Chapter 698: Saintly Peace
The Heaven-ranked member from The Inn had also been protected by someone, and since The Inn had more people, another Earth-ranked attendant charged over, aiming to kill Ceremony Prelude.
Naturally, Qi Xuansu could not allow that to happen. He stepped forward to confront the attacker.
The two swiftly closed the distance. Qi Xuansu formed a sword gesture with his left hand’s index and middle fingers and thrust toward the Earth-ranked attendant’s face, but the latter reached out and grabbed Qi Xuansu’s wrist.
Almost at the same time, Flying White Shadow at Qi Xuansu’s waist was drawn just a third of the way when it was forcibly pushed back into its sheath by the Earth-ranked attendant.
Then, within mere centimeters, the Earth-ranked attendant struck toward Qi Xuansu’s lower abdomen with a simple forward palm strike. Qi Xuansu was sent flying backward like a kite with a broken string, but he halted his momentum midair and landed lightly on the ground.
Qi Xuansu only suffered a minor setback. His innate qi was slightly disturbed, like river waters during a tidal surge, occasionally overflowing the embankments but not yet breaching them.
Just as Qi Xuansu was steadying his qi, he suddenly noticed that the Earth-ranked attendant had vanished. Though everything around him appeared normal, Qi Xuansu could sense a subtle shift in the environment, like ambushers hiding in dense woods, prompting birds to circle overhead without landing, or like someone concealed in the night, silencing even the insects.
Yet Qi Xuansu could not pinpoint the exact location of the Earth-ranked attendant. This was the mystical ability of a Qi Refiner at the Returning Void Realm, where a state of harmony was achieved between man and heaven.
Suddenly, Qi Xuansu sensed a faint trace of killing intent. Startled, he spun around and drew his blade.
The next moment, there was a sharp tear of fabric. Qi Xuansu’s sleeve was ripped by a sword, which then shot straight toward his chest.
While a strike to the heart would be fatal to others, Qi Xuansu had a heart of stone. He let the sword pierce his chest. In return, he stabbed his blade at his opponent’s heart.