56: Stargrass leaves? Xi Youqin...is she scratching an itch?

Above the mountain gate, there was dead silence.

Xi Youqin's almond eyes were wide open, her pink cheeks puffed up in anger, like a bristling kitten.

The star river sword in her hand was humming on its own, but the tip of the sword was trembling slightly, pointing at the unharmed Ice Lotus below, and... that piece of star grass leaf spinning and drifting down beside the Ice Lotus!

What the hell was that?!

She was the little princess of the Xiyun Sword Sect! In the Early Stage of the Void Tribulation Realm! Possessing an Innate sword spirit origin! A sword strike born of anger was enough to split mountains! Cut rivers! Yet... it was actually... swallowed by an inconspicuous, roadside weed-like leaf?!

"Who?! Who is playing tricks?!" Xi Youqin's willow eyebrows stood up, her crisp, arrogant voice carrying a trace of imperceptible trembling, ringing through the mountain gate. "Come out! My sword... does not kill nameless cowards!"

"Presumptuous!" Chen Qingyang roared angrily, suppressing the shock in his heart, and took a step forward. "This is the mountain gate of the Qingyun Sect! This ice sculpture is the formation eye of our sect's mountain-protecting array! Intruders! Those who destroy the formation! Will be killed without mercy!"

Behind him, the surviving Qingyun Sect Disciples also drew their weapons. Although their faces were pale, their eyes were resolute! With the Sect Master here! They... were fearless!

"Qingyun Sect?" Xi Youqin's small nose wrinkled, and a trace of disdain flashed in her almond eyes. "Never heard of it! What kind of broken formation eye! It has an evil air of ice lumps! It's an eyesore just looking at it!"

The star river sword in her hand shook violently, and the starlight on the sword surged! "Today... I insist on splitting it! Let's see what you can do about it!"

Before the words fell!

Hum—!!!

The star river sword's brilliance flourished! Xi Youqin spun her petite body, her twin tails dancing wildly! A silver sword Aura, more condensed and brilliant than before, as if compressed from the Nine Heavens star river! Tore through the Void Realm! Carrying a terrifying Sword Intent that could sever time and space and destroy all Laws! It slashed fiercely toward that Ice Lotus again!

"star river sword Technique! Break Space!"

Wherever the sword Aura passed! Space was torn into pitch-black cracks! The Laws wailed! The terrifying sword pressure caused the newly formed "Starfall Spirit Locking Absolute Killing Formation" to fluctuate violently! The ice crystal runes of the formation base flashed crazily!

The Qingyun Sect Disciples guarding near the Ice Lotus only felt their Divine Souls stinging, as if being cut by billions of sword blades! They were almost forced to their knees!

"Form the array! Defend against the enemy!" Chen Qingyang's eyes were about to split, he roared hoarsely!

He formed seals with both hands, about to forcefully activate the Starfall Spirit Locking Absolute Killing Formation that had not yet fully stabilized!

However!

At the very moment when that terrifying sword Aura, capable of splitting the Void Realm, was about to strike the Ice Lotus—

Hum!

Beside the mountain gate, a star grass that had just emerged from the scorched earth, less than three inches high, had faint starlight flowing on its leaf. It seemed disturbed by the sharp Sword Intent and swayed gently.

It was just this insignificant sway!

Chi—!!!

At the tip of that tender, faint starlight-emitting leaf, a tiny, imperceptible bit of Chaos Star Fire condensed! Then... it shot out silently!

There was no earth-shattering momentum!

There was no destructive pressure!

There was only... a tiny... Chaos Star line that was almost invisible!

The star line was as thin as a hair! But... it was fast! To! The! Extreme!

Ignoring the distance of space! Ignoring the barriers of time!

Striking after, but arriving first!

It precisely... tapped onto the core Sword Intent node of that brilliant, Void Realm-splitting... star river sword Aura!

Time... seemed to freeze for an instant.

The next moment!

Crack—!!!

An extremely faint, yet crisp and harsh shattering sound rang out!

That condensed, substantive star river sword Aura, which radiated the will to sever time and space... was like a giant python whose vital point had been struck! It stiffened suddenly! Then... cracks like spiderwebs instantly covered its surface!

Bang—!!!

It exploded with a boom! It turned into silver star dust and light spots filling the sky! Like a soap bubble that had been poked! It dissipated into nothingness!

And that tiny Chaos Star line... after shattering the sword Aura... actually... didn't lose its momentum! Like the most dexterous embroidery needle! It silently... pierced through the protective sword Aura that Xi Youqin had hastily set up! And precisely... tapped onto the hilt of the star river sword in her hand... onto a star gem the size of a rice grain embedded there!

Ding—!!!

A crisp, extreme light chime!

That star gem... shattered in response!

Turning into... a pinch... of crystalline powder!

"Pfft—!!!" Xi Youqin was hit hard! Her petite body shook violently! A large mouthful of blood sprayed out! Staining her goose-yellow outfit red!

The star river sword in her hand let out a shrill cry! The brilliance on the sword body instantly dimmed! As if its Soul had been extracted!

The color drained from her beautiful face! Her almond eyes were filled with unbelievable horror and... a trace of... bone-deep... fear!

Her star river sword! A Profound Rank High Grade Spiritual Artifact! The star gem where the sword spirit origin resided... was actually... shattered by... a star line emitted by a blade of grass?!

This... how is this possible?!

"Who?! Who is it?!" Xi Youqin's voice was hoarse, carrying a sharp, sobbing tone. Her blood-red almond eyes scanned the ruins below crazily! Fear! Humiliation! Monstrous anger! Burned crazily in her chest! "Hiding your head and showing your tail! What kind of hero are you! Come out, Young Miss—!!!"

"Hero?"

A low, calm, yet undeniably dignified voice, like Nine Heavens divine thunder, exploded in Xi Youqin's ear without warning!

Hum—!!!

Xi Youqin only felt her Divine Soul shake violently! As if hit hard by an invisible giant hammer! She looked up suddenly!

Only to see!

Inside the mountain gate! At the entrance of the core Thatched Cottage shrouded in starlight!

A figure... didn't know when... had quietly appeared!

Black robes fluttered! His posture was as upright as a solitary peak! His eyes were as deep as a star abyss! There was no shocking Aura emitting from his body, yet he seemed to have merged with this piece of heaven and earth!

He just stood there, and it was as if he had become the absolute center of this starlight ruin! The shattered Void Realm! The remnants of the raging Sword Intent! The moment they approached within a hundred feet of him... they silently... calmed down! Annihilated!

It was Jiang Linfeng!

He stood with his hands behind his back, his gaze falling calmly on Xi Youqin, who was like a frightened little beast in the air. That gaze... indifferent! Calm! Like a god looking down at ants! No anger! No killing intent! Only... a kind of... absolute... control!

"You..." Xi Youqin's pupils shrank into pinpoints! Her heart was tightly gripped by an invisible giant hand! A feeling of suffocation instantly drowned her! She had never felt such terrifying pressure! Just... a single glance! It made her... unable to move! Even breathing became extremely difficult!

"You... who are you?!" She resisted the fear, her voice trembling, holding the star river sword across her chest, but it felt as powerless as holding a fire poker.

"Sect Master of Qingyun, Jiang Linfeng." Jiang Linfeng's voice was flat. His gaze swept over the star river sword with dimmed brilliance in her hand, and then fell on her full chest, which was heaving violently due to anger and fear. The corners of his mouth curled into a cold arc. "Your sword... is not bad."

"Unfortunately..."

He slowly raised his right hand, and with a wave... toward the swaying star grass beside the mountain gate!

Hum—!!!

That star grass, less than three inches high, trembled violently! On the leaf, the faint starlight instantly surged! Transforming into a emerald green whip of light, condensed and substantive, entwined with Chaos Star Fire! The light whip was silent! Tearing through the Void Realm! It lashed fiercely toward Xi Youqin!

"Slap—!!!"

A crisp whip sound! As if lashing onto everyone's Divine Soul!

"Ah—!!!" Xi Youqin let out a shrill scream! Her protective sword Aura shattered like paper! The emerald green light whip lashed fiercely onto her shoulder, tearing her goose-yellow outfit! The fabric instantly tore, revealing snow-white, delicate skin! A charred black whip mark, bone-deep and entwined with Chaos Star Fire, was instantly branded onto it!

The terrifying, excruciating pain mixed with the burning power of the Chaos Star Fire! Instantly swept through her whole body! Her petite body flew backward like a kite with a broken string! Blood sprayed wildly! She slammed heavily onto the ruins of a collapsed medicine mountain in the distance! Stirring up dust filling the sky!

"Young Miss!" In the distance in the Void Realm, two shrill shouts filled with shock and anger rang out! Two sword lights radiating Middle Stage Void Tribulation Realm Auras tore through the Void Realm and rushed crazily toward the direction where Xi Youqin fell! It was the protecting Elders of the Xiyun Sword Sect!

"Get lost!" Jiang Linfeng's eyes turned cold! He didn't even look at the two sword lights! He just... flicked his finger... toward the Void Realm!

Hum—!!!

Two star finger beams, condensed to the extreme and entwined with Chaos Star Fire! Shot out silently!

Pfft! Pfft—!!!

Two muffled sounds!

The two aggressive sword lights instantly stiffened in mid-air! Their protective Spiritual Artifact light shattered like bubbles! Two blood holes the size of a bowl exploded on the chests of the two Void Tribulation Middle Stage Sword Sect Elders simultaneously! Chaos Star Fire burned crazily! The two of them couldn't even scream before they flew backward like broken sacks! Their Auras instantly withered! Life or death unknown!

Dead silence!

Absolute dead silence!

The entire Qingyun Ruins was so quiet that a pin drop could be heard!

All the Qingyun Sect Disciples, including Chen Qingyang, were frozen in place like statues! Looking at that swaying star grass! Looking at Xi Youqin in the ruins, life or death unknown! Looking at the two Sword Sect Elders lying there like dead dogs in the distance! A chill went from the soles of their feet straight to their skulls!

The Sect Master... he... he just now... used a blade of grass... to whip away the little princess of the Void Tribulation Realm?! And... flicked his finger to cripple two Elders of the Middle Stage Void Tribulation Realm?!

This... this... is this still human?!

The dust slowly dissipated.

Xi Youqin struggled to climb up from the pile of rubble. Her goose-yellow outfit was torn to shreds, revealing a large area of snow-white skin. The charred black whip mark on her shoulder was shocking, and Chaos Star Fire was still leaping on the edge of the wound, bringing heart-piercing pain.

Blood stains hung from the corners of her mouth, her pink cheeks were pale, and her almond eyes were filled with horror, humiliation, unwillingness, and... a trace of... bewilderment and... fear... that even she herself had not noticed!

She... the little princess of the Xiyun Sword Sect! Innate sword spirit origin body! Early Stage Void Tribulation Realm! Actually... actually was whipped away by a Zhaoshen Realm... using a blade of grass?! And... and was beaten so miserably?!

"You... you..." She stared fixedly at the figure like a demon god at the entrance of the Thatched Cottage, her voice hoarse and broken, carrying a sobbing tone. "You... you dare to hit me?! My father... my father is the Sect Master of the Xiyun Sword Sect! He is at the Great Perfection of the Void Tribulation Realm! He... he won't let you go!"

"Great Perfection of the Void Tribulation Realm?" Jiang Linfeng's mouth curled into a cold arc, as if he had heard a huge joke. He slowly raised his hand, and in his palm, a piece of star grass leaf that had just fallen floated on it. The leaf was emerald green, starlight flowing, emitting a gentle vitality.

"Your father..." His gaze fell calmly on Xi Youqin, his voice indifferent. "In my eyes..."

He gently twisted his fingertips!

Chi—!!!

That tender star grass leaf... instantly... turned into powder!

"...is just... a blade of... grass."

"!!!" Xi Youqin's pupils shrank suddenly! An unprecedented, bone-deep chill! Instantly swallowed her!