101: Chapter 101 Elders' Showdown

"Good, straightforward! I like being direct like this, no need to haggle over the price."

Jia Tianru laughed heartily, drew his sword, and struck hard against Elder Qian Yunchang's blade.

"Let's have a fair duel; whoever wins gets the taisui evil pill."

An earth-shattering battle broke out right outside the Jingsi Courtyard.

Waves of immense power swept outward, and the Disciples brought by Jia Tianru collapsed one after another.

In a place previously thought to be safe, no one could stand their ground under the bombardment of two experts at the Ninth Level of Qi Refining.

Neither of them was targeting the Jingsi Courtyard, but the aftershocks of their attacks still activated the Formation.

Walls of light appeared; they were not as brilliant as before, but still chilling to the bone.

For Xia Shaoxin, it was much easier.

He began to circulate his Qi to loosen up his body.

Liu Tingting had fainted for a short while, but now she was awake. Looking at the struggle outside the courtyard, her expression was miserable: "Master, you haven't even rested well yet, why bother?"

Xia Shaoxin shook his head inwardly.

This situation was the most correct way to handle things.

It was originally a matter between you two Elders; don't drag us low-cultivation Disciples into it.

For the sake of a Foundation Establishment Breakthrough, Elder Qian Yunchang truly disregarded the lives of his Disciples; this was evil.

But compared to Jia Tianru, Elder Qian Yunchang was evil in a straightforward way; at least he provided a large amount of Spirit Stones as compensation to the surviving Disciples.

Jia Tianru, on the other hand, was completely and utterly bad.

A normal person would usually prepare actively and wait a few years until the power of the Protective Array in the Zhuyun Courtyard Forbidden Ground naturally restored itself, then go down to seek an opportunity personally.

How could there be any reason to snatch a Medicinal Pill from a Senior Brother of the same sect?

To be so impatient was truly inconceivable.

Perhaps it was truly as he said, believing that Elder Qian Yunchang was too old and had no value.

Is value something you can judge?

But regardless of who was right or wrong, it was not for a low-cultivation Disciple at the Lower Stage of Qi Refining like Xia Shaoxin to judge.

This matter had nothing to do with him; not losing his life in vain amidst the battle of giants was what mattered most.

Jia Tianru and Elder Qian Yunchang were focused solely on killing each other, speaking no more words.

Everyone heard only the explosive sounds of blades clashing; it felt as if the entire space was sealed, making breathing difficult and nearly suffocating.

The Disciples of Xueyan Cliff wore pained expressions, and the Inner Sect Disciples brought by Jia Tianru also looked terrified.

By all logic, they should have been cheering for their own Elder, yet no one made a sound.

After fighting for a while, Elder Qian Yunchang suddenly unleashed a spiritual talisman, striking Jia Tianru.

A towering fire immediately erupted from Jia Tianru's body, causing him to retreat in fear.

Elder Qian Yunchang seized the opportunity, thrusting his sword forward in a fierce strike.

"You bastard surnamed Qian, playing dirty with me!"

Jia Tianru struggled to dodge the attack, shaking his body to extinguish the flames.

Elder Qian Yunchang launched a rapid assault but didn't gain much advantage; his heart sank involuntarily.

Everything recently had been too rushed.

After failing his Foundation Establishment, he should have rested properly, yet he had rushed to the Zhuyun Courtyard Forbidden Ground.

After obtaining the poisonous herb, he should have rested for some days, but his heart was itching, and he insisted on performing Alchemy.

Although he had Xia Shaoxin's assistance to handle much of the physical labor, the most exhausting part of Alchemy was the step of infusing True Qi.

At the Qi Refining Realm, storing True Qi was never easy, and this was akin to losing too much blood.

He had intended to use the Spirit Cave to rest properly for a few days, holding on to take the taisui evil pill in one go; if he succeeded in his Foundation Establishment, everything else would be of no concern.

He hadn't expected Jia Tianru to be so lacking in honor as to choose this moment to come and snatch the Medicinal Pill.

This situation was especially despicable; even if he had brought it up before the Alchemy, it would have been considered honorable.

Having been locked in a stalemate for a long time, signs of his True Qi running low had appeared; he had intended to use a spiritual talisman for a sneak attack, but it failed, and he had only alerted the enemy.

Jia Tianru withstood Elder Qian Yunchang's offensive and spotted an opportunity; without hesitation, he threw out a headscarf, which formed a power barrier in the air. Elder Qian Yunchang could not dodge in time and was trapped by the headscarf.

Stab, stab, stab.

Jia Tianru seized the chance to stab three times in succession.

Elder Qian Yunchang dodged one strike, blocked another, but was wounded by the third.

He hurriedly circulated his True Qi, thrashing about to shatter the headscarf.

Unable to catch his breath, his movements stiffened. He hurriedly threw out a Speed Talisman and retreated, breaking contact to catch his breath.

Jia Tianru would not let him breathe; he lunged forward, and the two resumed the battle.

Soon, both of them were injured, and for a time, blood and flesh flew, leaving all the Disciples terrified.

The Disciples inside the Jingsi Courtyard gradually regained consciousness.

"I wouldn't last a single exchange against someone at the Ninth Level of Qi Refining," Senior Brother Shao Junwei muttered.

Xia Shaoxin turned his head to look and saw Senior Brother Shao Junwei with wide eyes, shaking his head continuously.

The gap in Realm was right there; who could truly fight against someone at the Ninth Level of Qi Refining?

Wang Xinhao had also awakened. Seeing the two Elders locked in a life-and-death struggle, he couldn't understand it. His eyes were dazed as he muttered to himself: "How could it come to this?"

Elder Jia, who was usually easy to talk to, had changed his face today.

"Did you or did you not send an alert to the Sect Head?" Xia Shaoxin asked.

"I sent it out."

"Why hasn't the Sect Head arrived yet?"

Wang Xinhao couldn't answer and lowered his head in silence.

Outside, the two Elders kept using spiritual talismans and Magical Artifacts; the slaughter between them had reached a white-hot state.

Originally, one could still see their movements clearly, but now one could see nothing at all, only two white shadows in front of the courtyard, barely distinguishable as one tall and one short.

The Disciples on both sides were very silent.

Some had seen Elders at the Ninth Level of Qi Refining take action before and knew they were much more powerful than themselves.

But this was the first time they had seen an Elder fight an enemy to the death, unleashing their maximum combat power.

No one dared to harbor thoughts of sneaking an attack to help their own Elder.

They dared not watch, yet they dared not look away.

Senior Brother Liang Ruoran woke up at this moment, mouth agape. After watching for a while, he muttered: "Who has the upper hand now?"

No one could answer this question.

Everyone was suffering, hoping for it to end soon; however, once the outcome was determined, one person would surely die, and such an ending was terrifying.

Suddenly, Elder Qian Yunchang let out an "Ah!"

The two white shadows stopped abruptly and fell from the air.

In truth, they could no longer be called white shadows; their bodies were covered in patches of blood.

A stream of red liquid sprayed from Elder Qian Yunchang's back.

As the wind blew, it parted his clothes, revealing a sharp sword tip seemingly embedded in his back.

A sense of sorrow welled up in Xia Shaoxin's heart.

Sigh, Elder Qian had lost.

Losing meant death.

He felt very angry; while Elder Qian Yunchang certainly had a cruel side, compared to him, Jia Tianru was simply shameless.

But now, the shameless person had won.

Elder Qian Yunchang spent his days thinking about how to get good Medicinal Pills to eat, while Jia Tianru spent his days thinking about Elder Qian Yunchang.

"You..."

Elder Qian Yunchang reached out his hand, and the last wisp of True Qi was emitted from his fingertip, fiercely stabbing into Jia Tianru's shoulder, instantly piercing a small bloody hole.

While Jia Tianru was feeling triumphant, he did not expect that Elder Qian Yunchang would still have the strength to injure him before dying.

Roar—

With a roar, he slammed his palm onto Elder Qian Yunchang's chest, sending Elder Qian Yunchang flying like a kite with a broken string.

Jia Tianru disregarded his own wounds completely, flew forward, and stabbed his sword into Elder Qian Yunchang's stomach once more.