The sword light shuttled and danced through the mountain forest, rolling up a burst of azure gale. Wherever it passed, trees were destroyed and mountain rocks were shattered.
The cutting edge of the "Spirit Wind Sword" was truly sharp. With the "Spirit Wind Grand Array" on it revolving to its limits, only an azure shadow could be seen during its flight.
Chila!
With a stir of his mind, the "Spirit Wind Sword" immediately stopped revolving, floating in front of him before falling into the sword pouch, resting quietly and unmoving.
"Just as expected, with a sword in hand, neither ghosts nor gods are spared. If I go into the mundane world, this sword of mine is fully enough to deal with a crack troop of a thousand men, unless they set up an ambush beforehand and use strong bows, stiff crossbows, and gunpowder all at once to kill my physical self."
Having demonstrated the power of the "Spirit Wind Sword" once, Fang Han put it away, still yearning for more.
He knew that if he went into the mundane world now, he was already not much afraid of being besieged by an army.
Ordinary experts in the Physical Realm, even if they cultivated to the tenth tier Divine Transformation realm, would also fear the siege of a mundane army. An army of a thousand men, with some experts of the fifth tier Divine Strength realm mixed in, using sabers, spears, swords, halberds, strong bows, and stiff crossbows, was fully capable of easily repeatedly besieging and killing a person at the tenth tier Divine Transformation realm.
But if one had a spirit weapon in hand, with one flying strike of the sword, breaking armor and killing people from several miles away would be incomparably easy. An army of a thousand men would simply be helpless against it.
A spirit weapon equated to an enemy of a thousand exactly.
Now that Fang Han had obtained the "Spirit Wind Sword," his strength had greatly increased. The only fly in the ointment was that this "Spirit Wind Sword" was somewhat lacking in self-defense. If faced with a dense rain of arrows, there was still no way to intercept them one by one.
Even less could it carry a person in flight.
Only flying swords at the treasure weapon level, true treasures, possessed both offense and defense, capable of splitting light and turning into shadows, with myriad unpredictable changes.
For example, suddenly transforming into a large, transparent steel sphere, wrapping a person inside it, carrying the person in rapid flight, resisting the slashing of various weapons, sinking to the bottom of the water, and roaming the underwater world freely.
However, Dharma treasures at the treasure weapon level were too hard to come by. Every single piece could cause tempests of blood and rain. Without a coincidence of fate, or being an important figure in a sect, one could simply never obtain such an inheritance.
When refining a treasure weapon, first, special materials were needed, and second, it required powerhouses at the ninth or tenth tier of the Divine Ability Mystic Realm, or peerless experts who had stepped into the Longevity Mystic Realm.
"A spirit weapon is already hard to come by; as for a treasure, I'd better not think about it for now. This Spirit Wind Sword has already been refined by me, but I will still need to have some rhetoric ready for Senior Sister Mo and those few people…"
After practicing all of this, Fang Han summoned Crane Fairy over through the "Myriad Beasts Plaque," had her carry him back to Purple Lightning Peak, and rested quietly for a night.
The next day, riding "Crane Fairy," he flew directly to the plains at the center of Ascension Mountain. At the agreed-upon place outside the plains, he saw Liu Kang and "Princess Hongyi," each with an immortal crane standing beside them. Their frames were massive, just not as handsome and spirited as "Crane Fairy."
"It seems these two, Princess Hongyi and Liu Kang, also have connections with some true disciples. Plus, considering that Eldest Miss Fang Qingxue has already gone to the Vast Ocean Desert, could there be other reasons why the demonic and monster paths instigated the desert bandits to attack the Blue Moon Country this time? Among the one hundred and eight true disciples of the Ascension Sect, there are also struggles and conflicts with each other. It looks like I must be doubly careful."
Fang Han thought in his heart.
"Fang Han, you're here?"
Seeing Fang Han land, Princess Hongyi hastily stepped forward: "The people from the Great Virtue Imperial Family and Senior Sister Mo are already waiting for us."
Sure enough, as soon as her voice fell, more than ten crane cries rang out in the sky, and they descended. It was "Prince Bao" and his group from the "Great Virtue Imperial Family," along with several inner disciples led by Senior Sister Mo.
Fang Han had seen all these people before.
However, there was one man who was a newly added member. This man stood beside Senior Sister Mo, wearing a set of jade-green Daoist robes. It was not the ordinary Dharma robe of an outer disciple, nor the Water and Fire Daoist robe of an inner disciple. It seemed to be a spirit weapon!
For clothes to actually be a spirit weapon, this was no small matter. Guarding the body, preventing invasion by demonic evils, and protecting the physical flesh. This was much more important than slaughter-oriented spirit weapons like flying swords.
The physical body was the source of divine abilities. Even experts who had cultivated into the "Divine Ability Mystic Realm" had to carefully protect their own bodies. Otherwise, once the physical body was slain, any divine abilities would immediately vanish, turning to ash and annihilating.
"Senior Brother Yuan!"
Seeing this man wearing the jade-green Daoist robe, everyone hastily spoke with respect.
"This is Senior Brother Yuan Jiankong, ranked tenth on the Mountain and River Ranking." Princess Hongyi quietly nudged Fang Han.
Fang Han's heart also tightened.
It was actually an inner disciple, a figure on the Mountain and River Ranking.
There were four or five thousand inner disciples in total. All of them were figures at the ninth or tenth tier of the Physical Realm, experts who either possessed top-tier Dharma weapons or spirit weapons.
The inner disciples would hold a competition every year. The top ten experts from the competition would have their names listed on the Mountain and River Ranking.
At the same time, the sect would also bestow extremely generous rewards upon these ten disciples. Whether it was medicinal pills or spirit weapons, it enabled them to cultivate even better, stepping into the Divine Ability Mystic Realm to become true disciples.
It could be said that the ten inner disciples on the "Mountain and River Ranking" held incomparably lofty status, even comparable to true disciples, possessing the power of life and death over others.
At the same time, their means were also extremely formidable; relying on Dharma treasures, they were comparable to experts of the Divine Ability Mystic Realm.
Such a figure gave Fang Han a deep sense of oppressive force from the very bottom of his heart.
"Senior Brother Yuan!" Fang Han also chimed in and called out.
"Mm, you are Fang Han? Someone from Purple Lightning Peak?" Yuan Jiankong's eyes looked toward Fang Han. "Not bad, very not bad, you collected Junior Brother Zuo's Spirit Wind Sword? When I meet Fang Qingxue, I will tell her all of this."
"Crap, it seems this Yuan Jiankong is dissatisfied with me."
Fang Han immediately heard that the tone in Yuan Jiankong's words was very unfriendly.
"Alright, Senior Brother Yuan, the big picture matters most. Let's go to the Vast Ocean Desert first. Senior Sister Fang of Purple Lightning Peak has already arrived in the Blue Moon Country. Just in case she beats us to it, I'm afraid that Yin Yang Longevity Pill…"
Senior Sister Mo said indifferently.
"What Junior Sister Mo says is right!" Yuan Jiankong took another deep look at Fang Han, waved his hand, and directly floated onto the immortal crane. The immortal crane flapped its wings and soared into the sky.
That robe of his seemed to have the function of floating in the void. Unlike other people riding cranes, who needed to deeply bury themselves into the crane's back to prevent being blown off by the heavenly winds and falling directly to their deaths.
"Let's go!"
The several people from the Great Virtue Imperial Family, especially that "Prince Bao," also got onto their immortal cranes, took a deep look at Fang Han, and soared into the sky.
"Fang Han, you have to be a little careful. This time we don't seek merits, we just seek to avoid making mistakes. Or, you could choose not to go." Princess Hongyi's gaze saw everything clearly.
"Naturally I must go. Without training, how can one become talented? I still want to enter the inner sect! In the future, it's not certain that my name won't be on the Mountain and River Ranking." After completely integrating the Nine Orifices Golden Pill, Fang Han's subconsciousness carried a trace of the Yellow Springs Great Emperor's domineering aura. As he spoke, he exuded a powerful self-confidence that infected others, having completely, utterly broken away from that wretched, cowardly, over-cautious slave character.
"If these people want to deal with you, I absolutely will not stand by and watch. However, when facing demons and monsters, they won't dare to go overboard." Liu Kang said with a flick of his finger: "We mainly need to rely on their spirit weapons to ward off the Flying Yasha Demonic Generals among those demonmen."
"Let's go! We'll talk again when we reach the Vast Ocean Desert."
Fang Han got up onto the crane's back, flew into the sky, and followed behind Senior Sister Mo, Yuan Jiankong, and the rest, but in his heart, he was pondering some matters. He knew that by collecting a spirit weapon and exposing the information that he hid a powerful Dharma treasure on his person, he had already invited a lethal disaster upon himself.
Although this group of people were all disciples of the Ascension Sect, in the mundane world, every single one of them was a vicious and ruthless overlord from noble families. They were absolutely not pushovers. One must know that only the outstanding scions of the imperial families could be sent into the Ascension Sect. These people were not only first-rate in intelligence, but their ruthlessness was also absolutely first-rate.
The reason these people didn't dare to make a move against him now was not because of sect rules, but because of Fang Qingxue's deterrence placed there.
Fang Han definitely did not believe in any fellow disciple fellowship; in the face of spirit weapons, fellow sect fellowship was thinner than paper. The Ascension Sect did not recruit commoners when taking in disciples. Commoners were honest and simple, and perhaps they wouldn't scheme against each other or engage in intrigue over Dharma treasures. But the disciples of imperial and noble families were different; the education they received since childhood was all about worldly wisdom and scheming. They had been trained to be incredibly slick and placed heavy weight on interests, having long brought the habits of the royal courts and noble families into the Ascension Sect.
Fang Han knew in his heart that perhaps once he arrived in the Vast Ocean Desert, they would borrow a knife to kill a person and seize the spirit weapon on his person.
His best method right now was to stay inside the Ascension Sect and not go out. However, this would also lead some people to pick fights with him, taking the opportunity to teach him a lesson, and the end result would still be having the spirit weapon taken away.
It was better for it to be as chaotic as possible, taking advantage of the muddy waters to catch fish.
Moreover, what he needed now was a massive amount of actual combat! Only the tempering between life and death could stimulate his spirit to enter the ninth tier of the Physical Realm, the Spirit Communication realm.
The speed at which the immortal cranes flew in the sky was extremely fast. Range after range of mountains was left behind them. However, every one or two hours, everyone would descend to rest for a while. After all, immortal cranes were also creatures of flesh and blood. Carrying a person weighing one to two hundred pounds on their backs, they would feel extremely strenuous after flying for a long time and needed to rest and drink water to replenish their stamina.
During breaks, this group of inner and outer disciples of the Ascension Sect obviously divided themselves into small factions.
Fang Han, Liu Kang, and Princess Hongyi formed one small faction.
The three men and two women of the Great Virtue Imperial Family formed a small faction.
And Senior Sister Mo and her fellow inner disciples formed another small faction.
The mysterious and unfathomable "Yuan Jiankong," ranked tenth on the Mountain and River Ranking, remained alone, occasionally speaking a few words with Senior Sister Mo, mostly ignoring the others.
It was roughly around midnight when Fang Han saw that the continuous mountain ranges ahead had disappeared, replaced by a boundless desert. The bright moon shone above the desert, shedding cold brilliance down, making the desert look as if it were smeared with silver mercury.
"We have arrived at the Vast Ocean Desert. The Vast Ocean Desert is boundless. Blue Moon City is located in the center of the Vast Ocean Desert. Tomorrow we still have to fly for another day to reach it. Tonight we must get a good day's rest and build up our spirits; the immortal cranes are all tired."
"Yuan Jiankong" was the first to land his immortal crane in the desert.
Seeing this, Fang Han also descended.
Once this squad of inner and outer Ascension Sect disciples landed in the desert, those who lit bonfires lit bonfires, those who drank water drank water, and those who sat silently meditated. Fang Han, on the other hand, carefully guarded "Crane Fairy," listening to all six directions and observing all eight corners.
At the very same time, fully in the western part of the desert, among the continuous sand dunes dozens of miles away, a pair of bizarre, secretive demonic eyes had already locked onto them long ago.