Yellow Court Daoist

Amidst the clamor,

Lu Qingfeng swiped his hand around his waist, and seventy-two Golden Light Magic Swords immediately materialized in the air, arranged in all four directions. The sword light was rampant, transforming into ten thousand swords dancing wildly, continuously eroding the Divine Light and silver needles.

Boom, boom, boom!

The milky way rolled backwards, and the sword light formed a river.

As the two forces collided, they nearly collapsed the entire underground space. Amid the rumbling, numerous large rocks fell, either smashing onto the Golden Light Sword Array and being shattered to dust, or falling into the magma, merging with it with a bubbling sound.

The Golden Light Sword Array operated, resisting the silver river.

Yet, Divine Light still penetrated, and silver needles passed through.

"Taiyin Calamity Crossing Robe!"

Adorned with the Moon Hua Robe, Lu Qingfeng appeared as an Immortal descending from the moon palace, his presence elevated by the robe. The robe emitted a soft glow, blocking all the Divine Light and silver needles outside his body.

Impenetrable by Ten Thousand Laws, just so!

"What a capable Rain Mountain Pavilion Master, to have such methods," Sikong Qinglian frowned slightly.

She had thought that by swiftly killing a mere Spirit Void Practitioner, it would be an easy task, yet her attack was blocked, creating such a commotion. It was as loud as forcefully breaking an array, with a momentum reaching across tens, even hundreds of miles. Anyone within that range could see and feel the two powerful auras battling fiercely.

She did not desire this.

"Suppress!"

Sikong Qinglian, holding a horsetail whisk, summoned the Geng Jia Transformation Sky Brilliance Divine Needle, enveloping both the Golden Light Sword Array and Lu Qingfeng. Lu Qingfeng felt as if mountains surrounded him from all sides.

Even the Golden Light Sword Array seemed hardly capable of bearing this burden.

"Such means, still lacking somewhat!"

"Nine Strategies Xuanhao Talisman!"

Seeing Sikong Qinglian attempting to quickly end the battle by killing him, Lu Qingfeng couldn't help but sneer coldly. He reached into his storage bag again, and three hundred and sixty-five iron talismans instantly flew out, embedding themselves within the Golden Light Sword Array.

The array immediately stabilized, matching the Geng Jia Divine Needle's power.

"Such a strong sword array."

"Does this formation have a name?"

Sikong Qinglian looked towards the Golden Light Sword Array, her eyes showing astonishment as she asked.

"Da Geng Sword Array!"

Lu Qingfeng's voice was resonant, echoing in all directions.

Da Geng Sword Array!

This was originally a sword array from the "Qing Yuan Sword Technique" that could be refined upon reaching the Spirit Void Stage. Later, after the Qing Yuan Sword Scripture merged with the Luo Fu Sword Scripture, it became the Luo Fu Sword Scripture. The Da Geng Sword Array was retained and its prowess enhanced, even more mysterious.

It had never been refined before, but after a hundred years in the Broken Star Sea, it was finally created.

The first use of the array now demonstrated its impressive power.

Once deployed, it could even withstand a strike from a Jiedan True Man wielding a Sixth Rank Magic Artifact.

No wonder Sikong Qinglian was astonished.

"Rain Mountain Pavilion Master, renowned for both alchemy and artifacts, is truly a first-class genius. I underestimated the Pavilion Master. With just this sword array, the Pavilion Master even has the credentials to add a fourteenth seat at Yv Mountain Island."

Though Sikong Qinglian expressed her astonishment, her tone remained calm.

"Could it be that Senior Sikong underestimated me, choosing me to come here?"

Lu Qingfeng heard the thick intent to kill and responded coldly.

In fact.

Ever since coming here, Lu Qingfeng had been alert.

On Yv Mountain Island, there were also two Jiedan True Men skilled in arrays. If Sikong Qinglian wanted to break an array, she should have sought them, not him, which was odd.

Perhaps she thought Lu Qingfeng was weak and, after breaking the array and acquiring the cave's treasures, would not need to share.

Perhaps she had planned all along that when the cave was opened, she would kill Lu Qingfeng.

But it was the third possibility that Lu Qingfeng leaned towards—

"If it were merely the Five Yang Sword, why would I need to kill you?"

Sikong Qinglian shook her head, one hand controlling the Geng Jia Divine Needle, the other forming seal techniques to collect the Five Yang Sword.

"Indeed."

"The Hundred Sword Map?"

Lu Qingfeng was enveloped by the Geng Jia Sky Brilliance Divine Needle, yet he looked outward.

The Five Yang Sword floated in the air, radiating power.

It had been in the magma and Earth Fire for thousands of years, absorbing endless Flame Sun Power. Ordinary methods of retrieval would necessitate enduring a full-strength strike from the Five Yang Sword, and it might even escape.

The seal technique Sikong Qinglian cast was meant for retrieving the sword.

However, compared to the Five Yang Sword, Sikong Qinglian's gaze toward the hundred stone pillars in the magma was even more eager.

[Magic Artifact: Magma Stone Pillar]

[Grade: None]

[Description: Contains the inheritance of the "Hundred Sword Map"]

[Note: Tens of thousands of years ago, in the Five Directions Realm, there was a uniquely brilliant individual known as 'Taixuan Daoist', whose comprehension of arrays was profound. He integrated arrays into his cultivation, intending to merge his soul with an array map to refine his Primordial Spirit. The Primordial Spirit would be the array, the array the Primordial Spirit, naturally possessing infinite wondrous methods. Once the Magic Gate was established, it was classified as True Sect Level. Later, Taixuan Daoist perfected the Magic Gate, passed down twenty-four array diagrams, and then ascended to the Upper Realm. In the past, the side door Bamboo Mountain Sect inherited part of Taixuan Daoist's Dao lineage, acquiring the Hundred Sword Map, the Mountains and Rivers Map, the Purple Cloud Array Map, the Five Mountains True Form Map, and the Nine Curves Heavenly River Array Map. With the destruction of the Bamboo Mountain Sect, the five great arrays have been lost.]

"The Bamboo Mountain Sect's Five Great Array Maps—the Mountains and Rivers Map, the Purple Cloud Array Map, and the Nine Curves Heavenly River Array Map are still missing to this day."

"The Five Mountains Sect obtained the Five Mountains True Form Map, thereby establishing the sect where every True Man could overpower a multitude. It's heard that even the Kongzhu Sect and the Hundred Ghosts Sect are searching for the traces of the remaining four great arrays."

"Today, with the appearance of the Hundred Sword Map, no wonder Senior Sikong wants to kill me to silence me."

Lu Qingfeng's voice was sonorous, as he continued to hold his ground against Sikong Qinglian while forming seal techniques, with shadows of sword sheaths and cases flickering intermittently.

Accompanied by streams of light and cascades of color, they penetrated into the Da Geng Sword Array and landed upon the Five Yang Sword.

"The Rain Mountain Pavilion Master is indeed well-informed."

"Just busy with keeping oneself safe, yet still coveting the Five Yang Sword, isn't it laughable?"

Sikong Qinglian's eyebrows bore a deadly aura, her voice cold and clear.

"Treasures of the world belong to those with virtue."

Lu Qingfeng sneered, paying her no heed.

He simultaneously activated the Da Geng Sword Formation and employed the Light Capturing Method to retrieve the Five Yang Sword.

"Hmm?"

Sikong Qinglian, having the upper hand initially, thought the Five Yang Sword was as good as hers.

However, upon Lu Qingfeng's intervention, her slight progress was instantly reversed, losing control over the Five Yang Sword. In the next moment, the sword quivered, shrouded in strokes of light and shadows, then burst through the air, flying straight towards Lu Qingfeng.

He appeared to grip an empty sword sheath in his hand.

The Five Yang Sword, cutting through the air, headed straight for the sheath.

Clang!

The sword met the sheath, sending out a clashing sound like metal striking stone. Meanwhile, Lu Qingfeng's exterior Geng Jia Transformation Sky Brilliance Divine Needle also got cracked open at a corner by the Five Yang Sword.

"Da Geng Sword Formation!"

"Turn!"

The Da Geng Sword Formation revolved, seizing the opportunity to break free from the Geng Jia Transformation Sky Brilliance Divine Needle's envelopment.

"Excellent move!"

"Truly an excellent move!"

Sikong Qinglian flicked her horsetail whisk, her gaze at Lu Qingfeng intensifying several notches.

Who could have expected that an alchemist, merely an alchemist, could possess such strength? Her summoning of the Geng Jia Transformation Sky Brilliance Divine Needle failed to suppress him, which was far beyond her expectations.

This was an unforeseen variable.

"Thank you for the leniency."

Lu Qingfeng wasn't in a hurry to examine the Five Yang Sword in his hand but instead stowed it away, saying indifferently.

Regarding the art of sheathing swords.

It was a sword sheathing technique he obtained from the Dongling Sword Sect in the Changqing Realm, one he never had a chance to use before.

The Dongling Sword Sect, a lineage descended in the Upper Realm from the East Spirit Prime Minister in the Thunder Department, holds a rank even higher than the Soul Searching Ancestor, ranking alongside the Four Bright Gongbin Yuanjun.

Its teachings, if placed in the Five Directions Realm, were considered at least top-tier.

Even just the method for sheathing swords was much more profound than Sikong Qinglian's crude techniques.

Sikong Qinglian glanced at the Five Yang Sword in Lu Qingfeng's hand, then turned her attention to the hundred magma stone pillars.

With the securing of the Five Yang Sword, the hundred stone pillars no longer suppressed, began to tremble as if trying to break free from the magma.

"Hundred Sword Map!"

Lu Qingfeng and Sikong Qinglian exchanged a glance, then swiftly took action—

Sikong Qinglian brandished her horsetail whisk, casting a billion rays of silver light that swept across dozens of stone pillars.

Lu Qingfeng pointed a finger, and the Da Geng Sword Formation flew out, similarly enveloping dozens of stone pillars.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

The Da Geng Sword Formation clashed with the Geng Jia Transformation Sky Brilliance Divine Needle, emitting earth-shattering noises, the sound carrying untold distances. Soon after, they split, each retrieving several dozen stone pillars.

"Forty-two."

Lu Qingfeng opened his storage bag and collected the forty-two stone pillars.

With limited cultivation, he ultimately fell short of Sikong Qinglian.

The gap between Spirit Void and Core Formation was like the difference between heaven and earth. With the Da Geng Sword Formation in hand, along with various Divine Skills, Lu Qingfeng still held some chance of winning against ordinary practitioners of the Void Core Realm.

Facing an old True Man like Sikong Qinglian and maintaining a competitive power was already commendable.

"Rain Mountain Pavilion Master."

"The Hundred Sword Map is split in two, neither of us benefiting. Why not negotiate to combine the array maps?"

Sikong Qinglian looked at Lu Qingfeng, her mental fortitude impressive.

The Five Yang Sword had been taken.

The Hundred Sword Map had been divided.

She had painstakingly excavated this cave dwelling, meticulously tracked down Lu Qingfeng to come here, all to monopolize the benefits.

Who would have thought it would end up as a gift to others?

If it were an average practitioner, they would have been infuriated by now, but Sikong Qinglian showed no signs of anger on her face.

"The Five Mountains Sect obtained the Five Mountains True Form Map, then divided the Bamboo Mountain Sea Domain with Kongzhu Sect and Hundred Ghosts Sect."

"The Hundred Sword Map, being as celebrated as the Five Mountains True Form Map, what treasures do you plan to offer in exchange for the forty-two stone pillars in my possession?"

Lu Qingfeng looked up and asked.

Being evenly matched with Sikong Qinglian, he preferred to exchange for some practical benefits.

The complete set of Twenty-Four Array Diagrams passed down by Taixuan Daoist qualified as True Sect Level Skills. Broken down, each array diagram was equivalent to a Side Door Level Skill.

Fragmented Side Door Level Skills, naturally, cannot match a complete one.

Not to mention crafting a non-integrated method like the Hundred Sword Map that couldn't be cultivated.

Lu Qingfeng was uninterested, but Sikong Qinglian valued it highly.

"Pavilion Master, state your terms, and we shall comply."

Sikong Qinglian's skills were mediocre, merely at the Refined Level.

Although fortunate to acquire the Geng Jia Transformation Sky Brilliance Divine Needle and cultivate up to the Core Formation Stage, obtaining a Side Door Level Skill would undoubtedly elevate her strength further, complementing the Geng Jia Transformation Sky Brilliance Divine Needle, challenging any True Man would be arduous.

Her desire for the Hundred Sword Map was apparent.

"I have no interest in the Hundred Sword Map; I could gift the forty-two stone pillars to my senior with no issues."

"However, I am weak, and my fate uncertain. A single misstep could lead to my demise, and the forty-two stone pillars could either be destroyed or lost, which would be a pity."

Lu Qingfeng looked at Sikong Qinglian and smiled, "If Senior Sikong could protect me for some time, feel free to take the forty-two stone pillars."