"O—older brother? I don't think fighting with grandfather is a good thing." Wang Hong who was near Wang Ling said those words as an oppressive atmosphere slowly took steps backward.

Wang Ling glanced at him saying, "Move to the side, Wang Hong. I have to get that sword no matter what."

Xiao Jianfa laughed, "That's right, Hong'er. Listen to your older brother."

Wang Hong saw that no one bothered to listen to his point so he chose to step to the side.

Xiao Jianfa looked around and kept the Bleeding Cloud in his storage ring. He waved his hands and the wooden floor shone a resplendent light, "We can't fight here."

With those words, Wang Ling, Wang Hong, and Xiao Jianfa disappeared from the ninth floor and they reappeared in some unknown area of the mountain. Wang Ling looked around, the only thing he can see was trees.

"Alright, this is a fight of sword skill. If I were to use my cultivation advantage against you, the only thing this will end up in would be one-sided bullying. So, I will have to propose this, if I were to use my cultivation beyond middle-grand saint stage you win, but if you were to lose unconsciousness, you will be the one considered as the loser. How about that."

"Fair enough, then should we start?" Wang Ling asked. His tone of voice was cold, it was a far cry from its usual softness.

Xiao Jianfa smirked and took out a grade-2 sword from within his storage ring, "Let us begin."

Silence permeated the air, no one dared move. A single leaf fell from above them and drifted with the wind. It passed Wang Ling's ears and slowly touched the ground, Fuu!"

A gust of wind and Xiao Jianfa disappeared. Reappearing above Wang Ling, he brandished his sword shone with a bright light, sword qi permeated the air and an image of the air being rendered was seen.

"Don't disappoint me Ling'er!"

Wang Ling had a single sword in hand. But the instant Xiao Jianfa appeared in front of him, another sword that is much shorter than the one on his right hand found its way onto his grasps.

Dang!

Boom!

Wang Ling blocked the sword and then redirected the impact he had received on the ground! The ground cracked and Wang Ling could feel the heaviness and sharpness of Xiao Jianfa's sword.

"Good job on blocking that one." Xiao Jianfa commented.

But as Wang Ling redirected the force and the sword qi, he did not dally and moved forward. Slipping in between Xiao Jianfa's sword, Wang Ling unleased a vertical slash with his right sword.

Xiao Jianfa blocked it with his own sword but a sound of the wind being rendered was heard. Wang Ling's left hand was moving in the air, it was slicing apart anything that got on its way.

Slash!

A horizontal slice was coming on Xiao Jianfa's way. But with his sword occupied, it seemed like it was already over.

But Xiao Jianfa was a master of the sword. His body was not just any mortal body, it was something that had been tempered for thousands of years and with his mastery of the sword, his fingers became a sword itself and went to confront Wang Ling's short sword.

"[Rising Cloud]!" Xiao Jianfa executed a technique and blew Wang Ling's left hand away.

Xiao Jianfa gathered his sword qi on his left foot and kicked at Wang Ling. He expected Wang Ling to be blown away, but Wang Ling gathered his sword qi on his right knee and blocked the hit.

Dang!

Sparks exploded out of the confrontation of the two body parts. Sword qi shot of their bodies and the trees that stood tall in the mountains for generations was cut into many pieces as Wang Ling and Xiao Jianfa unleased strikes that could cut down a mountain in half.

Xiao Jianfa did not expect Wang Ling to indeed manage to confront him head-on.

"Ling'er, you're strong, but can you last take this!? [Heavenly Storm]!" Xiao Jianfa jumped high in the air and gathered the wind with his qi and sword qi. A black wind that was almost indistinguishable by ordinary eyes congregated.

"Do not disappoint me!" A burst of maniacal laughter appeared on Xiao Jianfa's face and he slashed out on thin air, and as he did, the black winds that gathered around him was unleased towards Wang Ling, its intent was not to incapacitate Wang Ling but to take him out.

Wang Ling did not flinch nor did he panic, his eyes could follow the flow of the wind, his mind can process the actions he needed to take and his qi reservoir can supplement anything he wanted to do.

With that in mind, Wang Ling's sword shone brightly and his sword qi and supreme spirit qi began to gather in his two swords.

"Vanquishing Blade!" Wang Ling slashed out with his right sword, a wave of blue light shot forth. But that only managed to take out the tens of wind that was blotting the skies, so Wang Ling slashed out with his left hand. Another one was shot down.

Shu! Shu! Shu!

He repeated the process and Wang Ling's rate of fire started to increase. Using the momentum he had created, Wang Ling exchanged shots per shot with Xiao Jianfa.

Wang Ling was not stopping and he was only getting faster, his every strike was getting sharper and every time it did, it began pushing back Xiao Jianfa's Heavenly Storm.

"This kid is a monster!" Xiao Jianfa could have thought Wang Ling will be taken out in the first few exchanges, but who would have thought that Wang Ling will manage to last this long?

Now, he was no longer looking at Wang Ling like he was some sort of overconfident piece of youth. But as someone who truly has the skills to face the people of the apex.

He now could see why Wang Ling would claim that no one could match him in his peers.

His blood boiled as his passion to take on Wang Ling increased. He stopped his Heavenly Storm and instead gathered his qi and shot it out in one mass, "[Splitting the Northern Clouds]!"

A mass of sword qi and dark wind appeared and was sent against Wang Ling. The middle-grand saint stage qi of Xiao Jianfa was pushed to its limits and he unleashed something that could easily crush a saint stage cultivator.

Adding the limitations of the qi to his already strong and refined body, Xiao Jianfa's sword strike was simply devastating.

It was strong and ridiculously fast. Wang Hong who was watching nearby could barely follow it.

But that was fair, after all, even Wang Ling who can see it clearly knew he could not dodge it as it was too fast. Without using his bloodline, he was not able to move away fast enough.

So, Wang Ling stood his grounds. He used his swords and used his sword qi, with a roar to shake the heaves, Wang Ling slashed out and with a gushed of wind his eyes gleamed as he slashed out with all his might.

"Judgment!" a golden glow escaped his swords and his two swords crossed.

Wang Ling met the dark winds and he roared with all his might, "SPLIT!"

Slash!

The dark winds was split in two and Wang Ling was spared from being cut in two halves. But the dark wind was not so feeble to disappear the instant it got separated into two pieces.

Instead, it continued to move and plowed the trees and the ground of the mountain. The sword qi cut the trees and with the help of the sharp winds, the trees were rendered into dust.

The damage continued for hundreds of meters, a treeless spot was created and deep gorges were created with that single attack from Xiao Jianfa.

In most cases, such attacks from any middle-grand saint stage cultivators would end up in them losing all their reserved qi. But Xiao Jianfa was different, he could continue unleashing such attacks forever if he so wishes.

And as he witnesses Wang Ling split his attacks in two, Xiao Jianfa was now feeling up to the fight. He shook his hands and as he did, his intent to fight was unleashed to its peak.

He looked down on Wang Ling, ready to fight without a. But for a split second, he hesitated, because at the moment, down below was Wang Ling radiating with dangerous vibes.

Xiao Jianfa had experience danger before and as he looks down on Wang Ling from above, Xiao Jianfa could feel his instincts telling him to not take the man in front of him lightly.

"This is new." Xiao Jianfa watched as Wang Ling's body was engulfed in white flames. The flames of heavens that could purify the world wrapped around Wang Ling's body.

The heat he radiated was burning, but the flames around his body was not meant for destruction, rather, it was for recovery. It was as if he was wearing a shroud from the heavens.

"Heavenly Flames, Second Form: [Shroud of Sanctified Blaze]!"