*Clang...*
Blades clashed as Moyuan raised the Demon Sword to parry the massive saber. The intense heat radiating from the saber caused Moyuan's fair skin to flush slightly.
Feeling the immense force transmitted through the saber, Moyuan found it somewhat difficult to hold his ground.
After all, having broken through to the Xuanling Realm only recently, fighting someone at the peak of the Diling Realm was stretching his limits.
As for the Mystical Art the man used, it was the same one Moyuan had cast, differing only in its elemental attribute.
While Moyuan used Entanglement, mastered by wood-attribute Xuanling Realm practitioners, the man in the black robe used Blazing Fire, mastered by fire-attribute Xuanling Realm practitioners, which allowed flames to be channeled onto weapons to increase their destructive power.
"Fire conquers wood. It seems wood-attribute Mystical Arts won't be of much use against this guy. In that case..."
Moyuan suddenly exerted force throughout his body, knocking the saber back and sending the man in black stumbling backward several meters.
"This kid packs a serious punch."
Seeing that Moyuan had actually forced him back, the man in black felt a secret pang of shock.
Not to mention the Xuanling Realm, even an expert at the same level in the Diling Realm would find it difficult to knock him back several meters in a single clash.
"If I can't win in close combat, I'll switch to long-range."
Moyuan collected his breath and focused his gaze on the man in black, a hint of eerie purple flashing in his eyes.
"Mystical Art, Lightning Strike!"
The Mystical Force within his body surged rapidly toward his right arm, and several purple electric arcs went wildly converging in the palm of Moyuan's right hand.
Crackling sounds filled the air as a ball of purple lightning flared in his hand within moments.
When the purple lightning had accumulated to its absolute peak, the force of lightning on Moyuan's hand broke free.
The violent lightning tore through the surrounding air, expanding infinitely in the pupils of the black-robed man, leaving him no time to think.
*Bang.*
Excruciating pain instantly swept through his entire body, and residual current surged within him, striking his vulnerable internal organs from time to time as the black-robed man looked at Moyuan in shock.
"Dual attributes! How is this possible? You actually possess dual attributes, and you've even mastered a lightning-attribute Mystical Art."
The black-robed man widened his eyes in utter disbelief.
"So what if I do? Kill you, and the Elder will surely promote me."
A fanatical look filled the black-robed man's eyes, and he seemed somewhat mentally unstable.
Disregarding his own injuries entirely, he raised his saber and charged recklessly at Moyuan once more, throwing caution to the wind.
The black-robed man knew in his heart that if he could kill a dual-attribute genius, he would undoubtedly win the Elder's favor.
He fantasized that with the Elder's guidance and assistance, his strength might break through to the Ranxue Realm.
By then, his status within the Cult would be incomparable to what it was now.
"An Elder? Hecheng actually has an Elder here? I just wonder if it's a Qingyi Elder or a purple-robed one—surely not a red-robed one, right?" Hearing the word "Elder" from the black-robed man, Moyuan's heart sank.
Moyuan's brow furrowed tightly, a trace of worry flashing in his eyes.
He knew that if the Demon God Cult had truly dispatched an Elder-level figure to Hecheng, the situation he faced would become far more perilous.
"Mystical Art, Lightning Strike."
Moyuan gathered his lightning power and forced the black-robed man back once again.
For a city as small as Hecheng to have an Elder present—
This was hardly good news for Hecheng. Cult members he could understand.
After all, the Demon God Cult had tens of thousands of followers scattered all across the country.
An Elder was a different story entirely, standing several ranks higher than ordinary members.
Even the lowest-ranking Qingyi Elder possessed the strength of the Star Realm, to say nothing of those above them.
"Wait... the Demon God Cult has ties to the Demon race, there's an Elder, the 809 incident, the Monster Beast siege—oh crap, no way!"
A sudden thought struck Moyuan, sending a violent shock through his mind.
He suddenly realized that the Demon race's siege in his past life might not have been as straightforward as it appeared on the surface; it wasn't just about Monster Beasts—even the shadow of the Demon God Cult was tangled up in this.
"Brace yourself for death, you little punk!"
The black-robed man pursued Moyuan relentlessly, charging at him once more with his saber raised.
"Are you ever going to quit?!"
Moyuan was getting rather annoyed by the black-robed man. To think he could still stand after taking two bolts of lightning—this black-robed man truly had stubborn willpower.
Moyuan closed his eyes, his expression solemn, and took a deep breath as he began to mobilize the Mystical Force within his body.
This power flowed like water into the Demon Sword in his hand, gradually extending along the hilt to the entire blade until the sword seemed enveloped in a faint halo.
"First Sword Form, Shadow Shatter!"
Moyuan shouted aloud, unleashing his ultimate move.
As his voice fell, black-purple electric arcs surfaced on the blade of the Demon Sword.
These electric arcs slithered across the blade like living creatures, emitting a crackling sound imbued with a dangerous aura.
Moyuan's movements were fast as lightning, leaving an afterimage in his spot as he appeared before the black-robed man in the blink of an eye.
The Demon Sword in his hand, wreathed in black-purple electric arcs, slashed downward with the crushing force of a thunderbolt.
"So fast!"
The black-robed man had just seen Moyuan rush before him and had no time to react.
His right arm holding the saber was severed instantly, and blood splattered forth, staining the weeds on the ground.
The originally vibrant green grass was dyed a bloody red, exuding an eerie aura.
Immediately afterward, a wave of intense pain assaulted the black-robed man's brain.
"Ah!"
Clutching his severed right arm, the black-robed man let out a agonizing scream.
Moyuan curled his lip as he watched the black-robed man rolling around on the ground.
The reason he hadn't killed the black-robed man right away was that he wanted to see if he could extract any useful intelligence from him.
"I ask, you answer. If your answers satisfy me, I guarantee I'll turn around and leave."
Moyuan looked down at the black-robed man from above, speaking with utter indifference.
"Ah... Okay... Okay... Go ahead."
Sweat pouring profusely from his forehead due to the pain, the black-robed man made a primal human reaction under the fear of death.
At that moment, he felt a twinge of regret—regret for going to the Treasure Pavilion in the first place, and regret for setting his sights on such a freak as Moyuan.
If he had just stayed home lying down from the start, perhaps today's events wouldn't have happened at all.
Moyuan nodded and spoke.
"When did an Elder arrive in Hecheng?"
"A year ago."
"What rank?"
"Qingyi."
"What are they here for?"
"I don't know. I only know they seem to be planning a major event."
"Do you know where they are?"
"Can you help me stop the bleeding first?"
Though the black-robed man tried his best to clamp down on his wound, the gash was simply too massive.
He couldn't stem the flow, and blood kept gushing out in a steady stream.
If he didn't stop the bleeding soon, even if Moyuan didn't kill him, he would likely die of blood loss.
Moyuan said nothing, looking coldly at the black-robed man with eyes full of chill.
Sensing that bone-chilling cold, the black-robed man instantly behaved and obediently answered.
"I don't know. That lord's rank is too high, and their whereabouts are extremely covert."
"Where is your stronghold in Hecheng?"
"Outside the city, but I don't know the exact location."
"Inside the city?"
"Zhou's Grocery."
"Who is holding down the fort there?"
"A deacon lord."
"What rank?"
"..."
Just like that, with one asking and one answering, Moyuan basically gathered some information.
However, this black-robed man's rank was too low, and asking further wouldn't unearth deeper matters.
Even so, Moyuan already had a clear idea: the Demon God Cult was definitely connected to this year's Monster Beast siege.
Moreover, they had been plotting this matter since a year ago, and their goal should be a Demon Emperor-level Monster Beast sealed beneath Hecheng.
Yet things were rather tricky; a Qingyi-level Elder possessed Star Realm strength within the Demon God Cult.
Such strength was utterly worthless before Moyuan when he was at his Deity Realm peak in his past life, but things were different now—his current strength was simply insufficient to confront the Star Realm.
"No, I have to tell the City Lord about this."
Thinking of this, Moyuan felt a mild headache.
His own strength was still too weak; he simply lacked the capacity to stop all of this from happening.
"I'll head to the City Lord's Mansion first and see if I can meet the City Lord."
With that, Moyuan directly ignored the black-robed man, stood up, and turned to leave.
Lying on the ground, the black-robed man watched Moyuan walk away with no intention of finishing him off. Despite the intense pain throbbing from his wound, a surge of joy rose in his heart.
It seemed that kid was still too young and knew nothing of the treachery of human nature.
Once he returned, he would definitely report this matter to the Elder.
Even if he failed to cut down such a genius, discovering a talent like Moyuan would still count as a major merit.
"Sword Classic—Sword Control Art!"
Moyuan's voice was calm and detached. As his words fell, the Demon Sword at his waist seemed to take on a life of its own and flew up automatically.
The moment the blade left its scabbard, it was enveloped in a dazzling white light, moving so fast that even the wind failed to react in time.
The black-robed man widened his eyes in disbelief; he couldn't believe what he was seeing—his own body was tumbling upside down.
The Demon Sword traced a perfect arc through the air, slicing at an almost impossible angle and instantly cutting the black-robed man in two.
"You brat... you don't keep your word." With his final breath, the black-robed man forced out those words.
His voice was filled with resentment and anger; he had never imagined he would fall to Moyuan in such a manner.
A trace of regret flashed in his eyes, but it was already too late.
Meanwhile, as Moyuan walked along the path, he watched the Demon Sword automatically sheath itself.
"I keep my word just fine. Your answers satisfied me, so I turned around and walked away—it was my Demon Sword that flew out on its own. What could I do? I'm quite helpless about it too."
Hearing the dying words of the black-robed man, Moyuan expressed his utter innocence.
Moyuan's complexion turned slightly pale as he felt a wave of exhaustion.
"Merely at the Xuanling Realm, wielding a Divine Ability is still far too taxing!"
The sword-control technique he had just used was a Divine Ability from his past life called the Sword Classic.
It was divided into two styles: the Sword Control Art and the Myriad Swords Art. Given his current realm,
he could barely manage to execute the Sword Control Art; as for the Myriad Swords Art, he could forget about it for the time being.
Moyuan's figure gradually disappeared down the overgrown trail.
"This child really gives me quite a surprise. To think he possesses such strength."
An old man suddenly materialized before the slain black-robed man, watching Moyuan's retreating figure with an expression full of awe in his tone.
Had Moyuan seen this old man, he would have recognized him instantly, for that was his master from his past life!