Battle Wolf Head

Gasp—sharp intakes of breath rang out across the courtyard.

To kill Hao Meng, the Wolf Head Mercenary Group's third-strongest expert and an Eight-Star Dou Zhe, with a single sword strike—such strength was something even their leader, Mu She, could not achieve without using a killing move.

In the sky, Little Fairy Doctor stood atop Blue Eagle's back, staring blankly at everything below. Though she believed she had already greatly overestimated Xiao Se's strength, she had never imagined he could kill Hao Meng in one strike.

After her brief daze came relief. She had already prepared herself: if Xiao Se proved no match for them, she would risk everything to use her trump-card poison, kill everyone present, and then rescue him.

Mu She stared savagely at Hao Meng's head as blood continued to gush from it, his eyes nearly splitting apart. From that brief exchange, Mu She, who had spent years living on the edge of a blade, could naturally tell that Xiao Se had not yet advanced to Dou Shi and was currently around a Nine-Star Dou Zhe. Yet this Nine-Star Dou Zhe had killed Hao Meng, his capable subordinate renowned for his defense, in a single move. More importantly, it had looked like a casual swing of the sword, as though Xiao Se had not even used his full strength.

"Dammit, how did he do that?" Mu She cursed under his breath. Then his gaze suddenly fell upon the purple Long Sword in Xiao Se's hand, carved with strange runes, and his eyes filled with greed.

He immediately roared at the crowd, "Don't panic! That brat is only a Nine-Star Dou Zhe at most. He killed Hao Meng entirely because of that purple Long Sword in his hand. As long as we don't touch that sword, killing him will be as easy as slaughtering a dog!"

"Kill! Kill! Kill!" At his words, the crowd erupted.

Hostile gazes shot toward Xiao Se one after another.

Yet with all their attention fixed on Xiao Se, they completely overlooked the danger from the sky.

Xiao Se watched the mercenaries gathering around him with an indifferent expression, then gave a cold smile. It was true that he had relied on Demon Sword's iron-cleaving sharpness to kill Hao Meng, but being able to cut Hao Meng's neck so easily had not required the slightest external assistance.

"Kill him!" Gan Mu, standing beside Mu She, did not rashly charge forward. Instead, he waved the spear in his hand and commanded his subordinates to rush in.

"Kill! Kill..." The chaotic battle cries, tinged with fear, drowned out everything. Then, from the sky, more than a dozen crossbow bolts tore through the air with crisp whistling sounds, shooting toward the backs of Gan Mu and Mu She.

The sound of the bolts cutting through the air was concealed by the mercenaries' shouts, and Gan Mu noticed nothing at all. Of the two, only Mu She, who had broken through to Dou Shi, sensed the threat by instinct. He dodged while shouting at Gan Mu, "Idiot, move!"

Gan Mu did not understand what he meant. The next moment, several sharp whistles rang out as seven or eight crossbow bolts pierced through his back and burst out through his chest.

"How... how is this possible..." Gan Mu stared in disbelief at the bloodstained bolts embedded upside down in the ground before him. Then he lowered his head to look at his mangled chest. His eyes brimmed with extreme unwillingness and venom as he collapsed into a pool of blood.

"Ah... the deputy leader is dead!!!" A terrified shriek suddenly rang out from the crowd. The mercenaries who had been besieging Xiao Se, already terrified as they were being cut down like vegetables, scattered in all directions like startled birds.

Mu She looked at the bolts lodged where he had stood before dodging, then at Gan Mu lying in a pool of blood with bolts through his chest. A bead of cold sweat slid down his brow. Just now, if he had hesitated for even a second, then caught off guard, even with his strength as a Dou Shi, he would have been crippled if not killed.

"Stop right there, you bastards!" Mu She roared at the fleeing mercenaries, glaring at Xiao Se so fiercely that his eyes nearly split apart.

Hearing Mu Li's roar, the surrounding mercenaries stopped fleeing. They gathered their courage again and stood beside Mu She, looking at Xiao Se with fearful eyes.

"Brat, you're truly despicable. You actually used hidden arrows to hurt people." Mu She raised his Guan Sword and pointed it at Xiao Se, his voice filled with boundless rage and resentment.

Xiao Se was not surprised that Little Fairy Doctor's Zhuge Divine Crossbow had failed to kill Mu She. Smiling, he shrugged, his expression calm. "You can gang up on me, so why can't I leave myself a backup plan? When it comes to being despicable, you're the ancestor. I'm merely your student!"

"Men, watch out for hidden arrows! Today, I'll flay him alive!" Mu She had been completely blinded by rage. Two of his most capable subordinates had been killed in succession, and he could no longer remain calm.

Screech!

Just then, a piercing cry sounded from the sky. The enormous form of Blue Eagle swooped down, scattering huge amounts of white powder. In an instant, the entire courtyard was covered in white dust. Apart from Xiao Se, who had dealt with several blocking mercenaries beforehand and retreated beyond the courtyard gate, everyone below—including Mu She—was left looking thoroughly disheveled.

As a trace of powder entered his nose, Mu She immediately felt dizzy. Dou Qi burst from his body, instantly suppressing the powder's effects.

Regaining his senses, Mu She bellowed, "This powder is poisonous! Retreat!"

Unfortunately, his warning came too late. Everyone except him had been contaminated by the white powder, foaming at the mouth and collapsing unconscious.

Seeing that the mercenaries on the ground were not in mortal danger, Mu She finally let out a breath of relief. He raised his Guan Sword, leaped into the air, passed through the courtyard gate, and hacked straight at Xiao Se with dark yellow Dou Qi swirling around him.

"Brat, I'm flaying you alive today!"

"Hmph, you overestimate yourself." Seeing Mu She cleave down at him, Xiao Se snorted coldly, a trace of mockery curling across his lips. He gripped Demon Sword tightly and struck later, yet arrived first, sweeping it horizontally with a fierce gust of wind.

The Guan Sword and Demon Sword collided, and intense sparks burst outward amid an ear-piercing metallic clang.

The next instant, both men were forced back more than ten meters. Their weapons dug into the ground, carving long furrows before they finally stopped.

In the first exchange, they were evenly matched.

"This brat actually has such strength." Mu She's heart was filled with shock when his full-force blow, launched after gathering momentum, failed to crush Xiao Se. Yet outwardly, he remained composed.

His eyes were fixed on Xiao Se—more precisely, on the Demon Sword in Xiao Se's hand. In his eyes, this strangely shaped, sinister Long Sword not only cut through iron like mud, but very likely also amplified its wielder's strength.

Otherwise, there was no way a mere Nine-Star Dou Zhe could withstand the full-force attack of a Dou Shi like him.

Strictly speaking, Mu She was not wrong. Demon Sword could indeed grant its master an enormous boost, making it as easy as eating and drinking to kill opponents above one's level. He simply did not know that Xiao Se had not borrowed Demon Sword's power at all.

Xiao Se was likewise somewhat surprised by Mu Li's strength. What he had just used was the sword move Block from Qin's Moon's Horizontal Sword Technique. It could deflect most of an opponent's force and was one of the few defensive sword moves.

Yet even so, he had failed to block it completely. His blood and Qi churned within him, and Mu Li's tremendous force had left his arm slightly numb.

After a brief pause, the two clashed once more. Long Sword and Guan Sword collided repeatedly, scattering sparks in every direction.

Gradually, Mu She discovered that Xiao Se's sword techniques were becoming increasingly fierce. They were ingenious, yet seemed to grow even more powerful.

P.S.: Please vote with monthly passes and recommendation tickets.

Thanks to Xue Yu Xing Feng Ri Yue Tong Chen for the 5,000 Qidian Coin reward, and thanks to Dark Star Emperor for the 500 Qidian Coin reward. No more words—Qing Jiao will suck you off.