A faint drizzle, a fine rain, a sparse shower, scattered on the wind. It was just like a maiden’s dream. Lu Yuan sighed deeply.

With such fine weather, such a delightful environment, it would be wonderful to find a spot to sleep and drink a little, to gaze at the surrounding scenery, watching the myriad bamboo umbrellas in the distance, watching the graceful young women beneath them—what a pleasant thing that would be. Of course, Lu Yuan’s gaze was purely appreciative, the same feeling one has watching mountains and water. To Lu Yuan, those were simply beautiful sights, nothing more.

To fight and kill right here, right now, was truly a waste of such a perfect spring rain. But there was no choice; failing to act now would lead to defeat for the Great Yuan Kingdom in the Western Regions River Head negotiations, which would be a grievous sin. Better to be serious.

Lu Yuan forced himself to focus. Besides, his opponent was a Reincarnated Spirit Child, someone he hadn't encountered before; this should be somewhat interesting. He hoped not to be disappointed.

At this moment, Zhang Qingshu, Zhao Qiankun, Li Xuxuan, and the others were utterly stunned. It was somewhat acceptable that Tiemuer, this Reincarnated Spirit Child, had reached the sixth level of Body Tempering. But Lu Yuan, how had he reached the fourth level of the Body Tempering stage now?

This was simply too exaggerated. They had always believed themselves to be the strongest, the absolute pinnacle among the younger disciples. Only now did they realize that both combatants currently engaged far surpassed them.

It left them speechless, unable to utter a word, tears streaming down their faces—it turned out their perceived status as the strongest was merely an illusion. Two monsters! That was the consensus regarding Tiemuer and Lu Yuan.

The strength of both far exceeded that of the younger disciple tier; they could no longer be counted among them. Of course, relatively speaking, Lu Yuan was the greater anomaly. Tiemuer, after all, was a Reincarnated Spirit Child; reaching the sixth level of Body Tempering was understandable.

But you, Lu Yuan, were nothing special, yet you cultivated to the fourth level of Body Tempering—how could anyone bear this? Currently, it was a scene of a dragon fighting a tiger, though Tiemuer should hold a slight advantage. Everyone knew Lu Yuan possessed Sword Intent, but his cultivation level was lower than Tiemuer's.

If Tiemuer were to unleash some secret techniques from his past life, the probability of him defeating Lu Yuan remained quite high. A Reincarnated Spirit Child was a supreme trump card among trump cards. Naturally, even the Esoteric Sect could not produce too many Reincarnated Spirit Children.

Finding the reincarnation after rebirth and then using the empowerment ritual to awaken the true spirit of the past life—this process was incredibly complex, even within the Esoteric Sect. Only two figures in a generation of the Great Jin could achieve reincarnation; others could not. It involved a mountain of esoteric doctrines, few of which were understood by those in the Great Jin Kingdom.

“Clang, clang, clang.” The Demon Subduing Palm met the One Hundred and Eight Swords of Wind and Cloud. Tiemuer’s palm winds surged furiously, while Lu Yuan’s One Hundred and Eight Swords of Wind and Cloud were nimble. Having mastered the Sword Intent of Wind made countering palm strikes, which were essentially forms of wind, quite manageable—after all, a palm wind was still wind; one merely needed to find its weak point and pierce it with a single sword thrust.

For a time, Tiemuer found himself unable to gain the upper hand against Lu Yuan. Seeing this situation, Tiemuer made a move, raising his hand to conjure a massive hand in the void. This hand materialized out of thin air and lunged towards Lu Yuan.

Upon witnessing this technique, all knowledgeable cultivators present gasped in surprise: "Void Great Hand Seal!" This technique was known as the Void Great Hand Seal, one of the supreme secret arts of the Esoteric Sect. In terms of status, it ranked below the Dragon-Tiger Ascension Scripture. In terms of fame, it was less known than the Yin-Yang Joyful Zen.

However, its practical value was undeniably immense. The Dragon-Tiger Ascension Scripture was exceedingly difficult to cultivate and only accessible to a select few, whereas the Void Great Hand Seal could be practiced by many. This technique materialized an ethereal hand that grasped at the opponent, possessing a tracking ability that pursued relentlessly no matter where one dodged.

If one’s cultivation was significantly lower than the user’s, defeat was almost certain. The Void Great Hand Seal was an exceptionally vexing technique. Quite a number of cultivators in the Great Jin Kingdom had suffered losses under its power.

The Esoteric Sect had two major Hand Seals: besides the Void Great Hand Seal, there was the Blood Hand Seal. Both of these techniques had caused considerable trouble for the cultivators of the Great Jin. Tiemuer truly lived up to his title as a Reincarnated Spirit Child by immediately deploying the Void Great Hand Seal.

As the great hand lunged for Lu Yuan, every block and parry with the Yangwu Sword directed against it still led the grasp inexorably toward Lu Yuan. Once the Void Great Hand Seal was unleashed, it was difficult for Tiemuer to lose, and difficult for Lu Yuan to win. Just as nearly everyone believed Lu Yuan was defeated, he vanished from the stage, as did the Yangwu Sword.

All that remained was a brief gust of wind. The wind swept across the stage. This wind seemed like the lingering, slanted breeze of a spring shower, perfectly integrated into nature.

The Void Great Hand Seal could automatically track its target, but now that the target was gone, replaced only by a brief flurry of air, the great hand halted suspended in the void. At this moment, everyone’s expression changed drastically. Tiemuer, being a Reincarnated Spirit Child, instantly recognized the method: "Damn it, the Detachment Sword Intent of Wind!" Recently, Lu Yuan’s reputation had grown, but people only knew that his swordsmanship had reached the level of Sword Intent, and his cultivation was at the Body Tempering stage.

However, Lu Yuan seemed to relish surprising everyone. First, his cultivation level was not the first or second level of Body Tempering, but a full fourth level, and the difference between the Blood Tempering realm and the initial levels was vast. And now, he was employing the apex of Sword Intent: the Detachment Sword Intent of Wind.

Even the swordsmanship of figures like Sima Changbai or Dugu Ye was only equivalent to Lu Yuan’s at this moment. Of course, a master like Yuan Yuan Shangren, capable of unleashing several Sword Intents with a single strike, still surpassed Lu Yuan in terms of sword technique. At this point, the entire arena shook!

Every eye was filled with disbelief. Even Tiemuer privately conceded that Lu Yuan was truly monstrous. His own power was not surprising given his status as a Reincarnated Spirit Child, but for Lu Yuan to possess such strength was terrifying.

The wind moved too fast; before Tiemuer could fully react, he had already been struck several times. Tiemuer, worthy of his title, immediately countered by unleashing another supreme secret technique of the Esoteric Sect—the Vase Seal. A virtual Vajra Vase Dharma Seal materialized around him, enveloping his entire body.

This Vase Seal was notoriously difficult to break; often after defeating an Esoteric monk, the monk would immediately deploy the Vase Seal, a skill that had long plagued the Great Jin cultivation world. Seeing Tiemuer swiftly deploy the Vase Seal, wind suddenly rose, clouds gathered, swirling around the seal and firmly enveloping it. Among the One Hundred and Eight Swords of Wind and Cloud was a move called ‘Wind and Cloud Dissipation.’ When the Detachment Sword Intents of both Wind and Cloud were used together, they produced an effect that steadily wore down the opponent's vital energy.

Tiemuer’s internal energy could sustain the Vase Seal for a long time, but the sudden rising wind and clouds meant even his Vase Seal could not last long under the assault. Sword strike after sword strike after sword strike. Tiemuer was already gravely injured by this point; the fight was effectively over.

This battle had greatly exceeded everyone’s expectations. First, Tiemuer’s strength was unexpected. When facing Zhao Qiankun and the others, Tiemuer had only displayed the power of the third level of Body Tempering, his moves casual.

Yet here, he used the sixth level of Body Tempering, along with techniques like the Demon Subduing Palm, the Void Great Hand Seal, and the Vase Seal—truly, the Reincarnated Spirit Child possessed many ultimate skills. Despite all this, he still lost. The crowd had absolutely not anticipated that Lu Yuan possessed the power of the fourth level of Body Tempering, along with the Detachment Sword Intent of Cloud and the Detachment Sword Intent of Wind.

Everyone knew Lu Yuan was a formidable junior, but they hadn't imagined he had reached this level, having mastered two Detachment Sword Intents. It was truly surprising! What a true monster!

This was the first time the Ninth Generation Sword Immortal had witnessed Lu Yuan’s strength so directly. Fan Fa Shangren rose to his feet. “This battle, our Great Yuan Kingdom concedes.” He had to rise.

While securing leverage for the Western Regions River Head negotiations was important, the value of the Reincarnated Spirit Child was paramount. They had initially assumed no young generation expert in the Great Jin could stand against Tiemuer—and normally, no young generation expert could defeat a Reincarnated Spirit Child—but this time, an unexpected deviation had occurred. Thus, Fan Fa Shangren was compelled to rise and admit defeat.

Lu Yuan had actually considered killing Tiemuer, but as envoys, he really shouldn't act. Since Fan Fa Shangren had conceded, Lu Yuan had no choice but to halt. Otherwise, it might provoke a national war!

After much effort, both sides had arrived at negotiations; he did not want his single sword strike to reignite conflict between nations. This was a constraint born of necessity. Well, Lu Yuan was never one for bloodlust; he was inherently indolent.

Since things stood this way, he let it go. With a sweep of his hand, the Yangwu Sword returned to its sheath. At this moment, Emperor Jin Rong coughed.

“Then this battle is a victory for our Great Jin Kingdom. Lu Yuan of the Mount Hua Immortal Sect has performed admirably. I shall bestow upon you five hundred spirit stones.” Five hundred spirit stones sounds like a lot, but this was a gesture from the Emperor of the Great Jin.

Moreover, Lu Yuan had brought honor to the Jin state and placed them in a favorable position during the negotiations. Thus, five hundred spirit stones was not an exorbitant amount. Lu Yuan naturally offered his thanks; he wouldn't refuse five hundred spirit stones.

But just as Emperor Jin Rong finished speaking, a figure cloaked in blue shot out. This blue figure flew straight toward the heavily wounded Tiemuer without a word. This development was entirely unexpected.

Fan Fa Shangren, alarmed, immediately moved to intercept the figure. The figure’s body flickered, seemingly about to evade, but Fan Fa Shangren was not easily dismissed and struck out with a Void Great Hand Seal. The blue figure reluctantly raised a hand to meet the seal, clashing with the Void Great Hand Seal.

In this exchange, Fan Fa Shangren actually appeared to suffer a slight disadvantage. Who was this arrival? Fan Fa Shangren was of the Shangren level, yet he suffered a small loss against this person.

The blue figure reached Tiemuer in an instant, grabbed him, and attempted to flee. Fan Fa Shangren grew anxious, retaliating by launching the Void Great Hand Seal with his right hand and the Blood Hand Seal with his left, trying to ensnare the person. He could not allow this individual to capture Tiemuer; the Reincarnated Spirit Child was far too precious to the Esoteric Sect.

Who was this person? To arrive and immediately attempt to steal the Reincarnated Spirit Child? Yuan Yuan Shangren’s expression turned grave.

Among all the people present, he was the first to sense the identity of this individual—not through recognition, but through a feeling of familiarity. (Hmm, how many people can guess the identity of this blue figure? Hint: this person has appeared before.

Also, next chapter will feature Yan Cangtian, the Peerless Sword Saint, but needless to say, the blue-robed person is not Yan Cangtian.)