All the heavens, starting with Little Li Flying Dagger

Chapter 87 needs some work.

At the westernmost point, the Tianshan Mountains,
Snow-capped mountains, forests, deserts, and rivers.

Completely opposite wonders converge here, forming a miraculous scene reminiscent of the beginning of time.

In this already legendary holy land, another legendary story is about to unfold today.

A clash between two unparalleled masters
One is an invincible divine swordsman who roams the Western Regions, and the other is a mysterious and unpredictable king of a demonic sect.

This duel is not only the pinnacle of martial arts prowess, but it will also determine the future direction of the martial arts world.
Moreover, today, in addition to these two, all the other top masters in the martial arts world have gathered here to watch this gambling match.

Wang Gan, the Impermanent Hand; Li Xunhuan, the Little Flying Dagger; and the Heavenly Secret Staff—the Heavenly Secret Elder.

If Shangguan Jin Hong hadn't been absent, they probably would have gone straight to the Tianshan Sword Tournament.

Wang Gan saw the figure of the Old Man of Heavenly Mystery in Tianshan and was surprised. This old man is quite amazing. The distance from Baoding Prefecture to Tianshan is farther than that of Shaolin Temple. How could he catch up with that? Is it a storyteller's special skill of eating melons?
"Old man Tianji, you're quite impressive!"

"You traveled such a long way, didn't your butt get chafed?"

Wang Gan asked in surprise.
His backside ached from the constant jostling in the carriage; if he had ridden a horse...
"Actually, I rode Shangguan Jin Hong here."

The old man Tianji calmly smoked his pipe, showing no signs of travel fatigue, and even told a lame joke.

They were obviously aware of Wang Gan's new work.

"Haha, then you really can't grind the back; you'll grind the front if you want to grind!"

Wang Gan laughed heartily, not expecting that the Old Man of Heavenly Secrets had become even more humorous after so many days apart.

"grandfather!"

Sun Xiaohong rushed to Tianji Laoren's side. She missed him very much after not seeing him for so long.

"Hey! My dear granddaughter, has this bastard bullied you?"

The Old Man of Heavenly Secrets gave Wang Gan an unfriendly look. This guy was no ordinary person; flirting and philandering were his usual practices.

Sun Xiaohong snorted coldly, not even glancing at Wang Gan. Her silence spoke volumes.

Ever since Wang Gan went to a brothel in the border town for fun, Sun Xiaohong has been quite angry, and she won't even let Wang Gan into the house at night.

"Senior Sun, how have you been?"

Li Xunhuan stepped forward to greet him. After Wang Gan left, the two had met several times in Baoding Prefecture.

Later, he learned that it was Sun Er from the Sun family who had been secretly protecting Lin Shiyin, and he was extremely grateful.

"Li Tanhua."

The Old Man of Heavenly Secrets glanced at Li Xunhuan, his expression suddenly becoming somewhat strange.
"Forgive my bluntness, but Li Tanhua is still quite young; sometimes he needs to exercise more restraint."

Li Xunhuan's expression froze instantly, feeling utterly humiliated.

“What Elder Sun said is true.”

"This is indeed my fault; I misjudged people."

Li Xunhuan glanced at Wang Gan, his heart sinking.

The main problem was that I didn't realize at the time that this guy wasn't even human.

"Greetings, Senior Tianji. I am from the Diancang Sect. Thank you, Tianling."

Xie Tianling looked respectful; he still held this number one on the weapon ranking list in high regard.

"I know you. Your swordsmanship is subtle and unpredictable, forming its own style. However, it lacks strength and is devoid of the indomitable spirit of a swordsman."

"He was repeatedly defeated by Guo Songyang."

As expected of the old man Tianji, who was a walking encyclopedia of the martial arts world, he immediately remembered Xie Tianling.

"However, sometimes the soft can overcome the hard, not in swordsmanship, but in other ways."

The old man's tone was meaningful, but Xie Tianling felt something was off. Could the old man be implying something about him?

"I heard you've already fought Shangguan Jin Hong?"

The Old Man of Heavenly Secrets turned to look at Wang Gan and asked.

Wang Gan wasn't surprised. News spread faster in the world of Gu Long than the internet sometimes, just like traveling, and it was completely unreasonable.

"Indeed, at the foot of Shaolin Temple, Shangguan Jin Hong's martial arts level is indeed profound, having reached the realm of being without self or ego, and invincible. I'm afraid no one in the world can match him."

"In terms of weapon strength, it has surpassed the Heavenly Secret Staff and is the de facto number one on the weapon ranking list."

"Even if I were to take action myself, the outcome would be a 50/50 match for him."

Wang Gan sighed, looking like a lonely master.

"??"

The old man of the heavenly secrets listened in silence for a moment.
This kid talked for ages, praising himself, but then he insulted the old man!
"Just as you predicted, after you left, Shangguan Jin Hong came looking for this old man."

The Old Man of Heavenly Secrets also spoke about his encounter with Shangguan Jin Hong.

"Shangguan Jin Hong's Dragon and Phoenix Double Rings have reached the level of being all-encompassing and omnipresent. Even though I used all my strength, I still lost by one and a half moves."

"It's just that Shangguan Jin Hong doesn't dare to kill me, because this old man's bones are still a bit tough. If he insists on taking a bite out of me, he'll have to give up a few teeth!"

"Given his personality, he wouldn't dare take that risk."

Wang Gan nodded in understanding; this was pretty much what he had predicted.

Even a broken ship has three thousand nails. The Heavenly Mystery Elder has returned to his peak with his will intact. The only thing he may lack is his declining blood and qi. His strength is ultimately not as good as Shangguan Jin Hong in his prime, but he will not be killed by Shangguan Jin Hong without injury as in the original story.

"Shangguan Jin Hong didn't expect that your strength would improve so rapidly, quickly growing to the point where you can rival him!"

Even the old man Tianji couldn't help but sigh, Wang Gan was truly the most unreasonable person he had ever met.

This is true in every respect.

"But you still need to be careful. Shangguan Jin Hong is a man of stability; even the perilous Dragon and Phoenix Double Rings can be wielded with unwavering steadiness."

"If Shangguan Jin Hong makes any further moves against you, it will be with ruthless methods, using all his strength, because he must be absolutely certain of victory."

Wang Gan nodded, feeling completely confident and fearless.

If he had to fight Shangguan Jin Hong to the death, in the end, it would most likely be that Shangguan Jin Hong would die and he would be seriously injured.

After all, he had higher internal strength and stronger external skills, making him better at protecting himself than Shangguan Jin Hong.

"Look! It seems the leader of the Demonic Sect has arrived!"

Sun Xiaohong suddenly spoke, pointing to the cliff in the distance.

The two agreed to a duel at noon.

But when the fog rises in the mountains, Bai Tianyu waits there early, standing on the mountaintop with his eyes closed, trying to get himself into the best condition.

Masters of this caliber stand at the pinnacle of human martial prowess, their strengths nearly equal, merely vying for a hair's breadth or a single move.

While the concept of "state" may seem mystical, it is a very real phenomenon for the experts in this world.

For example, Li Xunhuan, whose raw strength is probably among the top three in the world, is able to kill many masters whose strength is above his by relying on his indomitable will and his unerring determination.

Similarly, after regaining his martial arts will, Tianji Laoren's condition improved, and even Shangguan Jin Hong found him troublesome.

If their states fluctuate, and one gains while the other loses, Bai Tianyu might even be able to kill Shangguan Jin Hong now.

On the other side, Bai Tianyu was fully focused on adjusting his state, while the leader of the Demonic Sect seemed fearless, or perhaps it was some kind of psychological warfare, as he finally arrived late at the last minute of noon.

(End of this chapter)