One person: I, Daoist Master, am a cultivator of immortality!

Sun Yao immediately used a boulder to block Su Muyu's eighteen flying swords. Su Muyu manipulated the flying swords to reform a sword formation, which then began to revolve around Sun Yao, with him at the center.

The Eighteen Swords Formation was not originally Su Muyu's unique skill, but was created by Su Shiba, a legendary assassin from the Dark River Su family.

Legend has it that a hundred years ago, Su Shiba, an assassin from the Su family, was tasked with killing his beloved. After completing his mission, Su Shiba created the Eighteen Swords Formation, modeled after her playing the zither. Later, Su Muyu recreated the Eighteen Swords Formation using only a fragmented musical score.

Su Muyu's sword formation is somewhat reminiscent of Deng Tai'a's, representing the pinnacle of swordsmanship and cultivating a killing sword technique.

"Master, what was that move you just used? Can you teach me?"

"This move, its general name is Fuxi Bagua. Whether I can teach it to you depends on your comprehension."

Xu Fengnian appeared to be joking around during the battle, but in reality, he was provoking Su Muyu to make a move so that Sun Yao could find an opening.

Unfortunately, he underestimated Su Muyu's true nature as an assassin; such a slight underestimation meant nothing to him.

Seeing Su Muyu's expressionless face, Xu Fengnian knew that his little trick had failed. And so, the situation fell silent once more.

Su Muyu's eighteen flying swords remained drawn, leaving Sun Yao constantly on guard against his sudden attacks. A state of heightened tension creates openings, and this was precisely the opportunity Su Muyu had been waiting for.

Eighteen flying swords circled around Sun Yao, each one like a venomous snake ready to devour him at any moment.

Sun Yao looked around at the flying swords. Each sword seemed to be poised to strike. It was impossible to tell which sword would be the next killing move just by looking at it.

"I've never liked passive defense; I believe offense is the best defense. Azure Dragon, smash them!"

At Sun Yao's command, a pale blue stream of light flew out from the treasure pouch at his waist.

Slicing through the void at a speed invisible to the naked eye, with only the clanging of metal against metal, thirteen of Su Muyu's eighteen flying swords were shattered in the blink of an eye.

Su Muyu quickly withdrew the other flying swords, and the streak of light landed beside Sun Yao.

Only then did everyone see the true form of the streak of light: a longsword, crystal clear and radiating lightning. Light flowed within the sword, as if a dragon were being nurtured within its blade.

"This is... a sword? This sword is probably no weaker than the Great Ming Vermilion Bird, a secret weapon of Wushuang City!"

"I've heard of the Great Ming Vermilion Bird, but I've never seen it. However, I believe that no sword in this world can compare to my Azure Dragon and Candle Dragon."

"Azure Dragon and Candle Dragon? They are actually twin swords. If a single sword is so powerful, how much more so are twin swords?"

The one who spoke these words was neither Su Muyu, whose flying sword was damaged, nor Xu Fengnian, who had just been accepted as a disciple, but Xiao Se, the master of Snowfall Manor.

He believed that after entering the realm of carefree heaven (celestial phenomena), he had seen many masters, but those who fought like today were still rare.

"Su Muyu, do you still want to continue? You've lost your Eighteen Sword Formation. Can you really defeat me with just your swordsmanship?"

"The Dark River assassins never abandon their missions because of the disparity in strength between themselves and their enemies. Even if all eighteen of my swords are shattered here, the Dark River mission must still be completed."

Su Muyu picked up the sword hidden in the umbrella handle, seemingly intending to fight Sun Yao with his swordsmanship.

"The white crane flies south, and the Huai River flows between us. You still don't know if she's dead or not. Su Muyu, are you really willing to die like this?"

Sun Yao's words finally stirred the heart of Su Muyu, who had never been emotionally swayed for millennia. In the end, no one can overcome the power of love, not even Su Muyu, the assassin from the Dark River.

Su Muyu was not Su Changhe after all; he could not be truly ruthless. If he could truly be ruthless, he would not have been able to comprehend the Eighteen Sword Formation, which was based on emotion.

His mind was affected, which naturally created a fleeting opportunity. A streak of light flashed through the void, and the flying sword Azure Dragon came to a steady stop at Su Muyu's neck.

"You see, even assassins are human. You still have things you care about. Don't take your life for granted. I actually admire you for that."

Sun Yao gently raised his hand, and the Azure Dragon slowly retreated from Su Muyu's neck, returning to Sun Yao's side in the blink of an eye, circling around him continuously.

"What do you mean by this? You could decide my life in an instant, so what are you doing?"

“I’ve said before that I admire you. You have the potential to become a true sword immortal. I don’t want the world to lose a true sword immortal because of my sword.”

"you?"

"Sword Immortal?"

Everyone was shocked by the words "Sword Immortal." The people of Beili, of course, knew what "Sword Immortal" meant.

The five great sword immortals of Beili are famous throughout the world: Lone Sword Immortal Luo Qingyang, Snow Moon Sword Immortal Li Hanyi, Confucian Sword Immortal Xie Xuan, Wrathful Sword Immortal Yan Zhantian, and Daoist Sword Immortal Zhao Yuzhen.

Each of them possesses the strength of a carefree and unrestrained individual, reaching the legendary realm of a sword immortal.

Among them, the strongest, such as Zhao Yuzhen and Luo Qingyang, even possessed the strength of the Divine Travel Realm, which is the realm of terrestrial immortals.

Sun Yao asserted that Su Muyu had a chance to reach the realm of sword immortals, which shocked everyone.

"Fine, I owe you my life. You can return it to me anytime you want."

After Su Muyu finished speaking, she slowly left Snowfall Manor. However, now Snowfall Manor is nothing but ruins.

Sun Yao was about to leave with Xu Fengnian and Lao Huang, but Xiao Se blocked their way.

"You destroyed my inn, and you think you can just leave like that? At least that idiot knew to pay compensation, but you just want to walk away like nothing happened?"

"Hey, interesting. This is the first time someone's tried to scam me. Old Huang, did you see that? This is a good job, you deserve a reward!"

Seeing Xiao Se blocking his way, Xu Fengnian became interested.

“Young master, extorting money is not as quick as robbing it. It’s not a good way to make money. It’s more satisfying to just rob someone than to extort them. I think those bandits from earlier were a good target for robbery.”

"How to say?"

“Those thugs were obviously habitual robbers. They live on the edge, how could they not have any money to save? I think they could have robbed a few hundred taels of silver.”

Seeing that Jian Jiuhuang was steer the conversation further and further off course, Xiao Se immediately realized that they were trying to change the subject.

"I don't care. It's because of you that my Snowfall Manor was destroyed. If you don't have money, then you're responsible for escorting me to Snowmoon City. As long as I can get to Snowmoon City safely, and you go with this idiot to get the money, then we'll call it even, how about it?"

Xiao Se turned his gaze to Xu Fengnian. He was smart enough to know that if Xu Fengnian made a decision, the other two would not object.

After all, one was his master, and the other called him young master; both of them had a very close relationship with him.

“Alright, I’m traveling anyway, what’s wrong with going with you?” Xu Fengnian readily agreed.