A Cunning Pervert in the Cultivation World Chapter 323: The Strongest Meet.

The fierce battle between righteous and demonic disciples continued unabated.

...Yet both factions had tacitly chosen to avoid the whirlwind of swords raging at the center.

Within that whirlwind of blades,

Jian Ruyi bore countless injuries already, but her eyes stayed fierce and resolute.

She kept deflecting the unseen swords attacking her from all angles.

Like a tiny tempest herself, she evaded, parried, and seized chances to unleash piercing counterstrikes at Yan Moxuan.

Sparks erupted perilously near Yan Moxuan’s face, prompting a scowl.

Observing the woman weave elegantly through his blades, he detected a shift.

’She didn’t maneuver like this earlier...’

After watching her briefly with folded arms, he pinpointed the difference.

’She’s tracing my sword intent...?’

Jian Ruyi’s piercing stare no longer chased his hidden swords but swept through the void... fixing on his very "essence".

A icy grin spread across Yan Moxuan’s face upon this realization.

"Hmph. So you’ve finally caught on. But do you truly believe I’ll let you—"

His words cut off as Jian Ruyi’s sword unleashed four silver sword shadows.

They intercepted every assault with flawless accuracy at once.

The silver sword shadows formed an unbreakable barrier.

Her primary blade shone even more intensely while she locked eyes on the invisible sword intent with lethal concentration.

Though her sword sliced through nothingness, each stroke severed Yan Moxuan’s command over the hidden blades.

"...!"

Before he could respond, Jian Ruyi blurred into a ray of sword light and materialized right beneath him.

"Radiant Slash."

She whispered icily, swinging her sword in a measured, sweeping curve at his midsection.

Astonishingly, the blow passed freely as though all unseen swords had evaporated.

But right when her edge neared his skin...

Sparks burst forth as her sword clashed with another.

"I must praise you... for forcing me to unsheathe my sword."

Yan Moxuan’s chilly voice echoed as he effortlessly parried with a tangible blade gripped in his hand.

Suddenly, he countered with a swing.

Jian Ruyi’s eyes flared wide.

Her reflexes urged her to evade.

A scarlet sword qi arc ripped through the sky, barely grazing her head as she ducked low.

Behind her, multiple ancient trees toppled in neat halves, and two unlucky disciples too slow to move got bisected on the spot.

Jian Ruyi pulled back several meters at once, her breaths coming a bit heavier.

"...What keen sword intent," she whispered, eyeing the unremarkable sword now shrouded in razor-sharp, blood-red qi.

Merely gazing at it made her spiritual sense feel gradually shredded.

Still, her determination held firm.

She refused to yield... least of all to a demonic cultivator.

With a deep, controlled inhale, she reset her posture.

Silver sword shadows orbited her like guardian phantoms.

The moment she prepared to strike back—

A booming thunderclap with flashing lightning swallowed the battlefield and quaked the ground.

Jian Ruyi whipped her head aside and spotted Yue Lan on the verge of being impaled by another woman’s assault.

"No...!"

Yue Lan was the one Li Feng had specifically entrusted to her care.

She couldn’t allow harm to befall her—

"Oi. You dare lose focus before me?"

Yan Moxuan had bridged the gap, hoisting his crimson sword overhead as he sneered with frost.

"...Such hubris."

The blood-red blade plunged down.

Jian Ruyi had no chance to evade or defend.

She watched helplessly as the fatal blow hurtled toward her.

Yet in the final instant, a soft blue qi surge materialized and wrapped the falling sword.

Rather than colliding directly, the blue qi redirected and decelerated the strike’s momentum.

"...?"

Yan Moxuan’s brow furrowed.

His eyes turned to the newcomer who had abruptly intervened.

"Waterflow Sect’s Flowing Water Reversal Art, eh..." he muttered, as if memory stirred.

"Oh? You know my sect’s skill? Hehe, looks like I’m really well-known~"

Shui Ruo beamed brightly while lifting her arm guard to meet the crimson sword squarely.

Jian Ruyi, tensed for agony, stared in astonishment as Shui Ruo materialized from nowhere to rescue her.

Before Jian Ruyi could grasp the event, chaos reignited across the field.

The ground shuddered fiercely as enormous rocky hands erupted from either side of Yan Moxuan, clapping together in a crushing clasp.

Just as the colossal earthen hands neared to pulverize him, a vivid crimson arc lanced forth.

The red sword qi shattered the huge palms into myriad fragments instantly.

Amidst the chaos, Yan Moxuan stood completely unharmed, yet his face bore a deep frown.

...For he too recognized this technique, yet he stayed composed while lifting his crimson sword high again to parry—

A colossal figure plunged down with a savage palm strike.

Tie Shan’s enormous body hammered downward with immense power.

The earth under Yan Moxuan cracked into a web of fissures from the tremendous force.

"...You recovered?" Yan Moxuan inquired, real shock flashing across his features as he eyed the fully restored Tie Shan.

After all, he himself had almost slain him, so he knew full well the gravity of those wounds.

....But there Tie Shan was, restored to peak form in under half an hour.

"Haha! I’ve come to repay the humiliation from our last match!" Tie Shan bellowed with laughter, his voice echoing over the battlefield.

Yan Moxuan sneered at those words.

"Hmph. If I could defeat you once, I can simply do it again."

By simply channeling his power—

Though smaller in build, Yan Moxuan shoved the far bulkier Tie Shan backward, shattering his footing through sheer might.

He followed up with a sideways sword sweep, unleashing a flawless, razor-edged crimson arc.

"Hah!"

Shui Ruo materialized before Tie Shan with a lovely shout.

She crouched low, spread her palm wide, and countered the approaching crimson slash using her swirling blue qi.

Through a fluid circular hand motion, she deflected the lethal arc aside.

The crimson slash soared far off, slicing a straight trail of devastation through whatever lay in its path.

"Hahaha! It seems my technique wasn’t useless after all!"

Shui Ruo’s smile grew even wider, though a subtle hint of past annoyance lingered in her gaze as she recalled the earlier failure of her technique.

Her assurance had suffered a major hit before, when the Flowing Water Reversal Art utterly failed against that enigmatic horse-shaped beast in the temple.

Yet now, having successfully diverted Yan Moxuan’s crimson slash, her confidence flooded back strongly.

"You have my thanks, fellow Shui!" Tie Shan remarked, positioning himself steadily beside Shui Ruo.

"Though I must say... your body is too slim. Working on a few more muscles would definitely help you."

"Eh? No thanks," Shui Ruo rejected right away with a shy grin. "My body is perfect the way it is."

She was well aware of the Earth Dragon Sect’s notorious reputation for... forcing others into their harsh training regimens.

And she held no desire whatsoever to turn into a muscular female cultivator with rippling bulk.

"Is that so?" Tie Shan grinned broadly. "How about you at least try our free training regime? Maybe you’ll grow to love it."

The pair chatted leisurely, ignoring Yan Moxuan’s presence entirely.

A thick vein throbbed visibly on Yan Moxuan’s forehead at the sight.

"...You dare to be so carefree in front of me?"

He snarled, his aura turning razor-sharp, intensifying with chilling oppression every moment.

Crimson qi roiled around him like an impending tempest, bearing down heavily on all those close by.

Seriousness instantly etched onto Shui Ruo and Tie Shan’s faces.

They ceased their talk and braced as the intense blood-red pressure crashed over them.

Meanwhile, Jian Ruyi, watching the two arrivals, had her thoughts drifting elsewhere.

’If Shui Ruo is here, then—’

She quickly spun toward Yue Lan, her eyes lighting up with relief as she cried out.

"Li Feng!"

Positioned protectively between Yue Lan and Wei Zhenxin stood... Li Feng.

He steadily gripped the sword poised at Yue Lan’s heart, its edge still sparking with fierce green lightning.

鮮 red blood poured steadily from his palm, but he ignored it completely.

Li Feng’s icy stare fixed on Wei Zhenxin with horrifying focus.

His grasp clenched harder on the sword,

"... What do you think you’re doing?" his tone low and gravelly, as if ready to explode at any second.