Martial Cultivator

In the endless wind and snow, this sentence sounded particularly harsh.

Everyone present heard it clearly.

Even though Wei Xu was being scolded, and even if he knew the person berating him was someone he never particularly liked, he still let out a sigh of relief.

A beam of sword light followed the voice, dazzling within the storm, as if it would slice open the entire heaven and earth at that very moment!

Without a doubt, that was a sword cultivator.

And the only sword cultivator who could appear here, disregard the academy and the Dean, and openly scold someone like this could only be Liu Banbi.

Liu Banbi might still carry traces of a scholar’s demeanor, but his sword did not.

His sword was like the most biting wind and snow of the Northern Frontier - cold, piercing, and deadly.

This was the Sword Dao Liu Banbi had cultivated after spending many years in the Northern Frontier, killing countless demons.

His sword may not be the finest sword, but it was certainly the deadliest in the world today.

Because he trained the sword solely to kill demons, to kill more demons.

That was why Liu Banbi’s sword was like this.

Unyieldingly fierce, carrying the purest, most direct killing intent.

That sword light streaked across the sky like a brilliant meteor, ultimately crashing into the giant hand.

Then, for a brief moment, the world fell silent.

The giant hand dissipated, turning into wind and snow that fell back down, blending seamlessly with the world.

A swordsman in a green slowly emerged from the snowstorm.

He held a sword in hand, with a blade of wild grass between his lips that he had found from who knows where. He spat it out and cursed loudly toward the distance, “Wei Xu, all your life, you’ve just been reading those damn useless books! What good are they?”

Wei Xu frowned but still responded calmly, ”Say that to Teacher.”

Liu Banbi sneered, “I’m scolding you, not Teacher!”

Wei Xu remained silent.

Liu Banbi walked over to Xie Nandu, then looked up at the enormous dharma idol and clicked his tongue, “This ugly thing is pretty scary-looking!”

He then turned his gaze to the great demon fighting Wei Xu in the distance, smiling as he said, “Isn’t this an old friend, Yuan Xu? What a coincidence, we meet again.”

The great demon who was still considered calm earlier, was now filled with murderous intent the moment he saw Liu Banbi. The two had a deep grudge. Back then, during a battle at the Northern Frontier Great Wall, Liu Banbi had seriously injured him. The great demon had nearly lost his life and only managed to escape by relying on a secret technique.

That battle was seen by Yuan Xu as a great humiliation. But for Liu Banbi, it was the fight that made his name resound across the Northern Frontier.

He had essentially climbed to fame by stepping on Yuan Xu’s shoulders.

This was why Yuan Xu harbored such intense killing intent toward Wei Xu, who also hailed from the academy.

However, despite wanting to tear Liu Banbi apart and devour him, he knew full well that this sword immortal, who honed his skills through countless battles in the Northern Frontier, had continually sharpened his sword intent. His mastery of the sword had reached heights that Yuan Xu could no longer handle.

”But today, Your Father isn’t in the mood to deal with you,” Liu Banbi said nonchalantly. ”You’re not fighting my little junior brother anyway, just Wei Xu, this guy who only knows how to study.”

Liu Banbi withdrew his gaze and focused back on the towering dharma idol. Exhaling a breath of turbid air, he asked, “What’s your name?”

After a brief silence, a voice echoed from within the snowstorm, “Wang Chuan.”

Liu Banbi responded with a casual ”Oh,” and then smiled and said, “Not a bad name. But since you dared lay a hand on my junior sister, you really do have to die.”

After saying this, Liu Banbi added matter-of-factly, ”Wei Xu, though you’re pretty useless, don’t worry if you can’t last. Just watch from the side. It’s not like Your Father hasn’t fought one-on-two before, it’s no big deal. But if you let this guy escape today, Your Father’s next attack will be aimed at you.”

His voice was not loud, but it was enough for Wei Xu to hear.

He remained silent.

The truth was, he and this fellow disciple rarely interacted. Fundamentally, it was because they had little in common. Wei Xu came from the Wei Family, and was a true descendant of an aristocratic family, and carried himself with the refined mannerisms of his background. On the other hand, Liu Banbi had been undisciplined and carefree from the moment he entered the academy. Naturally, this created an unbridgeable chasm between them.

Putting it bluntly, it was the so-called difference in backgrounds.

But in truth, it was simply a matter of their contrasting personalities that led to the current situation.

Neither of them had any intention of backing down.

Some people are just like that - each walks their own path, even if both roads lead to the same destination.

At least, for the moment, they happened to be on the same path.

Wei Xu muttered to himself, ”Studying books has its value. What do you even understand, Liu Banbi?”

Liu Banbi was not too concerned about the towering dharma idol representing that great demon. He simply turned his head, smiling at Xie Nandu, ”Little Junior Sister, how do you want him to die?”

Although both were at the Nepenthe stage, if the gap between them was not too great, it would be difficult to decide life and death. But now that Liu Banbi was determined to kill, there was no doubt that he could make it happen.

In these years at the Northern Frontier, Liu Banbi’s cultivation had progressed steadily. But what truly allowed his Sword Dao to skyrocket was witnessing the final sword strike of a great sword immortal in Xuanling County before he returned to the Divine Capital. It was that night in the academy when he resolved his inner conflicts with his teacher, and later, the day he sought answers at Sword Sect.

These events were like scattered fragments that Liu Banbi gradually pieced together.

They completed his Sword Dao and made his state of mind even clearer.

At this moment, the current Liu Banbi was far stronger than the Liu Banbi of years past.

If the Great Sword Immortal Realm was a mountain, then at this moment, Liu Banbi had already glimpsed that mountain.

Since he could see it, reaching its base was only a matter of time.

Liu Banbi simply needed to stay alive and keep moving forward.

Xie Nandu’s face was pale, but she still said calmly, ”Senior Brother Liu, I’ll leave it to your judgment.”

Liu Banbi burst out laughing, ”Little Junior Sister is truly still Little Junior Sister. Such composure is beyond what ordinary people can compare to.”

Before he even finished speaking, a sword light shot up from the ground!

Then countless sword lights followed, rising from the snowy earth. In an instant, the entire storm was filled with sword lights piercing the heavens.

Amidst the countless sword lights, Liu Banbi laughed heartily.

Compared to Wei Xu’s earlier moves, Liu Banbi’s technique displayed boundless grandeur and overwhelming momentum from the very start.

This was perhaps more in line with what people imagined from cultivators at the Nepenthe stage.

Gao Xuan watched this scene and was momentarily dazed, marveling, ”This is true liberation!”

The splendor of a sword immortal should indeed be like this.

As Liu Banbi rose with the sword lights amidst the snowstorm, the Embracing Cicada in his hand hummed like the call of a winter cicada, shaking the heavens and earth!

Before the towering dharma idol, Liu Banbi might have seemed like a mere ant, but the myriad sword lights were dazzling beyond compare.

Heaven and earth was ablaze with brilliance!