His hair began to extend and grow longer, stopping only when it reached his waist, but those originally black strands gradually turned white starting from the roots. Li Yanzhen's skin also began to look like a deflating balloon, becoming shriveled and covered with deep wrinkles.
At the same time, he gradually transformed from a robust middle-aged man into an elderly figure. However, even in this state, the aura emanating from him continued to climb until it finally reached a breaking point and stopped.
Although Li Yanzhen appeared elderly at this point, the True Qi emanating from his body had increased multiple times, a tremendous and mysterious pressure sweeping out from him.
Even the guests who had managed to move away and stood a hundred meters out unanimously felt an immense, vast pressure.
"Is that the Sword Saint?" a Martial Artist in the crowd suddenly widened his eyes and looked behind Li Yanzhen.
Lin Mo also looked in the same direction only to see an ethereal figure behind Li Yanzhen. The shadowy figure towered about 20 meters high, his eyes closed, but outfitted in armor typical of a War General from the Han Country Warring States Era, a Long Blade hanging from his waist—the exact match to the Black Qiushui in Li Yanzhen's hand.
The ethereal figure dressed in black armor of the Han Country Warring States era wore a crown adorned with motifs of the moon and the sun, the entire apparition radiating an overpoweringly formidable force.
"Even if you summon the Sword Saint himself who has already died, he would not be my match, let alone a lingering trace of him," Lin Mo shook his head, his expression indifferent.
"How dare you!"
Li Yanzhen coldly shouted, and at the same time, the originally closed-eyed ethereal figure slowly opened its eyes, emitting golden light from its eyes, shooting two beams of golden light rushing towards Lin Mo.
Lin Mo's pupils also emitted two beams of golden light, which collided silently with the other beams, and, although the collision was without sound, the people standing a hundred meters away felt a splitting headache from the impact of spiritual power alone.
"Lin Mo, to die at the hands of my ancestor today is an honor for you," Li Yanzhen, holding the Black Qiushui, said coldly.
The tall ethereal figure behind him seemed to become his shadow, similarly raising the ethereal Black Qiushui in its hands, the two merging as one. At this moment, Li Yanzhen's aura surged violently once again.
"Could it be that Li Yanzhen has advanced to become a Sword Saint?"
"It's been many years since our Han Country had a Sword Saint."
"Greetings to the new Sword Saint."
Many Han Country Martial Artists knelt down, their hearts filled with extreme reverence.
Buzz...
The Xuanyuan Sword in his hand vibrated and emitted a clear sword cry, seemingly very excited.
"Good friend, join me in battle."
Li Yanzhen shouted coldly, madly channeling all his True Qi into the Black Qiushui, causing the blade to tremble and turn as black as ink, more unadorned and ordinary-looking than ever, almost like the sword ornaments readily available at tourist spots.
He was condensing his True Qi in the Black Qiushui infinitely, not allowing any movement or waste, focusing it to an utmost point. While there was no grandiose momentum, the power contained within was unimaginably potent.
"Military Dao's deceit!"
Li Yanzhen slightly opened his mouth.
The Martial Arts Will, True Qi, and Martial Techniques fused almost into one, devouring the light of the sun and the moon, and a vast dark cloud unknowingly covered the sky above the village.
Li Yanzhen's white hair whipped wildly backward, like a God Demon.
Despite the annihilatory aura, which everyone had to treat with caution, the young man's cold and indifferent eyes remained calm. It was a resilience and firmness forged by years of life-threatening trials faced by Lin Mo.
"Sword Qi stretches thirty thousand miles, one sword's light chills nineteen provinces."
Lin Mo held the Xuanyuan Sword, cold light flickering in his pupils. Moments later, his expression returned to calm, and he drew his sword and leaped up, purely relying on bodily strength, leaping thirty meters.
"Meet your end."
Similarly, Li Yanzhen had gathered his energy, readying his strongest sword strike, and soared sharply to shatter heaven and earth.
In the sky obscured by dark clouds, a black sword light and a silver sword light tore through the firmament, tracing trails tens of meters long behind their masters.
Lin Mo gripped the Xuanyuan Sword, his starry eyes fluttering, filled with unstoppable determination.
Li Yanzhen clenched Black Qiushui, his eyes blood red, resembling a God Demon.
When the two swords collided, a powerful shockwave spread for hundreds of meters, stirring the wind and clouds and sending debris flying. Even those standing a hundred meters away were knocked off their feet by the violent aura. The ground beneath them crumbled under the released energy, cracking open like a spider web for a hundred meters, as if bombed by artillery.
Then, after the collision, they finally hit the ground.
Lin Mo tapped the ground with his toe, holding the Xuanyuan Sword in his right hand, the tip touching the ground and just grazing a blade of grass, which immediately froze into translucent ice grass from the cold energy on the sword tip.
Li Yanzhen also landed in place, looking down at the Black Qiushui in his hand.
"Who won?"
"Li Yanzhen is the Sword Saint, it must be that guy from Huaxia who lost."
"Yes, the Sword Saint is unbeatable, how could he lose to a Huaxia Martial Artist?"
"How ignorant to actually challenge Li Yanzhen."
Many in the distance looked this way, shocked by the recent aura, but more anxious about the outcome of the battle.
Yi Tianhuai and Yi Bo were also nervously watching, hoping Lin Mo would be slain by Li Yanzhen.
Lu Xuanxuan and Coco opened their beautiful red lips wide, big enough to fit an egg. The sword lights and Sword Qi were incredibly shocking, much like watching a fantasy blockbuster, especially with an immersive feeling that was a hundred times more thrilling than a 3D movie theater.
"Why aren't they moving?" Lu Xuanxuan snapped back to reality, her heart pounding and her lips quivering.
"He lost." Yingzi, being an expert, immediately saw that Li Yanzhen had lost.
"Why? How could I possibly lose." Li Yanzhen's eyes, the blood draining away like a receding tide, returned to normal, filled with disbelief and shock.
He couldn't believe that he had just lost to a Huaxia teenager in his teens.
"Crack!"
Black Qiushui, with a crack in the middle, began to rapidly spread and soon covered the entire blade, which then shattered into pieces on the ground.
The large shadow that had been looming over Li Yanzhen also gradually blurred and eventually disappeared into the heavens and earth, the remnant of the Martial Arts Will that existed within Black Qiushui vanishing with the sword's breakage.
"Who exactly are you?" Li Yanzhen raised his head, his expression now incredibly calm, devoid of sorrow or joy.
"Lin Tanyu."
Lin Mo withdrew the Xuanyuan Sword, softly uttering the name, and immediately a diagonal blood mark appeared on Li Yanzhen's chest, bringing him to his knees.
A sword's chill swept across nineteen provinces!
The new generation's Sword God, Li Yanzhen, dead!
The Li Family massacred!
Those Martial Artists from Han Country, seeing Li Yanzhen fall, wore faces of horror and knelt on the ground, stunned.
Lin Mo walked over to Yingzi and the others, looking at Lu Xuanxuan and said, "You should head back to your country soon; otherwise, you might get implicated."
Up till now, Coco and Lu Xuanxuan still couldn't believe that this handsome, cold, and extraordinary young man had indeed wiped out the Li Family and killed dozens, but his eyes were so clear and his face bore a warm glow. If they hadn't seen it for themselves, they could hardly believe he was capable of such ruthless killings.
"What about you? You've killed so many, Han Country won't let you go. Don't you plan on leaving?" Lu Xuanxuan finally asked, having regained her senses.