Chapter Eighty-Six: Murderous Intent Fills the Sky

Stuart, too, had actually begun to copy Dragon Cloud’s methods—he intended to kill Willow Xiaoxiao first before anything else.

“I’ve been waiting for you!” Dragon Cloud bellowed, and as he retreated, he suddenly stamped the ground seven times with the tip of his foot. This was none other than the “Seven Ascending Dragon Steps” from the “Ascending Dragon Footwork”!

The “Seven Ascending Dragon Steps” was the most practical technique within the “Ascending Dragon Footwork.” By taking seven consecutive steps, one could rapidly alter one’s position. The first six steps were all for gathering force; only the seventh step released the full burst of accumulated power.

Thus, the instant the seventh step landed, Dragon Cloud’s body seemed to turn into a streak of lightning, instantly covering thirty feet and arriving after the fact, yet before Stuart could escape!

At the same time, the Green River Edge-less Sword thrust out with deadly speed, ripples surging madly in all directions. A feeling as though heaven and earth were being cleaved open spread through everyone present.

Stuart had never imagined that Dragon Cloud still possessed such a marvelous footwork technique. If he insisted on killing Willow Xiaoxiao, then he himself would surely perish beneath Dragon Cloud’s sword.

He could feel the terrifying power of that strike. Even if it did not take his life, it would certainly leave him gravely wounded and stripped of all fighting strength. He had no choice but to withdraw the sword aimed at Willow Xiaoxiao.

With a backward sweep, he hastily met Dragon Cloud’s sword energy head-on!

Dragon God Creates the World!

Dragon Cloud had already resolved to kill, and so he unleashed this technique without the slightest hesitation. Back when he had first used it, the drain upon his true energy had been immense.

But now, he no longer cared so much about the expenditure of true energy.

For he had cultivated Zhong Xuan’s peerless art, the Reincarnation Formula. Reincarnation meant life and death turning upon one another, cause and effect circling without end, a symbol of endless return. After training in this scripture, Dragon Cloud truly felt its terrifying depth. He had only just brushed the surface, yet his rate of true energy recovery had already tripled. One could only imagine the benefits were he to cultivate it to perfection.

Therefore, Dragon Cloud unleashed this killing move without hesitation!

With a thunderous crash, the two streams of sword energy slammed into each other. In an instant, shockwaves ravaged outward in every direction, leaving devastation in their wake!

“Pfft—” Stuart spat out a mouthful of blood, his body flung backward through the air!

Dragon Cloud’s body also shook violently. He forcibly swallowed back the blood that had nearly surged from his throat, then once more executed the Seven Ascending Dragon Steps. In a single instant, he caught up to Stuart’s flying body.

Drawing upon all the remaining true energy in his body, he swept his sword horizontally!

Stuart’s earlier counterattack had been made in haste, his true energy never fully erupting at maximum strength. Coupled with the overwhelming divine might of Dragon Cloud’s Dragon God Creates the World, he was already at a severe disadvantage in terms of power. Back when Dragon Cloud had only been at the Bone-Refining stage, he had already managed to withstand a strike from the Jade Sword Sect’s grand elder at the Innate Energy stage without dying. That alone was enough to show how fearsome this move truly was.

And now Dragon Cloud’s cultivation had already broken through to the Transcendent stage, and after being baptized by the mysterious bloodline power of Dragon Gate Pine, the force of this technique was no longer comparable to before.

Though Stuart and the Jade Sword Sect grand elder were of the same level, his foundation was far inferior to the elder’s. Add to that his lack of preparation, and the balance of advantage and disadvantage immediately turned against him. He was heavily injured at once.

This strike from Dragon Cloud had been fully prepared from the very beginning. The moment he chose Stuart as his target, he had already made up his mind. With the subtlety of the Ascending Dragon Footwork, it was entirely possible to delay until Stuart reached the point of rage.

For someone who had reached the Innate stage, Stuart could not possibly be a fool. He would inevitably think of attacking Willow Xiaoxiao or Chen Long instead—and that would be the precise moment for Dragon Cloud’s single decisive kill.

As expected, everything had unfolded exactly as Dragon Cloud had calculated. He had not even expected to kill Stuart with one blow, but a crippling injury was unavoidable, and so he had to seize this chance.

The Green River Edge-less Sword drew a sword ray some twelve feet long, slashing across in a horizontal arc. How could Stuart, still airborne, possibly defend himself? His body was cleaved cleanly in two from the chest downward.

The severed corpse fell uselessly to the ground. Even in death, his eyes remained open in unwillingness.

Dragon Cloud did not spare a glance at that miserable sight. He hurriedly sat down cross-legged and, with full force, urged the Reincarnation Formula to restore the true energy he had exhausted to nothing.

“Brother Stuart!” Chu Huanran, who had been locked in fierce combat with Willow Xiaoxiao and Chen Long, saw Stuart actually slain by Dragon Cloud in such fashion, and was instantly so furious that his eyes threatened to split.

The Green Sect had ruled the Blue Mountain System for nearly a thousand years. Within the Blue Mountain System, no one had ever dared challenge its authority. Yet now, first Bai Yuanzhan had died miserably at Dragon Cloud’s hands, and then Stuart—the man hailed as the second genius—had also perished beneath Dragon Cloud’s sword.

In such a short time, two major disciples of the Green Sect had fallen. This was not merely an insult to the Green Sect; even Chu Huanran found it hard to believe. Enraged beyond measure, he wanted nothing more than to repel the two before him and charge at Dragon Cloud, who was sitting on the ground.

Unfortunately for him, he had underestimated Willow Xiaoxiao and Chen Long. The two saw that Dragon Cloud had successfully killed Stuart and were overjoyed, knowing that Dragon Cloud was now utterly spent.

At once, their attacks intensified, especially Willow Xiaoxiao. Her sword seemed to vanish entirely into the air, and the assaults carrying her peculiar true energy left Chu Huanran unable to let his guard drop for even the slightest moment.

With Stuart’s death affecting his state of mind, his sword techniques, though far more ferocious than before in his wrath, had in fact become less steady in judgment.

Willow Xiaoxiao seized precisely this weakness. Her sword energy, like a venomous snake lurking in the shadows, launched several stealthy attacks that forced Chu Huanran back time and again, gradually driving him into a disadvantageous position.

And the instant Stuart died, the Green Sect’s martial arena nearly erupted into chaos. Stuart had originally been ranked second on the points list; now his name vanished.

In his place, Dragon Cloud’s name took over second position. Combined with his previous points, he was now not far behind the first-place holder, Cheng Rongxiang.

If Bai Yuanzhan’s death had merely given the Green Sect elders an excuse to trouble the Jade Sword Sect, then Stuart’s death made those elders so furious that their eyes nearly burst. In a flash, one elder had already appeared before Shangguan Yu.

“Shangguan Yu, I never expected the disciples of the Jade Sword Sect to be so ruthless. I’d like to see how you intend to answer for this!” the Green Sect elder said coldly, killing intent rippling outward in all directions.

Shangguan Yu narrowed his eyes slightly. His cultivation had now reached the fifth level of the Innate stage, the Fusion stage. The next step was the Tribulation stage, known as a path of nine deaths and one survival.

Only after undergoing tribulation could one truly shed the mortal body, be tempered by heavenly lightning, and achieve a golden physique!

As for this Green Sect elder, he was merely at the fourth level of the Innate stage, the Marrow-Cleansing stage—still inferior to Shangguan Yu. Thus Shangguan Yu did not take him seriously at all.

Just as Shangguan Yu was about to speak in his own defense, three waves of powerful killing intent suddenly spread across the entire venue at once. In an instant, the sky-piercing pressure silenced all the sect masters present. Everyone fell quiet.

At the same time, three beams of light descended from the heavens, transforming into three figures that landed beside the Green Sect elder.

“Three senior brothers...” The Green Sect elder’s expression changed, and he was about to speak when the white-haired elder at the head raised a hand to stop him.

With a faint tone, he said, “Xinian, there is no need for more words. We can see clearly enough. The Jade Sword Sect has actually been so bold as to kill two of my Green Sect’s disciples. This time, we will show no mercy!”

Shangguan Yu forcefully suppressed the anger in his heart and said calmly, “Elders, with more than a hundred sects of the Blue Mountain System present, my Jade Sword Sect will certainly not make excuses. Once the disciples emerge, I will ask for the facts. If nothing else is amiss, I will give the Green Sect an accounting.”

“An accounting?” The white-haired elder frowned. “The one who died was a Green Sect disciple at the Innate stage. If your Jade Sword Sect had such a disciple, he would likely already be an elder. You say you will give us an accounting—can you even afford to?”

Shangguan Yu narrowed his eyes, and his voice gradually turned colder. “Though my Jade Sword Sect is not as strong as the Green Sect, neither are we to be insulted at will. You four are all Green Sect elders, yes, but you are still considered fellow members of the righteous path. If you mean to bully my Jade Sword Sect openly, then as sect master I, Shangguan Yu, will never yield. I refuse to believe that, under so many watching eyes, you would dare exterminate my Jade Sword Sect.”

Hearing this, the white-haired elder’s killing intent only grew sharper. He said furiously, “Good! Excellent Jade Sword Sect, excellent Shangguan Yu! Since you have so much nerve, then you may be buried underground together with the Jade Sword Sect!”

With that, he was about to draw the sword at his waist.

At that very moment, a voice suddenly rang out:

“Not good! Senior brother, Chu Huanran has fallen!”