"Playing coy!"
Song He snorted coldly and immediately formed a hand seal.
The Hanyue Shuttle, not yet returned, shone brilliantly. It spun in mid-air before streaking towards Sun Youfang.
Where it passed, cold air surged, even freezing the spiritual energy, causing a large amount of ice crystals to fall to the ground.
Seeing this, Sun Youfang's smile remained unchanged. He calmly extended a finger forward.
In the blink of an eye, surging demonic energy erupted. Along with his potent magic power, it condensed into a shield about three feet in size.
Clang!!!
A sound like a heavy bell resounded. Song He's Hanyue Shuttle struck the shield, but it didn't shatter it in one go. No matter how the cold air swirled or the magic power within vibrated, it couldn't move the shield even a fraction.
Song He's expression darkened. The hand seal in his hand changed, and more magic power surged forth, pouring into the Hanyue Shuttle from a distance.
In an instant, the artifact's brilliance increased by severalfold. The icy force that swept out turned the entire shield into solid ice. Only then, under the rampage of powerful magic, was it barely shattered.
However, after shattering the shield, the magic power within the Hanyue Shuttle was also consumed by more than half. Its momentum suddenly slowed, and it had to reluctantly return to Song He's side.
As the Hanyue Shuttle returned, a cold glint flashed in Zhou Yuyan's beautiful eyes. With a wave of her elegant hand, small swords, about the length and width of a finger, flew out from her sleeve.
A total of nine swords pierced the air, their cold light almost forming a continuous stream.
However, Sun Youfang, unfazed, repeated his previous move. With his potent magic power, surging demonic energy transformed into round shields, each about three feet in size, matching the nine flying swords in number.
Zhou Yuyan's eyes flickered. Without any apparent action from her, the nine flying swords dispersed, attacking Sun Youfang's vital points from all directions.
Yet, those round shields, though merely condensed from demonic energy, seemed to possess a sentience. They also dispersed, blocking all the swiftly incoming flying swords.
"Is this all you have?"
A cold sneer appeared on Sun Youfang's face.
Since his appearance, he had not moved an inch, even when facing the attacks of Song He and his wife. The surrounding spiritual energy converged to form a vortex around him.
If one were to ignore his demonic energy and his ferocious smile, he might have truly possessed the demeanor of a senior expert with an air of immortal grace.
"Three hundred years ago, a couple who could suppress an immortal sect with their combined strength, yet you seem no more than this."
Sun Youfang shook his head, looking quite disappointed.
However, Song He and his wife, who had been prominent figures in their lives, had witnessed countless storms. They were naturally not so easily swayed by such crude taunts.
They exchanged a glance, ignoring his words. They both formed hand seals simultaneously, clearly intending to get serious.
Zhou Yuyan held her sword seal, urging the nine flying swords to continuously strike, aiming for the opponent's vital points. Their cold light flashed, almost engulfing his figure.
Meanwhile, Song He's hand seals continued to form. With each seal formed, a stream of pure magic power was poured into the Hanyue Shuttle beside him. In a short while, the artifact was filled with surging magic power.
Faintly, within the soft glow enveloping the artifact, a phantom seemed to be taking shape.
At the same time, Zhao Yuansong, Xu Liuqing, and the others also retreated, gathering around Ji Yuan, their gazes fixed intently on Sun Youfang in the distance.
With the strength he had displayed, this was no longer a matter for ordinary cultivators of the first realm to intervene. Even for those of the second realm, Zhao Yuansong felt a sense of powerlessness.
Having only recently broken through, with his realm not yet stable, even though he knew several techniques of the Nine Xuan Sect and possessed some decent artifacts, he couldn't unleash them now.
Merely relying on his sword intent, he could at most deal with ordinary opponents in the early stages of the second realm. Once he encountered someone proficient in techniques and wielding powerful artifacts, it would be difficult even to maintain his own undefeated status.
Zhao Yuansong sighed inwardly, suppressing the feeling of helplessness for the moment. He decided that after this matter, he would go into secluded cultivation for several months to stabilize his realm and refine the artifacts he possessed.
"Go!"
Suddenly, Song He let out a low roar. With one hand maintaining the hand seal and the other pointing towards Sun Youfang from afar.
As his voice fell, the Hanyue Shuttle, which had been floating beside him, shot through the air. Within the hazy glow, a phantom suddenly appeared, quickly transforming into an ice-blue giant python over ten feet long!
This giant python, with the Hanyue Shuttle at its core, exuded an astonishing chill. Where it passed, snow flew, and fierce winds howled.
Seeing this, Zhou Yuyan immediately withdrew her sword seal. The nine flying swords dispersed, abandoning their attack.
Then, the ice-blue giant python, conjured by Song He using the Hanyue Shuttle, roared forward. With a single charge, it shattered the nine shields. Immediately, the phantom python opened its massive maw and swallowed Sun Youfang whole!
Seeing him swallowed by the giant python, everyone's hearts tightened. Although they knew he wouldn't be killed so easily, they couldn't help but hold onto a sliver of hope.
"Still... somewhat interesting?"
A voice slowly rang out, shattering their faint hope.
The ice-blue giant python suddenly exploded into pieces. The Hanyue Shuttle, its spiritual light dimmed, flew back and retreated into Song He's sleeve on its own.
In contrast, Sun Youfang was now enveloped in rolling demonic energy. He held a seven-story small pagoda in his hand, upon which flowed monstrous demonic flames.
Faintly, everyone could even see distorted, ferocious faces within the pagoda, as if emitting silent wails and curses.
"This is a magic treasure!"
Ji Yuan frowned, his expression grave.
Hearing this, the others also looked somber, surprised that he possessed a magic treasure!
And judging by its appearance, it seemed to be complete and undamaged.
After all, for an ordinary cultivator, possessing a magical artifact was already considered quite good. Often, a second-realm cultivator would have to exhaust their savings of ten to twenty years to acquire one.
Even then, whether the magical artifact they possessed suited them was a matter of luck. Most were merely passable.
Only cultivators of the third realm could choose magical artifacts that suited them, but their numbers were definitely not large; two or three would be considered the limit.
As for magic treasures, which were only possessed by great cultivators who had formed their Golden Core and could preside over a region, they were something they didn't even dare to dream of.
For cultivators below the Golden Core stage, to possess an intact magic treasure, unless they were incredibly lucky or stumbled upon the remains of a senior's dwelling, they could only have obtained it through extremely powerful family backgrounds and gifts from elders.
Yet, at this moment, he held a magic treasure in his hand. Not only was it complete and undamaged, but its quality also appeared to be quite high.
Seeing this, a sense of despair began to creep into everyone's hearts. Facing a third-realm cultivator who had just broken through, although they couldn't win, they could at least have some means of self-preservation.
But facing a complete magic treasure, they truly lacked confidence.
After all, a second-realm cultivator, wielding a complete magic treasure, would even dare to challenge a third-realm cultivator!
And not just any ordinary third-realm cultivator, but one who had broken through for more than a decade, or even decades, whose magic power was at their fingertips, possessing not only peak-level techniques and divine abilities but also two or three suitable magical artifacts – such a third-realm cultivator!
Even a second-realm cultivator holding a complete magic treasure, despite having just broken through and lacking any powerful techniques or divine abilities, could still guarantee a victory rate of over sixty to seventy percent.
This was the terrifying power of a complete magic treasure!
"Do you feel despair?"
Sun Youfang's gaze swept over them, taking in the expressions on their faces.
He didn't rush to attack, relying on the magic treasure in his hand to obliterate everyone before him. Instead, he observed their expressions with amusement, seemingly enjoying the process.
As he spoke, he continued to collect spiritual energy. The spiritual energy that had evolved from the collapse of the City God's and the five Spiritual Officials' golden bodies had already gathered about half into a porcelain bowl in his other hand.
That porcelain bowl was likely also a magical artifact, and its grade was definitely not low, otherwise, it couldn't have contained so much spiritual energy without overflowing.
"Cherish this feeling of despair while you still can. Because in a while, after I kill you one by one, you won't be able to feel anything at all."
He said with a teasing expression, looking unconcerned.
And in reality, he had the right to be so. With the complete and undamaged magic treasure in his hand, he still possessed this confidence even when facing a third-realm cultivator.
Even when facing the Blade Bearers of the Mingjian Division, Sun Youfang felt he could act with impunity, relying on the magic treasure in his hand.
"You don't seriously think that just because you have a magic treasure, you can disregard everyone in the world, do you?"
Ji Yuan's brow twitched. Suddenly, as if sensing something, he casually glanced at a certain spot before feigning nonchalance and sneering, "A mere magic treasure, do you think you can use it to disregard even the Blade Bearers of the Mingjian Division?"
This was meant to be a taunt, but to his surprise, Sun Youfang actually showed a contemplative expression. After a long pause, he nodded with a serious face.
It seemed that in his mind, he truly no longer considered the legendary Blade Bearers a significant threat.
Seeing Sun Youfang nod seriously, Ji Yuan's cold smile instantly vanished, replaced by an expression of helplessness.
As if he hadn't felt the immense threat posed by the magic treasure, he glanced at Sun Youfang with pity before turning to look at a shadow in the distance.
That spot was once occupied by shops that had been damaged and destroyed by the earlier fighting, now mostly collapsed.
"I'm not someone who likes to stir up trouble, but since this guy has said something like that, can you still tolerate it?"
Ji Yuan shook his head at the shadow in the distance, "If I were a Blade Bearer of the Mingjian Division, I definitely wouldn't be able to tolerate it!"
He said this with a serious expression, but there was no response. There was no sound from the ruins of the shops in the distance.
Seeing this, everyone present sighed in their hearts. They had thought a miracle would appear, but in the end, only disappointment remained.
Sun Youfang's smile widened, and he said disdainfully, "Even now, don't make any more futile struggles. Even if there really is a Blade Bearer of the Mingjian Division, if they dare to appear before me..."
Before he could finish, he suddenly stopped. The strange expressions that suddenly appeared on the faces of the group before him made his heart suddenly sink.
An ominous feeling suddenly arose in his heart.