Eternal Youth

Wu Tie and Old Tie rushed toward Ox Hero, and Shi Lingqing wanted to follow them.

Luolin gave her no chance whatsoever. Even Qiao's verbal persuasion could not sway him. His clean, decisive waist-level slash enraged Qiao into shouting rebukes, while Shi Lingqing went pale with fright.

Shi Dian let out a muffled groan and swung the wooden staff in his right hand. Three short rods shot from his sleeve, and dim lightning transformed into an electric net that struck down at Luolin.

Before the electric net could hit the ground, Ding had already shuffled over with Old Wu on his back.

Old Wu drove the stone pillar with one arm. Several short stone spears burst from the cracked ground and stabbed straight toward Shi Dian.

Helpless, Shi Dian could only abandon his attack on Luolin and send the electric net against the stone spears.

The dim electric net and the short stone spears barely touched. The net shattered, the spears snapped, and Shi Dian and Old Wu both gasped for breath. Shi Dian staggered back several steps, while Old Wu could not help retching, blood suddenly surging from his mouth.

Both men had already exhausted their strength. They could only stare at each other, no longer able to make another move.

The chain blade in Qiao's hand shrieked through the air. The long iron chain whipped about, its sharp sickle tearing through the air as streaks of cold light slashed viciously toward every part of Luolin's body.

Luolin swung his blade with one arm, utterly ignoring the chain blade raining down upon him. He only hacked desperately, blow after blow, at Qiao's vital points.

Qiao shouted furious rebukes. Of everyone present, even Shi Lingqing had been struck with three triangular nails in the face and poisoned by some unknown corrosive toxin. Qiao alone was spotless from head to toe, without the slightest injury; even his clothes had not picked up much dust.

But he feared death.

Luolin had assumed a fight-to-the-death stance, and Qiao simply did not dare clash with him head-on. Facing Luolin's fierce blade-light, he could only retreat step by step, continuously urging Luolin to "lay down his hatred" and "seize the treasure together."

"Your sister is already dead!" Qiao shouted in exasperation. "For one dead person, you've dragged so many brothers into the pit! Luolin, wake up! Don't keep stubbornly clinging to this! How many more brothers do you want to kill?"

"Do you see that Ancient Sage's corpse? It must have treasures on it... no, the Ancient Sage's corpse itself is a supreme treasure." Qiao roared at Luolin as if mourning iron that would not become steel. "Perhaps this is our chance... everyone's chance."

"Luolin, you may not treasure your own life... but are you going to drag Old Wu and Ding down to die here with you?" Qiao rebuked him with heartfelt anguish. "You're too selfish... Luolin, you're too selfish!"

Ding coughed dryly. His right leg was swollen until it gleamed, black blood continuously seeping from his pores.

Licking his parched lips, Ding muttered to himself, "What Qiao says sounds rather reasonable. I actually have nothing to say against it."

Old Wu gripped the stone pillar in his hand and viciously smacked Ding on the head. "So, you want to make up with him?"

Ding shook his head and sighed. "Third Brother originally meant to come avenge himself alone... us brothers came to help him of our own accord. The brothers who died or were injured cannot be blamed on Third Brother... if anyone should be blamed, shouldn't it be Qiao?"

Qiao swung his chain blade and dodged one of Luolin's heavy chops. The chain blade swept up in a sinister arc and left a deep gash across Luolin's face. Hearing Ding's words, Qiao cried out in furious exasperation, "Blame me? Blame me? Is this my fault?"

"This can't be blamed on me... I only wanted a better future!" Qiao shouted. "Besides, Lingqing and I truly love each other..."

Luolin, Old Wu, and Ding spat at the same time. Luolin let out a hoarse roar, his body swaying as two afterimages rushed at Qiao from the left and right.

Qiao narrowed his eyes, his pupils shrinking to pinpoints.

He pursed his lips in a strange smile and slapped his belt hard.

Qiao's belt was half a foot wide, made from half-inch-thick beast hide. At its center was a palm-sized black metal mechanism. When he slapped it, the beast-head-decorated metal piece exploded, turning into dozens of tiny streaks of cold light that shot toward Luolin.

"Luolin... Third Brother... I'll let you die cleanly." Qiao smiled in delight.

A figure abruptly appeared in front of Luolin. He gave a low shout, and the air before him writhed violently like rippling water. The dozens of needle-thin streaks of cold light were still three feet from the figure when they seemed to strike a wall of bronze and iron, exploding entirely into powder.

Qiao let out a scream of utter terror. He decisively threw down his chain blade, dropped to his knees with a thud, and slammed his forehead against the ground.

The figure threw a backhanded punch at one of Luolin's afterimages. That afterimage was where Luolin's true body stood. The heavy blow struck his lower abdomen, sending Luolin flying more than ten meters. He crashed headfirst into Ding, and Luolin, Old Wu, and Ding immediately rolled into a heap.

Before Qiao, who was desperately kowtowing on the ground, could raise his head, the figure seized the back of his neck and violently hoisted him up.

"Go on, tell me..." the figure began with a cold laugh.

Before he could finish, Qiao suddenly shrieked. Both feet lashed repeatedly toward the figure's lower abdomen, and two half-foot-long daggers sprang from the tips of his boots. Their blackened blades had clearly been steeped in deadly poison.

With two clangs, the daggers snapped when they were still half a foot from the figure's body. An invisible barrier shrouded the figure, and the fierce recoil blasted Qiao's boots to pieces. His feet twisted and burst apart, their bones shattered like crumbled tofu.

"Commander... spare me!" Qiao screamed in absolute terror, tears streaming from his eyes.

"Then tell me—what exactly is this better future?" The abruptly appearing Nine Palm Commander laughed strangely, then slapped Qiao's face dozens of times in a flurry.

Qiao's cheeks were beaten until flesh and blood flew everywhere, every tooth in his mouth breaking apart at once. Fragments of shattered teeth mixed with blood and sprayed out, spurting several meters away with repeated puffs.

With a snort, Nine Palm Commander grabbed Qiao by the neck and viciously slammed him into the ground.

Qiao's legs struck the ground heavily. They shattered like two thin glass rods, flesh exploding and leg bones pulverized. In the end, only his upper body remained planted on the ground. Barely recognizable as human, Qiao screamed miserably, his wails like a vicious ghost howling in grief.

"Shut up!" Nine Palm Commander said unhurriedly.

Qiao, wracked by pain from head to toe, immediately shut his mouth. His gums clenched tightly together as he endured the agony throughout his body, not daring to make the slightest sound.

Luolin and Ding turned over and got to their feet, standing at a distance as they watched Nine Palm Commander with complicated expressions.

A wild wind swept past, and six figures clad in black armor silently emerged behind Nine Palm Commander. Then they flashed into motion, surrounding Shi Lingqing and Shi Dian.

"Truly love each other?" Nine Palm Commander looked toward Shi Lingqing and laughed mockingly. "Do you believe that? Lin Qiao, I want the truth."

Qiao panted heavily several times. Trembling, he looked at Nine Palm Commander and said in a quavering voice, "Shi Lingqing told me that she was a follower of the Longevity Cult, and Thousand Fish City was a branch hall of the Longevity Cult... She said the Longevity Cult had immense power. In Mist Blades, I was merely an assassin who sold his life for money. If I joined the Longevity Cult, my future would naturally be broader than that of an assassin."

Looking at Nine Palm Commander, Qiao hurriedly said, "This disciple knows his sin. This disciple is willing to redeem himself through merit. This disciple is willing to infiltrate the Longevity Cult... for Mist Blades..."

Nine Palm Commander gave a cold snort.

Qiao immediately shut his mouth, not daring to make another sound.

"Not honest." Nine Palm Commander extended a finger and forcefully poked Qiao's forehead, laughing coldly several times. "Not honest... there must be another reason. Lin Qiao, among Wu Yan's group, you are the cleverest and the most afraid of death."

"You know Mist Blades' methods, so you would not dare betray us lightly." Nine Palm Commander walked before Shi Lingqing, seized her chin, and lifted her face. "The Longevity Cult? Over the past few years, we of Mist Blades have had dealings with the Longevity Cult too... only not many."

"Tell me, what exactly is the situation with your Longevity Cult? You even bewitched an elite assassin raised by Mist Blades from childhood into betrayal?"

Nine Palm Commander tightened his five fingers until Shi Lingqing's chin warped. Yet Shi Lingqing smiled sweetly and said softly, "Nine Palm Commander, you're hurting me... Hehe, Lingqing looks terribly ugly now. Why not grant Lingqing the antidote and restore her appearance, then Lingqing can properly explain the Longevity Cult's origins and history to you?"

Just as Shi Lingqing was about to speak, a howling gale swept past. A wooden boat over twenty meters long came speeding through the air several meters above the ground.

An elderly woman with the face of a child and hair like a crane stood at the prow. Seeing Shi Lingqing in Nine Palm Commander's hand, she said nothing and waved a hand. A red silk ribbon shot straight from the wide sleeve of her blood-red robe, its piercing shriek aimed directly at Nine Palm Commander's back.

Nine Palm Commander snorted, threw Shi Lingqing aside, drew the straight blade from his back, and slashed downward in one smooth motion.

Cold light flashed from the straight blade, spraying a streak of blade-light several yards long as it struck the red silk ribbon. Amid a piercing collision, the ribbon recoiled, while the straight blade was jolted more than three feet into the air. Nine Palm Commander and the elderly woman both swayed at once.

"Azure Flame Domain, Mist Blades' Ninth Altar—I am Nine Palm Commander." Nine Palm Commander turned around and looked at the elderly woman with the face of a child and hair like a crane, sneering unhurriedly. "Old woman... you are from the Longevity Cult? The Longevity Cult has experts like you?"

The elderly woman smiled warmly and bowed to Nine Palm Commander. "Nine Palm Commander knows very little of my Longevity Cult. My Longevity Cult... hehe..."

An old woman—even one who took excellent care of herself, whose skin was glossy and smooth—was still an old woman at least seventy or eighty years old. When such an old woman imitated a girl of sixteen and gave you a coy little giggle, even Nine Palm Commander, whose heart was stone and whose hands had slain countless people, could not help shuddering.

"Twenty years ago, the trade passage between my Azure Flame Domain and the outer domains opened..." Nine Palm Commander said coldly. "Five years ago, Mist Blades first came into contact with your Longevity Cult... I never expected your Longevity Cult to have already put down roots in Azure Flame Domain."

The elderly woman nodded with a smile and cast Nine Palm Commander a seductive glance. "A backwater like Azure Flame Domain is precisely where my Longevity Cult gathers the foundation of longevity..."

Before she could finish, the elderly woman's gaze suddenly fell upon Ox Hero dozens of miles away.

Shi Lingqing immediately spoke. "Grandma Hong, that is an Ancient Sage's corpse... one person, and one... strange thing, have already gone over there for quite some time."

Grandma Hong and Nine Palm Commander exchanged a glance. Grandma Hong's sleeve trembled, and the straight blade in Nine Palm Commander's hand gave an inexplicable clang. They nodded at the same time, then shook their heads at the same time.

Nine Palm Commander retreated several steps, moving away from Shi Lingqing, then casually pointed at Qiao. "A traitor to Mist Blades must naturally be taken back and dealt with properly."

Grandma Hong glanced at Shi Lingqing.

Shi Lingqing gave a faint laugh. "He was merely a tool for saving my life... now that this is over, there is no use in keeping him."

Qiao's body shuddered violently. He raised his head in disbelief and screamed himself hoarse, "Lingqing..."

"Fool!" Nine Palm Commander sneered. He glanced at Qiao, then suddenly leaped into the air and transformed into a gale as he sped toward Ox Hero.

"Interesting." Grandma Hong smiled. A red silk ribbon flew from her sleeve, wrapped around Shi Lingqing's waist, and dragged her onto the wooden boat. She gently patted Shi Lingqing's head. "Lingqing, Grandma already knows the full story... hehe, you have rendered great merit this time. You must work hard in the future."

Shi Lingqing gave a few restrained laughs and stood respectfully behind Grandma Hong.

The wooden boat raised a wild gale and swiftly caught up with Nine Palm Commander.

Bone Crusher drained half the blood from Wu Tie's body, then slowly rose into the air. Just as it prepared to fly out of the great hall, Nine Palm Commander arrived at the entrance before Grandma Hong and her group.

Through the open doors, Nine Palm Commander saw how extraordinary Bone Crusher was. He took two heavy steps forward, swung his straight blade with a ringing cry, and laughed loudly. "This treasure should belong to Mist Blades."

Wu Tie's entire body was weak and sore, darkness clouding his vision. For the moment, he could not stand.

Old Tie turned around. Blood-light flickered in his eyes as he glanced at Nine Palm Commander and the speeding wooden boat. Suddenly, all four of his legs went limp, and he collapsed to the ground with a thud. "Aiyo, this damned door, your grandpa has used up all his strength..."

Nine Palm Commander swung his long blade, sending a streak of blade-light slashing toward Old Tie.

With a huge boom, sparks flew everywhere. The blade-light struck Old Tie, violently sending him flying more than ten meters away. He crashed headfirst into the wall behind the altar table, smashing a huge hole through it and falling outside.

Standing at the prow, Grandma Hong shot several red silk ribbons from both sleeves at once, their sharp whistling wind wrapping toward Bone Crusher.

"Nine Palm Commander, a good man does not fight a woman. This treasure should belong to this old grandmother instead, shouldn't it?" Grandma Hong smiled brilliantly. She puckered her rosy lips and blew Nine Palm Commander a kiss. Suddenly, a red needle shot from between her lips, silently stabbing toward Nine Palm Commander's heart.

"A good man does not fight a woman—but can an old demon hag still count as a woman?" Nine Palm Commander laughed loudly. He leaped up and dodged the red needle, gripping his long blade in both hands as he let out a long roar.

The straight blade erupted with a streak of blade-light more than ten meters long, hacking fiercely down upon the wooden boat.

Grandma Hong seemed unable to react in time, or perhaps the blade-light had frightened her stupid. She stumbled one step back, and the blade-light swept past. Of the young men and women behind her, two men and one woman were grazed by it, their bodies abruptly exploding into three clouds of bloody mist.

Grandma Hong shrieked, "My poor children!" She opened her mouth and inhaled deeply, swallowing the three clouds of bloody mist in one gulp.

Grandma Hong's childlike face and crane-white hair trembled all over. Her white hair rapidly turned black, and her features swiftly became younger. In the space of a few breaths, she had transformed into a girl of seventeen or eighteen.