Battle

The newcomer was a handsome young man with sword-like brows and starry eyes. He wore a white cloud robe and carried a long sword on his back, exuding an air of carefree elegance.

Lu Ming had seen this man before. That day, when he and Li Chonghu had fought in the street, the young man had been standing among the crowd, standing head and shoulders above everyone else.

That was why Lu Ming had such a deep impression of him.

"Jade Brocade Moon-White Robe. Are you an inner disciple of the Wuji Sect?"

The youth's sudden appearance gave the three men quite a shock.

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

After stating his identity, the youth drifted lightly to the ground and stood firm.

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

It was obvious that the three men were extremely wary of this inner disciple of the Wuji Sect.

Chu Yunxiao shook his head. "Indeed, you haven't. I came here on a sect mission."

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

That brief statement made the three men's bodies tremble noticeably.

Clearly, they had not expected their movements to have already drawn the attention of those sects.

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

"Now that things have come to this, are the three of you still going to conceal your identities?"

"Indeed, we are people of the Sacred Cult."

The three exchanged glances before openly admitting it. The man in the middle, who was at the mid-stage of the Zhen Qi Realm, spoke:

"Do you really think that you alone can keep the three of us here?"

"It is a bit troublesome."

Chu Yunxiao furrowed his brows slightly, then looked toward Lu Ming. "Can you help hold one of them off for now?"

As he had said earlier, he had mainly come to investigate the situation. The reason he had shown himself now was to help Lu Ming out of his predicament.

After hearing their conversation, Lu Ming had more or less figured out why the three men had been pursuing him. They were probably trying to lure him into the Demonic Cult.

Through Old Man Zhao's collection of books, Lu Ming had also gained some understanding of the Demonic Cult.

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

Corpse referred to their ability to refine people into Iron Armor, Bronze Armor, and Gold Armor Corpse Puppets. Those puppets possessed boundless strength in battle and feared neither life nor death.

As for Ghost, one explanation was that their movement techniques were as elusive as ghosts, impossible to pin down.

Another explanation was that they absorbed baleful yin energy to cultivate, becoming neither human nor ghost and slaughtering people everywhere.

This had aroused the fury of the masses, and in the end, the Demonic Cult had been destroyed.

He had never expected that members of the Demonic Cult—or rather, its remnants—would appear before him now, and that they would even try to lure him into joining them.

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

Seeing that Lu Ming did not speak for a moment, the man at the mid-stage of the Zhen Qi Realm spoke up.

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

But now that an inner disciple of the Wuji Sect had unexpectedly appeared, they could only extend a friendly invitation first.

Chu Yunxiao did not say anything. He wanted to see what Lu Ming would choose.

Knowing what kind of organization the Demonic Cult was, Lu Ming naturally had no interest in joining. He shook his head and refused outright. "I'm not interested."

"Little Brother Lu, you'd better think carefully."

Upon hearing this, the mid-stage Zhen Qi Realm man's voice turned cold. A sudden surge of pressure erupted from his body and bore down on Lu Ming.

Yet Lu Ming remained as still as an unsheathed treasured saber, standing unmoved and unaffected in the slightest.

This shocked everyone. They found it strange, though they could not say exactly why.

"I told you not to waste your strength. Just kill him and be done with it."

At that moment, the person among the three who had remained silent until now finally spoke. He also swept off his bamboo hat in one motion, revealing his true face.

It was none other than the vanished Black Tiger Gang Sect Leader, Li Chonghu.

When Lu Ming saw him, he was only slightly stunned before returning to normal, because he had already felt that this man seemed somewhat familiar.

"That's the only way. A genius we can't obtain is better destroyed!"

With that, the mid-stage Zhen Qi Realm man attacked directly, darting toward Chu Yunxiao. At the same time, he did not forget to issue orders. "Li Chonghu, hold that boy off first. Chi Wuya, you and I will quickly deal with this sect disciple."

Hearing this, Chi Wuya said nothing and also darted toward Chu Yunxiao.

"Good! Come on!"

Facing the two men, Chu Yunxiao remained fearless. He shook his back, sending the long sword flying from its sheath, then leaped up and caught it steadily.

"Take my Mysterious Yin Palm!"

Just then, the mid-stage Zhen Qi Realm man reached close range. While still in midair, he swung his palm and condensed a pitch-black palm print, striking toward Chu Yunxiao from a distance.

"Parlor tricks!"

Chu Yunxiao let out a cold snort. His long sword swept through the air, and Sword Qi instantly filled the surroundings before merging into a single sword strike that shot toward the black palm.

Bang!

Upon contact, the black palm was shattered by the Sword Qi, which still retained enough power to continue toward the mid-stage Zhen Qi Realm man.

The man was startled. He had not expected that although his opponent was only at the early stage of the Zhen Qi Realm, his Sword Qi would be so sharp that his Mysterious Yin Palm force could not withstand even a single blow.

He hurriedly retreated.

Chu Yunxiao was just about to pursue when he suddenly sensed a gust of forceful wind behind his waist. He hurriedly changed direction and raised his sword to block.

It turned out that the other man, Chi Wuya, had arrived. After his strike failed, he immediately transformed into a blurred afterimage and retreated.

"Ghost Shadow Steps."

Chu Yunxiao recognized his movement technique.

"And the Three Corpse King Fist. Take this!"

With the aid of Ghost Shadow Steps, Chi Wuya darted left and right. In the blink of an eye, he closed in again, then swung his fists, wrapped in gray-brown true qi, launching a rapid flurry of attacks at Chu Yunxiao.

At this moment, the mid-stage Zhen Qi Realm man attacked again as well.

"Good! Come on!"

Facing the fierce winds of force from all around him, Chu Yunxiao instead let out a hearty laugh. He shot straight into the air, evading the encirclement, then descended from the heavens with his sword and took the initiative to attack the two men.

Bang, bang, bang, bang!

In an instant, palm force, Sword Qi, and fist shadows filled the air, erupting in a series of thunderous explosions.

The three had clearly begun fighting in earnest.

Seeing Chu Yunxiao remain at ease while fighting one against two, Lu Ming could not help admiring him. This also let him experience the might of sect disciples.

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

At that moment, Li Chonghu happened to look toward him as well. He sneered and said:

"Kid, I've already figured out the patterns of your saber techniques, and I understand the secrets of your palm techniques as well. How are you going to fight me this time?"

Li Chonghu admitted that Lu Ming was strong. However, this time he was confident. As long as he guarded against Lu Ming's close-range palm strikes, those saber techniques might be fast, but they would still be unable 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 reached Li Chonghu like a phantom.

"He's gotten even faster!"

Seeing this speed, Li Chonghu was greatly shocked. Although he had seen that Lu Ming's cultivation had risen to the ninth level of Inner Qi, he had not expected that advancing by only one level would make him so much faster.

But he had no time to think. He hurriedly stirred his true qi and thrust out his claws to block.

Just as before, his claws seized nothing. The Saber Light came from another direction.

He grabbed again, but caught nothing again.

After several such exchanges in succession, he grew increasingly alarmed. Compared with last time, he could clearly feel that his opponent's speed had increased far too much. His claw technique could no longer keep up at all.

Splurt!

Sure enough, the next second, Li Chonghu was struck by a saber beneath the ribs. Although his true qi automatically protected his body, it was not as formidable as he had imagined.

After all, he was only at the early stage of the Zhen Qi Realm.

Moreover, Lu Ming's saber technique seemed capable of breaking through true qi, making it impossible to defend against. Blood stained Li Chonghu's clothes, accompanied by a sharp stab of pain.

Aah!

Soon, he was struck by another saber slash, then another two, then three.

After taking several saber strikes in succession, Li Chonghu's movements immediately became disordered. His true qi also began to circulate sluggishly, and cries of pain spilled from his mouth one after another.

Skyward Slash!

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

"No!"

Facing the blinding Saber Light, Li Chonghu was scared out of his wits. 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, this drew the attention of the three people fighting on the other side. When they looked over, they happened to see Li Chonghu split apart by a single saber strike.

They were all shocked.

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