One Blade Heaven!

After exchanging a glance with Cai Shu, Luo Bei looked at the four youths in black and said heavily, "You are disciples of Jingshen. Are you doing this to vent Zong Zhen and the others' anger?"

"What do you mean?" Xuan Wuqi and the others did not understand why these four were being so rude, but the hearts of the four youths in black skipped a beat. Even their feet stirring the stream abruptly stopped.

The eldest of the four was named Hong Jing, a round-faced youth with narrow eyes. The youth with fair skin, long slender brows, and a sharp cast to his features was called Wen Ninghou. Of the other two, the slightly taller one was Song Zile, while the thinner one was Ma Tenglong. All four were indeed Jingshen disciples.

Moreover, they had entered Shushan a year before Zong Zhen and the others and were thus their Senior Brothers. The matter of Cai Shu taking Zong Zhen's medicinal herbs had spread through the Jingshen lineage. These four had happened to be cultivating at Heavenly Blade Peak today, and knowing that Luo Bei and Cai Shu would come to Azure Snail Valley, they had deliberately come looking for trouble.

Yet none of them had expected Luo Bei to point straight at their true intentions with a single sentence, as though he had seen through their hearts at a glance.

Then they looked at Cai Shu standing beside Luo Bei. Though she appeared delicate and gentle, she seemed to possess the same spirit as Luo Bei.

That one sentence alone had crushed the overbearing air the four had carried as though no one else existed.

Luo Bei and Cai Shu truly cannot be underestimated. No wonder Zong Zhen had some foundation, yet still suffered such a crushing defeat at their hands.

Hong Jing, the leader of the four, twitched his brows and rose to his feet. He burst into laughter, his narrow eyes squinting into slits. "You're right. We came to vent Zong Zhen and the others' anger."

"As teachers, you bully the weak with your strength. Have you forgotten the laws of Shushan?" Luo Bei glanced at Hong Jing and the others.

Luo Bei has been in the sect for less than a month, yet he already possesses such presence. Under Luo Bei's gaze, Hong Jing and the others involuntarily stalled again. Even Gongyang Jinbo, Miao Mu, and the others, who had never seen Luo Bei face anyone head-on, felt the same way.

They did not know that, unlike them, Luo Bei had spent time with the proud and peerless Yuan Tianyi, witnessing how he conducted himself. After being tempered through life-and-death trials several times, this unconscious majesty now simply flowed from him naturally.

How strange! I must use words to suppress him, or else they will seize the momentum instead! Wen Ninghou, whose features carried that sharp edge, glanced at Luo Bei and thought this to himself. He stepped forward coldly. "When you forcibly seized Zong Zhen and the others' medicinal herbs, why did you not think of Shushan's laws?"

Cai Shu cast Wen Ninghou a glance and offered no explanation whatsoever. "Since you came today, you must have already decided what you wanted. Say what you want and stop wasting words."

"Fine, Junior Sister Cai Shu, you are certainly straightforward..."

"Who among you is worthy of calling me Junior Sister?"

Before Hong Jing could finish, Cai Shu cut him off harshly.

"You!" Hong Jing's face instantly turned white, and his finger joints cracked several times. "Since that is the case, I will not waste words either. Today, we will gamble with you as well. If you lose, leave behind the Azure Snail Immortal Fruits in your hands and get the hell down the mountain empty-handed!"

Even now, Xuan Wuqi and the others did not understand what grievance Cai Shu and Luo Bei had previously had with the disciples of Jingshen Peaks. But seeing Hong Jing and the others pressing forward so aggressively, the already furious Xuan Wuqi's eyes flashed with icy light. "And if you lose?"

"This is Mystic Fire Thunder. We refined it while cultivating two days ago." With a turn of his palm, Hong Jing produced a vermilion, pigeon-egg-sized bead. "Throw it out, and no matter what it strikes, it will immediately explode. Within a radius of two zhang, thunderfire will engulf everything. Its power is considerable. If you defeat us, we will give you four Mystic Fire Thunders."

"I agree." Xuan Wuqi nodded coldly, then looked to Luo Bei, Cai Shu, and the others. "What about you?"

"Perhaps there will be more idle fools looking to fight us in the future. Though a few Mystic Fire Thunders are nothing remarkable, they are better than nothing." Cai Shu sneered. "How shall we gamble?"

"You may fight one-on-one or all attack together. Draw whatever line you wish." Hong Jing narrowed his eyes. "As long as you can defeat any one of us, we will count it as our loss!"

"Is that so?"

Before Cai Shu's words had faded, her figure blurred, and she was already at Hong Jing's left!

She struck without warning. Though Cai Shu looked delicate and lovely, she handled matters with incomparable decisiveness and resolve!

Luo Bei held his breath and saw clearly that, just as when she had fought Zong Zhen that day, Cai Shu had reached Hong Jing's side with only a charging arrow-step. The difference was that this time, a cluster of oily green radiance rose from her hands.

The force of this attack was even fiercer than before. As Cai Shu moved, faint crackling sounds of air splitting rang out.

Great Dao Direct Pointing Cui Xu Art!

A cold glint flashed in Hong Jing's narrow eyes, and violet energy abruptly surged from his arms. With three bangs, he remained rooted in place, his upper body only swaying once as he exchanged three hard blows with Cai Shu in an instant.

Green and violet light burst apart. Cai Shu leaped backward several steps, but Hong Jing did not pursue. The violet glow on his face flickered and vanished, leaving him looking grim. "I never expected you to be directly taught the Great Dao Direct Pointing Cui Xu Art!"

Junior Sister Cai Shu's Great Dao Direct Pointing Cui Xu Art can already emit green light from her hands?!

Luo Bei's heart shook violently as well. Though he did not understand the art's detailed stages, the sight involuntarily reminded him of when he had made a breakthrough in the Mahākāla Secret Method, filled his hands with golden light, and driven one punch into solid rock. Luo Bei immediately realized that Cai Shu's cultivation progress had already surpassed his by quite a bit.

"Hmph!" Yet Cai Shu said nothing, merely letting out a heavy snort.

In that instant of combat, Cai Shu had already recognized that Hong Jing cultivated the Purple Profound Qi Art, which differed from their own technique. This beginner-level art, not among Shushan's important cultivation arts, was even circulated among other sects in the world. It stood several grades below the Great Dao Direct Pointing Cui Xu Art. Yet after that brief test, Cai Shu discovered that Hong Jing's cultivation was far deeper than she had imagined.

After those three direct clashes, Cai Shu's entire arm had been shaken numb. Hidden inside her sleeve, it trembled faintly of its own accord.

Even against Hong Jing alone, I might not be able to win.

He spoke so confidently before. The other three must be no weaker than he is. This time, we may be unable to gain any advantage.

With another heavy snort, Cai Shu's expression changed several times.

Concentrate our strength and deal with one!

Xuan Wuqi also saw that things were going badly. He suddenly roared and charged at Hong Jing, who had just exchanged three hard blows with Cai Shu and stood at the front.

Miao Mu, Gongyang Jinbo, and Ling Dong Shan reacted in an instant as well, all leaping forward together.

"With cultivation like yours, you think you can defeat us?"

Amid a cold snort, Xuan Wuqi saw the scene before him blur. Hong Jing actually ignored them and brushed past them, intercepting Cai Shu with several bangs. Before Xuan Wuqi could react, Wen Ninghou, who had uttered that disdainful snort, flashed before them.

Bang! Xuan Wuqi saw a flash of violet light, and a fist was already before his eyes. Startled, he could only cross his arms in front of himself. A tremendous force surged in, instantly numbing both arms until they lost all feeling. His whole body staggered backward five or six steps, unable to stop himself before falling flat on his back into the stream behind him, soaking himself through.

Miao Mu, Gongyang Jinbo, and Ling Dong Shan were likewise struck down separately: one by a fist to the chest, one by a kick to the calf, and one by an elbow to the lower abdomen. They fell to the ground, faces pale, unable to rise for a time.

"Luo Bei, why aren't you moving!"

Soaked through and burning with shame and fury, Xuan Wuqi saw Lin Hang charging forward while Luo Bei still stood unmoving. He immediately became frantic and roared.

Why does it seem like all of them have progressed faster than me?!

Xuan Wuqi did not know that Luo Bei had been stunned when he saw Miao Mu and Gongyang Jinbo charge forward with faint green light around their hands and feet, their cultivation progress already faster than his own. Only when Xuan Wuqi fell into the water and roared in fury did Luo Bei snap back to himself. But as he looked around now, Cai Shu was entangled by Hong Jing, while Wen Ninghou had instantly defeated Xuan Wuqi and the other two alone. It was clear that their side had no chance of victory.

With a bang, Cai Shu was forced into another hard clash with Hong Jing. Hong Jing's upper body merely swayed again, but Cai Shu could not help letting out a muffled groan, her face turning pale, her hands seemingly too weak to lift. "A piece of trash like you wants to fight too?" At the same time, Wen Ninghou lashed out with a flying kick that struck Lin Hang squarely in the back. Lin Hang lost his balance and pitched forward, crashing face-first onto the ground and scraping several bloody marks across his face.

"Stop!" Blood abruptly surged into Luo Bei's head. A tremendous boom thundered through his mind, and his temples throbbed wildly.

"What, are you scared?" Wen Ninghou looked disdainfully at Luo Bei's blood-red face. "Or will you admit defeat now and leave behind the Azure Snail Immortal Fruits?"

"Luo Bei!" Xuan Wuqi leaped from the stream, his hands still trembling uncontrollably, and let out a sky-shaking roar. "If you admit defeat, don't expect me to ever call you Junior Brother again!"

"Admit defeat?" Yet Luo Bei did not even look at him. He merely stared fixedly at Wen Ninghou and the other four, speaking one word at a time. "Didn't you want to fight? I'll fight you. I alone will fight the four of you."

"Luo Bei, have you gone mad?" Cai Shu, whose hands could barely be raised anymore, could not help crying out. Yet what made her whole body tremble was that, after Luo Bei spoke those words one by one, he extended a hand and pointed. "But not here. We fight there!"

Following the direction Luo Bei pointed, everyone present could not help drawing a sharp breath.

One Blade Heaven!

What Luo Bei pointed to was a sheer cliff only about two chi wide, with bottomless abysses on both sides! This hundred-zhang-long cliff was Heavenly Blade Peak's unique, heaven-carved spectacle!

When they had climbed the mountain earlier, they had already passed by and seen it. That sheer cliff had nothing on either side to rely on, barely enough space for one person to stand, not even as thick as an ordinary wall. Merely seeing it from afar was enough to make hearts and gall burst. What was more, fierce mountain winds howled across this summit.

Walking upon the sheer cliff of One Blade Heaven was truly like walking along the blade of a knife suspended in the high sky!