He stared at Li Chang’an for a long time before bursting into laughter. "Good. Very good. In that case, let me see what you’re really made of, that you dare to boast so shamelessly!"
Before his voice had faded, the white-robed old man flicked his sleeve. The originally normal-sized sleeve instantly expanded, becoming as vast as the sky itself and enveloping Li Chang’an.
Li Chang’an turned to flee.
But the sleeve was so immense that no matter how fast he was, he couldn’t possibly escape it.
Since he couldn’t escape, he stopped trying.
Li Chang’an once again drew the Longsword from Emperor Wu of Zhou’s waist and slashed violently at the sleeve-robe.
The blade struck the massive canopy formed by the sleeve, yet it produced a piercing screech of metal grinding against metal.
The white-robed old man’s sleeve, which should have been made of ordinary silk, remained completely unscathed. The sharp blade had only managed to scrape a shower of flickering sparks from its surface!
Li Chang’an was slightly astonished. This was just an incarnation, after all, with likely less than one-third of the main body’s combat power.
He never imagined it would be this powerful in a fight.
’An old monster who’s managed to survive in the Cultivation Realm for thousands, maybe tens of thousands of years, really isn’t so easy to deal with!’
Li Chang’an tossed aside the Longsword, grabbed the tightening sleeve, and pushed the Martial Scripture to its absolute limit. Dozens, even hundreds, of his already-refined acupoints began to spin madly within his body!
RRRIP!
The muscles in his arms swelled, and with his bare hands, he forcibly tore a gap in the very sleeve that the Longsword couldn’t even cut.
During this process, Li Chang’an did not use his Soul Fire to burn it.
Because his opponent was merely an incarnation, using such a trump card might attract the main body’s attention and vigilance.
He believed in striking only when it mattered, and with the force of a thunderbolt.
If he drew his opponent’s attention now, then the next time he faced the main body, his Soul Fire might lose the element of surprise that made it a killing-blow trump card!
With Li Chang’an’s veteran combat experience, he would never make such a low-level mistake during a fight.
Seeing that Li Chang’an had actually torn through his Universe-in-a-Sleeve technique with brute force, the old man’s expression changed completely. Although this was just an incarnation with less than one-fifth of his main body’s power, he was still a genuine Late-stage Nascent Soul Cultivator. Even at one-fifth strength, his Technique shouldn’t have been torn apart by a mere Martial Artist from the Lower Realm!
The sleeve was torn, and Li Chang’an scrambled out.
The white-robed old man snorted coldly. His five withered fingers grasped at the air, pulling a crimson flame out of the Void itself and hurling it at Li Chang’an!
The crimson flame grew larger as it flew through the air, finally transforming into a massive Fire Dragon dozens of meters long!
The Fire Dragon roared at Li Chang’an. Its scorching flames gave him the same horrifying sensation he’d felt when he first faced the Soul Fire.
After narrowly dodging the Fire Dragon’s attack, Li Chang’an glanced back at the white-robed old man, who still stood with his hands behind his back, then turned his head to look at the sacrificial altar not far away.
Upon discovering that the altar was still continuously draining the children’s blood and Life Essence to replenish his opponent’s power, Li Chang’an shot forward like an arrow loosed from a bowstring. He ran to the base of the altar, then launched himself dozens of meters into the air with a powerful push from his feet, landing on top of it.
The Fire Dragon was still in hot pursuit behind him.
Li Chang’an raised his foot and stomped down hard, shattering the complex Array Patterns on the altar’s surface to pieces.
With the Array Patterns destroyed, the altar’s glow dimmed considerably. The flow of vitality and Life Essence to the old man was cut off.
The old man snorted coldly and said flatly, "You think you can win just like that? You’re dreaming! Even if I have no source of Energy, killing a little mouse like you is a trivial matter!"
As his voice fell, the white-robed old man also stamped his foot.
Immediately, an Earth Dragon burst forth from the ground!
As the Earth Dragon shot up from the ground, the entire Great Zhou Ancestral Temple trembled. The Royal Clan Relatives who were still nimble on their feet had already scattered and fled, vanishing without a trace.
Only a group whose legs had turned to jelly from fear and a few others remained.
Li Chang’an shot a look at Li Shiran and Li Yuanqing below the altar, signaling for them to take care of the children, before charging back into the fray.
The Earth Dragon and Fire Dragon were both basic Techniques that only High-tier Cultivators could master. In a sense, they were advanced versions of the Fireball Skill that Li Chang’an often used.
However, just because they were basic Techniques didn’t mean they were simple. On the contrary, in the Cultivation World, the more common a Technique, the more useful it was.
Compared to the ordinary Fireball Skill, the creatures summoned by these High Tier elemental summoning Techniques even possessed a degree of Spirituality, allowing them to track and fight enemies on their own.
Therefore, the Spiritual Power required to cast them was naturally quite considerable, and the threshold to learn them was also very high.
At the very least, one had to be a Cultivator at the Nascent Soul Realm to master them.
In other words, the white-robed old man’s true strength was that of a Nascent Soul Realm Cultivator, and he was very likely one of the elites among them.
Back in the later stages of his previous life, at the peak of his power, Li Chang’an could have barely managed to fight a Nascent Soul Cultivator.
But now, Li Chang’an wasn’t even twenty years old. He was naturally no match for a true Nascent Soul Cultivator.
Fortunately, however, his opponent was not at full strength. Furthermore, Li Chang’an had the title of "Fated Rival," which allowed him to deal 200% damage in battles against Cultivators!
The Fire Dragon and Earth Dragon gave Li Chang’an a terrible time, leaving him battered and bruised, but they just couldn’t kill him.