Three powerful auras, as towering as mountains, swept in from all directions, locking the man and horse firmly in place.
Gu Cheng himself remained calm and composed.
But the Flood Dragon Horse beneath him couldn't withstand such imposing pressure. As if struck by Conqueror's Haki, it foamed at the mouth, rolled its eyes back, and fainted on the spot.
"Ah, useless thing..."
Seeing this, Gu Cheng shook his head helplessly. With a flicker of his figure, he drifted lightly down to the ground.
He flipped his hand, and an ancient-looking bronze mirror artifact appeared. It was the parting gift Xu Nianxue had given him long ago.
He lightly tapped the mirror with a fingertip. A translucent white barrier sprang open, enveloping the Flood Dragon Horse to keep it from being killed by the shockwaves of the coming battle.
Only after doing all that
did Gu Cheng slowly turn around, his gaze sweeping calmly over the three figures surrounding him.
All three wore black robes and masks. Ghost-face masks concealed their features, leaving only a pair of icy eyes apiece, their gazes sharp as blades.
Their steady, disciplined true qi surged like an abyss or an ocean, marking them as seasoned Innate Grandmasters who had fought countless battles—nothing like Duan Feng, a Demonic Grandmaster who had forcibly reached his level through wicked arts.
Besides that, Gu Cheng also keenly detected an extremely faint trace of Sword Qi.
Though this Sword Qi was subtle, it felt incredibly familiar...
"This is... Dragon Slaying Sword Art?"
Gu Cheng's gaze sharpened slightly, and a cold curve tugged at his lips.
"So that's who you are. The three elders of Dragon Martial Hall have come all this way."
He looked around at them, his tone edged with mockery.
"What? The three of you stopped me here—do you plan to exchange cultivation insights with me in this desolate wilderness?"
Before this, Gu Cheng had imagined countless possibilities. After all, he had indeed made plenty of enemies.
The fox demon from the Bai Family, the Flood Dragon from the Flood Dragon Palace, the swordsman from Famous Sword Villa, the half-demon from the Ximen Family...
But he had never imagined that the ones coming here to die this time would be the people from Dragon Martial Hall!
"You three found me with such precision. Did you tamper with the jade pendant you gave me?"
"Hmph! You're a sharp one, kid! No wonder you're a once-in-a-century genius of the Demon Suppression Bureau!"
The tallest and burliest of the three gave a cold snort, his voice dripping with murderous intent.
"If you know what's good for you, hand over the location of Venerable Qinglian's treasury, and you might spare yourself some pain!"
Venerable Qinglian's treasury?!
Gu Cheng furrowed his brow slightly. How had these people learned about the Legacy Treasury?
Before he could think it through, another black-robed man, radiating a fierce aura, spoke abruptly, his tone impatient.
"Stop wasting your breath. Take the kid away, find somewhere safe, and question him at our leisure!"
"Third Elder, this is your job. Break all four of his limbs, but make sure you don't kill him!"
"Understood!"
The Third Elder nodded with a sneer. Before the words had even left his mouth, he shot forward like a hunting falcon, leaving only a blur behind.
In the blink of an eye, he appeared behind Gu Cheng like a ghost.
His hands shot out like eagle claws, reaching straight for Gu Cheng's arms. True qi coiled around them, faintly forming the image of an eagle swooping down on its prey. It was clearly an exceptionally sophisticated grappling technique!
Yet in the face of this thunderous strike,
Gu Cheng stood perfectly still, as though he hadn't reacted at all.
"Hmph. So much for the Demon Suppression Bureau's genius!"
The Third Elder sneered to himself, already picturing Gu Cheng's arms being crippled in a single blow.
But just as his fingertips were about to touch Gu Cheng's clothes,
ripples suddenly spread through the air, like waves disturbed on the surface of a lake.
—Total Counterattack!
Clang—
The Third Elder's palm seemed to slam into an invisible mirror, and his attack rebounded in full!
"Oh no!"
The Third Elder was horrified. He hurriedly pulled back his strength and leaped away.
But the rebounding force still sent his qi and blood surging. The webs between his thumbs and forefingers split open, and his sleeves were torn to shreds by the gale.
"What kind of demonic art is this?"
The Third Elder stared at his bloodied palms, his eyes filled with shock and terror.
Before he could recover, a wildly violent crimson Killing Intent burst forth in front of him!
—Indestructible Demon Physique!
Surging blood and baleful qi churned like a tide, tightly enveloping the young man in the ink-colored robe and forming a sinister, fearsome suit of Dark Blood Demonic Armor!
With the demonic armor on his body, Gu Cheng's aura soared. Like an abyssal demon god awakening, he radiated a boundless Killing Intent!
He stomped hard. The ground beneath him exploded, and he shot forward like a cannonball, reaching the Third Elder in an instant and punching him squarely in the chest!
"!!!"
The Third Elder was scared out of his wits. He hurriedly gathered all the true qi in his body, forming a thick barrier in front of himself.
Boom—
A visible wave of air burst outward with a deafening crash.
Under the impact of that brutal punch, the Third Elder's innate protective true qi shattered in an instant, like paper!
He grunted, feeling an appalling force rush straight at him.
His whole body flew backward like a rag doll, blood tracing a vivid arc through the air.
The other two elders were aghast. They leaped forward at once and caught the Third Elder between them.
They poured their formidable true qi into his body recklessly, trying to dispel the terrifying force ravaging him.
Even so, the Third Elder was gravely wounded. Blood kept spilling from the corner of his mouth, and his aura had withered to the extreme.
The First Elder didn't dare hesitate for a moment. He quickly took out a precious healing pill he had kept for years and put it into the Third Elder's mouth.
The pill dissolved as soon as it entered, turning into a soothing stream of energy that barely managed to stabilize the surging qi and blood in the Third Elder's body.
"What terrifying strength..."
The First Elder and Second Elder exchanged a glance. Deep shock shone in both their eyes.
With just one punch, he had gravely wounded an Innate Grandmaster of formidable strength.
Such terrifying power was nearly on par with an innate Flood Dragon from the Flood Dragon Palace.
How had the "prey" they'd come to hunt turned into such a monster?
"Just what kind of freak are you?"
The Second Elder stared at the figure clad in demonic armor and demanded sharply,
"Where did you hide that kid named Gu?"
The First Elder thought for a moment, then his eyes lit up as he suddenly understood.
"So that's it. Who would've thought that the 'Blood Kirin' whose fame has recently risen in Tianshui Prefecture was you?"
"Hmph! You're with the Demon Suppression Bureau, yet you secretly practiced demonic heretical arts? It seems this operation of ours is helping the Demon Suppression Bureau clean house!"
Before his words had even faded, the three elders sprang into action, charging in a deadly pincer formation.
Gu Cheng spread his hands. Flames surged in his palms as he thrust them forward.
—Fire Cloud Palm!
Boom—
Crimson flames roared out like an enraged dragon. Their terrifying heat melted the surrounding snow in an instant.
At the same time, amplified by the Dark Blood Demonic Armor, the already scorching flames twisted and transformed, becoming an even more sinister, blood-red Fire Dragon.
With a force that threatened to burn everything to ash, it lunged at the three men!
Facing the blood-red Fire Dragon as it surged toward them,
the three elders didn't retreat. Instead, they each formed a sword seal.
Accompanied by a fierce rush of Sword Qi, three Dragon Slaying Sword Qi blades, each about two inches long, condensed before them, radiating a chilling glint.
"Slay!" the three elders roared in unison.
Whoosh—
The three sword blades shot out like bolts of thunder. Though they had moved later, they arrived first, slashing viciously into the blood-red Fire Dragon!
A mournful shriek rang out. The once-mighty blood-red Fire Dragon was easily cut into four pieces.
Then it scattered into a sky full of flames, vanishing between heaven and earth like fireworks.
"Hmph. A cheap trick, and you dare show off in front of experts?"
Seeing this, the three elders couldn't help but snort, their hearts brimming with smugness.
So what if he was the Demon Suppression Bureau's once-in-a-century genius? So what if he was the Blood Kirin, a Demonic Grandmaster?
Before Dragon Martial Hall's invincible Dragon Slaying Sword Qi, he was no more than a clay chicken or a paper dog, a withered corpse in its grave!
"Today, we'll let you see the might of the Dragon Slaying Sword Art!"
The First Elder gave a cold shout and was about to launch their full assault.
But the next moment, his voice abruptly cut off. His eyes went wide, as if he'd seen something impossible.
The figure clad in demonic armor slowly raised his right hand and formed a sword seal they knew all too well.
In an instant, five-colored light swirled before him:
scorching flames, surging waves, violent thunder, chilling blood and baleful qi, and vast, peerless true qi—
five utterly different forces gathered before him, compressed, and finally took the shape of five sword blades, each about three inches long.
"Zzzzt..."
The five sword blades hovered before Gu Cheng, radiating a terrifying pressure that made it hard to breathe, as if they could slice space itself apart.
"This... this is..."
The First Elder's voice seemed to catch in his throat. The contempt and confidence had vanished from his eyes, replaced by boundless fear and disbelief.
He had never dreamed that the other man was using none other than Dragon Martial Hall's secret art, forbidden to outsiders—
—the Dragon Slaying Sword Art!
Before you continue