Chapter 371 Second-Tier Supreme Spirit Peach
Sword energy crisscrossed, and silver light shone in his eyes. Ji An understood that although the attack seemed massive, the opponent was actually holding back a great deal.
Whether a sword cultivator's attack is infused with sword intent or not are two completely different concepts.
Moreover, in a two-on-one battle, there is absolutely no need for him to unleash such flashy but ineffective attacks if he himself does not move.
A concentrated attack that breaks through a specific area is always more powerful than a wide-area attack.
'It seems that unless I use some special methods, Senior Brother will be testing me for quite a while!'
Ji An no longer held back, his magical power surging wildly through his immortal veins, and the Geng metal Dao seed in his acupoints shone with brilliant light.
His right index and middle fingers were brought together, and as his arm rose and fell, a pale golden aura emanated from them like a river flowing against the current.
It was a direct confrontation, devoid of any fancy techniques.
His approach clearly demonstrates the difference between the two.
The moment the golden torrent shone brightly, Li Haoran's flying sword rang out with a triumphant clang, a sound of excited joy.
A sharp aura permeated the air, and a chilling divine intent, as if all things were withering away, gathered. Li Haoran felt a frost-like wind blowing against his face, as if the cold air was cutting through him.
His eyes lit up with joy. As a Metal Element Daoist, he could easily sense the divine intent contained within, which was comparable to the first level of sword intent he had comprehended!
'Is this the level a Spirit Farmer should be at? I'd believe it if you told me he was a sword cultivator! Finally, I've met a worthy opponent of the same level.'
The golden and silver luster resembled two high-speed trains traveling in opposite directions, colliding violently.
The greatest sound is silent; heaven and earth fall silent.
The golden waves dispersed the silver torrent, surging upwards towards their opponent.
This outcome was within Ji An's expectations. His spell contained abundant Geng metal magic intent, which in some ways could be considered a sword cultivator's attack superimposed with sword intent.
Li Haoran became excited and burst into laughter. He charged down without dodging or avoiding, a silver streak shooting up, its brilliance overshadowing everything else.
Light condenses into a blade, a single sword cleaves the waves!
The golden torrent was cut in two by the attack imbued with double sword intent, and Ji An's pupils suddenly contracted.
'Very strong, but I wasn't even using my full strength!'
Ji An once again manipulated the Gengjin Spirit-Slaying Sword, frantically pouring the law into it.
Miniature flying swords hovered in the air, forming a sword array, dragging golden light as they attacked the target.
The opponent was too fast, and he still needed to use a wide-range attack to hit them, but this attack was much more concentrated than before.
The power of sword cultivators is undeniable, but they excel at attacking with offense and using speed to overcome slowness; their weakness lies in defense.
If we can slow them down and then launch a saturation attack, theoretically we can easily defeat them.
Of course, this is just theory.
Ji An's hand turned into a blur, and another spell was released.
The white mist, several meters wide, surged toward Li Haoran like a torrent of blood.
The Mysterious Darkness True Qi has only one effect: endless cold that can instantly freeze the opponent.
If you don't get out of this area in time, you'll soon turn into an ice sculpture.
Water nourishes all things, but when pure water turns to ice, it can freeze everything.
As white mist billowed out, frost spread across the black rocks, and heavy snowflakes danced across the volcano.
Li Haoran's eyes shone even brighter. He merged with his sword, and the sword became one with the light. With a single sword strike, the dual sword intents pierced through the Xuanming True Qi.
He understood his junior brother's intentions: to slow him down with extreme cold. Normally, this approach was perfectly sound.
If such an attack had been launched before he headed to the far north, it would have definitely hampered his movements.
But now, having grasped the essence of the icy sword, he has a strong immunity to attacks that are more focused on the intent of magic than on physical form.
As long as the time spent in such an environment is short enough, the damage is minimal.
His sword strikes are fast enough to reduce damage to a level that is tolerable and does not affect the battle.
Unlike other cultivators who pursue victory without taking damage, Li Haoran prefers a fighting style that trades minor injuries for major ones or even for his life.
This is not only more efficient, but also saves mana.
He did this based on a conclusion reached after countless real-world tests.
Ji An narrowed his eyes, a natural reaction to being locked onto by the sharp sword light. He felt a sense of illusion that he could neither avoid nor resist it.
He mustered his strength and realized that the opponent's sword intent actually contained a slight element of soul attack, which greatly surprised him.
However, now was not the time to be surprised. He instinctively reacted by making hand seals again, and the Fire Dragon Burning Heaven Technique was unleashed.
The crimson dragon looked like a real creature, and waves of heat surged around it.
At the same time, the Flaming Banner suddenly unfurled, revealing the splendor of this previously silent magical artifact.
Towering flames fell like a galaxy, closely following the fire dragon.
It's like experiencing both ice and fire – just ask the other person how it feels!
The flames magnified in his pupils, and Li Haoran was even more surprised than Ji An. He felt as if he were in the crater of an erupting volcano, with overwhelming fire engulfing him.
The opponent displayed three extremely high-level spells in succession: metal, water, and fire, each linked to the next.
'Easy to handle!'
He exclaimed inwardly that it was not surprising that he could master so many spells, but the powerful magical intent contained in each spell was terrifying even to him.
Because of his special physique, he has a deep understanding of metal, which is why he was able to successfully comprehend two levels of sword intent.
The icy coldness exhibited by the second layer of sword intent is not actually the power of water, but rather the power simulated by the power of metal, with an additional layer of transformation.
To comprehend the third level of sword intent, one needs to spend a tremendous amount of time contemplating and refining it, because it is a gift beyond talent.
Metal generates water, which can be transformed naturally. To simulate the meaning of other five elements, more levels of transformation are needed.
His path is to break through all laws with a single sword, while using metal as the foundation to interpret different sword intents to target specific enemies.
Li Haoran understood the weakness of sword cultivators and dared not cross the sea of fire with his body, so he used his sword to dodge the attack upwards.
At the same time, the twenty-seven sword lights that had been separated merged into one and launched an attack on the opponent along their original trajectory.
The flames brushed past him, and after being subjected to both extreme cold and extreme heat, he felt his skin was starting to crack and burning with pain.
This was the first time in so many years that he had been injured before achieving any results in the battle.
The sword light crisscrossed the sea of fire, but its power was constantly being worn away. When it finally reached Ji An after passing through many obstacles, the Wuji Apricot Yellow Banner fluttered with thousands of golden flowers.
After being continuously weakened, the sword light was already at its last gasp when it reached him. It couldn't even penetrate the second layer of defense of the Wuji Apricot Yellow Banner and was annihilated in layers of yellow spiritual light.
Ji An was thrilled, which meant that unless the other side could catch him off guard, they would not be able to pose a fatal threat to him.
The ensuing battle was spectacular. Li Haoran wielded his sword light, appearing in front and behind in an instant, transforming sword energy into waves that surged endlessly in layers.
Ji An countered with various spells, simultaneously wielding two top-grade spiritual artifacts, engaging in a fierce back-and-forth battle with his opponent.
The golden river surged, silver waves rose to the sky, flames burst forth, and ten thousand red flowers bloomed.
Two quarters of an hour passed, and Ji An felt that both his magical power and spiritual power were running out. He shouted:
"Senior brother, let's stop here. I can't hold on any longer."
Li Haoran sheathed his sword and laughed heartily:
"happy!"
He hadn't had such a satisfying battle in a long time; back in the far north, battles usually ended within fifteen minutes.
No cultivator of the same level had ever been able to withstand his attacks for so long; he was the first.
Moreover, his opponent wasn't purely defensive; their attacks were equally sharp and posed a significant threat to his life.
The Flame Banner and the Apricot Yellow Banner, which were lifted off the ground, grew smaller and smaller, disappearing into Ji An's body and entering his dantian for nourishment.
He felt his heart pounding like a drum, pounding incessantly. He gasped for breath, and it took him a while to calm down before he said:
"If we continue fighting, I will definitely lose."
The opponent was too fast; apart from the Gengjin Spirit-Slaying Sword, other spells were hardly able to keep up.
If the two were to truly fight to the death, he would be at a great disadvantage, and because of his speed, whether he stayed or left would be entirely up to the other party.
In this battle, except for not using the soul attack technique Mental Roar, he went all out and performed to his expected level of combat prowess.
Li Haoran calmed his surging blood and smiled:
"Junior brother is too modest. I cannot break through your defenses, so it will be very difficult for me to win."
Although sword escape is fast, constantly moving at high speed consumes a lot of energy.
Several times he launched a full-force attack, and his flying sword clearly broke through the opponent's defense and struck the opponent's body, but it felt as if he had pierced a block of iron, and he returned empty-handed.
The closest I came to success was leaving a two-inch-long sword mark on the back of my opponent's hand; that was the only effective attack that drew blood.
His junior brother's defensive strength was so strong that he felt no other cultivator of the same level could match him.
“Junior brother, with your current combat abilities, you can travel anywhere in the world as long as you don’t fall into other people’s traps.”
Li Haoran sighed inwardly, thinking that such an ability should definitely not be possessed by a spirit farmer; the other party must have had an extraordinary opportunity.
After exchanging pleasantries for a while, Li Haoran said:
"Once I establish the Wood Element Divine Palace and reside temporarily at Crimson Flame Peak, I will have a proper sparring session with my junior brother."
He had given his all in this battle, but it ended in a stalemate, which suppressed his arrogance.
He planned to go back and thoroughly analyze the battle to find a solution.
He found that his opponent was like a spiky turtle, and based on his previous combat experience, he felt like he had nowhere to bite.
"Alright, then we'll have a good, thorough sparring session."
Ji An paused for a moment, then said:
"Senior Brother Li, the Phoenix Wood is a fourth-tier spiritual plant. The original reward was too low. I need to give you some more."
"No need. This is just like a normal transaction. After the money and goods are exchanged, we go our separate ways. There's no need to get entangled any further."
My junior brother promised to give me some spiritual fruits after the spiritual plants were harvested, so I've already gotten a huge advantage.
"If you ever need to purchase golden-leaf sword bamboo in the future, it would be my honor if you could try your best to meet my needs."
As Li Haoran spoke, he took out a piece of animal hide with white markings and smiled:
"These were taken from a demonic beast at the fourth level of the Chaoyuan stage. I traded some gold leaves with my junior brother."
"Senior brother, you have excellent skills. However, I don't have many high-grade sword bamboo leaves left. I will be able to repay you in a few years."
"Junior brother, please take this. Consider it a deposit. Just give me the gold leaf first."
"Since you trust me, I'll accept it without hesitation."
High-grade animal hides are a valuable resource that is hard to come by.
Ji An happily accepted the animal hide and took out his tools to carefully measure it:
"The animal hide is quite intact and can be cut into about 120 talismans. According to the exchange rules of the Treasure Pavilion, it can be exchanged for 24,000 minor merits."
"Currently, top-grade Xuan Ye Sword Bamboo is extremely rare on Crimson Flame Peak. May I trade half of my mid-grade sword bamboo leaves and half of my top-grade sword bamboo leaves with my senior brother?"
"Can."
Li Haoran nodded. The only channels he could obtain top-grade sword bamboo golden leaves were the Treasure Pavilion and Crimson Flame Peak.
The following evening, Ji An left the Si Nong Hall and rode the clouds around Ning Cui Cliff. Today was the day to perform the ritual for the spirit field.
He first performed a spell on the medicinal garden halfway up the mountain, and then went to the cave at the top of the mountain.
"Where did Master go?"
He asked, "At this time usually, my master would sit in his chair, waiting for me to chat for a while."
The maidservant cupped her hands and smiled, saying:
"After lunch, Uncle-Master Ge was in high spirits and said he wanted to stroll around the sect and visit old friends, and wouldn't be back that night."
"It's good that Master is in such a good mood."
Ji An said that it was a good thing that his master was willing to go out for a walk. Staying in the cave every day would gradually make him lose his vitality.
He activated the mimicry array by making a hand seal, and after entering the herb garden, he released different spells for different spiritual herbs.
Two types of medicinal herbs are planted here: those of the wood element and those of the fire element.
In an instant, the Azure Dragon roared in the sky, and the firelight was dazzling. Then, dark clouds gathered and white rain poured down. Various magical intents intertwined, creating a vibrant scene.
Ji An flew to the rock wall on a cloud, opened the magic barrier, and slowly walked along the stone steps. After passing through the light curtain, his pupils couldn't help but shrink.
The thickest peach tree's leaves shone with a spiritual light far exceeding its usual intensity, its veins resembling burning flames, clearly distinguishing it from the peach trees beside it.
A large number of amethyst bees circled the spirit tree, dancing joyfully, their buzzing sounds filling the air.
Although the number of bees is large, they are very orderly.
Ji An was invigorated and strode forward, appearing next to the spirit peach tree in the next instant.
He excitedly reached out and placed his hand on the rough bark of the spirit wood, immediately feeling a vibrant life force flowing within it, as if he were in a sea of fire created by the Zhurong Divine Fire Spell.
"A second-tier top-grade spirit peach," Ji An murmured softly, overwhelmed by a sense of immense happiness.
He had been in charge of Ningcui Cliff for less than thirty years, yet he was able to cultivate top-grade spiritual plants, and the power of his three Great Perfection level spells was even stronger than he had anticipated.
It took him a while to recover from the dizziness.
He laughed wildly a few times and activated the Azure Dragon Awakening Technique.
A ten-foot-long azure dragon gracefully emerged from the void, its dark green scales gleaming.
It slightly opened its mouth, and a dragon's roar, like spring thunder, resounded. Emerald light rained down, heavenly flowers fell in disarray, and blue lotuses surged from the ground. The vigorous growth of the Dharma spread to every inch of the land.
The light rain fell on the spirit tree and immediately seeped into it, drawing more wood-elemental spiritual energy into the top-grade spirit peach tree.
He changed his spells, releasing the Zhurong Divine Fire Spell and the Yellow Dragon Enhancing Yuan Technique in turn, and then left with a satisfied gait, as if he didn't recognize anyone.
(End of this chapter)
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