Am I the old man who's always by my apprentices' side?

Chapter 364 Second Senior Sister Forced Senior Brother to Break Through!
After accompanying Lin Fengxian to buy books, Chang Ping'an hurriedly headed to Tianchi.

Murong Ruyan rarely seeks out Chang Ping'an. If she does, it must be for something important, so Chang Ping'an dares not waste his time.

Unexpectedly, Chang Ping'an rushed to Tianchi and only saw Murong Ruyan standing by the water in the distance. Just as he was about to greet her, a huge hammer flew towards his face.

It's Murong Ruyan's "Thor" hammer!

This thing was a magical artifact crafted by his master, so Chang Ping'an was on high alert and quickly used his sword to defend himself.

The White Egret Sword flew out of its scabbard, trailing a long, silvery-white streak, and collided with the giant hammer.

"clang--"

The moment the hammer and sword clashed, a crisp striking sound rang out, sparks flew, and Chang Ping'an barely managed to retreat several feet to block the blow.

He looked at Murong Ruyan in the distance, completely bewildered, his mind filled with questions—

What's the fuss about?

"Senior brother! My cultivation has stagnated recently. Why don't you have a contest with me!"

His first attack failed, but he remained calm and shouted loudly.

Immediately, she leaped into the air, her spiritual energy surging around her. Her water-red palace dress was blown up by the gale, fluttering in the air like a blooming red lotus.

With a single gesture, the giant hammer that had been knocked back drew another arc in the air, carrying even more violent lightning, and slammed towards Chang Ping'an!
This attack was not fast, even quite slow, but as it got closer and closer to Chang Ping'an, the lightning surrounding it became increasingly powerful, causing the heavens and earth to change color.

In an instant, dark clouds filled the sky, and many disciples in the sect looked around in confusion, all of them puzzled.

"Junior sister!? You—"

Chang Ping'an wanted to say something, but the approaching giant hammer clearly wasn't going to give him the chance—

This attack was even more ferocious than the last one!
Left with no other choice, Chang Ping'an had to pull himself together, become more serious, and shout, "Sword, come!"

A humming sound came from the sword sheath at his waist, and then, another flash of sword light shot out—

The Broadsword Night Talk Sword is much heavier than the White Heron Sword, almost entirely black, and brings a powerful pressure the moment it appears.

Soon, spiritual energy surged through the sword, transforming it into a solid barrier.

"clang!"

With another loud bang, Thor's hammer slammed into the Night Talk Sword, lightning flashed, and Chang Ping'an was forced back several steps, the rocks beneath his feet shattering, but he still managed to withstand the attack steadily.

Only then did he finally find the time to ask a complete question:
"Junior sister, what do you mean by this? What exactly do you want to do?"

Chang Ping'an truly didn't understand why his second junior sister would fight him for no reason!

"Enough talk! Take this!"

Unfortunately, Murong Ruyan didn't give Chang Ping'an a chance to catch his breath.

She moved with lightning speed, instantly closing in on Murong Ruyan with hammers in both hands, striking, sweeping, and thrusting with a furious onslaught. Each strike contained the immense power to split mountains and the crackling sound of thunder, and the dark clouds above seemed to echo her.

Chang Ping'an was inwardly groaning.

Why is my second junior sister suddenly working so hard?!

Even amidst the constant defensive maneuvers, Chang Ping'an took a moment to seriously reflect on his recent behavior, and was quite certain that he hadn't offended his second junior sister, so why had she suddenly...

"Bam—"

After only a few thoughts crossed his mind, Chang Ping'an vaguely sensed that something was wrong.

Although he is now at the Great Perfection of Foundation Establishment, a level higher than Murong Ruyan, and his cultivation is also more profound, Chang Ping'an, who has been exploited by Zhang Chengdao, is not as proficient as Murong Ruyan in terms of mastery of spells and supernatural powers and cultivation of various techniques.

Normally, this tiny difference wouldn't be noticeable, but in a life-or-death situation, it's enough to make up for Murong Ruyan's lack of cultivation, which is only at the first level of the Foundation Establishment stage.

Moreover, because Chang Ping'an was focused solely on defense, he was able to barely deflect the fierce hammer blows and lightning spells by relying on the Night Talk Sword to continuously block the attacks of the Thunder God's Hammer and supplementing it with spiritual power.

After blocking several of Murong Ruyan's attacks, Chang Ping'an began to struggle.

Murong Ruyan's offensive not only did not weaken in the slightest, but became even more frantic.

The spiritual energy of heaven and earth drawn by Thor's hammer resonated with the dark clouds in the sky, and streaks of lightning, like silver snakes dancing wildly, kept rushing towards Chang Ping'an.

Even though the Night Talk Sword was a spirit sword forged by his master, under such a relentless and fierce attack, the spiritual light on the sword began to flicker violently, becoming uncertain.

Chang Ping'an's arms soon became sore and numb, his spiritual energy was greatly depleted, and his breathing gradually became disordered.

Murong Ruyan is also having a hard time.

Compared to Chang Ping'an, whose cultivation was slightly deeper, her cultivation was weaker, so she naturally exhausted her spiritual power earlier than Chang Ping'an.

But she was clearly prepared. As soon as her spiritual energy showed signs of drying up, she immediately swallowed the prepared elixir without hesitation. Then, intense spiritual energy burst forth from her body, stimulating her spiritual root and physical body.

The familiar medicinal fragrance wafted in the air, and Chang Ping'an immediately recognized it as the "Returning Spirit Pill," a spiritual medicine used to stimulate potential and extract spiritual power from the cultivator's physical body.

Although this medicine is not uncommon, it has some significant side effects. Normally, taking a few is fine, but if you take too many in order to stimulate your potential and pursue a rapid recovery of spiritual power, it can damage your spiritual root!

"Second Junior Sister! Stop right now!"

In the midst of his busy schedule, Chang Ping'an once again pleaded, trying to awaken Murong Ruyan, who seemed to be caught up in some kind of obsession.

However, what responded to him was Murong Ruyan's increasingly ruthless killing moves.

With a loud shout, she leaped high into the air, raising Thor's hammer above her head with both hands. The lightning gathered on the hammerhead was no longer purple, but had turned into a chilling blackish-purple, even emanating a destructive aura!

"Destroy——"

The "Thor's Hammer Hundred-Character Mantra" is a set of techniques created by Murong Ruyan based on her own Thor's Hammer, consisting of a hundred sets of "character mantras".

However, this "Thor's Hammer Hundred-Character Mantra" is still in the process of being compiled. The only characters that Murong Ruyan has actually created and can use are a dozen or so, which is far from the "hundred characters" she ambitiously wanted to create.

However, the "Destroy Word Technique" is the most powerful of all the word techniques she has created.

Only obliteration and annihilation constitute "extinction".

The moment this move was unleashed, the world changed color!

The dark purple lightning did not shoot straight, but twisted and expanded like a living thing, transforming into a giant net woven from lightning that blotted out the sky.

This giant net, emanating a terrifying aura that seemed capable of annihilating all life, slowly descended upon Chang Ping'an.

Its speed of descending was still not fast, but it carried an inescapable sense of locking on. The surface of the Heavenly Pool below began to boil and evaporate under this pressure. Chang Ping'an had only seen such a powerful force when his master dealt with the Mingjing National Preceptor!
Instantly, his pupils contracted sharply, and the hairs on his body stood on end—

He could even clearly feel that Murong Ruyan had truly not held back in this attack!
The potential forcibly activated by the "Returning Spirit Pill," along with her own resolute will, was all integrated into this "Extinction" technique. If it were hit, she would surely either die or be maimed!
"You really intend to smash your senior brother to death with one blow..." Chang Ping'an muttered with a wry smile, finally adopting a serious attitude, staring intently at the giant net that was slowly descending and the giant hammer that was about to fall.

We can't hold out any longer!
Offense is the best form of defense!

His suppressed fighting spirit, his suspicion and anger at his junior sister's reckless behavior, and his strong survival instinct erupted like a volcano within him!
"Murong Ruyan—"

Chang Ping'an let out an unprecedented roar, the first time he had called his young second junior sister by her full name.

This was the first time I had felt so confused and angry.

The Night Talk Sword, which had remained as steady as a mountain, suddenly emitted a series of humming sounds. Then, a burst of spiritual light erupted from its blade, and an ancient sword intent soared into the sky, carrying a resolute determination to shatter mountains and contend with the heavens, fiercely meeting the descending net of lightning—

At the same time, the White Heron Sword emitted a high-pitched, clear cry, its blade enveloped in spiritual light, and flew out with a whoosh, like a silk thread.

This "thread" did not attack the giant net, but instead bypassed the giant net at an incredible speed and stabbed straight at Murong Ruyan!

To relieve the siege of Wei by attacking Zhao, or to attack what the enemy must defend!
Although Chang Ping'an's White Egret Sword attack was not as ferocious as Murong Ruyan's Annihilation Technique, he did not hold back either.

If Murong Ruyan does not withdraw enough spiritual power to protect herself, she will have to pay a heavy price to withstand this sword strike!

As the giant hammer and net slowly approached, beads of sweat began to appear on Chang Ping'an's forehead.

Three feet.

Two feet.

One foot.

Six feet.

Five feet.

Three feet—

Just as the giant hammer was about to touch Chang Ping'an's face, he finally realized that his crazy second junior sister was really determined to fight him to the death!

So, at the last moment, at this critical juncture of life and death, Chang Ping'an gritted his teeth and squeezed out all his spiritual power, pouring it into the Night Talk Sword, desperately trying to push it upwards—

If you don't want to die, you have to fight for it!
He held nothing back, pushing his Foundation Establishment Great Perfection cultivation to its limit, even subtly...

We've finally hit that bottleneck that's been stubbornly in place for over a month!

A breakthrough is imminent!
A thought flashed through Chang Ping'an's mind, but he couldn't care less about being surprised. He was staring intently at the giant hammer, holding his breath and preparing to confront the "Destruction" technique it carried.

"Rumble--"

The giant black-purple lightning net carried by the hammer did not come into contact with the Night Talk Sword.

To be precise, it was Murong Ruyan who stopped attacking.

She stopped just as the giant hammer was about to strike Chang Ping'an—

It's not as simple as just withdrawing spiritual power. Even if you withdraw spiritual power, you can't back down from an attack that has already been launched, and it will still be launched. Murong Ruyan directly risked backlash to withdraw the entire Destruction Technique and also absorbed the raging spiritual power into her body to digest it.

"Well--"

With a barely perceptible groan, Murong Ruyan, her face pale, swallowed back a mouthful of blood she had vomited. Then, her face turned ashen as she looked up at the tribulation clouds that were brewing the lightning tribulation, and then at Chang Ping'an, who looked bewildered and dazed. Her expression darkened further.

"Humph!"

Murong Ruyan raised her chin, snorted coldly, turned around and used the last bit of spiritual power to ride the wind and leave the Heavenly Pool.

"Junior sister, you—"

Chang Ping'an wanted to pursue him, but the pressure from his impending breakthrough made it difficult for him to move.

Moreover, at this critical juncture, staying in the sect might hurt someone, so he could only take a deep breath, calm down, turn around, and quickly fly out of the White Stone Mountain area.

"What happened!?"

The commotion caused by the two of them even cracked many rocks near Tianchi Lake, naturally attracting many curious disciples to watch the spectacle.

Normally, outside of class time, the disciples of the White Stone Immortal Sect would mostly be taking on commissions or undertaking trial missions.

After all, the latter has the opportunity to earn substantial contribution points.

Even if you can't earn extra contribution points, you can still earn basic contribution points by completing trial tasks. And contribution points are related to the evaluation of "disciple level" (title) within the sect after breaking through realms in the future!

The difference in subsidies between junior and senior disciples is quite significant!
Therefore, there aren't many disciples left in the sect today. The few dozen people who were attracted by Murong Ruyan and Chang Ping'an's movements are all there are.

Everyone rushed over, and even the earliest arrivals only witnessed Murong Ruyan's extremely terrifying hammer blow, which seemed to carry the weight of ten thousand thunderbolts, followed by the scene of the two of them withdrawing their weapons and leaving one after the other. Everyone was filled with question marks.

"What's wrong? What's wrong? Is our sect going to be finished?!"

"What?! The White Stone Immortal Sect is going to disband?!"

What nonsense are you two spouting?

"Second Senior Sister and Eldest Senior Brother have become enemies. Doesn't that mean our sect is doomed?"

"No, Second Senior Sister didn't really attack!"

Some disciples who had a solid grasp of cultivation knowledge and had arrived earlier saw it clearly and excitedly exclaimed, "Second Senior Sister just risked her own backlash to cut off the 'Destruction Technique'! What does that mean! What does that mean!?"

"So this means Second Senior Sister truly loves Eldest Senior Brother? The so-called 'Dual Cultivation Manual for the Arrogant Junior Sister and the Foolish Senior Brother'? Hehehehe..."

An unknown female cultivator answered the question while letting out a very lewd laugh.

"If you're so capable, say those words again in front of Second Senior Sister."

"You bastard! If you want me dead, you can just attack me!"

"Just a heads-up, I've heard that Second Senior Sister cultivates the 'Path of Ruthlessness'!"

"So what! Isn't the feeling of the 'Ruthless Path' being defiled even more exciting?"

……

Zhang Chengdao, who had been observing the entire "competition" from the sidelines and was preparing to ride a cloud to protect Chang Ping'an's breakthrough, heard the chatter of the disciples below, especially their increasingly familiar words that carried the flavor of another world. His figure swayed almost imperceptibly.

Looks like I'll have to find some time to go to the library and pick through the books for entertainment. At least I should implement a rating system and ban the really outrageous novels. Otherwise, these disciples have been getting increasingly outrageous lately...

(End of this chapter)