Alchemy Emperor of the Divine Dao
chapter-29

"You have to be careful, he's in the ninth layer of Body Refining Tier. Furthermore, his nickname is Saber Maniac. He never jokes around when talking about sabers," Zhu Xue Yi cautioned, "If your cultivation level is not above the seventh layer of Body Refining Tier, then it's better if you don't take his attacks head on."

Ling Han nodded with a smile, and said, "I only need to take one attack from you?"

"Just one!" Li Hao continued to say very coolly and arrogantly, looking like some kind of master swordsman.

"Very well, come on then," Ling Han did not boast of his own abilities, nor did he display any disdain towards his opponent. He only nodded very calmly in response.

Li Hao moved and arrived in front of Ling Han. His right hand was placed on the hilt of the saber at his waist, but he made no move to draw it out yet. His left foot was in front while his right foot remained at the back. His upper body leaned slightly forwards, his expression one of complete concentration.

Ling Han was slightly surprised--this guy actually looked a little decent, and vaguely had the bearing of a swordsman.

Li Hao drew his saber abruptly, and a flash of cold light blazed and slashed swiftly towards Ling Han.

"Ding!"

A sharp sound echoed and sparks flew. Ling Han managed to draw his sword in time, scraping it against the blade of the saber. However, the long sword did not go against the saber head on. Instead, it drew all the way from the saber's tip right to the saber's hilt and in this way managed to dissipate the heavy weight of the saber.

The sword's movement was extremely quick!

Li Hao's saber attack was unexpectedly ended.

Zhu Xue Yi and the rest of her companions were all shocked. The power Ling Han displayed in this one strike was obviously only the seventh layer of Body Refining Tier, yet he managed to dissolve Li Hao's full-power slash, exhibiting more than exceptional sword skills.

"You pass," Li Hao nodded, a very arrogant expression on his face.

Yet Ling Han gave a flick of his long sword, and said, "You too should take an attack from me!"

"Haha, are you testing me?" Li Hao gave a big laugh. Although Ling Han managed to take a saber attack from him, this did not signify that he would be able to fight on even footing with him. These were completely two different issues.

"Something like that," Ling Han said with a smile. "Do you dare?"

"Then bring it on!" Li Hao said confidently. When they exchanged blows previously, he had confirmed that Ling Han's cultivation level was only in the seventh layer of Body Refining Tier. Although the two of them were both similarly in the late stage of Body Refining Tier, the difference of two layers was still very distinct.

The sword in Ling Han's hand moved in an elaborate manner and suddenly pierced forwards, aiming directly at Li Hao's neck.

Li Hao naturally did not fear Ling Han's attack. He brandished his saber in a block. With a "ding", the long sword stopped its approach right in front of his throat, missing by a hair's breadth.

"You've lost," Ling Han withdrew his sword.

"I clearly blocked your-"Li Hao was just about to speak, when he saw that Ling Han gave a flick of his sword, and a ray of white-colored cold light flashed swiftly.

"Sword Qi!" Liu Dong and his company simultaneously gasped in shock.

Li Hao could not help the darkening of his expression. He naturally knew the power of Sword Qi, so he nodded and said, "I've lost!" If Ling Han had released Sword Qi just now, then he currently would only be a dead body.

Liu Dong and company were shocked half to death. The fact that Ling Han had managed to parry Li Hao's saber previously had already made them feel very impressed. But now this was actually a guy who had even formed Sword Qi... he really was inconceivable.

Li Hao's fighting spirit rose again, and said, "Let us spar once more!" He had not yet experienced a battle with someone who could form Sword Qi. This was a rare opportunity.

"Very well!" Ling Han nodded in agreement. He had a slight intent to train Li Hao as he thought that this brat would be able to step onto the path of an actual swordsman. As he spoke, his right hand flicked, and his long sword once again flashed out.

Li Hao naturally would give it his best, and hurriedly brandished his saber in a slash. He wanted to use the weight of the saber to force Ling Han to fly out of the spar. He opted to attack instead of pure defense.

"Ding, ding, ding, ding," the two fighters battled fiercely. Li Hao was not "instantly killed" this round. However, he suffered quite a bit as Ling Han had started to use Sword Qi, which left many wounds on Li Hao's body.

Tens of moves later, Li Hao decisively surrendered. If they continued to battle, he might really bleed to death.

"Sword Qi is indeed powerful!" He said, both frustrated and excited. Should he be able to form Saber Qi, then the situation might be completely different.

"Do not be discouraged, you are already quite skilled," Ling Han said aptly.

Although he had not spent much time on sword arts in his last life, how intelligent was he? Moreover, he had once achieved the summit of Heaven Tier. His one day's training would be comparable to a year's training of a person in Body Refining Tier... or even a few years' training!

Just how old was Li Hao that he could actually spar with him?

Zhu Xue Yi and company were both shocked and overjoyed. Their shock was due to the fact that Li Hao was the strongest amongst them yet was still unfit to be Ling Han's opponent. Their joy was because their chances of obtaining the Green Spiritual Fruit had increased greatly now with the help of such a master swordsman.

The group of seven set off on their way to where the Green Spiritual Fruit was located.

"So it seems that Brother Ling is the heir to the Ling Clan of Gray Cloud Town. That's strange, we should have long heard of a genius existence like Brother Ling," on the way to their destination, Ling Han had become the focus of the five young people's attention, and so naturally was barraged by their questions.

This was normal--his predecessor had no idea that he had possessed an Immortal Grade Spirit Base, neither did he know the Five Elements Heaven Grade Skill. It'd be strange if he was well-known.

Ling Han only answered that he had been more subdued in the past, and thus deflected this question.

Though Zhu Xue Yi and her companions also had much interest in Liu Yu Tong, she was icily silent all the while, and Ling Han too did not seem like he was going to introduce her, thus they could only feel curious in their hearts.

Close to an hour later, they finally arrived at an extremely moist place. In front of them, there suddenly appeared a cave. They hadn't even entered the cave yet but could already smell a disgusting stink. However, they could vaguely see a plant that was about a meter tall--its stem had no leaves, looking like a sugarcane. However, there hung several fruits from it, neither too many nor too few--exactly seven of them.

"If we go any closer, we'd be affected by the miasma poison. We must hold our breaths if we want to advance forwards."

"That Miasma Cloud Beast is very cunning, it would definitely not leave the sphere of influence of the miasma poison."

"We have to draw that Miasma Cloud Beast out. As long as we can obstruct it for a few breaths' time, we'll be able to extract the Spiritual Fruits."

"Miss Liu and Xue Yi will be responsible for extracting the Green Spiritual Fruits. Us five men will be in charge of obstructing the Miasma Cloud Beast. Agreed?"

This was mostly directed at Ling Han.

They would both have one person on the team obtain the fruits to avoid either party snatching the fruits and fleeing.

Ling Han smiled and nodded. If they knew what Liu Yu Tong's cultivation level was, then they probably might not offer this kind of suggestion.

"We have to draw the Miasma Cloud Beast out first. If we start the battle in the cave, then we would not be able to take advantage of our superior numbers," Zhou Chang said.

"En!"

The five men all drew out their respective weapons, banging them against each other to create a clamor.

It took only a while before a creature which looked similar to a wild hog ran out of the cave. There were air sacs all over its body that kept on releasing a gray fog. Two long, thick fangs protruded outside its lips, looking like two short spears, exuding a strong pressure.

This was the Miasma Cloud Beast. With its power, it could be considered to be in the upper echelons of the Body Refining Tier's demonic beasts.

The Miasma Cloud Beast appeared at the cave entrance, yet it did not attack. It only growled deeply and bared its teeth at the five humans in front of it. The air sacs all over its body continuously released a gray fog, forming a dark cloud above it.

"Let's go!" Zhou Chang gave a loud shout and made the first move. Liu Dong, Chen Peng Ju and Li Hao followed closely behind. The four of them simultaneously brandished their respective weapons and flew towards the Miasma Cloud Beast.

However, Ling Han made no movement. Instead, he stayed behind, silently watching.

Four against one... although Li Hao and his companions had the advantage in numbers, under the continuous influence of the poisonous miasma, they could not display their full prowess and very quickly were on the losing side.

They could not help feeling very worried--hadn't they made an agreement to join forces and attack together? Why was Ling Han just standing there by the side and watching?

"Shua!" Right at that moment, Ling Han drew his sword quickly, as if he was moving at the speed of light.