Huang Rong wanted to run away, but she knew very well that her speed could never shake off Ouyang Feng's pursuit, and she would simply be caught. Since it was useless, why run? It would be better to take one last look at the few people she cared about most right here.
Ouyang Feng's pace was not fast, but it was steady. Every step looked as though it had been measured, walking toward Huang Rong step by step. Each step felt in Huang Rong's heart like drumbeats striking her very soul, and each step signaled the approach of the god of death.
Although Huang Rong had resigned herself to her fate, the fear of death still made her involuntarily step backward.
"Ke'er has waited for you a long time, Lass Huang, be on your way!" Ouyang Feng said with a calm expression, as if he were not committing murder, but acting as naturally as eating a meal or drinking water.
Ouyang Feng struck out at Huang Rong with a palm attack from a distance. With this palm, he deliberately used subtle internal force; a single strike would definitely cause Huang Rong to perish, yet it would leave no marks on her body, destroying only her internal organs instead. He wanted Huang Rong to be buried with Ouyang Ke, and did not want Huang Rong's corpse to look too hideous.
Huang Rong felt that the time had come. Closing her eyes to await death, she no longer felt the terror that had preceded the arrival of death earlier; instead, she felt very calm, quietly waiting for death to arrive.
The three people in the distance were also both anxious and furious, feeling remorse over the inadequacy of their own strength as well as hatred for Ouyang Feng's ruthlessness.
"Bang!"
An explosion of air sounded by Huang Rong's ear. That fatal palm strike still had not fallen upon her body, causing her to involuntarily open her eyes.
Right before her eyes, a man with a mix of white hair scattered among his long black hair was blocking the way in front of her. That man wore the attire of a Confucian scholar, yet held a huge iron sword in his hand. This out-of-place style looked awkward no matter how one viewed it, giving off a violent aesthetic where strength and body shape were disproportionate.
This man was none other than Wang Ming. He had just used his sword to help Huang Rong block that blow.
"Old Beggar isn't even my match, yet you actually dare to ignorantly and recklessly come over and meddle in this old man's affairs. You've grown tired of living," Ouyang Feng said with a gloomy expression.
"Huang Rong is half a disciple of mine, and also Guo Jing's fiancée. In terms of both reason and emotion, I cannot let her die before my eyes," Wang Ming said, glancing at the three people in the distance who had let out sighs of relief.
"You're nothing more than an ignorant and reckless piece of trash," Ouyang Feng said impatiently.
With those words, he struck out with a burst of internal energy from a distance, attacking Wang Ming who was a few meters away. Unexpectedly, Wang Ming swept his huge iron sword forward and blocked the blow.
Upon seeing this, Ouyang Feng could not help but be startled. Although this strike was not his full strength, it was still enough to force Huang Yaoshi and the others to expend their full strength just to block it. It would definitely not have been received so casually, and he could not help but turn serious.
Ouyang Feng said, "I underestimated you. Since you can take one of this old man's moves, I'll spare your life. Leave at once!"
Wang Ming said, "Many thanks for Elder Ouyang's good intentions, but this subordinate came to Mount Hua this time precisely to cross blows with you, Elder Ouyang. How could I just leave like this?"
Hearing this, Ouyang Feng said angrily, "You don't know what's good for you."
Having spoken, Ouyang Feng walked toward the snake staff he had dropped, picked it up, and then gazed at the person before him, thinking to himself, The first time I saw him was on Peach Blossom Path. Although he has a bit of strength, he still lacks some seasoning. When he took that move of mine just now, it seems his strength is not simple, and that weapon is quite troublesome.
Wang Ming's heavy sword weighed a full sixty catties. The material used was merely ordinary iron ore, and the blacksmith possessed only ordinary craftsmanship skills, which was why the body of this sword was very large: one meter and six tenths long, thirty centimeters wide, and five centimeters thick. It could practically be used as a shield.
This was not like those swords two fingers wide and thin as paper in the Smiling Proud Wanderer world, which internal energy could simply snap.
A martial artist's damage actually came from three sources: first, their own physical strength; second, the internal energy they cultivated; third, the attribute-based damage that came with cultivating martial arts.
High-level experts in the military mainly specialized in physical strength and breath. Clad in heavy armor, they could block internal energy and swords, and the military weapons in their hands would cause injury merely by grazing someone, and break bones or snap tendons upon contact.
The damage of Wang Ming's Heavy Swordplay was a combination of physical strength and internal energy, and the addition of the two made its might quite extraordinary.
Ouyang Feng picked up the snake staff and immediately launched a surprise attack toward Wang Ming. Judging that Wang Ming was wielding such a huge weapon, his speed would inevitably be lacking, so he intended to use speed to overcome slowness and dispatch this person.
Facing this fierce and swift move from Ouyang Feng, Wang Ming simply swung out casually.
"Bang."
The sound of metal clashing rang out.
Ouyang Feng had not expected that Wang Ming could wield this kind of huge weapon with such swiftness. At the moment the sword and staff intersected, a massive force struck, causing Ouyang Feng to almost lose his grip on the iron staff. Had he not retreated in time, that sword would have carried the iron staff right into his own chest. Although he was uninjured, he had suffered in that last exchange, and his palm still felt somewhat numb.
Huang Rong, who had already been in despair, saw this situation, and instantly hope for life returned to her eyes. A smile appeared on her face, but her heartstrings remained tense as she analyzed inwardly, Although Mr. Wang can fight Ouyang Feng, he will most likely lose in the end. We must think of a way.
Huang Rong could not help but look toward the three people lying immobilized on the ground in the distance, and a light flashed in her eyes.
Wang Ming, over on this side, had long anticipated the power of this sword and had nothing to be surprised about; he had known the might of this swordplay all along.
Seeing that Ouyang Feng did not continue his attack for a long time, he actively moved closer to press the advantage, wielding the sword in his hands with grand and unrestrained moves. Every strike possessed the power to cleave an ox to death.
Ouyang Feng was also suffering inwardly. The hands gripping the iron staff had already begun to grow numb and trembled slightly. The iron staff in his hands weighed more than ten catties and could already be considered a relatively heavy weapon, but now the snake staff cast from refined iron was already somewhat bent and deformed. If he had not broken through to the Xiantian realm just moments before, he feared he would have been defeated long ago.
Some might say that since Ouyang Feng was already at the Xiantian realm, he actually still could not do anything to Wang Ming who was at the Houtian realm, making this Xiantian realm seem rather watered down.
Actually, it was mainly thanks to the Heavy Swordplay. For instance, each of Hong Qigong's attacks consisted of three parts physical strength and ten parts internal energy; Wang Ming's consisted of ten parts physical strength and ten parts true qi, plus the bonus of his weapon.
The Heavy Swordplay forcefully pulled Wang Ming's combat power on par with Ouyang Feng, a Xiantian expert.
Seeing that Ouyang Feng had fallen into a bitter battle, Huang Rong sneaked around to the back and untied the acupuncture points of Hong, Huang, and Guo on the ground.
Regaining their freedom, the three of them were greatly shocked upon seeing the state of battle, not expecting that Wang Ming had been concealing his true skill all along. However, now was not the time to dwell on this; Huang Yaoshi pulled his exclusive Secret Pill, the "Nine Flower Jade Dew Pill", from his bosom. Everyone distributed a few pills and seized the time to heal their injuries and recover their combat power.
This was also Huang Rong's strategy to break the impasse: allowing her father and master to recover their combat power so that several of them could fight Ouyang Feng together. Their failure in the earlier engagement was mainly because her master had been arrogant and taken Ouyang Feng's charged Toad Skill head-on, and her father had been dragged into the fray before he had recovered, which was why they had been defeated so miserably. Once they recovered and joined forces with Mr. Wang, they could at the very least force Ouyang Feng to retreat.
Before you continue