“It seems the young people nowadays are all very confident,” Ancestor White Tiger said.
“I’m the sort who likes to face difficulties head on. Knowing there is a tiger in the mountain, yet I head toward the tiger’s mountain,” Xu Zimo smiled.
“You are not his opponent,” the white-robed woman looked at Xu Zimo and said.
“How would I know without trying?” Xu Zimo replied.
“Then as you wish. If you cannot fight him, call for me,” the white-robed woman shook her head and chuckled.
Around her body, lotus flowers bloomed one after another.
Lotuses rise unsullied from the mud, transcendent and pure.
It was as though this place had become the very domain of the lotus.
“Pure Water, fall back and guard the tower,” the white-robed woman instructed.
Then eight petals unfolded, and from the flower’s heart emerged misty aura carrying a killing intent, surging toward the Half-Moon Saint and the other two.
Explosions rumbled around the pavilion.
The three figures stood together.
They moved at the speed of light, beyond the grasp of the naked eye, their battle erasing the surrounding void.
On the other side, Ancestor White Tiger looked at Xu Zimo and smiled, “Young friend, I’ll let you make the first move.”
Xu Zimo narrowed his eyes slightly. Shadow Tyrant flew from its sheath by itself, leaving a trail across the sky.
Holding the blade, his saber intent erupted in a dazzling burst.
He slashed directly at Ancestor White Tiger.
“Your saber intent is sharp, and you have already deeply grasped the Dao of the Saber. Among the younger generation, only those youths who later became Grand Emperors had such comprehension,” Ancestor White Tiger praised.
He flicked his right finger, and as the blade fell, endless gales were stirred up.
Xu Zimo felt as though he had struck an indestructible rock.
The force of the rebound nearly shook the blade out of his hand.
“The Nirvana Void Realm, that is the realm beyond Zenith Immortal?” Xu Zimo asked.
With just one probing strike, he was sure.
This man was absolutely beyond Zenith Immortal.
He had fought Zenith Immortals before; they did not give him such immense pressure.
Although Xu Zimo had yet to meet an enemy he could not overcome, he would soon ascend to the Outer Heavens. He wanted to test how far he still was from the true great powers.
He understood he was not invincible.
The path ahead was still long.
“Again,” Ancestor White Tiger smiled.
“As far as I know, the Primordial Heartlands forbids existences stronger than Grand Emperors,” Xu Zimo said.
“How did you break that rule?”
“This is within the rules,” Ancestor White Tiger laughed.
“I know you’re probing, but this is no secret. The Imperial Path and the Immortal Path are two different roads. A Grand Emperor is the limit of the Primordial Heartlands, but entering the Immortal Path is not necessarily so. For the Immortal Path, this world is still very tolerant.”
“In that case, calling you an old geezer is not improper,” Xu Zimo said.
“Boy, your arrogance runs deep,” Ancestor White Tiger said.
“I ought to curb it for you, this will help on your future road.”
“Since old geezer has entered the Nirvana Void Realm, and I have risen from the dust, I have a few moves. To say I seek to instruct you would be arrogant, but I ask you to appreciate them,” Xu Zimo said.
Even Zenith Immortals could no longer test his limit.
So he wanted to test himself against this White Tiger Elder.
“Taking me as your touchstone?” Ancestor White Tiger laughed. “If you pique my interest with your next strike, I don’t mind watching. Otherwise, I will crush you with one palm.”
“I once created the Nineteen Forms of Dao-Seeking. These nineteen forms represent the peak of the Dao of Sabers. Later I refined them further. Old man, please test them,” Xu Zimo drew the Shadow Tyrant.
Saber intent surged.
He slowly swung the blade toward Ancestor White Tiger.
It seemed an ordinary strike.
No tricks, no flourishes.
“The first form, Dawn’s Light. The second form, Drifting On Green Duckweed.”
The saber intent grew frantically, rising skyward at a speed visible to the eye.
“The third form, Hundred Battles, Never Broken. The fourth form, Rising Against The Current. The fifth form, Windstorm Rises.”
A storm of saber intent gathered, forming into a tornado, roaring toward Ancestor White Tiger.
Explosions thundered.
Ancestor White Tiger lightly extended his right hand, and the winds driven by the saber forms instantly shifted direction.
“The sixth form, Blade of Slaughter. The seventh form, Draconic Storm.”
The storm condensed into saber intent, forming a golden dragon coiling toward him.
Its dragon’s roar shook heaven and earth, its might sweeping across.
Within the dragon surged strands of slaughter intent.
“Good, your saber shadow takes physical form, and you’ve even grasped an artistic conception,” Ancestor White Tiger praised. “This is the reflection of your Saber Dao.”
Again he waved his right hand. The golden dragon howled in despair, and its slaughter intent dissolved into nothing.
“The eighth form, the Deepblue World. The ninth form, Celestial Rift.”
Two more strikes followed. The Deepblue World emerged, enveloping both Xu Zimo and Ancestor White Tiger.
Within this domain, he could perceive every transformation, even the slightest.
Another saber light slashed forth.
At that moment, heaven and earth were split by saberforce, reduced to a single line of sky.
Heaven and earth begin between one line.
It represented the extreme of power.
“Domain, the ultimate form of power. Your Saber Dao is very clear,” Ancestor White Tiger nodded.
He stretched out his hand and grasped that line of saber intent, crushing it to nothing.
With his right foot, he stepped forward.
At once, the entire Deepblue World shook.
Centered on him, a new independent domain appeared, shattering the Deep Blue World.
“The tenth form, Death Canopy. The eleventh form, Heaven Blood.”
Night fell. The entire world sank into darkness.
Even the blazing sun overhead was blotted out.
This darkness veiled not only sight, but heart.
Even perception itself could not spread within it.
Within the dark, something seemed to dance.
Then a streak of crimson passed through.
The saber tore through silent void, its blood forming a river.
It was a river of blood.
This strike carried with it a blood river, mountains of corpses, and boundless killing intent.
“Marvelous, one strike blinds your enemy’s perception, the next sharpens your own. But this blood, the murderous karma is too heavy,”
Ancestor White Tiger said.
He pointed lightly into the void.
With a boom, a phantom emerged.
Its form could not be seen clearly, but when it opened its eyes,
darkness turned to day, night to dawn.
It swallowed, and the endless blood river was devoured.
“The twelfth form, Void Oblivion. The thirteenth form, Imperial Wrath.”
In that instant, Shadow Tyrant surged with annihilating saber intent.
The blade’s aura tore open the void above.
From this saber intent coalesced a monstrous phantom.
The monster’s body was purple, immense, roaring.
In its hand was also a saber.
It roared, shattering mountains and rivers, dimming sun and moon, and swung its saber down at Ancestor White Tiger.