236: Killing you only requires one sword.

This was a trap. A meticulously arranged trap, set just to wait for his arrival.

This thought flashed through Han Qing's mind in an instant.

He slowly turned around, his deep gaze looking beneath the massive, long-dead banyan tree at the entrance of the mountain villa.

There, he saw a white-haired old man wearing a simple hemp Daoist robe, standing silently at some point.

He was like that dead banyan tree, devoid of life, standing there quietly as if he had completely merged with the surrounding Heaven and Earth and all things.

If not for seeing him with his own eyes, even scanning with Divine Thought would make one feel as if there was nothing there.

Returning to simplicity, the Dao follows nature.

Although he didn't emit any earth-shattering or powerful aura, Han Qing could clearly feel that this old man was the strongest person he had encountered since arriving in the Tianxuan Domain.

Inside his body, that restrained Spiritual Qi was condensed and pure, already touching the threshold of the void and faintly resonating with the Laws of this world.

Void Refining Realm!

A curve of interest finally hooked the corner of Han Qing's mouth.

He walked toward the old man.

With every step he took, it felt as if he were stepping on the pulse of Heaven and Earth, causing a microscopic ripple in the seamless aura surrounding the old man.

“The Tianxuan Domain Cultivator Immortal Alliance's Chief Enshrined, Yuan Shouyi?”

He stopped three zhang away from the old man, standing with his hands behind his back, and spoke indifferently, directly revealing the other party's identity.

Hearing Han Qing call out his name in one go, Yuan Shouyi's eyes, which had been half-closed and as calm as an ancient well, finally opened fully, flashing with a trace of imperceptible surprise.

But it was only surprise.

He soon felt at ease.

This youth had stirred up the clouds and wind, with the Four Seas Immortal Alliance and possibly other forces from beyond the domain involved behind him; it was no surprise he could find out his identity.

“Since you know it's me, it seems you've already prepared for your death and the dissipation of your Dao.”

Yuan Shouyi spoke as if he could decide life and death with a single word.

“Follow me.”

He didn't act immediately but turned and walked toward a vast black reef beach outside the mountain villa.

“This place is not suitable for bloodshed, lest it defile the tranquility of this villa.”

The playful curve at the corner of Han Qing's mouth deepened. He nodded and followed with a composed expression, as if he weren't heading to a life-and-death battle but rather to a friend's house to sip tea and discuss the Dao.

One after the other, the two walked onto the vast black beach at the entrance of the mountain villa.

The salty sea breeze blew against their robes, making them flutter and snap.

Yuan Shouyi stopped, turned around, and with his hands behind his back, looked at Han Qing indifferently with eyes like a God of the Nine Heavens judging a Mortal.

“Seeing how cooperative you are and that you haven't resisted, I can show some mercy and give you a chance.”

“Leave a final word for your family or your Sect.”

He appeared extremely confident, one could even say conceited.

Ever since he sensed that fleeting Void Refining Realm aura outside the Four Seas Immortal Alliance that day, he had immediately ordered the Li Family, Gao Family, and Zhang Family—who were most deeply involved in this matter—to investigate with all their might.

After a thorough investigation, those Three Great Families quickly gave him a definitive answer.

He had sensed it wrong; it was merely a trace of aura unintentionally leaked by some great expert passing through.

In the Tianxuan Domain, besides him, Yuan Shouyi, there was no second Void Refining Realm expert!

This Han Qing was nothing more than a Great Perfection of Spirit Transformation with a solid Foundation and combat power far exceeding his peers.

After receiving this definitive news, Yuan Shouyi felt at ease to set this trap and come personally, preparing to solve this major threat once and for all.

In his view, dealing with a mere Great Perfection of Spirit Transformation, no matter how Heaven-Defying, was just a matter of a flick of a finger for a true Void Refining Realm expert like himself.

He was even too lazy to use any earth-shattering Divine Ability, fearing that too much commotion would attract unnecessary prying eyes.

Han Qing gave a light chuckle, filled with thirty percent mockery and seventy percent disdain.

“Final words?”

“Unnecessary.”

“Because to kill you, I only need one sword.”

“Arrogant!”

Yuan Shouyi laughed from extreme anger, thinking that this young man before him must have Cultivated himself into madness.

A Soul Transformation dare say such things to a Void Refining expert?

It was simply the height of absurdity!

He spoke no more and didn't bother to get angry again, because in the face of absolute strength, any words were hollow.

He slowly raised his thin right hand, pressing his index and middle fingers together into a sword finger. A wisp of Spiritual Qi, pure to the extreme and almost materializing, quickly condensed at his fingertip into a light bead the size of a longan, translucent and as if it contained a world within.

No energy fluctuations leaked from this light bead, yet it caused ripples to appear in the surrounding space.

With a slight flick of his wrist, he gently flicked it toward Han Qing.

“Go.”

Without a sound of breaking the air, the white light bead crossed dozens of zhang as if teleporting, silently pointing straight at the Ancestral Orifice between Han Qing's brows!

This strike was named Sumeru in a Mustard Seed, a preliminary application of the Space Law by a Void Refining Realm expert. It seemed plain, but it actually compressed a massive amount of energy into a single point. Once it hit, it was enough to instantly pierce through a mountain range and completely detonate the destructive power contained within the target's body!

Facing this terrifying strike capable of instantly killing any Spirit Transformation Realm, Han Qing simply tilted his body to the side casually.

The white light bead brushed past the corner of his clothes and flew by.

There was no earth-shattering explosion, no deafening sound.

It simply and silently sank into the massive cliff behind Han Qing, which stood hundreds of zhang high and loomed like a giant beast.

Immediately after, from one end of the cliff to the other, a smooth, mirror-like circular hole appeared out of thin air.

As if that indestructible mountain body were merely a block of tofu.

“Oh?”

A trace of genuine interest finally appeared in Han Qing's eyes.

This old man, though only at the Void Refining Early Stage, had reached a proficient level with his extreme control of Spiritual Qi and shallow understanding of the Space Law.

He was worthy of making him a bit more serious.

In the next moment, under Yuan Shouyi's slightly stunned gaze, Han Qing extended his right hand, fingers splayed open.

In an instant, the wind and clouds changed color!

The originally clear sky was instantly filled with rolling dark clouds, lightning, and thunder!

The violent sea breeze whipped up the black sand and reefs from the ground, forming giant tornadoes that connected the sky and the earth!

The Spiritual Qi of the entire Heaven and Earth seemed to have received some supreme summons, becoming violent and restless, turning into visible torrents of various colors that madly converged toward Han Qing's palm!

In his palm, a sword was being born from nothingness!

It was a sword condensed entirely from the purest Heaven and Earth Spiritual Qi. Mysterious runes that Mortals could not comprehend flowed upon the blade. Those runes were like Marks of the Great Dao branded at the beginning of the world, emitting an endless sharpness and a terrifying Sword Intent that could sever everything—a Spiritual Qi longsword!

[Sword Soul] Special Effect!

Materializing Qi, Turning Void into Reality!

The moment he saw this sword and felt that familiar yet terrifying aura, Yuan Shouyi's cloudy old eyes suddenly shrank to the size of pinpoints!

He is also in the Void Refining Realm?

So, that aura outside the Four Seas Immortal Alliance that day wasn't an illusion at all!

It was him! It was this young man before me!

Li Cheng! Gao Jian! Zhang De!

You bastards! You actually dared to deceive me!