Ao Bai and Yi Lan continued their journey.
Although Ao Bai knew they should have returned back to the mountain, he had promised Yi Lan to take her around the world.
And, he trusted his power. He believed that he could defeat almost anyone who would attack them.
While Yi Lan hadn't noticed when Ao Bai had defeated those cultivators, he had noticed the huge crater on the ground as they flew away.
And, out of curiosity, she asked Ao Bai about it.
The dragon revealed to her that they were being followed, and that he had taken care of it.
While she was scared after hearing that they were being followed, she was also in awe of Ao Bai.
Being able to defeat five cultivators who she couldn't even detect while being at the eighth layer of the golden core stage.
But beneath all her awe and fear, there was the tiniest bit of surprise.
"Who thought the lazy dragon would be so strong?"
The two continued their journey, but they had no idea that they were being watched.
———
Under the calm moonlight, Zhu Fan sat looking at the heavens above.
It had been a full day since Ao Bai had taken Yi Lan on a journey through the mortal world.
He glanced at the moon briefly,
"The heavenly secrets are obscure tonight..."
He sighed and picked up his teacup, then took a sip.
"Looks like tonight will be full of chaos..."
———
In a damp, dark room somewhere in the mortal world.
The sounds of metal grating against metal echoed.
A young man carved some symbols into a piece of golden metal.
Looking up from his table, he glanced at a crystal ball on the table in front of him.
"Senior sister... Is it really you? It seems I should investigate..."
———
Ao Bai swam through the clouds, a gentle wind blowing over the mortal world.
At night, the world felt peaceful.
The two were almost done with their tour, and were heading back to the Paradise Immortal's Mountain.
Mid flight, Ao Bai noticed something strange. The air kept getting colder as he flew.
Yi Lan shivered slightly, but said nothing. She just thought that the air was colder at night.
Although he was flying at a very high altitude, cultivators like them shouldn't feel cold unless they are in extremely low temperatures.
As he continued flying, the air kept getting colder, until even the moisture in the air force and it started snowing.
But, the even weirder thing was that the snow didn't fall, it just hovered.
Ao Bai felt a strange sense of danger clawing at his heart.
His heartbeat sped up, and his body gradually cooled even more.
A rushing gust of wind blew through the space, and Ao Bai looked up.
A strange young man had appeared in the air in front of him.
"Greetings, senior Ao Bai."
"Who... Who are you!?"
The dragon couldn't move, and the feeling of powerlessness burned itself into his mind.
The young man chuckled.
"Don't remember me? Of course... Why would you? After all, I am just one of the many who have tried to become a disciple of the Great Sage."
Ao Bai didn't understand what he meant, but he could feel the pulsating hatred coming from him.
The man smiled, then continued.
"My name is Xi Yun, sect leader of the Sacred Blade sect."
The Sacred Blade sect was a sect formed in the last two hundred years, and one that was climbing the rankings fast.
But, no one knows who the sect leader is.
Only the highest ranking elders of the sect know the sect leader, and it is even rumoured that one of the Great Sage's disciples is the sect leader.
"So, you are Xi Yun? That kid who came to seek the master's guidance all those years ago?"
Xi Yun had once been revered as the greatest prodigy of the world.
Born with the Hallow Blade body, he could comprehend the Dao as easily as drinking water.
When he turned fifteen, he came all the way to Paradise Immortal's Mountain to seek Zhu Fan's guidance, but was rejected.
Zhu Fan did not give a reason, he just refused to take Xi Yun as a disciple.
But acknowledging his talent, Zhu Fan had given him a sword technique and an ancient sword.
To Zhu Fan, he had already helped Xi Yun out a lot.
But to Xi Yun, it felt like Zhu Fan was mocking him.
So when rumours spread that the Great Sage had taken in a new disciple, he naturally wanted to see what level of talent it took for the Great Sage to accept someone as his disciple.
Xi Yun walked forward, and reached Yi Lan.
He put a hand on her head, and projected his spirit into her body.
"...broken fire spirit root?"
Xi Yun checked again, and again, and again. But the results didn't change.
Xi Yun refused to believe it. There was just now way that someone like the Great Sage would accept a broken fire spirit root as his disciple.
"He must have cast a charm to hide her talent... Yes, that must be it!"
Ao Bai saw it all happen, but he didn't move.
He couldn't sense any hostile intentions in the other party, and it made no sense for someone this strong to do anything without first gauging their opponent's strength.
But, as Xi Yun tested Yi Lan's talent, Ao Bai finally moved.
He swiped his claw at Xi Yun.
The young man looked down at him and said nothing. He just lifted his fingers and stopped the attack.
Although Ao Bai had only used a very small portion of his strength, it shouldn't have been that easy to block the attack.
Ao Bai quickly dashed backwards, and cast a protective charm on Yi Lan.
Then, without warning, he charged up a large amount of spirit energy and blasted it towards Xi Yun.
The young man lifted his arms, and channeled his own spirit energy.
A glowing beam struck the young man, causing a huge explosion that destroyed the surroundings.
Fragments of the Earth flew all around, and the ground tore apart.
Ao Bai knew the fight would be hard, so he decided to use his full power.
A storm of raging flames swirled around Ao Bai, and heavenly silver thunder crackeled all around him.
Out of the storm of flames and thunder, stepped a humanoid with a single, protruding black horn.
———
Zhu Fan was in the garden, tending to his peach trees when he noticed a subtle shift in spirit energy.
"The Fat dragon is using his humanoid form? Is there an issue?"
He quickly walked to the edge of the cliff and cast a charm, trying to peer into heaven's mysteries.
———
Xi Yun looked at the humanoid dragon, and smiled.
"Let us start our fight now, senior."
Xi Yun charged up his sword technique.
"Heaven Reincarnation Blade!"
The golden light erupted from the blade, and for a moment, it created a second sun in the sky.
The overwhelming intensity of the light scorched the land below into nothingness.
Ao Bai smirked, and condensed his spirit energy into a tiny sword around his left claw.
"Severance!"
The spirit energy shimmered, but it didn't glow. Light emanated from it, but it wasn't bright.
Ao Bai lunged towards Xi Yun, trying to catch him off guard.
The swords clashed, and sparks flew all around.
The space around them trembled every time their weapons collided.
Ao Bai had a manical smile on his face, while Xi Yun was completely composed.
For Ao Bai, this was the first time he had ever fought someone so close to his level.
For Xi Yun, this was something he could do anyday.
The two clashed multiple times in a matter of moments.
Ao Bai used space-time transfer to appear behind Xi Yun, but as soon as he appeared, Xi Yun shot a punch straight at his face.
Ao Bai stumbled backwards, and pulled his body to a stop.
"What terrifying combat instincts..."
He lunged forward once again.
This time, Xi Yun used the Heaven's Edge movement technique to dodge.
Clouds appeared beneath his feet, and he looked like he was walking on the mist.
The portion of the mortal world below had already been devastated.
The two stopped for a moment, catching their breaths. Then, they slowly backed off.
The two circled each other, like a predator eyeing its prey.
Ao Bai created a tiny mountain construct our of spirit energy and launched it at Xi Yun.
Xi Yun also created millions of sword shadows and launched them at Ao Bai.
The mountain moved towards Xi Yun, crushing even the space in its path completely.
Xi Yun barely managed to step out of the mountain's path.
The millions of swords moved with blinding speed, and appeared in front of Ao Bai immediately.
Xi Yun smiled,
"So, I've won at last..."
Ao Bai chuckled, then inhaled a deep breath.
Sensing danger, he immediately tried to back off, but it was too late.
A green flame erupted from Ao Bai's mouth.
The flame reached Xi Yun almost immediately, and for a moment, the world stopped.
Then, Xi Yun decisively blasted himself with an explosion to propel himself out of the way.
His lower body got disintegrated in the process, but he survived.
Panting, he stopped himself mid air and started to heal himself again.
"Looks like I underestimated you, senior."
On the other hand, Yi Lan was floating in the bubble that Ao Bai had created for her, and watching the fight.
Although she was watching the fight, she couldn't even see the two's afterimages, let alone track their movements.
Xi Yun healed his lower body while Ao Bai kept on attacking him relentlessly.
Ao Bai used every attack he had, claw swipes, sword slashes, and even talisman spells.
But nothing worked, He couldn't catch Xi Yun at all.
Xi Yun finally fully healed his lower body, and turned back to Ao Bai.
"Let us continue, senior."
Ao Bai's maniacal smile returned, even if he couldn't kill this guy now, he could do so later.
But he would never pass up this chance to improve his skills against someone close to his level.
The two attacked each other again, this time with their spells.
Xi Yun gathered the energy around him into a small needle in his palm.
He then flicked the needle towards Ao Bai while also trying to avoid his counterattack.
"Heavenly Resonance Needle!"
Ao Bai channeled his spirit energy into the shape of a small dagger.
Looking at Xi Yun, he threw the dagger as fast as he could.
"Severance: Second Form!"
The dagger even caused a loud sound as it sped up.
The needle collided with the dagger.
The collision caused a shockwave that sent them both flying backwards.
But neither of them was ready to give up just yet.
They both rushed at each other again.
This time, they engaged in physical combat. Trading blows with each other, Ao Bai laughed like a maniac, while Xi Yun was starting to get annoyed.
Still, he couldn't do anything without actually beating Ao Bai first.
Ao Bai blocked one of Xi Yun's pucnhes and pulled him closer, then punched him in the abdomen.
The two continued to trade blows for quite a long time, but after a few hours they gradually slowed down as they got weaker.
They slowed down to the point that even Yi Lan could see their moves now.
Xi Yun gasped for breath, and spoke with a bit of trouble.
"I did not expect senior to be so powerful."
Ao Bai was also gasping for air, but he still let out a cocky chuckle.
"Of course I am strong!"
The two finally decided to finish their fight with their strongest attacks.
They both stepped back a bit, and started preparing their attacks.
Xi Yun started chanting and gathering spirit energy from his surroundings.
Ao Bai took a deep breath and started to channel his spirit energy into it.
Then, they both unleashed their ultimate attacks.
Xi Yun launched the energy waves forward,
"Shattering Soul Blade!"
Ao Bai released his infernal breath,
"Flames of Chaos!"