"Hmm, this little girl does have a bit of courage."
Shangguan Tianhong couldn't help but snort coldly, watching as Jiang Dongli charged towards him, he casually lifted his hand and delivered a palm strike.
"There is a chasm between the first and second grade that is like divine retribution, and an ordinary second-grade cultivator would definitely avoid a first-grade cultivator as the people below are doing. But you, you dare to confront me directly."
"Among the second-grade cultivators I have seen, you are the bravest little girl."
"But if you think that with your second-grade physique, you can compete with a first-grade, then you underestimate me."
"This palm will show you the gap between us."
"..."
Shangguan Tianhong's palm stroke, although not at full force, was not something an ordinary second-grade cultivator could bear, even with his casual palm strike.
In his era, anyone who was struck by a second-grade cultivator with such a palm would have no chance of survival.
However, when this palm strike landed, Jiang Dongli retreated dozens of meters back, landing heavily with a thud. Immediately, the serious expression on her face changed to one of pain.
"It hurts."
Jiang Dongli's eyes were brimming with tears, and this attack was not only as fierce as Liu Wu Xin's but even more so.
Jiang Dongli, who usually feared pain, was now howling in pain, and had a trace of hesitation in her heart.
A stream of blood mist suddenly spewed from her mouth, turning Jiang Dongli's face paler.
To her utmost surprise, a mere casual palm strike from the other party had caused her such severe injuries.
Jiang Dongli had faced first-class cultivators before, but had never experienced such pain before.
Indeed, the person in front of her cannot be underestimated.
Jiang Dongli was astonished, and so was Shangguan Tianhong, the one who had just struck her.
"This little girl... she's quite strong."
Shangguan Tianhong's eyes bulged in surprise. That palm strike, if it had hit any other second-grade cultivator, would have caused severe injuries, rendering them unconscious or even death.
But Jiang Dongli managed to withstand it, and from her appearance, it seemed as if she could fight on.
"This little girl is interesting."
Shangguan Tianhong's lips curved slightly. In an instant, he appeared in front of Jiang Dongli and delivered another palm strike. However, this time the attack was much more powerful than the previous one.
"No..."
Jiang Dongli immediately looked shocked and frightened. She could feel the power of this palm strike. If it landed, she would either be killed or grievously injured.
"Million Miles Swordsman"
At this moment, Zhang Long, who was standing on the city wall, moved. A sword was drawn, and its sword Qi swept across thousands of miles. In a flash, it swept past Shangguan Tianhong, causing him to break out in a cold sweat.
"Strong sword energy."
Shangguan Tianhong retreated several meters in an instant and looked at Zhang Long, who had jumped into the void above, "Second grade?"
"I hadn't expected that, with the passage of time and over ten thousand years, there would be someone in this era with a talent even greater than my brother's. With such strength at just the second-grade level, if you were to ascend to the first grade, there would be no one in all the world who could be your match."
"That's why, perhaps, my brother is so eager to destroy the 'Heaven Silence Sect.' Maybe, among the people he wants to eliminate, you are one of them."
After the words were spoken, Zhang Long's sword energy had already struck towards Shangguan Tianhong.
Zhang Long raised an eyebrow. Confident in his abilities, this sword strike was even stronger than the one he used against the group of fire cloud sages back then.
Among four first-class cultivators, he was able to defeat them with a single sword strike. As for other first-class cultivators, it's unnecessary to say. But when he saw the calm expression on the current Shangguan Tianhong, he couldn't help but feel worried in his heart.
"Can this sword strike drive him away?"
"I don't know, but I do know that this sword strike is powerful. During the time when the fire cloud dignitary of the Zhongzhou True Fire Hall led four factions of first-class cultivators, they were unable to gain any advantage from this sword strike. It must be somewhat intimidating to them."
"But, compared to the fire cloud dignitaries and their group, I feel that the person up there has a much stronger cultivation. It's like they are on the same level as the number one teacher of the world."
"..."
The crowd on the city wall was bustling with chatter, their eyes fixed intently on the unfolding scene.
As the sword energy approached, Shangguan Tianhong calmly pulled on his black and gold long robe, then casually raised his hand and flung it.
Wherever the black and gold robe passed, it was enveloped in a black mist. In an instant, Zhang Long's sword energy was devoured by the mist.
"This..."
Zhang Long was shocked to the point of losing his composure. This was a move he had never seen before.
However, before he could react, Shangguan Tianhong had already appeared in front of him.
Zhang Long's eyes widened in shock, and a sense of impending death surged over him.
"Young man, your swordplay is good, but unfortunately, your sword is somewhat lacking. If you had used a better sword back then, I might not have been able to block it."
Shangguan Tianhong laughed heartily and suddenly took out the black and gold long robe from his hand. "Such a beautiful sword strike, to lose it like this, wouldn't that be a pity?"
"So, here it is, returned to you."
As the words fell, a sky-high sword energy suddenly struck from beneath the black and gold long robe.
Zhang Long, along with Jiang Dongli beside him, were shocked to the core. Before they could react, the sword energy had arrived.
The sword energy sliced through the heavens, instantly dividing the capital city in two.
On the city wall, countless second-grade cultivators felt terror at that moment. They all fought hard to resist, but none of them escaped unscathed. They were all severely injured, lying on the ground and unable to get up.
Compared to the second-grade cultivators on the city wall, who were far away and still had a chance to resist, Zhang Long and Jiang Dongli were not so lucky. They faced the sword energy directly and had no chance to defend themselves at all.
Jiang Dongli was struck heavily and sent flying outwards, like a meteor falling to the ground. Blood mist sprayed in the air, and she made no sound after a moment.
Zhang Long fell onto the city wall, amidst the rubble, his body half-covered in blood.
His right hand still tightly grasped the half-broken sword, his mouth oozing blood, and his face was as pale as a ghost.
And on his left side, he had lost an arm and a leg...
"You were lucky. It missed you slightly, letting you live."
Shangguan Tianhong landed with a smile, looking at the dying Zhang Long in the ruins. His lips unconsciously curled slightly, and a faint smile appeared on his face.
Just as the killing intent arose and he was about to move, suddenly, he saw countless red silks falling from the sky in a dense array. The approach was fierce, one of which was to try and stop Zhang Long from being saved.
"I had forgotten, I had managed to escape a little mouse earlier."
Shangguan Tianhong lightly raised his hand, and the red silks that were charging downwards instantly stopped in mid-air. He then reached out to grab one, pulling it with force. Suddenly, a figure fell from the sky.
It was Yun Qingchun who had run to seek help earlier.
Just as Yun Qingchun was caught off guard and dragged down, Shangguan Tianhong's five fingers became claws, reaching out to grasp her neck tightly.
"Let her go."
The two voices, in unison, came from the two people who had come with Yun Qingchun, Feng Bansha and Li Runyan.
Both of them attacked simultaneously, plunging down fiercely. Shangguan Tianhong didn't even lift his eyes, coldly spitting out two words: "Noisy."
The next moment, a terrifying spiritual pressure surged, and before they could reach their target, both of them fell heavily to the ground, passing out immediately.
"You're just a third-class cultivator, and you dare to challenge me?"
"Instead, you this little girl, have several colors, and dare to move……"
Shangguan Tianhong glanced at Yun Qingchun and then at Zhang Long, "So, you've come for your beloved?"
"Hah, nonsense, he saved my life, so I'm just here to repay him."
"It doesn't seem so. You're in such a hurry to save him that you're willing to risk your life and fight me for him. It's hard to say that it's just repaying a favor."
Yun Qingchun coldly stared at Shangguan Tianhong, "I don't like men."
"Hah, you're quite talkative. Well, I don't have time to care about your relationship. After all, you both have to die……"
Shangguan Tianhong sneered coldly and suddenly raised an eyebrow, retreating quickly, but it was too late. A sword energy gently floated in the air and landed on his cheek.
The next moment, a small wound appeared on his face, and blood trickled slowly from the injury.
The wound wasn't deep, but it made him feel angry.
A second-grade cultivator, one who is dying, injured him right before death.
Shangguan Tianhong angrily glared at Zhang Long, who was lying helplessly on the ground, having lost an arm and a leg. Even in his last moments, this dying man had used his last bit of strength to injure him.
"Damn it."
Shangguan Tianhong threw Yun Qingchun into the dying Zhang Long's arms and raised his hand to deliver a palm strike, intending to kill both of them at once.
Suddenly, his movement froze in mid-air.
A strange chill began to spread from the soles of his feet to the top of his head.
Shangguan Tianhong, shocked and rigid, turned his head back to look, but saw a pair of red and blue heterochromatic eyes staring at him like a beast in the wild.
