Chapter 60: Collapse Tunnels and Illusion Crystal Water

“So you’re Lian Mu?” The second-seat sword cultivator from Wu Nian Sect seemed to recognize her.

Qu Ruotian took a step back in a defensive stance, and the formation team disciples followed suit, all becoming alert.

Lian Mu glanced at the people behind the Wu Nian Sect’s second-seat sword cultivator. He had brought fewer people than them. If he dared to confront them head-on, he definitely had something up his sleeve.

A second-seat sword cultivator from Wu Nian Sect had to be at least dual spiritual roots.

“You want to fight me alone, or are you planning on ganging up?” Lian Mu asked.

The second-seat sword cultivator of Wu Nian Sect grinned even wider. “Do you really think any of you can escape?”

“You sure you want to fight all together? If the ground collapses, none of us will be getting out alive,” said Lian Mu, her hand already poised on her sword hilt.

“I don’t care about the others. But you—you have to fight me,” the Wu Nian Sect cultivator said. “Baili Yu said you’re no pushover. I love fighting strong opponents… I want to see what kind of skill it takes to beat someone like Baili Yu.”

Lian Mu: “…”

If you like fighting strong people so much, why not go duel a chief sword cultivator instead?

Speaking of Baili Yu, Lian Mu vaguely remembered the name. Among those with the surname Baili, she recalled someone placing first during the entrance trial. At the time, someone mentioned the Baili Twins—Baili Que and the other must’ve been Baili Yu.

A talisman cultivator who seemed to hate her for no reason. She’d defeated him once… Was Baili Yu the one she knocked out with a single sword strike during the entrance exam?

No wonder that face seemed kind of familiar.

This second-seat sword cultivator in front of her must have been sent by Baili Yu to teach her a lesson.

“I’ll fight you—but on one condition. Let the others leave first.”

The Wu Nian Sect cultivator said, “Of course.”

Late-stage heavy snowfall was dangerous. One misstep and you could be buried alive. He was only here because Baili Yu had asked him to challenge this Lian Mu.

As a second-seat cultivator, he understood priorities well. Having both sides’ formation teams withdraw was also in Wu Nian Sect’s best interest.

Besides, he had only promised to let them go first—he never said he wouldn’t chase them afterward.

“Senior Brother Qu, take the others and go first. I’ll catch up soon,” Lian Mu said to Qu Ruotian.

Qu Ruotian had already detected a nearby frozen river using his talisman. He had heard of Lian Mu’s reputation and felt confident about her dueling the second-seat sword cultivator alone.

After all, Lian Mu had defeated dual spiritual root cultivators before—and so was this Wu Nian Sect guy.

Qu Ruotian led the formation team in a careful retreat. At the same time, the Wu Nian Sect’s second-seat cultivator ordered his team to withdraw as well. Each of them moved with great caution, barely leaving footprints in the snow.

Once the area was clear, the Wu Nian Sect sword cultivator immediately drew his sword and charged at Lian Mu.

She drew her sword as well to meet him.

He was a single-sword sword cultivator, and seemed to possess a water spiritual root. Boosted by the water element in the illusion realm, his sword was coated in a shimmering layer of watery light. Lian Mu’s sword had no such effect.

The Wu Nian Sect cultivator fought with an aggressive style. His first move was already near his limit—every strike full of raw power, clearly aiming to end the fight in just a few blows.

Lian Mu had never encountered this kind of wild, almost manic fighting style before.

When she had fought Wen Yun at the Star-Seizing Pavilion, Wen Yun’s attacks had felt like emotional outbursts. But this second-seat cultivator in front of her—he fought like he was genuinely unhinged.

Once the fight began, he seemed to forget the treacherous terrain entirely, charging forward without a care for the snow tunnels below.

Lian Mu blocked his sword from the right, twisting her wrist to drive her blade into the snow.

He sensed her intent and twisted his sword free from her grip in a strange, almost unnatural motion.

Just as he freed it, Lian Mu stepped on his sword. The watery light on his blade immediately froze her foot in place.

The Wu Nian Sect cultivator smirked. “Walked right into it, didn’t you?”

He gathered spiritual power at his wrist, trying to break the ice binding the swords. His blade twisted upward—clearly aiming to slice through her leg from below.

Fortune, her sword, was also stuck to his—frozen solid and immobile.

Seizing the opportunity, the Wu Nian Sect cultivator prepared to strike. But suddenly, Lian Mu let go of her sword and punched him straight in the nose.

His vision blacked out for a second—and then blood poured from his nostrils.

Wu Nian Sect cultivator: “?”

When he saw another punch aimed directly at his eye, he instinctively pulled back and withdrew his sword.

Lian Mu’s sword was still frozen to his.

He looked down in disbelief: “…”

Maybe that punch had been too hard—he was starting to feel dizzy. “You’re a sword cultivator… and you’re using your fists?!”

She didn’t even want her sword anymore.

“Why can’t a sword cultivator punch people?” Lian Mu didn’t let up. She followed up with a flying kick.

But her target wasn’t the Wu Nian Sect cultivator—it was her own sword, Fortune.

He wasn’t used to defending, so he instinctively struck back. But she hadn’t even been aiming for him, so his sword swing missed completely—and her kick landed cleanly on her own sword.

The force of the kick, infused with spiritual energy, shattered the ice binding the two swords. Fortune flew several feet away.

Wu Nian Sect cultivator: “???”

He blinked, stunned, then finally began taking his opponent seriously.

Lian Mu continued attacking with her fists, using spiritual energy. She had a fire spiritual root—perfect for countering the water light on his sword. But the effect wouldn’t last long. She still needed to retrieve her weapon.

Suddenly, Lian Mu backed off, switching to evasive maneuvers and avoiding direct confrontation.

The opponent was clearly a focused person—fully concentrated on responding to her attacks, completely unaware that while dodging, she had been steadily drawing closer to her own sword.

She stepped on it.

With a flick of her toe, Lian Mu kicked up Fortune and caught it back in her hand.

The second-seat sword cultivator of the Wu Nian Sect stumbled back a few steps, breathing heavily, his hands red from the cold. He was originally from the White Tiger West, unaccustomed to the chill. He had assumed he could defeat her quickly, but now it seemed… things were getting troublesome.

Lian Mu channeled spiritual energy into Fortune, using it to resist the watery light that had condensed on her opponent’s sword.

“Fire spiritual root?” The Wu Nian Sect’s second-seat raised an eyebrow. “Bai Li Yu never mentioned you had a fire root… But so what?”

He lifted his sword—not to attack, but to guide the water light flowing on the blade into a single point, then detached it from the sword.

In an instant, the droplet burst into countless shimmering points, which then congealed into fine ice crystals.

Those ice crystals encircled Lian Mu, hurtling toward her.

At the same time, the Wu Nian Sect’s second-seat sword cultivator charged in with his sword raised.

Outside the illusion realm.

“He’s using Illusory Crystal Water this early?”

Before the image-capturing stone, the elders of the Four Great Sects were watching the trial, along with other disciples who weren’t participating in the Immortal Sect Grand Competition.

There was little movement among the first-seats—they were still tracking the magical beast’s trail and searching for lingering spiritual energy from the Icecore Bloom. Meanwhile, on the second-seat side, two had already clashed shortly after entering.

Many elders weren’t too interested in fights between second-seats, but Xin Wanbai swept her gaze across the projection stones showing the various sects’ second-seats and, seeing Lian Mu encounter the Wu Nian Sect’s second-seat, decided to keep watching.

Illusory Crystal Water was a unique enhancement granted to water-root sword cultivators by the water-type illusion realm. Normally, it served as a supplement, with the sword cultivator relying on their own strength. It was rare to see someone use the Illusory Crystal Water directly as a weapon.

“That kid from Wu Nian Sect… he’s too impatient,” said the sword elder from Chixiao Sect. “His style is too reckless—easy to overlook details and let someone exploit a weakness.”

“He’s already at a disadvantage.”

On screen, Lian Mu had already spotted his flaw and was maneuvering to lure him into fully exposing it.

The Chixiao Sect’s sword elder couldn’t understand—how could a mere tri-root second-seat sword cultivator be worth this much effort from a dual-root cultivator from Wu Nian Sect?

Xin Wanbai didn’t comment. She simply kept watching the image stone silently.

Inside the illusion realm.

Lian Mu deflected the incoming ice crystals with her sword, then, seizing the right moment, thrust it forward.

The Wu Nian Sect’s second-seat sword cultivator hadn’t expected her to be that fast—the ice crystals couldn’t stop her at all.

Lian Mu showed no mercy. Her sword plunged straight into his chest. The Spirit Jade Token flashed, and the crystal-blue liquid within it began to rise.

The Wu Nian Sect’s second-seat sword cultivator had taken a fatal blow. Protected by the Spirit Jade Token, his body dissolved from the feet up into smoke and was transported out of the illusion realm.

Just as Lian Mu sheathed her sword and was about to rejoin Qu Ruotian and the others, she took a step forward and suddenly frowned.

The next moment, the snowy ground beneath her feet began to collapse.