Li Muxian's body moved like the wind, avoiding Chen Jing's sword. At the same time, one of his hands reached out to grab the hilt of the sword. His hand was shrouded in a faint gray light, and as soon as the sword fell empty, Li Muxian's hand grabbed the hilt, causing the sword to suddenly turn around with incredible agility in mid-air. The sword trembled and swiftly slashed towards Li Muxian's hand. Li Muxian withdrew his hand, and the sword cut through the air again, drawing an arc from bottom to top, slashing upwards towards Li Muxian's abdomen.

  Li Muxian sidestepped like the wind, retreating with a horizontal slash of his sword. In the instant he turned sideways, his sword changed to a straight thrust as he floated backwards.

  The sword rose with white mist, extremely fast, and stabbed directly at Li Muxian's throat.

  Li Muxian's figure was as swift as the wind, and she retreated extremely quickly, saying as she backed away: "This sword technique is indeed extraordinary."

  Chen Jing was silent, his sword tracing a trajectory in the void. The void itself seemed to hold a sword that attacked him as if held by an invisible hand. He retreated quickly, but no matter how fast he moved, the sword was faster. All he could do was dodge again and again, but the sword seemed to have anticipated his movements, changing its trajectory accordingly, each strike aimed at his throat.

  Li Muxian helplessly stretched out her hand again and flicked it towards the sword. A thick grey light enveloped her hand, obscuring her view, and before she knew it, it had already appeared in front of her chest.

  "Ding..."

  The sword was plucked by him with a clear and crisp sound, the sword hummed a gentle and melodious tune.

  Chen Jing's heart skipped a beat, and his sword almost lost control, the connection between him and the sword almost breaking. He hastily calmed himself, focusing all his attention on the sword, just as Li Muxian reached out to grab the hilt.

  The sword was deflected, and Chen Jing lost his composure for only a moment. When he came to, Li Muxian's hand was about to grab the hilt of the sword. His heart tightened, and with a swift thought, the sword spun in mid-air, rotating around the hilt as its center. The hilt barely avoided Li Muxian's hand, and the blade was already slashing towards his throat again. Li Muxian was shocked by Chen Jing's quick reaction, and the slight advantage he had just created was snatched back in the blink of an eye.

  He also knew that Chen Jing had practiced swordsmanship for over a decade, and although he no longer held the sword in his hand to attack, the sword moves were still the same, each move sealing and cutting, several times faster than when holding the sword. It was only then that Chen Jing suddenly realized that the old swordsman's moves were actually an extremely brilliant set of sword techniques, entwining and stabbing, slashing, sweeping, chopping, wiping, and drawing... every move aimed at a vital spot.

  Li Muxian was momentarily careless and fell into the sword net, unable to escape. At first, dodging was not difficult, but after Chen Jing treated his sword as an intangible part of himself, the sword changed in an instant. The initial stiffness of wielding a sword against someone disappeared quickly, and just a moment later, the sword's momentum became unpredictable. Li Muxian was shocked, his hands hidden in his wide sleeves, his body like the wind, narrowly avoiding danger within the sword net. Suddenly, his hand extended again, with an even more intense gray glow, as if a venomous snake were striking its prey.

  One finger pointed at the sword body.

  The sword, however, trembled and flipped direction just as Li Muxian's finger was about to touch it, changing from a thrust to a slash. Li Muxian was shocked in his heart, and his finger immediately withdrew, but it was too late. The sword fell with extreme speed, and the blade slashed at the finger in the gray mist, producing a sound like the clash of metal on metal.

  Li Muxian let out a muffled groan and flew backward, the sword tightly wrapped around him. The sword body was shrouded in a layer of hazy white light, striking Li Muxian's surroundings, trapping him firmly within a spatial confinement, making it impossible for him to escape.

  If someone who knew Li Muxian's reputation in Balington City at this time saw this scene, they would definitely feel unbelievable. Many people in Balington City thought that Li Muxian was the number one master, but today he was trapped in mid-air by Chen Jing with a single sword and couldn't escape.

  Li Muxian's finger was cut off, although it wasn't severed, but it hurt terribly, and he was furious, his face turned iron blue. Suddenly, he took out a talisman from his bosom, the paper was light golden in color, he waved his hand and chanted a strange incantation, the talisman transformed into a ball of golden light that he slapped onto his body. Chen Jing didn't know what kind of magic he was going to use next, so he pressed his sword attack even tighter, but found Li Muxian's body slowly becoming fainter, slowly becoming illusory, until it was as light as smoke, and in a gust of wind, like a reflection on the water, it disappeared into the ripples.

  Chen Jing closed his eyes when Li Muxian disappeared, his right hand pinched the sword finger and gathered in front of his chest, while the distant sword flew back and surrounded him.

  In the distance, all that can be seen is a lone figure standing atop a green mountain peak. The person's clothes are tattered and worn out, their hair disheveled, and they stand barefoot. Their black hair and tattered robes flutter in the wind, yet their expression remains as serene as an old monk in meditation.

  A colorful bird flew out of a cluster of trees, seemingly surprised to see an extra person, and circled back down for a closer look.

  The sword flashed suddenly, cutting through the void, and the colorful bird had not reacted yet was already cut in half.

  Chen Jing closed his eyes, controlling the flying sword with only his mind. At this moment, the world in his perception was a vast darkness, and in this darkness, he could vaguely see the nearby trees, flowers, and grass. Further away, it was pitch black, nothing existed. However, although it was a vast darkness, this darkness was as calm as still water in a deep pool. When the bird flew into this darkness, the darkness rippled like water, layer by layer. Chen Jing thought Li Muxian had approached, and with a slight movement of his heart, he slashed out with his sword. Only after slashing did he realize it wasn't her.

  The art of concealment is not difficult to practice, but it's also not easy. The biggest difference between it and the escape technique is that it leaves no sound or trace, making it hard to grasp. Every school and sect has its own escape and concealment techniques. Perhaps they are similar at first, but as you progress, the differences become more pronounced. The Thousand Rope Sect naturally has its own concealment and escape techniques. Although Chen Jing hasn't practiced them, he has seen the Thousand Rope Sect's concealment technique manual. However, the book also contains a method to break that concealment technique. That method is what Chen Jing is doing now - closing his eyes and relying solely on his mental energy to sense any presence. The stronger one's mental energy, the easier it is to detect someone hiding using the Thousand Rope Sect's concealment technique.

  Chen Jing didn't know how much difference there was between Li Muxian's concealment method and Qian Lu Men's concealment method, nor did he know the way to break other schools' concealment methods, so he could only use the method of breaking Qian Lu Men's concealment method.

  Suddenly, Chen Jing thought that in the calm darkness, a slight ripple appeared, the ripple was very faint, as if it were a gentle breeze blowing on the water.

  At the slightest movement of his mind, the sword had already slashed through the past. This sword in Chen Jing's thoughts had a faint white light, and wherever it passed, the darkness dissipated slightly, illuminating the area where the sword light reached with a hazy glow.

  The flying sword cut through unimpeded, but Chen Jing did not withdraw his hand. The sword body fluttered and danced, creating a flurry of sword flowers that scattered the darkness into fragments. In the hazy light of the dancing sword, Li Muxian's figure was vaguely seen retreating backwards, disappearing into the darkness. However, the sword did not pursue further, for it had already gone far beyond Chen Jing's mental reach.

  Chen Jing was secretly delighted, never expecting that the flying sword and this divine thought would be able to break Li Muxian's invisibility technique.

  His sword body was still rotating around his body, like a shark swimming in the water, ready to swallow its prey at any time. The area within ten meters of this mountain was the range that his divine sense could completely cover.

  He closed his eyes, and in his thoughts was a darkness as black as ink, silent.

  In the silent darkness, only that sword was shining. The place where the sword rotated was illuminated by a faint light emitted from the sword itself. When the sword left, it fell into darkness again.

  A sudden fluctuation appeared in the still darkness, and the sword's momentum changed, pointing far away. The fluctuation was like a fish poking its head out of the deep water, spitting out a bubble on the surface before sinking back into the water, and the surface returned to calmness.

  Those who have seen Li Muxian take action in the city of Balin are most impressed by his empty-handed reception of magical artifacts and spells. Only two or three times, yet each time he was surrounded by a gray glow, countering others' magic or artifacts with his bare hands, each time dispersing the magic and collecting the artifact. However, no one has ever seen him use any magic himself. Now, as he battles Chen Jing, he wants to take down Chen's sword but can't quite manage it; even when trying to get close, that sword blocks his way. Currently using stealth, he still cannot approach.

  Suddenly, a very strong and fast wave came straight at Chen Jing, with an aura like a giant whale jumping out of the water. Chen Jing's heart skipped a beat, his mind moved, and his sword flashed brightly, striking directly at that intense wave.

  "Boom..."

  Under the sword light, Li Muxian's fist hit the blade directly, and the sword flew up. Chen Jing's mind was shocked, a dizzy feeling came, and his divine sense scattered in an instant within a radius of ten meters. He hurriedly calmed down, opened his eyes, and Li Muxian had already arrived nearby, with a fierce killing intent in his eyes.

  Chen Jing had no sword in hand, and his mind was already in disarray. For a moment, he couldn't communicate with the sword that had been knocked flying by a single punch, so he could only respond with another punch.

  "Bang......"

  This was a collision of magical powers, fortunately Chen Jing had known that his own magical power was no match for the opponent's. At the moment when he was hit by the punch, he also borrowed the momentum to float up. This retreat avoided Li Muxian's several points of magical power, but still made Chen Jing involuntarily fly out backwards. He spat out a mouthful of blood while still in mid-air, and Li Muxian only paused for a moment before chasing after him again, with his fist shrouded in thick grey mist, striking at Chen Jing once more.

  Chen Jingru was like a bird with broken wings, falling from the top of the mountain to the turbulent Yangtze River below. As he watched Li Muxian charge down, his killing intent filled the air, but his heart became calm. The effect of his long-term sword cultivation appeared at this moment. In the Thousand Luo Gate, he had to focus his mind and abandon all external distractions in order to wield his sword. Now, while still in mid-air, he was able to let go of concerns for his own safety, and in an instant, his sword intent connected once again.

  Li Muxian charged down with a straight punch and said coldly, "Even if you have some natural talent, today you will still be buried here."

  He let out a light laugh, stepped into the void, and dove down. In his heart, Chen Jing must die in front of him; if he didn't die, he would inevitably become a dangerous person.

  One punch comes down like an eagle swooping down from high altitude to capture its prey.

  He knew that if this punch hit its mark, Chen Jing would be dead for sure, and he was confident that he could hit his opponent when the latter fell into the river.

  Just then, he saw Chen Jing, who was floating in the air, suddenly pointing at him, and heard a hoarse voice shouting:

  A chill runs down the back of one's head, as if icy water is being poured from the top of the head.

  Li Muxian was greatly shocked in his heart, he didn't expect Chen Jing to still be able to control the sword at this time. His body instantly flipped and somersaulted while swinging his arms to defend himself. As for that sword, he had already been extremely cautious, in his heart, no one could force him to use all his strength with just a single spiritual sword.

  The sword hacked down from behind Li Muxian, its gleaming light like frost and snow, emitting a fierce killing intent.

  A stifled groan!

  His arm suddenly felt a sharp pain, and a streak of blood burst forth in the empty air. An arm fell off and dropped into the Yangtze River.

  "Bang......"

  Chen Jing fell into the Yangtze River, and at the moment he fell into the river, he barely managed to grab his sword back in his hand.

  Li Muxian chased after the arm that had fallen towards the Yangtze River, turned around and returned to the mountaintop, looking at the surging river waves. By now, Chen Jing was nowhere to be seen, having been swallowed up by the extremely fast river currents.

  Fresh blood dripped onto the mountain top, and in just a moment, it had already dyed a patch of red.

  Li Muxian's left hand grasped his severed arm, his face icy cold, standing at the mountain top for a long time, until night fell, and still, one could vaguely see a figure.