Chapter 73: Unity of Man and Sword

  Qin Feng looked at the senior brother who had brought him with a surprised expression, and asked in a low voice: "Senior brother, inside the second layer of the Illusory Spirit Cave..."

  That senior brother knew that Qin Fengchuan and the others didn't know much about the Huanling Cave, so he quickly nodded and explained: "The spiritual beasts in the second layer of the Huanling Cave are almost equivalent to the strength of a sixth or seventh rank cultivator, there are many of them, including flying birds. Most people stop at this point, Li Rengdao..."

  Before he could finish speaking, Qin Fengchuan smiled and nodded: "Li Ran's knife will definitely pass this level without any problem."

  That senior brother was slightly stunned, shaking his head and saying: "Li Ran's knife skills are indeed strong, but being surrounded by so many ferocious spiritual beasts, he probably can't handle it..."

  Gu Lieyang smiled when he heard this and shook his head, saying in a low voice: "It's okay, Burning Blade will definitely pass this level without any problem."

  "You..."

  That senior brother saw the two being so optimistic, truly felt the pride of this batch of new mountain disciples, and was a little envious but also somewhat skeptical, whispering: "Then we'll just wait slowly, see if he can make it through in half a day."

  Knowing that they had to wait for a long time, the crowd's tense nerves relaxed and they gathered together in twos and threes, speculating and discussing why Li Ran was so anxious to rush into the Phantom Spirit Cave.

  In the Phantom Cave, Li Ranno Knife suddenly rushed into the second layer. As he looked around, he saw the rolling long grass and the distant mountains in the distance. Excited, he was about to jump up and rush towards the distant mountains when a cold and stern horn suddenly jumped out of the long grass, making a whooshing sound that startled Li Ranno Knife. He quickly dodged and turned to look, seeing a long-horned sheep with red eyes rushing past him, then turning around and charging at him again.

  Two black goats with long horns as sharp as a sword, extremely powerful and difficult to deal with. Li Ruo's knife frowned again and prepared to let go, just then the sky seemed to be pressed down by a dark cloud, a fierce gust of wind, an iron-winged bird with claws like iron hooks pounced on Li Ruo's knife.

  The beast and bird's offensive was so tight that it sealed the heavens and the earth, and the spiritual beasts in the second layer of the Mystic Spirit Cave made Li Furan's eyes widen in shock, he had not expected them to be so much stronger than those on the first floor.

  A sword flashed, and in mid-air, a gleam of light whirled by. The necks of the An birds were severed cleanly, while a mortal wound was slashed across the flank of the Shang Yang.

  Li Ran's knife flashed horizontally through the air, and a beast and a bird crashed to the ground, rolling out.

  One sword, two kills.

  This sword made Li Ruo's knife extremely enjoyable, breaking through to the seventh layer of Jingyuan's power after doubling his strength, and with the help of Xiaojian's secret sword intent, the long sword had an unpredictable mystery. Now in Li Ruo's hand, the sixth and seventh layers of Jingyuan's power can also be killed instantly. In his eyes, this beast was no different from the first layer's iron-eating beast.

  Li Ran saw more spiritual beasts rushing from afar and quickly retreated into the tall grass.

  He rushed all the way, as long as he was not surrounded, Li Ran's knife was fearless. All the way, blood splattered, and Li Ran's knife hurried to the foot of the mountain peak, jumped up the mountain, and saw the ancient cave again at the waist of the mountain.

  Enter the ancient cave, break through the purple light ban, and step into the third layer of the Phantom Spirit Cave.

  Heart to heart, reflected in the stone before, dozens of onlookers had already rushed over, Ma Kong's heart was burning with anticipation, eagerly awaiting the outcome. However, he also knew that rushing into the Lingyuan Cave wouldn't be a short process. Just as he was about to summon Tu Shun to ask him something, he suddenly saw Tu Shun's eyes widen in shock, staring at the pale green jade wall, pointing forward with his hand:

  "It's over, Li Ran has passed the second layer."

  "What......"

  Dozens of people exclaimed in unison and turned their heads, and indeed they saw the third layer of the Phantom Spirit Cave's foundation, a bluestone that was boiling with light, indicating that someone had passed through the third level of restrictions.

  This sudden move stunned even Qin Gu and Li Nian, who had some confidence in Li Nian's knife skills.

  The two of them turned their heads to look at each other, their faces filled with shock and amazement. Even though they had confidence in Li Fenger's ability to break through the second layer, they hadn't expected him to be so fast. The time it took him to pass through the first layer was almost the same as the time it took him to pass through the second layer, both of which were within half an hour.

  Gu Lei Yang's eyebrows suddenly condensed in one place, and he lowered his voice to say to Qin Feng Chuan: "Ran Jian must have made another breakthrough recently."

  Qin Fengchuan smiled wryly, and suddenly felt a wave of weakness in his heart.

  Just made a bet with Li Ruo Dao, proudly betting that Li Ruo Dao's talent is not as good as mine. Who would have thought that the already strong Li Ruo Dao would suddenly break through again.

  Looking at Li Ruo's breakthrough speed in the second layer of Huanyue Cave, it can be seen that he is now stronger than Ren Tu by a big margin. Qin Fengchuan turned his head and quietly looked at the thin and dry Ren Tu Shixiong, only to see him with a shocked expression, his mouth agape.

  Qin Feng didn't know whether he should be delighted or depressed at this moment.

  Yamato's face also looked quite unsightly from a distance.

  Li Rando has entered the third layer of the Phantom Spirit Cave, where all the spiritual beasts have a strength of nine layers of Jing Yuan Qi. It is unknown how far Li Rando will go in this layer. If he can successfully kill more than 100 spiritual beasts within the third layer, it would to some extent mean that Li Rando has the potential to contend for the Golden Sword List in a short period of time.

  Perhaps one day in the future, Li Ruo will successfully squeeze into the ranks of Golden Sword.

  Shan Zhi took a deep breath and nodded secretly: "Li Ran Jian, let's see how far you can go in this level."

  Li Ran's knife also knew that the third layer must be fraught with danger, and as soon as he squeezed out of the purple light restriction, he quickly turned his head to look around, his feet moving like flowing water, sliding out several dozen feet away, far from the most dangerous place of the restriction.

  As far as the eye can see, this layer of mountains is majestic and precipitous, with strange rocks standing upright. The unknown cold cry makes the empty mountain even more quiet, the distant mountains are faintly visible, and a towering main peak is submerged in the distance.

  Li Ranno stood under a strange rock, slowly letting out a breath. He saw a gibbon-like spirit beast jumping and flying on the mountain rocks, obviously sensing the presence of an outsider, rushing towards him with angry eyes. Li Ranno nodded, knowing that this was a Shān Xiāo, he had seen it in the Spirit Beast Atlas in his previous life, incredibly powerful, even possessing intelligence comparable to humans, extremely difficult to deal with.

  To gain a deeper understanding of this spiritual beast, Li Ruo stood quietly with his sword at the ready.

  The mountain goblin sprang up from the rocky ground, spinning in mid-air, and a long hook-like claw emerged from a whirlwind of cyan color to grab Li Fenger's knife fiercely.

  Li Ruo Dao engraved the secret pattern in his mind onto the long sword, and with a flick of his wrist, it struck the mountain goblin's arm with two loud clangs, sparks flying everywhere. The mountain goblin and Li Ruo Dao both retreated at the same time, only to charge forward again, their sword light and claw shadows clashing incessantly amidst the din of metal on metal.

  The sharp force on the long sword made the mountain goblin eat pain, and it kept making a shrill whistling sound. The shadow of Li Ran's knife and sword seemed to have the power to tear everything apart, and the mountain goblin retreated step by step.

  Li Ran nodded secretly, knowing that Shan Gui had the power of Jing Yuan Jin's ninefold strength, although not as good as Ren Tu, but also quite difficult to deal with, unlike the first two layers which could be easily passed through.

  With a flick of his sword, a swift gust of wind shot out, and Li Ran tested the mountain goblin's strength, preparing to finish it off with a ruthless blow. Just then, the mountain goblin's eyes widened suddenly, and one arm abruptly raised to defend its chest. Li Ran's sword pierced through the mountain goblin's arm, but to his surprise, the arm was as hard as copper tendons and iron bones, and his sword could not penetrate any further.

  The mountain ogre let out a pained howl and pulled its own arm out of the sword, using it to propel itself to run far away on the rocky mountainside.

  Li Ranno was also shocked, this sword did not achieve the purpose of killing, and Shan Gui's strength made him look at it again with a new eye. He carefully stepped down his waist and rushed into the mountain, jumping over this stone, Li Ranno suddenly narrowed his eyes, and his heart felt cold.

  In front, there was only one mountain path leading far away. On both sides of the cliff, five or six mountain apes climbed down from above like shooting stars, while behind him, two more mountain apes appeared on the rock face, blocking his way. It was clear that these mountain apes had heard Li Fenger's fighting sounds and set up an ambush here, trapping Li Fenger inside.

  Li Ran's heart was filled with a bitter taste as he found himself in this desperate situation, and with one hand clutching the transmission jade symbol tightly, he suddenly turned around and rushed towards the back.

  Two mountain goblins blocked the way behind, desperately trying to intercept. The beasts sliding down from the mountain rushed over like flying, six or seven mountain goblins surrounded Li Ruo Dao in the center, and the heavy pressure made Li Ruo Dao sweat instantly.

  Sharp claws flew horizontally, and the angry roar almost numbed Li Ran's eardrums. The pale blue shadow rotated into whirlwinds.

  Li Ran's sword intent was pushed to the extreme, one sword against seven mountain goblins' sharp claws, his wrist rotated, the sound of breaking wind filled the air, and for a moment, gunpowder smoke rose everywhere, killing intent soared into the sky.

  Even with the powerful sword energy, Li Ran's knife still felt extremely strenuous.

  After all, it was a spiritual beast with the power of ninefold real energy that rivaled the refined essence. If there were only two or three, or four or five, Li Ruo Dao had enough strength to escape from the enemy, but seven surrounded him, and the coordination between these mountain goblins was no less than that of a group of well-trained excellent cultivators, making Li Ruo Dao have strong power but nowhere to exert it.

  Li Ruo's forehead was sweating. Seeing the mountain goblin's sharp claws getting faster and faster, Li Ruo stretched every part of his body to its limit, swinging his long sword to its limit. With a loud "dang" sound, he used all his strength to resist the mountain goblin's attack.

  Even without breaking into a deeper level, this battle is enough. Such high-intensity battles are enough to allow Li Ran to temper his body faster and find back the stronger power of his previous life.

  Li Ran's eyes gleamed with a fiery light, his left hand clenched the transmission jade symbol, and he could transmit and leave at any time if there was a life-threatening danger.

  At that moment, a loud crash was heard, and both the mountain goblin and Li Ruo retreated one step back. Just then, another mountain goblin's sharp claws suddenly appeared out of nowhere, silently pouncing on him. Seeing that its claw was about to pierce through his flesh, Li Ruo gritted his teeth, knowing he couldn't escape. His body quickly twisted, preparing to crush the jade token and leave.

  At this moment of breathing, a bright light flashed through Li Ran's mind, and his heart suddenly became clear. The numbness in his body produced a kind of dizzying illusion, as if at this moment his body was perfectly coordinated with the long sword, his heart reflecting the sword, the sword being himself, and even the rapid wind beside the sword could be clearly felt when it swept past at high speed.

  In Li Ruo's heart, his entire being merged with the long sword as one.

  A clarity emerged in his mind, and he instantly entered a profound state. His body lightly swayed, avoiding the sharp claws behind him by a hair's breadth. The long sword thrust forward with a gentle twist, causing the mountain goblin's claw to uncontrollably veer to one side. The sword tip continued forward, and with a "pu" sound, it pierced through one of the mountain goblins, leaving a gaping hole.

  The mountain goblin fell backwards with a look of shock on its face and landed in the pool of blood.

  Li Ran's body swayed slightly, dodging the attack of several other mountain goblins. His long sword made a light turn in the air and stabbed backwards from his ribs, another mountain goblin that had approached suddenly had an extra sharp golden iron long sword on its chest.

  Li Ruo's body and sword became extremely ethereal in an instant, every small movement was meticulous and subtle, using the smallest dodge to make the mountain goblin's sharp claws lose by a hair's breadth, differing by a great distance.

  With a thud, another mountain goblin was pierced by the sharp sword and fell into the pool of blood.

  Li Ran suddenly understood the state of unity between man and sword that Fang Ziyuan had spoken of, which he had finally found in this bitter battle. For a moment, he was wildly joyful, his body as light as a feather, his sword intent surging forth, amidst the whooshing sounds, the mountain goblins were pierced one after another by his single sword, what was originally a life-and-death struggle suddenly turned into a one-sided slaughter.

  The last mountain goblin's eyes revealed a crazy horror, turned around and ran, Li Ran's knife in the midst of the corpses on the ground rose slowly as his body rotated, with a single shake of his hand, the long sword in his palm flew out with a hiss, one sword pierced through the back of that mountain goblin, fiercely stabbing into the mountain rock.

  The long sword's body hummed and trembled, emitting a stern and chilly aura.

  Li Ruo's sword hummed with excitement, in his previous life after breaking through the Divine Movement period, he spent countless years before finally entering the threshold of unity between man and sword. After rebirth, for more than half a year, Li Ruo had been fighting non-stop, and it wasn't until this fierce battle with Shan Xiao that he was able to recover this state of mind.