Countless sword cries resounded, powerful enough to drown out the raging thunder!
Within the boundless lightning, a luminous barrier slowly ascended, as if supporting a sea of thunder.
Beneath the barrier, disciples of the Shenxuan Sect chanted in low voices, their long swords strapped to their backs vibrating incessantly.
"It's the Sky Splitting Sword Scripture!"
Chen Rong whispered, his voice audible only to Ji Yuan.
Upon hearing this, Ji Yuan's eyes flickered, a desire to test its might stirring within him.
However, after glancing at the figure ahead, he suppressed the thought.
"Myriad Thunder Marsh!"
A booming roar echoed!
In the next moment, Elder Hong Tian was seen stretching out his arms, his internal mana surging forth, accompanied by countless bolts of lightning dancing around him.
Simultaneously, three flowers condensed from lightning materialized, floating above his shoulders and atop his head.
These three flowers contained true essence and soul light, embodying the condensation of one's spirit, energy, and mind, representing a cultivator's Dao fruit!
Ji Yuan's gaze shimmered with longing.
After ascending to the Ming Dao realm, apart from comprehending the Dao, the most crucial cultivation for a cultivator was to condense the Three Flowers Above the Head.
The difficulty of this process was no less than successfully forming a Golden Core!
And if achieved, it would bring immense benefits!
Not only would one's cultivation realm surge, but it would also have an immeasurable impact on future cultivation!
Furthermore, being able to condense even one flower was considered a sign of genius.
Those who condensed three flowers were invariably the prodigies of their generation!
Ji Yuan gazed deeply at the figure not far ahead, surprised that Elder Hong Tian had once been a prodigy himself!
Rumble!!!
As the bell-like voice subsided, the thunder within a hundred zhang radius became even more violent!
Empowered by the Three Flowers Above the Head, the sea of thunder expanded to nearly three hundred zhang!
From a distance, nothing could be seen but a dazzling display of lightning!
Faintly, a colossal figure materialized, tens of zhang tall, radiating an awe-inspiring heavenly might.
*Puff!*
The luminous barrier formed by the formation shattered under the immense fist, collapsing like punctured parchment!
In the next instant, a sharp sword cry pierced the heavens, and over twenty magical swords shot towards the descending fist!
However, in mere moments, sword after sword disintegrated. All the Shenxuan Sect disciples suffered backlash, their breaths weak as they slumped onto their flying artifacts.
Everyone looked up at the descending giant fist, a sense of despair silently rising in their hearts.
The eyes of many Shenxuan Sect disciples already held a glint of death.
Just then, a figure shot into the sky, their ice crystal longsword seeming to cleave through the boundless sea of thunder and the very fabric of the sky.
Two flowers, condensed from their spirit, energy, and mind, bloomed silently above their shoulders.
In the blink of an eye, the middle-aged man's aura surged significantly. The ice crystal longsword in his hand erupted with a radiant, dreamlike glow that spanned dozens of zhang!
Instantly, a deafening roar shook the entire world!
Bolts of lightning struck, kicking up dust from the earth, while the brilliant, dreamlike radiance swept across, its sharp sword energy carving countless massive ravines!
"Go!"
Elder Hong Tian suddenly roared!
His thunderous avatar, the embodiment of lightning, grabbed the flying artifact carrying everyone and hurled it with all its might towards the distance!
Everyone felt the rushing wind whistling past their ears. Without the protection of the flying artifact, they would have undoubtedly plunged from the high heavens!
This continued for over ten breaths before, as the extraordinary phenomena subsided, they found themselves twenty to thirty li away!
Glancing back at the thunderous marsh flashing with endless lightning, they heard the violent roars.
Ji Yuan took a deep breath and immediately infused the flying artifact with his mana, transforming it into a streak of light that shot directly towards the border of Jinyang Commandery.
Half a day later, having already been close to the border, they finally returned to Lingyang Prefecture.
"Elder Hong Tian... will he be alright?"
Zhao Yuansong broke the silence among them.
In response, everyone on the flying artifact shook their heads silently, occasionally sighing.
Despite witnessing the immense power displayed by Elder Hong Tian, their opponent's strength was equally formidable, aided by two companions of slightly lesser power.
Even Elder Hong Tian, though powerful, would find victory extremely difficult, perhaps even hopeless.
Now, all they could do was hope for his safe escape, free from any fatal threats.
"He will be alright."
Ji Yuan murmured to himself, his eyes flickering with complex emotions.
After ascending to the Ming Dao realm, he quickly learned that cultivators in this realm were divided into three tiers.
The weakest tier comprised ordinary cultivators of the Three Realms.
Although they could wield immense power through techniques and artifacts, they were still far from true prodigies.
The second tier consisted of cultivators who had manifested unusual phenomena or condensed the Three Flowers Above the Head.
Either of these accomplishments allowed them to surpass their peers significantly and easily defeat opponents of higher cultivation.
As for the third tier, the strongest, they were true prodigies who had both manifested phenomena and condensed the Three Flowers.
Cultivators of the same realm were easily suppressed by them, and within this realm, they had no equal save for those of the same caliber.
They even possessed the strength to briefly contend with or even safely retreat from Golden Core Grand Cultivators.
Ji Yuan, though currently possessing formidable strength and the ability to defeat opponents of higher cultivation, still belonged to the first tier.
This meant his opponents had neither manifested phenomena nor condensed the Three Flowers Above the Head.
Otherwise, he wouldn't have been able to easily overcome opponents one or two minor realms higher than himself.
"We should be in Luoxia Commandery now?"
Zhao Yuansong asked.
Ji Yuan nodded. Within Lingyang Prefecture, only Luoxia Commandery bordered Jinyang Commandery of Chongyuan Prefecture.
"Let's go to the commandery city and wait for Elder Hong Tian," he said after some thought.
He then manipulated the flying artifact, steering it towards the commandery city of Luoxia Commandery.
According to their prearranged plan, if they were forced to separate due to circumstances, they would rendezvous at the commandery city of Luoxia.
If they failed to meet after a certain period, the party in a safer position would return to the sect directly.
Despite the flying artifact, it took them a full month to travel from the border of Luoxia Commandery to the outskirts of its city.
Returning to Guanxia City after several years, Ji Yuan and Zhao Yuansong felt a surge of emotion.
Putting away their flying artifact, the group quickly entered the commandery city, their destination clearly the Qian family.
Even with the influence of the Nine Xuan Sect, they did not possess any businesses of their own within the commandery city of Luoxia.
In the years past, the sect's primary focus of development had been its own territory in Feiyun Commandery.