It wasn't Ning Ruxue or Hua Yi who spoke, but Ye Wen, who had managed to catch his breath. Surrounded by a multitude of long swords, Ye Wen's face was a mask of mockery as he simultaneously strained to channel the Zhenqi within his Ti to recover as much as possible.

That earlier display of Wan Jian Jue had achieved the desired result, true enough, but it had left him in a near-paralyzed state once the technique was finished. It was only thanks to the mysterious nature of the Xiantian Ziqi that he had managed to recover a sliver of Zhenqi immediately after his reserves were emptied; Ye Wen was relying solely on this meager amount to remain standing.

Had it been anyone else in his condition, they would have long since collapsed, unable to move!

As for the danger of a surprise attack, Ye Wen wasn't worried. He hadn't come alone; he trusted that whether it was his junior martial sister, Hua Yi, or even Xu Xian, none of them would stand by and watch him be assaulted. Besides, the sheer spectacle of Wan Jian Jue—its formidable momentum—was enough to shake anyone’s spirit, making them hesitant to attack him for a time. With just a moment’s respite, he could regain some strength. Even if he couldn't continue fighting, self-preservation would be assured.

The situation was even better than Ye Wen had anticipated. Due to the terrifying power of Wan Jian Jue, everyone treated him like a plague victim, scattering away. The young man from the Emei Sect was the quickest to react, but he was still a moment too late. Even without Ning Ruxue and Hua Yi intervening, Ye Wen could have neutralized that attack with the flying swords surrounding him and used the opportunity to slaughter the remaining Emei disciples—if they wouldn't show sense, there was no need to keep them alive.

No sooner had Ye Wen finished speaking than Hua Yi and Ning Ruxue descended. Then, the light of the Azure Lotus Sword flared brilliantly, circling the Water Deity Dragon, slashing left and right, inflicting countless injuries in moments. Finally, a full-force strike caused the Water Deity Dragon to collapse and dissipate into the air.

Though the young man understood the sorceries of Chan Master Dihong, the power of the Water Deity Dragon fell far short of what Dihong could wield, limited by his own cultivation. Ning Ruxue had been wary of the spell's triple threat initially, but after a few probes, she realized it was like a spearhead—looking formidable but brittle enough to shatter with a single thrust. Thus, she abandoned any pretense of feinting and brought down her sword light in a decisive cleavage.

With his spell and flying swords broken consecutively, the young man felt a violent tremor in his spirit, coughing up several mouthfuls of vital blood from his throat. Finally, his vision went dark, and he was on the verge of falling.

A junior brother reached out from behind to steady him, but even grabbing their senior brother couldn't avert the fate awaiting him.

Unnoticed by everyone, among the Shu Mountain contingent that had landed, Zhou Lei casually took out a small steel ball and clutched it in her hand, aiming it toward the young man from a distance. Electrical light crackled around her arm, accompanied by a flurry of sharp sounds. Everyone’s attention was drawn by the spectacle she created, and just as they wondered what she was doing, they heard the girl shout: "Let me show you a new move I've mastered!—Electromagnetic Railgun!"

Ye Wen, who had been enjoying striking a dramatic pose, nearly buckled at the knees from the shock. He turned to glare at Zhou Lei in astonishment, then watched the electric light on her arm flash violently, instantly launching the steel ball!

And then, at almost the exact same moment, the Emei disciple in the distance tumbled backward, his cry punctuated by blood splashing onto those around him, mixed with some whitish, shapeless matter. "Aah, Headshot!"

Zhou Lei seemed equally surprised by her direct headshot, then shamelessly declared, "I didn't expect my talent to be this strong; I got a headshot on my very first try!"

Wang Bing and Zhao Lin shook their heads helplessly, utterly speechless regarding their colleague. Especially in this situation, in this environment—did she possess absolutely no sense of occasion? "We're currently engaged in combat; can't you be serious for a moment?"

The Emei disciples were furious over the sudden death of their senior brother at the hands of some random girl. They dared not speak harshly to Ye Wen, but that didn't mean they feared a mere girl, even if she was from the Shu Mountain Sect. "Kill her and avenge our senior brother!" The Emei disciples, unable to fathom what had provoked Ye Wen’s initial attack, all summoned their magic treasures. Ye Wen noted that most of the flying swords they unleashed glowed predominantly with a purplish-green light, occasionally interspersed with other colors. However, the crimson rainbow sword they mentioned their senior brother using was nowhere to be seen.

From this, he deduced one of two things: either that senior brother was exceptionally domineering and selfish, keeping the Crimson Rainbow Sword for himself, or he was deeply beloved by his juniors. The latter seemed far more likely now!

Ye Wen even saw Yan Xing and Zhou Chong summon their flying swords, executing a Purple-Green Convergence. As the dual purple-green swords flew out, their sword light abruptly coalesced, as if emanating from a single blade, its power and momentum far exceeding what either sword could produce alone.

This barrage of flying swords was mostly aimed at Zhou Lei’s group, with the power of the converged purple-green swords being the most formidable. Ye Wen started to intervene but stopped himself, wanting to see how his student disciples would handle the situation.

Now that the situation had evolved this way, he thought it was a perfect chance for his apprentices to steal the spotlight. Chris clenched his fists, his entire body suddenly erupting in flame-like red Dou Qi. Fluctuations gathered around his fists, not released, but used as he lunged forward, meeting the incoming pair of flying swords head-on with his energy-charged fists.

Chris had chosen the swords belonging to Yan Xing and Zhou Chong—the Purple-Green Dual Swords, likely the strongest pair among them. A few years ago, Chris would certainly have been overpowered by this strike, but now, having reached the peak of Red Dou Qi, he could barely manage a stalemate.

Chris was forced backward by the powerful sword aura, suffering several gashes on his hands and cuts to his clothing from the explosive sword energy. Yet, Chris didn't seem to care; in fact, his fighting spirit flared even brighter. What left Ye Wen more exasperated was that Chris, having apparently picked up this habit from somewhere, suddenly bellowed, "Strong enough! This is much more interesting! Watch as I blast you into dust!"

Ye Wen had initially wondered where Chris had learned such lines, until he noticed Zhou Lei's expression of pure delight. She took a deep breath, looking thoroughly pleased: "So, hearing people yell things like this in a real fight is this electrifying!"

Seeing this scene, Ye Wen didn't need to think further; Zhou Lei’s wicked sense of humor was no less than his own! Chris turning into this persona was almost certainly Zhou Lei’s doing behind the scenes.

Then, Chris's Dou Qi erupted once more. He made a grasping motion with both hands, and the red energy fluctuations sent out a fierce gust of wind, kicking up a significant amount of dust and pebbles around them. His eyes were locked on the Purple-Green Dual Swords, which had been knocked back some distance by his punch and had now regained their composure.

While he was fighting heatedly, many of the cultivators floating above were looking on with darkened expressions, especially the younger ones, who looked utterly bewildered. Some young cultivators gathered together, pointing at Chris and murmuring, "This move, why does it look so familiar?" "And the words he just shouted, those seem even more familiar!" Another lightly scratched his chin. "I'm starting to suspect I'm dreaming, maybe everything I've seen today is fake!" "You're not dreaming!" Another mercilessly shattered his fantasy, then mumbled doubtfully, "But I suspect I might be dreaming!"

A few more young cultivators drifted closer. Most were relying on various magic treasures for flight, limiting their speed. Though curious, they dared not venture too close to the ground, fearing they might get caught in the crossfire and be unable to escape. "I heard the Shu Mountain Sect practices martial cultivation; this move should count as a martial art, right?" The person scratched his hair. "The Shu Mountain Sect is actually keeping up with the times?"

As the crowd muttered above, the battle below shifted again! While Chris and Yan Xing and Zhou Chong were locked in a fierce exchange, Tommy wasn't idle. The dark-skinned young man channeled the energy of the Ascending Dragon Fist with both hands. However, unlike Chris, who specifically sought the toughest fights, Tommy firmly adhered to the supreme law of picking on the weakest: he targeted the magic treasure with the weakest displayed power, immediately throwing a punch to hook it, followed by a chop using a hand blade condensed from green Dou Qi to shatter the now-dimming treasure!

Tommy discovered that destroying one treasure guaranteed someone in the distance would spit blood and slump over; in severe cases, they would even pass out instantly. Wouldn't this mean that by destroying their treasures, he could eliminate quite a few enemies? "Where can you find such a good deal?"

It was precisely because the younger cultivators knew their own cultivation was limited that they dedicated most of their focus to enhancing their magic treasures, which allowed Tommy to inflict heavy damage! Otherwise, with their current cultivation levels, they wouldn't have been able to refine their treasures to this degree. It could only be said that the current environment and turn of events had favored the shameless Tommy.

These two represented the stronger combat power among the current Shu Mountain disciples. Xu Xian hadn't made a move, staying put to protect the less powerful ones, such as Guan Jie and Claire. However, after watching the other two fight, even he was amazed by the peculiar techniques his senior brother had cooked up. Poor Xu Xian, having never lived in the secular world, still had no clue what these 'skills' actually were.

Though this group remained stationary, they still drew many gazes, especially from the circling cultivators, who pointed and speculated on what other strange moves the Shu Mountain Sect would unleash. "Hey? There's a girl in a sailor uniform over there! She's holding a blade... the styling looks familiar." "A blade? Could it be that..." "But that doesn't seem related to Kung Fu, does it? If we had to categorize it, it should be a magic treasure!" "What about a magic treasure? Who decreed the Shu Mountain Sect can't use magic treasures? We just don't know what ability this little sister's blade has?" "Looking at her delicate appearance... maybe it's an auxiliary or healing type?" "Mmm, possible!"

Little did they know that their loud chatter was reaching Zhang Ling’s ears. Feeling uncomfortable being the subject of their critiques, Zhang Ling’s head was almost bowed to her feet.

Just then, a flying sword that Tommy had knocked away with a hooking punch bounced into the air, but instead of falling to the ground like the others, it suddenly burst into a silver light, its speed multiplying several times, shooting directly toward Zhang Ling, who stood with her head bowed. "Ah! Careful!" "Look out!" "Flying sword!"

The few cultivators who had been chatting happily cried out involuntarily upon seeing the streak of silver light. This shout fortunately jolted Zhang Ling awake, but she remained motionless. Though she had raised her head and seen the silver sword hurtling toward her, she made no response, as if frozen by terror. "Ah! No!" "Heavens, dodge!"

The onlookers, expecting to witness the demise of a young girl, were stunned when the long blade in Zhang Ling's hand suddenly exploded, transforming into a mass of pink petals. Just as the silver light was about to touch Zhang Ling, the entire flying sword was enveloped by a cloud of pink petals. Then, the petals gathered thicker and thicker, finally emitting a grating, tooth-aching sound.

When the petals dispersed, a piece of metal, unrecognizable as to its original form, clattered to the ground, while Zhang Ling calmly surveyed the scrap metal. She then glanced toward the Emei disciples in the distance, coincidentally seeing one of them clutching his chest and spitting blood. "Wow, it was actually this!" "What kind of depraved taste does the Shu Mountain Sect Leader have, giving such a vicious weapon to such a delicate girl?" "That’s more like it! Black long hair, sailor uniform, beautiful girl, and cherry blossoms filling the sky... what atmosphere! Sect Leader Ye of the Shu Mountain Sect is truly one of us!" "Good!"

Ye Wen, with his cultivation, heard every word clearly. He desperately wanted to curse, "One of your kind, my foot!" But he had to suppress the impulse because the reality unfolding before him made any words of denial sound utterly weak. Faced with so many established facts, how could he possibly argue his way out? Moreover, he did harbor a little bit of that wicked taste himself! "It’s a good thing I didn't shout out the name Huantian Baojian when fighting people, otherwise..."

To his surprise, the cultivators started muttering again: "Ah, now that you mention it—wasn't Sect Leader Ye's earlier move Wan Jian Jue? I was so shocked earlier, I failed to realize it! What a failure!" "Yes, you're right! Now that you mention it! Speaking of which, those few palm strikes Sect Leader Ye threw when fighting Chan Master Dihong earlier, the ones that produced dragon-shaped Jinqi—were those the Eighteen Dragon-Subduing Palms?" "And what about those seven lotus blossoms Sect Leader Ye casually tossed out..." "What technique was that?" "I haven't finished yet!" The speaker was clearly annoyed at being interrupted. "I mean to say, their colors! Didn't you notice the colors of those seven lotus blossoms? And the feeling they each gave off was different. That kind of technique resembles..." "The Huantian Baojian?"

The person was interrupted again, but this time he showed no annoyance, instead appearing quite smug, holding his head high with an air of pride, as if proclaiming: I am the expert! "..."

Ye Wen stopped speaking. He realized that while these cultivators were pathetically weak, their minds were anything but ordinary. It was no wonder they were accepted as disciples even in such harsh circumstances; they were indeed exceptional! Their powers of observation and deduction far surpassed that of the average person.

Seeing that his disciples had successfully contained the Emei disciples, Ye Wen recalled all two hundred-plus flying swords back into his Ti. This was the first time he had retracted the Jinqi that had already materialized and manifested as flying swords since creating the technique, a testament to how much energy the Wan Jian Jue had cost him.

There would inevitably be some loss of energy during the retraction, but it alleviated Ye Wen’s condition. Now, as long as he didn't face a top-tier master, dealing with ordinary cultivators was relatively easy!

Standing aside, quietly watching his students perform, Xu Xian suddenly approached. "Senior Brother has taken in some excellent disciples again! Seeing this makes me want to take on a few more students to teach!" "You?" Ye Wen looked Xu Xian up and down. "Can you settle down long enough to teach apprentices?" "Hehe!" Xu Xian chuckled awkwardly. "Senior Brother is right. I think it’s better for me to continue traveling around the world with my Rongrong!"

Ye Wen wasn't surprised, as he knew this would be the answer. In truth, didn't he often wish for such a life? But the burdens on his shoulders meant he couldn't do exactly as he pleased. After dealing with the Emei Sect, how should the Shu Mountain Sect develop next? He currently only had a rough idea.

He looked up toward the group of orthodox cultivators, noticing they were beginning their descent. They had clearly watched enough of the show and were coming down to clean up the aftermath. Ye Wen surmised these people intended to plead for Ye Wen to spare the Emei Sect—perhaps urging him not to wipe them out completely! But after things had escalated this far, how could he possibly let Emei off the hook? Wouldn't that just leave future trouble for himself?

There were some matters where it wasn't appropriate for him to act. Xu Xian noticed the slight shift in Ye Wen's expression and immediately understood his senior brother's intent. He exchanged a look with his wife, Huang Rongrong, and the two vanished in a whoosh. The space behind them immediately transformed into a gruesome tableau of flying swords and severed limbs, where sharp blades mingled with fresh blood—a bloody canvas.

With Xu Xian taking the lead, the Shu Mountain disciples instantly grasped their Sect Leader's meaning: annihilate them completely!

Ning Ruxue's Azure Lotus Sword and Hua Yi's Metal Divine Light displayed their awe-inspiring power, reaping several lives with almost every flash. Wang Bing, Zhao Lin, and the others stopped watching and charged into the fray, engaging the cultivators with lower cultivation levels.

This entire shift occurred in an instant. Zhang Sanfeng was leading his group down, preparing to intercede. He hadn't descended earlier because he wanted to gauge the capabilities of the other Shu Mountain members. Unexpectedly, a sudden complication arose, forcing him to rush down in alarm.

But in that brief moment, the remaining Emei disciples were all slaughtered clean.

Originally, Ye Wen hadn't intended to kill them all; he wasn't a bloodthirsty maniac. But from the moment they attacked him, he had dismissed that thought. "Since they provoked me, they must pay the price!"

The price the Emei Sect paid was: annihilation! ………………,