The desert was vast, stretching to the horizon in an endless expanse of yellow sand. The stillness of the scorching desert pressed in; the sun relentlessly baked the earth, making the sand unbearably hot. There was no wind, no sound, just the silent surge of heat waves. It was a world of monotonous, arid sand, permeated everywhere by the scent of death. Vultures circled overhead, yet dared not descend.

Beneath the pale yellow mountaintop, the Blood Sword Sect Daoist, brutal as a butcher, swung his sword, sending Tie Gan flying—a display of immense power. The strike came so swiftly that the three from the Zhou family had no time to react. Seeing this, Zhou Qi Wang and Zhou Tie Re exchanged a look: "Form the Sword Array." They moved simultaneously, coordinating their efforts within the formation, trying to overcome the Blood Sword Sect Daoist through array synergy. Their original plan had been to form the array with all three of them, including Zhou Tie Gan. Although the chance of success was slim, it offered some hope, even as they understood the probability of death this time was overwhelmingly high.

Therefore, before setting out, Zhou Qi Wang had already made arrangements for his funeral rites.

Turning back to the current battle.

Zhou Qi Wang and Zhou Tie Re immediately deployed a sword array. When speaking of sword arrays, the Wudang Immortal Sect possessed the most, known for dominating the Great Jin Kingdom through them. By sheer chance, the Zhou family had managed to learn a fragment of the Wudang Immortal Sect’s knowledge regarding these arrays. The Blood Sword Sect Daoist roared with laughter: "Such paltry tricks, you dare bring them out..." But then, his blood-red robe whipped out, spinning violently in the air. As he spun madly, his blood sword and robe merged into the same shade of crimson, making it impossible to distinguish one from the other.

"Clang, clang, clang, clang, clang, clang, clang, clang," a rapid succession of impacts rang out, and the blood sword suddenly stabbed forth from the swirling robe. After this flurry of lightning-fast exchanges, both Zhou Qi Wang and Zhou Tie Re were spitting blood, collapsing onto the ground. The Blood Sword Sect Daoist ceased his spinning and settled his stance.

"Excellent. I am in no hurry to kill you all. After all, to refine the Blood Cloud Spirit Beast, living flesh and blood are far superior..." The Blood Sword Sect Daoist cackled, and with a gesture, a spirit beast of pure crimson cloud materialized beside him—a Cloud Wolf. This blood-colored Cloud Wolf was barely waist-high, appearing thoroughly steeped in blood, utterly chilling. It was entirely unlike the fearsome appearance usually associated with Cloud-type spirit beasts. In truth, this Blood Cloud Wolf had originally been a normal small spirit beast, a Cloud Dog, which he was attempting to elevate to the medium-sized Blood Cloud Spirit Wolf stage. He intended to use the blood of cultivators to further enhance the quality of his Blood Cloud Wolf.

The Blood Sword Sect Daoist laughed wickedly and commanded the Blood Cloud Wolf toward Zhou Qi Wang. Among them, Zhou Qi Wang possessed the most vigorous Qi and blood, so he was naturally targeted first.

The Blood Sword Sect Daoist made a move, bringing his long sword down, intending to shatter Zhou Qi Wang's last flicker of resistance before beginning the blood sacrifice.

Just then, Zhou Qi Wang's figure shifted.

The Blood Sword Sect Daoist looked over and saw that it was the green-robed youth he had noticed earlier; the youth had moved, pulling Zhou Qi Wang aside, allowing him to dodge the strike. The Blood Sword Sect Daoist couldn't help but laugh heartily: "Young junior, you look quite young. I intended to let you live a few more days and offer you as the final sacrifice. Yet here you are, daring to attack proactively. Truly courting death."

Lu Yuan let out a yawn, his hand resting on his sword hilt: "Sacrifice me? We'll see if you even possess the ability..."

The Blood Sword Sect Daoist was enraged. The Blood Sword Sect’s cultivation techniques did nothing for personal refinement, and this butcher-like Daoist had very little control over his temper. His figure paused in the air, vanished, and in the next instant, he stood before Lu Yuan. His blood-light lashed out like a venomous snake, stabbing towards Lu Yuan—this was the Body Tempering stage.

The speed of the Body Tempering stage was vastly superior to the Qi Refining stage; their engagement was like lightning.

Lu Yuan was somewhat surprised. He hadn't dueled anyone this fast before. The Blood Sword Sect Daoist's speed surpassed even Song Nanshan's, but he felt he could still manage, as the Sword Intent of Wind was renowned for its swiftness.

"...Nourish my sword." The two swords collided. Lu Yuan retreated a full, and the Blood Sword Sect Daoist also backed up by more than half a.

Suddenly, in terms of pure magical power, the Blood Sword Sect Daoist held the upper hand. After this exchange, the Daoist narrowed his eyes: "Not bad, young junior. You possess the magical power of the Body Tempering stage. Impressive, so young with such power. Pity. My power is at the fourth level of Body Tempering; you cannot defeat me. A pity that such a talented young prodigy will perish by my hand. Your essence blood should be enough to help a small Cloud Beast ascend to a medium-sized Blood Cloud Spirit Beast through sacrifice." Fourth level of Body Tempering! Hearing this, Lu Yuan was startled. The Blood Sword Sect's sword techniques were rather peculiar; they could enhance their fighting ability by spilling blood onto their swords.

His own limit should be against figures at the fourth level of Body Tempering. Fighting two small realms above him meant that if the opponent reached the fifth level of Body Tempering, he would be defeated.

This meant that if the opponent used the method of spitting blood onto the blood sword to boost their combat prowess, he would be outmatched. Of course, if the opponent realized early on that his magical power was inferior, he wouldn't rush to spit blood onto the sword, as even with the Blood Cloud Great Technique, his blood supply was finite; he wouldn't use it against a minor threat.

Therefore, if he intended to fight, he had to lure the Blood Sword Sect Daoist into his own sword circle without arousing suspicion, preventing him from even having the chance to spit blood onto his blade. Otherwise, this battle would be lost.

Interesting.

At this point, Lu Yuan found the situation fascinating, his excitement piqued.

Excellent. It had been a long time since he had fought with such focus. Even against Song Nanshan during the Five Peaks Grand Competition, he hadn't been this serious. Now, he needed to put everything on the line, to see what outcome he would achieve against a cultivator at the fourth level of Body Tempering. His Nourish My Sword was already clashing with the Blood Sword.

Initially, the Blood Sword Sect Daoist gained the upper hand, feeling exceptionally satisfied. Firstly, because he was winning, and secondly, because he recognized the sword technique Lu Yuan was using as belonging to the Huashan Immortal Sect. After the Blood Sword Ancestor of the Blood Sword Sect was gravely wounded by a casual strike from Yan Cangtian and barely managed to escape with his life, he held a deep apprehension toward the Huashan Immortal Sect. He had specifically studied the sword techniques of Huashan's Five Peaks. Naturally, the Blood Sword Ancestor lacked the courage to seek revenge against Yan Cangtian for studying the Huashan Sword Arts—seeking vengeance against Yan Cangtian would require immense bravery, something even the Blood Sword Ancestor, one of the top three figures in the Demonic Path, did not possess.

He studied the Huashan Sword Forms merely to survive a few more moves should he ever encounter Yan Cangtian again.

Of course, if his disciples could secretly assassinate disciples of the Huashan Immortal Sect, he would reward them handsomely. The Blood Sword Ancestor was precisely such a petty man; being unable to defeat his enemy, he derived great pleasure from bullying his enemy's descendants, provided it was done secretly. If the Huashan Immortal Sect ever found out, the Blood Sword Ancestor truly feared Yan Cangtian might come knocking.

The Blood Sword Ancestor was what one might call a true villain—utterly petty, lacking any semblance of grandmaster composure.

The Blood Sword Sect Daoist was initially delighted by gaining the advantage in the fight, imagining the reward awaiting him with Lu Yuan’s head. However, as the fight wore on, no matter how the Blood Sword attacked, Lu Yuan only appeared to be on the defensive, never sustaining injury. The Blood Sword Sect Daoist grew increasingly perplexed, and by the time he realized what was happening, he had been drawn into a strange sword circle.

Very well, the net was cast. Lu Yuan casually brandished his long sword. To lure the Blood Sword Sect Daoist into his sword net, he had initially feigned being at a disadvantage. He had no choice; he was wary of the Daoist spitting blood onto his sword to enhance his power. Now, it seemed that concern was unnecessary.

Sword light flashed, sword light shimmered. The sword light, which had initially been as clear as autumn water, now pulsed like a scorching, yellow beam of light. Facing this light, the Blood Sword Sect Daoist felt a profound strangeness. This young junior not only reached the Body Tempering stage in cultivation but also possessed such terrifying sword skills. Dammit, how could the Huashan Immortal Sect cultivate such a monstrous figure? Fortunately, he still had one last trump card—sacrificing his own vital blood to empower the Blood Sword. This could boost his combat strength in a short period, but the loss of vital blood would severely deplete his vitality. This method could not be used often.

If he could slay an important figure among the true disciples of the Huashan Immortal Sect now, the profit would be immense.

The Blood Sword Sect Daoist prepared to spit blood, but he suddenly found a streak of sword light approaching the moment his mouth opened. He feared that before he could spit the blood, his head would be severed by this strike. If he wished to spit blood again, his sword would need to intercept Lu Yuan's incoming sword light elsewhere.

No matter what, he could not manage to force out that vital essence blood.

Damn it!

Indeed, his opponent was completely controlled by the sword circle. It was nearly time to secure the opponent. A wave of heat, like a summer wind, swept past. The Blood Sword Sect Daoist’s body was already crisscrossed with several wounds—this was Lu Yuan’s Transcendent Sword Intent. However, the Transcendent Sword Intent was truly too advanced; no one on the mountaintop recognized it.

In truth, the Transcendent Sword Intent was an exceedingly high-level concept, recognized by very few in the entire cultivation world.

The Blood Sword Sect Daoist struggled against the searing wind, continuously being struck by lines of blood until, finally, a sword pierced his heart. Not having reached the level of limb regeneration upon reaching the ninth level of Body Tempering, being pierced through the heart meant certain death.

He was finally dead. Now he could collect the spoils. When he heard about the Blood Cloud Spirit Beast earlier, something had stirred in his mind, and seeing the Blood Cloud Wolf confirmed it: this trip had yielded great rewards. He hoped that besides the Cloud-type spirit beast, there would be other surprises—after all, this was the first individual at the fourth level of Body Tempering he had ever slain.

Figures at the Body Tempering stage were not comparable to those at the Qi Refining stage.

Those in Qi Refining were merely small fries, tiny minnows.

But those in Body Tempering had already reached a considerable level of formidable strength. Such individuals would surely carry many valuable items with them.

On the mountaintop, Zhou Qi Wang and the two clan elders, Zhou Tie Gan and Zhou Tie Re, exchanged bewildered glances. At that moment, Zhou Qi Wang recalled Lu Yuan claiming upon his arrival that he had only ranked 180th in the newcomer trials. Was this truly the individual ranked 180th in the trials? If so, how was the Body Tempering cultivator who claimed to be fifth in the Ninth Branch Hall routed earlier?