Clan Rise: Starting as a Grandfather

"You have entered the Dao!"

Xuanzhen the Taoist shook his head slightly, "Entering the Dao? I'm far from it!"

As he spoke, he stepped down mast, but he did not fall. Instead, he floated in mid-air, light as a feather. Regardless of how strong the wind blew, he seemed to be walking on solid ground, moving through the air with ease.

"The stronger the wind, the freer I am in this world!"

"Look, this is the legendary gliding with the wind!"

Yue Minghua was stunned, his mouth agape, as if he had seen a ghost, staring at Xuanzhen the Taoist.

Walking through the air?

Gliding with the wind?

These abilities were the stuff of legends, not to say they didn't exist in the world, but rather they were exceedingly rare.

Xuanzhen the Taoist pondered for a moment, "What I can do can only be considered harnessing the wind, not truly gliding with it, for I cannot control the wind between heaven and earth."

"Perhaps not so, it seems I can control it a little!"

As he said this, he once again flicked his horsetail whisk, and in the next moment, it was as if an invisible rope had latched onto Yue Minghua, pulling him up from the deck into the air.

Yue Minghua's complexion changed slightly, "Break it!"

His longsword swung, cutting through the air with invisible sword energy, dissipating the pulling force, and he fell back onto the deck.

Although he successfully freed himself from Xuanzhen's control, he was filled with dread.

Such power was beyond his comprehension.

And the extent of Xuanzhen's strength far exceeded his expectations.

Xuanzhen looked down at him with a somewhat displeased expression, "Can't you just cooperate with me to perceive it?"

Yue Minghua's face turned shades of green and white.

The power disparity was too great; it was best to flee!

He already wanted to retreat.

Without any hesitation, he fiercely turned and fled towards the edge of the ship.

"Thinking of running now? Too late!"

Xuanzhen's figure accelerated sharply, as if he was flying in the air, diving down at an angle.

Of course, he couldn't actually fly; he was merely using the power of the wind to move through the air. With a step on the ship's rail for leverage, he shot forward over a hundred yards, and in the blink of an eye, he was already behind Yue Minghua.

"Qu Le!"

Hearing the strong wind behind him, Yue Minghua hurriedly yelled to Qu Le, who was not far away battling Liang Shengze.

Qu Le glanced over, and the next moment, his heart trembled fiercely.

Because he saw that Xuanzhen the Taoist was actually flying behind Yue Minghua, yes, Xuanzhen at that moment looked almost as if he had taken flight.

Not to mention Qu Le, even Liang Shengze was stupefied.

Qu Le reacted quickly, almost instinctively turning to run.

But just as he thought to escape, Xuanzhen the Taoist had no intention of letting him go.

With a flick of his horsetail whisk, a gust of wind swept towards Qu Le, forcibly dragging him back several yards through the air.

"Old Marquis, don't let them escape!"

Xuanzhen still had the mind to remind Liang Shengze, who found his brain somewhat unable to keep up and just subconsciously responded, "Oh, right—"

Xuanzhen's interception of Qu Le caused a momentary delay, and Yue Minghua had managed to flee over ten yards.

In fact, in terms of speed, Yue Minghua was not much slower than Xuanzhen. Though Xuanzhen could harness the wind to move, his cultivation was only slightly higher than Yue Minghua's, and the gap in cultivation between the two was not as vast as one would imagine.

In terms of entering Ruwei and uncovering the Mystical Mechanism, the two were more or less on par. As for entering the Dao, Xuanzhen had only touched upon it slightly, but this tiny bit of Taoist Intent could evolve into countless possibilities.

Yang Zhenshan, who was engaged in combat with Qu Fusheng, suddenly took notice of Yue Minghua dashing by and his mind sharply focused.

He failed to notice Xuanzhen the Taoist's condition because he happened to see Xuanzhen stepping on the waves, so he thought the two were entangled in combat.

Driving Qu Fusheng back with a spear thrust, Yang Zhenshan turned his attention towards Yue Minghua.

To him, Yue Minghua posed a much greater threat than Qu Fusheng. Qu Fusheng's cultivation was not as advanced as his, and the only reason he had not yet bested Qu Fusheng was due to the fact that he was battling at sea, where his Water Stepping Skill was inferior to Qu Fusheng's.

In comparison to Qu Fusheng, Yue Minghua was undoubtedly more formidable. Even if Yue Minghua only slightly affected him during the battle, he still had to be cautious.

Now his attention shifted to the swiftly approaching Yue Minghua, unaware that Yue Minghua was fleeing for his life.

Yue Minghua also noticed Yang Zhenshan blocking his path and bellowed with a ferocious expression, "Move aside!"

Yang Zhenshan narrowed his eyes slightly, his mind reaching an unprecedented level of concentration.

The sword intent was fierce, subjecting him to immense pressure.

Xuanzhen noticed Yang Zhenshan too. His flying figure suddenly accelerated again, attempting to intercept Yue Minghua before she could reach Zhengshan.

To the side, Qu Fusheng saw this scene unfold and, instead of retreating, he advanced, charging straight at Yang Zhenshan.

His thought was to coordinate with Yue Minghua to capture Yang Zhenshan; he was unaware that Yue Minghua was thinking only of escape and had no intention to cooperate with him.

But the pincer attack from both sides increased the pressure on Yang Zhenshan greatly.

Retreat!

Impossible!

Retreating a single step would mean falling into a disadvantage, into an even greater peril.

Yang Zhenshan, having been through countless battles, naturally understood that against formidable enemies, retreating was only to one's detriment.

Especially against someone like Yue Minghua, to retreat one step might well be to fall into an abyss.

Under the formidable pressure, with his attention intensely focused, Yang Zhenshan thrust his spear out furiously.

The spear thrust like a dragon, his figure like a green rainbow, shattering wind and waves.

Yue Minghua thrust her sword directly, and in an instant, sword shadows flew, like waves, like tides, surging toward him.

Her technique was very similar to Yang Zhenshan's spear creating multiple shadows, but it was far stronger than Yang Zhenshan, as he only just touched upon the threshold of Ruwei and Mystical Mechanism.

Meanwhile, Yue Minghua had long reached the realm of Ruwei, and had also understood much of the subtleties of the Mystical Mechanism.

As the sword energy cut across, the waves of it bore down on Yang Zhenshan like a tide.

Crack~~

A bolt of lightning suddenly lit up the dark sky, and Yang Zhenshan's eyes shone brightly.

Boom~~

The sound of thunder rolled, not from the sky above but exploding from within Yang Zhenshan's body.

"Break for me!"

A roar, accompanied by the rolling thunder, shockingly spread out.

It suppressed the sounds of wind and rain, the waves, and the cries of battle all around.

The spear, like startling thunder, at its utmost speed, pierced Yue Minghua's throat.

The remaining will of Yue Minghua had only one thought: Have I been struck by lightning?

She didn't even know what happened, only feeling a flash of lightning before her eyes, and the next moment, her vitality swiftly dissipated, and her consciousness began to fade away.

Likewise, Xuanzhen behind Yue Minghua didn't react in time. He saw a bright spear light piercing through Yue Minghua's neck, and he was momentarily stunned.

Qu Fusheng was even more puzzled; he was still bringing his staff down on Yang Zhenshan.

Yang Zhenshan sidestepped, hiding behind the long spear, and blocked Qu Fusheng's staff with it.

Another flash of lightning appeared, and Qu Fusheng's eyes bulged.

He saw Yue Minghua—or to be precise, her head impaled on the tip of the spear.

At this time, Yue Minghua's eyes were wide open; her gaunt body hung from the spearhead like tattered cloth.

Her wrinkled face was right in front of Qu Fusheng's eyes.

After the initial shock, Qu Fusheng was suddenly filled with fear, and his figure retreated more than ten zhang.

Once he retreated, Yang Zhenshan shook his long spear, tossing Yue Minghua's body into the water.

When the spear was retracted, the tip was still dripping with blood, the blood of Yue Minghua, and the rainwater from the sky.

Blood dripped from the spear tip, falling into the churning waves.

"This spear!"

Xuanzhen looked at Yang Zhenshan in shock and uncertainty.

At this moment, Yang Zhenshan's eyes blazed intensely, scarily bright, like stars in the night sky, exceptionally captivating in this bleak rainy weather.

"This spear is called Thunderbolt!"

He said, somewhat excitedly.

Thunderbolt!

It was just a name he came up with on the spot, also what he thought of when he saw that bolt of lightning.

But this spear thrust was not the first time he had used it; back in the day, at the battle at the Divine Sun Sect gate in the Capital City, he also delivered an inspired spear thrust that killed the Red Monarch.

Today's thrust was just like that one: somewhat inexplicable yet extremely fast, impossible to dodge, and leaving no time for reaction.