The two men in brocade robes from the Lin family heard a commotion from inside the cabin and rushed in without hesitation. The scene before them left them stunned. The young master's foot was bleeding profusely, and his face was pale. He had clearly been poisoned and gravely wounded.
Xia Ruoxue, dressed in fitted black, held a gleaming steel blade. She was peerlessly beautiful, her icy elegance impossible to ignore.
She looked at the two men in brocade robes and said coldly, "Get out!"
The two men immediately drew their swords, their blades flashing as they resolved to restore their young master's honor.
"Don't kill her. I still have a use for her." Though Lin Yunzhi had been poisoned and lost his ability to fight, his mind remained clear. He reached into his robe, took out a jade bottle, and tipped three Detoxification Pills into his mouth.
The two men in brocade robes nodded and attacked Xia Ruoxue with their swords.
Xia Ruoxue pulled a packet of powder from her robe and flung it into the air without hesitation. The powder scattered, swiftly transforming into an invisible poisonous mist that filled the cabin.
The two men were instantly enveloped by the mist. Their skin burned with searing pain. They had been poisoned!
Even so, they didn't retreat in the slightest. Gritting their teeth, they continued to attack Xia Ruoxue.
Xia Ruoxue's heart tightened. Daring not to let her guard down for an instant, she swung her long blade, sending countless streaks of sword light slashing toward the two men.
A brutal, fierce battle erupted inside the cabin. Xia Ruoxue's Thirteen Falling Phoenix Blades were devastatingly sharp; in moments, she cut down both men.
The cabin filled with the stench of blood. Their bodies lay motionless on the floor.
Too easy...
After being poisoned, the two men had been no match for her at all. Their sword swings were feeble, and Xia Ruoxue had cut them down with ease.
Inside the cabin, Lin Yunzhi, struck by two kinds of deadly poison, collapsed to the floor. His face was as pale as paper, and cold sweat drenched his entire body.
His breathing was so faint that he seemed already dead.
Outside the cabin...
At the stern of the small boat.
Lin Yuanren had tempered the sword within his heart, but now he stumbled along unsteadily, staggering and swaying.
He felt a little seasick.
This wasn't seasickness. It was poison!
He had to end the fight as soon as possible.
But that guy could move unseen beneath the water. Even the Azure Scale Beast, ruler of the waters, couldn't bring its strength to bear at all.
Just then, Li Shuidao leaped out of the water once again.
Clear Pool Sword Dao was a sword art devoted to delivering a single strike upon emerging from the water.
A chill, razor-sharp blade of light aimed straight for Lin Yuanren's neck.
Though Lin Yuanren was deeply poisoned, the Mana within him still circulated on its own. Stirred by the chill of the sword's edge, patches of azure scales immediately sprouted across his body. He forced himself to reach for Li Shuidao's flying sword.
But he had been poisoned, and his speed and reactions were just a fraction too slow.
In a flash of sword light, Lin Yuanren's eyes were pierced, leaving him blind.
Seizing the chance, Li Shuidao plunged back into the water.
Water Surge Stealth Technique!
He had disappeared again.
Azure Scale Beast: "..."
Faced with such a desperate situation, Lin Yuanren, blood tears streaming from his eyes, knew the tide had turned against him. A vicious glint flashed across his face as he decided to make sure they all went down together.
The Azure Scale Beast, which had seemed like a fool just moments ago, received its master's command. Its eyes gleamed with a cruel, bloodthirsty light.
The Azure Scale Beast swam straight toward the small boat. Its massive body burst through the surface, and its enormous claws clamped onto the deck.
Xia Ruoxue, hiding inside the boat's canopy, was its target.
Li Shuidao was slippery as an eel, vanishing the moment he entered the water. Xia Ruoxue, however, was a clear target.
Force your enemy to save what they cannot bear to lose!
That was Lin Yuanren's way of dragging them all down with him.
Swish!
Silver light flashed.
Li Shuidao appeared from the water once more and sliced off Lin Yuanren's head with a single stroke. The poison had sunk deep into Lin Yuanren's body. He hadn't even managed to summon his Azure Scale Armor before Li Shuidao took his head.
The instant the Azure Scale Beast clambered onto the boat, the little vessel rocked violently, as if it were about to capsize.
The boat was small to begin with, and two holes had been stabbed through the deck. River water was slowly seeping in. It was only a matter of time before the boat sank.
Through the canopy, Xia Ruoxue could just make out the enormous body of a giant beast on the deck.
She could smell its foul stench even through the canopy.
The wooden boat rocked precariously. Her body trembled despite herself, and fear filled her heart.
"Xia Ruoxue!" Li Shuidao's urgent voice came from behind her.
Xia Ruoxue didn't hesitate any longer. She rushed out of the cabin from the rear.
The Azure Scale Beast had only just clambered onto the bow, while Xia Ruoxue had reached the stern.
A headless corpse lay at the stern. It was Lin Yuanren, whose head had just been chopped off.
Clad in black, Li Shuidao stood beside the headless corpse. Lin Yuanren's head rolled at his feet.
"Jump!"
Li Shuidao jumped into the Flowing Cloud River with Xia Ruoxue in his arms.
Water splashed everywhere. Xia Ruoxue twisted her body and struggled to swim toward the riverbank.
She had been born in Cangzhou and grown up as a wandering heroine. She was a fairly capable swimmer, too.
The Azure Scale Beast had just climbed onto the boat when it saw its prey jump into the river. It leaped back in after her.
The Azure Scale Beast was a ruler of the waters, and it was even faster in the river than on land.
Xia Ruoxue swam frantically. She heard the Azure Scale Beast plunge into the water and felt the surging waves behind her.
She could almost feel the enormous beast about to bite off half her body and tear her apart in the river.
She was right!
The Azure Scale Beast had already opened its gaping maw, ready to swallow Xia Ruoxue whole.
Squelch!
Li Shuidao drove his sword through the giant beast's lower jaw. The skin there was soft, completely unprotected by azure scales.
"Roar!"
Stung by the pain, the Azure Scale Beast turned and lunged at Li Shuidao beneath the water.
The once-tranquil river exploded in an instant. Li Shuidao was locked in close combat underwater with a giant beast.
Xia Ruoxue swam desperately toward the shore. When she finally reached land, she turned to look back.
The water of the Flowing Cloud River churned and splashed. Li Shuidao and the giant beast were completely tangled together.
He fought with all his might to hold the beast's lower jaw shut, preventing it from opening its mouth. Its short, powerful claws swung again and again, striking his body and chest, tearing open the flesh of his shoulder.
Li Shuidao wasn't one to take a beating without answering back. He twisted the sword buried in the beast's lower jaw, sending blood flying.
"Roar—"
The giant beast bellowed, trying to shake Li Shuidao off.
But Li Shuidao clung to its body as if glued there. No matter how violently it struggled, it couldn't throw him off.
"Brother Dao, watch out!" Xia Ruoxue cried anxiously, but the river swallowed her voice at once.
She was frantic, but there was nothing she could do to help in the fight.
After the man and beast struggled for dozens of breaths, the enormous Azure Scale Beast suddenly whipped its tail with all its strength.
In the next instant...
The beast surged onto the shore, taking Li Shuidao with it.
The one-zhang-long beast landed on top of Li Shuidao, pinning him beneath its body. Then Li Shuidao kicked it over.
The enormous Azure Scale Beast landed on its back—and died.
The first sword thrust Li Shuidao had landed had been a fatal one.
His blade had been coated with his toad venom. The sword pierced the beast's lower jaw, driving the poison straight into its brain. Li Shuidao had also twisted the blade around wildly, hastening the beast's death.
Li Shuidao climbed to his feet. He was drenched in blood and covered in wounds, his face deathly pale.
Daoist Art: Water Moon Flowing Pearl.
One crystalline pearl after another appeared around Li Shuidao, then slipped into his body.
The pearls radiated a powerful vitality. Green light soon enveloped Li Shuidao's body, and the huge gashes across his chest and shoulder healed at a visible speed. Even his feeble aura regained some strength.
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