fourth Prince. The rapid sequence of events left the eunuch nearby too slow to react. It was only after the sword light was expelled that he shouted, "Assassin! Protect His Highness!"
Guards outside broke through the doors and windows, entering fiercely, their strong Qi forces coming from all directions.
All the palace guards practiced the same cultivation technique. When they acted together, their Qi interconnected, forming a wall that crushed towards the enemy like the aura of experts, providing lateral suppression.
It wasn’t guaranteed to enable the weaker to triumph over the stronger, but under leadership, it could significantly restrict the enemy.
Like these twenty guards, when their Qi erupted simultaneously, they could suppress the strength of a seventh-rank. If their own seventh-rank acted, they could easily defeat an enemy of the same rank.
Energy from all directions converged, and as the eunuch readied himself to make a move, his body filled with Yin Qi.
But the Fourth Prince was faster.
Among those present, the Fourth Prince, housing the Three Corpses God Dao Fruit, was the strongest.
He was fifth-rank!
From the black hole between his eyebrows, a dark shadow roared out, a murky turmoil erupted, forming a sharp demon claw with five fingers that gripped without gripping, capturing the sword light with a strange rhythm.
Suddenly, the room twisted, and in the air, countless tiny insects seemed to crawl. Everyone present felt their Heart Fire erupt, with rising anger and unstoppable greed, desire, and vanity...
Various thoughts flooded their minds, making them feel dizzy and nauseated.
The Sword Light divided, instantly multiplying from one to hundreds, but the sword momentum wasn’t sharp; rather, it felt ethereal, as if from another world.
Heavenly Escape Sword Skill, "Heaven" is supremely high, and "Escape" signifies formlessness, indicating that the great Dao is formless. This sword skill emphasizes intent over form, and the higher the realm, the more formless the sword becomes, yet not invisible. It is like the great Dao above, distant and hard to perceive.
Hundreds of Sword Lights converged from the sky, and the demon claw attacked. The two collided with the speed of lightning, accompanied by a surge of evil qi.
"Bang!"
The Sword Light shattered, sweeping in all directions, cutting through objects and destroying souls. About ten guards were struck by the Sword Light, immediately losing their breaths and collapsing.
The demon claw dissolved, numerous Qi forces like insects forming a black cloud. They forcefully collided with the Sword Lights, brutally destroying the shadows formed by the Sword Light Division.
The demon claw was a fusion of True Qi, Divine Sense, and Dao Fruit ability, not merely simple Essence Qi. Although the Five Viscous Evil Qi had a restraining effect, it wasn’t apparent. The main issue was the difference in their realms; the purity of the evil Qi summoned by Jiang Li was inferior.
"Boom!"
Another thunderous noise rang out, the room completely collapsed. The Sword Light spun in the air and retreated rapidly.
"Planning to escape?"
The Fourth Prince’s figure shifted like a demon, reopening the evil Qi with renewed Qi force. A shadow burst out of his body, extending the demon claw once more and capturing the Sword Light.
"Clang—"
The Sword Light rang, vaguely revealing the sword within, while the shadow tightly gripped it, intending to crush the Sword Light and capture the flying sword.
But just then—
The Sword Light and sword suddenly shattered, transformed into intangible Qi, and dispersed everywhere. Instantly disappearing without form, only the clear yet strange reverberation echoed, spreading throughout the Iron Pillar Temple...
"Unexpectedly, the Fourth Prince has already ascended to fifth-rank, truly beyond my expectations, and I have experienced Lawless Freedom."
As the voice faded, so did the Sword Light, vanishing without a trace, leaving no signs behind.
Dark shadows and bizarre Qi suddenly surged back and entered the Fourth Prince’s body, and the three devilish black holes also disappeared from him simultaneously. However, the original leisure and ease could not be restored.
The Fourth Prince’s complexion turned ashen, and there was a sword mark on the back of his Dao robe, wrapped in black Qi.
He felt the Dirt Qi spread on his wound like bone maggots, and sensing the surrounding attention, he couldn’t help but harbor a strong murderous intent.
Years of meticulous concealment were unveiled in such an absurd manner, a mere assassination, utterly unexpected, had diminished his efforts to maintain a low profile.
The Fourth Prince now wished he could eliminate everyone present, but such thoughts were completely unrealistic, and he could only think about it.
At that moment, a clear and pure Qi arrived nearby and eventually settled outside the devastated courtyard; Tong Yuanzi’s voice followed, "Your Highness, are you unwell? And Master Xiu, how about you?"
The Temple Master of Iron Pillar Temple was heard but not seen, not directly rushing in to avoid seeing anything indecent.
After all, judging from his tone, the Fourth Prince had secretly advanced to fifth-rank, so he would not die.
Separated by a ruined wall, Tong Yuanzi, facing the wall as if reflecting on past mistakes, showed no curiosity whatsoever.
He was only fulfilling his duty.
After a long silence on the other side of the ruined wall, a dangerous Qi lingered within and then gradually dispersed.
After a while, the Fourth Prince’s voice transmitted through the air, "I am unharmed. However, the wing room is destroyed, and I ask the Temple Master to find another place for me to reside. As for the young master from the Meng Family, he has returned to Meng Family tonight and is not within the Daoist Temple."
Still staying?
Tong Yuanzi instantly felt a toothache.
This person had exposed his cultivation yet still chose to reside within Iron Pillar Temple, was this not courting trouble for the place?
But Tong Yuanzi could not refuse.
After the exposure of his cultivation, the Fourth Prince no longer concealed his identity, started to assert his solitude and status, and, being at the fifth-grade realm, Tong Yuanzi could not chase him away in any respect.
Not only could he not drive him away, but he also had to find a new place for the Fourth Prince to reside.
Cursing "bad luck" under his breath, Tong Yuanzi walked past the ruined wall, bowed to the interior, then headed towards the West Wing Room.
The massive fire in the West Wing Room had been extinguished by the arriving Daoists. When Tong Yuanzi arrived, Zong Hai, leading them, stepped forward to greet him, "Temple Master, the West Wing Room is completely destroyed; however, we did not find Fellow Daoist Jiang Li inside. Moreover, the Fairy from Kunxu Immortal Palace had searched earlier using a Golden Needle but also failed to find Fellow Daoist Jiang Li."
"Fellow Daoist Jiang Li has a life-saving technique bestowed by his master, he will be fine; presumably, he has already left," Tong Yuanzi waved his hand, saying.
This was also why he had first gone to the East Wing Room.
Jiang Li had a life-saving technique, so he could not be harmed. Those attackers did not intend to take his life but to interfere with his preparation for the battle, except from Kunxu Immortal Palace...
Tong Yuanzi suspected that if Jiang Li truly showed weakness, Fairy Bu from Kunxu Immortal Palace was very likely to actually snatch him away.
However, being unharmed did not mean nothing was awry.
"After tonight’s battle, Jiang Li’s sharpness has declined, and the battle at the Shooting Flood Dragon Platform on the first day of the ninth lunar month..." Tong Yuanzi shook his head.
Although Jiang Li possessed a Sixth Grade Uniqueness Dao Fruit, in a fight where life and death were at stake, it was not an absolute truth that the stronger would always prevail. Otherwise, they would just arm wrestle to see who was strongest.
Upon hearing this, Zong Hai asked, "Should we then search for Fellow Daoist Jiang Li?"
He had not forgotten that he had earlier sent Zong Ming to target Jiang Li. Now that Jiang Li had left, he naturally wanted to keep tabs on his whereabouts.
"Fellow Daoist Jiang Li has left to avoid disturbances. If you and I go searching, it would not be appropriate. Besides, he has his sect’s seniors to care for him; we need not worry," Tong Yuanzi gave Zong Hai a glance and said.
"What we need to worry about now is whether that madman who attacked the Fourth Prince will come again?"
Tong Yuanzi turned to look at the direction of the East Wing Room, feeling yet another toothache.
There were two unexpected events tonight; one was the destruction of the West Wing Room.
However, that was still within acceptable limits.
The second was the attack on the Fourth Prince.
The madman known as "Lawless Freedom" had attacked the Fourth Prince by night, revealing the realistic Realm he had concealed, and had even destroyed the East Wing Room in the process. If he came a few more times, Iron Pillar Temple would barely have any intact pieces left.
"Lawless Freedom! Lawless Freedom!" Tong Yuanzi massaged his temples, "Where did this madman come from?"
He did not connect Lawless Freedom with Jiang Li because although Lawless Freedom was a Sword Cultivator, and Jiang Li also used a sword, he was not a true Sword Cultivist.
Not to mention, taking the hurdle of a Lifebound Flying Sword, if it was not housing a related Dao Fruit but rather being refined by oneself, it was uncertain how long it would take to adequately refine a Lifebound Sword, and whether its effectiveness would be better than the Dao Fruit Ability.
There was also the ability of "Sword Light Division"; this ability was generally possessed by regular Sword Immortal Dao Fruits, something Jiang Li’s Daoist Dao Fruit would not have.
This was precisely the best reason for Jiang Li and Lawless Freedom to dissociate from each other.
"You all are looking for the Sword Cultist Lawless Freedom, what does that have to do with me, Jiang Li?"