Cultivating with Top Enlightenment Chapter 705 - 305: Vast Realm Coordinates_2

Ning Qi spoke in a composed tone, "Which sect from the Vast Realm do you belong to?"

Shu Lingyu and Hao Qiuran traded a swift look between them.

To gain some extra moments, Hao Qiuran answered, "We serve as elders in the White Crane Immortal Sect!"

"Immortal Sect?" Ning Qi whispered to himself.

"And what about you?" Shu Lingyu held back his rising frustration and inquired.

Ning Qi remained silent for a long stretch. His eyes fixed on the realm node clutched in his grasp, lost in some deep contemplation.

Standing beside Ning Qi, the Sword Ancestor spoke up, "It looks like they activated something just now, probably calling for reinforcements. Better to seize them right away."

Ning Qi chuckled lightly, "Why not let their allies arrive? It spares us the effort of tracking them. If you're feeling restless, go ahead and spar with the less formidable one first."

Ning Qi had long recognized the Sword Ancestor's impressive power and aptitude.

Were it not for the stubborn, untreatable evil qi plaguing the Sword Ancestor, he could well have advanced to the Unity Realm by now.

At present, the Sword Ancestor's progress was tied closely to Ning Qi's own cultivation level.

Ning Qi had reached the late Integration Realm, and so had the Sword Ancestor's cultivation.

The Sword Ancestor let out a resigned sigh, shifted his attention to Hao Qiuran, and remarked, "I can tell what's on your mind—either biding time for backup or scheming to overpower the young Ning Qi."

"Ning Qi?"

That was when Shu Lingyu and Hao Qiuran first heard Ning Qi's name.

The Sword Ancestor went on, "Whatever plot you're hatching, it won't work out. Instead of awaiting your doom passively, why not step forward and make a move?"

A dark expression crossed their faces.

After cultivating for over ten thousand years, they weren't shocked that their intentions had been exposed so easily.

Hao Qiuran declared, "Alright then, show me the true might of a late Integration Realm cultivator!"

He launched himself skyward, appearing to pull away from Shu Lingyu, ready to clash with the Sword Ancestor alone.

Yet, mere moments after rising three zhang high, he and Shu Lingyu swiftly linked up into a joint formation.

"Crane Head Severs Immortal Path!"

Their forms disappeared from sight in an instant, blending together into a single entity—a twin-headed Immortal Crane that beat its wings fiercely, diving straight at Ning Qi.

They hadn't given up on their initial strategy; despite sensing Ning Qi's overwhelming presence, they still sought to strike at the head to fell the beast.

Even before the twin-headed Immortal Crane closed in, its feathers detached one after another like sacred blades, each infused with multiple rules that wove around Ning Qi to bind him.

One of the crane's heads unleashed a barrage of otherworldly cries, ghostly and faint, but laced with a hidden aura of bleak slaughter.

Each cry warped the surrounding void, and the sounds piercing the ears left numerous cultivators in a stupor, some tumbling straight out of the air.

The other head twisted its elongated neck, as though drawing strength from deep within the crane's frame to surge upward.

Abruptly, the already crimson crests of the heads flared with an enchanting glow, releasing two wisps of pinkish haze that swiftly expanded outward in every direction.

From a distance, the twin-headed Immortal Crane floated amid a veil of scarlet immortal fog, illusory and enchanting, its velocity surging even higher.

Meanwhile, along the tips of the Immortal Crane's wings, endless chains of Rule Divine power assembled, gleaming with fearsome radiance.

Those wing edges alone sliced open the void as they hurtled toward Ning Qi.

Their assault flowed in perfect harmony, a tactic that could ensnare most foes.

The Sword Ancestor let out a gentle sigh, his figure shifting into a vast and mighty Heaven-Slaying Divine Sword, which tore through the emptiness with blinding speed, outpacing the crane to intercept it.

Chirp!

A piercing wail of agony resounded through the void, shattering the Immortal Crane's spectral calls, parting the blood-red immortal mist, and cleaving the creature cleanly in two!

Two human shapes tumbled free from its midst.

Shu Lingyu's complexion drained of color, while a trickle of blood seeped from Hao Qiuran's mouth.

Shock gripped them both as they stared at the Sword Ancestor resuming his original shape, unable to fathom how his immense might had so effortlessly dismantled their ultimate technique at the late Integration Realm.

The foe's shift relied purely on Sword Dao Rule, akin to an embryonic version of a Unity Realm's rule body.

In the Integration Realm, rules fuse with the physical form, whereas the Unity Realm evolves into a living embodiment of rules.

Making that leap proves incredibly arduous, demanding the perfect alignment of body, primordial spirit, and intent to birth a rule body—a truly formidable hurdle.

Yet the impression the Sword Ancestor left on them screamed Unity seed, which filled them with dread!

They ranked as elite Venerables, with one even an Extreme Venerable brushing against the Unity Realm's edge, but neither had achieved such a profound metamorphosis as the Sword Ancestor!

The Sword Ancestor stated, "As I warned, you never stood a chance!"

Hao Qiuran brushed the blood from his mouth and told Shu Lingyu, "Senior Brother Shu, it seems we must yield to their terms!"

Shu Lingyu gave a reluctant nod.

Hao Qiuran darted away to a distant patch of void, with the Sword Ancestor in pursuit.

Soon enough, the pair dove back into combat.

Having seen the Sword Ancestor's breathtaking slash earlier, Hao Qiuran faltered more and more during the duel, utterly dominated by the Sword Ancestor.

Before long, wounds and blood marred Hao Qiuran from head to toe!

This restraint came from the Sword Ancestor's mercy, since Ning Qi had ordered their live capture long ago, blocking any chance of them detonating their cores in desperation.

Luckily, fulfilling both demands lay well within the Sword Ancestor's grasp. Rather than knocking Hao Qiuran out cold, he treated him as a fitting training dummy.

In the end, within the Profound Truth Realm, his spars against Ning Qi always led to losses, and clashes with other sects' Integration Realm experts felt far too basic.

Therefore, the Sword Ancestor viewed this White Crane Immortal Sect's premier Venerable as the perfect outlet for his pent-up energy.

All the while, it allowed him to test the viability of his path toward the Unity Realm.