Sword Qi to the Sky

Chapter 357 Talismans
The cultivator, led by the imperial court, held a golden spear. He glanced at the flying swords in the sky, and with a thought, an array appeared behind him, growing larger and larger, emitting beams of golden light that transformed into a spear.

"kill!"

He uttered a sound, and instantly magical power flowed across the array diagram. A golden spear roared out, causing the air to rumble and sealing off the space where Li Fan was located.

Li Fan's eyes were indifferent. The Heavenly Origin Sword Formation appeared on his body, and countless flying swords swept out, colliding with the golden spear that was attacking in mid-air, creating a spectacular sight.

With a thought, a sharp sword in front of him rang out.

"Go." With a wave of his hand, Li Fan's flying sword pierced through the air in an instant, passing through the destructive attack and heading straight for the opponent.

The imperial cultivator suddenly thrust out his spear, his magical power surging and his blood churning. He was actually a martial arts practitioner. His spear was domineering like a dragon, and his power was poured into his arm, causing a violent shockwave to appear in the sky.

A loud bang resounded as the spear and flying sword collided. A cold glint appeared in the eyes of the imperial cultivator, who seemed to think he was nothing special.

But just as the thought crossed his mind, a sword of the same level suddenly appeared in the sky. A beam of light streaked across the void, and another sword shot towards him.

His expression changed slightly, and he shouted loudly. His spear trembled, and a hurricane tore through space, creating a protective net in front of him.

The sword fell, making his arm go numb, but before he could react, other flying swords came one after another.

With a loud shout, his blood and qi roared fiercely, his golden body shimmered, and his power increased once again. When he wielded his spear, he was impenetrable, but the falling flying swords pierced through the defensive net time and time again. With a soft thud, a muffled groan was heard, causing his body to retreat violently.

Li Fan waved his hand repeatedly, and the sword fell again and again. The imperial cultivator was forced to retreat violently, and his aura weakened rapidly.

"Go." Li Fan uttered, and the Sword of Destruction struck at the opponent at the same time. At this moment, the Taoist's figure moved forward, and with a wave of his arm, countless talismans flew out at the same time. These talismans rapidly enlarged, turning into giant yellow papers that floated between heaven and earth, turning into huge characters, like stone tablets lying there, blocking Li Fan's flying sword.

The sword fell wildly, crashing into the stone tablet with a deafening roar. The stone tablet shattered, but the flying sword also disintegrated. As for the court cultivator who had been attacked by Li Fan earlier, everyone noticed that his aura was weak and blood was spilling from the corner of his mouth, clearly indicating that he had been severely injured in the attack.

"You are a sword cultivator, yet you collude with demons. You deserve to die."

The Taoist priest was not old. He stood on a stone tablet, his Taoist robe fluttering, and his eyes shone with golden light as he stared at Li Fan in front of him.

He waved his hand again, and countless talismans flew around Li Fan. The talismans trembled with golden light, and countless mountain-suppressing stone tablets appeared, including the sky above Li Fan's head, sealing off all his escape routes.

"Go." With a thought, the Taoist's hair flew up, and the brilliant golden light made him look extraordinary.

The stone tablets closed in, intending to kill Li Fan on the spot. Not far behind him, cultivators from the Cui and Xie families also arrived. Seeing this scene, they did not intervene. They thought that the Taoist was not simple and wanted to see if Li Fan could break the deadlock.

Suddenly, a series of great swords appeared around Li Fan, blasting towards the surrounding stone tablets that were being suppressed. The great swords struck the stone tablets like stars, and in an instant, the stone tablets collapsed and shattered.

Li Fan's body moved forward, transforming into a beam of sword light, his afterimage elongating. The power of the countless talismans seemed unable to stop him for even a moment.

The Taoist's expression changed drastically as he sensed a heavy pressure descending upon him, which was also sharp. He waved his hand again, and many more talismans flew out, transforming into a row of sharp swords that shot towards Li Fan.

The sword pierced towards Li Fan, but a bright light emerged from between the brows of the rapidly advancing figure, causing the flying swords to clang as if trembling and hesitating.

"Watch out!" the injured cultivator shouted. Li Fan broke through the opponent's flying sword attack and appeared not far in front of the Taoist. Before he arrived, his sword had already struck.

With this single sword strike, a river of swords appeared in mid-air, and all the sword intent in the sky merged into this one strike, leaving no escape.

The Taoist priest's expression changed drastically, and a huge talisman flew out to block in front of him.

"Boom..." A bright light burst forth, and the sword slashed down. The talisman transformed into a defensive stone tablet, but it was still cut open. However, it bought the Taoist a moment of opportunity. He stepped on the talisman light, and his body disappeared from the spot as if it had been teleported away, retreating to the distance.

However, Li Fan merely glanced up and saw beams of sword light falling from the sky, blocking his retreat. The Taoist looked back and his expression changed drastically. This sword cultivator wanted to kill him.

His cultivation level was at the peak of the Core Formation stage. With various methods, he had few rivals in this stage. However, when facing Li Fan, he was completely powerless to fight back.

He looked into Li Fan's eyes and shouted, "Step back!"

This loud shout contained a soul attack, but when Li Fan looked up, an extremely terrifying killing intent made his hair stand on end and his whole body stiffen. It was as if a sharp sword was piercing his soul, and Li Fan transformed into a sword and walked into his mind.

"Boom..." A sense of impending death washed over him as he saw a sword of slaughter aimed at him.

"Master, save me!"

A talisman in the Taoist's hand burst into flames, producing golden fire. He flung it forward, and the talisman magnified in the air, the golden fire reflecting a phantom image, like a golden body. At this moment, the image seemed to emerge from the talisman, and a loud shout rang out: "Insolence!"

A violent shockwave swept out, and a gigantic golden palm crushed down, slamming into the flying sword and continuing its trajectory towards Li Fan, who was charging towards him. Li Fan had already reached his opponent when suddenly a suffocating sense of oppression struck him, like Mount Tai pressing down on him. The golden figure, like a god, raised its hand to suppress him.

With a thought, countless sharp swords appeared in front of Li Fan and stabbed down simultaneously.

"boom!"

The sword energy vanished, the sword shattered, and Li Fan's body flew backward into the distance, only stopping when he was far away. His gaze was fixed ahead, and under the golden flames, the talisman paper slowly burned.

"Who are you, daring to bully my disciple?" Under the burning golden flames, the figure gradually blurred, but spoke in a human voice.

This method should be similar to the sword intent left on him by the great sword cultivator from Lishan. This Taoist's master was also skilled in this kind of method and left a life-saving talisman for the Taoist.

Li Fan didn't recognize the Taoist priest, but not far behind him, the Cui family members looked at him with surprise.

It's him.

This Taoist priest was actually invited by the Qinghe County government to exorcise the demon.

Of course, he was only appearing in the form of a talisman at this moment, and it was only his disciple who came, but it was unknown whether his true self was in Qinghe County.

Li Fan waved his left hand, and swords shot out, piercing straight towards the burning golden talisman.

"Insolence!" the Taoist priest roared. The talisman still had residual magical power surging on it, but it could no longer withstand the attack of the flying sword. As the flying sword fell down, the Taoist priest seemed to be riddled with holes and burned to ashes in the golden flames.

"stop."

Just as Li Fan was about to continue his attack, a thunderous roar came from the distant sky. He turned around and saw a large group of figures approaching from afar.

The leader exuded a terrifying aura, suppressing Li Fan from a distance; he was a cultivator at the sixth level of the Dao Body realm.

This man was clad in armor, exuding an imposing aura, and his thick eyebrows, when raised, carried an air of fury.

"Commander." The imperial cultivators bowed respectfully upon seeing the newcomer. The commander strode forward toward Li Fan, his imposing aura growing ever stronger.

"My lord, this boy brought demons to Qinghe County. His identity is unknown, and he refused to cooperate, killing several of our people," someone said.

"You're courting death." The commander stared at Li Fan, shouted coldly, and took a step forward, but then heard a voice behind Li Fan: "Commander Shen."

The commander glanced behind Li Fan; in fact, he had already seen the Cui and Xie families.

"What is it, Mr. Cui?" he asked loudly.

"This young hero Lu has killed many demons in Qinghe County. The people here have witnessed it with their own eyes. How could they possibly be involved with demons? As for the demons around him, they are no different from humans. They must have already integrated into the human world." The old man from the Cui family said calmly.

"In Mr. Cui's opinion, it's normal for them to kill officials of the imperial court?" Commander Shen questioned.

"That Taoist priest is so aggressive, attacking others as if he wants them to surrender?" Elder Cui retorted. "Commander Shen, when the demons were causing chaos, the imperial court didn't appear. Now, instead, they're attacking those who slay demons. What is their intention? Could it be that someone has colluded with the demons to work for them?"

“Mr. Cui, you can’t just say things like that.” Commander Shen’s voice was chilling.

"Many people witnessed what happened today. What do you think of the people of Qinghe County?" The old man from the Cui family said, "Even I believe that the prince was trying to find the demon and eliminate the evil spirit. It's just that his subordinates acted recklessly."

Commander Shen stared at the other man, then asked with a smile, "Is this your idea, or Mr. Cui's idea?"

"I personally witnessed this young man slaying the demon. If Commander Shen has any questions, you may report them to the Prince." A domineering voice came from afar, causing Commander Shen to pause and look up at the distant direction.

A smile appeared in his eyes, and he bowed slightly, saying, "Since Senior Cui spoke up for him, I naturally believe him and will not make things difficult for him. The Prince has prepared a banquet at the Prince's Mansion, inviting Cui Xie and various families and sects of Qinghe County to attend and discuss matters related to exorcising demons."

"I understand," the voice in the distance replied.

Commander Shen bowed slightly, then glanced coldly at Li Fan and waved his hand, saying, "Let's go."

After saying this, the group turned and left, but their eyes still held a chilling killing intent as they looked at Li Fan, clearly indicating that they would not give up so easily.

(End of this chapter)