Celestial Dragon Sword Venerable

Blood Killing Heaven, Candidate Saintess, Battle Power of Breaking Five.

This information was enough to confirm that the female assassin named Xia Xinyan was an extraordinary genius.

With a gap of two Great Realms between them, Ye Tianling would have a very difficult time handling her unless he played his trump cards. 𝘧𝓇𝑒𝑒𝑤ℯ𝑏𝓃𝘰𝑣ℯ𝘭.𝘤ℴ𝘮

Ye Tianling activated his Spiritual Artifact, the Ice Spirit Armor, and channeled energy into his Spiritual Longsword, the Extreme Cold Mysterious Sword. His gaze, however, landed directly on Xia Xinyan’s beautiful face.

"Hey, Xia Xinyan," Ye Tianling said suddenly. "How about we talk this over?"

Xia Xinyan was clearly taken aback. ’My identity is a closely guarded secret. How does this person in front of me know my name?’

’Is he an acquaintance?’

Xia Xinyan studied Ye Tianling’s face with confidence but didn’t recognize him at all.

Her delicate brows furrowed as she searched her memory for a moment, but she came up with nothing. It even made her wonder if her memory was failing her.

"Don’t wrack your brain. We’re actually quite familiar, and I have an excellent relationship with Blood Killing Heaven. Xia Xinyan, you’re at the Sword Void First Transformation Realm, with a Battle Power of Breaking Five, and one of the Candidate Saintesses..."

Ye Tianling began his bluff.

It wasn’t that he didn’t want to fight; it was that he simply couldn’t win.

He was only at the Sword Soul Third Heaven and had yet to step into the Sword Spirit Realm. The Sword Void Realm was even more distant.

And Xia Xinyan, to become a Candidate Saintess in a terrifying and powerful assassin organization like Blood Killing Heaven, possessed a Battle Power of Breaking Five, making her comparable to an expert at the Sixth Change of Sword Void Realm.

"Who are you?!"

The expression on Xia Xinyan’s beautiful face turned grave, and her voice grew even colder.

"I am who I am, a firework of a different color—AHEM, beautiful, don’t be angry. My name is Wan Tianshu, a genius Cultivator from the Wan Family."

Seeing that Xia Xinyan was about to strike a killing blow, Ye Tianling immediately adopted a ’serious’ tone.

"The Wan Family?"

A suspicious look crossed Xia Xinyan’s face.

"Mhm, yes, the Wan Family," Ye Tianling said immediately.

"Never heard of them. I can confirm you’re not Ye Tianling, but—you can still die!"

As she spoke, the blood-colored longsword in her hand shot toward Ye Tianling.

Her speed was incredible, and her Battle Power was terrifying. The sword strike was like a bolt of lightning.

Ye Tianling saw only an afterimage flash past before a murderous intent, like a bolt of blood-red lightning, stabbed directly at him.

"Hey! You already know I’m not Ye Tianling, but you’re still attacking! I’m telling you, when I get angry, even I get scared of myself. You’re playing with fire, you know?"

Ye Tianling’s figure flickered. His Kunpeng Carefree Travel Body Technique activated naturally, but he only managed to barely evade part of the attack, not all of it.

However, a faint cyan halo flowed across his body, blocking some of the killing intent from Xia Xinyan’s sword.

VMMMM—

As the cyan light flowed, a misty, water-like curtain of light appeared and immediately neutralized Xia Xinyan’s attack.

"Hm? Is that the Clear Spirit Guardian Array? This Battle Armor... it’s a precious artifact of the Dragon Race. Are you a member of the Dragon Race?"

Xia Xinyan abruptly stopped, staring at Ye Tianling with a look of shock.

"Emperor’s Qi Dragon Swallowing Heaven Divine Technique!"

Ye Tianling sighed, feigning a look of sorrow as he spoke in a low voice.

As he spoke, the Ancient Dragon Soul simulated by his Little Faceless Technique manifested directly behind him. The effect of its Devouring aura was also pushed to its absolute limit.

The pure Dragon Race aura made Xia Xinyan’s beautiful eyes light up.

"Now you know my true identity, don’t you? That Ye Tianling may be handsome and capable, but he can’t compare to our noble Dragon Race. My surname is Wan, but my blood is Dragon. I just don’t normally reveal my identity."

"Alright, now that you know so many of my secrets, beautiful, don’t test my limits. The world is wide; may our paths cross again."

Ye Tianling’s ’Dragon Soul’ vanished as quickly as it had appeared.

Through these two brief exchanges, Ye Tianling discovered that he was a bit stronger than he’d thought. The Defense Power of his Spiritual Armor was also far greater than he had anticipated.

"That makes a certain amount of sense, but... if I could slay a dragon, Refining a bow from your Dragon Sinew and a shortsword from your Dragon Bone wouldn’t be a bad idea."

A smirk played on Xia Xinyan’s lips. She immediately activated the defensive power of her Blood-Colored Battle Armor, her entire demeanor growing more cautious and severe.

"You... You’re completely unreasonable!"

Ye Tianling felt the urge to vomit blood.

His mind was focused on growing stronger and raising his Realm. Despite his own ferocious and ruthless nature, this was why he was still wasting words with Xia Xinyan instead of attacking.

But he was discovering that in this world, reasoning and negotiating would never lead to peace. It would only make one’s enemies more aggressive.

Ye Tianling tightened his grip on his Extreme Cold Mysterious Sword, the playful look vanishing from his face.

"Unreasonable is exactly right. From the moment you knew my identity, I was certain you must possess the Soul Talent. Therefore, I have reason to suspect you are, in fact, Ye Tianling. As for that Dragon Soul Aura... it’s similar, but... too crude! Do you even know what a real Dragon Soul is?"

A contemptuous, mocking expression appeared on Xia Xinyan’s beautiful face.

In the next moment, a bloody light flashed around her, and a blood-colored Dragon Soul manifested directly behind her back.

Ye Tianling staggered, utterly speechless.

’So Xia Xinyan actually has a Dragon Race heritage. She’s practically half-dragon!’

’No wonder she saw through my fake ’Dragon Soul’ immediately.’

"Wan Tianshu? Long Tianshu? You must be Ye Tianling. There’s no mistake. So, tell me, how would you like to die?"

Xia Xinyan said.

Her voice carried a mocking tone, like a cat toying with a mouse.

That look made Ye Tianling cast aside his casual attitude. His expression turned cold.

He hadn’t wanted to fight—even though her methods and words had already crossed a line.

He wanted to be someone who didn’t kill indiscriminately, for Long Tianyu’s sake and for his own Heart of the Celestial Dao.

But in this world, this Sword Dao World, that approach was clearly not going to work.

Ye Tianling gently thrust the sword in his hand into the ground.

His cold gaze locked onto Xia Xinyan as he said flatly, "What a pity."

"Oh? A pity for what? That you think you can kill me?"

Xia Xinyan said, a smirk on her face.

Two rays of bloody light manifested in Ye Tianling’s eyes as the Dragon Soul Bloodline Power began to circulate throughout his body.

In that instant, an ancient aura of the Dao seemed to manifest.

The Spiritual Longsword on the ground stirred without any wind, then suddenly began to hum.

SHIIING—

The longsword suddenly flew into the air, circling around Ye Tianling.

The sword-controlling ability of his Emperor’s Qi Sword Body was on full display.

Between his brows and within his Dantian, the aura of his Samadhi True Fire flared to life.

Ye Tianling’s entire body flickered with waves of eerie, bloody light.

He had entered his combat state.