Clash

The newcomer was a handsome youth with sword-like brows and starry eyes. He wore a white cloud-patterned robe, carried a longsword on his back, and had an effortless, elegant air.

Lu Ming had seen this man before. The day he had fought Li Chonghu in the street, this youth had stood among the crowd, standing out like a crane among chickens.

That was why Lu Ming remembered him so clearly.

"Jade-brocade moon-white robes—you're an inner disciple of the Wuji Sect?"

The youth's appearance truly startled the three men.

"Chu Yunxiao, inner disciple of the Wuji Sect. I came specifically for you."

Having announced his identity, the youth drifted lightly down and landed.

"For us? It seems we have never had any conflict with Your Excellency, have we?"

It was clear that the three men were deeply wary of this Wuji Sect inner disciple.

Chu Yunxiao shook his head. "Indeed not. I came to carry out a sect mission."

His voice turned cold. "Mission: traces of the Demonic Cult have appeared near Shuofeng City. Investigate and report."

That brief sentence made the three men visibly shudder.

They had clearly never expected their movements to have long since drawn the attention of those sects.

What relieved them, however, was that there was only one sect disciple before them, and he was here merely to investigate. That meant he had no reinforcements.

"Even now, are the three of you still going to conceal your identities?"

"That's right. We are people of the Holy Cult."

The three exchanged glances before admitting it outright. The man at the Mid True Qi Realm in the middle spoke first.

"Do you think that, by yourself, you can keep all three of us here?"

"That is indeed a little troublesome."

Chu Yunxiao frowned slightly, then looked toward Lu Ming. "Can you help hold one of them off first?"

Just as he had said earlier, he had mainly come this time to investigate the situation. The reason he had revealed himself now was to help Lu Ming out of his predicament.

From their conversation, Lu Ming had more or less understood why these three had pursued him. They likely wanted to draw him into the Demonic Cult.

Through the books Old Man Zhao had kept, he had learned a little about the Demonic Cult.

The Demonic Cult had two branches: Corpse and Ghost. In truth, they called themselves the Two Saints Cult.

The Corpse branch could refine people into Iron Armor, Bronze Armor, and Gold Armor Corpse Puppets to battle for them—possessing immense strength and fearing neither life nor death.

As for the Ghost branch, one account said their movement techniques were ghostlike, elusive and impossible to grasp.

Another said they absorbed yin and Baleful Intent to cultivate, turning themselves neither human nor ghost as they slaughtered everywhere.

This aroused public fury, and they were ultimately wiped out.

Lu Ming had never expected that people of the Demonic Cult—or rather, its remnants—would appear before him now, and even try to draw him in.

"Little Brother Lu, since things have come to this, we'll speak plainly. We pursued you because we wanted to bring you into the Holy Cult. With your talent, you will certainly catch our Cult Master's eye and be accepted as his personal disciple."

Seeing that Lu Ming had not spoken for a moment, the man at the Mid True Qi Realm said.

Their original intention had actually been to take him away by force. After all, that was how they themselves had joined.

But with a Wuji Sect inner disciple unexpectedly appearing, they could only extend a friendly invitation first.

Chu Yunxiao said nothing. He wanted to see Lu Ming's choice.

And since Lu Ming knew what kind of force the Demonic Cult was, he naturally had no interest in joining. He directly shook his head in refusal. "I'm not interested."

"Little Brother Lu, you should think this through carefully."

At his words, the Mid True Qi Realm man's voice turned cold. An imposing aura suddenly erupted from him and pressed down on Lu Ming.

Yet Lu Ming was like a treasured blade still sheathed—unmoving as a mountain, utterly unaffected.

This startled everyone. They found it strange, yet could not put their finger on why.

"I said we shouldn't waste our breath. Just kill him and be done with it."

At that moment, the man among the three who had not spoken until now finally opened his mouth. He also tore off his conical hat, revealing his true face.

It was none other than Li Chonghu, the Black Tiger Gang's leader, who had vanished.

At the sight of him, Lu Ming was only briefly stunned before returning to normal, because he had long felt that this man seemed familiar.

"Then it can only be this way. A genius we cannot obtain is better destroyed!"

With that, the Mid True Qi Realm man made his move, darting toward Chu Yunxiao while issuing orders. "Li Chonghu, hold that boy off first. Chi Wuya, join me and quickly deal with this sect disciple."

Hearing this, Chi Wuya said not a word and likewise rushed toward Chu Yunxiao.

"Good!"

Facing the two of them, Chu Yunxiao was entirely fearless. With a shake of his back, he sent the longsword flying from its sheath, then leaped into the air and caught it steadily.

"Take a strike of my Mysterious Yin Palm!"

Just then, the Mid True Qi Realm man closed in. Hanging in midair, he swung his palm and condensed a pitch-black palm imprint, which he blasted toward Chu Yunxiao from afar.

"Trifling tricks!"

Chu Yunxiao gave a cold snort. His longsword danced, Sword Qi instantly spreading through the air before converging into a single blade and shooting toward the black palm.

Bang!

At the very first clash, the black palm was shattered by the Sword Qi, which still retained enough force to fly toward the Mid True Qi Realm man.

The Mid True Qi Realm man was startled. He had not expected his opponent, who was only in the Early True Qi Realm, to wield such sharp Sword Qi. His Mysterious Yin Palm Force had failed to block it even once.

He hastily retreated.

Just as Chu Yunxiao was about to pursue, he suddenly sensed a fierce gust of wind from behind his waist. He quickly changed direction and swung his sword to block.

It was the other man, Chi Wuya. Seeing that his strike had failed, he immediately turned into an afterimage and withdrew.

"Ghost Shadow Steps."

Chu Yunxiao recognized the other party's movement technique.

"And the Three Corpse King Fist—take this!"

With the Ghost Shadow Steps, Chi Wuya darted left and right, closing in again in the blink of an eye. Then, his fists wreathed in grayish-brown True Qi lashed out in a relentless flurry at Chu Yunxiao.

At that moment, the Mid True Qi Realm man attacked again as well.

"Good!"

Faced with the fierce winds sweeping in from all around, Chu Yunxiao instead let out a hearty laugh. He sprang straight into the air, evading their pincer attack, then descended from above with sword in hand, taking the initiative to attack the two of them.

Bang bang bang bang!

In an instant, palm force, Sword Qi, and fist shadows filled the air, erupting with wave after wave of thunderous blasts.

The three had clearly begun fighting in earnest.

Seeing that Chu Yunxiao was still at ease despite facing two opponents alone, Lu Ming could not help feeling impressed. This also let him experience the strength of sect disciples.

At the same time, he breathed a sigh of relief. It was time for him to make his move next.

Just then, Li Chonghu happened to look over at him as well. With a cold sneer, he said:

"Kid, I've already figured out the patterns of your saber techniques, and I know the mysteries of your palm techniques like the back of my hand. How are you going to fight me this time?"

Li Chonghu admitted that Lu Ming was strong, but this time, he was confident. As long as he guarded against the other party getting close enough to unleash Palm Force, those saber techniques might be fast, but they would not be able to do anything to him.

"Is that so? Then take this."

Lu Ming did not waste words. He drew his saber and took the initiative to attack. In the blink of an eye, he arrived before his opponent like a phantom.

"He got faster again!"

Seeing that speed, Li Chonghu was horrified. Although he had seen that Lu Ming had advanced to the ninth layer of Inner Qi, he had not expected a single level of advancement to increase his speed by so much.

But there was no time to think. He hurriedly surged his True Qi and struck out with his claws to block.

Sure enough, just like last time, his claws caught nothing, while the saber light came from another direction.

He clawed again, only to grasp empty air again.

After several exchanges like this, he grew increasingly alarmed. Compared to last time, he could clearly feel that his opponent's speed had increased far too much. His claw techniques could no longer keep up at all.

Slash!

Sure enough, in the next instant, he was struck across the ribs. Though his True Qi automatically protected his body, it was nowhere near as formidable as he had imagined.

After all, he was only in the Early True Qi Realm.

Moreover, the opponent's saber technique seemed capable of breaking through Qi. He could not defend against it at all. Blood stained his robes, and a piercing pain shot through him.

"Ah!"

Soon, he was struck by another slash, then a second, then a third.

After taking several consecutive blows, Li Chonghu's moves immediately fell into disarray. At the same time, his True Qi began to circulate sluggishly, and cries of pain kept spilling from his mouth.

Flying Sky Slash!

After landing another strike, Lu Ming seized the opening and slashed through the air. This time, his opponent had no strength left to lure him deeper in.

"No!"

Facing the blinding saber light, Li Chonghu felt his soul fly from his body. He hurriedly raised his claws to block, but he was a step too slow. The saber light had already cleaved down from above his head.

"What?!"

Li Chonghu cried out in panic, naturally drawing the attention of the three people fighting on the other side. When they looked over, they happened to see Li Chonghu being cleaved to death with a single slash.

All of them were shocked.

"Well done! Next, I'll let you see my true skill as well—Chasing Stars and Snatching the Moon!"