Tragic

As Grandma Hong's face shifted, the crimson silk flying from her sleeve wrapped around Bone Crusher.

Nine Palm Commander instinctively followed the crimson silk with his gaze. This crimson silk was also a treasure; with his strength and the quality of the straight blade in his hand, he had been unable to leave the slightest mark on it.

Bone Crusher, which had been slowly circling in the air, touched the crimson silk. With a ripping sound, the incomparably sturdy crimson silk was smashed through by Bone Crusher, leaving a thumb-sized hole. Bone Crusher slowly flew toward the main doors of the hall, about to leave through them.

Nine Palm Commander let out a long howl and leaped into the air, slashing his blade toward Bone Crusher to stop it.

When the crimson silk broke, Grandma Hong's expression changed slightly. Seeing Nine Palm Commander move to intercept Bone Crusher, she gave a coquettish laugh. Her wide red robes fluttered like a red cloud carrying her as she chased after Nine Palm Commander.

The blood mist from her three exploded attendants transformed into boiling, surging power within Grandma Hong's body. Faint bloody light burst from every pore of her body. Seemingly wrapped in a blood-colored crystal, Grandma Hong chuckled softly and struck out heavily with both palms from dozens of meters away.

With a strange shriek, two blood-colored palm imprints, each about a meter wide, shot from her hands as swiftly as lightning, striking one after the other toward Nine Palm Commander's back.

Nine Palm Commander's straight blade met Bone Crusher. With a crisp crack, Bone Crusher remained unharmed, while the three-inch tip of Nine Palm Commander's blade exploded into countless scattering sparks.

Nine Palm Commander roared in heartache, then slashed backward in fury and embarrassment.

With the straight blade damaged, the blade light it emitted flickered unsteadily, shrinking to only three to five meters. The much thinner blade radiance collided with the two palm imprints. The blade radiance exploded with a boom, and the blood-colored palm imprints slammed heavily into Nine Palm Commander's chest.

Nine Palm Commander gave a muffled grunt and was sent flying over a hundred meters by the bloody palm imprints, crashing headfirst into a crystal cluster dozens of meters tall that shot straight into the sky.

The crystal cluster was incomparably hard. Blood sprayed from Nine Palm Commander's body as he bounced off it and fell amid the dense clusters of crystals on the ground.

Grandma Hong gave a smug laugh. Crimson silk continuously sprayed from her sleeves, turning into a sky full of rainbow shadows that wound around Bone Crusher. She smiled at Nine Palm Commander, who was coughing blood. "You country-born butcher, what do you know of the Longevity Cult's illustrious reputation beyond the Azure Flame Domain?"

Before she had finished speaking, Shi Lingqing and the young men and women standing at the bow of the wooden ship cried out at the same time.

Behind Grandma Hong, another Nine Palm Commander appeared out of thin air. A straight blade silently stabbed forward, sinister and vicious, slipping easily into Grandma Hong's waist like a striking venomous snake.

With a miserable howl, the crimson silk flying from Grandma Hong's sleeves spun and danced with a piercing shriek, wrapping her body at its center. At the same time, several strands of crimson silk shot fiercely toward the Nine Palm Commander behind her.

The Nine Palm Commander whom Grandma Hong had sent flying in the distance exploded into a cloud of smoke and dispersed. The Nine Palm Commander behind Grandma Hong swung his straight blade and forcibly exchanged a blow with her.

Blade light and rainbow shadows collided chaotically, sparks flying in every direction.

Nine Palm Commander and Grandma Hong stirred up dozens of afterimages as they danced wildly through the air. Within the span of a finger snap, the two exchanged who knew how many blows. In the end, they both grunted repeatedly, their figures separating to the left and right before landing simultaneously on the blue-brick path before the hall doors.

Blade radiance and rainbow shadows surged, striking fiercely against Bone Crusher as it slowly flew outward.

Met with resistance, Bone Crusher sluggishly retreated several meters into the hall. The blade radiance and rainbow shadows vanished, revealing Nine Palm Commander and Grandma Hong.

Grandma Hong's red robe had been slashed to tatters, exposing her close-fitting red undergarment. Having absorbed the blood mist from three exploded young attendants, she had returned to youth. Her figure was tall and curvaceous.

Yet this exquisite body was covered in crisscrossing blade wounds deep enough to reveal bone.

The white skin and red flesh around the wounds had curled outward like children's mouths. Droplets of blood hung upon the wounds, as if restrained by some invisible force. The blood continually flowed back into the wounds, without a single drop seeping out.

Nine Palm Commander's hood had shattered, revealing a square-faced man with a broad mouth and curling beard. He looked dignified and imposing, every inch a heroic man whose bold spirit soared to the heavens. Who could have imagined he was one of the commanders of the Mist Blade assassin organization?

Grandma Hong's crimson silk had likely struck his cheek. Half of Nine Palm Commander's face had been blasted away, and dozens of silver needles as fine as ox hairs were densely embedded in his cheek. A faint blue gleam shone on the needles; they had clearly been steeped in deadly poison. The half of Nine Palm Commander's face was rapidly turning blue.

With a ripping sound, Nine Palm Commander did not hesitate. He swung his blade backward and slashed his own face, cutting away a large patch of flesh.

His flesh split open, exposing a large patch of ghastly white facial bone. Nine Palm Commander looked as vicious as a ghost, frightening many Longevity Cult youths aboard the wooden ship into gasping sharply.

Only Shi Lingqing lightly applauded and laughed. "Nine Palm Commander is decisive in killing. You truly are a hero... Why not sit down and have a proper talk with my grandma? Why fight to the death and ruin the mood?"

Twisting her slender waist, Shi Lingqing chuckled. "Please understand, Nine Palm Commander, the Longevity Cult has nothing else, but we do have beauties, money, and power... If you desire beauties, all the sisters aboard this wooden ship—even Grandma Hong herself—will be at your disposal."

"If you desire money, the Longevity Cult has countless hidden disciples, including many city-state rulers with abundant wealth. With Nine Palm Commander's status and strength, what amount of wealth could you not obtain?"

"If you desire power, hehe, so long as Nine Palm Commander becomes one of us, then with your position in Mist Blade, if you help the Longevity Cult take control of the Azure Flame Domain, you will become the master of the Longevity Cult's Azure Flame Hall. In the future, you may rise even further. Your authority might shake the heavens, who can say?"

Nine Palm Commander gave a cold "Heh heh," took out several pills, and quickly swallowed them.

Grandma Hong drew deep breaths. Each time she inhaled, the dozens of bone-deep wounds on her body wriggled, visibly healing at high speed. Having devoured the blood mist from three exploded youths, Grandma Hong's vitality was now overflowing, and her recovery ability was extraordinarily powerful.

While gasping from the pain, Grandma Hong laughed. "Lingqing, you little girl, truly are clever and capable. Worthy of someone trained by handling cult affairs outside... You are a hundred times better than those pieces of trash raised within the cult... Hehe, Grandma is tempted to take you as her goddaughter."

Shi Lingqing smiled softly and gave a coquettish reply.

Grandma Hong twisted her waist and cast a seductive glance at Nine Palm Commander. "Nine Palm Commander, did you understand what my precious daughter Lingqing said? Hehe, as long as you submit to the Longevity Cult, Grandma and all my goddaughters will be yours to enjoy."

With a strange laugh, Grandma Hong pointed back at the wooden ship. "Even these godsons of mine, if Nine Palm Commander takes a fancy to them, you need only show them favor."

Wu Tie, who had lost half the blood in his body, shakily rose to his feet. Hearing Grandma Hong and Shi Lingqing's words, he felt as if someone had forced a huge chunk of cold, greasy leftover pork fat down his throat. He was so sickened that he nearly vomited.

"Shameless!" Wu Tie steadied himself against his long spear with great difficulty and shouted his rebuke.

Grandma Hong smiled at Nine Palm Commander and ignored Wu Tie. In her heart, how could a minor figure like Wu Tie possibly be worth her concern?

Shi Lingqing, however, smiled and pointed at Wu Tie. She softly said to two handsome young men beside her, elegant as jade trees in the wind, "I'll have to trouble you two senior brothers to act... There is something rather strange about this boy. It would naturally be best to capture him alive. If not, killing him would be just as well."

Wu Tie gripped his long spear tightly, stepped half a pace back with his right foot, and pointed the spear toward the wooden ship.

When Old Tie had thrown Wu Tie toward Bone Crusher, the tight-fitting armor on Wu Tie's body had slipped off by itself. Now that Wu Tie had prepared for battle, the armor transformed into a white metal stream that swiftly flowed across the ground, coiling up from his feet. In an instant, it reformed into tight-fitting armor and wrapped around him once more.

The deathly pale armor reflected no light at all, making hearts tremble at the sight.

The two Longevity Cult youths smiled calmly. Their eyes flickered as they greedily swept over Shi Lingqing's face and body. Then they leaped gracefully into the air, landed with carefree ease before the hall doors, drew the sabers at their waists, and advanced step by step toward Wu Tie.

"Boy, if you lay down your weapon and surrender, perhaps you may yet live," one youth said loudly. "Our Longevity Cult offers countless benefits. Once you have tasted what the Longevity Cult has to offer, perhaps you will not want to leave."

"If you dare resist, don't blame us for making you suffer," the other youth said with a genial smile. Rich blood energy churned in his body, and his face flushed red.

Wu Tie took a deep breath. He suddenly stamped his foot and thrust his long spear forward.

The two youths were clearly startled. They hurriedly stepped back and swung their sabers, trying to block Wu Tie's feinting spear.

They did not notice that Wu Tie's spear had merely waved about at random. Behind them, two broken bricks suddenly flew up, carrying a vicious gust of wind as they smashed toward the backs of their heads.

The square bricks used in these building ruins were specially made, each three feet wide and a foot and a half thick.

The two huge broken bricks came howling through the air. The youths' bodies jolted, their eyes rolled white, and they toppled forward. Their bodies twitched slightly as they fainted on the ground.

The broken bricks crashed down, smashing heavily onto the hands with which the two youths held their sabers. Their palms were pulverized, leaving them unable to grip their weapons ever again.

The instant the broken bricks flew up, Grandma Hong and Nine Palm Commander, who had been glaring at each other in wary stalemate, moved at the same time. Their bodies turned into afterimages and shot into the sky, reaching an altitude of a thousand meters in an instant. Blade radiance and rainbow shadows flashed chaotically, thunderous booms continuously ringing through the air as great masses of force blasted wildly in all directions.

Suddenly, with a great roar, Nine Palm Commander's figure froze in midair. Huge masses of flesh behind his shoulders wriggled, and four new arms actually grew from his back. No one knew where he drew another five straight blades from. His six arms wielded six straight blades, turning into a ball of light as they slashed wildly at Grandma Hong.

Grandma Hong gave a strange laugh as well. The close-fitting red undergarment on her body suddenly turned to ash. Blood-colored flames spurted from every pore of her body, while her two legs below the waist transformed into a blazing cloud of fire, carrying her upper body as she rapidly darted back and forth through the sky.

Dozens of flame-forged whips lashed wildly through the air, clashing with the blade light from Nine Palm Commander's weapons.

After Wu Tie knocked out the two Longevity Cult youths, Shi Lingqing cursed, "Trash!" She was about to summon others to act when the six subordinates Nine Palm Commander had brought arrived, escorting Old Wu, Luolin, and Nail, while dragging along the heavily injured Qiao.

As Nine Palm Commander and Grandma Hong fought desperately, the six Mist Blade experts silently drew their straight blades and charged directly toward the Longevity Cult's wooden ship.

Their bodies flickered, trailing afterimages as they rushed onto the wooden ship. Like tigers entering a flock of sheep, they drew their blades and hacked madly.

The handsome young men and beautiful, slender young women of the Longevity Cult aboard the wooden ship were as delicate as flowers raised in a greenhouse. It was as though they had never experienced combat before. After only one exchange, the group of young men and women wailed and fell.

The Mist Blade members struck viciously. The young men and women were wounded in vital points such as their necks and hearts. In an instant, every one of them was slain; not a single one escaped.

Only Shi Lingqing decisively dropped to her knees, assuming a posture of complete prostration and surrender. The six Mist Blade members did not kill her immediately. After every Longevity Cult member aboard the wooden ship had been slain, one Mist Blade member grabbed Shi Lingqing by her long hair and brutally lifted her into the air.

"Commander!" the Mist Blade member holding Shi Lingqing shouted.

High in the air, Nine Palm Commander spun like a windmill. Blade radiance over ten meters long roared as it swept across a hundred meters, and he laughed heartily. He mocked loudly, "Grandma Hong? Is this all your Longevity Cult can do? These soft eggs are your cult disciples?"

With two ripping sounds, the blade radiance swept across Grandma Hong's body.

Grandma Hong's body no longer resembled flesh and blood. Vast amounts of blazing fire filled her skin and flesh. As the blade light swept through her, her body was cleaved apart, spraying large amounts of scorching liquid like magma that transformed into rolling flames and poured down from the sky.

Grandma Hong gave another strange laugh. "You do not understand the Longevity Cult... These godsons and goddaughters were never meant for battle."

A streak of fire descended from the sky. Grandma Hong transformed into flames and dived down, landing on the wooden ship with a thunderous crash.

The bodies of the slain young men and women exploded with a boom. Great masses of blood mist boiled up and gathered toward Grandma Hong's body. Like an enormous vortex, Grandma Hong devoured all the blood mist from over twenty exploded young men and women in an instant.

Heat spilled in every direction, and a terrifying aura surged into the heavens. Grandma Hong's body expanded to more than thirty meters tall. Flames burst from her entire form, while fire rose and swept across a radius of several hundred meters.

The two young men Wu Tie had knocked unconscious with broken bricks were swept by the flames. Their bodies exploded on their own, transforming into two streams of blood mist that merged into Grandma Hong's body.

With her enormous body, Grandma Hong laughed loudly. "These godsons and goddaughters are consumable goods for battle... Hehe, ordinarily, they can also be used to buy over valuable targets... Our Longevity Cult never expected to rely on them in battle!"

Amid her loud laughter, Grandma Hong waved both hands. A terrifying heat wave surged in all directions. The six Mist Blade members screamed hoarsely like fish thrown into magma. Their armor rapidly burned and melted. Their clothes and armor became black smoke, while all the flesh on their bodies was instantly vaporized by the high heat.

A fireball nearly a hundred meters in diameter shot into the sky.

High in the air, Nine Palm Commander let out a hoarse howl. His body suddenly changed, his lower half becoming like that of a giant insect. His six arms rapidly fused into two long arms that tightly gripped his straight blade and slashed downward.

Blade light and firelight collided. A fierce radiance filled the sky, together with the light reflected by countless crystal clusters. For a moment, everyone shut their eyes, unable to see anything happening around them.

Two heavy impacts rang out.

Wu Tie opened his eyes and saw Nine Palm Commander and Grandma Hong fallen on the ground. Both their bodies were incomplete, and their injuries were so severe that they seemed as though they might die at any moment.