How High Is His Cultivation, Really?
Endless flying leaves surged like a raging flood, slamming into Li Qingqiu. The deafening noise filled the ears of both Li Qingqiu and Chu Jing.
Just as Chu Jing waited in tense anticipation, he suddenly noticed streaks of silver sword shadows rapidly forming all around them.
Soul-Stealing Flying Sword?
As a sword soul, Chu Jing had long known that Li Qingqiu was researching this technique. Li Qingqiu had even relied on Soul-Stealing Flying Sword to slay the tree demon's avatar.
But in Chu Jing's view, no matter how strong the Soul-Stealing Flying Sword was, it was still too small. How could it possibly shake an ancient god?
Yet the moment this thought formed, the silver sword shadows around them burst into dazzling light. The glow illuminated a 1-mile radius of the city and continued to expand outward.
The ancient god's ferocious face was bathed in silver light. Its eyes revealed a trace of disdain.
Even Shen Yue, who was still fighting elsewhere, was drawn by the brilliance in the distance. Not only him—fleeing civilians, merchants, martial artists, and even the Qi clan warriors charging toward Shen Yue all instinctively turned their heads to look.
In the darkness of night, that radiant silver light appeared on the far horizon. It looked like light banishing darkness, or like the curtain rising on dawn itself.
The Soul-Stealing Flying Swords around Li Qingqiu continued to release silver light. In the end, they gathered above his head, forming a massive silver sword shadow that kept growing larger.
The Tianhong Sword still hovered in front of him, blocking the endless flying leaves. Even when the ancient god's vines lashed over, they still could not shake the sword qi barrier.
"This is…"
Chu Jing stared at the massive silver sword shadow overhead in disbelief. This was the first time he had ever felt such vast vital energy. It was like standing before an ocean of vital energy.
All this time, Li Qingqiu had never revealed his true strength. Even when privately cultivating the Soul-Stealing Flying Sword, he always restrained himself.
He was no ordinary Nurturing Essence ninth layer cultivator. With the fate [Hundred-Refined Demon Body], his vital energy was 100 times greater than others at the same realm.
It was true that he had not mastered large-scale destructive spells. But his boundless vital energy meant that any technique he used could have its power multiplied many times over.
Boom—
The ruins around Li Qingqiu were blasted apart. The Soul-Stealing Flying Sword above his head suddenly reached a length of 10 zhang, releasing overwhelming sword might that crushed everything beneath it.
Chu Jing's heart pounded violently. From this Soul-Stealing Flying Sword, he felt a chilling aura that made his soul tremble.
Even he, who possessed the fate [Mortal God and Ghost], felt this way—let alone the ancient god.
The ancient god stared at the Soul-Stealing Flying Sword, instinctively feeling fear. It grew even more violent. More and more vines burst through the soil and whipped toward Li Qingqiu, many of them sprouting sharp barbs.
Li Qingqiu was not in a hurry at all. The ancient god's bark was unbelievably hard, but its weakness was obvious—it could not move.
Since it could not move, Li Qingqiu had plenty of ways to deal with it.
"If you hadn't sent your avatar, I really wouldn't have dared to deal with you. Yet you haven't even reached the Awakening Spirit realm, and you still dared to get in my face?"
Li Qingqiu's expression was icy as this thought crossed his mind.
He continuously poured vital energy into the Soul-Stealing Flying Sword, deliberately dragging things out and letting the ancient god suffer.
After killing his disciples, how could he allow the ancient god to die painlessly?
Boom! Boom! Boom…
Street after street in Yeming City split apart. Vines rose up, buildings collapsed, as if some supreme evil demon were bursting forth, trying to drag the entire city into the abyss.
Li Qingqiu's gaze sharpened. The 10-zhang-long Soul-Stealing Flying Sword above his head erupted with terrifying momentum.
Almost instantly, the Soul-Stealing Flying Sword shot out, swift as a startled swan.
Several miles vanished in the blink of an eye.
Chu Jing's eyes couldn't even keep up. By the time he turned his head, the Soul-Stealing Flying Sword was already embedded in the ancient god's human face.
With that single strike, all the vines across the city froze in place.
Did it succeed?
Chu Jing was stunned, joy surging in his heart.
But then he saw the ancient god's face begin to twist, and his heart sank again.
"Mortals… what do you take me for…"
The ancient god's voice rang out, grinding with hatred. The overwhelming malice made anyone who heard it feel a chill crawl up their spine and their scalp go numb.
"With just this one sword, you think you can kill me? With that level of power, your vital energy must already be exhausted, right? Li Qingqiu, your ability is indeed impressive. Even 1,000 years ago, you could have made a name for yourself. Unfortunately, you were born in the wrong era."
The ancient god laughed grotesquely, its tone frenzied. It was already fantasizing about devouring Li Qingqiu's flesh and blood.
Such cultivation. Such flesh.
It would be an enormous tonic—far better than devouring tens of thousands of mortal spirits.
"Exhausted?"
Li Qingqiu's voice rang out in response, clearly reaching the ancient god's ears. Even the chaos between heaven and earth could not drown it out.
The ancient god's expression turned shocked. Before it could think further, one Soul-Stealing Flying Sword after another condensed above Li Qingqiu's head—each one no weaker than the previous sword.
The Soul-Stealing Flying Swords launched at once, reaching extreme speed!
Sword after sword pierced into the ancient god. Its colossal body convulsed violently. It managed to withstand 7 swords, but when faced with the 8th sword, its mountain-like tree body was directly pierced through and shredded.
The massive ancient god was torn apart alive!
Amid the ruins, Qi Tianquan pushed open a shattered door. Just as he stuck his head out, he saw the ancient god—invincible in his mind—being annihilated by Soul-Stealing Flying Swords.
His eyes widened in disbelief. He could not believe what he was seeing, thinking he must be trapped in a dream.
Watching as the ancient god was cut through at the waist, its demon soul nailed in midair by one Soul-Stealing Flying Sword after another, Li Qingqiu secretly let out a breath of relief.
He had expended the majority of his vital energy to finally slay the ancient god. It was far from easy.
Yet on the surface, he still appeared calm and unbothered.
This scene was not witnessed by Qi Tianquan alone. Many others in the city saw it as well.
Every single witness stood frozen in shock, mouths agape.
Qi Tianquan turned his head and saw Li Qingqiu holding his sword. The sight left him deeply shaken.
Li Qingqiu glanced over and noticed Qi Tianquan. He directly activated the Supreme Movement Art, flashing forward and appearing in front of him.
Qi Tianquan was startled by Li Qingqiu's sudden appearance. When he clearly saw Li Qingqiu's face, his expression changed drastically. With a thud, he dropped to his knees amid the ruins.
"I was wrong… the Qi clan was wrong… just as you said, the Qi clan was deceived…"
Qi Tianquan's voice trembled. His face was full of pleading.
Seeing that this man was wearing a dragon robe, Li Qingqiu immediately knew his status within the Qi clan was not low.
"Good that you know your mistake."
Li Qingqiu spoke calmly. Hearing this, Qi Tianquan was overjoyed.
Puchi!
Qi Tianquan's head flew up, blood spraying everywhere. Li Qingqiu's sword swung down without the slightest change in expression, as if he had not killed a man, but slaughtered a chicken.
Not only that, Li Qingqiu took out the Soul-Refining Banner and directly absorbed Qi Tianquan's soul into it.
He then turned and walked toward the ancient god's demon soul.
The demon soul was no longer in the form of a tree. Instead, it appeared as an old man wearing loose robes, his face exactly the same as the human face that had grown on the ancient god's tree body.
The ancient god looked at its demon body, which had been cut in half at the waist. Its face was filled with despair and disbelief.
"How is this possible… who exactly is he… how can his vital energy be so vast…"
The ancient god could not understand. The Soul-Stealing Flying Swords embedded in its body began to exert force, torturing its demon soul and causing it to let out shrill, agonized howls.
Unfortunately, it was already dead. The living could not hear its cries.
Watching its suffering, Chu Jing realized that the Soul-Stealing Flying Sword possessed killing power far beyond what he could comprehend.
"Martial Dao focuses on tendons, bones, and flesh, but the Immortal Dao can directly harm the soul?"
Chu Jing thought silently. When he looked at Li Qingqiu again, his gaze was filled with admiration.
After seeing the ancient god, his trust in Li Qingqiu had once wavered. Yet Li Qingqiu still acted as always—clean, decisive, and mercilessly annihilating his enemy.
He was still that powerful. Still that unfathomable.
With such a sect master, the future of the Qingxiao Sect was beyond measure.
Just as Chu Jing was quietly reflecting, the ground began to tremble. Li Qingqiu frowned slightly and immediately summoned Nangong E and Lin Chuan, ordering them to infiltrate underground and investigate.
He quickened his steps and arrived before the ancient god. First, he cast the Soul-Binding Curse on it, then pulled its demon soul into the Soul-Refining Banner.
This process took quite some time. As it ended, Yeming City gradually fell silent.
Light appeared on the horizon. The sun rose in the east, and the first ray of sunlight of the day swept swiftly across Yeming City.
The once-prosperous Yeming City had been completely destroyed. Ruins were everywhere.
Shen Yue stood on a rooftop, breathing slightly hard. Centered on him, within a radius of 5 miles, more than 1,000 Qi clan warriors lay scattered across streets, courtyards, and rooftops.
The vast majority were unconscious. Those still conscious were severely injured and unable to move.
As for Shen Yue himself, not only was he uninjured, even his robes were spotless.
"So the battle ended that quickly… Li Qingqiu, just how high is your cultivation?"
Shen Yue could not help but think this. Although he had not directly fought the ancient god, its aura had been terrifying. Even from far away, he knew he was no match for it.
Yet such a powerful ancient god had appeared swiftly and vanished just as fast.
What did that mean?
It meant there was a huge gap in strength between the ancient god and Li Qingqiu.
It seemed that if he wanted to catch up to Li Qingqiu, he still had a very long road ahead.
Suddenly, he saw a massive black eagle descending from the sky. With its talons, it grabbed a huge piece of timber and flew toward his direction, passing over his head before disappearing into the horizon.
Shen Yue leapt up, stepping on his wooden sword, and flew toward the inner city.
Not long after, he spotted Li Qingqiu on a street. He landed in front of him and asked, "All settled?"
"Mm," Li Qingqiu replied.
He was certain the ancient god was dead. He just did not yet know what had caused the earlier tremors.
Shen Yue smiled and said, "Looks like we didn't end up as a joke."
Li Qingqiu glanced at him and asked, "Is that so? How many people did you kill?"
Shen Yue snorted. "You told me to draw the Qi clan's attention. Weren't you just trying to leave survivors? Sect Master Li, you're really saying one thing and meaning another."
"That doesn't matter. You didn't complete the task. When we get back, I'll punish you so the sect's disciples can take it as a warning," Li Qingqiu said as he continued walking.
"Fine then. For the sake of your iron-blooded image, I'll take the blame," Shen Yue said casually.
Li Qingqiu's lips curved upward slightly, but he said nothing more.
Shen Yue might not kill, but Mo Jiuhong would not show mercy. And Mo Jiuhong could tell exactly who was a Qi clan member.
"So where to next?" Shen Yue asked.
"Of course, to collect our spoils," Li Qingqiu replied offhandedly.
The sky grew brighter and brighter.
After hesitating for a moment, Shen Yue asked, "Sect Master… in today's world, is there anyone who can force you to go all out?"
Li Qingqiu answered with a question instead. "Will it be you in the future?"
Hearing this, Shen Yue's eyes ignited with renewed fighting spirit. He did not reply, but Li Qingqiu's words were like a seed, deeply planted in his heart.
At the same time, he felt a surge of emotion.
So Li Qingqiu had always regarded him as an opponent—and had been looking forward to his cultivation all along.