Chapter 866: Zhang Xuan's Strength

"Teacher Zhang..."

Seeing him appear, Hu Yaoyao and the others' eyes lit up. Just as they were about to leave, they heard the opposing master teacher snort coldly, "Want to stop? It's not that easy!"

Whoosh! Whoosh!

With a flicker of movement, the longsword in his hand continuously slashed out. Powerful energy chased after them, and Hu Yaoyao and the others were immediately pulled back into the battle circle, hurriedly counterattacking.

However, they were still a step too late. Each of them had their arms pierced by the longsword, blood dripping profusely.

"What swift swordsmanship!"

Zhang Xuan raised an eyebrow.

The opponent's sword techniques were not complicated, but extremely fast, and his comprehension of sword intent had reached an extremely high level. Even with the four of them joining forces, they still suffered greatly and couldn't even end the battle on their own terms.

"Friend, we are all master teachers. Let's talk things out. There's no need for a life-or-death duel!"

Seeing that the opponent wouldn't stop, forcing Hu Yaoyao and the others to fight back without being able to escape, Zhang Xuan looked over.

"No need for a life-or-death duel? Fine. If you can save them, I'll stop. If you can't, then sorry, but they have to fall today!"

The Cocoon Seal realm expert battling Hu Yaoyao and the others wielded his longsword as if feeling no pressure at all. Instead, he curled his lips and smiled.

His voice was very young. Only then did Zhang Xuan notice his appearance—this person was actually even younger than Hu Yaoyao and the others, looking just over twenty years old.

At such an age, reaching the peak of Cocoon Seal realm and suppressing Hu Yaoyao's group of four, forcing them to be beaten, his strength was truly terrifying!

Not far away, the Half-Saint was also young, around twenty-four or twenty-five years old.

"In that case, forgive my offense!"

Seeing that the group couldn't escape and would only get more severely injured if he didn't act, Zhang Xuan stopped wasting words. With a flicker, he charged straight into the battle circle.

"Void Step realm?"

The Half-Saint on the side, seeing his displayed strength, showed a look of deep disdain, curling his lips as if waiting to see a joke.

A peak Cocoon Seal realm fighting another peak Cocoon Seal realm and losing—and you, an early Void Step realm, charge in? Isn't that just asking for death?

"I thought you were impressive, but you're only at Void Step realm. Sorry, but you'd better lie down first!"

The battling youth also saw Zhang Xuan's strength and let out a light laugh. With four sword strokes, he forced Hu Yaoyao and the others back, raised his eyebrows, and thrust his sword straight at Zhang Xuan.

Before the sword arrived, a dense aura pressed down, piercing into the marrow and making the whole body feel icy cold.

Although the opponent was only at Cocoon Seal realm, the power of this sword strike was far beyond that of some Half-Saint experts!

No wonder Hu Yaoyao and the others, outnumbering him four to one, were no match.

Seeing the longsword thrust toward him, Zhang Xuan did not dodge. His Eye of Insight squirmed, instantly discerning where the sword body would land. He took a deep breath and suddenly exhaled.

Swish!

His chest immediately caved in.

In battles between experts, the difference is a hair's breadth. The opponent's sword did not intend to kill, only to pierce his chest, with extremely precise control of power. By caving in his chest, he just managed to deflect the violent energy of the sword body outward.

The arrow at the end of its flight cannot pierce the finest silk!

Though the sword technique was strong, it now had no power. With a light smile, Zhang Xuan brought his index and middle fingers together and gently pinched.

Hum!

The opponent's sharp sword aura immediately stopped, like a long snake caught by the neck, struggling in vain to break free.

"Such strong judgment, such steady composure..."

The Half-Saint on the side narrowed his eyes.

This move seemed simple and ended quickly, but it actually required great eyesight, judgment, and composure.

Facing such a sharp sword, if one misjudged, it would be easy to have one's chest pierced; if one lacked composure, one would never dare to remain calm as the sword came right up.

"Interesting!"

A little Void Step realm fellow daring to catch a peak Cocoon Seal realm longsword with his fingers—quite bold.

"But Wu Xu's sword is not so easy to catch. If you want to catch it, you have to pay a price!"

This companion of mine had extraordinary swordsmanship. He had managed to catch it by a trick just now, but it wouldn't be so easy afterward.

Curling his lips, the Half-Saint looked over calmly, expecting to see his companion injure him, only to see his face flushed red, as if using all his strength, yet unable to pull the longsword free from the other's two fingers.

"What's going on?"

He raised an eyebrow.

His friend was practically invincible at the same level. Facing someone nearly two levels weaker, not only was his sword caught, but he couldn't even pull it out... How was that possible?

"You... you..."

While he was shocked, Wu Xu on the other side was so frightened he nearly went mad.

He had thought it was just a small fry at Void Step realm, easily dealt with. He never dreamed that his full-powered sword strike would be casually caught and he couldn't break free!

"Let go!" Gritting his teeth, Wu Xu circulated his full strength like a dragon.

"Here you go!" Zhang Xuan suddenly released his fingers.

"Hmph!"

This Wu Xu was indeed a combat expert. Unlike Ying Qin, who would have stumbled when suddenly released, he sank his body and neutralized the force, then raised his eyebrows and thrust his sword again.

Seeming to know that the opponent was not simple, this strike was even more fierce and swift, arriving before one could even notice.

"This 'Carefree Sword Strike' is not bad, already having two or three-tenths of my skill!"

The Half-Saint on the side nodded inwardly upon seeing this strike.

This sword strike was fast and swift, with a sense of dominance once unleashed!

Although it was only twenty to thirty percent of his level, it was still quite terrifying. With the two so close, it was impossible to catch with fingers, and even dodging might be too late. An ordinary mid-stage Half-Saint would likely have no choice but to fall.

No doubt, the Void Step realm fellow would surely lose!

"Reckless!"

Seeing that after he had let him off, the opponent was still so ruthless—if he couldn't react in time, he would be severely injured, and even if not dead, he would have to lie in bed for months.

A look of displeasure appeared on his face. Zhang Xuan raised an eyebrow, still not dodging. He bent his middle finger and flicked lightly.

Ding!

With a crisp sound, the opponent's longsword shattered like broken glass in an instant, breaking into several pieces and falling to the ground.

When he had caught it earlier, the Library of Heaven's Path had already provided a detailed description of the longsword, including its flaws. Now, combined with his strength comparable to a peak Half-Saint, a single finger flick shattered it.

"What?"

Watching his top-grade spirit-level longsword destroyed by a single finger, Wu Xu nearly fainted, trembling as if he might go mad.

The hardness of a top-grade spirit-level longsword was such that even a Half-Saint would find it hard to destroy. In battle, the opponent shattered it with one finger... How was that possible?

The Half-Saint on the side also felt his eyes nearly pop out.

Just as he thought the opponent would be severely injured at best, the other shattered Wu Xu's longsword with a finger... Such strength was too terrifying!

Was he really at Void Step realm?

How could there be someone at the same level who was even more powerful than them? Even stronger?

"Damn it!"

After a moment of shock at the broken sword, Wu Xu flickered and charged again.

Even he couldn't believe that someone nearly two major levels below him could easily dominate him.

Seeing that the youth still dared to attack, Zhang Xuan shook his head, clenched his fist, and thrust it forward.

Heaven's Path Fist!

Bang!

With one blow, Wu Xu was struck in the chest, fell to the ground, and coughed up mouthfuls of blood. His entire stomach was twisted by the immense force, and he knelt on the ground for a long time, unable to catch his breath.

"You..."

After regulating his breath for a while, he finally came to. Wu Xu's face twisted in anger, and he was about to continue fighting when the Half-Saint on the side spoke, "Enough! Haven't you embarrassed yourself enough?"

"Yes!"

Struggling to his feet, he swallowed a pill and felt much better. He glared fiercely at Zhang Xuan but made no further move.

Ignoring the two, Zhang Xuan took out his gourd, infused it with true qi, and healed Hu Yaoyao and the others. Then he turned around, raising an eyebrow.

"Both of you, we are all master teachers. To attack as soon as you arrive, and with such ruthlessness, aren't you disregarding the rules of the Master Teacher Pavilion?"

"Ruthless? Hand over the Red Firefly Fruit, and today's matter is over. Otherwise, none of you are leaving..."

Wu Xu gritted his teeth.

"Red Firefly Fruit? We were behind you. When did we ever take the Red Firefly Fruit?"

Xue Zhenyang, with his hot temper, couldn't hold back.

These two had hidden ahead, smoked out the cave, and then charged in. They hadn't even touched the edge of the cave, yet they were being accused of taking the Red Firefly Fruit. This was a blatant frame-up!

"We investigated earlier. The Red Firefly Fruit was inside, but when we went in again, it was gone. Moreover, the fruit tree had clearly been forcibly ripened with great power. There are only so many people in the valley. Who else could it be but you?"

Wu Xu said.

The two saber-toothed tigers had been knocked out, and they had searched them. There was no sign of them having swallowed the fruit, so it was clear that someone had beaten them to it and taken it.

In this valley, besides them, there were only these few. It wasn't hard to guess.

"If we had obtained the Red Firefly Fruit, we would have left long ago. Why would we stay here and argue with you? If I'm not mistaken, you must have picked the fruit yourselves and are deliberately framing us!"

Hu Yaoyao snorted.

In her view, the other party had definitely picked the fruit and was now turning the blame around.

This was a disgrace to the dignity of master teachers.

"You're full of crap..."

His face darkening, Wu Xu was about to speak when the Half-Saint in front waved his hand, "Enough."

Hearing his words, Wu Xu immediately fell silent.

"Friends, we are all master teachers, all at a critical point for breakthrough. If you have picked the Red Firefly Fruit, we are willing to exchange using the master teacher way. What do you say?"

The Half-Saint looked over and said calmly.

"Master teacher way?" Zhang Xuan looked at him.

"Very simple. Challenge you. If any of you can withstand three of my moves, we will turn and leave, no more纠缠. If not... then sorry, please give us five Red Firefly Fruits."

The Half-Saint said.

"Withstand three moves and you leave? If we can't, we still have to give five Red Firefly Fruits? Heh, you're trying to get something for nothing, aren't you? Is this what you call the master teacher way of exchange?"

Zhang Xuan raised an eyebrow.