It was only then that Chuyan was struck by the realization that Xiao Ran had just entered the Qi Refining stage. He could have feigned his calm composure.
If he had not spat out blood, Chuyan would actually have thought he was an indomitable saint. It looked like he would not be able to bully her on the Sword-Wielding Mountain next time.
With that thought in mind, Chuyan lay her palms flat against Xiao Ran’s tail vertebra and circulated her pool of Qi in an extremely gentle manner to slowly deliver spiritual power into Xiao Ran’s dantian.
This was Golden Core realm spiritual power after all. Despite how tenderly it was delivered, it created waves and whirlwinds within Xiao Ran’s reservoir of Qi.
He quickly worked the force of resonance to repress the Golden Core spiritual pressure and slammed the tsunami-like havoc with a palm strike.
Bang!
It resonated with the air, disregarding the resonance of spiritual power. That was because no matter how accelerated the spiritual power was due to the resonance, it would only be absorbed by the Wraith in the end.
Bang!
It resonated with space.
Bang!
At last, the strike arrived in the air above the ruins and resonated with the Sunflower Wraith itself.
There was a shrill cry before Xiao Ran’s palm strike made a ripple and vanished like a cow made of mud melting into the sea.
The Wraith waved its tentacles about, growing speedier.
Its grieving howls grew sharper and more frenzied, sounding as thrilled as an eerie prelude to a battle song and tearing into the listener’s scalp.
Chen Gongxing, who was battling up close, felt his head going numb as his movements slowed down. His sword energy was faltering and was increasingly taxing on him.
Both Trainers looked at Xiao Ran with a complicated gaze, not understanding his intention.
Even though Chuyan was hidden behind Xiao Ran, she blanched at the howls, her delicate legs trembling.
‘The Wraith is overwhelming!’ Xiao Ran thought.
In spite of that, his palm strike had not been meant to attack but to probe. Through the resonance with the Wraith, he was prodding for its fatal point.
The fatal point was a cultivator’s weakest spot in their body, possibly causing death with just a strike when it encountered a powerful attack.
Not every Wraith had a fatal point, but a Wraith that was impossibly strong would definitely have it.
It was common sense according to simple spiritual power law. If the cultivation base was fixed, the stronger the attacking power, the more invincible the defense strength, and the more absurdly powerful the Wraith was, the likelier it would be for it to have a fatal weakness.
The Sunflower Wraith had tentacles that could hypnotize and suck spiritual power, was able to withstand high-tier spells, and could be revived limitlessly and level up—it was almost like cheating. There had to be a fatal point no one knew about.
Although Xiao Ran had divine sense now and could tune in to the world, it was still too much of a challenge to discover the internal structure of a Nascent Soul Wraith. That was why he borrowed strength and dealt a palm strike to feel for the Wraith’s fatal spot.
And he actually managed to find it!
Instantly, he shouted at Chen Gongxing, “Senior Brother Chen, I have a way! Listen!”
“Speak quickly!”
“Keep your sword spiritual, go parallel in Kun with a rate of nine, and go vertical with half-exertion.”
Chen Gongxing was nonplussed, but since there was nothing else he could do, it was not like he had a choice. He could only follow the instructions and hope for the best.
“Okay!”
He did what Xiao Ran said at once, directing his spiritual energy in the sword parallelly in Kun with a rate of nine and going vertical in half-exertion.
This was a spiritual frequency that was rarely ever used!
Some distance away, Chuyan shuddered in fright but insisted on delivering her Golden Core spiritual energy to Xiao Ran steadily.
Bracing for the pressure, Xiao Ran gathered a storm in his pool of Qi until it was on the brink of breaking down before maneuvering all that berserk spiritual power to his sword with a single blow.
Swoosh!
The sword energy resonated with the air and remained separated instead of resonating with the spiritual energy.
The sword energy then resonated with space. When it came close to the Wraith, it suddenly resonated with the spiritual sword in Chen Gongxing’s grip. Since the man had fixed his sword’s spiritual rate earlier, the resulting resonance was incredibly powerful!
The sword chimed abruptly, a peal going through the clouds and echoing vaguely over the grieving Wraith’s cry, as it was over ten times more enhanced compared to the Nascent Soul strength exhibited earlier.
Xiao Ran called out at once, “Slash your sword down a meter under the Wraith’s eye right now!”
Then, Chen Gongxing understood Xiao Ran’s thought and skidded to the tentacles’ blind spot as best as he could before bringing his sword down where Xiao Ran had mentioned.
Slash!
A thin sword gash appeared a meter under the white eyeball.
The white eyeball froze before the thin line exploded and blood sprayed from the inside!
The eye was furious, and trillions of little white dots were focused in that instant and stared at Xiao Ran, who was farther away.
Blood filled up the eye through the crack made by the sword. As it blinked, human words were uttered in the sorrowful Wraith’s voice, “Indeed… You’re the most… special one…”
Xiao Ran was speechless.
‘Just die when you are supposed to die. Don’t say something that people will misunderstand, okay?’
Chen Gongxing caught himself and swung his sword to dismember the Wraith.
The dark body of the Wraith turned into ashes in an instant as it vanished.
The dark clouds drifted away as the morning breeze returned softly.
The Sword Plain once again basked in the warm sunlight and morning breeze.
Nonetheless, the square platform was already wrecked. It was empty all around without even a disciple or spectator in sight.
West of the Sword Plain, the two Trainers who had watched out for Xiao Ran were humbly cupping their fists in his direction.
“You are the Direct Disciple of the Sword-Wielding Mountain indeed. Junior Brother Xiao, your swordsmanship is mystical. It wasn’t just one day of work. We’ve been brusque.”
Xiao Ran thought that the swordsmanship of resonance had actually come in a day—Hold on, it was not even a day…
“It’s nothing.”
Chuyan approached Xiao Ran.
She had been meek and timid just now, shuddering as she’d stood behind Xiao Ran. Now that the Wraith was dead, she launched herself forward immediately and bolted up the platform.
Her petite figure spent a long moment ransacking the ruins, but she returned empty-handed and said, “That’s odd. Why isn’t there even a Wraith core?”
A Wraith core was like a Wraith’s dantian. Its material was distinct from everything else in the cultivation world and it had a high medicinal and equipment-related value.
“Could he have lurked in the inner sect for so long with a Wraith core? This is a special species. It’s possible it was not a wraith itself but just cloned bait.”
Chen Gongxing sheathed his sword and dusted the Wraith’s ashes off himself, nonchalant about the life-and-death situation he had just faced, as though it was a daily occurrence.
Nevertheless, the bizarre buzz of the technique and the potency of the power enhancement of Xiao Ran’s sword strike just now had truly astounded him.
He did not understand it but he thought it was amazing!
Chen Gongxing thought that if Xiao Ran could obtain a sword that fully belonged to him during the Sword Undertaking Rite, the advance he had made just now could become even more powerful.
“Looks like there’s going to be another meeting…” Chen Gongxing sighed and walked off the ruins to approach Xiao Ran.
“The meeting will be between you Elders and Direct Disciples. I’m taking my leave. I’ll come see you again at the Sword Undertaking Ceremony.”
Upon seeing that he was leaving, Xiao Ran tossed him a pot of malt wine.
“This is the wine fermented from your grains.”
“I don’t drink.”
Chen Gongxing looked disinterested but suddenly cracked a grin and said, “But I’ll have a taste of your wine.”
Chuyan, who was beside them, looked at him weirdly.
Bo Yunzi’s androgynous and unruffled voice came from the top of the mountain guarding array. “An Elder meeting will be held in the Ruling Hall in two hours… Junior Brother Chen, your attendance is required too.”
“Me?”
Chen Gongxing drank the wine out of boredom, guzzling it down as if he was drinking tea.
In the blink of an eye, he collapsed on the ground with a plop.
The two Trainers had thought that Chen Gongxing had been poisoned by the Wraith toxin. When they checked with their divine sense carefully, they discovered that the slight Wraith poison attached to him during the battle was slowly and surely dissolved by the alcohol of the malt wine…
The two men exchanged a look, suddenly coveting Xiao Ran’s wine. After staring at the younger man for a long while and hinting at him with their expression, they finally left it at that when Xiao Ran did not respond.
A gleam of silver arrived, shuttling from the east.
It was Yinyue Zhenren, her white hair half-tied and her figure soft and voluptuous, exuding her unique charm.
Her clear sapphire eyes reflected the sky and water as though they held the vast universe and its boundless tenderness despite its flaws and faults. Her azure robe was the shade of the clear-blue sky and ocean, divinity hidden in the plainness and soft romance being hinted by her curves.
The two Trainers were unable to shift their gazes away and cupped their fists quickly.
“Elder.”
Yinyue Zhenren did not answer them, staring at Xiao Ran instead with a slight frown.
“Am I late?”
Xiao Ran answered, “No.”
“Where are Chunwa and Qiuchan?”
“They were evacuated to the underground cave.”
“Is the cave on the Sword-Wielding Mountain?”
“I can’t deceive you, Elder.”
Yinyue Zhenren kept her eyes on the bloodstain left at the corners of Xiao Ran’s lips after being wiped and noticed that there had been an explosion and his pool of Qi had bled. She said with concern, “Your pool of Qi isn’t stable. Follow me to the Hundred Herb Hill to treat it.”
While looking at Yinyue Zhenren’s beautiful face that time had not affected negatively, Xiao Ran was suddenly reminded of Lin Yunzi’s words.
Human experiment, countering poison with poison, cutting it open…
He coughed and quickly replied, “Thank you for the offer, Senior Uncle. I have to attend the meeting in a while.”
“Sigh…”
Yinyue Zhenren stood with her arms behind her back, her movements alluring and enchanting. Even her sigh had a classy tone to it.
“You reached the Qi Refining stage in three days and killed a Wraith above your level in the Dao-Ending Period. No one’s as dramatic as you, even if they’re really an Emperor’s Caliber. Besides, Zongzhi Mountain has been seeing Wraiths for two consecutive days since you joined the sect. Do you think you can still avoid me?”
Xiao Ran felt a chill in his heart.
Damn it! He was going to be dissected!