Cultivating for a hundred lifetimes to ascension-Chapter 630 - 389: Winning People Over in Three Moves

Floating Island Central, atop the Sword Energy Tower.

Li Daoheng turned his head to look eastward, his eyes suddenly shooting out two long bolts of electric light, vaguely piercing the void and peering through the immensely chaotic battlefield to fixate upon a certain person.

At this moment, reflected in the depths of his eyes was the figure of an elder in a crimson robe.

"Junior Brother, you’ve finally shown yourself, planning to sneak across, I see. Heh, fortune favors me indeed; you can’t escape now."

Following a cold laugh, the Sword Energy Tower suddenly shattered, and a thick sword rainbow burst forth into the sky, sweeping across the chaotic battlefield with lightning speed, striking directly at the Floating Fortress twenty li away.

The fleeing speed of a Sword Dao Nascent Soul Cultivator is unsurpassed—barely two breaths’ time was needed for twenty li to be traversed in an instant.

At this time, many cultivators atop the Floating Fortress suddenly looked up, faces revealing shock and panic, as they watched with wide eyes a heaven-shaking sword rainbow instantly cutting through the sky, mercilessly slashing down towards the fortress.

Boom!

The Array Light Shield enveloping the fortress suddenly flared brightly, but the next second it exploded with a thunderous blast, and all three layers of the light shield were sliced open by a single sword strike, as effortlessly as a knife cutting through butter, smooth and fluid.

Just then, from the very top of the fortress, a pale blue Thunder Python as thick as a water barrel suddenly shot up, ferociously colliding with the sword rainbow.

In the next instant, the Thunder Python and the sword rainbow exploded, the residual waves of Mana expanding ten li in the blink of an eye, sweeping the surrounding clouds away completely.

The sword rainbow dissipated, and Li Daoheng was forced back a hundred zhang, his expression grave as he stared at the Crystal Stone Tower atop the fortress.

Hum!

At that moment, a beam of Thunder Light suddenly shot out from the Crystal Stone Tower, ascending into the Upper Sky, where it transformed into a slender woman.

The woman’s face was covered with a thin veil, wearing a water-blue palace dress, her eyes swirling with electric light, emanating a strong and resolute aura that starkly contrasted her delicate appearance.

Gazing at Li Daoheng, charged with Sword Intent, Simu Zhen narrowed her eyes slightly and spoke with an indifferent tone, "If you retreat now, My Palace will not take action. Should you be unwise, do not blame My Palace for being merciless."

Simu Zhen was the Supreme Elder of the Water Mu Palace in the Northern Cold Continent, her cultivation having reached the Nascent Soul Middle Stage.

This great battle, her responsibility was to guard the Floating Fortress from being breached.

Facing a Sword Dao Nascent Soul, even someone as fearsome as she was inwardly wary.

Li Daoheng slightly restrained his killing intent and spoke in a serious voice, "I am here for only one person who is now inside this fortress. Hand him over, and I will retreat immediately."

Upon hearing this, Simu Zhen’s eyes flared with electric light, and with a cold laugh, she said, "What a joke. To think of snatching someone from my hands—if you were to succeed, where would my face be?"

"I didn’t want to compel you to act, but since you insist, I have no choice... it’s a fight to the death!"

Upon hearing these last four words, Simu Zhen’s expression became extremely grave, and for a moment she did not respond.

For a thousand years, with more than ten openings of the Star Gate, the frequent clashes had led to an unspoken understanding between both realms.

Today, each time the great Star Gate war occurs, the intensity of conflict between the realms is tacitly maintained within a certain degree—not too bloody, yet not too trivial.

Particularly when Nascent Souls clash, from the desperate battles of a thousand years past to today’s complicit sparring, the aftermath sees a stark decline in casualties.

Therefore, when Li Daoheng declared in an adamant tone that it would be a fight to the death, Simu Zhen took it seriously and even felt somewhat at a disadvantage.

While the two Nascent Souls were in a standoff, Zhao Sheng hiding atop the fortress was also secretly alarmed.

Seeing Li Daoheng suddenly appear, he could not figure out where he had slipped up, to have his hiding place so precisely exposed.

Zhao Sheng’s thoughts raced, and in the palm of his hand he silently held a Blood Talisman.

If things looked unfavorable, he would immediately activate the Hundred-Mile Rainbow Talisman and escape first and foremost.

Just as Zhao Sheng was contemplating escape, a bolt of Lightning suddenly descended from the heavens, landing beside Li Daoheng, manifesting as a strong, middle-aged man with a stern countenance.

Zhao Sheng’s heart leapt at the sight, sensing trouble.

Because this was none other than the Sky Patrol Palace Master, Mu Gongyang.

"Junior Brother Li, how did you get involved with this troublesome woman? Shall I intervene?"

As the leader of the intelligence network, Mu Gongyang understood most of the Nascent Souls in the Tianzhu Realm quite well.

Regarding Simu Zhen, he was particularly familiar.

It should be noted that while Simu Zhen cultivated both Thunder and Water, Mu Gongyang was a Shadow Thunder Cultivator. Naturally, he paid special attention to other Nascent Soul Ancestors who also practiced the Thunder Skill.

This was one of the reasons why Mu Gongyang rushed over as soon as Simu Zhen appeared.

"Hmph, so it’s you!" Simu Zhen’s expression chilled as she flickered back more than ten zhang, simultaneously sending a Divine Thought down to the fortress below.

Crack, crack!

In the blink of an eye, countless cannon ports on the exterior of the Floating Fortress began to glow, and a pervasive aura of destruction gathered and diffused from below.

Li Daoheng, looking concerned, gave a slight shake of his head to Mu Gongyang, "Master Mu, your concern is appreciated. But there’s no need just yet. Let me try to persuade her a bit more before it comes to that."

After speaking, he overlooked the fortress below with a stern gaze, seemingly already having spotted a certain hidden figure.

Even with multiple barriers in the way, under the heavenly sense, Zhao Sheng was like a torch in the dark, exceedingly conspicuous, with nowhere to hide.

"Would you dare to make a wager with me?" Li Daoheng raised his head to address Simu Zhen, proposing a very unexpected suggestion.

"A wager?" Simu Zhen narrowed her eyes, pondering deeply.

"Indeed, in a moment, I will only defend and not attack, and endure Your Excellency’s three strikes. If you cannot injure me in the slightest, you must immediately hand over the person," Li Daoheng’s voice carried a measure of gravity.