CLANG!
The blow was blocked by a disciple from Wufeng Temple who had jumped into the ring. First, he used Sword Control to parry Liu Shuang’s longsword. Then, he cast an Earth Spirit Technique to teleport the young disciple from the Single Saber Sect, saving him from a pincer attack.
At the sa ti, Qinghe, who had been entangled behind them, broke free from the Thorny Vines. The advantage on the field instantly reversed. It was now a three-on-two situation, and Qianmu Temple had no more disciples to send out.
From among the Sanhe Temple disciples watching the match nearby, a Foundation Establishnt Disciple imdiately leaped out. The mont he landed, he coalesced his divine soul, simultaneously unfastening a gourd from his waist and spilling a splash of water. As the water scattered, he ford hand seals for his Magic Formulas. The next mont, a dense swarm of ice spikes materialized.
anwhile, Liu Shuang transford the Thorny Vines on the ground into soldiers, entangling the charging Qinghe. Her black longsword circled around her and once again shot toward the young disciple from the Single Saber Sect. By this ti, the ice spikes cast by the Sanhe Temple disciple had completely enveloped the disciple from Wufeng Temple.
Facing the assault of ice spikes, the Wufeng Temple disciple instinctively summoned an earthen wall. Just then, Liang Tao was seen tossing another handful of seeds—right on top of the wall. In an instant, dense Thorny Vines began to grow...
The other sects watching from the sidelines began to see what was happening. Wenhai and the Single Saber Sect’s Entering Cultivator, Zhang Liang, both frowned slightly. Yuan Qing of the Three Flas Temple cast a sound insulation spell and whispered sothing to his disciple, while Li Xingwen of the Pingdong Sect stopped his own apprentice from jumping in to join the fray.
"Fellow Daoist, it seems you had a plan all along," Hongchen said with a friendly smile. "It appears I was worrying for nothing."
"I must thank you for the reminder, Fellow Daoist."
Wang Ping said this loudly enough for everyone present to hear. Hongchen’s brow twitched, and across the way, Wenhai and Zhang Liang glanced thoughtfully at Hongchen.
Just then, the battle in the square reached a critical stage.
Liu Shuang, Liang Tao, and the Foundation Establishnt Disciple from Sanhe Temple coordinated with exquisite precision. Their objective was clear. In the blink of an eye, both Qinghe from the Single Saber Sect and the disciple from Wufeng Temple were ensnared by Thorny Vines. Liu Shuang seized the opportunity to force back the other disciple from the Single Saber Sect. Then, coordinating with the disciple from Sanhe Temple, she was about to finish off the restrained Wufeng Temple disciple.
The killing intent erupting from Liu Shuang made everyone’s gaze sharpen. It seed she was truly going for the kill this ti!
At that mont, the surrounding Sanhe Temple disciples below instinctively gripped their weapons. The guests from the various sects also looked ready to form hand seals and cast spells at a mont’s notice.
"Stop!"
In the end, Wenhai had not cultivated the sa level of self-restraint as his master. He intervened at the critical mont. As the sll of damp earth filled everyone’s nostrils, countless earthen spikes erupted from the square’s ground.
But soon, these spikes were disintegrated layer by layer. After the shattered spikes crumbled, flowers blood in an instant.
"Friend Wenhai, are you looking to trade a few pointers as well? But for an Entering Cultivator like you to attack a junior... that’s a bit out of line, wouldn’t you say?"
Wang Ping was now floating in mid-air, having appeared at so unknown point. Seven longswords circled him. Yu Lian’s massive body, adorned with water spirit patterns, coiled above him. At that mont, the ground centered on Wang Ping burst with life. The gravel-paved ground was instantly covered in turf, with dewdrops dotting the blades of grass.
PFFT!
Unobstructed, Liu Shuang thrust her sword through the Wufeng Temple disciple’s chest. She then took a step back, flicked the blood from her blade, and perford a Taoist Family salute, saying calmly, "Fellow Daoist, you let win."
Hearing this, her opponent spat out a mouthful of blood.
"Changqing!"
Wenhai ford a seal with his left hand and raised his right toward the sky. The next mont, a two-zhang-tall, pagoda-like Magical Artifact circled around him. He then ford Magic Formulas with his hands and issued an Imperial Decree toward Wang Ping’s position: "Suppress!"
At the sa ti, down below, Guangxuan appeared beside the Single Saber Sect’s Zhang Liang. Yuan Qing of the Three Flas Temple protected the weakened Gu Heng. Li Xingwen sighed and appeared on Zhang Liang’s other side. Now that all pretenses were dropped, he naturally had to stand with the Cultivators of Nanlin Road.
In the square, Liu Shuang stopped Liang Tao from casting more Magic and retreated from the ring area with the Foundation Establishnt Stage disciple from Sanhe Temple. The opposing side showed no intention of pursuing them.
In the sky, Wang Ping activated his Armor Talisman and the Spirit Gathering Array simultaneously. Facing the Mountain Suppressing Technique pressing down from above, his body only faltered for a mont. Then, the Wood Spirit Qi from his Qi Sea poured out, forming an energy field over ten zhang wide that quickly neutralized the Earth Spirit Aura pouring down from above.
However, the ground beneath his feet was still affected by the Mountain Suppressing Technique, with deep pits collapsing in so places.
Wenhai, on the other side, also realized his mistake. He shouldn’t be competing against Wang Ping in a battle of True Essence from their Qi Seas. Seeing that the Qi Sea within his body was about to be depleted, he retracted the Mountain Suppressing Technique at top speed.
The instant the Mountain Suppressing Technique vanished, a killing formation composed of seven iron bamboo swords struck. It arrived so fast that Wenhai was scared out of his wits. He hurriedly summoned his pagoda Magical Artifact to erect a defensive barrier around himself.
After the flash of sword light, seven cracks instantly appeared on the defensive barrier Wenhai had constructed. The next mont, there were fourteen, then twenty-one...
In just the blink of an eye, the defensive barrier, thick with Earth Spirit Aura, was already showing signs of collapse. Moreover, in the cracks left by the iron bamboo swords, vegetation and poisonous gas ford from Wood Spirit were propagating.
Below, the aura leaking from the killing formation carved a dense web of sword marks into the ground, but thankfully, it was contained by the Protective Shield set up by Yu Cheng Taoist.
Not far away, Hongchen watched the techniques Wang Ping displayed, his eyes filled with jealousy and resentnt. A trace of killing intent unconsciously emanated from him. This killing intent was imdiately detected by Yu Cheng Taoist. Hongchen himself was startled and instantly reined in his emotions.
"I... I’ve lost!"
At the crucial mont, a torrent of thoughts flashed through Wenhai’s mind. He glanced at the crowd below and instantly abandoned the idea of fleeing, even though it would be easy for an Earth Spirit to escape.
After conceding defeat, he imdiately retrieved his pagoda Magical Artifact. Unimpeded, the seven longswords instantly shot forward to kill.
At this mont, various thoughts flashed through Wang Ping’s mind like lightning. The next second, he found he couldn’t suppress the killing intent in his heart. At the critical juncture, Yu Lian called out to him in his Spirit Sea: ’This isn’t the plan! You can’t kill him here!’
The seven iron bamboo swords stopped, poised at Wenhai’s vital points. Below, Hongchen saw this and silently thought, ’What a pity.’ The Single Saber Sect’s Zhang Liang glanced at Hongchen, his brow furrowing.
"Conceded."
Wang Ping cupped his fist and calmly spoke the single word. Then, with a wave of his sleeve, he recalled the iron bamboo swords. Yu Lian shrank down and coiled around his wrist once more. He then descended quickly and, with another set of Magic Formulas, dispersed all the grass on the ground.
Wenhai wasn’t foolish enough to launch a sneak attack on Wang Ping like a character in a lodrama. He took a deep breath to compose himself, then descended with a blank expression, returned to his seat, and began to check on his disciple’s injuries.
Everything returned to a state of calm. Disciples from Sanhe Temple then walked onto the square to clean up the traces of the battle.
The exchange conference had to continue...
What followed were calm and uneventful exchanges of moves. For the most part, it was Sanhe Temple disciples inviting disciples from other sects into the ring for "pointers," so they could learn their techniques.
The exchange conference lasted for two days. Wenhai remained quiet throughout this ti. During this period, Liu Shuang and Liang Tao went out to visit friends and faced no further provocations.
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