Yun Yi, Yun Ping, and Lu Yuan each had distinct missions, splitting up to carry them out. My own task was to guard a specific location—the Jiao Gong Stone Chamber.

It was rumored that Yuan Ling’s subordinate disciples planned to use Spirit-Shattering Stones to blow up the Jiao Gong Stone Chamber, creating chaos to serve a larger conspiracy. Yuan Ling already had a series of schemes in motion, but unfortunately for him, he ran into that old fox, Venerable Yuan Yuan.

It seemed this one would lose to the Venerable after being defeated four centuries prior, and would suffer defeat again four centuries later. What a pity.

Yet, it was quite normal. As the Lord of the North Peak for so many years, Venerable Yuan Yuan must have faced countless challenges and weathered countless storms; his methods had grown increasingly shrewd, more subtly deceptive, and utterly difficult to deal with.

That was only natural. Furthermore, these Spirit-Shattering Stones were an anomaly among spirit stones, likely a type of Fire Spirit Stone—one that naturally contained significantly more fire essence than common fire stones.

They were also extremely unstable, igniting and exploding at the slightest provocation, hence the name, Spirit-Shattering Stone. Putting aside the extraneous talk, the moon hung high above the willow branches this night.

It was a shame there wasn't a beautiful senior sister or junior sister to arrange a twilight rendezvous. Word had it that Liu Ye’er, the Ninth True Disciple of the Sword Sect’s East Peak, was an exceptionally beautiful girl, reputed to have a pure and innocent face.

Ye Fang and Ye Yuan had met her a few times and told me about her, but alas, I had not seen her myself. Never mind, time to focus.

Because the opponents had arrived. The opponent leaped before the Jiao Gong Stone Chamber.

He landed, and his gaze fixed on a person who suddenly appeared where he shouldn't have been, causing him to momentarily freeze. Lu Yuan sized up the newcomer and found him somewhat familiar.

Right, it was a junior brother he had once guided as a sword instructor. The man was about forty, notably thin, with an unremarkable face—only a prominent knife scar provided a distinct impression.

Yes, this was indeed that junior brother. That was how things were at Mount Hua: the True Disciples held the highest status in any generation; everyone else, regardless of seniority or age, had to respectfully remain junior brothers.

"You are... Brother Dao." The reason he still remembered the surname Dao was because of the scar on his face; he had inquired about it back then and learned the man's surname.

The middle-aged man surnamed Dao nodded. "Indeed, it is I, Sixth Senior Brother." "I didn't expect you to defect to that traitor, Yuan Ling," Lu Yuan remarked.

"Wrong," the middle-aged man surnamed Dao countered. "I have always been Venerable Yuan Ling’s disciple; I was merely undercover in the Mount Hua Immortal Sect, awaiting the Venerable’s command.

I didn't anticipate you being here. Could it be..." He suspected Lu Yuan knew the purpose of his visit.

Lu Yuan sighed. "If I said I was just wandering around here, you probably wouldn't believe me, so I won't waste time.

That's right, I know your objective. I am here under the orders of Martial Uncle Yuan Yuan to guard this place." The middle-aged man surnamed Dao nodded, slightly surprised that Venerable Yuan Yuan had discovered Venerable Yuan Ling's plan.

However, he figured Yuan Ling’s plan must have been flawless, and even if discovered, there should be countermeasures. He only needed to complete his part of the task.

"Very well, it seems I must contend with you, Sixth Senior Brother." "Let me see just how formidable the True Disciples under our Venerable Yuan Ling are, compared to the orthodox True Disciples of the North Peak," the middle-aged man surnamed Dao stated. This man was one of Yuan Ling's True Disciples.

Originally, only immortal sects of a medium scale or larger maintained the title of True Disciple. And only the leaders of peaks of a superior scale or larger were entitled to be called Venerable.

But Yuan Ling was inherently ambitious. His talent was extraordinary; even after being defeated by Venerable Yuan Yuan once, he never believed he was inferior.

After his defection, he established his own faction, calling himself Venerable. Simultaneously, he selected the most outstanding among his disciples, naming them True Disciples—exactly ten, no more, no less.

From the start, Yuan Ling instilled in these ten True Disciples the notion that they must compete in prestige against the Ten True Disciples of the North Peak. This middle-aged man named Dao was one of those ten True Disciples under Yuan Ling.

He had long desired to test his skills against the Ten True Disciples of the North Peak. He had remained submerged in the North Peak, and while he had heard rumors of Lu Yuan’s prowess, he had never witnessed it firsthand, so he remained unconvinced.

Moreover, he possessed considerable strength; Yuan Ling would not have sent him to infiltrate the North Peak without teaching him numerous cultivation techniques and providing him with spiritual resources. His strength far surpassed that of ordinary disciples.

—————— The cold moon condensed frost, the crescent moon like a hook. Before the Jiao Gong Stone Chamber.

The middle-aged man surnamed Dao looked at Lu Yuan. A powerful fighting spirit surged within him.

He had always yearned to spar with a True Disciple of the North Peak. The doctrine instilled in him since childhood was that the Ten True Disciples under Venerable Yuan Ling were in no way inferior to the Ten True Disciples under Venerable Yuan Yuan.

Now, the contest was finally at hand. The middle-aged man surnamed Dao looked at Lu Yuan.

"Sixth Senior Brother, I hear you are famous for your exceptional swordsmanship. Unfortunately, this time, I will not engage you in swordplay; I challenge you with sorcery—Rain of Arrows!" With a sharp cry, he rapidly executed a series of intricate gestures, and soon, countless rain arrows materialized in his hands.

There must have been hundreds of these rain arrows, launching toward Lu Yuan with blinding speed. Sorcery?

Why had he encountered so many spellcasters recently? With a slight movement, the Longhong Sword shot from its sheath.

The Longhong Sword, being a fire-element flying sword, possessed a degree of counteraction against water-based magic. Simultaneously, Lu Yuan’s free hand swiftly jabbed forward with his longsword, incessantly parrying the incoming Rain of Arrows.

At this moment, Lu Yuan had to admit that if he hadn't spent two months practicing sword speed beneath the waterfall, dealing with these spells at his previous pace would have been quite troublesome. "Clang, clang, clang, clang, clang, clang," the Rain of Arrows struck the Longhong Sword, creating a continuous cascade of sound.

All parried. At this, the middle-aged man surnamed Dao couldn't help but be slightly shocked.

He hadn't expected even the rapid Rain of Arrows to be entirely blocked. He was fully aware of how difficult the Rain of Arrows was to defend against due to its high shooting speed and sheer volume—hundreds of arrows!

Such a spell being parried meant Lu Yuan’s sword must be incredibly fast. At that moment, the middle-aged man surnamed Dao was astonished.

This man surnamed Dao had long desired to compete with the True Disciples. He had once secretly donned a mask and clashed with Fang Dan, the Fourth True Disciple, emerging with a narrow victory.

This success had inadvertently led him to hold the Ten True Disciples of the North Peak in slight contempt. Back then, the middle-aged man surnamed Dao was so powerful for two reasons: first, he had a mighty master, Yuan Ling, who was recognized as having surpassed Venerable Yuan Yuan in innate talent back in the day; second, the middle-aged man surnamed Dao was considerably older, nearing forty, having cultivated for over four decades—naturally, he couldn't be compared to someone like Fang Dan, who was only just past twenty.

His slight victory over Fang Dan caused him to become somewhat dismissive of the North Peak’s True Disciples. Later, although Lu Yuan gained some renown as being exceptionally skilled with the sword, his actual combat appearances, apart from the North Peak Grand Competition, were rarely witnessed by ordinary disciples.

The middle-aged man surnamed Dao had never seen him fight and therefore remained unconvinced, assuming defeating a mere stripling wouldn't be a simple matter. The result, however, was witnessing such incredible sword speed.

He had managed to block even the Rain of Arrows, a spell notorious for its high velocity and large volume of projectiles, and he had blocked it perfectly—not a single arrow got through. Truly formidable.

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