The opponent showed clear intent to fight. The sword cultivator tightened his grip on the Ling Sword, his face stern as he waited silently for Hua Jian to make the first move.
He believed himself stronger than Hua Jian. Since they were all disciples of the Saint Sect, proper etiquette had to be observed.
Allowing Hua Jian to strike first was his way of showing respect.
Seeing this, Hua Jian was utterly unreserved. With a swoosh, she transformed into seven-colored petals and vanished into the forest.
This caused the sword cultivator to frown slightly. She hadn’t taken the initiative to attack— what was this Yaochi Senior Sister thinking?
Soon, he understood Hua Jian’s intention.
A faint, multicolored mist spread through the forest, and a subtle floral fragrance quietly filled the air, stirring the senses.
The sword cultivator’s brows knitted tightly; he realized he had made a grave mistake.
This Yaochi Senior Sister specialized not in direct combat, but in illusionary arts!
Her technique sacrificed straightforward fighting power for overwhelming control abilities. One misstep against a cultivator of the same level could lead to an irreversible downfall.
“Illusions… they cannot overcome the sword in my hand!” The sword cultivator held his breath, slashing through the blurred phantoms before his eyes.
A practitioner of sword cultivation must have a resolute heart. As long as his will was firm enough, even the most powerful illusions could not cloud his judgment!
He expanded his divine sense through the forest, searching for Hua Jian’s figure. He knew he could no longer delay; the longer the fight dragged on, the less advantageous his position became.
Holding one’s breath and clinging to faith could only temporarily fend off the assault of hallucinations. If the battle prolonged, his chances of victory would plummet.
Where was she?
A spirit master’s divine sense was not that strong; the sword cultivator relied mostly on his five senses. But now, in this situation, even his five senses were of little help.
Before him was nothing but colorful mist, the air thick with floral fragrance. Sounds could be heard— mainly the wind rustling through the trees.
Where had she hidden?
……
Hua Jian hadn’t hidden; she was swiftly circling the battlefield, dropping components of her Array of Bewilderment one by one onto the ground.
The colorful mist trapping the sword cultivator was her own Spirit Technique. Using this self-created technique drained nearly half of Hua Jian’s spiritual power.
If she continued to wear down the sword cultivator in this way, she would likely exhaust her own spiritual energy before he was truly incapacitated.
The foundation of great sect cultivators was simply too deep. Without prior preparation, Hua Jian found it difficult to defeat them.
To counter this, Hua Jian had made ample preparations. Since she couldn’t win by sheer strength alone, she relied on formations to assist in battle.
She had stored a set of simple Array of Bewilderment components in her storage pouch. When needed, she could quickly assemble the formation by scattering the pieces on the ground.
However, this formation’s effect was limited. More advanced arrays required her to gather materials on-site bit by bit before she could assemble them.
In any case, she would use whatever was available! If she couldn’t take down the sword cultivator quickly, she would use this chance to assist the Sword Cultivator Girl and see if she could first subdue the other two opponents.
……
“This is bad— quick, take the Antidote Pill!” Lu Tong had acted swiftly, swallowing the Poison-Dispelling Pill the moment the mist began to rise.
No matter what the mist’s effect was, taking the pill first was always wise.
Sun Zi did the same, but after taking the pill, he sniffed the floral scent in the air with a doubtful expression.
“Lu Tong, don’t you think this fragrance feels familiar?”
Hadn’t they been tracking this scent for days? Could it be that the treasure they sought had already fallen into someone else’s hands?
“Exactly. This is the scent we’ve been chasing. It seems someone got there before us,” Lu Tong said, unaware of the flaw in his reasoning.
He hadn’t immediately considered that the fragrance might be a feature of Hua Jian’s technique; instead, he jumped to the conclusion that Hua Jian had taken the treasure.
The slight mist inhaled before taking the Chingxin Pill had a subtle effect on the two, who were too focused on the battle to pay attention.
But an even greater effect was about to manifest.
The white deer that Lu Tong was sitting on suddenly began to stir restlessly, thrashing about until Lu Tong was forced to jump off.
He had forgotten to give the white deer a wild-feed pill when he took his own.
Now, the white deer was completely overwhelmed by the illusion, entering an uncontrollable frenzy. Even Lu Tong couldn’t calm the deer quickly.
This prized spirit beast had cost him a fortune, purchased from his senior brother. Normally, he would never hit or scold it, and now it was out of the question to use force to calm it down.
“Hmph, you two hypocrites, take this!” The Sword Cultivator Girl was completely undisturbed by the sudden mist. She swiftly raised her sword and launched an attack at the two cultivators.
Cultivators of the Wanling Sect had a particular trait: when fighting alongside their spirit beasts, their strength surpassed ordinary cultivators, but once separated, their combat power dropped below average.
Lu Tong was facing exactly this predicament.
Without the white deer’s support, he was no match for the Sword Cultivator Girl.
After trading a few blows alongside Sun Zi, Lu Tong was drenched in sweat and called for backup. “Liu Feng, get over here! Let’s take this guy down first!”
This Sword Cultivator Girl’s strength was bizarre—she could hold her own against two opponents without falling behind. What was someone like her doing in the outer regions of the secret realm?
Training core techniques? Challenging other Talented Ones to duels?
Hearing their call for help, a flicker of hesitation crossed Liu Feng’s eyes. “You two step aside. I’ll duel her one-on-one.”
In the end, he refused to gang up. He was willing to fight the Sword Cultivator Girl, but only if it was a fair one-on-one duel.
“Fine, fine, suit yourself!” Lu Tong quickly agreed, sensing that any delay would see his head split by her sword.
Soon, the trio switched opponents. Liu Feng and the Sword Cultivator Girl clashed swords in a fierce one-on-one duel, the two blades evenly matched.
Lu Tong and Sun Zi, on the other hand, were completely at a loss dealing with the elusive Hua Jian.
Where was she? They couldn’t even spot a shadow.
Swish!
“What?!” Lu Tong instinctively turned his head and struck out a palm, smashing a vine that was rushing toward him.
Tch, wood-element cultivators… he cursed silently. Fighting in a forest against wood-element cultivators was sheer torture.
Just as this thought crossed his mind, Hua Jian appeared within his field of vision.
“Wait, what are you doing?” He widened his eyes, staring at Hua Jian beside the white deer, a sudden sense of unease growing in his heart.
“What am I doing? Of course, making the numbers a little more even,” Hua Jian said, holding a few colorful grasses which she fed to the white deer, still under the influence of the illusions.
“Now it’s three versus three!”