CHAPTER 869: CHAPTER 869: FIRST DISPLAY OF POWER

In the Stone Forest, the battle erupted without warning. For a moment, immense mana surged, causing whirlwinds to blow and scatter the stones on the ground.

Zhao Sheng roared, forming a seal with his hands. A green-glowing longsword gathered abruptly above his head, flying towards Chen Nan. The sword light tore through the air, and the sound of breaking wind echoed urgently.

Meanwhile, the longsword in Feng Jie’s hand flew into the air, instantly transforming into countless sword shadows, falling like raindrops. Each sword shadow carried a terrifying sharpness.

But when their attacks landed, they found they had hit nothing; Chen Nan was already no longer in his original position.

"Watch out!"

Feng Jie suddenly noticed a figure appear behind Zhao Sheng and instinctively shouted out a warning.

Unfortunately, his warning came too late.

For these two fools who intended to capture him for glory, Chen Nan showed no mercy, using a finishing move right away, aiming to kill in one strike.

Otherwise, who knew if the Yunxiao Sect had sent others?

The longer it took, the more likely things could change!

At that moment, with a thought, the Void Breaking Sword at Chen Nan’s dantian surfaced silently and shot out as if slicing through the very void.

Hearing the warning, Zhao Sheng had just turned around when he felt a sudden sharp pain. Looking down, he saw a small sword piercing through his body.

Fierce Sword Qi instantly destroyed his dantian, rendering years of his hard cultivation ruined. Even his hair turned white instantly, and wrinkles appeared on his face.

With his dantian destroyed, his cultivation was wasted, and without cultivation, Zhao Sheng became an ordinary man, naturally unable to maintain his original appearance.

Previously, he was in his fifties and considered young among Foundation Establishment level five cultivators. But among ordinary people, he was already an old man.

Thus, at the instant his dantian was destroyed, he appeared aged.

"This..."

Zhao Sheng found it hard to believe; he hadn’t even lasted a round against Chen Nan, despite always maintaining his mana shielded over his whole body.

No matter the attack, he could withstand a bit, but that little sword pierced through his defenses easily.

At this moment, he finally felt regret. If it weren’t for his greed to capture Chen Nan for glory, how could he have ended up like this?

His body fell backward, and Chen Nan leaped over his head, never casting him a second glance.

As Chen Nan departed, a golden flame landed on his body, immediately igniting it fiercely.

Heaven-Burning Flame!

As one of the Heaven and Earth Spirit Fires, turning an ordinary person who’d lost their cultivation into ash was all too easy.

"Ah... no, no!"

The shrill screams lasted but a few breaths before falling silent, as Zhao Sheng turned to ashes in an instant.

Having witnessed everything, Feng Jie’s body turned cold all over. Initially, they thought that even if not crushing Chen Nan, they would at least hold an advantage.

But who could explain why Chen Nan killed Zhao Sheng in one encounter?

Seeing Chen Nan rush toward him now, Feng Jie panicked and quickly retreated.

"Don’t kill me. We only acted on Xu Wencheng’s orders, spare me..."

While pleading for mercy, he didn’t forget to fight back, quickly unleashing dozens of Sword Qi with his longsword in an attempt to halt Chen Nan.

"Heh."

Chen Nan let out a low chuckle, and just as the Sword Qi hit him, his figure suddenly disappeared.

"Again with this move?!"

Feng Jie frantically scanned the surroundings. The mysterious and unpredictable speed terrified him, not knowing when Chen Nan would appear, intensifying his internal fear, making even his lips tremble.

"Please, I can take you to find Xu Wencheng, spare me..."

He was on the verge of tears but didn’t notice a small sword silently passing by.

By the time Feng Jie realized, the small sword had already destroyed his dantian, and Chen Nan had appeared in front of him.

"Take me to find Xu Wencheng? You must be kidding."

"If you plan to kill me, then you should be prepared to be killed by me. Are you even worthy of cultivating immortality with such fear?"

As he watched Feng Jie begin to age, a golden flame in the palm of Chen Nan’s hand formed, resembling a blooming lotus, then he harshly struck it onto Feng Jie’s face.

"No..."

The scream cut off abruptly, and Feng Jie’s body was swiftly consumed by flames.

Chen Nan retracted the Void Breaking Sword, a smile spreading across his face. No wonder even the Green Mountain Ancestor was so fond of the Void Breaking Sword—it was indeed a perfect weapon for ambushes.

With an added movement technique for concealing his figure, combined with the Void Breaking Sword, the combination was unbeatable.

Even Chen Nan hadn’t anticipated that the Void Breaking Sword would be this effective, far beyond his expectations. He thought he’d have to put in more effort to deal with these two.

However, though the Void Breaking Sword was handy, the mana consumption was frightfully high.

For an ordinary cultivator at Foundation Establishment level five, using it twice would nearly exhaust all their mana.

Even Chen Nan could not use it repeatedly, only allowing for surprise in crucial moments.

After storing the Void Breaking Sword away, Chen Nan quickly picked up the storage bags left by Feng Jie and Zhao Sheng. Once he cleaned up the scene, he departed quickly on a flying boat.

After Chen Nan had killed Zhao Sheng and Feng Jie, a disciple rushed to the Sect Leader far away in the Yunxiao Sect.

"Sect Leader, there’s trouble! The life tokens of Elders Zhao Sheng and Feng Jie have shattered!"

Life tokens are items created by sects of immortal cultivators, needing a wisp of a cultivator’s soul.

If a cultivator perished outside, the soul wisp naturally dissipates, shattering the life token.

"What?!"

The Sect Leader, upon hearing this, immediately flew into a rage.

These two were elite disciples within the sect, cultivated with immense resources over time, and for them to die so suddenly was exceedingly painful.

"These two were just within the sect days ago; why would they die?"

Bewildered, the Sect Leader summoned all the Inner Sect Disciples to inquire.

Finally, from someone close to Feng Jie, he learned that Zhao Sheng and Feng Jie went to capture someone from the Qingshan Sect without permission to flatter Xu Wencheng.

It seemed Zhao Sheng and Feng Jie’s deaths were inseparable from the Qingshan Sect.

"Alright, an already declining sect dares to kill my disciples; they deserve death!"

"Investigate for me how Zhao Sheng and Feng Jie died. If it’s confirmed as the Qingshan Sect’s doing, they won’t die peacefully!"

With Xu Wencheng as a backer, the Sect Leader’s stance was firm, with even the elders incensed.

But when the news returned two days later, they were dumbfounded.

Zhao Sheng and Feng Jie indeed went to the Qingshan Sect, forcing Chen Nan to separate from it and declare a clean break.

Though it was likely an act, since Chen Nan declared his departure, they couldn’t vent their anger on the Qingshan Sect.