Ian Song glanced at Timothy Qi, whose fake magnanimity was plastered all over his ugly face, then shifted his gaze to Maggie Zhang, who’d stayed silent like she was just an outsider. He asked, “Order Master Zhang, is that what you think too?”
"I trust Senior Brother Timothy," Maggie Zhang replied coolly, her tone icier than ever.
Heh.
Ian Song laughed, his eyes sweeping the hall with open mockery. "If you want to swallow my techniques, you'd better make sure your teeth are sharp enough—otherwise, you'll be left picking them up off the floor."
Arrogant!
Reckless!
Courting death!
As soon as Ian finished speaking, several elders immediately began to denounce him.
Ian just responded with a cold, dismissive smile.
For some reason, Elder Luo—who’d always been wary of Ian Song—felt a sudden, intense unease at that smile.
"Enough!" Timothy Qi cut in again. "Elders, stop wasting words on this little thief—just seize him!"
"Thief, let this old man show you what real power looks like!"
An elder in blue robes stepped forward—Elder Tang, head of the Enforcement Hall of Skysea Sword Sect, second only to Elder Luo in disciplinary authority. His cultivation was already at the peak of Sun-Soul Realm, just a breath away from Law-Phase.
"You're not enough," Ian Song said seriously, shaking his head. "If you want a shot, you'd better all come at me together."
Arrogant thief!
Infuriated, Elder Tang summoned Nightmare Azureblade, a top-tier divine sword, into his hand.
Nightmare Azureblade was no ordinary weapon—it was a legendary divine sword, forged from rare cyan metal and housing a strange soul-attacking power. When unleashed, it sent a chilling force straight into an opponent's spirit, leaving them dazed and sapping their fighting strength.
Die!
Elder Tang gripped the sword with one hand and slashed at Ian Song, lightning-fast. Nightmare Azureblade buzzed with green-blue light, its eerie power flooding out—Ian’s eyes went blank for a split second, caught by the soul attack.
Seeing this, Elder Tang knew his soul power had landed and sped up his sword, aiming to finish Ian in a single blow.
Ding!
Just as Nightmare Azureblade was about to cleave Ian in two, a crystalline, jade-like finger appeared out of nowhere and tapped the blade.
With a crisp sound, Elder Tang's arm went numb from the shock, and a tremendous force sent him stumbling back several steps before he could steady himself.
Elder Tang stared at Ian in disbelief, exclaiming, "You... how could you...?"
"You're wondering why I wasn't affected by your sword's special power, right?" Ian answered for him. "Don't you know even Victor Wei, the Valeguard emperor, fell to me? He was a Law-Phase expert, and you're just a Sun-Soul Elder. Do you really think you're stronger than him? If I could defeat him so easily, what makes you think you could kill me? Talk about overestimating yourself!"
Elder Tang flushed with shame at Ian's words, but more than that, he was furious.
Boom!
In the next moment, Elder Tang summoned his Sun-Soul avatar, making the air in the entire hall tremble.
Kill!
With a furious shout, Elder Tang unleashed one of Skysea Sword Sect's secret sword techniques.
You dare show off such trash sword arts in front of me?
Ian's voice rang out, and with a single slap, the sky full of sword light vanished and Elder Tang was sent flying across the hall.
Although Elder Tang cultivated an Imperial-Grade Technique, his real strength was only on par with early Body-Fusion. Ian's War-Dao power already matched early Tribulation, and his Immortal-Dao cultivation was even more terrifying. Beating Tang was child's play.
"All elders, attack together! Use the sword formation against him!" Timothy Qi ordered again, his face dark and his eyes flickering with uncertainty.
As the top elders of Skysea Sword Sect, their authority was second only to the two Order Masters, so each was qualified to wield a top-tier divine weapon.
Elder Tang shook off his frustration and, together with the other four elders, formed a sword array and charged at Ian again.
You people are unbelievably stupid. Did you forget that I'm a formation master too?
Ian's disdainful voice echoed from within the formation, followed by a series of slapping sounds as all five elders were sent flying, crashing to the ground and unable to get up for a long time.
Ian clapped his hands clean and looked at Timothy Qi with playful contempt. "Order Master Qi, you don't believe you're foolish, do you? If I wasn't absolutely confident, would I dare bring three Imperial-Grade Techniques to trade with you? Even Jade Sovereign Sect didn't dare swallow my goods, but you do. Are you just reckless, or has greed blinded you so much you can't think straight?"
Then Ian turned to Maggie Zhang. "And you—sitting there all stern and silent, trying to look impressive? Honestly, in my eyes, you're just a big-chested, empty-headed woman with long hair and short insight. Timothy Qi can't think, and neither can you. No wonder you two ended up as fellow disciples!"
Faced with Ian's venomous tongue, Timothy Qi and Maggie Zhang's faces turned ashen. Finally, Timothy couldn't hold back and shouted, "You little thief, shut your mouth! Do you think beating five elders makes you invincible? Now you'll see the true sword arts of Skysea Sword Sect!"
As he spoke, Timothy Qi reached into the void and summoned a golden greatsword—Sunblade—while Maggie Zhang waved her hand, calling forth a moon-colored short sword—Moonblade.
The Sunblade and Moonblade, ranked sixth and seventh on the Imperial Armament Rankings, were both peerless divine weapons.
When wielded together, their power multiplied.
"Junior Sister, back me up. I'll handle this thief myself!" Timothy Qi raised the golden Sunblade, his strength already at late Law-Phase Realm. With Sunblade's boost, he didn't even fear a Saint Sea expert.
Timothy Qi was surprised by Ian's performance, but instead of fear, a murderous intent surged in his heart. He knew that if he didn't kill this sharp-tongued brat today, Ian would become Skysea Sword Sect's greatest threat.
Ian spoke again, sounding utterly arrogant.
Timothy Qi's eyes grew cold as Sunblade erupted with golden radiance, transforming into a streak of gold that slashed toward Ian.
Ian stepped forward and swatted the golden beam aside, then strode in and unleashed three consecutive palm strikes.
The impact was like meteorites crashing into a planet, shaking Sword-Nurturing Hall as if it couldn't withstand the force.
Timothy Qi barely blocked Ian's first two palms, but the third struck his chest, sending him flying and coughing up blood.
Ian did not pursue, instead standing in place and taunting, "I told you to attack together, but you wouldn't listen. Now you've learned your lesson."
Hearing Ian's words, Timothy Qi's face twisted in rage as he struggled to suppress his injuries, but was so infuriated that he spat out another mouthful of blood.