Wan Liuchuan was only a year older than Wan Lei, barely in his early twenties.

In his teens, he was already ranked among the top in the first echelon alongside Qian Duoduo. Now, five years later, it was only natural for him to be stronger than them.

As for Wan Lei and Fang Xiaoyu, the two monstrous talents, they couldn't be judged by the usual standards of cultivators. They were fighting against two of the strongest Nascent Soul stage cultivators and were holding the upper hand.

The opponents were all swordsmen, so Wan Lei and Fang Xiaoyu unhesitatingly used their Sword Immortal manifestations, meeting sword with sword.

Although their comprehension of the way of the sword was inferior to the opponents... or rather, the two had no idea about any so-called "way of the sword" at all, they could still suppress them with their strength and speed.

When it came to fighting, even though divine abilities and mystic arts could be used, it ultimately came down to strength and speed.

The two swordsmen unleashed their divine abilities, but striking the Sword Immortal manifestations felt like mere tickles.

This left them incredibly frustrated. In the past, wherever they went, the mere mention of their status as elders of the Heaven Splitting Sword Sect, coupled with their Nascent Soul stage cultivation, made any Soul Transformation cultivators bow in submission, trembling with fear that these two elders might strike them down like ants in a fit of rage.

But now, they were completely at the mercy of two juniors in the Nascent Soul stage.

"Wan Lei!"

The Nascent Soul stage elder, whose name had not even been mentioned, roared in fury.

"Keep it down, you're hurting my ears. Why does everyone have to roar and yell when fighting? Is all your output just your mouth?"

Young Master Lei didn't like to talk during fights, nor did he like listening to others. Fighting was fighting, why the constant chatter? Was it to pad the word count?

The Nascent Soul elder had finally had enough of this stifling feeling and unleashed a powerful move.

Wan Lei found this ultimate move somewhat familiar.

Jian Xunhuan had used it before.

So, Young Master Lei, being quite clever, didn't confront the opponent head-on. Instead, he deployed a formation, trapping his opponent within it.

All the incoming attacks landed squarely on the formation.

The formation shook violently and began to crack. Wan Lei then retracted the formation and resumed his fight with the opponent.

After a while, the opponent couldn't take it anymore and unleashed another ultimate move.

Young Master Lei deployed another formation.

He had so many formations; he had accumulated an unknown number of them over the years.

Boom!!!

It was blocked again.

The subsequent battle became tedious and dull. Whenever the opponent unleashed an ultimate move, he would deploy a formation. After blocking it, he would continue to hack at the opponent.

This rogue tactic drove the opponent to madness, yet they were helpless. They roared in impotent rage, cursing Wan Lei's ancestors for hundreds of generations, all the way up to the lineage of the Thunder Emperor.

On the other side, Fang Xiaoyu was becoming increasingly adept at utilizing her Natal Kui Lotus. For the sake of self-improvement, she didn't rush to heavily injure her opponent, instead adopting the same rogue tactic as Wan Lei.

"Fading Wind Flowers Fall."

Fang Xiaoyu murmured, sitting cross-legged on the five-colored lotus, resembling Guanyin...

Pah! Pah! Pah!

Her fingers danced, and petals drifted out, fluttering in the wind. With a speed that appeared slow but was astonishingly fast, they ceaselessly attacked her enemy.

Previously, her petals were red, like those of a rose. Now, using the mystic art through the Kui Lotus, the petals had transformed into white lotus petals, each one as tall as a person.

The Nascent Soul elder continuously swung his treasured sword, slicing apart the incoming petals one by one.

If this were a game, he would receive bonus points for each petal he destroyed.

+5... +3... +4... +6... +1...

It was just like Fruit Ninja.

Finally, he sliced through a bomb fruit.

Boom!!!

With a tremendous explosion, the Nascent Soul elder was sent flying back.

Seizing this opportunity, Fang Xiaoyu quickly waved her hand, sending more petals surging towards her enemy.

"Bind!"

The petals converged around the Heaven Splitting Sword Sect elder, gradually closing in and trapping him within the enormous lotus.

Inside the lotus, various invisible energies began to shred him.

Boom!

Thump!!

Duang!!!

Various sounds emanated from within the lotus, clearly indicating the opponent's strenuous efforts to break free from the confinement.

"Refine!"

Fang Xiaoyu gritted her teeth, relying on her Natal Kui Lotus to continuously channel energy into the lotus. The sounds of hammering from within grew weaker.

"Explode!"

Boom!!!

The lotus erupted with a deafening blast. The elder within spat out large mouthfuls of blood, his body covered in horrific wounds. He was severely injured.

The elder screamed, frantically colliding with the formation.

He desperately wanted to escape,

but he couldn't...

Fang Xiaoyu would not give him another chance to struggle.

"Fierce Gale's Silence!"

A gale was unleashed as she swung her treasured sword, striking the elder.

In an instant, his physical body, along with his soul, was completely shredded into pieces.

Generally, when describing someone's combat power as immense, they would be compared to another individual. For instance, Wan Liuchuan had served as a benchmark for combat power on many occasions.

Fang Xiaoyu's combat power was so formidable that Wan Liuchuan could no longer be used as a comparison. A stronger benchmark was needed.

For example, Wan Lei.

If Wan Lei and Fang Xiaoyu were compared in terms of combat power, excluding Wan Lei's ever-present formations, he should be inferior to Fang Xiaoyu.

However, to determine who was stronger or weaker between them would require a life-and-death battle.

This was clearly impossible.

Therefore, Fang Xiaoyu was strong regardless of who she was compared to.

Having dealt with her opponent, Fang Xiaoyu did not intervene in the other battles. She simply sat on the lotus, propping her chin with one hand, quietly watching Young Master Lei show off...

Watching Young Master Lei fight.

Yes, like a rogue, he was truly handsome.

Fang Xiaoyu hadn't told anyone that this was actually her first kill.

Her heart remained utterly calm.

All things in the world, except Wan Lei, were merely weaklings.

On the other side, Jian Xunhuan had begun to panic.

Not just him; the death of a mid-level Nascent Soul stage elder sent shivers through everyone from the Heaven Splitting Sword Sect,

causing a slight disruption in their formation.

A ruthless glint flashed in Jian Xunhuan's eyes. He knew that if this continued, and Fang Xiaoyu joined the fray, their side would surely perish.

Damn it, he still hadn't managed to kill Wan Hongxin.

If he couldn't even kill Wan Hongxin, how could he possibly seek revenge on Wan Lei?!

Thus, Jian Xunhuan decided to rise, to unleash his potential, to stop the pointless chatter, and to abandon his role as a villain.

He wanted to be the protagonist.

He wanted to stage a desperate comeback.

He wanted to crush everyone.

He wanted to slap that villain named Wan Lei across the face.

Jian Xunhuan let out two sinister chuckles, his eyes turning blood-red. The blood-red intensified, transforming into tears of blood that streamed down his face.

"It's not that serious, is it? Is the death of one elder really that much of a shock to him?"

Wan Hongxin retreated, thinking that Jian Xunhuan before him might have succumbed to excessive grief.

Jian Xunhuan's blood-red tears continued to flow, and a bloody aura permeated his body. The bloody aura gradually condensed into a Dharma manifestation, appearing as a three-zhang-tall imperial figure.

Unlike his previous five-colored imperial Dharma manifestation, this new manifestation exuded a bloodthirsty, terrifying, and eerie aura.

Jian Xunhuan had grown stronger, inexplicably so.

"You... all... must... die!!!"

The blood-colored emperor, seemingly crying and laughing, with a hideous visage, moved at an incredibly fast speed, slashing down at Wan Hongxin with his sword.

Wan Hongxin had no time to dodge.