A figure slowly emerged on the God of War platform.
It was enshrouded in dazzling golden lightning and looked exceptionally heroic and regal.
Behind him was an avatar, which included the five divine beasts, roaring away mightily.
But aside from that, the thing that made Li Canglan’s thirst for battle intensify was the avatar’s boundless Sword Dao aura.
In the air above that figure, thousands of divine swords circled as if paying respects to their great leader.
The Peerless Sword Dao Avatar: 10,000 Blades Pointing To The Heavens!
After witnessing this avatar, Li Canglan’s sword heart, sword intent, and sword bones were all vibrating. To a Sword Venerable like him, who immersed his entire being into Sword Dao, this was the kind of opponent he had been waiting for all his life.
Things couldn’t be more perfect if this opponent was also a sword cultivator!
“Didn’t expect to be matched with a prodigy who possesses such an exceptional sword dao avatar. Exhilarating! Exhilarating!”
An Image Recording Crystal flew out of Li Canglan’s hands. “I will record this top-level battle so that Changge, Lian’er, and that young kid can watch and admire.
“Let them witness the Sword Dao’s true and unique might!”
As Li Canglan watched on with eager eyes, the light surrounding that figure slowly faded away. The person standing in that light appeared in front of Li Canglan.
Li Canglan was thunderstruck as he realized that the person standing before him was Shen Tian!
“Such a coincidence?” The sword behind Li Canglan vibrated gently, its thirst for battle at unprecedented levels. “Very well. Let me go down to your cultivation level and teach you a good lesson!”
Li Canglan believed that if he could defeat Shen Tian inside the God of War Pagoda when their cultivation levels were kept on par with each other, it would convince Shen Tian to learn sword skills from him.
But what if he lost?
In Li Canglan’s opinion, this was a non-issue.
To most of the Heavenly Venerables, they would still have a major advantage over the younger prodigies even when their cultivation levels had been suppressed downward to be on par.
After all, cultivation levels were not everything
Li Canglan was the Eastern Wilderness’ number one Sword Venerable. He had accumulated a thousand years of battle experience. How could he possibly lose to this mere projection?
His confidence in controlling the pace of the battle, in adapting to the opponent’s moveshe was far beyond Shen Tian in these aspects. Even if Shen Tian himself stood behind Li Canglan, he had complete confidence in winning
After all, he had fought more battles than Shen Tian had meals!
“As your cultivation level is too high, we will suppress your level to be on par with your opponent’s in order to ensure fairness.
“Can I confirm you are agreeable?”
The Pagoda Spirit’s voice rang out.
Li Canglan replied thoughtfully, “I confirm.”
Li Canglan immediately felt a slight heaviness descend over his body. His indomitable Sword Venerable cultivation level slid all the way down.
It quickly declined past the Nascent Soul stage, the Golden Core stage, and all the way down to the Foundation Establishment stage.
At the same time, his physical body was also brought down to the level of a Golden Body Second Refinement Stage. His aura was greatly decreased.
“This young man should still be at the Foundation Establishment stage. But his Godfiend body is already at the Golden Body realm.”
Li Canglan was secretly amazed.
What a talented Godfiend cultivator he is!
Never mind. Let me gauge just how good you are!
The broad sword behind Li Canglan flew into the sky with a single command.
Clang!
A clear ringing sound echoed through the air as countless sword light rays burst across the sky.
“Long River Returns To Sea. Rainstorm Across 10,000 Lands!”
The sword light rays behind Li Canglan intensified and shot toward Shen Tian like a relentless rainstorm.
Although he was proud and confident, Li Canglan was never one to be foolish and careless. He knew very well the concept of “A wise lion knows to try its best even when just hunting a small rabbit”.
Since Shen Tian had managed to achieve a Seven-Star Prodigy ranking in the God of War Pagoda, it proved that his battle prowess was extremely high for his level. Even though he was older and more experienced, there was no way he would let down his guard against this kid.
As a result, his very first move was already his ultimate one—the Long River Sword Sutra.
It was one of the most powerful sutras in the Grand White Grotto-Heaven, nearly comparable to an imperial sutra. Across the entire five regions, it was definitely the most supreme-level sword technique.
Li Canglan’s cultivation level might have been suppressed to the Golden Body realm, but he retained his deep understanding of this sword sutra.
The moment he launched it, the entire God of War platform was engulfed in a surging sword aura. There was nowhere for Shen Tian to run or hide.
“Heaven and Earth are the origins of Taoism, everything in this world is from the same source. Face toward the north, reflect on your true self!”
Meanwhile, Shen Tian’s projection was executing some hand seals, the lightning mark between his brows glowing brighter and brighter. Countless black lightning bolts were emitted from that mark.
The lightning gathered above Shen Tian’s head, quickly forming a huge energy barrier, protecting him from all around. The formidable sword aura collided with the energy barrier. Although the Black Tortoise energy barrier vibrated intensely from the collision, it did not shatter.
“Spirit Fog Covers the Sky. Rise!”
Shen Tian chanted, and waves of fog rose from beneath his feet.
This fog was extremely dense and spread very quickly. In just a few short breaths, it enveloped Shen Tian completely.
Li Canglan then realized that this spirit fog continued to spread rapidly in all directions as if it also wanted to engulf him.
“A demon skill from the Fog Plain? How did this young man learn this?”.
Li Canglan frowned slightly. “He possesses a Divine Sword Constitution but doesn’t want to practice proper sword skills. Instead, he learns this kind of crooked technique. This is going against heaven’s will!
“My invincible sword aura will shatter your demon tricks!”
Li Canglan’s aura magnified, while his divine consciousness was dead fixed on the faint energy ripple within the spirit fog.
At this point, he had more or less merged into one with the sword in his hand. The sword was him. He was the sword.
A boundless Long River sword aura gathered at the sword in his hand. It quickly enhanced the sword’s energy, merging into one great power.
Clang!
Even the fabric of space was being distorted and shredded.
It was clear that even at the Golden Body realm, Li Canglan’s sword skills were enough to affect the fabric of space.
Over the past 10,000 years in the entire Eastern Wilderness, only a handful of swordsmen had been able to achieve such a feat. He was not called the most powerful Sword Venerable for nothing
Having locked onto the energy ripple in the spirit fog, Li Canglan and his sword merged into one and shot toward their target.
With the tip of the blade leading the way, all obstacles were cleared. Even the spirit fog was sliced apart.
He had not locked onto the wrong target. The sword power soon collided with a Black Tortoise shield formed by Water Element Divine Lightning.
Boom!
The sword energy exploded, instantly shearing off the Black Tortoise shield.
With Li Canglan’s strong body and intense sword intent as one, he slashed across every single part of the space within that shield to ensure that no matter where Shen Tian was hiding in that space, he would be forced out by that sword aura.
But Li Canglan was shocked to find out that all his sword energy landed on nothing.
Shen Tian’s projection was not inside that Black Tortoise shield!
Li Canglan instinctively went on high alert.
A jade-green vine shot out of the ground, entangling Li Canglan’s right leg.
Following that, the vine rapidly snaked up his leg, and… Sharp jade-green barbs jabbed into his thigh!
