Secret Records of the Leader of the Beichen Sword Sect
Chapter 153 - 152: Planting Trees

Chapter 153: Chapter 152: Planting Trees

"Clang! Clang! Clang!"

"DUANG! DUANG! DUANG!"

Tie Dan, wielding a treasure sword, battled fiercely in the sky against the tree-wielding old man for thirty rounds without a victor!

After all, having only dual cultivated for two hours, Tie Dan’s Qi power hadn’t fully recovered, leaving him weak... But it must be said! This old man was a rare master, the strongest foe Tie Dan had ever encountered! Few could withstand three moves from him!

Moreover, with merely a tree in hand, and at most a bit of Purple Mist Dao energy, he managed to fight Tie Dan wielding a treasure sword to a draw! Neck and neck!

Although people often say that a true expert can harm with mere flowers and fallen leaves, it’s only a metaphor. If weapons could truly be disregarded, the Mystic Sect wouldn’t be exhaustively researching various magic treasure spirits or pouring everything into the life-and-death endeavor of sword casting.

But in the current situation, Tie Dan had to admit that despite the advantage of his weapon, he couldn’t even chop through a casually plucked tree?

Indeed, he couldn’t chop it at all. Tie Dan’s blade didn’t just encompass Xuanming Daoist Qi; he had hidden the Taibai Sword Embryo within the blade for extra damage, yet the tree remained unmoved! Not to mention cutting it in half—he couldn’t even disperse True Qi, break through Dao power, or fell a single leaf!

Hiss...

Could this achievement truly be accomplished with only a mouthful of Purple Mist True Qi?

It seems he was too weak after all...

After exchanging blows with the old man for a while, Tie Dan realized his shortcomings.

He had often been able to defeat the strong with the weak, frequently engaging in frontal battles, but this was fundamentally due to employing stealth and assassination tactics.

Most relied on a turbo burst, launching a tactical surprise attack, leveraging instantaneous attribute suppression, teamed with the sharpness of Beichen Sword Energy, to achieve a swift victory!

Such that before the opponent could react, he would break through their defense with a critical hit, inflicting fatal damage, further following up to expand the victory, culminating in an explosive damage output resulting in instant victory!

However, if he couldn’t break through in three moves or if the opponent could withstand them, the battle would become exceedingly difficult.

To put it bluntly, Tie Dan couldn’t even withstand his own frontal charge. If the opponent could handle him effortlessly, their tactics, combat skills, and battlefield responses far surpassed his own.

Therefore, facing opponents like this he couldn’t defeat with a sneak attack, Tie Dan essentially had no means left.

What? Spin the sword like a ball? Don’t be ridiculous; that move is only for dealing with small fry.

With an opponent of this caliber, the more tricks and fake maneuvers one performs, the more openings there are. If he can handle your fastest full-force attacks, even a magnificent sword dance will be futile in his presence, leaving you an embarrassment with countless flaws.

So now Tie Dan’s strategy was to use a fast and slow sword.

It’s one fast strike followed by three slow strikes.

This technique from the Beichen Killing Sword actually involves hiding one’s flaws with full swordplay, suddenly speeding up for a lethal strike.

But now Tie Dan had reversed it, going fast first and then slow, not even hoping to breach the opponent’s defense, simply maneuvering in battle with reality and falsehood, striking unexpectedly to keep the opponent cautious of his fast strikes.

Nevertheless, continuing to fight like this was unsustainable as he was only at the Golden Core Realm, eventually exhausting his Qi, while Mystic Sect’s Nascent Soul True Men’s Daoist skills were natural, protected by Qiankun, impervious to fire and water, nearly invincible without divine intervention, and had seemingly infinite Qi—how could he engage in a war of attrition with such an opponent...

"Hmm? Youngster, you have some skill?"

Well, you see, the man still had energy to chat...

Alright, actually engaging in a clash of True Qi for thirty rounds was quite surprising even for the tree-wielding old man.

He initially expected to knock down the opponent in three moves, not expecting such a draw?

No, although he intentionally concealed his strength, considering his level, being unable to defeat a Golden Core cultivator would be laughable!

"You’re wielding a sword, yet you often stab and poke, obviously employing swordsmanship. Despite using a divine weapon, the balance is off, slowing down your thrusts, so they can’t harm me!"

The old man seemed to find merely crushing with realm supremacy uninteresting, even exploiting his seniority to offer guidance,

"Moreover, your movement technique and breath have issues. Although your aura is strong, surpassing that of ordinary sect mates, your Xuanming True Qi obviously lacks true legacy. There’s only a foundation for Qi Manipulation, missing the secrets for body protection, making your efforts twice as hard for half the effect, unable to borrow strength correctly."

The old man grew more amused, swaying his body, circling around Tie Dan, swinging the large tree as if spinning a top.

However, Tie Dan didn’t fall for it, knowing he’d get dizzy by following. He closed his eyes, using Primordial Spirit to sense his opponent, wielding the Court Ceremony Treasure Saber in a circular dance to guard front and back.

"Your mindset in battle isn’t bad. In such disadvantage, I would have simply retreated, yet you still stubbornly hold on... Why, are the women on board your lovers?"

Suddenly, Tie Dan twisted his blade, and at the moment the tree strike was caught, he executed a Jiehua Technique, leveraging the old man’s monstrous strength to leap out of the encirclement, landing back on the flying boat’s deck.

"Oh, pretty agile."

The old man also landed on the deck with the tree, eyeing Tie Dan,

"Do you know whose boat this is?"

Tie Dan remained silent, raising the sword, gripping the hilt with his right hand, supporting the spine with his left, creating a drawing bow stance. The cold light of the blade reflected on one side of his face, leaving the other in shadow.

The old man nodded,

"Indeed, accepting someone’s gift is short, taking someone’s hand is short, so a battle is necessary."

He then planted the tree onto the deck, leaped onto the treetop,

"I won’t bully the young. If you can break through my technique in one strike, then consider it my loss."

Tie Dan looked at him and then at the tree.

The old fellow’s Purple Mist Taoist Method was truly exquisite. In no time, the tree roots came alive like a crowd of snakes, deeply embedding into the flying boat’s deck, even reversing to attack the formation, seizing the flying boat’s guardian formation and control.

Hesitating any longer, they’d become trapped like fish in a barrel.

"Alright! Let’s witness the senior’s brilliant move!"

At this, Tie Dan no longer held back, concentrating Taibai Sword Qi at the blade’s edge, activating Turbo Technique! Full force assault!

"Bang!"

The flying boat’s deck shifted under Tie Dan’s stamp, lifting and overturning with a roar as Tie Dan shattered the sound barrier! A strike stirred a Qi wave! Fast as a meteor! A cold flash like lightning! Directly at the old man’s ankle!

"Huh!? Gang Fist?"

The old man was startled, though he knew Tie Dan was hiding his strength, he hadn’t anticipated such overwhelming power hiding within! Nearly as swift and unstoppable as Gang Fist opening strength!

Such an experienced old Mystic Sect practitioner wouldn’t dare to bluntly face a Gang Fist Warrior head-on, and instinctively flickered, instantly moving through Escape Skill!

"Slash!"

As expected, Tie Dan changed the thrust to a slash! Seamlessly executing a White Tiger Leaping Over the Stream! A slash cut downwards! Cleaving the large tree in half!

Indeed, Protective True Qi was merely a biological force field against kinetic heat damage. Tie Dan had examined the blade and found no damage after thirty exchanges, realizing it wasn’t the type relying on layered materials to stack defense against cuts like the Cross Training Golden Bell Shield.

The essence lay in the old man’s incredibly rapid Qi Gong recovery speed, recharging faster than you could break, making the Qi Shield seem invulnerable, though in reality, he had already discharged energy several times, turning it into a pure Qi Gong contest.

Similar feats could be achieved with practice by most Qi Refiners, but such speed and precision in Qi replenishment were rare, absolutely a master who had honed Purple Mist True Qi for years.

So as long as you could force your opponent to let go, you would win this round...

Turning around, the old man returned with a tree in each hand from his retreat...

Well, Tie Dan was at his wit’s end.

Going all out with the turbo, he could merely force the old man to use one Escape Skill and cut a tree with View Spirit Slash in the absence of the opponent...

Couldn’t fight anymore.

In gaming terms, horizontally trained warriors and demons, although copper-skinned and iron-boned with explosive attacks, are ultimately flesh and blood, vulnerable to divine weapons.

But for a Mystic Sect Master who perfected Qi Gong and focused on defense, they truly became impenetrable, undefendable. Their Protective True Qi was maxed, replenishing faster than you could cut, and merely plucking a few roadside plants allowed them to fight you. Continuing would only be a futile exchange of Qi Blood.

Time to escape.

"Swoosh! Swoosh!"

The old man tossed two trees onto the ship, observing Tie Dan’s silent watch, with a chuckling smile, making a gesture, and a purple glow flashed. The stumps Tie Dan sliced instantly withered and decayed, turning into a swamp of decay on the ground. The new trees, absorbing nutrients, flourished into a lush canopy on the deck.

Then the old man raised his eyebrows smugly at Tie Dan,

"This road was opened by me, these trees were planted by me, if you wish to pass..."

Alright, looks like losing money to avoid disaster was inevitable this time...