Cloud Dragon Nine Manifestations

"Chen?"

Hearing his words, Zou Huainan's expression grew even gloomier, but he didn't get angry. Instead, he fell into a brief hesitation.

In Dragon Abyss City, such an arrogant "Chen" could only refer to that one family.

As the son of the Commander of the Imperial Capital Guard's Southern City, he had always relied on this identity to act tyrannically in the Southern City area, with no one daring to provoke him.

But the more one relies on something, the more one fears something. His background was his greatest advantage, and facing someone with a nobler background than his own, he naturally felt apprehensive.

In front of the Four Great Clans of Song Qi Liang Chen, his background was insignificant.

However...

There were only a handful of direct descendants of the Divine Capital Chen Family at this age, and he was certain that none of them would come to their Imperial Capital Guard to start from the bottom. Even if the person in front of him was truly from the Chen Family, he was undoubtedly just a collateral relative.

If it were his own matter, for the sake of stability, he might have taken a step back.

But thinking of the person who had sent him here today, he felt that a mere collateral relative of the Chen Family was not worth fearing.

Looking at the stern and upright Liang Yue in front of him, and the tall and fierce Pang Chun beside him, Zou Huainan said coldly, "It seems the people at your Fukang Ward outpost really need a good lesson!"

Before his words finished, he kicked out, aiming for Liang Yue, who was blocking him head-on!

In his opinion, a mere Subordinate Guard could be cursed at and beaten as he pleased. As long as he didn't lay a hand on that collateral relative of the Chen Family, even if it was investigated later, there would be no responsibility, and it could also serve as a deterrent to the other party.

As for the Subordinate Guard himself...

Heh.

Who cared?

Just a follower.

Choosing to attack Liang Yue instead of Pang Chun might have also been driven by the thought of picking the weaker one. After all, that iron tower-like strong man looked difficult to bully.

Simply put, he chose the softest-looking target among the three, who seemed to have the weakest background and strength, to vent his anger on.

But what he didn't expect was that the other party was not soft.

And was quite hard.

Liang Yue had just broken through to the Second Realm of martial arts. His divine sense was agile. Seeing Zou Huainan kick over, Liang Yue's eyes narrowed. He swept his left hand back and pushed with his right hand.

Bang—

Although he neutralized seventy to eighty percent of the force of the kick and wasn't injured at all, Zou Huainan's peak Second Realm cultivation meant his qi and blood were much stronger than his. The overflowing force still sent Liang Yue staggering back a few steps.

"A Yue!" Pang Chun saw this and suddenly exploded, shouting as he charged towards Zou Huainan.

He didn't care who was whose father or son, but hitting Liang Yue was absolutely unacceptable!

A Subordinate Guard under Zou Huainan was closest to Pang Chun. Startled by the sudden burst of power, he panicked and quickly drew his saber to block.

Before the clang finished, Pang Chun swung his arm, casually delivering a horizontal elbow strike to the man's chin, sending him flying back with a single blow!

A casual Iron Mountain Lean that wasn't deliberately executed.

Although they were both in the First Realm, Da Chun's strength was extraordinary, practically crushing anyone within the same realm.

The sound of a blade being drawn was like a signal, instantly igniting the tense atmosphere. The other subordinate guard and Chen Ju simultaneously drew their swords, and the situation abruptly devolved into a chaotic brawl.

Clang.

Chen Ju, relying on his superior cultivation, also sent the opponent's weapon flying with a single clash.

He was also extremely annoyed at this moment.

He had hesitated for a moment before revealing his Chen Family identity, thinking the other party would show some respect. Who knew they were even less useful than shoe insoles? It was truly embarrassing.

At the same time as him, Zou Huainan had already drawn his blade! Because Pang Chun was charging over like a wild bull, a strong wind assailing him, Zou Huainan spun his blade, ready to slash forward head-on! The fierce energy howled!

There was a gap in cultivation between the two sides. If Zou Huainan's slash landed, Da Chun would definitely be dead or severely injured!

In a moment of crisis, Chen Ju spun his blade and blocked another strike for Pang Chun.

With a clang, the two blades collided, sending sparks flying. Chen Ju's cultivation was already inferior to Zou Huainan, who was at the peak of the Contemplation Realm. Moreover, this block was hasty and lacked accumulated power, so he was immediately forced back several steps.

With Zou Huainan's strike blocked, Da Chun had already charged close. He could only twist his body, spin around in the air, and dodge this powerful and heavy charge.

If he had been hit squarely by this bull-like force, even he wouldn't have been able to withstand it.

After spinning around, he once again held his blade horizontally and slashed towards Pang Chun's undefended back.

Chen Ju was one thing, but these two subordinate guards from humble backgrounds dared to defy him and even attack him, which made him extremely angry. Among those present, his cultivation was the highest. If he went all out in his fury, no one could possibly stop him!

But was that truly the case?

"Da Chun!" A shout came from the side, and a waterfall of dazzling blade light suddenly poured down.

Zou Huainan turned his eyes and saw the subordinate guard who had caught his kick earlier, swinging his blade and flying over. He didn't have time to see Liang Yue's movements, because in the next instant, this person transformed into nine leaping figures right before his eyes.

Cloud Dragon Nine Manifestations!

Seeing Da Chun in danger, Liang Yue didn't hesitate in his urgency and unleashed the strongest move in the Hu Family Blade Technique!

Clang, clang, clang.

Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh, whoosh, whoosh, whoosh—

Zou Huainan blocked three of the strikes, but the other six streaks of blade light still landed squarely on him. In an instant, the sound of wind breaking and cloth tearing merged into one.

Bang—

The continuous blade light flashed past, and Zou Huainan's upper body clothing was all cut and torn. He suddenly became half-naked. Before he could react, he was immediately met with a flying kick to the chest.

Zou Huainan flew up into the air, landed five zhang away after flying backward, and with a thud, felt his qi and blood stagnate, leaving him speechless.

"You..." He propped himself up halfway, pointing a finger at Liang Yue opposite him, unable to utter a complete sentence.

Only now did he understand that this subordinate guard was not some soft persimmon to be bullied at will. He was practically burning hot!

Liang Yue kicked him flying through the air, then landed gracefully and said indifferently, "Commander Zou, if you continue to be unreasonable, these few slashes won't just be cutting clothes."

"Pfft—" Zou Huainan was both ashamed and angry, and he suddenly spat out a mouthful of blood that had been stuck in his chest.

His two subordinates climbed up and quickly helped him leave, the three of them fleeing in a panic.

"Good—"

By this time, there were no fewer than a hundred onlookers. After discussing among themselves, they had long seen the right and wrong of the situation. Seeing Liang Yue's side win a great victory, bursts of cheers immediately erupted.

However, after returning to their station, the three of them were immediately subjected to a scolding from Hu Tiehan.

"I told you to stop playing with idiots!"

Hu Tiehan angrily slammed the table, pointed at Chen Ju, and then pointed at Liang Yue, "Drawing blades on the street between Imperial Capital Guards! And you hit Commander Zou's son? Do you have no brains?"

Pang Chun explained from the side, "Commander Hu, this matter is not Chen Ju's or A Yue's fault. Give me some face, and don't..."

"You shut up!" Hu Tiehan pointed at him, "Who do you think I was calling an idiot?"

Pang Chun also silently lowered his head, pouting and whispering, "You were calling me an idiot..."

"I'm the Official Guard, I'll take the main responsibility for this matter." Chen Ju said nonchalantly, "If Commander Zou wants to pursue it, at most we'll all take it up the chain. Are we supposed to just stand there and not fight back when someone hits us?"

Hu Tiehan's face was stern, his full beard trembling. "This kind of thing can't be brought out into the open, and they definitely won't pursue it openly. But you will ultimately serve in the Imperial Capital Guard, what will you do in the future?"

"In this matter, the other party was first unreasonable and then acted aggressively. We were just forced to retaliate," Liang Yue said. "If there's really no other way, then we can only leave the Imperial Capital Guard."

"That's easy for you to say. You're about to become official guards, with a great future ahead of you. You're just going to give it up like that?" Hu Tiehan glared at him, let out a heavy sigh, and then said, "I'll go to the Southern City Main Office later to find Commander Zou, beg for mercy and apologize for you guys. As long as Commander Zou nods, it'll be fine. They were in the wrong to begin with, so they probably won't pursue it too much."

Upon hearing this, the three of them were somewhat moved.

"Who among you made a move?" Hu Tiehan asked further, "Who hit Zou Huainan, and how did you hit him? Tell me in detail."

"Everyone made a move, but I was the only one who hit Zou Huainan. They were all protecting me," Liang Yue replied.

"Ah?" Hu Tiehan was slightly surprised, somewhat taken aback. "Zou Huainan broke through to the Contemplation Realm two years ago. You alone could defeat him?"

"I also broke through," Liang Yue said.

"Ah?" Hu Tiehan was surprised again, mentally calculating how quickly Liang Yue's cultivation had grown recently. After thinking for a moment, he said, "But even if you just broke through, the gap in cultivation and cultivation techniques..."

Being at the peak of the Second Realm meant he had already comprehended many cultivation techniques. The cultivation resources Zou Huainan could access were definitely superior to Liang Yue's. And Liang Yue had just broken through, so how much time did he have to comprehend cultivation techniques? His combat power was actually not much stronger than someone at the peak of the Qi Blood Realm.

The gap between the two was still very large.

"That's true, my qi and blood are far less vigorous than his. It's all thanks to the blade technique you gave me, Brother Hu," Liang Yue nodded and said, "I used a move called Cloud Dragon Nine Manifestations to defeat him."

"Ah??"

This time, Hu Tiehan was greatly shocked, and his "ah" was prolonged, followed by a long period of silence.

The eighteenth move of the Hu Family Blade Technique, Cloud Dragon Nine Manifestations.

Since the ancestral grandmaster on the great Snow Mountain, it had been unknown how many years no one had successfully cultivated it. He, as a descendant of the Hu Family, was well aware of how complex the Dao Rhyme/Essence to be contemplated within it was. It was no wonder that Liang Yue could use it to defeat a stronger opponent.

But how long had he given him this blade technique?

Hu Tiehan's gaze towards Liang Yue changed from shock to doubt, and then from doubt to fervor.

That look was like meeting sweet rain after a long drought, encountering an old friend in a foreign land, having one's name on the golden list, or the night of the wedding ceremony... Anyone being stared at like this by a tall, burly man with a full beard would inevitably feel a chill down their spine.

After a long while, he slowly spoke a sentence.

"Little Liang, what do you think of me, Brother Hu?"