Sword Qi to the Sky

Chapter 433 The Nine Characters of Taoism
Li Fan looked up at the massive golden foot that was pressing down on him, as if it wanted to crush him into dust.

The oppressive force descending upon him felt like a mountain pressing down on his shoulders, yet Li Fan remained standing ramrod straight. His blood and qi surged and roared within him, the sound of a dragon's roar echoing throughout the heavens and earth. Golden divine light continuously radiated from the sky, and the golden dragon encircling his body seemed to come alive.

The enormous golden claws rose and slammed down towards the descending golden foot—the Sky-Splitting Claw.

Under the violent force, even space seemed to tear apart. The golden foot cracked and then collapsed and shattered.

With a dragon's roar, Li Fan's body soared into the sky with the golden dragon. Under the dragon's repeated attacks, the giant footprints that descended to suppress him continued to crumble.

The crowd, who had retreated to a distance, watched the breathtaking scene in the sky with racing hearts; the sky seemed to be shattered by the violent collision of the two.

"Want to come up?" Li Changtian smiled as he looked at the golden dragon soaring into the sky. That won't do.

He raised his right foot and stomped down again. Instantly, golden light patterns spread outwards, enveloping the boundless space. A huge golden yin-yang symbol appeared in the sky, growing larger and larger until it blotted out the sun.

Countless people looked up at the sky and saw the yin-yang fish pattern constantly evolving, with giant beasts appearing within it.

Li Fan gazed at the ever-expanding golden wheel in the sky, which was generating all things, like a diagram of the Great Dao.

A divine elephant emerged from the pattern, towering like a mountain; then a Kui ox appeared; after that... Qilin, giant tortoise and other giant beasts emerged one after another, golden divine light cascading down, enveloping the world below, including Li Fan and the giant dragon.

"Human Dao techniques are truly amazing." Yue Qingqiu sighed softly. Lu Yuan, who was beside him, was also deeply shocked. She had only seen such powerful Dao techniques in one person: Mu Changqing, whose words became law during the Battle of Baiyujing.

The Taoist priest Li Changtian in front of her seemed somewhat similar to Mu Changqing; he could achieve enlightenment with a single thought and possess boundless power.

A bright light shone from between Li Fan's brows, and a powerful radiance bloomed. The sword seed emerged and hovered in the sky. All the surrounding swords converged, and boundless sword intent merged into the sword seed, transforming it into a giant sword.

He raised his hand and swept it across, the golden dragon's claws gripping the greatsword in his palm.

"The true dragon wields the sword."

The spectators were somewhat numb. Was this a fusion of martial arts and swordsmanship? It was the first time they had ever witnessed such a battle.

The golden dragon slashed out with its giant sword, splitting the descending behemoth in two and even tearing a rift in the sky.

Li Fan's body continued to float upwards, and with each swing of the dragon's sword, a path was carved out.

"Open." Li Fan's right hand swept across, and the dragon's claw, wielding a giant sword, slashed at the sky-covering Dao pattern. A sharp, hissing sound rang out, and a crack was torn open, leaving a gap in the Dao pattern.

As the crack appeared, the giant sword, after slicing through, unleashed a terrifying sword intent that continued upwards, and a beam of sword light slashed out through the Great Dao Diagram.

Li Changtian's figure shifted, as if the stars were shifting, and he instantly appeared in another location in the high sky. The sword intent he unleashed through the Great Dao Diagram slashed a mark in the sky.

The giant sword slashed down again and again, completely tearing the Great Dao Diagram apart. Li Fan continued to rise, arriving opposite Li Changtian, looking him in the eye.

"Taiping Temple?"

Li Fan's voice was calm. Since he came down the mountain, he had experienced many battles, including those of the chosen ones of heaven and the holy sons of great sects.

But to possess such combat power, and to be so proficient in Taoist arts, is perhaps a force on par with Li Mountain.

He had encountered a cultivator from Taiping Temple before, but the Taoist priest in front of him was very likely the most talented and core cultivator in Taiping Temple.

“Friend Li, you have a good eye. I am Li Changtian from Taiping Temple.” The Taoist replied with a smile. The peaceful atmosphere between the two did not seem like a life-or-death battle, but rather like a friendly sparring match between old friends.

“Taiping Temple…” Some of the older practitioners below took a deep breath; Taiping Temple had also emerged from the mountains.

Since the great chaos caused by demons and monsters in the Great Li Kingdom, the first three—mountain, temple, monastery, and academy—have faded from the world's view. Only the academy stands in Yujing City, the heart of the Great Li Kingdom, and is revered as a sacred place for cultivation.

However, the other three major forces are all on par with Baiyujing Academy.

If we were to rank them, Lishan was once the top, while Taiping Temple and Wanfo Temple were shrouded in mystery, with no one knowing their origins.

The great battle currently raging above them was actually a clash between the sword cultivators of Lishan and the cultivators of Taiping Temple.

No wonder that Taoist priest had such strong combat power.

"The name 'Taiping Temple' is quite nice, but their behavior is somewhat mismatched with its name," Li Fan said.

"Taiping Temple descends the mountain to bring peace to the world and to quell chaos. Now that demons are wreaking havoc, the Daoist sect has only permitted me to venture out and invite Fellow Daoist Li to die, precisely to uphold peace and save the common people," Li Changtian replied. "Not to kill the demons, but to kill those who discover them, is this for the sake of world peace? If I die, will the demons disappear from this world?" Li Fan asked, "What kind of logic is this?"

“The demon must be killed, but the source of this turmoil must also be eliminated. The death of Fellow Daoist Li can save countless people. Why not do it?” Li Changtian said.

"Is this the way of Taiping Temple?" Li Fan smiled and said, "Taiping Temple emerged during times of chaos. If I destroy Taiping Temple, there will be no more chaos, and the world will be at peace."

Li Changtian thought for a moment, then smiled and nodded, saying, "That makes sense. If Fellow Daoist Li has that ability..."

"If that Taoist priest has the ability, he can kill me too," Li Fan replied.

“That’s right.” Li Changtian smiled, and then his hands formed Dao seals. An invisible great power seemed to surge between heaven and earth, and a Dao sound seemed to resound. Golden light flashed all over the sky, illuminating the entire city. Countless golden characters appeared in the sky, covering the surrounding area.

Li Fan looked up and saw that the flashing characters were increasing in number, densely packed, swirling and tumbling in mid-air.

The densely packed characters swirled together, transforming into a massive, all-encompassing handprint of the Great Dao in the sky, hurtling straight toward Li Fan's location.

Li Fan remained unmoved, wielding his sword like a true dragon, and slashed at the incoming Dao seal. The terrifying giant sword split the massive handprint in two, tearing the Dao seal to shreds.

The shattered giant handprint, which had scattered into countless characters, continued forward and rapidly reformed, enveloping the sword within it before slamming into the true dragon's body.

"boom……"

An immense force surged forth, as if boundless power were bearing down on him. His True Dragon Martial Soul seemed about to be shattered, and his massive body was violently forced back into the distance.

The countless characters continued to roll forward, but they were no longer Dao seals; instead, they transformed into a sword of the Great Dao, radiating dazzling golden divine light as it struck Li Fan.

Li Fan's martial spirit disappeared, and his body soared into the sky. The sword of the Great Dao pierced the air, but above his head, there were also countless characters that instantly transformed into a giant palm print that slammed down. Li Fan, who had put away his True Dragon Martial Spirit, appeared extremely small in front of this giant palm print.

Countless flying swords coalesced, and Li Fan was surrounded by a sword array, with dazzling sword light flowing over his body. He raised his hand and pointed, as if a sword of the Great Dao had condensed and pierced into the sky. Ten thousand swords flew together and simultaneously bombarded the Dao seal that was suppressing him.

The Dao Seal decomposed, splitting into endless characters once more, attempting to continue gathering and generating new ones. However, a whooshing sound was heard, and countless golden vines suddenly emerged from Li Fan's body, continuously splitting and rushing towards the sky full of characters to wrap around them.

Li Fan shot straight into the sky, his body covered in vines that blocked out the sun, preventing the characters from coalescing.

"Fa Xiang?"

Li Changtian was somewhat surprised to see this scene; Li Fan actually possessed the Dharma Image of an ancient tree.
He cultivates swordsmanship, Taoist magic, and martial arts.

Li Fan moved with incredible speed, transforming into a sword that shot straight toward him like a streak of light, making him sense a sense of danger.

"Clang..." A crisp sound rang out in the sky, and a blinding beam of light shot out from behind Li Changtian, revealing a huge ancient character behind him, the character 'Lin'!
The moment the character "临" appeared, thousands of characters appeared behind Li Changtian, surrounding him. At this moment, Li Changtian seemed like a god descending to earth, his Dao seal stretching across the sky.

A destructive sword light cleaved through space, slicing past Li Changtian. Li Fan's sword strike was even faster than Li Changtian had anticipated. It was as if he had accelerated his speed just before making the move; before anyone could see him swing the sword, it had already appeared.

But at this moment, Li Changtian Dao descended upon him, resonating with the Great Dao, and unleashed a palm print that resembled a Great Dao seal.

A loud explosion rang out, and the two of them were pushed back at the same time. Li Fan's body was blown away and his arm trembled slightly. Even though his physical body was extremely strong, his mind was still shaken at this moment. The power pressing on him at that moment seemed to have surpassed the Dao Body.

Li Changtian also retreated to a distance. His eyes were like lightning as he stared at Li Fan. The huge character "Lin" spun behind him, growing brighter and brighter, radiating the divine light of the Great Dao.

"The sword cultivators of Lishan are indeed worthy of their reputation. No wonder they were once on par with Taiping Temple." Li Changtian's voice was like the voice of the Great Dao as he walked forward step by step.

With each step he took, the sense of oppression between heaven and earth intensified, as if the Great Dao had descended upon him, and he was the embodiment of the Dao.

Within a radius of a hundred miles, the ground trembled and houses shook. Cultivators felt suffocated, pressed down and unable to breathe. Looking up at the figure in the sky, it seemed like a god.

"What kind of magic is this?" Li Fan looked up at Li Changtian and asked.

“Even in the Taiping Temple, very few people can master the Nine True Words of Taoism. You are already proud to have been defeated by the Nine True Words,” Li Changtian said.

Li Fan nodded and said, "You are the second person whose realm is one level higher than mine to force me to this point. Taiping Temple is ranked after Lishan, so it can be said that it has some means."

Li Changtian was taken aback, then asked with a smile, "Who was the last one?"

“Jiang Tai’a,” Li Fan replied, “Of course, he ultimately lost, and so did you.”

(End of this chapter)