165: Chapter 165 Xu Ruyu is getting serious, Qi Refining Level 23

Leng Ningshuang's expression finally changed.

"Snow Covering a Thousand Mountains" was the move with the fastest attack speed and widest coverage in her "Ice Soul Mystic Maiden Sword" technique.

Executed with ninety percent of her power, even a Cultivator at the Golden Core Middle Stage would have to temporarily avoid its edge.

Yet, the youth at the Qi Refinement Stage before her not only received it entirely but even had the spare energy to critique it!

"You..." Leng Ningshuang gritted her teeth, anger igniting in her ice-blue eyes for the first time. "Arrogant!"

She no longer held back.

"Third Form: Glacial River Reversal!"

With a horizontal sweep of her long sword, a five-zhang wide, solid-looking ice-blue Sword Qi blast tore through the air!

This sword strike no longer pursued speed or quantity, but compressed all her spiritual power to the extreme. Wherever the Sword Qi passed, the air distorted, emitting a harsh, shrill whistle!

Before the Sword Qi even arrived, the bluestone ground beneath Xu Ruyu's feet had already shattered inch by inch!

Below the platform, Lin Feng shouted in a low voice, "Retreat!"

The six Senior Brothers flew backward simultaneously, instantly retreating to the edge of the Law Execution Platform—the shockwave of this sword strike was already something a Cultivator at the Golden Core Initial Stage could not easily withstand!

Xu Ruyu finally moved.

For the first time, he raised his hands, his ten fingers rapidly forming seals in front of him—not any known cultivation hand seal, but a strange movement, as if plucking strings in the Void Realm.

Following the plucking of his fingers, the air within three feet in front of him began to vibrate violently!

The transparent ripples transformed from water-like waves into vortexes. Countless tiny air vortexes piled up in layers before him, forming a hemispherical transparent shield with a diameter of one zhang.

On the surface of the shield, the airflow rotated crazily at a speed visible to the naked eye, emitting a "woo-woo" low hum.

The next moment, the ice-blue Sword Qi smashed fiercely against the shield!

"Boom——!!!"

Amidst the deafening explosion, the ice-blue and transparent energy turbulence swept wildly in all directions!

The protective barrier around the Law Execution Platform vibrated violently, and fine cracks even appeared on the light screen!

The Disciples in the front row below the platform were knocked off balance by the air wave, and exclamations arose everywhere.

The energy turbulence lasted for three breaths before slowly dissipating.

Everyone impatiently looked toward the center of the Law Execution Platform.

Then, they saw a scene even more shocking—

Xu Ruyu was still standing.

The hemispherical transparent shield in front of him had disappeared, but he himself remained unscathed.

Only this time, the cuff of his moon-white robe had been torn by the aftermath of the Sword Qi, leaving a three-inch-long gash.

Beneath the gash, the skin of his forearm was exposed.

On the skin, there was a shallow white mark—that was the trace of the Sword Qi grazing him; it hadn't even broken the skin.

"The third sword." Xu Ruyu lowered his head to look at the tear in his cuff, then raised his eyes to look at Leng Ningshuang. "Senior Sister's Sword Qi has become much more refined, but unfortunately... it is still lacking a little."

He paused, his tone still calm. "If Senior Sister does not have a more powerful sword technique, then next, it is my turn."

Leng Ningshuang's hand gripping the sword turned white at the knuckles due to the force.

Three swords.

She had used three sword strikes with seventy percent, ninety percent, and one hundred percent of her power, yet she had only left a tear on this Qi Refinement Stage youth's sleeve.

Humiliation.

Unprecedented humiliation.

But what shocked her even more was—what Xu Ruyu said, "It is my turn."

He wanted to counterattack?

A Cultivator at the Qi Refinement Stage wanted to counterattack a Late Golden Core Stage?

"You..." Leng Ningshuang had just spat out one word when her pupils suddenly constricted!

Because Xu Ruyu had moved.

He did not rush forward, did not cast any flashy Spells, but simply raised his right hand slowly, pressed his index and middle fingers together, and pointed at her from afar.

The movement was very slow, very light, as if it were just a casual point.

But all the hairs on Leng Ningshuang's body stood on end!

That was her instinctive intuition for danger, tempered over many years of cultivating the "Mystic Ice Heavenly Maiden Art"—this point was dangerous!

She did not hesitate to block with her sword horizontally, while simultaneously retreating rapidly!

However, it was already too late.

At the tips of Xu Ruyu's pressed fingers, the air suddenly distorted.

There was no light, no sound, not even any spiritual power fluctuation.

But the next instant—

"Rip——!!!"

Leng Ningshuang's left sleeve exploded from shoulder to wrist all at once!

The fabric turned into fragments that filled the sky, drifting down like white butterflies.

And beneath the shattered sleeve, her left forearm was revealed—along with a short sword hilt strapped to her forearm.

The hilt was entirely ice-blue, only three inches long, exquisite and delicate, embedded on the inside of her left arm. If one didn't look closely, it almost blended in with her skin.

Sleeve Sword.

The words Ning Caihe had whispered to remind Xu Ruyu on Tingzhu Peak three days ago were fulfilled at this moment.

The entire venue fell into deathly silence once again.

This time, the silence was more thorough than any before.

Everyone—including Leng Ningshuang herself—stared blankly at her exposed left arm and that exquisite Sleeve Sword hilt.

For a long while, a dry voice sounded from below the platform:

"Sleeve, Sleeve Sword... Senior Sister Leng Ningshuang actually still had this hidden card..."

"That is the Ice Soul Sleeve Sword! It is said that when cultivated to the extreme, drawing the sword is silent and traceless, specifically designed to break through protective spiritual power!"

"Xu Ruyu... how did he know?"

"No! How did he break it open? I didn't see anything just now!"

On the platform, Leng Ningshuang slowly lowered her head to look at her exposed left arm, then raised her eyes to look at Xu Ruyu ten zhang away. For the first time, confusion appeared in her ice-blue eyes.

She had been cultivating the Sleeve Sword for ten years; this was her trump card, and no more than five people in the entire Hehuan Sect knew about it.

Yet the youth before her not only knew, but even broke through her sleeve with a single strike while she was completely off guard, forcing this sword out.

"You..." Leng Ningshuang's voice was a bit dry. "How did you..."

Xu Ruyu retracted his hand and said calmly, "A friend reminded me that Senior Sister's ultimate move is not in the right hand, but in the left."

He paused and added, "As for the method to break the sleeve... it is just compressing the air to the extreme and then releasing it instantly. I call it the 'Qi-Driven Finger'."

Qi-Driven Finger.

Three simple words, yet they made the hearts of all Cultivators at the Golden Core Stage and above below the platform tremble.

Compressing air? Releasing it instantly?

It sounded simple, but to achieve the precision, speed, and power that Xu Ruyu just displayed—enough to tear through the protective spiritual power and clothing of a Late Golden Core Stage Cultivator—this required such a refined level of control over air?!

Lin Feng took a deep breath and said in a low voice, "This child... must absolutely not be left alive."

The five people behind him nodded in unison.

If a Cultivator at the Qi Refinement Stage had such methods, if he were allowed to grow up...

On the platform, Leng Ningshuang finally recovered from her shock.

She slowly raised her right hand, unstrapped the Sleeve Sword from her left arm, and grasped it in her left hand.

Right hand holding the luoyun sword, left hand holding the Sleeve Sword; with both swords in hand, her aura climbed once again!

Ice-blue spiritual power condensed behind her, faintly forming a blurry phantom of a Heavenly Maiden—that was the sign that the seventh level of the "Mystic Ice Heavenly Maiden Art", "Heavenly Maidens Descent", was about to reach Major Achievement!

"Xu Ruyu," Leng Ningshuang said, enunciating every word, her voice ice-cold to the bone. "I will use my full power for this next sword strike."

"If you cannot receive it, you will die."

Xu Ruyu looked at Leng Ningshuang with both swords in hand, then looked at the six Senior Brothers behind her whose auras were gradually becoming sharp, and sighed softly.

"It seems that Senior Sister intends to get serious."

He slowly spread his arms, and his moon-white robe fluttered without wind.

"Then, I shall also... get a little serious."

As his words fell, the air within three feet of him suddenly stilled.

Not slow, not sluggish, but completely still.

Dust hung suspended, airflow solidified, and even light seemed to distort around him for an instant.

Then, an aura, purer and more refined than any before, slowly rose from him.

Qi Refining Level 23.

He revealed his full cultivation level without any reservation—this was not just the harvest from the Ancient Hall of Love and Heaven, but also the result of three days of Dual Cultivation.

Below the platform, Lin Feng's pupils constricted. "This aura... is this really the Qi Refinement Stage?"