Chapter 147: Total Domination

The flying sword hovered just ten centimeters away from Fang Yujia’s brow, and she could clearly feel the biting intent to kill emanating from it.

Having lived a smooth and effortless life since childhood, she had never encountered such a situation. This was her first time facing the threat of death. To say she was not afraid would be entirely impossible. She was merely an ordinary woman; though she could view worldly matters with detachment, she could not attain the cold indifference of facing death without a flinch.

Yet, she was even more reluctant to let her brother-in-law be distracted because of her. This thought might seem somewhat melodramatic and pretentious, but to her, it was the absolute truth.

She had already discerned that her brother-in-law and Wang Qiyi were locked in a battle to the death.

At present, the only person in this world she cared about was Xiao Cheng. As for the members of the Fang family, she did not even deign to feel hatred toward them.

Therefore, whether Xiao Cheng died because he was being held hostage by Wang Qiyi, or she was pierced to death by Wang Qiyi, it did not seem like a complicated multiple-choice question to her.

"Sister Yujia, don't panic! He has a way!" Although Zhuo Qinglian said these words, even she herself had no certainty.

With the flying sword at such close range, no matter how fast Xiao Cheng's speed was, it would simply be too late—unless he could instantly kill Wang Qiyi.

"Hmph! How is that? Want to fight me? You are still too naive! Now, care to tell me how you discovered my identity?"

Wang Qiyi let out a smug, ferocious laugh. Xiao Cheng’s strength truly exceeded his expectations; within a dozen moves, not only had he failed to injure Xiao Cheng, but he had even been stabbed twice by him.

By this point, he no longer regarded Xiao Cheng as the worthless young master of the Xiao family, but rather treated him with caution as a completely unfamiliar young expert.

Xiao Cheng did not waste any breath on Wang Qiyi. With a light step, his Azure Edge Sword rang out with a clear chime and thrust toward Wang Qiyi's chest.

Wang Qiyi hastily dodged, not daring to meet the Azure Edge Sword head-on.

"Do you think this Wang really doesn't dare?!" Wang Qiyi formed a sword-finger gesture. In the distance, the flying sword that had been lingering before Fang Yujia's brow suddenly blazed with brilliant light and lunged forward toward her forehead.

Fang Yujia instinctively closed her eyes, her brow tightly furrowed. But right at that moment, a slender, emerald-green shadow flashed across like a long whip, lashing fiercely against the body of the flying sword.

*Clang—!* Sparks flew in all directions, and the flying sword was instantly whipped away.

Having waited for several seconds without feeling any pain, Fang Yujia opened her beautiful eyes, her lingering terror still gripping her. She did not see the murderous flying sword, but on the ground instead lay a small snake, as green as jade.

When women saw snakes, they would usually let out a vibrant, youthful shriek. However, upon seeing the green snake on the ground, Fang Yujia felt no fear whatsoever; instead, she found the little serpent rather adorable.

This green snake looked entirely harmless to humans and animals. It possessed a pair of dark, glossy eyes, two delicate nostrils, and a snakehead as smooth as jade, resembling an artistic porcelain figurine.

Zhuo Qinglian stared at the small green snake on the ground, too stunned to speak. Fang Yujia had not seen it clearly just a moment ago, but she had witnessed it plainly: it was this tiny snake that had batted the flying sword away with a single sweep of its tail.

What kind of snake was this?

Wang Qiyi possessed the strength of the third tier of the Xiantian realm, and his flying sword was incomparably sharp. Yet a little snake had been able to knock the flying sword away while remaining completely unharmed.

Long'er curled up on the ground as if right at home, looking at the two women. It held its head high and stuck out its chest with a proud, cocky air. Then, it opened its mouth, curled its tail, and pointed at its mouth, meaning to say, *"Look, I helped you guys such a huge favor, shouldn't you give me some delicious food to thank me?"*

The two women stared blankly at the small snake, clearly unable to comprehend its complex body language.

Long'er slumped in dejection. With a *whoosh*, it transformed into a blur of afterimages, landed on Fang Yujia's shoulder, yawned, and watched the battle between Xiao Cheng and Wang Qiyi with complete disinterest.

Wang Qiyi had a hidden trump card, but how could Xiao Cheng lack one? Long'er's current strength was even more formidable than his own. With Long'er protecting them, there was no need to worry about the safety of Fang Yujia and Zhuo Qinglian.

Wang Qiyi had originally thought that with that sword thrust, Fang Yujia would end up bathed in a shower of blood and flesh. But the moment the thought crossed his mind, he felt his spiritual sense shake. Instantly turning his head, he discovered that his flying sword had somehow been knocked away, and a green snake had appeared beside Fang Yujia.

Could it be that this little snake had batted away his flying sword?

"This is impossible!" Wang Qiyi's expression shifted drastically. How could a little snake possibly knock away his flying sword? Could this be Xiao Cheng's spiritual beast? Just how many trump cards did Xiao Cheng have hidden?

When Wang Qiyi turned back, he discovered to his dismay that Xiao Cheng had inexplicably vanished from his spot, disappearing completely without a trace.

Immediately afterward, Wang Qiyi felt his spiritual connection with the flying sword being forcibly severed; he could no longer sense the sword at all, and his face turned deathly pale.

Last time, it was precisely because of the flying sword that he had been dealt with so miserably by Xiao Cheng. This time, he had been extremely cautious, making sure Xiao Cheng did not see him use the flying sword. Now that the connection to the sword was broken, it was undoubtedly Xiao Cheng's doing.

When Xiao Cheng reappeared before Wang Qiyi, he was holding a flying sword in his hand—none other than Wang Qiyi's own weapon.

However, this time he had no intention of playing a cat-and-mouse game; there was simply no need for it. Wang Qiyi was now completely outmatched, and killing him was merely a matter of time.

"You..."

Looking at the slender-bodied Xiao Cheng before him, Wang Qiyi felt a growing surge of dread. He knew that judging by the current situation, he was by no means a match for Xiao Cheng. When had the previously useless Xiao Cheng become so powerful? What on earth had he been through?

He opened his mouth, wanting to ask something, but had no idea where to even begin.

He had far too many doubts. How had Xiao Cheng grown so formidable in such a short span of time? How could he suddenly vanish and reappear? Why was he able to intercept his flying sword? Even more baffling to him was how a wet-behind-the-ears kid like Xiao Cheng had known his identity? And so on...

"Perhaps we can sit down and talk!" Wang Qiyi looked at Xiao Cheng with a dejected expression. As a dignified guardian of the Myriad Heavens Sect, he had actually been reduced to indirectly begging for mercy from a junior.

"There is nothing to talk about!" Xiao Cheng declared. Treading upon the Void-Crossing Steps, he thrust his sword through the air toward Wang Qiyi.

Feeling the bone-chilling sword intent radiating from Xiao Cheng's Azure Edge Sword, Wang Qiyi instantly blasted backward, yet Xiao Cheng clung to him like a shadow.

This was no ordinary sword strike, but the final stance of the Five-Element Sword Technique: Five Elements Startle Immortals.

A five-meter-long sword Qi suddenly burst forth from the Azure Edge Sword, striking squarely against Wang Qiyi's chest. Wang Qiyi had completely failed to anticipate this and was instantly dealt a heavy blow, sent flying backward.

"Pfft!" Wang Qiyi spewed a mouthful of blood, his face turning deathly pale. He glared at Xiao Cheng with venomous hatred, knowing that today it was either him or Xiao Cheng who would die.

"Yin and Yang Boundless!" Wang Qiyi roared furiously. Along with this explosive shout, the aura around his entire body shifted, causing him to bulk up visibly. Veins bulged violently all over his body, one half of his face turned ghastly green while the other flushed crimson, and his eyes bulged with bloodshot veins.

Seeing Wang Qiyi undergo such a sudden and bizarre mutation, Xiao Cheng’s heart skipped a beat. Within his spiritual sense, Wang Qiyi's cultivation base was surging wildly, showing signs of reaching the fifth tier of the Xiantian realm. The flying sword in Xiao Cheng's hand began to blaze with intense light, trembling violently as if struggling to break free from his control.

Xiao Cheng knew that Wang Qiyi must have employed some evil, taboo technique to forcibly elevate his strength.

"Aargh!" Wang Qiyi let out a beast-like howl as his cultivation continued to climb.

With a stern expression, Xiao Cheng released his spiritual sense to shield against Wang Qiyi's mental pressure. He clamped Wang Qiyi's flying sword between two fingers, cast aside the Azure Edge Sword, and formed an extremely arcane hand seal with his right hand before vanishing from sight.

When he reappeared the next instant, Xiao Cheng was already standing directly in front of Wang Qiyi.

Wang Qiyi slammed a palm toward Xiao Cheng's chest. Xiao Cheng raised his hand to meet the blow, while simultaneously thrusting out his right hand, driving the flying sword held between his fingers straight into Wang Qiyi's lower abdomen at his dantian.

Wang Qiyi's pupils constricted violently. He had calculated everything, but never expected Xiao Cheng to use such a move. If Xiao Cheng had used the Azure Edge Sword, he wouldn't have feared it too much, given that he possessed Xiantian true Qi to protect his body; yet Xiao Cheng had actually used his own flying sword to injure him.

"Pfft!" With a soft sound of a sharp instrument piercing flesh, the entire world fell silent.

Wang Qiyi stared blankly down at his lower abdomen as fresh blood slowly seeped out, and all the strength within his body rapidly drained away.

Earlier, when Wang Qiyi had unleashed his taboo technique, his body had expanded somewhat; but now, with this sword piercing his dantian, he was like a punctured ball, his physique instantly collapsing and deflating.

With all his cultivation completely crippled, Wang Qiyi's face turned as pale as paper. He glared at Xiao Cheng with bitter hatred—this was the Daoist fruit he had spent thirty or forty years striving for, yet it had vanished just like that.

Then, a grim, desolate smile crossed his face. He was probably the first cultivator in history to have his cultivation crippled by his own flying sword.

Xiao Cheng gazed coldly at Wang Qiyi and raised a foot, kicking him flying. Without Wang Qiyi's flying sword, it certainly would have taken him a fair amount of effort to cripple Wang Qiyi, considering the latter's Xiantian true Qi protection.

With Wang Qiyi's own flying sword in hand, however, crippling him had become exceptionally effortless.

"Now, there are a few questions I'd like to ask you!"