Martial Cultivator

The arrival was a middle-aged daoist nun, her face filled with resentment as her eyes remained fixed on Chen Chao. The murderous intent emanating from her body was not concealed, adding a chilling atmosphere to the spring day.

The daoist nun before him was none other than the master of Guo Xi, one of the qi refiners killed by Chen Chao in the past. She was also the one who was angered to the point of spitting blood in the Ministry of Penalty's great hall.

As Chen Chao looked at the middle-aged daoist nun before him, he could not help but feel rather emotional. His true clash with the foreign cultivators was with this middle-aged daoist nun. Although he was nearly overwhelmed during their battle in Tianqing County, he managed to buy enough time until Song Lian arrived, ultimately saving him from the clutches of this middle-aged daoist nun.

The sensational case that once rocked the Divine Capital ended with Chen Chao being declared innocent. This middle-aged daoist nun, along with the other cultivators, left the Divine Capital about a year or two ago. Chen Chao had assumed that she had returned to her sect to continue her cultivation. However, to his surprise, she had been hiding outside the Divine Capital all this time, waiting for an opportunity to kill him.

When Chen Chao left the Divine Capital previously, he had expected to encounter her, but it did not happen. Instead, a year later, he encountered her again today, when he was completely off-guard.

Gripping the hilt of his saber, Chen Chao felt the daoist nun's aura, and discovered that it was unchanged from before. Though somewhat relieved, he still whispered to Xie Nandu, "I'll hold her off. Can you go back to the Divine Capital and get reinforcements?"

Xie Nandu also whispered, "Are you not confident that you can kill her?"

Chen Chao said softly, "Someone as stupid as this hag probably didn't hide her cultivation realm, but we are separated by a cultivation realm after all. I only have a 30% confidence in killing her."

The middle-aged daoist nun was in the Great Beyond Realm, while Chen Chao was still in the Bitter Sea Realm Realm. Despite Chen Chao's numerous techniques and the guidance he received from two peerless martial artists in this period, his combat strength had greatly improved, but there was still a realm gap. It would not be accurate to say that he was 100% confident. Moreover, if this woman truly acted recklessly, he might be able to handle it himself, but Xie Nandu by his side might encounter some trouble.

Xie Nandu said indifferently, "If you add me, is there a 50% chance?"

Before Chen Chao could respond, Xie Nandu said softly, "I've already reached high-level Divine Trove."

Through this period of bitter cultivation and the close guidance of the sword immortal Liu Banbi, Xie Nandu's Sword Dao realm had advanced rapidly. She had already glimpsed the threshold of the Divine Trove Realm last winter. Just this realm alone already made Chen Chao feel incredulous. However, during the New Year, Xie Nandu had already stepped into the Divine Trove Realm. She had been steadily advancing, and was now nearing the end of the Divine Trove Realm.

Some geniuses in the world were like this: they clearly started late, but always managed to arrive first.

Xie Nandu officially started cultivating much later than many talented cultivators of her generation. However, if you thought that this genius girl would not be able to catch up to the footsteps of those young geniuses, you would be underestimating her. Chen Chao was somewhat surprised. After nodding slightly, he smiled and looked at the middle-aged daoist nun who had remained motionless all this time. He asked, "Old hag, you've been waiting for so long. If you fail to kill me this time, will it make you vomit blood again?"

The middle-aged daoist nun remained expressionless and just said indifferently, "Are your last words finished?"

Chen Chao narrowed his eyes and suddenly asked, "This is our personal grudge, can you spare my friend?"

The middle-aged daoist nun sneered, "I'll kill this little girl first later, so you can also feel the pain of losing loved ones."

Chen Chao gave an "oh" thoughtfully. Before he finished speaking, he took a big step forward. At the same time, his broken saber at his waist was unsheathed in an instant, emitting a bright saber light in the sky.

The middle-aged daoist nun snorted coldly, and with a sweep of her sleeve, a majestic aura burst out from her sleeve. Simultaneously, she dodged the fierce strike, and a whisk appeared in her hand, seemingly materializing out of nowhere.

As the whisk came down heavily, countless silk threads scattered in front of Chen Chao's eyes, instantly obscuring the entire sky. The countless silk threads were like tentacles filling the sky, reaching out towards Chen Chao. Chen Chao remained expressionless as he swung his broken saber. The blade clashed with the first silk thread that approached, proving once again that the broken saber, which had been shown to be no less capable than any flying sword in the world, instantly severed countless silk threads. However, after the threads broke, they did not fall but transformed into countless steel needles, swiftly heading towards Chen Chao's numerous acupoints, almost every one aimed at a vital spot.

Chen Chao was about to pull back the saber, but in an instant, countless threads entangled the blade. Chen Chao took a deep breath, pouring all the qi in his body into his arms, instantly erupting with immense force. Yet, even so, he could only pull the threads taut, and the threads that were the first to touch the blade had already broken apart. However, with layers upon layers of threads, they could not be completely severed in an instant.

The severed threads that resembled steel needles had already collided with Chen Chao's body. The middle-aged daoist nun narrowed her eyes, then looked towards the side where Xie Nandu was standing.

This genius daughter of the Xie Family stood on the spot, as if she was transfixed with fear, showing no reaction at all.

Countless steel needles collided with numerous vital acupoints on Chen Chao's body at the same time. This was an extremely vicious method; if these acupoints were pierced by the steel needles, Chen Chao would be doomed to die, and before his death, he would surely suffer incredible agony.

However, the next moment brought an unexpected turn of events that surprised the middle-aged daoist nun. The steel-like silk threads did indeed strike Chen Chao's countless acupoints, but they failed to penetrate deeply. Chen Chao's qi flowed throughout his body, and with a shake of his body, he forcibly ejected the silk threads.

Countless threads finally collided with numerous maple trees, penetrating deep into their trunks and even piercing through some.

Just as the middle-aged daoist nun was about to take action, the threads restraining Chen Chao also began to break apart one after another at this moment. Without hesitation, Chen Chao took a heavy step forward, leaped into the air, and then slashed down with a heavy saber strike.

Although the middle-aged daoist nun had not succeeded in torturing Chen Chao until he wished for death as expected, she remained calm. Facing this young martial artist who could only flee in all directions after seeing her in Tianqing County, the middle-aged daoist nun took a step back, and a ripple appeared in front of her, forming a stone man between heaven and earth.

As the foreign land's qi refiners, they were different from ordinary cultivators in that their cultivation techniques rarely emphasized their own strength. Instead, they focused on harnessing the power of heaven and earth. Ordinary cultivators were unwilling to form grudges with qi refiners because of their endless array of methods, which were difficult to defend against. Some cultivators even privately equate qi refiners with sword cultivators. Unlike the dazzling techniques of the former, the latter relied solely on unparalleled killing power, which was more than sufficient.

After that stone figure was born, it rushed towards Chen Chao in a fearless manner. Chen Chao frowned slightly but did not dodge. With a single slash, he forcibly severed the stone figure's head. As a pure martial artist, he did not have many tricks up his sleeve, nor did he need any. His ordinary slash was enough to overcome any opponent.

Cultivators might look down on martial artists, but who would dare claim that they could easily defeat a martial artist like the Great Liang Emperor?

Despite its shattered head, the stone figure continued to move calmly. Being lifeless to begin with, how could it stop just because it lost its head?

The stone figure punched heavily towards Chen Chao's chest. Chen Chao did not dodge or evade, retaliating with a punch from his free hand. The collision of two fists produced a loud bang as Chen Chao's punch shattered the stone figure's fist and simultaneously blew its body apart.

The sky was filled with debris, scattering in all directions. Many maple trees were struck, their trunks shattering and crashing heavily to the ground.

As the stone figure she summoned shattered, the middle-aged daoist nun briefly showed a surprised expression. However, she quickly regained her composure. While she was shocked by Chen Chao's progress during this period, she still found it impossible to believe that he had the ability to kill her.

Her expression remained neutral, but in an instant, a chill appeared in the surroundings.

Immediately afterward, visible to the naked eye, the maple trees suddenly froze. The entire ground also instantly solidified, resembling an icy surface.

Chen Chao frowned as he looked down at his feet. Before he could even rise, his feet were already frozen in place. However, as his qi surged within his body, the icy ground beneath him shattered instantly. He took another big step forward, closing the distance to the middle-aged daoist nun instantly.

The middle-aged daoist nun's expression remained unchanged, as if she did not care that Chen Chao was getting close to her.

Chen Chao also felt rather curious but still had to swing his saber. However, in the next moment, alarm bells sounded. His saber-wielding hand instantly pulled back, holding the saber horizontally in front of his chest. Suddenly, an ice spike emerged from somewhere, directly colliding with Chen Chao's saber.

A tremendous force struck, sending Chen Chao flying backward, crashing through several maple trees!