Top-tier Unruly Master

"But that's all...." Ding Fan stood with his hands behind his back, speaking with an infuriatingly nonchalant air.

At this point, the masked man was just standing there, not uttering another arrogant word.

Just now, Ding Fan actually used a Wind Blade to directly block the Blade Gleam. One must know, a Blade Gleam has form, while a Wind Blade has none. To use the formless Wind Blade to directly block a Blade Gleam, one needs to condense the Wind Blade to a point, and also master Inner Strength to an impeccable degree.

This feat was something the masked man knew he could not accomplish himself. Since Ding Fan could do it, it meant that Ding Fan was far more skillful than he was.

When masters clash, a single move can determine the victor, and the masked man knew that there was no way he could defeat Ding Fan with his blade technique if they continued like this.

"Forcing me to this extent, even if you die here today, you can be proud," the masked man said indifferently.

"Same as before, if you want to kill me, show your ability!" Ding Fan said blandly.

The masked man snorted coldly. "Then wait for your death."

As he spoke, the masked man directly took out a crystal ball from his storage ring. The ball was slightly smaller than a soccer ball, translucent and glimmering with a blue light, looking quite imbued with an Immortal aura.

Ding Fan's brow furrowed slightly. At that moment, he felt an extremely powerful spiritual power emanating from the crystal ball.

"Everyone, be careful!" Ding Fan called out to Cheng Bufan and Uncle Bian Wu, who were nearby.

"Too late," the masked man declared, as the crystal ball in his hand immediately emitted a brilliant glow that reached thousands of feet.

For a moment, Ding Fan felt extremely dazzled; the beam of light rendered him unable to open his eyes.

Ding Fan quickly closed his eyes, and to prevent a sneak attack from the masked man, he fully opened his Divine Sense, not daring to relax in the slightest.

However, when Ding Fan projected his Divine Sense, something extremely astonishing happened—he couldn't detect the masked man's presence at all.

Ding Fan intensified the effort of his Divine Sense, and to his greater shock, not only could he not find the masked man, he couldn't even detect Cheng Bufan and Uncle Bian Wu, who were just by his side.

Ding Fan was greatly startled; his cultivation had reached the Peak of Qi Cultivation, and his Divine Sense was exceptionally strong. The masked man and Cheng Bufan had been right in front of him, so there was no reason for him not to detect them.

By now, Ding Fan had adjusted to the surrounding light, and he slowly opened his eyes.

The moment he opened his eyes, he was immediately shocked by the scene before him.

Instead of the forest scene that surrounded them before, Ding Fan found himself in Dancheng, in the villa where he lived after his rebirth, with Zhou Ruoran.

The villa was crystal clear in every detail, down to the blades of grass, and even the Fragrant Mind-Consolidating Grass he had planted in the small flowerbed.

Everything seemed so real.

"Ding Fan..." Just then, a gentle and soft voice came from behind him.

Ding Fan turned to look, and the person calling his name was none other than Zhou Ruoran.

"Ruoran?"

Zhou Ruoran, with her hair tied into a neat ponytail, had a face that was stunningly beautiful, with clear eyes like autumn water, simply gazing quietly at him.

"Ruoran..."

As Ding Fan spoke, he walked towards Zhou Ruoran.

Suddenly, Zhou Ruoran inexplicably had a Short Blade in her hand.

Ding Fan was taken aback. "Ruoran, what are you doing?"

"Ding Fan, I loved you so much, yet you fell in love with someone else behind my back, Ye Ningqing, Qin Manshu..." Zhou Ruoran's expression became serious, and her eyes turned a bit terrifying.

"Ruoran, I always wanted to explain... but I didn't know how to tell you..." Ding Fan frowned deeply. "Ye Ningqing defied her family for my sake, I can't let her down. And Qin Manshu, she has been so kind and righteous to me. I..."

"It's too late for words! If I can't have what I love, then I'll make you die!" Zhou Ruoran said and with that, the Short Blade in her hand thrust straight toward Ding Fan's chest.

Thump...

Just as Zhou Ruoran's Short Blade was about to pierce Ding Fan's heart, he swiftly grabbed her hand.

"You are not Zhou Ruoran..." Ding Fan's gaze intensified.

"Ding Fan, can't you even recognize who I am?"

At that moment, Zhou Ruoran's face began to shift and ultimately transformed into Ye Ningbing's visage.

"All illusions! Die!" Ding Fan, gathering his True Qi, sent out a forceful blast, and instantly, the illusion of Ye Ningbing turned into smoke and vanished without a trace.

Ding Fan looked around him.

The scenery was no longer the villa in Dancheng; the surroundings had changed into a sea of fire and Magma.

Suddenly, a wave of intense heat struck, causing Ding Fan to feel a wave of dizziness.

All of this... All of this is an illusion...

Ding Fan now slowly closed his eyes. "I must find a way out of this illusion..."

...

At this moment, atop the arena.

Ding Fan stood quietly with his eyes closed, enveloped in a beam of light. With his eyes shut, he seemed as though he had fallen asleep.

"What have you done to my sworn brother?"

Right then, Cheng Bufan stepped out, sword in hand, and shielded Ding Fan behind him.

"Your sworn brother is quite formidable, but he's too naive. In the end, he will still die by my hand." The masked man snorted coldly. "What I just released was the Martial God Illusionary Formation. This is a treasure that I came across by chance within the Ancient Martial Ruins. Once the Great Formation is activated, anyone trapped by it will be forever sealed in their own world, never able to escape..."

At this point, the masked man's face showed a smug expression. "In other words, your sworn brother, from now on, will forever become a vegetable... Hahaha..."

"What did you say?" Cheng Bufan's face filled with rage. "You'd better let my sworn brother go; otherwise, I'll make sure you die a gruesome death."

"Let him out? I'm afraid that's not possible. Let me put it this way, this Formation is a legacy of an Ancient sage, and no one in this world can break this Formation."

"Then you must die!"

Cheng Bufan was enraged, and with a flourish of his longsword, he immediately lunged at the masked man.

"Cheng Bufan, you do have some cultivation, but in my presence, you are only fit to be beaten!"

Upon saying this, the masked man swung his long blade, directly bringing forth a swath of blade gleam. In the blink of an eye, Cheng Bufan was already engulfed in the blade light.

The quick blade in the masked man's hand was extremely fierce, and with just one exchange with Cheng Bufan, Cheng's arm was already wounded by the opponent's long blade.

With the masked man's profound cultivation paired with such a fast blade, Cheng Bufan found himself on the defensive at every turn.

Swish, swish, swish...

The two dueled for about ten minutes, and then, with one swift strike, the masked man knocked Cheng Bufan to the ground.

A three-inch long gash appeared on Cheng Bufan's chest, with flesh turned inside out and blood flowing profusely, looking extremely gruesome.

"The two of you are quite the devoted brothers, aren't you? When you took your oaths of brotherhood, did you also say that line, 'Wishing not to live under the same sky, but to die on the same day'?..."

As the masked man spoke, he readied his long blade horizontally. "Today, I'll grant you your wish, letting you both die on the same day and the same month..."

Cheng Bufan tried to push himself up from the ground, but the wound was too severe. After a few attempts, he failed to get up. "If you've got the guts, then come at me; you think I'm afraid of you!"

Seeing Cheng Bufan like this, the masked man chuckled. "Not bad, you've got some backbone. Since that's the case, I can offer you a free show."

With that, the masked man slowly approached Ding Fan.

At this time, Ding Fan stood with eyes closed, completely defenseless.

"What are you going to do?" Cheng Bufan asked sharply, his gaze fixed on the masked man.

"I've said it before, my fast blade is incredibly lethal. My record is thirty seconds to turn a living person into a skeleton, stripping away all the flesh and blood from the body while their heart is still beating. Now I intend to strip away all the flesh from your sworn brother's body. Let's see if I can break my record and do it in less than twenty seconds."

As he spoke, the masked man slowly raised his long blade, pointing the tip at Ding Fan's throat.

"You motherfucker... you dare!" Cheng Bufan, forcing himself up, staggered to his feet, and with all the strength he could muster, charged directly at the masked man.

The masked man certainly didn't expect Cheng Bufan, already in such a state, to be able to stand up. Caught off guard, he was sent flying by Cheng Bufan's charge.

After sending the masked man flying, Cheng Bufan, clutching his longsword, stood protectively in front of Ding Fan despite his unsteady form.

"Good... I didn't expect you to be so loyal..." The masked man got up from the ground. "Now I actually have some respect for you."

The masked man approached Cheng Bufan. "I'll give you a chance to live."

Cheng Bufan stood supported by his sword, preventing himself from falling.

The masked man continued. "Just slice your sworn brother's throat now, and I'll let you go."

Cheng Bufan snorted lightly. "Do you think I'm that kind of person?"

The masked man said. "If you don't cut your sworn brother's throat, you'll still die by my hand in the end, and if I have to kill your sworn brother, I'll use even more brutal methods. If you cut his throat, he might die a little easier. You also get to keep your life."

Cheng Bufan glanced back at Ding Fan, who still had his eyes closed.

"This is your only chance. Not everyone gets an opportunity like this," the masked man stated.

Cheng Bufan declared. "My sworn brother and I resonated in spirit. Today, even if we die, dying together will leave us with no regrets... If you're going to attack, then attack; no need for more talk!"

The masked man snorted coldly. "I gave you a chance and you rejected it. Now I'll make sure you die..."