Chapter 86: Foundation Establishment [2]

In an instant, a sky full of sword light engulfed Yin Tianfang. That fire dragon strike was nothing more than a feint; the true killing move had been concealed within the dragon’s body all along.

The sword light crowded the void, sealing off every path of retreat.

Yin Tianfang’s expression turned grave. He slapped his storage pouch and took out a jade slip. With both hands forming incantations, a semicircular barrier appeared before him.

Countless strands of sword qi hacked against the translucent shield, causing it to distort and warp. When the storm of sword light finally faded, the barrier had reached its limit as well. The jade slip floating before him shattered and fell to the ground.

Once again, Yin Tianfang struck his storage pouch. In a flash, several streaks of light shot out from within and raced straight toward the two old men. A ruthless glint appeared in his eyes.

“Explode! Explode! Explode!”

Several magical treasures were detonated outright by Yin Tianfang. Rumble after rumble erupted as a terrifying storm instantly swept across heaven and earth, engulfing the two old men within it.

Puff!

Both men were blasted backward by the horrifying shockwave at the same time, their hair disheveled, robes torn, and their appearances utterly miserable. At that moment, they were inwardly stifled with rage. This was the first time they had ever encountered such a fighting style: no questions asked, straight to detonating magical treasures.

One must know that the treasures Yin Tianfang had detonated were no ordinary objects; they were all artifacts refined by Foundation Establishment experts. To blow them up directly, and several at once at that, was an extravagantly wasteful way to fight.

“Brat, you—” The two old men glared at Yin Tianfang, just about to reprimand him, when Yin Tianfang rushed toward them like thunder. With a sweep of his sleeve, the Force-Seizing Art transformed into two enormous hands that slapped viciously toward the pair.

Boom!

The two men hastily raised their palms to meet the attack. With a thunderous impact, the old men were forced back yet again, their faces flushing crimson.

Yin Tianfang was not in any better shape. With a muffled groan, a thread of blood seeped from the corner of his mouth. Even so, his gaze grew colder and sharper.

He lifted a finger, and a bolt of purple light shot toward one of the men like lightning.

“Hmph, petty tricks!” The old man snorted coldly, staring at the small purple sword. Greed flickered in his eyes, though caution was there as well.

That purple sword, smooth as jade and seemingly carved from amethyst, radiated a powerful aura.

It was clearly a magical treasure, and one of a far higher grade than the treasures used earlier. A treasure of such power was not something an ordinary Foundation Establishment cultivator could refine.

A cultivator’s combat strength would be greatly enhanced by the aid of even a single magical treasure.

However, the old man also worried that Yin Tianfang might use the same trick again and simply detonate the purple sword. Given the grade of this treasure, if it were to explode, the resulting terror would be unbearable for anyone standing too close, even for a Foundation Establishment expert like himself.

Yet this time, Yin Tianfang did not detonate the treasure.

That purple sword had been taken from the middle-aged man. After obtaining it, Yin Tianfang studied it and discovered that it was highly peculiar. Beyond being a powerful magical treasure in its own right, it possessed an exceedingly strange innate ability: instantaneous movement.

Clearly, after that middle-aged man obtained the purple sword, he had kept it hidden all along. Otherwise, since these two old men were also members of the Azure Cloud Sect, why would they fail to recognize it? It was obvious they had never seen it before.

The purple sword transformed into a streak of violet light and swept through the air, rushing straight toward the old man. Just as the old man was considering whether to strike or evade, the purple sword suddenly vanished from his sight.

This sudden turn of events left the old man momentarily stunned. He had already locked onto the purple sword, yet its abrupt disappearance rendered even his spiritual sense tracking useless.

“Careful!”

The instant the daze passed, a shout exploded beside his ear. A purple little sword suddenly appeared behind him. Even with his companion’s warning, there was no way to dodge it now.

Blood sprayed into the air as the small sword pierced straight through the old man’s chest.

Puff!

He spat out a mouthful of blood, his face turning deathly pale, his body swaying unsteadily.

“Die!”

A palm strike followed close behind, slamming fiercely toward the old man. In midair, a huge crimson hand radiated an oppressive, razor-sharp aura, and wherever it passed, cultivators of lower cultivation were directly blasted apart.

The old man’s pupils contracted violently. His figure flashed as he retreated at top speed. The purple sword had pierced through his chest without striking any vital point, but as Yin Tianfang launched another assault, panic filled his heart. At that very moment, a bolt of purple light arrived beside him in an instant. This time, in his panic, the purple sword pierced his heart.

His corpse tumbled from the sky.

Yin Tianfang stood below with a faint trace of blood on his lips, his eyes icy cold.

“Boy, you—” The remaining old man’s expression darkened. He had never imagined that even with the two of them joining forces, they still could not take down Yin Tianfang, who had not yet reached Foundation Establishment. Worse still, one of them had been killed by Yin Tianfang.

“Everyone, attack together. Take this boy down; life or death, it matters not!”

At the sharp command, several Azure Cloud Sect elders who had been watching from the sidelines transformed into streaks of light and charged toward Yin Tianfang.

Among them was an old man with a face full of wrinkles and sparse hair, whose aura was far stronger than the others—he had already reached the middle stage of Foundation Establishment.

Several Foundation Establishment experts struck at once, no longer intending to give Yin Tianfang any chance.

Faced with these experts, Yin Tianfang remained expressionless. Crimson light coiled around his entire body, and even his eyes had turned blood-red, making him look extraordinarily fearsome.

A brilliant crimson radiance plunged directly into Yin Tianfang’s body. This killing aura was far stronger than the one produced when he slew Qi Condensation experts. As it entered him, Yin Tianfang’s body trembled. In his dantian, the crimson lotus slowly unfurled, its petals like blood diamonds, bright and lustrous as if they might drip with blood.

In that instant, spiritual energy in heaven and earth surged violently. Yin Tianfang’s aura erupted like a volcano, his overwhelming presence stirring the air around him into spiraling tornadoes.

Standing upon the void, his hair whipped wildly about him. In his eyes, that crimson glow seemed ready to solidify into reality itself.

Under this frenzy of slaughter, Yin Tianfang finally broke through and achieved Foundation Establishment.

Boundless killing intent spread outward, and beneath that chilling murderous pressure, even the surrounding temperature seemed to drop.

“All of you will die!”

His blood-red eyes locked tightly onto the elders of the Azure Cloud Sect. His sinister words echoed through the air like a cold wind rising from the Nine Netherworlds.

“You little whelp, even if you’ve achieved Foundation Establishment, so what? When we attained this realm, you did not even exist!” sneered the Azure Cloud Sect elder at the middle stage of Foundation Establishment.

On the path of cultivation, every realm was vastly different from the next. Even two cultivators at the early stage of Foundation Establishment could differ tremendously in strength. Much less now, when Yin Tianfang had only just broken through and was merely at the early stage, while he himself was at the middle stage. They were separated by an entire realm.

In this man’s eyes, Yin Tianfang was nothing more than an ant.

“Kill!”

As the shout fell, the middle-stage elder charged straight at Yin Tianfang. The others followed close behind, pouring their cultivation to the limit as they streaked forward.