In the three white light orbs, two techniques of the Gengjin Sword Art appeared, along with a first-grade talisman, the Earth Wall Talisman.
When used, it could create a thick wall of earth about ten feet high, providing good protection.
Lu Xuan absorbed the Gengjin Sword Art in his mind, carefully understanding the subtleties of the technique.
As his spiritual energy flowed, a golden light flashed almost instantly, slicing through a large rock with a whoosh.
He felt that he had already reached a small level of mastery with this sword technique. It consumed less spiritual energy, moved faster, and had much greater power.
With six mature Spirit Firefly Grasses, the six white light orbs further boosted Lu Xuan's combat strength.
He even wished that Qin Ming would take a bit longer to arrive, ideally waiting until all the Spirit Firefly Grasses matured, or even the Red Cloud Pine or Sword Grass.
However, he knew this was just wishful thinking. Once his opponent figured out his limits and patterns, they would act quickly.
That night, everything was silent.
A figure quietly appeared outside Lu Xuan's courtyard, making no sound at all.
"Damn it, this kid is quite cunning, hiding inside and not coming out."
"But does he think hiding at home will keep him safe? That's a bit too naive."
Qin Ming stood quietly outside the courtyard, looking at the black thorns on the blue stone wall, a hint of mockery on his face.
With his cultivation two levels higher than Lu Xuan's, he felt invincible, approaching with the mindset of a cat playing with a mouse.
He hadn’t expected that this Qi Training second-layer little cultivator would be so cautious, staying indoors and not coming out to help with pest control.
After watching for a few days without seeing Lu Xuan, he decided to come directly.
"The basic defensive formation, if it’s a first-grade formation, would still have some effect. But something like this can be easily broken."
He raised one hand toward the thin layer of spiritual energy shield outside the courtyard. Sharp ice spikes appeared, spinning and whistling softly, easily breaking through the defensive formation.
As he reached the window, he sensed no movement inside the room. It seemed that breaking the defensive formation hadn’t raised any alarms for the little cultivator.
"His spiritual awareness is too poor, he’s sleeping so soundly. Well, it’s better to die in sleep, less pain for him."
Qin Ming muttered to himself, then a more than half-meter-long ice spear appeared above his head, its tip trembling slightly, the white body radiating a chilling aura.
With a soft sound, the ice spear shot towards the sleeping cultivator on the bed like a sharp arrow.
"Huh?"
The ice spear pierced through the entire bed, but Qin Ming felt something was off. He approached the wooden bed, his body covered in a layer of frost armor, wanting to take a closer look.
Just as he stepped into the room, a golden light shot toward his head at incredible speed.
The frost armor was easily pierced by the golden light, and it was about to stab directly into his head.
Feeling the deadly threat from the golden light, a jade medallion at Qin Ming's waist shattered silently. A misty layer of spiritual light formed around his body, rapidly expanding to block the incoming golden light.
"Good courage!"
Qin Ming looked at the rapidly dissolving Gengjin Sword Art, a hint of fear flashing across his face.
He had been cautious enough to add a Frost Armor protection when he entered, but he hadn’t expected that a Qi Training second-layer Spiritual Plant Cultivator could unleash such a deadly sword technique.
The Frost Armor, which had been so reliable in the past, was now easily defeated!
If it hadn’t been for that jade medallion sensing danger and protecting him in time, he might have fallen to this sword technique.
After the moment of fear, he felt deep regret.
This jade medallion that had saved him from a fatal blow was hard to come by, costing him nearly two hundred spirit stones. He kept it close at all times for emergencies.
But now, such a precious jade medallion was wasted on this Qi Training second-layer little cultivator!
"Very well, your skill in sword techniques exceeds my expectations, but this is where it ends."
"You wasted a top-tier protective artifact, and I will make you regret it!"
He glared at Lu Xuan, who emerged from the shadows, his expression cold and ruthless.
"I'm just an ordinary Spiritual Plant Cultivator. Why do you, a noble mid-level Qi Training cultivator, have to go to such extremes?"
Lu Xuan replied calmly.
"The mistake was in you killing so many of my young insects and profiting from the spirit stones that should have been mine."
"The biggest mistake is that you’re just a Qi Training second-layer loose cultivator, understand?"
Lu Xuan said no more and beckoned to Qin Ming.
"Hmph!"
Provoked by a Qi Training second-layer Spiritual Plant Cultivator, a surge of anger rose in Qin Ming, and he activated his spiritual energy.
Dozens of ice spikes, radiating a chilling aura, quickly appeared in front of him, covering all the potential escape routes for Lu Xuan.
Lu Xuan remained expressionless, and with a flick of his hands, he unleashed over ten first-grade talismans.
In an instant, a dense rain of sword blades rained down on Qin Ming, mixed with red fireballs and gray wooden thorns.
"All of this is just spirit stones..."
A thought flashed through Lu Xuan’s mind. This attack would almost empty all the talismans he had collected during this time, aiming for a battle of spirit stones!
At the same time, a pale silver sword blade followed the swarm of sword energy, barely noticeable.
Seeing so many sword energies rushing toward him, Qin Ming cursed under his breath and pressed down with one hand, causing a thick ice wall to rise in front of him.
He indeed had deep mastery over ice techniques; the Frost Armor could freeze tiny black bud worms and quickly form a strong defensive ice wall.
Hundreds or even thousands of sword energies whistled toward him, and with a clattering sound, countless tiny cracks appeared on the ice wall. Under the impact of the sword energies behind it, the cracks spread rapidly, causing chunks of ice to fall.
With a loud bang, a red fireball struck the cracks, causing ice and fire to mix and explode violently.
A huge hole appeared in the ice wall.
A silver sword light quietly passed through, aiming for Qin Ming's head.
"Come on!"
A flying sword shot out from Qin Ming's waist, meeting the silver sword blade.
Just as the two were about to collide, the silver sword blade suddenly split into dozens of thin shards.
The shards, carrying sharp sword intent, attacked Qin Ming’s body from all directions, making his eyes widen in horror.
One of the largest shards went around behind Qin Ming, lightly slicing through, leaving a thin line on his neck, followed by a spray of bright red blood.
In the moment his head fell, the last bit of his consciousness saw thin shards embedded in his limbs, heart, and other areas.
"Is this really the second layer of Qi Training?"
Endless regret surged in his heart, and then his consciousness fell into endless darkness.
(End of Chapter)