The devastated mountains and forests were filled with a burning smell.
*Boom---*
A bloody arm reached out from the scorched earth. Yun Kunwu gritted his teeth and climbed out of the ground. Recalling the *Earth Phoenix True Treasure* used by Elder Tianxing that day, he couldn't help but sigh. "You are worthy of being the Elder with the highest level in the Sword Sect. The *Earth Phoenix True Treasure*, together with the spiritual earthly veins, is really powerful, tsk..."
He smacked his tongue. Using his dark sword as a crutch, he forced himself to stand up, then looked at the sky that was now dyed red by the firelight.
Dots of white light fell from the sky and sprinkled on his burned arm, causing a stinging pain.
"After the *Earth Phoenix*, it still snows? When did water and fire become compatible? Heh... What bad luck!"
Yun Kunwu shook his right hand and used all his strength to move to the side. When Tianxing hit him hard last time, he had used up a hundred years of his true energy, and now, he should be too weak to come after him.
But there was also a female Elder following him; if he was caught up, then he would only die with a grudge.
He had less than two hours since he regained his freedom from the sword grave, but now he was already about to die?!
It wasn't worth it...
"Tsk..."
Yun Kunwu hurriedly sat cross-legged on the ground and started condensing energy to heal his wounds. However, he found that this demonic body was already broken, and the demonic pill in his Dantian was also shattered.
"Master provided me some kind of body, but after stretching my muscles and bones so much, it came to this. Tsk... He is also an Elder and was an Alchemy cultivator in the past, but the demonic body has become like this... I just have to practice on my own from now on, sigh..."
*Whoosh---*
Hearing the sound of footsteps coming from behind, Yun Kunwu became alert, but his body was severely injured by Tianxing, and the pain caused him to fall to the ground. He gritted his teeth as he tried to move.
He struggled to raise his head and looked toward the source of the sound.
A young man in white pushed aside the burnt branches and walked toward him with a sword in his hand. There seemed to be a void in his deep purple eyes, making it difficult to see through his thoughts.
"A *Foundation Building* stage cultivator? Why are you in this place?"
After seeing Yun Kunwu in such a sorry state, Ye Anping looked relieved. He put his index finger and thumb in his mouth and let out a crisp whistle.
After that, he walked within five feet of Yun Kunwu and looked at him expressionlessly. "To be honest, you're the most disobedient chess piece I've played in over a decade."
"Over a decade? Chess piece?"
Yun Kunwu tried to prop himself up, but the next moment, Ye Anping threw the sword in his hand, piercing his body and pinning him to the ground.
"Cough--"
He didn't expect that a *Foundation Building* cultivator could injure him with a simple throw of his sword, and his first thought was that Ye Anping was hiding his cultivation level.
"You..."
"I'm not hiding my cultivation. As you can see, I am a young cultivator with dual spiritual roots and in the middle stage of *Foundation Building*." Ye Anping looked around and saw that his sister hadn't arrived yet, so he sighed and kept talking, "Isn't it very surprising? How can a *Foundation Building* cultivator injure your demonic *Nascent Soul* body so easily?"
Yun Kunwu's eyes widened slightly, then narrowed. "What do you mean?"
Ye Anping shrugged. "It's all your master's fault. The furnace exploded when he was refining this demonic pill. When you were hit squarely by Elder Tianxing's *True Treasure*... it's a wonder it didn't break immediately. This exceeded my expectations; seems like I have underestimated you."
"You insignificant *Foundation Building* brat..."
*Bang---*
Ye Anping kicked up a stone on the ground and hit him directly in the mouth, a row of teeth scattering out in an instant.
"You are no different from an ordinary man now, what's the point of discriminating between high and low cultivation levels? How about that? You were an envied person who enjoyed the glory of the Heavens, but in the end, this is what you became."
"..."
Yun Kunwu's eyes were filled with murderous intent, but at the moment, he could do nothing but curse angrily, "There was once someone as bold as you. Do you know how he ended?"
"Have you slashed and blown him off with your sword?" Ye Anping shrugged. "I have to say, that sword execution was so exquisite that even the several *Void Returning* stage cultivators present could not react until the ***Bright Star*** Sect Young Master was already scattered in pieces at his father's feet."
"..."
"But it's a different story now. Even a mere mid-stage *Foundation Building* cultivator like me could kill you as easily as giving you a slap in the face if I wanted to."
"Haha... If you have the guts, come two steps closer and try."
"No, I'm afraid."
"..."
"I really didn't expect that you would actually defy the Heavens, snatching the *Heavenly Dao Scroll*, and even squarely face Elder Tianxing's *Earth Phoenix* alone without falling short."
Ye Anping frowned and said as if complaining, "I thought the surging earthly veins, combined with the Tianxing Elder's *True Treasure* and the *Astral Formation* the two Young Ladies activated, would finish you directly. But you almost overturned my chessboard."
"You're talking as if I'm just your pawn?! Ha..."
"After experiencing this incident, the three Young Ladies of the Yun family will finally be able to unite. The ordeal they have experienced together will be enough to last for hundreds of years."
"The three Young Ladies? They're just..."
"It is true that their aptitudes are not as good as yours. It could be even said that there is no one in this world whose aptitudes are as good as yours." Ye Anping interrupted him. "Nevertheless, you will soon die in the hands of a little girl who is in the middle stage of the *Foundation Building*. Can you believe it?"
"A little girl? Haha..." Yun Kunwu sneered. "How can a *Foundation Building* cultivator destroy my *Nascent Soul*? I'm quite curious."
"Brother!"
A cheerful female voice came from the forest nearby. Pei Lianxue, holding the *Snow Jade Spirit Sword*, pushed aside the burnt branches and ran over quickly. She glanced at the bloody man lying on the ground and frowned. "Brother, is he that Yun Kunwu?"
"Yeah." Ye Anping nodded. "Let's do it..."
"Um."
When Yun Kunwu, who was lying on the ground, heard this, his eyes fixed on the *Snow Jade Spirit Sword* in Pei Lianxue's hand, and he only reacted when he saw her raising the sword.
"This sword is..."
"Your grandpa gave it to her. It has the good effect of sealing and absorbing souls. It's just right to destroy your *Nascent Soul*."
As Ye Anping said this, ten icy-blue spiritual lights emerged from the *Black Ice Spirit Sword* and shot toward Yun Kunwu's brow.
Although, in Yun Kunwu's eyes, these ten rays of light were as slow as a turtle crawling, he could not move at all and could only watch the sword rays hitting his face.
"Tsk..."
At this time, he also understood something.
The person he had sensed before, whose destiny far surpassed his, was the kid in front of him who looked extremely young. However, even if he understood, he couldn't accept it.
Such a person with dual spiritual roots and no special physique or cultivation, why would his destiny far exceed his?
What a waste...
*Swish---*
Flesh and blood splattered.
Yun Kunwu, who was originally still in human form, quickly decomposed, emitting black smoke, and spontaneously combusted.
Even such a talented person still died like an ordinary man, turning to dust without a sound.
Pei Lianxue quickly applied a few more sword strikes, thoroughly cutting the body into pieces, before asking, "Brother, where is Sister Yun? Aren't we going to save her?"
"Elder Tianxing must have protected her from the beginning with his spiritual energy. Now, she is probably buried in that mountain, calling for help. Elder Hu and the others will dig her out in a while. Let's go back; if someone sees us here, we won't be able to explain ourselves."
"Oh..."
Pei Lianxue looked at Yun Kunwu again without saying anything. Then, she summoned her flying sword and followed her brother back to **Night Tide Peak**.
