His gaze swept around, but the old man's figure could not be seen. Instead, violent roars continued to echo in his ears.
Ji Yuan slowly closed his eyes, extending his spiritual sense to its extreme, and simultaneously released his divine sense.
Within his perception, a deeply hidden aura flickered, like a hair-thin strand, silently traversing heaven and earth.
A moment later, Ji Yuan formed a sword seal with his hand and suddenly pointed in one direction. The flying sword by his side blurred, appearing dozens of feet away in the blink of an eye.
A trace of sword intent flowed, and the flying sword immediately slashed down from the air. Magic power surged upon it, and several restrictions quietly appeared.
At this moment, the void seemed to be split open. In Ji Yuan's divine sense, the edge of the white jade flying sword had already slashed onto that thin line!
In a flash, a figure fell from the void. It was indeed the old man!
However, at this moment, he looked somewhat disheveled. His robes were tattered in several places, his collar was torn open by a sharp blade, and a tiny bloodstain appeared on his brow.
Compared to before, the old man's aura had clearly fluctuated, indicating that he had suffered a not-insignificant injury. However, with his powerful cultivation, it did not have too great an impact.
Now that his true form was revealed, he immediately unleashed a palm strike. Innumerable bolts of lightning roared, attempting to strike down the pursuing flying sword.
Seeing this, Ji Yuan immediately recalled the flying sword and retreated nearly ten feet backward.
Only when he was more than thirty feet away did he breathe a slight sigh of relief, and at the same time, he popped two pills into his mouth.
In the previous fierce exchange, he had not been unharmed. His physique had suffered some injuries, and his magic power was severely depleted, having already consumed thirty to forty percent in such a short bout!
Yet, facing a cultivator in the middle stage of the third realm, Ji Yuan did not care about such things. He had to go all out from the start, daring not to hold back even a sliver.
"To achieve this, even within the Nine Xuan Sect, you can be considered a genius."
The old man flicked his sleeve, and willows flashing with lightning light appeared around him.
He looked at the young man in the distance and let out a sigh of genuine admiration. With all that the youth had displayed, even contending for a spot among the Heavenly Talents was not an impossibility.
It was a pity that he had ultimately not yet grown, and would never have the chance to do so.
As he spoke, a sharp glint flashed in the old man's eyes, and then dozens of lightning-flashing willows beside him were immediately shot out.
Dozens of streaks of lightning tore through the air, reaching over ten feet in an instant, the crackling sounds merging into a continuous roar.
Seeing this, Ji Yuan let out a low hum. His left hand made a series of sword gestures, and the flying sword by his side immediately flashed and disappeared.
In the blink of an eye, the white jade flying sword appeared dozens of feet away, and then its body rapidly vibrated, splitting into dozens of phantom images!
On each phantom image, sharp sword intent flowed, and wisps of sword qi interwove into a net.
With a thought from Ji Yuan, the dozens of sword shadows broke through the air and collided with the endlessly flashing willow leaves in mid-air.
Violent roars erupted, and a large number of sword shadows and willow leaves dissipated together, leaving only rampant energy to rage in the sky.
It took a full ten seconds before the energy gradually began to subside.
But at this very moment, Ji Yuan suddenly felt a palpitation of his heart. Without a second thought, he transformed into a beam of sword light and instantly retreated over ten feet.
And in the spot where he had originally stood, the old man's figure solidified from the void, his palm carrying streaks of lightning arcs, striking an empty space.
That location was precisely where Ji Yuan's head had been moments before. If he had been hit by that palm, even several lives would not have been enough.
He looked and immediately broke out in a cold sweat. It was fortunate that his spiritual sense was innately powerful, otherwise he might not have detected it at all.
After his attack missed, the old man did not choose to stop. After a slight pause, he transformed into a thick bolt of lightning and shot forward.
His figure appeared from the lightning, holding a short staff in his hand, and brought it down with tremendous force directly upon Ji Yuan.
In just an instant, Ji Yuan found himself locked onto by the opponent's aura, unable to make any further evasive movements.
Looking at the short staff smashing down from above, he used all his strength to grip his long sword and slash out, pouring magic power into the sword body like a torrent.
At the same time, the Xuantian Spirit Devouring Pagoda above his head dripped down a vast amount of clear light, shielding him completely within it.
The next moment, a long sword flew through the air. The magic power he had gathered instantly collapsed, surging back along his meridians and rampaging through his physique.
Ji Yuan let out a muffled groan, blood flowing from both his nose and mouth, and then he saw the short staff, with its immense momentum, smash heavily onto the protective clear light.
The extremely strong defense of the clear light flickered wildly in an instant. A large portion of it collapsed under the power of the short staff and was completely submerged by the dense lightning.
Ji Yuan, seizing this opportunity, used the immense impact force brought by the short staff to immediately retreat more than ten feet backward, his body crashing through several houses.
In a mere two or three breaths, he hurriedly emerged from a pile of rubble, leaped onto the roof of a nearby building, and looked with a grim expression at the old man standing in the street more than ten feet away.
"You have quite a few magical treasures on you!"
The old man cast a cold gaze at him, and a hint of greed flickered in his eyes.
As long as he could kill the youth before him, all these treasures would fall into his hands, and perhaps he could even become rich overnight.
Although he was a cultivator in the third realm, and even a guest official of the Prefect's mansion, in terms of personal wealth, the old man truly had nothing accumulated.
After all, the cultivation resources he required for daily use had already consumed all his salary, and he even had to venture out frequently to barely make ends meet.
This resulted in him, despite having the cultivation of the middle stage of the third realm, possessing nothing more than a short staff and two broken turtle shells, which could be considered moderately decent magical artifacts.
Sensing the greed in the other's eyes, Ji Yuan's heart stirred, and then he chuckled, "What, you want the things on me?"
He coughed twice, not concealing his injuries at all, seemingly unconcerned about his weakness being exposed.
Seeing this, the old man's brows furrowed, instinctively sensing something was amiss.
"It seems you won't have the chance."
Ji Yuan suddenly turned his head and looked far into the distance, appearing not worried at all about being ambushed by the opponent.
And in the direction of his gaze, besides the dark night and the spiritual glow of the lanterns, there seemed to be nothing else.
The old man in the distance also turned his head to look. Although he saw nothing, the strange feeling in his heart grew stronger.
It was as if something that could threaten him, beyond his line of sight, was rapidly approaching.