Pursued by the Top Grade Saintess after Engagement Annulled

Xia Feng’s expression showed a hint of exasperation, not particularly wanting to bother with someone whose mind seemed a bit off.

Li Qingyu’s expression grew more provocative: "What? Can’t face it anymore?"

"Your abilities have reached their limits by now, you might as well stop struggling."

Xia Feng furrowed his brow, really unable to understand how the Celestial Sword Divine King took a fancy to Li Qingyu as his daughter.

Beside him, Li Qingxue noticed Xia Feng’s thoughts and whispered, "The dark aura from the second trial doesn’t affect us much, but for others, it poses some trouble."

Xia Feng was taken aback, watching the talented individuals now starting their climb, each somewhat tainted with Demonic Qi.

After passing the second trial, there was no reward, nor time allowed for the others to rest.

The Demonic Qi on these individuals was neither suppressed nor removed, and as they grasped the Sword Intent on the stairs, some even seeped into the Celestial Sword Mountain.

The situation seemed to become more complex and subtle.

Beside him, Xia Tianming estimated the progress of the group, guessing he could climb about a dozen steps.

He turned to look at Xia Feng and whispered, "I’ll climb first and see how far my Sword Dao can take me."

Xia Feng paused, leaned into Xia Tianming’s ear, and said, "Be careful, and if something feels off, call me anytime."

"Even on Celestial Sword Mountain, I can take you into the Dream Realm Pearl."

"And also..."

"If you feel uncomfortable or resistant, don’t worry about Sword Intent or anything, just activate the Evil Qi mode of the Blood Dragon Sword Heart."

Xia Tianming grasped the underlying message in Xia Feng’s words, his expression turned more cautious, and he nodded, saying, "Don’t worry, since you’ve said it, I’ll be prepared in my heart."

At the twentieth step, Li Qingyu tried to continue upward but felt slightly fatigued and needed to adjust. Just then, she overheard Xia Tianming say he was prepared.

She turned to glance at the three who dared not climb the steps, and mocked, "Can’t even get on the steps, and still claim to be prepared?"

No sooner had she finished, Xia Tianming directly climbed the first step.

The pressure from Celestial Sword Mountain immediately bore down on Xia Tianming, but a strand of Sword Qi automatically erupted from him, circulating twice before neutralizing the mountain’s pressure.

He originally thought climbing would be difficult, but it turned out the pressure was resolved so easily that he was stunned for a moment.

"Is that it?"

Li Qingyu’s face turned green: "Stop boasting, you just stepped on the first step, as if you’ve already climbed over my head."

Xia Tianming’s face showed a somewhat peculiar smile. He adjusted his breath slightly, operated the Void Sword Dao he had comprehended earlier, and began climbing again.

Though not specializing in Sword Dao, the Void Sword Dao, being a higher-level existence than the Great Dao of Celestial Sword, somewhat bolstered him with Sword Intent.

In the blink of an eye, Xia Tianming had climbed to the twenty-fifth step, five steps higher than Li Qingyu, looking at her with a subtle expression: "Is that it?"

"Climbing over your head wasn’t that hard, was it?"

Li Qingyu was so angry her body trembled slightly, opening her mouth but unable to say anything for a while.

Xia Feng keenly noticed that as Li Qingyu’s emotions fluctuated greatly, some strands of energy, invisible to the naked eye, seemed to seep into her body from the stairs.

He grasped Li Qingxue’s wrist and whispered, "Take it easy, safety first."

Li Qingxue nodded, believing Xia Feng was the strongest, and the first to reach the top of Celestial Sword Mountain would surely be him, but she herself only wanted to climb higher than Li Qingyu.

Xia Feng watched Li Qingxue grip the Snow Fall Sword tightly, hearing the youthful voice of the sword spirit, Xiao Xue: "Don’t worry, with me here, you’ll definitely achieve a good result."

Li Qingxue directly stepped onto the Celestial Sword Mountain stairs, climbing to the thirtieth step in one breath.

Upon reaching there, she seemed a little strained, but the Snow Fall Sword in her hand shimmered, and Xiao Xue let out a clear sword cry.

A Sword Intent fell on Li Qingxue, effortlessly propelling her to the thirty-fifth step.

Seeing Xiao Xue intending to take Li Qingxue even further up, Xia Feng worriedly called out, "Xiao Xue."

Li Qingxue paused slightly, and Xiao Xue seemed puzzled as Xia Feng advised, "Solidify your foundation; the Sword Intent world on the steps can enhance a cultivator’s understanding of the Sword Dao."

Li Qingxue and Xiao Xue immediately understood, allowing the mountain’s pressure to bear down on her as she sat cross-legged to adjust herself.

Li Qingyu watched as one after another climbed ahead of her, her face darkening as if ready to draw her sword and kill.

Xia Feng sneered: "A frog in a well, seeing a small patch of sky and thinking they are invincible, when in truth, they’re nothing but a jumping clown."

Li Qingyu felt a tightness in her throat, as if blood were stuck, unable to move up or down, causing her great discomfort.

She gritted her teeth and struggled, "Their comprehension of Sword Intent is strong, but that doesn’t mean yours is! Don’t boast too much."

"With all your talk, if you fall at the first step, you’ll be a laughingstock."

Xia Feng chuckled: "No need for your concern."

After speaking, his body shifted, and he appeared directly on the stairs of Celestial Sword Mountain.

He had mentally prepared before stepping on, but the pressure on the stairs was much lighter than anticipated.

It seemed like intentional leniency.

Xia Feng looked at the prodigies around him pinned by pressure on the stairs, his expression showing some confusion.

Each step seems to test the Sword Cultivator’s mastery over the Great Dao of Celestial Sword.

The earlier steps are foundational Great Dao, which Xia Feng navigated with ease.

As a result, the pressure surrounded him but didn’t press upon him.

He glanced upward, and his climbing pace suddenly quickened.

In a flash, he reached the thirtieth step, where Li Qingxue was adjusting herself cross-legged.

Not disturbing her, he took a deep breath, his Blood Dragon Sword Heart trembling, and in a moment he shot up five more steps.

Then, no longer suppressing his Celestial God Realm, he braced against the mid-air pressure, springing up another five steps.

Now at the fortieth step, Xia Feng felt the pressure on him becoming apparent, yet still far from his limit.