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Ping An City's Sky, A Clash of Titans
Glaring at Cao Tai Shan's flushed, rigid face—red as a monkey's rear—Lan An stood tall, hands on hips. "Old fool, think Spirit Transformation's all that? My wife's Spirit Transformation too!"
The crowd's lips twitched. Not you, though. Boasting about hiding behind your wife?
But, they admitted, snagging a Spirit Transformation wife was a feat. Who could match that?
Whispers spread: Lan An must be some terrifying faction's heir.
Seeing Cao Tai Shan's ugly silence, Lan An poured fuel on the fire. "Look at my wife! Young, Spirit Transformation, and drop-dead gorgeous. You're half in the grave, barely broke through, yet you strut like a peacock?"
Cao Tai Shan ground his teeth, itching to rip Lan An's tongue out for this lecture.
"Hmph, pretty boy hiding behind his wife's skirts, still so smug?" Jealous male voices echoed from Ping An City.
Lan An dug his ear, grinning inwardly. His Prestige Points were skyrocketing. Kim Nhi was right—envy was a Prestige Point goldmine. That's why he flaunted Mu Zi Yin's entrance.
Shame? What's that when Prestige Points are flowing?
"Fools," Lan An declared loudly. "Ever heard of 'diving under the stove'? I've got the skill to find a prime stove to dive under. Try it yourselves!"
"It's 'dog under the stove'!" the men roared, furious.
"Rogue, shut up!" Mu Zi Yin snapped, cheeks flushed at his bragging. Her Wood Sword gleamed, and she flitted toward Cao Tai Shan like a butterfly.
"Hmph, Spirit Transformation? I'm not scared," Cao Tai Shan growled, sensing danger but steeling himself.
"Butterfly Sword Art: Dance of the Butterfly!" Mu Zi Yin's Wood Sword danced, her form weaving like a butterfly, elusive. Sword qi slashed at Cao Tai Shan in endless waves.
"Frost Chain!" Cao Tai Shan countered with the Cao Clan's technique, conjuring two icy chains far stronger than Cao Han's. He spun them into a circular Ice Shield, blocking the sword qi.
Mu Zi Yin's sword qi wasn't sharp but eerily fluid, slipping past the Ice Shield, exploiting gaps.
"What the—?" Cao Tai Shan yelped. As a Spirit Transformation cultivator, he reacted, forming a spiritual energy barrier around himself.
The barrier was weaker than the Ice Shield, and sword qi grazed him, tearing skin. He retreated, shaken.
"Such fluid swordplay," Cao Tai Shan muttered, realizing he'd underestimated her.
Lan An nodded, impressed. This was his first clear view of Mu Zi Yin's combat. Her past stand against the Tree Demon was no fluke.
"Butterfly Sword Art is Upper Earth-Grade," Kim Nhi chimed in.
Lan An murmured, eyeing Mu Zi Yin's Wood Sword, "Just a Supreme Mysterious-Grade weapon? Unworthy of my wife. Time for an upgrade."
If others heard him scoff at a Supreme Mysterious-Grade weapon, they'd choke. What about those wielding Yellow-Grade trash?
"Ten Thousand Wood Bind!" Mu Zi Yin shouted, vines of spiritual energy lashing toward Cao Tai Shan.
"Petty tricks!" Cao Tai Shan sneered, summoning ice swords to shred the vines.
"Butterfly Sword Art: Butterfly Rush!" Mu Zi Yin vanished, reappearing above Cao Tai Shan, her sword slashing down.
"Dream on!" Cao Tai Shan's divine sense tracked her, despite her speed paling against Lan An's Speed Shift. He whipped his ice chains at the Wood Sword.
Crack!
The chains shattered, mere spiritual constructs against a Supreme Mysterious-Grade weapon, but they halted her attack.
"Father, the axe!" Cao Han shouted, tossing the Polar Ice Axe.
Cao Tai Shan reached for it.
Whoosh!
That eerie sound again. Speed Shift activated, and Lan An snatched the axe.
"Hmph, useless. The Polar Ice Axe is bound to me—" Cao Han's sneer froze as his connection to the axe vanished.
"What did you do to my axe?" he screamed, terrified.
Lan An smirked. "Think you can hit my wife with this? Who gave you the guts?"
The Polar Ice Axe was now in his Spirit Realm Pearl, easily suppressed as a Lower Earth-Grade weapon. Only a higher-grade artifact could resist.
"I was ignoring you, but you meddled. Time to die," Lan An said, his Phantom Charm Wander Step chasing Cao Han and Cao Pi.
"Run!" Cao Han and Cao Pi, already injured, fled in panic, no match for Lan An.
Meanwhile, Mu Zi Yin pressed Cao Tai Shan, her Wood Sword weaving spiritual waves across Ping An City's sky.
"Stop!" Several shouts rang out as six Nascent Soul cultivators—Early and Middle-Stage—flew up, the remaining Cao and Yue Clan elders.
"Brat, six of us against you!" a Cao Clan elder bellowed.
"Be grateful!" another echoed.
Lan An's mouth twitched at their shamelessness, tempted to unleash Fire Phoenix. But its distinct traits were too recognizable, risking Blood Spirit Sect attention.
Devouring Heaven Wood was subtler, its hue close to normal spiritual energy. Mu Zi Yin had confirmed Strange Woods were rarer than Strange Flames on the continent, hard to identify without close inspection.
"Ten Thousand Forest Canopy!" Lan An wove seals.
"Not that technique again!" The elders paled, recalling Cao Han's thrashing.
The forest formed, trapping them like fish in a net.
Their attacks were swallowed by the Devouring Heaven Wood, like drops in an ocean.
To the crowd's disbelief, five Nascent Souls were caged.
Lan An nodded. Mu Zi Yin had said Ten Thousand Forest Canopy was among Tian Mu Sect's strongest techniques. Even Lan An was once trapped by the Fourth Elder's version, let alone these weaklings.
Ignoring them, he pursued Cao Han and Cao Pi, quickly catching up.
"No, what are you doing?" Cao Han, first to be reached, shivered, shouting while secretly charging an attack.
Lan An sneered, his Piercing Weak Point Vision exposing Cao Han's flaws.
"Spirit Fist!" Using a simple Yellow-Grade technique, Lan An condensed Wood elements into his fist, striking Cao Han's weak point.
"Die!" Cao Han spun, unleashing his charged Frost Palm.
The collision was silent. Cao Han's Ice spiritual energy vanished, absorbed by Devouring Heaven Wood, while Spirit Fist's force persisted.
"Aaah!" Cao Han screamed, bones shattering. "How did my technique vanish? What trick is this?"
"Dead men don't need answers," Lan An smiled, channeling Three-Turns Body Cultivation's strength into another Spirit Fist, smashing toward Cao Han.
"Little beast, you'll die with me!" Cao Han, spent, began swelling for self-detonation.
"Self-destruct?" Lan An grinned.
Boom!
The Wooden Turtle reappeared, Lan An ducking beneath. He transmitted, "Ladies, watch out!"
"No!" Bai Su Mei and others paused, deploying defenses.
A Nascent Soul Perfection self-destruction was no joke.
Boom!
Spiritual energy exploded like fireworks, shredding Cao Han's body.
The shock wave tore the sky, even destroying a third of the Ten Thousand Forest Canopy despite its Devouring Heaven Wood.
As the blast neared the city, an elder appeared, dispersing it with a finger.
"Duo Bao Pavilion's senior!" Low-tier cultivators cheered, awed.
The elder vanished without a word.
Lan An mused, "No wonder Duo Bao Pavilion's prestige is sky-high. They've got a branch here."
The elder only protected Ping An City, staying neutral, earning widespread respect.
"Same old trick?" Lan An chuckled, spotting a tiny Nascent Soul fleeing the chaos—Cao Han's, mimicking Tian Mu Sect's Fourth Elder.
Too bad he met Lan An.
He flashed, chasing Cao Han's soul.
"No!" Cao Tai Shan, battling Mu Zi Yin, roared, eyes bulging. With many sons, including Cao Clan elders, Cao Han was his favorite. Seeing him self-destruct and his Nascent Soul hunted, he lost it.
"Hmph!" Focus!" Mu Zi Yin snapped, her Wooden Sword slashing.*
Unable to aid, Cao Tai Shan watched Lan An slay Cao Han's soul, his His eyes bloodshot, he unleashed ice techniques, fighting Mu Zi Yin desperately.*
Lan An devoured Cao Han's soul, his soul power nearing a breakthrough. He locked onto Cao Pi, fleeing far.
Cao Pi's distance was no match for Phantom Charm Wander Step. Lan An closed in.
Seeing Cao Clan's last Nascent Soul doomed, Yue Qun and Yue Hai panicked, leaning toward surrender.
"Patriarch Liu, the Cao Clan's finished. No need to fight," Yue Qun pleaded with Liu Shi Qin.
Liu Shi Qin's eyes gleamed. The battle's tilt offered a chance to cripple both clans, freeing the Liu Clan from oppression. Her gaze chilled. "Ice Storm Dance!"
A storm of ice and wind surged, temperature plummeting. Her dual Ice/Wind and Lightning roots shone, a genius stifled by clan duties and pressure, now unleashed.*
"You forced me!" Yue roared. "Fire Eagle Claw!"
His claws burned, clashing with the storm, tearing air.
Elsewhere, Bai Su Mei's Star-Silver Twin Swords danced, her sword qi lethal. Her Heart Unity Sword Art, meant for two, was mastered solo, a testament to her effort. She overwhelmed Yue Hai, sweating despite his higher realm.
As night fell, Bai Su Mei's eyes glowed, starlight fueling her, her vigor endless.
Yue Hai's unease grew, her radiant gaze unnerving him.
Lan An's slaughter ended Cao Pi and the elders, their souls devoured.
Feeling his soul power surge, far beyond before, Lan An muttered, "Finally, Late-Stage Soul Power. Soul cultivation's no joke."
In Ling An City, his soul was Early Golden Core. After countless battles, devouring beasts and foes, it reached Mid-Stage. Only now, slaying Nascent Souls, did it hit Late-Stage, while his spiritual power far outstripped it.
"Soul cultivation's a brutal path," he sighed.
"Focus on Soul and Body next," he noted.
Seeing Mu Zi Yin and Cao Tai Shan still clashing, Lan An rushed to aid her.
"Wood Form Fist!" *He roared, fists forming ancient tree roots, smashing at Cao Tai Shan.
Sensing danger, Cao Tai Shan dodged.
Mu Zi Yin slashed.
"Aaah!" An arm fell, blood gushing.*
"Who are you?" Cao Tai Shan clutched his stump, eyes crazed. "Damn you!"
"Champions of justice," Lan An said, arm around Mu Zi Yin's waist, smirking grandly.*
"Pfft!" The crowd jeered, flipping him off.
"You can't kill me!" Cao Tai Shan laughed maniacally, hair wild, accepting defeat.
"Why not?" Lan An raised an eyebrow.
"I was stuck at Nascent Soul Perfection, lifespan nearly spent. My Spirit Transformation breakthrough wasn't luck. Surprised?" Cao Tai Shan said mysteriously.*
"Nope," Lan An shrugged, infuriating him.
But Liu Shi Qin, Yue Qun, and Yue Hai were. They knew Cao Tai Shan's stagnation, his His sudden breakthrough was shocking.*
"Qing Yun Sect, a Seventh-Grade power," Cao Tai Shan growled.
Lan An's brows tightened. Mu Zi Yin gripped his hand.
"Haha, scared? Qing Yun Sect gave me a Fifth-Grade Breakthrough Pill to reach Spirit Transformation, on condition I unify Ping An City and submit. My soul's marked with their restriction. Kill me, and they'll know," Cao Tai Shan sneered, confident.*
Liu Shi Qin paled. A Seventh-Grade power was a colossus to Ping An City.
The crowd stirred. Ping An City, straddling the North-South border, was neutral due to its sensitive position, avoiding major faction control to prevent conflict. Qing Yun'Sect's s reach was audacious.*
"You're right," Lan An nodded. "We can't kill you."*
Cao Tai Shan smirked, ready to gloat.
"But Lan An continued, "We can't kill you." Lan An's grin froze him. "But we can cripple you."*