Chapter 515: Sky-Screening Bead

That was only in theory, however. A Qi Blood Stone was a Tier Seven alchemical product. Under normal circumstances, even a Tier Seven Martial King wouldn’t necessarily be able to sense that they were being tracked.

Yet this Ye Xuan was only a Tier Five Martial Sect, and he could actually sense the Qi Blood Stone’s lock. This genuinely surprised Lv Feng.

A flicker of surprise crossed his eyes before he broke into a leisurely smile. "You certainly live up to your reputation as the star of this year’s freshmen. You’ve definitely got a trick or two up your sleeve. My name is Lv Feng, an upperclassman from Gale Light Academy’s inner courtyard. I’m following you because I heard you have quite a few Crystal Stones. Hand them over quietly, and it’ll save me the trouble of taking them by force."

Lv Feng deliberately made the Crystal Stones his apparent target to lower Ye Xuan’s guard.

"Heh." Ye Xuan stood up with a sneer, his face filled with disdain. "Still trying to act at a time like this? Are you treating me like an idiot, or are you the idiot?"

"What do you mean?" Lv Feng asked, looking puzzled.

"You don’t know what I mean?" Ye Xuan waved his hand dismissively. "I can’t be bothered to waste my breath on you. I know exactly why you’re here, and I know where you’re from. Just use whatever tricks you have. I’m sure the Profound Mystery Sect had complete confidence in you when they sent you."

"Hm?"

Lv Feng’s expression darkened, but he quickly composed himself. A cold light shot from his eyes. "Haha, the Vice Sect Master was right about you. To think you could guess that I’m from the Profound Mystery Sect... that’s quite a surprise."

Now that Ye Xuan had seen through his identity, Lv Feng’s gentle expression turned grim. A thick killing intent radiated from his eyes.

At the same time, he was secretly shocked.

Lv Feng had been a Core Disciple of the Profound Mystery Sect for a long time, holding a very high status within the sect.

Later, he assumed a new identity and was dispatched by the Profound Mystery Sect to Gale Light Academy to gather intelligence and cultivate.

With his talent, he successfully entered the inner courtyard in only his second year, becoming one of the academy’s most prominent figures.

Over the past two years, his strength had improved by leaps and bounds. Even in the inner courtyard, which was filled with experts, he was ranked as high as seventh.

So, when he received the secret mission from Vice Sect Master Duan a few days ago, he had been rather dismissive.

For a genius student like him, ranked seventh in the inner courtyard, to be tasked with secretly killing a freshman who was merely a Tier Five Third Layer and had only been at the academy for a little over a month during the inner courtyard assessment... in his eyes, it was a complete overreaction. It was like using a sledgehammer to crack a nut.

But as a disciple of the Profound Mystery Sect, he accepted the mission without hesitation and began gathering intelligence on Ye Xuan.

As he learned more about Ye Xuan, Lv Feng’s initial disdain began to fade.

It had to be said that what Ye Xuan had accomplished on the Dream Realm Plain was not something an ordinary youth could do.

This made Lv Feng gradually start to take Ye Xuan more seriously.

That was why, upon finding Ye Xuan, he had tried to use the Crystal Stones as a pretext to lull him into a false sense of security, wanting Ye Xuan to mistake him for an upperclassman trying to rob him.

This was Lv Feng’s greatest strength.

No matter how much he looked down on an opponent, once a battle began, he would always use his full strength, never underestimating them in the slightest.

What he hadn’t expected, however, was for Ye Xuan to expose his identity and see through his plan with just a few words.

’This kid wasn’t the least bit surprised to see me. He not only detected the Qi Blood Stone’s tracking but also knew my identity from the start. It seems he really is something special. I’ll have to be careful.’

Recalling the warnings from Vice Sect Master Duan and the others, Lv Feng found himself in complete agreement.

At this moment, he completely cast aside his disdain for Ye Xuan, becoming extremely vigilant.

But he still deliberately put on a nonchalant expression, smiling casually. "I didn’t expect you to have a few tricks up your sleeve, figuring out my identity. Since you did, why aren’t you running? Or trying to alert the academy instructors?"

"Run? Why should I run?" Ye Xuan scoffed, his face a mask of contempt.

As for notifying the academy’s instructors, he hadn’t known who was tracking him earlier. Even if he had told Qingfeng and the others, as long as Lv Feng vehemently denied it, they couldn’t have done anything to him.

"More importantly," Ye Xuan said with a cold smile, "if I notified the instructors and put you on your guard, how would I kill you?"

"Kill me?"

Lv Feng was taken aback. Seeing not a trace of fear on Ye Xuan’s face, he was first confused, but then, as if he’d remembered something, he burst into delighted laughter.

"Kid, should I admire your guts or just call you an idiot? You don’t seem very scared to see me. Don’t tell me you think you can kill me on your own? Oh, right. I heard a Tier Seven Martial King named Qin Feng tried to kill you once, but ended up getting killed by some blond kid. Don’t tell me that guy can sneak into the academy’s assessment grounds to protect you in secret too?"

Lv Feng deliberately glanced around. His expression seemed casual, but his powerful Profound Sense was secretly spreading out, remaining vigilant of his surroundings.

But in his perception, there wasn’t the slightest hint of any unusual activity nearby.

’Where does this kid’s confidence come from?’

Lv Feng couldn’t help but feel puzzled. He continued to probe with a cold smile, "Did you think a little trick like that would fool me? There’s no one around us. Or are you telling me you think a Tier Five Third Layer Martial Sect like you can kill a Tier Six Third Layer Martial Venerable like me?"

"Hahaha, why would I need to lift a finger to kill you?" Ye Xuan laughed, pulling out a talisman. "I just need to crush this, and instructors from Gale Light Academy will be here in moments. If they find out you’re a disciple of the Profound Mystery Sect, what do you think they’ll do?"

Lv Feng’s eyes went cold, but he just smiled faintly. "You think they’ll believe you based on your word alone?"

Ye Xuan confidently produced a jade slip, saying casually, "And what if I add this? I recorded our entire conversation just now."

As soon as he finished speaking, Ye Xuan moved to crush the talisman.

’If he could lure the academy’s instructors here, he didn’t mind letting them be the ones to take Lv Feng down.’

’This guy.’

Just as Ye Xuan was about to crush the talisman, a white sphere suddenly appeared in Lv Feng’s hand at the critical moment. He immediately threw it into the air.

BANG!

The white sphere exploded instantly. An ethereal ripple, like a canopy of light, immediately enveloped the space for several miles around.

"A Sky-Screening Bead!"

Ye Xuan cried out in surprise. The Sky-Screening Bead was a type of Spiritual Treasure capable of sealing the surrounding space. Once it detonated, it could block all auras within a radius of several miles and seal off the area, placing a Restriction that prevented anything from entering or leaving.

In other words, even if Ye Xuan crushed the talisman now, the instructors from Gale Light Academy wouldn’t be able to sense his location. It was now even impossible for Ye Xuan to try and escape using the Void-Crossing Feather.

The Sky-Screening Bead had completely sealed off this area of space.

Of course, the Sky-Screening Bead had a weakness: its seal had a limited duration. Generally, a Tier Seven Sky-Screening Bead could seal a space for about half an hour.

Previously, Ye Xuan had been wondering how his opponent planned to kill him in these mountains.

After all, the moment he crushed the talisman, academy instructors would be notified and would rush over immediately.

Now, seeing the Sky-Screening Bead, he finally understood.

"You’ve got a good eye, kid. That’s right, that bead was a Sky-Screening Bead. Go on, crush it now. Even if you smash that talisman to bits, no instructor will receive your signal."

Lv Feng sneered. Without another word, his eyes turned cold, and he suddenly threw a punch at Ye Xuan.

The Sky-Screening Bead’s effect would only last for about half an hour. He had to kill Ye Xuan within that time.

BOOM!

The space before him trembled violently from his punch. An incomparably sharp gale of fist-wind reached Ye Xuan in an instant.

Before the fist-wind even arrived, its terrifying pressure was already making it hard for Ye Xuan to breathe.

"Break!"

He roared, and the Sword of Autocracy on his back was instantly unsheathed. The black greatsword, like a ghostly phantom, struck heavily at the center of the fist-wind.

POOF!

The fist-wind Lv Feng had thrown was shattered in an instant. An endless aura surged from Ye Xuan’s Sword of Autocracy as countless sword phantoms transformed into a dense tide, sweeping toward Lv Feng like a vast ocean.

’Such terrifying Sword Intent!’

Lv Feng was slightly shocked. Although Ye Xuan was only at the Tier Five Third Layer, the power of his Sword Intent was strong enough to make even him, a Tier Six Martial Venerable, feel immense pressure.

’A pity your Profound Power is too weak. Sword Intent is the leaf, and Profound Power is the root. Your roots are shallow. No matter how lush the leaves, they are nothing but an illusion.’

With a cold smile, Lv Feng’s fists moved like flood dragons plunging into the sea. Strange black lines appeared on his fists, dense and numerous, instantly forming a large net that enveloped the sword phantoms Ye Xuan had unleashed.

TSS TSS TSS.

The dense sword phantoms constantly collided with the black net, and the entire forest was instantly filled with a stunning series of explosions. Waves of black shockwaves radiated from the center of the impacts, sweeping outward and instantly pulverizing the surrounding rocks and trees.

Strangely, however, outside the area sealed by the Sky-Screening Bead, there wasn’t even a whisper of wind. On the tall, straight trees, not a single leaf stirred.

"Thunderous Waves Skill!"

With a roar, Lv Feng’s figure emerged from the explosion. His entire body radiated a hazy light, and his eyes shone like brilliant stars. With a single punch, like a flood dragon emerging from the abyss, two torrents of black fist-might transformed into roaring flood dragons and swept madly toward Ye Xuan.

"Hmph. Break!"

Ye Xuan’s shout boomed like spring thunder. He held his breath and focused his mind. His pupils suddenly turned cyan as he locked onto the weakest point between the two gales of fist-wind and slashed down with his sword.

BOOM!

Amidst a massive roar, both of them were sent flying back over ten meters.

’This Lv Feng is truly worthy of being an inner courtyard disciple. His strength is staggering. I’m afraid he’s not one bit weaker than Qin Feng was.’

Ye Xuan was inwardly alarmed. In that simple exchange, Lv Feng had given him a huge shock. Although he was only a Tier Six Third Layer Martial Venerable, the pressure he exuded was hardly any less than that of Qin Feng, the Tier Seven Martial King.