Martial Cultivator

Liu Banbi's casual remark was enough to make the middle-aged woman's hair stand on end. She might still feel that she had a glimmer of hope if it was an ordinary sword immortal, but sword immortals could differ greatly. This person in front of her had obviously killed demons for many years in the Northern Frontier, he already had a fundamental difference from ordinary sword cultivators. Among the sword immortals in the same realm today, if they were to judge the one they least wanted to encounter, it would undoubtedly be him, and him alone.

If Liu Banbi stepped into the realm of great sword immortal, he might truly have the possibility of battling against that Sect Master of the Sword Sect who had not shown his face for many years. By then, the entire world would have quite the show to watch.

Would the leader of the world's sword cultivators change hands?

Such matters were for the future, but at present, the middle-aged woman faced Liu Banbi, and her only thought was how to leave with her life.

She remained silent for a moment and was just about to speak, but Liu Banbi on the other side cut her off, "I know what you're going to say. It's about your sect background, and for me, this sword cultivator, to reconsider whether to kill you, and whether or not I can bear the consequences. But there's no need. Since I showed up here, why would I even bother thinking about those things?"

Before his words even finished, the Embracing Cicada at Liu Banbi's waist began to hum, and sword qi already seeped out from its scabbard.

Seeing this scene, the middle-aged woman knew that she had no way out, so she stopped talking. Instead, a faint rainbow light appeared behind her. An ancient well suddenly appeared between heaven and earth. In the midst of the heavy snowfall in the Divine Capital, there was now a hint of coolness. But, it did not make people feel cold. Instead, it was refreshing rather than cold.

In the Divine Capital, Nepenthe cultivators each had their own methods and strengths. Their paths of cultivation, circumstances, and mental states varied, hence they were all different.

Liu Banbi furrowed his brows slightly, then smiled and said, "Haven't seen it before, perfect timing."

As he spoke with a smile, the flying sword Embracing Cicada at his waist suddenly left its sheath, and stabbed towards the middle-aged woman without any warning. Its speed was extremely fast, drawing a dazzling sword light in the air.

The middle-aged woman dodged by tilting her head, and the flying sword fell straight into the scene behind her. Judging from the naked eye, it had visibly transformed into an autumn cicada, landing in that ancient well.

The middle-aged woman sensed something was amiss and asked in a cold voice, "What kind of technique is this?"

Liu Banbi did not answer the question.

Instead, as he looked up, snowflakes scattered in the sky simultaneously, parting to reveal an extremely dazzling sword light that split the heavens and the earth, as if descending from the clouds into the mortal realm, forming a river of sword qi!

This sword strike was grand and awe-inspiring, leaving people dazzled and terrified.

On the day of witnessing Gan Yong's final sword in Xuanling Commandery, of the two sword cultivators, Yu Xiyi's realm was not high enough, and they were too far away. Even if he gained some insight, it might only be helpful to him after he accumulated enough to reach a higher realm. Liu Banbi, being a Nepenthe sword cultivator in the first place, had gained some insight after witnessing that strike of a great sword immortal. Now, Liu Banbi's sword had an even grander phenomenon than before he left the Northern Frontier.

The middle-aged woman stared fixedly at the river of sword qi, her mind tense. The cultivators on the mountain who were unwilling to deal with sword cultivators were like this. Not only did these sword cultivators possess formidable killing prowess, but they also occasionally used techniques that others had never seen before, which was the most troublesome aspect.

Seeing this phenomenon before her, the middle-aged woman could not help but curse inwardly. Was this fucking Liu Banbi really not going to leave her a way out?

As if sensing what the middle-aged woman was thinking, Liu Banbi raised an eyebrow and said, "Cursing me? You'll die even faster."

The middle-aged woman's expression turned ugly as she continued to stare fixedly at the river of sword qi, not daring to be distracted. But little did she know, the next sentence uttered by Liu Banbi caught her off guard.

"This sword isn't anything impressive. Do you want to take a look at my previous sword attack?"

The middle-aged woman was suddenly startled. Previous sword attack?

She did not react in time.

Behind her, from that ancient well, the flying sword that had transformed into an autumn cicada and fallen into the well slowly flew out again. It stopped quietly at the mouth of the well, gently flapping its wings. The well water on its wings transformed into countless sword qi, erupting in all directions. In an instant, streams of dazzling sword lights were formed, making the whole scene stunningly bright.

The middle-aged woman's expression turned extremely ugly. By now, even if she was slow to react, she understood that the truly fatal strike was not the sword river brought forth by Liu Banbi later, but the previous flying sword.

Liu Banbi sighed, "Don't you know that you need to pay attention to the sword in a sword cultivator's hand? I stopped holding a sword, so you've forgotten about it?"

The middle-aged woman remained silent. Suddenly, the well burst out with a burst of light, completely suppressing those sword lights in an instant. Embracing Cicada emitted a trembling sound, like the cry of an autumn cicada, particularly piercing.

However, Liu Banbi paid no heed and stretched out his hand, summoning the sword river which spanned the sky. It transformed into several flying swords, each heading towards several acupoints on the middle-aged woman's body.

Although not real flying swords, these flying swords carrying sword light carried a menacing momentum.

Facing these flying swords, the middle-aged woman did not choose to confront them head-on, nor did she take out any magic artifact at this moment. Instead, she took a step forward, and her entire person immediately disappeared from the world. The flying swords lost their target and embedded themselves into the scene. The sword qi dissipated, disturbing the falling snow.

The sudden disappearance of the middle-aged woman did not surprise Liu Banbi too much. His gaze was actually focused on the scene at the ancient well.

As expected, the middle-aged woman's figure reappeared beside the ancient well. She then took off the pearl hairpin from her hair bun, drew a bloody wound across her palm, and fiercely stabbed towards that autumn cicada!

Beside the ancient well, different auras were currently crisscrossing; exceptionally terrifying.

Liu Banbi watched this scene and could not help laughing, "At least you're not particularly stupid, better late than never. It's not a bad idea to try to make up for lost opportunities."

His embedding of the flying swords into the scene of the ancient well was his strongest killing move, but he had no intention of concealing it. Instead, he took the initiative to expose it. What he really wanted was to use the hands of this middle-aged woman to properly digest the sword technique of Gan Yong, a great sword immortal.

The middle-aged woman gripped her pearl hairpin, blood spreading from her palm along the hairpin, forming a web of blood aiming to ensnare the seemingly ordinary autumn cicada.

Perched at the edge of the well, the autumn cicada did not evade or hide but instead spread its wings and flew towards the blood web.

The blood web already enveloped the autumn cicada and the pearl hairpin flew swiftly towards it.

A sudden chirping sound echoed, and the autumn cicada suddenly transformed into several cicadas, scattering in all directions with dazzling brilliance.

As the cicadas vibrated their wings, endless sword qi burst forth, creating an unexpected scene of numerous swords being simultaneously launched.

The blood web could not withstand the onslaught of these swords for long and was quickly slashed apart. Within the blood web, the pearl hairpin became incomparably dim at this moment.

The flying sword Embracing Cicada returned to Liu Banbi's palm. Holding the flying sword, Liu Banbi said with satisfaction, "That's about enough. I won't waste any more time with you. I wouldn't want that Lord Warden Commander to think that I, a sword cultivator, am inferior to a martial artist like him."

With these words, Liu Banbi swung his sword down. The sword river flowing down from the sky naturally descended rapidly, with countless sword qi rushing down, blotting out the skies and covered the earth in an unreasonable manner.

The middle-aged woman formed hand seals, preparing to receive this formidable sword, but Liu Banbi paid no heed. He knew all too well that in this battle, the woman was no match for him.

He had finished honing his sword, so perhaps it was best to end this duel here?

With a hint of regret, Liu Banbi murmured, "Killing people is never as interesting as killing demons."

……

……

Over at the Xia Family, the Lord Warden Commander punched that arrogant cultivator, sending him flying hundreds of feet. Then, after withstanding that old man's treacherous attack, he reached out, and directly grabbed the old man's shoulder. His other hand clenched into a fist and smashed directly at the old man's head. The old man hurriedly extended his hands to defend himself, but under the Lord Warden Commander's punch, his raised arms were forcibly broken with a crisp snap.

Similarly a Nepenthe cultivator, the old man's body naturally was not as resilient as that of the Lord Warden Commander, but it would not be easy to break his body with just one punch.

However, at this point, the Lord Warden Commander had no intention of holding back. He put all his strength into this punch, and the old man across from him simply could not withstand it.

The old man, whose arm was broken by one punch, wore a grim expression. It was not because of the immense pain from the broken arm, but rather because he knew very well that even if the two of them joined forces today, they probably would not be able to escape from the hands of this martial artist. Before the fight began, even with the precedent set by the Great Liang Emperor in the desolate north, he had not thought much of the martial artist before him. Regardless of how impressive the Great Liang Emperor was, there was only that one person in the world. How could the Lord Warden Commander before him possibly be another?

But when he exhausted his means, even bringing out the magic artifact that he had refined for many years, only to have it shattered by the Lord Warden Commander's bare fist, the old man knew that his defeat was a foregone conclusion.

Yet, even now, he still could not understand it. Was the cultivation of martial artists not defying Heaven? Why was it that when a martial artist reached the end of Nepenthe, not only were they able to reach the pinnacle, they could even be so domineering?

Regarding the notion that enduring the most hardships made one superior, cultivators had always scoffed at it. However, when it came to the path of martial artists, upon closer examination, was it not like this?

At this moment, the old man's mind was in a daze, and many thoughts arose within him, almost forgetting that he was in battle.

The Lord Warden Commander saw through the old man's distraction but was unwilling to dwell on it. After delivering another punch that caved in the old man's chest, he released his grip on the old man's shoulder and strode towards the middle-aged cultivator who had been knocked back by a punch but had returned.

Facing two Nepenthe realm cultivators alone, the Lord Warden Commander appeared like a deity, exuding a boundless aura that caused air billows to emanate around him. The air billows undulated with his every movement, rippling out in waves.

With another simple punch, the middle-aged cultivator opposite him coughed up blood and was sent flying backward once again.

After suppressing that cultivator, the Lord Warden Commander did not immediately pursue further but instead arrived directly in the sky above the Xia Family's ancestral hall.

Without any hesitation or words, the Lord Warden Commander stomped heavily.

The Xia Family's ancestral hall, the ancestral hall considered a sacred place by the Xia Family, was directly trampled flat by this martial artist!