Li Mo’s cultivation was already more advanced than Pi Yan’s. After this breakthrough, he was confident he could take on dozens of cultivators like him at the same time.

On the other hand, Pi Yan felt as though he were clawing an impenetrable hunk of steel, whose hardness far exceeded what his spiritually reinforced hands could emulate. However, the other observers couldn’t detect this point. Because Li Mo had restricted his own cultivation at an early ninth-rank blademaster’s level, they all thought that Li Mo was about to lose.

Pi Yan was the only one who knew the truth.

“Are the little pups of the Pi household all this weak?” Li Mo sneered.

Pi Yan faced Li Mo, the shock in his eyes almost the equal of the fatty’s shock when he faced Pi Yan. “You—You’re beyond the realm of a first-rank sword saint!” When Pi Yan realized this, despite his pride and arrogance, he tried to turn tail and run.

Then, Li Mo struck. The moment Pi Yan shrunk back, Li Mo’s hands morphed into shadow. Faster than the crowd’s eyes could follow, he had gripped Pi Yan’s neck with a palm and raised him into the air.

“Ah!” Almost everyone in the crowd gasped, including the cultivators trapped within the pillar of light and the delegations from the seven households.

“Feng Bo, how strong is this man?” Feng Mian, the young master of the Feng family, turned to ask a man by his side. The middle-aged man, who seemed to be in his fifties, was dressed well but not in a swordsman’s garb. 

He scrutinized Li Mo carefully before finally answering, “He’s deliberately hiding his strength, and even I can’t determine his true level of cultivation. However, the fact that he’s able to defeat Pi Yan so easily is a sure sign that he’s already a sword saint.

Meanwhile, Pi Yan had grabbed a concealed dagger on his body and thrust it toward Li Mo’s eyes.

“Li Mo!” Yun Ruoyan shouted. She reached out for him, but nothing happened. The dagger struck Li Mo in the eye, but he didn’t take any damage. Instead, another metallic clank rang out: the dagger was unharmed, as was Li Mo’s eye.

“A second-rank sword saint!” 

“Feng Bo, what did you say?” Feng Mian was focusing so intently on the fight that he hadn’t heard his words.

“That black-robed fellow’s a second-rank sword saint!” Feng Bo repeated. “As a second-rank sword saint, a durable, transparent layer of spiritual energy will encase your body, providing significant defense against physical trauma. It’s rare enough to find a peak ninth-rank blademaster from the lower realms, let alone a sword saint,” he continued. “Young Master, if you can claim this slave as your own, it will be a great boon to the family.”

“Naturally, Feng Bo! But that Pi Yan—”

A sudden crack resounded through the air: Li Mo was breaking apart the reinforced golden skin around Pi Yan’s neck. As the skin visibly ruptured from Li Mo’s force, red blood seeped out of the wound, in sharp contrast to the golden glow still surrounding Pi Yan. Everyone, even Pi Yang, was dumbstruck.

“Well, boy? You’re not sending anyone else to help your dog?” Li Mo’s ice-cold gaze sent shivers down Pi Yang’s spine.

“Pi Qiu, Pi Huo, what are you doing?! Go help Pi Yan!” he hollered. “I want him alive, no...” The moment Pi Yang said these words, he hesitated. “...dead is fine too!”

As soon as Pi Yang spoke, six swordsmen walked out from the Pi delegation and surrounded Li Mo. Li Mo turned to glance at Yun Ruoyan, who was watching him intently. She seemed calm and unperturbed, but she couldn’t help worrying inside, no matter how strong she knew Li Mo was.

“That black robe’s cultivation has advanced again!” Pi Yang murmured, turning to Yun Ruoyan. 

“His name’s Li Mo, and he’s my husband,” Yun Ruoyan replied seriously. “Kindly remember his name.”

“Li Mo, your husband?” Pi Yang asked, enunciating the words syllable by syllable, as though he couldn’t process what she was saying.

“Yes. I married him even before I met you in the beast spirit valley, and we’re husband and wife. You didn’t notice?”

Pi Yang’s mouth twitched. “He looks so much older than you that he seemed more like a brother or uncle. Do all you groundhog women like marrying old men?”

Yun Ruoyan turned away and ignored him.

“What a pity,” Pi Yang murmured, almost to himself. “Yun Ruoyan, I’m afraid you’ll soon be a widow.”

“What do you mean?” Yun Ruoyan turned back and stared at Pi Yang with a hostile gaze.

Pi Yang didn’t seem to mind; he was enthused just by being able to attract Yun Ruoyan’s attention, regardless of whether it was for positive or negative reasons. “No one who dares cross the Pi family will be able to survive on the Mingyuan continent. This fellow’s marked for death, so I advise you steer clear from him.”

“I believe that remains to be seen,” Yun Ruoyan replied icily.

Pi Yang scoffed. “What are you all waiting for? Go on, attack! Kill that impudent groundhog!” he shouted to his henchmen. 

The reason the swordsmen didn’t dare attack was because they feared what he might do to Pi Yan, who was still scrabbling for purchase in the air. The slightest amount of force from Li Mo would be able to kill him instantly.

Because Li Mo wanted to send Yun Ruoyan out of the barrier that the seven families had created, he would have to cause a large disturbance. As a result, he raised an eyebrow, smirked, and broke Pi Yan’s throat with a clean crunch. Pi Yan’s head tilted, and fresh blood seeped out from his mouth. His eyes were open wide, as though he didn’t even have the time to process what had happened.

“Nothing but trash,” Li Mo critiqued pleasantly, then threw his body onto the ground.

“Boss!” the swordsmen shouted in alarm, then turned to Li Mo with eyes burning with hate. 

“You groundhog, we’ll skin you alive!” Pi Qiu hollered. “Brothers, attack!”

The swordsmen all drew their weapons and swarmed Li Mo. Some carried flaming swords, others spears forged from ancient ice, and one a thick, stout vine brimming with life.

Li Mo stood still in the middle of the circle, waiting for an opportunity. The moment before the weapons struck him, he leapt up into the air. He began to spin, doing so even as he landed on the ground. Gradually, wisps of wind gathered around him, growing larger and wilder with every passing second. The cyclone sucked up dirt and grass from the ground, turning the air gritty with dust.

Except for those cultivators within the pillar of light, who were unaffected, the crowd hastily shielded their face with a sleeve. 

The screen of dust obscured Yun Ruoyan’s vision, so she was a little startled to find someone grabbing her wrist. Thinking that it was Pi Yang, she brandished her dagger at the person only to hear Li Mo’s voice. 

“Yan’er, it’s me. We have to run, now!” He soared into the air with her.

“Li Mo’s about to escape with Yun Ruoyan!” Rong Yueshan shouted from within the pillar of light.

Upon hearing this, the swordsmen ignored the wind and dust blinding them and immediately gave chase. 

“Young Master, allow me to keep an eye on things,” Uncle Feng said to Feng Mian, then gave chase with a sword glowing with multicolored light.

Li Mo quickly brought Yun Ruoyan to the edge of the barrier, the Pi swordsmen hot on his heels. He extended both fists and sent his entire body’s spiritual energy surging toward his palms, charging up for one decisive blow.

The punch containing the full power of a second-rank sword saint sent ripples reverberating through the barrier. With a second punch, Li Mo broke a huge hole where the barrier had just been weakened. 

“You won’t escape!” the swordsmen shouted from behind.

“Yan’er, leave now. My sword will bring you to safety,” Li Mo whispered. “I’ll catch up once I deal with these other fellows.”

“Without your sword, how will you fly?” Yun Ruoyan asked.

“I’ll find a solution somehow. Leave!” Li Mo leapt off the sword and kicked at one of the men behind him...

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