Stop grinding, I'm really just a free spirit.

Chapter 28 Establishing Authority

"Bang!"

The short sword finally gave way and broke in two.

Chen Bai was alarmed. He quickly threw away the broken knife, grabbed the short stick with both hands, and used it as a spear to barely withstand three moves.

"Kid, let's see how you handle this!"

Xue Zhen roared, wielding his broadsword, and suddenly swept it horizontally, the blade flashing like an arc of the moon.

The blade of the hundred-refined steel cut the short stick in half, sending wood chips flying. Chen Bai was left with only two broken pieces of the stick, each less than a foot long.

"What, out of ideas?"

Xue Zhen sheathed his sword and stood still, not in a hurry to launch an attack. He simply looked down at him, a sinister smile appearing on his sallow face. "You've run out of talismans? Your weapon's broken too? What other tricks do you have up your sleeve?"

Chen Bai took a breath and wiped the sweat from his forehead.

He didn't answer, but simply threw the two broken sticks on the ground and made a hand seal with his right hand.

Seven or eight fist-sized flames surged from his palm, twisting and deforming in the air, transforming into seven or eight palm-sized firebirds.

The firebird, entirely orange-red, hovered stiffly in front of him, like a few sparrows that hadn't yet woken up.

"Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!"

Under Chen Bai's command, the three firebirds flew towards Xue Zhen like moths to a flame.

Xue Zhen was stunned for a moment, then burst into laughter: "This common fire technique, I thought you were all that capable—"

Before he finished speaking, he casually slashed with his sword, and as the sword flashed, the three firebirds exploded into a few sparks.

The remaining firebirds flapped their wings and flew towards Xue Zhen with a single gesture of his magic.

The movements are mechanical and rigid, and the speed is not fast.

Xue Zhen didn't even use his sword; his magical arm behind him swung his short blade left and right, quickly annihilating the remaining firebirds.

The sparks drifted in the air, not even touching his protective aura.

"So what if you've mastered embryonic breathing? You dare to show your face with such meager skills? You're nothing more than a rogue cultivator!"

Xue Zhen scoffed and took a step forward, his narrow eyes filled with disdain.

However, what he didn't notice was—

In the instant when those sparks drifted away, Xue Zhen was distracted.

A palm-sized blue shadow flew out from the shadows at Chen Bai's feet, flying silently in a tiny arc to avoid Xue Zhen's line of sight.

There was no firelight, no chirping, and even the fluctuations of spiritual energy were suppressed to the minimum by Chen Bai.

The spiritual energy that had accumulated in Chen Bai's dantian over the past three months was completely drained away in that instant.

All of it was poured into Xiao Liu.

Xue Zhen pressed closer, when suddenly he caught a glimpse of a blue color out of the corner of his eye.

"Hmm! What is this?"

He instinctively swung his sword, but just as the blade was about to strike, Lingya Xiaoliu suddenly raised his sword, nimbly twisting and turning to avoid the attack.

"What!?"

This was completely beyond Xue Zhen's expectations, causing his pupils to suddenly contract.

He had seen it clearly just now: the firebird that Chen Baixian used was stiff and rigid, only able to fly straight back and forth. It was clearly just an extremely ordinary, inferior Taoist technique.

The blue fire crow in front of them was incredibly agile, its various dodging movements were perfectly natural, and it was as intelligent as a living spirit beast.

He didn't have time to change his move, so he could only quickly mobilize all his fetal breathing to form a layer of iron-blue spiritual shield on his body.

"Ah!"

Xiao Liu let out a clear cry, transforming into a streak of azure light, and crashed directly into his protective spiritual light.

"boom!"

The six spiritual fires collided violently, sparks flying, intensely burning.

Xue Zhen's protective aura lasted for less than a breath before dense cracks appeared on its surface.

Accompanying the intense burning of the [Six Fires] remaining on the surface.

"Click—"

It shattered into pieces, like a broken eggshell.

The remaining blue flames pierced through Xue Zhen's scattered breathing and struck him squarely in the chest.

Xue Zhen grunted and stumbled back five or six steps before falling flat on his face.

A large hole was burned through the chest of his standard Taoist robe, revealing a patch of charred red skin underneath, and the air was filled with the stench of burnt fur.

If he hadn't already become a Nascent Soul cultivator, whose physical strength had been enhanced to a certain extent, he would probably have already been torn to shreds by now!

Xue Zhen struggled to his feet, then knelt on one knee, panting heavily, using the hundred-refined green steel saber in his hand to barely support his body.

He forced himself to look up, his sallow face filled with horror.

"No! This is definitely not the power a low-level Taoist technique should have! You've been lying to me all along!"

Chen Bai stood opposite him, but did not make a move. Three zhang was not a long distance.

However, Chen Bai's dantian was completely empty at this moment. The spiritual energy he had accumulated over the past three months was completely gone, leaving him with no energy left to even activate the next talisman.

The effects of the talisman were waning, and my legs began to ache slightly.

Xiao Liu flew back from behind him and hovered above his shoulder.

The palm-sized blue flame trembled slightly, much dimmer than when it first appeared in battle, and its pale yellow pupils were half-open and half-closed, revealing a sense of weariness.

"Ah—"

It flapped its wings wobbly twice, then transformed into a faint blue light and burrowed back into Chen Bai's dantian, curling up into a ball and falling into a deep sleep.

Chen Bai forced himself to stand up straight, his expression remaining completely unchanged.

He looked down at Xue Zhen, his tone indifferent: "Fellow Daoist, are you convinced?"

Xue Zhen clutched his chest, his sallow face turning pale and then flushed.

He gritted his teeth, leaned on his knife and stood up, but stumbled and almost knelt back down.

That attack just now had actually damaged his internal organs. Although it wasn't fatal, he would be completely unable to fight again for a short period of time.

The two faced off for a few breaths, separated by a distance of three zhang.

Xue Zhen spoke first.

His voice was hoarse and strained, but he still managed to force an ugly smile at the corner of his lips: "Since Fellow Daoist Chen has such abilities, I, Xue, have nothing to say."

He pronounced the three characters "Fellow Daoist Chen" rather forcefully.

The moment those three words were uttered, it was tantamount to acknowledging that the young man before them was no longer the ordinary, uneducated man they could manipulate at will.

"But fellow Daoist, you should think this through carefully." He changed the subject, his tone becoming more meaningful. "This matter involves Young Master Yao and a true disciple of the Spirit Sword Sect. If you take him away today, things may not end well later."

"Oh? I wonder who this Young Master Yao you're talking about is?" Chen Bai asked in return.

Xue Zhen was suddenly stunned, and then realized that this kid didn't know the background of the person behind him.

He paused for a moment, then forced an awkward smile and explained, "Young Master Yao is a direct descendant of the esteemed Immortal Clan. Fellow Daoist Chen should have heard of the Yao family of Shangyu, right?"

Chen Bai nodded, neither agreeing nor disagreeing, recalling the elegantly dressed man he had met with Fairy Yueyi that day.

Seeing this, Xue Zhen's eyes flashed with a hint of joy, thinking that he was afraid, and he said meaningfully:

"If you are willing to be lenient, I can put in a good word for you with Young Master Yao."

"Fellow Daoist, this gives you another route to take in this Little Sword Mountain market, doesn't it?"