A cyan light wrapped around Leng Junfeng’s body. Across from him, Ming Xingyun brandished her sword, and encased it in an earthen yellow glow. She charged toward Leng Junfeng without another word, and the latter aimed a palm at her. Condensed air shot from his palm toward the world merging venerable. The turbulent winds within the sphere exceeded the force of a hurricane, causing it to become green-gray in color.
Instead of dodging, Ming Xingyu slashed down at the air cannon. Leng Junfeng scrunched his brows. His attack should exceed the limit of ordinary true immortals, and he worried that Ming Xingyun’s action would lead her to receive a grievous wound. However, he was surprised yet again.
Ming Xingyun’s sword sliced through the hurricane sphere, but it didn’t cause it to explode. Instead, the hurricane-force winds swirled around her sword and enhanced its offense. Once again, she reached Leng Junfeng and slashed forward.
The green glow around Leng Junfeng’s uninjured hand intensified. He reached out toward Ming Xingyun’s sword and smacked it. The hurricane winds dispersed at the moment of contact, but he also found out that the sword was extremely stable and he couldn’t change its trajectory much. Furthermore, he also discovered that something was pulling his palm toward the blade and keeping it there as if glue coated the blade.
Still, Leng Junfeng just needed to increase the force behind his strike. When the clash ended, Leng Junfeng and Ming Xingyun’s backs faced each other. Leng Junfeng sported a cut on his torso, while Ming Xingyun’s hair accessories had fallen off and her clothes became disheveled.
Ming Xingyun turned around. “Senior Brother is still underestimating me. You should have discovered the sword in my hand is an artifact forged for me by Master. It’s not an immortal-rank artifact but a monarch-rank artifact.”
Tianyi named the sword the Condensed World Sword. Despite its seemingly thin and fragile appearance, the sword was incredibly heavy. He had used several asteroids from the Nine Heavens Universe as base materials and forged it into the shape of a sword using the Law of Mass as the core.
The Condensed World Sword had reasonable sharpness, but its greatest advantage was its mass. Had Ming Xingyun not partially refined it, she wouldn’t have been able to carry it, much less wield it. Still, just swinging it expended much of her effort.
Tianyi wanted Ming Xingyun to comprehend the worldly law contained within it as part of her cultivation. And so far, she comprehended the Concept of Attraction and Concept of Denseness, accelerating the rate at which she gathered spiritual qi and made it her own.
“Sorry,” Leng Junfeng said as a dark green gauntlet appeared around his arm. Golden talons covered his figures and gleamed viciously. He wasn’t apologizing for underestimating her, but what he was about to do.
Ming Xingyun didn’t stay idle. Her body began to shrink until she appeared like a child again. The Condensed World Sword, which originally fitted her stature, appeared like a giant two-handed sword in her current form. She held the handle with both hands and charged.
Leng Junfeng didn’t stand still either and charged forward, wrapped in gale winds. His golden talons reached out and struck forward.
Ming Xingyun swung down with both hands. Earlier, she only used one hand to injure Leng Junfeng, and now she used both hands, doubling the power behind her strikes. Furthermore, her physical strength had actually multiplied with her diminished size.
Even so, Ming Xingyun found herself blasted backward. When her foot touched the ground, a deep gouge formed before she came to a stop. Even when she came to a stop, she didn’t hesitate and charged toward Leng Junfeng.
Leng Junfeng didn’t halt and stepped forward to engage with Ming Xingyun. Two minutes later, Ming Xingyun lay on her back, panting and with countless scratches covering her body. “Y-Y-You w-win, S-Senior Brother.”
Aside from the wounds he received from the first two contacts, Leng Junfeng had no new wounds. “It doesn’t really feel like I won, though.”
“A win is a win,” Ming Xingyun said. Then, she turned her head toward Tianyi. “Master, heal me! It hurts!”
Less than a second later, a silver-gold light engulfed Ming Xingyun and Leng Junfeng. To Leng Junfeng’s shock, he discovered that his injuries disappeared and the damage to his robe, a saint-rank artifact, also repaired itself. Not just that, all the immortal qi he spent had returned. This wasn’t something that could be accomplished by mere healing.
“Although those gauntlets of yours are damaged, they should be known as the Thunderoc Claws, right?” Tianyi asked as Ming Xingyun jumped to her feet. Upon hearing this, she looked at Leng Junfeng’s gauntlets with some curiosity.
“Master knows about Monarch Thunderoc?” Leng Junfeng asked.
Tianyi nodded. “He was a genius that became an immortal monarch in less than a thousand years, and he was skilled in the Law of Lightning and Thunder. More importantly, he was one of the few immortal monarchs that dared to openly rebel against the Immortal Court when it was still known as the Buzhou Immortal Sect.”
An awkward expression appeared on Leng Junfeng’s face.
“In the end, an immortal monarch from the Buzhou Immortal Sect killed him, but that elder also died from the injuries he sustained. To have inherited his legacy, it’s really a coincidence.”
Leng Junfeng looked away from Tianyi’s eyes. His master’s main body appeared to know more than that, but just didn’t say it. Inwardly, he said, ‘Sorry Senior Thunderoc. It seems the immortal that killed you also died. And the Buzhou Immortal Court is technically no more, so your grudge should have ended, right?’
Tianyi clapped his hand, breaking Leng Junfeng out of his thoughts. “Xingyun, you’ll be the third-ranked disciple, everyone’s junior sister.”
Ming Xingyun nodded. If it was an ordinary true immortal, she might have had a chance at victory, but Leng Junfeng was someone that ascended from a lower realm and was accepted by Tianyi. She didn’t think she could win, and it was only a matter of how long she could last.
“Since you are Xingyun’s senior brother and you just met her not long ago, shouldn’t you give her a greeting gift?”
Leng Junfeng gave a helpless smile when he saw Ming Xingyun’s glittering eyes. He coughed into his fist and a necklace with an exquisitely crafted jewel appeared in his hand. “Right now, I’m poor, so I can only give Junior Sister Xingyun this Soulgem Amulet. It’s a saint-rank artifact that can block the attack of a saint three times.”
Ming Xingyun showed a happy smile. “Thank you, Senior Brother. I’m sure my sister will like it very much.”
Leng Junfeng’s expression cramped up.
This time, it was Tianyi’s turn to cough. “It’s my fault. I already gave Xingyun everything she needs, but I forbid her from gifting the treasures I bestowed for personal use to anyone else. So, she’s been fretting about how to protect her big sister all this time. Junfeng’s gift can be said to have helped Xingyun very much.”
“Anyways,” Tianyi said, changing the topic. “Do you want to rest for a bit or a day before fighting Jinshu?”
Leng Junfeng shook his head. “No need, I’m ready anytime.”
Tianyi nodded, and a few minutes later, Leng Junfeng and Jinshu stood across from each other. Jinshi wore the customary white robes of a member of the Immortal Court with a red overcoat, while Leng Junfeng clad himself in cyan robes and the Thunderoc Claws. Tianyi stood in front of Ming Xingyun in order to shield her from the aftereffect of the two’s clash.
Unlike his battle with Ming Xingyun, Leng Junfeng didn’t dare to underestimate Jinshu. If anything, he wanted to overestimate Jinshu. Similarly, Jinshu didn’t underestimate Leng Junfeng. A layer of golden flames directly surrounded him like a suit of armor.
Jinshu wore the Fire Element Morpher on his waist, but he didn’t use it. If he used it to defeat Leng Junfeng, it would be nothing more than using an external force. Instead, a sword with a red blade appeared in his hand as he charged at Leng Junfeng.
During his time in the Demon Cage Realm, many members of the human race used weapons because their body couldn’t compare to those of demons, but Jinshu was different. Thanks to his father, Lushu, Jinshu inherited the bloodline of the golden crow, making his body extremely powerful, nearly on par with the most powerful of demons in the same realm.
However, that all changed upon becoming Tianyi’s disciple. He met other martial cultivators with bodies not one whit weaker than his, or perhaps even stronger, despite the golden crow's bloodline flowing through his veins. As a result he took up the sword, like Ming Xingyun and followed Tianyi’s path.
Leng Junfeng calmly parried the red sword from Jinshu. As a hand-to-hand fighter, he had plenty of experience dealing with weapon users. Still, every time he deflected the sword’s strikes, he had to deflect the accompanying bursts of fire. With each action, the heat drastically rose and the air turned blurry from the heat haze.
Jinshu attempted to land a slash on Leng Junfeng, but was deflected every single time. On the other hand, Leng Junfeng could feel the heat accumulate in his arms each time he deflected. He suppressed the rising temperature for the moment and gathered hurricane winds around his arms and fist in an attempt to punch Jinshu, but the latter’s flame armor dispelled most of the force.
As the stalemate continued, both combatants slowly accumulated minor injuries. Several cuts littered Jinshu’s body while burns started to appear on Leng Junfeng’s hands. Suddenly, Leng Junfeng dispersed into strands of wind.
Jinshu’s sword sliced through empty air, and the sudden disappearance made him confused for a single moment, but that moment was enough. Leng Junfeng materialized behind him and unleashed a powerful punch, sending Jinshu crashing into the ground. When Jinshu crashed into the ground, a deep crater formed. Leng Junfeng wanted to capitalise on his assault, but flame erupted from Jinshu’s body, forming a grand pillar and forcing him to retreat.
After getting up, a trail of blood leaked from his lips down to his chin. His eyes narrowed when Leng Junfeng merged with the wind again. No matter what Jinshu did, he couldn’t find his opponent’s traces, only the currents of air. Since that was the case, Jinshu knew he didn’t have any advantage against Leng Junfeng anymore.
The fire erupting from Jinshu’s body didn’t reduce, but intensified. The fire slowly changed shape until it formed an avian shape. Golden flames turned scarlet as a red-feathered crow with redder eyes and crimson beak formed. It was a martial avatar that those walking the martial path could condense. Only, the golden crow avatar felt a bit too unstable and illusionary.
The golden crow avatar unfurled its wings and unleashed a cry. Flames rained from its spread wings and a domain of pure fire formed. Under this domain, a torrent of gale force winds gathered and formed into Leng Junfeng. Jinshu didn’t hesitate and charged at him with his sword raised high above his head. The golden crow martial avatar trailed behind his sword and followed its movement.
Leng Junfeng didn’t continue to dodge, either. He opened his mouth and exhaled. He expelled a never ending cyan haze from his mouth. That haze drifted behind him and conglomerated into a giant clad in green and blue armor. The pauldron on its left shoulder was shaped like a roc’s head, while the pauldron on the right was shaped like a leviathan.
Once Jinshu neared, he slashed down. Following his actions, the golden crow dived forward like a falcon from high in the sky. Leng Junfeng stood firmly on the ground and raised both hands. The moment the red sword neared, he clasped both hands together and caught the sword between his palm. Simultaneously, the armored giant avatar grabbed the golden crow’s beak with both hands. Upon contact, fire erupted from the beak of the golden crow avatar and coated the armored giant’s hands and arms in red.
To onlookers, it transformed into a clash between cyan and red. The two energies clashed back and forth, neither side willing to lose an inch. After a few minutes of tug-o-war, the cyan torrent almost completely engulfed the red. At this moment, Tianyi waved his hand.
The cyan and red qi disappeared as if it never existed, revealing the internal situation to Ming Xingyun. “Senior Brother!”
Jinshu was kneeling in front of a panting Leng Junfeng. Ming Xingyun knew she would lose, but she didn’t think Leng Junfeng would defeat Jinshu.
After a few minutes and Tianyi healing them, all three stood in front of Tianyi. “From this day onward, Junfeng will be the eldest senior brother under my lineage. Jinshu will be the second-ranked and Xingyun will be the third-ranked. If any of you feel like you can defeat the other, you can apply for a battle to change your rankings. Understood?”
“““Yes!””” all three said.
Tianyi nodded. He looked at Junfeng. “Your Thunderoc Claws haven’t fully recovered. Hand it over to me and I’ll fix it for you.”
Leng Junfeng hesitated for a moment, but he still unbound the Thunderoc Claws and handed it over. Others might be covetous of his monarch-rank artifact, but he didn’t think Tianyi would be such a person. Otherwise, he would have never given Ming Xingyun the Condensed World Sword.
“Oh,” Tianyi said, as if remembering something. “Yan Nie, the Divine Flame Monarch, is getting married soon. All of you will follow me to congratulate him.”
