220: One sword, the world is shocked!

Someone in the Star-Picking Tower gasped in surprise. The Cultivators who had been staring at Wang Ning's blade now completely forgot their previous fear, looking up at the sky in unison.

They saw ripples appearing in the air beneath Li Xiangyun's palm. The Imperial Guards' armor beneath the palace walls crackled, as if about to be crushed by an invisible force. Even the floor tiles of the distant white jade platform began to crack, with cold Qi seeping from the fissures.

This power... At this moment, everyone's hearts were in turmoil.

They had initially guessed that Li Xiangyun having an Early Stage Nascent Soul Realm was already Heaven-Defying enough. After all, since he dared to declare war on the Great Zhou Dynasty, he must at least possess a Nascent Soul Cultivation, right?

But even so, many people still couldn't believe it.

After all, from Late-stage Golden Core to Early Stage Nascent Soul, this was a leap of two major Realms. An ordinary person might not be able to achieve it even if they spent ten decades.

But who would have thought that Li Xiangyun was actually a Late Stage Nascent Soul!

What kind of terrifying Cultivation speed was this?

"Late Stage Nascent Soul..." Wang Ning put down his wine gourd, his fingertips caressing the scabbard, a genuine ripple appearing in his eyes for the first time.

He considered his own Cultivation speed to be fast enough with the help of a Heaven and Earth treasure like the good fortune pagoda, yet he never imagined Li Xiangyun's Cultivation was even more Heaven-Defying.

Compared to Wang Ning, Li Hentian didn't think as much.

From the moment she saw Li Xiangyun, the anger on Li Hentian's face dissipated, and the Devilish Qi beneath her dark robe quietly receded.

She looked up at the sky, her fingertips tightening slightly, her eyes gradually moistening, "Revered Master..."

At the same time, inside the main hall of the Imperial Palace.

Emperor Yongchang finally stopped tapping his armrest when that power pressed down.

He looked up at the hall ceiling. The coiled Dragon relief behind the Dragon Throne seemed to come alive, yet stone chips fell rustling under the immense pressure of the spiritual energy.

He sighed softly, his voice so low only he could hear: "It has come, after all."

But in an instant, a hint of dominance appeared on his face. He stood up, waved his Dragon robe, and declared, "Since that is the case, then let us fight!"

Above the clouds, Li Xiangyun's palm was still descending. The Imperial City beneath his palm was already beginning to tremble slightly under that vast power.

Just as the Imperial City's trembling grew more intense and the dark clouds almost seemed to crush the palace eaves, nine golden rays of light suddenly illuminated the base of the Imperial City!

Those golden rays rose from the nine Suppressing Mountain Towers outside the Imperial City, like nine golden Dragons breaking free from their restraints, spewing earthy yellow Formation patterns between their scales and claws. In a blink of an eye, they wove a giant net of light above the Imperial City.

The moment Li Xiangyun's descending palm struck the net of light, the dark cloud Qi was actually forced back by half a foot.

The golden Dragons on the net of light let out deafening Dragon roars, and a buzzing sound of a Formation Plate turning came from the base of the towers. It was precisely the Great Zhou's national protective Fifth-Grade Grand Formation, the Nine Dragons Suppressing Mountain Array!

This Formation, based on nine Suppressing Mountain Towers and drawing Dragon Qi from the earth veins as a shield, was sufficient to block a full-force attack from a Soul Transformation Realm Cultivator.

Li Xiangyun's brow furrowed slightly on the cloud Peak, but the spiritual energy in his palm did not recede. He saw clearly that ripples had begun to appear at the edge of the light net, and even fine cracks had appeared on the scales of the golden Dragons.

But just then, a neat clashing of armor suddenly rang out from beneath the palace walls below.

The Imperial Guards, who had almost bent their knees under the spiritual pressure, instantly changed their Formation!

The front-row soldiers dropped their shields to the ground, the shield faces combining to form the shape of an azure Dragon's skull, with faint green spiritual energy seeping from the shield edges.

The archers in the back row abandoned their longbows, drew the short blades from their waists, and connected their blade tips upwards to form the curve of a Dragon's spine.

Hundreds of Cultivators were mixed in the ranks, forming hand seals to inject spiritual energy into the Formation patterns beneath their feet.

In just a few breaths, the entire Imperial Guard actually formed the phantom of an azure Dragon with its head held high!

"A Fourth-Grade Peak Battle Formation, Azure Dragon Strikes Heaven!" Someone in the Star-Picking Tower recognized the Formation, their voice trembling.

This Battle Formation was originally a killing Formation used to resist external enemy attacks, but at this moment, it pointed its spearhead at the cloud Peak.

With a furious roar from a captain within the Formation, the azure Dragon phantom suddenly opened its eyes, its Dragon mouth spewing a green pillar of light condensed from the spiritual energy of a thousand soldiers, directly piercing towards Li Xiangyun's face!

Where the light pillar passed, the air was scorched, and even the light net of the Nine Dragons Suppressing Mountain Array shook from the impact.

It was an attempt to use the momentary gap when the Grand Formation blocked the heavy pressure to deliver a fatal blow to Li Xiangyun.

Li Xiangyun looked at the piercing light pillar, his plain robe fluttering more violently in the strong wind carried by the light pillar.

His fingertips slightly condensed. In an instant, the frosty power in the surrounding clouds gathered frantically, forming a long, translucent sword in his palm.

The sword body was three feet seven inches long, with faint blue ice crystal patterns flowing along the spine, and the blade emitted a cold light that could reflect the chilling shadows in people's hearts. It was precisely the Sky Crystal Ice Dust Sword.

As soon as the sword was formed, the temperature between heaven and earth plummeted.

Ice flowers instantly covered the window lattices of the Star-Picking Tower, layers of ice shards appeared on the moat at the base of the Imperial City, and even the edges of that scorching azure Dragon light pillar condensed with fine white frost.

It was the Law of Ice moving with the sword. Every wisp of Law power flowing caused the water vapor in the air to condense into visible ice mist.

"Slash."

Li Xiangyun's lips parted slightly, and the Sky Crystal Ice Dust Sword moved with his arm, striking out with a single sword towards the azure Dragon light pillar.

There was no earth-shattering sound, only a pale blue ice arc erupted from the blade. Wherever it passed, ice mist formed walls, and frost formed rivers.

That green light pillar, capable of shaking a Fifth-Grade Grand Formation, instantly melted like boiling water on snow upon impact with the ice arc. The ice arc passed through the light pillar undiminished, directly striking the head of the azure Dragon phantom.

"Crack—"

A crisp cracking sound echoed throughout the Imperial City.

The azure Dragon phantom began to freeze from its head, instantly turning into a completely ice-blue Dragon-shaped ice sculpture. Cracks spread across the ice sculpture, which finally collapsed with a crash, turning into a sky full of ice shards.

And that ice arc, its momentum undiminished, struck the light net of the Nine Dragons Suppressing Mountain Array. The golden Dragons on the light net actually let out mournful cries.

Three of the nine golden rays instantly dimmed, a clear ice mark was split in the center of the light net, and a muffled " Buzz" sound came from the Suppressing Mountain Towers at the base of the Formation, their spires actually condensing half a foot of solid ice.

On the cloud Peak, Li Xiangyun stood with his sword, the ice crystal patterns on the Sky Crystal Ice Dust Sword slowly receding.

The Star-Picking Tower was silent. Wang Ning's fingers, holding the scabbard, were frozen in place. There was also some surprise in Li Hentian's eyes; she hadn't expected her Revered Master's strength to have reached such a terrifying level.

The power of a Late Stage Nascent Soul, aided by a Law sword, this strike had already touched the threshold of the Soul Transformation Realm.

Emperor Yongchang in the main hall looked at the ice stalactites condensed on the hall ceiling, silent for a long time. His fingertips once again rested on the armrest of the Dragon Throne, only this time, the rhythm of his tapping carried a subtle tremor.

The dead silence in the Star-Picking Tower didn't last three breaths before it was shattered by gasps of shock.

The hands of several Righteous Path Cultivators by the window, clutching their horsetail whisks, turned white. One of the green-robed Daoist priests' fingertips trembled violently, not even noticing the horsetail whisk's tassel touching the ice shards on the window sill: "Law... It's real Law power! To be able to comprehend Law power with a Nascent Soul Realm body, what kind of astonishing talent is this?"