"Trying to send a message?" Han Mao's blade light instantly enveloped the ten men. With this single slash, he severed the palms of three Ninth Stage of Acquired Realm martial artists, while the communication tokens fell to the ground.
"Ah!" The three Ninth Stage of Acquired Realm martial artists immediately cried out in agony and withdrew from the battle.
The remaining seven were also having a hard time, but they managed to hold on. In particular, the two at the Peak Houtian stage had already hurriedly picked up their wooden tokens and brought them to their mouths, roaring frantically.
"Elder, something has happened at the ancestral hall! It's people from the government!"
"What?!"
Daoist Xiangyang, who had been drinking in the splendid hall, immediately sprang to his feet.
"The people inside the ancestral hall are calling for help. They actually killed their way into the ancestral hall?!"
"What happened?" Daoist Mu hurriedly asked.
"Xiangyang, what's wrong?" Daoist Heifeng also set down his wine cup.
"People from the government have killed their way into the ancestral hall. I have to hurry back!" Daoist Xiangyang had no time to say goodbye and flew straight out of the hall.
"Heifeng, I have to leave too." Daoist Mu was also tense. "You must be careful. Don't fall for the stratagem of luring the tiger away from the mountain."
"I understand." Heifeng grew tense as well and quickly ordered his men to stay alert and reinforce their defenses.
These Qi Cultivation True Persons could unleash extraordinary combat strength within the area guarded by the ancestral hall. But if they left, there was nothing they could do. The Li Family's Yin God was not as powerful as the City God Temple's, and could only borrow strength within a small area.
Therefore, they would not easily go to provide support. The most important thing was still the Branch Shrine.
Elsewhere, Shen Zhui and Yan You, who had already entered the ancestral hall, had also run into trouble.
The interior of the ancestral hall was not complicated. The moment they entered, they saw a statue standing not far away.
Yet on the meditation cushion beneath the statue sat a black-clad martial artist. Blood light shimmered over his body, and his aura was several times stronger than that of a Peak Houtian martial artist!
"Xiantian Master!" Yan You's brows tightened. He had not expected an Xiantian Master to be stationed here!
"Who are you? Do you know whose territory this is?" The black-clad martial artist's eyes glinted viciously.
"Leave at once, and I can pretend you were never here!"
"Pretend we were never here?" Shen Zhui let out a cold laugh. There was such a commotion outside, yet he was still asking where they came from. He even claimed he would let them off. Clearly, he was deliberately playing dumb!
He was buying time!
"Yan You, move. Go near the divine statue. Leave this man to me!" Shen Zhui's figure flashed, and he immediately pounced forward.
Yan You was slightly stunned, but he quickly reacted and rushed around from the left.
"Bastards, you're courting death!" The black-clad martial artist flew into a rage. He had actually recognized long ago that Shen Zhui and Yan You had been sent by the government.
One was at the Ninth Stage of Acquired Realm, while the other was at the Peak Houtian stage. Both also held special tokens, clearly indicating that they were experts capable of borrowing the power of a divine temple.
He was only a Peak Houtian martial artist himself. Even inside this Branch Shrine, he could borrow strength and briefly reach the Xiantian Realm. But he still had no confidence in dealing with both of them at once, which was why he had deliberately stalled for time. He had not expected Shen Zhui to see through him at a glance.
"Die!" Shen Zhui raised the steel saber high above his head. His speed instantly surged to its limit, and his body transformed into a streak of light.
"Whoosh~"
A flash of cold light streaked through the air like lightning, slashing toward the black-clad martial artist's head.
"Hm?" The black-clad martial artist was not startled but delighted. "You actually dare charge over without borrowing divine power?"
Cross Slash!
An iron staff appeared in his hand. As it swung, it carried a sky full of bloody radiance. Two streams of Gang Qi tore through the air from the left and right, sealing off Shen Zhui's path forward.
" ignorant brat, you're simply arrogant!" After unleashing this attack, the black-clad martial artist shifted most of his attention to Yan You and moved to stop him.
In his view, Shen Zhui was courting death by charging over without borrowing divine power. Even if this ultimate technique of his could not kill Shen Zhui, it would certainly leave him heavily wounded.
However, just as the black-clad martial artist was about to turn around, his face suddenly froze, and his expression changed drastically!
"What? This is impossible!" From the corner of his eye, he saw Shen Zhui slash apart one of the streams of Gang Qi. Immediately afterward, Shen Zhui's body slid across the ground like a boneless serpent, evading the other stream of Gang Qi!
"He broke my Cross Slash?!" The black-clad martial artist had no time to think. He raised his staff to block, because Shen Zhui's saber had already arrived.
"Whoosh!" The iron staff brought with it a howling gust. The black-clad martial artist wanted to counterattack with an attack of his own, but in the next moment, he was forced back several steps. He instantly raised the iron staff overhead and changed to blocking Shen Zhui's strike.
"Falling Snow Saber Technique, first form—Slay Cang!"
Under the Unity of Heaven and Man realm, the spiritual energy surrounding Shen Zhui's saber seemed to turn into snowflakes, endlessly slicing toward the black-clad martial artist.
Although this saber strike did not shoot out Gang Qi, the snowflakes formed from strands of spiritual energy covered a much larger and broader area than Gang Qi!
"Clang!" When saber and staff collided, the black-clad martial artist's face immediately paled.
"This brat's saber technique is strange!" His heart pounded wildly. Although he had blocked Shen Zhui's strike, there were fine cuts on both his hand and face.
Seeing the effect of the first form of his saber technique, Slay Cang, Shen Zhui could not help but smile slightly.
When Summon Deity had reached a bottleneck, he had devoted himself to studying saber techniques.
He already had a rough conception of the second form, so naturally, he had spent even more effort tempering the first form.
The Unity of Heaven and Man realm allowed Shen Zhui to draw upon the Power of Heaven and Earth. Previously, when Shen Zhui had created Slay Cang, he had merely controlled the Power of Heaven and Earth and pressed it forward in one overwhelming wave.
After the tempering of his spiritual awareness through Heyuan Biographies, his control over spiritual energy had risen to another level. He could now transform it into dozens of spiritual-energy snowflakes and launch precise attacks.
The two were naturally worlds apart!
"It's a pity you're not a true Xiantian Martial Artist. You still can't make me feel any danger." Shen Zhui shook his head and sighed.
He had long seen that this black-clad martial artist was merely at the Peak Houtian stage, relying on some external force to reach the false Xiantian Realm.
His control over Gang Qi was crude as well. He possessed brute force, but no technique.
"No sense of danger?!" The black-clad martial artist instantly flew into a rage. A Ninth Stage of Acquired Realm martial artist actually dared look down on him?!
"Show me some real ability, or today will be your death date!" Shen Zhui shouted.
"Die!" The iron staff in the black-clad martial artist's hands brought with it waves of staff shadows that surged toward Shen Zhui, blotting out the sky and covering the earth.
"Bang! Bang bang!"
The heavy iron staff smashed one deep pit after another into the temple floor, yet it did not even graze Shen Zhui.
"His movement speed is this fast?!" The more the black-clad martial artist fought, the more alarmed he became.
He had swung dozens of staff strikes in that instant, but most had hit empty air. The few that had touched Shen Zhui had all been blocked by the steel saber, with their force redirected to the side.
"How can this be? My iron staff weighs more than five hundred jin, and it's reinforced with Gang Qi. This strike should carry four or five thousand jin of force. An ordinary Ninth Stage of Acquired Realm martial artist would probably be shaken to death by it. Could he not be at the Ninth Stage of Acquired Realm?"
How could he know that Shen Zhui was wearing Bright Light Armor? All attacks below the High-stage Xiantian level had their power reduced by half!
Although he was a Ninth Stage of Acquired Realm martial artist who, with the Yin God's support, had barely reached the Xiantian level, he was at most an Early-stage Xiantian.
When the attack came, Shen Zhui first used his movement technique to shed one layer of force, then Bright Light Armor reduced the force by more than half again.
The vibration transmitted to his body was actually minimal. With Shen Zhui's current physical strength, he could naturally receive it with ease. After all, the iron staff's force had been transmitted through its collision with his steel saber, rather than striking Bright Light Armor directly.
"Out of moves?" Shen Zhui said coldly. "Then it's my turn!"
Feeling the black-clad man's strength and aura weaken, while Yan You had already neared the divine statue, Shen Zhui no longer delayed.
The momentum of the steel saber in his hand erupted, descending like a tiger pouncing down a mountain and instantly enveloping his opponent.
"Clang clang clang!"
The black-clad martial artist blocked continuously as Shen Zhui attacked without pause. In the blink of an eye, hundreds of saber strikes had passed!
Shen Zhui's movement speed was faster than the black-clad martial artist's, leaving him no chance to dodge. Although he could block the saber strikes...
The invisible spiritual-energy snowflakes continued slicing across his body.
"Shhk shhk~" Amid the enormous collision sounds came the constant noises of torn clothing and a dull blade entering flesh.
Before long, apart from his torso, which was protected by armor and remained unharmed, the black-clad martial artist's face and hands were covered in more than a dozen bloody cuts.
Normally, these could only be considered minor wounds. But in the midst of battle, the injuries continued to accumulate. The black-clad martial artist grew weaker the longer he fought, his wrists trembling incessantly. He could barely even keep hold of the weapon in his hands.
"Pfft!" When Shen Zhui's seventy-eighth saber strike came down, the black-clad martial artist's aura had already fallen to the Ninth Stage of Acquired Realm. He could no longer even maintain his original cultivation realm.
The iron staff slipped from his hand, while Shen Zhui's saber simultaneously cleaved away half of his palm.
His movement technique was crushed, his saber technique was crushed, and the only advantage he had in strength could not be brought into play!
Who exactly was this man? Could a Ninth Stage of Acquired Realm martial artist really be this monstrous?!
"No, no, no!" The black-clad martial artist ignored his wounds, endured the heart-piercing pain in his wrist, and prepared to flee.
"Spare me, save—save me!" He rushed toward the ancestral hall's entrance.
"Only thinking of leaving now? Too late!" Shen Zhui quickly pursued.
"Whoosh~"
The seventy-ninth saber strike fell, and the black-clad martial artist's head flew high into the air.
The black-clad martial artist felt the world spinning around him. The last scene he saw was Shen Zhui sheathing his saber and standing before his slowly collapsing body.
Not far away, the Green Token in Yan You's hand was floating into the air, slowly sinking into the divine statue...
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