Everyone looked at one another, but no one found Ouyang Bo.
Not even the people from Listening Wind Tower had found him.
They exchanged glances, every face blank with confusion.
Could Ji Qing have mistaken him?
"Not coming out? Then let's just get started."
Ji Qing's hand closed around his sword hilt.
Boom.
A terrifying blade aura erupted.
Ji Qing seemed to become a blade with every edge exposed, wantonly cutting through everything around him.
Below the arena, a middle-aged man dressed as a merchant curled his lips into a smile.
Ji Qing's blade aura had landed precisely on him.
Clearly, he was Poison Demon Ouyang Bo!
"Ji Qing, how did you recognize me?"
The "wealthy merchant" spoke.
He had openly admitted to being the Poison Demon.
At once, the crowd erupted in an uproar.
Especially those around the "wealthy merchant"; they frantically backed away as though fleeing a plague, putting as much distance as possible between themselves and Ouyang Bo.
After all, everyone knew that Ouyang Bo was poisonous from head to toe. Even getting slightly close to him could mean becoming contaminated with lethal poison.
Who would dare approach such a dangerous man?
"He's Ouyang Bo?"
"I've seen Ouyang Bo once before. He didn't look like this."
"Isn't Ouyang Bo an old man?"
"Ouyang Bo is actually only in his forties, not that old. But he is skilled in disguise and often changes his appearance. I'm afraid very few people know what he truly looks like..."
"Ouyang Bo really is as cunning as a fox. With so many of us here, even the people from Listening Wind Tower failed to notice him. How did Ji Qing find him?"
Many people turned their eyes toward Ji Qing.
Ouyang Bo was not the only curious one. Everyone else was curious as well.
How had Ji Qing recognized Ouyang Bo's identity at a single glance?
The current Ouyang Bo looked like a plump, wealthy merchant. His demeanor, clothing, and everything else fit the part perfectly.
Who could have imagined that he was Ouyang Bo, the Poison Demon whose name made the Jianghu blanch?
Ji Qing said calmly, "Ouyang Bo, a dog can't stop eating shit. Wherever you go, you leave poison behind. I could smell the poisons you laid from far away."
Ouyang Bo's pupils suddenly shrank.
He was not angered. Instead, uncertainty churned within him.
The poisons he used had only the faintest scent.
They were practically odorless.
Yet Ji Qing had been able to distinguish them?
After all, he and Ji Qing had only met once and dealt with each other once.
Since his identity had been exposed, Ouyang Bo no longer bothered pretending.
He walked up onto the arena step by step.
Many people looked at Ouyang Bo and found him utterly unfamiliar.
Poison Demon Ouyang Bo was simply too mysterious.
Very few had ever seen Ouyang Bo's true face.
His disguise techniques were nothing short of miraculous.
He often posed as beggars, wealthy merchants, scholars, old men, and the like.
The last time Ji Qing had seen Ouyang Bo, he had looked like an Old Beggar.
This time, he was a wealthy merchant.
These two faces certainly were not Ouyang Bo's true appearance either.
But that did not matter.
As long as he died today, he would never have a third face.
Ji Qing also rose and stood on the arena.
The two were separated by a distance of thirty feet.
Looking at the specially made mask over Ji Qing's face, Ouyang Bo sneered. "Ji Qing, it seems you made very thorough preparations to deal with me."
"Of course. I let you escape last time, so this time I had to prepare more thoroughly. I'll slaughter you with one stroke and settle our grudge once and for all!"
"I have roamed the Jianghu for so many years. Many have wanted to kill me, and you are no exception. Yet I am still alive and well. This time will be no different!"
"The last person who said that was Du Chen, the Wind Chasing Blade!"
The two stood at daggers drawn.
But this was not wasted effort.
Because Ji Qing had been Accumulating Momentum all along.
He needed to build his blade aura to its absolute peak and strike with his strongest state.
And Ouyang Bo was surely making some calculation of his own.
Perhaps he had already poisoned the area in secret, and no one had noticed.
"Your hand..."
Ji Qing noticed Ouyang Bo's palm.
He remembered clearly that he had cut off half of Ouyang Bo's hand.
Yet now, Ouyang Bo appeared completely restored.
That was not normal.
Though medicine and poison came from the same household, and Ouyang Bo, as the Poison Demon, was surely skilled in medicine as well as poison.
But his hand had been cut off. Could it truly be healed with the medicine of this era?
Especially when there was not even a scar visible now.
This was very abnormal!
"My hand is very well. Speaking of which, I should thank you. Cutting off half my hand finally made me resolve to..."
Ouyang Bo extended his hand.
His palm was smooth and delicate, without even a callus, much less a scar.
It was as if he had never been injured at all.
No one could tell that just two months ago, Ji Qing had severed half of Ouyang Bo's hand.
Clang.
Ji Qing drew his blade.
Just as Ouyang Bo stared at his own palm, Ji Qing decisively drew.
His blade aura had accumulated to its peak.
As this stroke slashed out, the blade light was incomparably dazzling.
Everyone seemed to be immersed in that breathtakingly beautiful flash of blade light.
Ji Qing's blade light accelerated madly.
It accelerated until it was only a flash of light, then vanished.
Ouyang Bo's reactions were swift, but he could only raise his hand before him to block.
But this time, Ji Qing had gone all out, his Internal Force erupting completely.
There was not only speed, but power!
Squelch.
The blade light fell, and Ouyang Bo's hand was severed at once.
Yet it was not only his arm that had been cut apart, but Ouyang Bo's head as well.
From top to bottom, a line of blood emerged.
Blood immediately sprayed everywhere.
Clack.
Ji Qing had already sheathed his blade.
This was the most peak strike he had ever unleashed.
Driven by the pure Internal Force of three Extraordinary Meridians, both its speed and power far surpassed the first time Ji Qing had faced Ouyang Bo.
It was only natural that Ouyang Bo could not block it.
Even among Second-Rate Martial Artists, perhaps no one could withstand that stroke.
Many people were still frozen like wooden chickens.
The expressions on their faces had solidified.
As though they could not believe the scene before them.
They had waited for so long.
And it was over just like that?
One stroke!
Only one stroke!
Everything was over.
Ouyang Bo had been instantly killed by Ji Qing!
"How could Ji Qing, the Startling Swan Blade, be this strong?"
"They say, 'When the Startling Swan Blade appears, heads fall to the ground.' I used to think it was merely a Jianghu rumor, exaggerated from mouth to mouth. But now it seems the rumor did not exaggerate in the slightest. If anything, it was a little too restrained..."
"Who could block such a stroke?"
"Du Chen, the Wind Chasing Blade, could not block it before. Now Poison Demon Ouyang Bo could not block it either..."
"Instantly killed with one stroke... Poison Demon Ouyang Bo, who had ravaged the Jianghu for so many years and ranked eighth on the Villain Ranking, died just like that? He had not even had the chance to use his poison skills..."
The crowd marveled, reeled in shock, and wondered.
But no matter what they thought, the truth stood right before them.
Poison Demon Ouyang Bo was dead!
Whoosh...
A gentle breeze blew past, yet it could not sweep away the heat in the air, nor could it carry away the scent of blood.
No one noticed that the blood flowing across the arena seemed to be spreading rapidly.
It was as though the blood from Ouyang Bo's corpse could never run dry.
It had even spread to Ji Qing's feet.
Ji Qing's eyes narrowed slightly.
He stared fixedly at Ouyang Bo's "corpse."
His arm had clearly been severed and fallen to the ground.
A bloody line clearly ran down his body from his head to his abdomen.
So why had Ouyang Bo's body not fallen yet?
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