The First Venerable of All Paths

"Snap!"

Thunder roared, and the rain began to fall again, pattering softly.

From a distance, the entire Qingniu Ridge appears to be shrouded in a misty haze.

A chilling killing intent quietly permeated the air.

Fang Xuan glanced around and frowned slightly.

More than thirty Ming family martial artists.

Nine are at the Condensation Realm, and one is at the Half-Step Divine Intent Realm.

The rest were all Qi Gathering Realm martial artists, and all of them were elites.

All escape routes were completely blocked.

To anyone else, Fang Xuan at this moment seemed to be in a desperate situation with no chance of turning the tide.

And that is indeed the case.

No matter how strong he is, he is ultimately only at the Qi Gathering Realm.

Moreover, after the battle with Wen Donglin, Fang Xuan had very little Yuan energy left in his body.

The cultivation level that was enhanced through secret techniques is also slowly fading.

"Fang Xuan, you are the first person who has made me take action twice in a row."

Mingche stood at the back of the crowd, not facing Fang Xuan directly.

Even with victory seemingly assured, how terrifying is a swordsman's desperate counterattack?

Mingche will no longer underestimate Fang Xuan.

On the contrary, this time...

He made thorough preparations.

Fang Xuan must be killed.

"Keep firing!"

Mingche said coldly, "I want to force him to reveal all his tricks and trump cards!"

"Whoosh whoosh!"

As soon as he finished speaking, more than a dozen archers drew their bows and nocked their arrows again.

This time, the demon bone blood arrow was fired.

Its power far surpasses that of the armor-piercing bow.

Blood-stained arrows, carrying a chilling killing intent, shot toward Fang Xuan.

"call!"

Fang Xuan's eyes sharpened as he watched the arrows hurtling towards him.

He abruptly removed the sword case and slammed it heavily onto the ground.

"Ten Thousand Swords Return to Nothingness, Open!"

With his hands moving rapidly, he formed hand seals, and streams of sword energy burst forth from the sword box.

"Snap!"

Each sword strike could easily shatter an arrow.

The sword box contains terrifying sword energy accumulated over countless years throughout the entire Guixu Sword Sea.

It can be said that they are countless and endless.

At this critical moment, Fang Xuan had no intention of holding back.

He activated the "Ten Thousand Swords Return to the Void Technique," continuously releasing the Void Sword Qi, which shot towards the Ming family warriors.

The sword energy pierced the air like a streak of light.

"Get out of the way!"

Mingche's expression changed, and he was the first to retreat, avoiding the sword energy attacks.

But some were a step too slow and were instantly pierced through the body by the sword energy, dying on the spot.

"Fang Xuan!"

Upon seeing this, Mingche roared in anger.

He flipped his hand and took out a sphere, then infused it with his elemental energy.

"Boom!"

A powerful force suddenly erupted from within the sphere, forming a protective shield that enveloped all the Ming family warriors.

"Array Beads?"

Fang Xuan was somewhat surprised.

Array Beads are special items that only array masters can create; they are also known as array treasures.

A single array bead contains an entire array.

Simply by using elemental energy to activate it, the formation within can be perfectly released.

However, only formation masters of the fourth rank or above can make formation beads, and each one is very valuable.

Clearly, Mingche came prepared this time.

"Clang! Clang!"

The sword energy struck the formation and was completely blocked.

"Release the arrows!"

Another volley of arrows came hurtling towards him, but Fang Xuan cut them off with his sword energy, causing him no harm whatsoever.

"Young Master Ming, don't waste your time."

Fang Xuan chuckled and said, "I can't hurt you, and you can't kill me."

Having said that, Fang Xuan pointed his two fingers together.

The Phoenix Cry Sword roared forth.

Fang Xuan stepped onto the sword, holding the sword box, and prepared to fly away on his sword.

"Leave!"

Seeing that Fang Xuan was about to leave, Wen Donglin slashed out fiercely with his long sword.

"Whoosh!"

A dazzling blade of light slashed fiercely towards Fang Xuan.

Its power was far greater than those demon bone blood arrows from before; it even felt as if it could shatter the void.

At this moment, Fang Xuan had just taken off on his sword.

The blade's edge was as swift as a streak of light, slashing across the sky.

"roll!"

Fang Xuan held the sword box with both hands and slammed it out.

"Snap!"

The innate sword box was not only heavy but also as hard as steel. Fang Xuan struck it with all his might and actually smashed the blade's edge to pieces.

"snort!"

However, Fang Xuan's face turned pale as a result, and his cultivation level of the ninth level of the Qi Gathering Realm dropped directly back to the second level of the Qi Gathering Realm.

His entire being was extremely weak.

Taking advantage of this opportunity, Mingche quickly ordered his subordinates to fire another volley of demon bone blood arrows in an attempt to slow down Fang Xuan.

"Fang Xuan, you can't escape!"

At the same time, Wen Donglin and Ming Zhang, both half-step Divine Intent Realm experts, simultaneously raised their swords and slashed.

"die!"

Two blades of light, one from the left and one from the right, approached simultaneously.

His sword intent surged, and his killing intent soared.

Fang Xuan's eyes were cold as he formed a sword incantation with his hands.

"Sing!"

The cry of the phoenix resounded throughout heaven and earth.

A golden-red longsword appeared in Fang Xuan's palm.

Soaring sword energy swept out from Fang Xuan like a tidal wave.

With his sword in hand, Fang Xuan didn't hesitate for a moment and suddenly slashed out with his sword.

"Hundred Kills, Frost Formation!"

In an instant, space seemed to freeze.

The rain began to condense into frost, and finally shot out in all directions like ten thousand long, cold ice swords.

"Hiss hiss hiss!"

The icy sword energy swept across all directions, annihilating all vegetation.

As for the strikes unleashed by Wen Donglin and Ming Zhang, they were frozen by the frost-cold sword intent and utterly routed.

Sensing the omnipresent frost-like sword energy, both of them changed their expressions and retreated in unison.

If Mingche hadn't used the array bead, Fang Xuan's sword alone would have caused heavy casualties among the Ming family's warriors.

Taking advantage of the opportunity, Fang Xuan raised his longsword, transforming it into a streak of golden-red light, and soared into the sky.

"Buzz!"

But the next moment, Fang Xuan seemed to have crashed into an invisible wall, his body jolted violently, and then he fell wildly.

Just as he was about to land on the ground, Fang Xuan forcibly twisted his body and landed on a mountaintop, looking coldly at the sky.

Fang Xuan spoke in a deep voice, his tone solemn.

"Anti-flight spell array!"

In his eyes, a magic array had appeared in mid-air without him even noticing.

The entire Qingniu Ridge was shrouded in an array.

The sole purpose of this formation is to prevent Fang Xuan from flying on his sword.

"Hahaha, Fang Xuan, I told you long ago that I came prepared this time."

Seeing that Fang Xuan's attempt to escape on his sword had failed, Ming Che couldn't help but laugh loudly, "This anti-flight formation was prepared just for you."

Upon hearing this, Fang Xuan's expression turned even more unpleasant.

An anti-flight formation can prevent flight and air travel.

The formation itself is not special, but it requires a fourth-grade formation master to set it up.

Therefore, there is a fourth-grade array master hidden in Qingniu Ridge.

"With this formation in place, you truly have no chance of escape."

Mingche said smugly, "Fang Xuan, so what if you're a sword cultivator? Your cultivation is still too weak. If I wanted to kill you, it would be as easy as crushing an ant."

"really."

Fang Xuan strapped the sword case to his back before speaking slowly and deliberately, "But how can you be so sure you can kill me?"

"You're about to die, why deceive yourself?"

Mingche shook his head and said, "Fang Xuan, I can give you a chance. As long as you submit to me from now on, we can wipe the slate clean of what happened before."

"Mingche, what do you mean by this?"

Upon hearing this, Wen Donglin suddenly looked at Ming Che, his tone filled with questioning and anger.

Fang Xuan killed his son; how could he not seek revenge?

Moreover, Mingyang was also killed by Fang Xuan.

"Master Wen, the dead cannot be brought back to life. We must look forward."

Mingche gave Wen Donglin a meaningful look and said, "What do you think?"

Although Wen Donglin's daughter has married Ming Che, she is only a concubine.

Their status isn't very high.

Moreover, the Ming family has always been the dominant force among the Wen and Ming families.

Even though he was only at the half-step Divine Realm, Mingche's words still gave Wen Donglin an undeniable sense of power.

"Hehe, Young Master Mingche is right."

Wen Donglin said with a forced smile, "But my son can't have died in vain!"

He was telling Mingche that he could let Fang Xuan go, but Mingche had to offer enough bargaining chips or benefits.

"Of course, it's a human life after all."

Mingche stood with his hands behind his back, looking at Fang Xuan: "What do you think, Brother Fang?"

"Ugh, you people, really..."

Fang Xuan chuckled and said, "You're really too arrogant."

Why do you think I'll definitely agree to your conditions?

Fang Xuan's tone turned cold, and a murderous intent flashed in his eyes.

"Who do you think you are, Mingche? You think you're worthy of my following? You overestimate yourself!"

"you......"

Mingche's expression changed, and his face was filled with anger.

"Shut up!"

Fang Xuan interrupted Ming Che directly, coldly shouting, "Do you really think a mere anti-flight formation can trap me? How utterly laughable!"

After saying that, Fang Xuan touched the red bracelet on his wrist.

"Come out, it's time to get to work."

However, the bracelet did not react at all.

Fang Xuan: "!!!"

"Don't do this, people will die."

Fang Xuan called out to Chi Lin again, but still received no response.

"Oh no!"

Fang Xuan then remembered that Chi Lin had told him that he needed to sleep for a while and that he shouldn't be disturbed unless necessary.

This period of slumber seems to be extremely important to Chi Lin, otherwise he wouldn't have informed him in advance.

Careless.

"It seems we can only use the terrain to delay them for a while and see if we can break this anti-flight formation."

Fang Xuan's mind raced, and he glanced at Ming Che and the others.

Then he turned and disappeared into the dense forest.

"Chase!"

Mingche waved his hand and said coldly, "This place is now air-free, so his sword-controlling technique is completely useless. Even if it's a matter of attrition, we must wear him down!"

They have the numbers and the advantage.

Fang Xuan was alone. As long as the encirclement was tightened, Fang Xuan would eventually become a dead man under his command.

"Patriarch Wen, Fang Xuan is a common enemy of both our families. How about we join forces?"

Mingche said, "As long as we capture Fang Xuan, the treasures on his body will be split equally between our two families."

"The treasure is secondary; that brat must die!"

Wen Donglin's tone was cold.

"rest assured."

His clear eyes were icy: "I never intended to let him go!"

Upon hearing this, Wen Donglin was taken aback.

It turns out that Mingche's demand for Fang Xuan to submit was not genuine; it was merely a means to manipulate Fang Xuan.

But the kid didn't fall for it.

"In that case, let's join forces and kill Fang Xuan!"

Wen Donglin took a deep breath and said in a chilling tone, "I will tear that little bastard to pieces!"