Hidden Blade

Yao Xuanzhou glared unhappily at the jade plate, watching the duel between Puxiang and Liu Ting.

Liu Ting was using the Body Domination Technique, wielding a steel sword, with a flying knife treasure hovering nearby, constantly circling behind his opponent, full of killing intent.

Puxiang, on the other hand, fought bare-handed with fist and palm techniques, his golden light protecting his body from the acupoints around him.

Neither of them used their ultimate moves at the start, exchanging about ten blows with basic techniques, lacking the flashiness of the earlier grand maneuvers.

Anyone with discerning eyes could immediately see the problem with this level of skill.

Two cunning old foxes.

They clearly both had experience in the martial world, holding back at least thirty percent of their strength in every punch and sword thrust. They were luring each other into attacking, not intending to win through pure skill. One was using his flying knife for sneak attacks, while the other was constantly defending against them. How could they possibly chant incantations or adopt stances that required long wind-ups, giving their opponent an opening?

Thus, seven or eight of those ten-odd exchanges involved touching and immediately retreating, quickly switching positions. They advanced and retreated, circling each other, controlling the distance, never clashing head-on. The flying knife also fluttered about without attacking, both waiting for an opportunity.

This circling and delaying went on for so long that Li Fan and Lu Xing even came out from the ship's cabin, and they still hadn't decided a winner!

"What number is it now? I haven't had my turn yet, have I?" Li Fan checked the injuries of Liu Zongshou on the deck, then walked over to Yao Xuanzhou and asked.

"Seventh person..." Yao Xuanzhou glanced at Li Fan, then looked at Lu Xing, who was walking towards other disciples, whispering and clearly plotting something... "Where are her hands?"

"Senior Sister Lu promised to lend me a hand, I'll return it after I borrow it for a bit. Don't worry about it." Li Fan waved his hand dismissively, as if he didn't think it was a big deal to drag a fellow disciple into a private room and have her right hand gone afterward.

"You really just borrowed a hand..." Yao Xuanzhou stopped speaking mid-sentence, but seeing the young man's nonchalant demeanor, he finally managed to say, "What do you need us to do?"

Li Fan looked at the sky filled with colorful lights, where the Nascent Soul cultivators were staring maliciously at the treasure ship. "How many of them can you deal with? You don't need to kill them instantly, just hold them off for a while."

Yao Xuanzhou narrowed his eyes and considered for a moment, seemingly muttering to himself, "That's the difficult part. Killing them isn't hard, and escaping alone isn't hard either. If they dare to pursue, none of them will survive.

But to withstand their encirclement and fight them head-on would be truly perilous. The key is whether I can kill two of them with the first move.

Those twin brothers, their minds are in sync, their foundations are solid. If I fight them, I must kill both of them in one go. If I fall into their combined attack, it will be troublesome.

Old dog Zhou is an old opponent. Although he's not my match, he knows my sword techniques. If I can't restrain him first, he'll be the most troublesome, and I'm afraid he'll escape again.

Nangong Wushuang is a waste. Her cultivation isn't weak, but she's still a waste. However, she clearly has a connection with the divine bird to the south. Killing her might provoke that beast. Such a large creature is not easy to kill, and getting entangled with it for too long might mean I can't protect the people on the ship.

The heavenly soldiers of the Nangong family to the north have already set up a killing formation, which I can't break through in an instant. But if I leave them be, I'm afraid they'll cause trouble.

As for that fake monk, it's not good to kill him rashly. The opportunity for the sword fight is currently on Tiantai Mountain. If his disciple dies, the Foundation Establishment sword fight ends. If that old monk dies, the Nascent Soul sword fight also ends. If he dies, these people will no longer be constrained by the kill-or-be-killed competition, and they can directly attack the flying boat by bullying the weaker ones...

Hmm... If I can pin down one of them... If I can pin down one, maybe I can try... Hmm."

Master Yao suddenly fell silent, because at that moment, on the sword fighting stage, Liu Ting was abruptly defeated.

His body trembled, and he stumbled and fell to the ground, looking as if he had deliberately cheated. But Puxiang showed no hesitation, ignoring the flying knife hovering behind his head, as if he had expected this. He pounced forward and slammed a palm onto Liu Ting's forehead, crushing his skull and causing blood to spurt from his eyes and nose, killing him instantly.

Liu Ting's flying knife also trembled, then fell into the pool of blood on the jade plate, its divine light extinguished.

Li Fan frowned. "What happened? Did this senior brother slip?"

Master Yao also frowned deeply. "I can't tell."

Not only Yao Xuanzhou, but other cultivators were also bewildered. Even Zhou Sheng was silent for a moment. Only Faji remained like an old monk, seated motionlessly on his lotus platform. It seemed Tiantai Mountain indeed had something special about them.

Yao Xuanzhou couldn't bother with Li Fan's discussion for the moment. He turned to the deck. "Who's next?"

"Disciple Gongsun Han." This senior brother from Ink Bamboo Mountain was actually a middle-aged man with a thick beard, looking quite mature. It was unclear if he was naturally hirsute, had joined the sect late in middle age, or had worked exceptionally hard but lacked innate talent... you know...

"How about I go instead..." Li Fan couldn't help but want to switch the lottery.

"Junior brother, everyone has their own destiny. This is also my tribulation." Gongsun Han wasn't angry, just calmly refused.

Yao Xuanzhou looked at the opponent whose appearance was even older than his own, and was stunned for a moment. He reminded him with some concern, "This Puxiang might be a reincarnated cultivator with some insidious techniques. Don't get entangled with him for too long, finish it quickly."

"Thank you, True Master, for your guidance." Gongsun Han bowed gratefully and then stepped onto the sword fighting stage. "Disciple Gongsun Han of Ink Bamboo Mountain requests your guidance."

Gongsun Han, at the Foundation Establishment Realm, could be considered a knight in the Human Dao. But as soon as he stepped onto the stage, compared to him, Puxiang, such a young monk, looked like his grandchild.

The contrast was too stark. Nangong Wushuang immediately sneered, "Is Ink Bamboo Mountain out of people! To send such a mediocre fellow to the sword fight?"

Zhou Sheng stroked his beard and smiled, "Princess, you may not know, but they are unwilling to risk their elite disciples' lives, so they send him out to die and test Tiantai Mountain's capabilities. However, Master, I would also like to ask, what kind of technique does young master Puxiang use?"

Faji also shook his head. "Puxiang, since all the Fellow Daoists are curious, demonstrate it again as before. Let's not have Bamboo Mountain lose a life in vain."

Zhou Sheng immediately praised, "Master is benevolent and compassionate, truly different from these wicked ways."

"It is Abbot." Puxiang clasped his hands in greeting. "Fellow Daoist Gongsun, please give me your guidance."

Before he finished speaking, he had already lunged forward, unleashing both palms again, executing that set of palm techniques that looked righteous but might have hidden dangers.

Gongsun Han cupped his fist. Without using any weapons, he also met Puxiang with bare hands. They exchanged two blows, clashed three palms, and quickly passed each other, widening the distance again.

After this brief exchange, Puxiang clearly had the upper hand, smiling leisurely, "Fellow Daoist Gongsun, did you see clearly?"

Gongsun Han's face darkened. He rolled up his sleeves, "...Poison Sand Palm, this is a martial art from the jianghu... Senior Brother Liu was actually ambushed by you like this."

It was indeed difficult to discern. Puxiang had smeared poison on his palms and used his qi to inject it into the opponent's body during the exchange. This move was quite common among jianghu practitioners, but cultivators usually used flying swords and treasures, so they rarely engaged in such close-quarters combat, naturally not recognizing it. Without personally experiencing it, it was truly difficult to realize one had been poisoned.

But Puxiang's move was clearly far more potent than a simple jianghu technique. In just two or three palm strikes, Gongsun Han's hands already showed two red lines, like red snakes, snaking up his meridians. Clearly, this was not an ordinary poison, but a secret medicine formulated specifically for cultivators.

Puxiang clasped his hands together. "I saw all of you poison young hero Shi Kai, so I thought Ink Bamboo Mountain also specialized in poison arts and wanted to learn from you. I didn't expect you to be completely ignorant of this path. Using these precious medicines on you Devilish Dao cultivators is a waste."

"You bald donkey poisoned someone and you call us Devilish Dao! Shameless!" Li Fan suddenly surged his true qi, shouting loudly, as if his voice was a thunderclap. 'Shameless, shameless, shameless' echoed through the heavens.

Puxiang was taken aback by his sudden roar.

Zhou Sheng's eyes darted, and he laughed loudly, "Young master, don't mind these Devilish Sons' clamoring! A sword fight is about skill and whoever loses admits defeat. Moreover, they were the ones who used despicable tricks to harm young hero Shi first. Those who do evil will perish by their own actions!"

His shout, filled with righteous fury, thundered like the heavens, the sound of "Self-destruction, self-destruction, self-destruction" drowning out "Jade Lotus, Jade Lotus, Jade Lotus."

Li Fan nodded and said to Yao Xuanzhou beside him, "No need to overthink it. First priority later is to shut this bastard up."

Zhou Sheng merely saw it as a dog barking wildly, enjoying the satisfaction of a sharp tongue. He stroked his beard with a smile.

Their interruption gave Gongsun Han a chance to catch his breath, swallowing a pill to seal the venom spreading from his hands.

Puxiang didn't pursue. Instead, he called out to Gongsun Han, "Fellow Daoist Gongsun, why not concede? If you're willing to sever ties with the Bamboo Mountain Devil Sect and pledge allegiance to Tiantai Mountain, I'll hand over the antidote."

But Gongsun Han didn't engage him. He retreated, creating distance while pulling a purplish-red sandalwood box from his embrace.

Puxiang's face changed drastically. "What! Flying swords! ...Hmph! Trying to scare me! You, a mediocre talent from who knows how many years of Foundation Establishment, where would you get flying swords!"

"I carved them myself!" Gongsun Han flipped open the box lid. From the wooden sword case, nine wooden swords shot out with a whoosh!

These wooden swords were clearly modeled after Black Swords, meticulously copied. Runes and incantations adorned them. As soon as the box opened, spiritual energy surged, making them appear quite potent even if they were single-use!

Puxiang's face turned ashen with fear. Although these wooden flying swords were much slower than real ones, almost visible to the naked eye, and their power was insufficient, they were more than enough to kill a Foundation Establishment Realm cultivator. Moreover, nine of them were now attacking in unison, from above, below, all directions, straight towards his face!

He dared not pretend any longer. He shook his body, his shoulders twitched, and with a bang, the little monk's skin exploded! A blood shadow shot out! It was a true case of shedding skin, terrifyingly discarding the very skin he hid within!

Gongsun Han formed sword seals with both hands, guiding the flying swords to change direction. He managed to recall seven of them in time, with only two piercing the shed skin, now soiled with flesh and blood, unable to fly.

Before him, a blood-shadowed human figure had escaped from Puxiang's husk, landing on a jade plate. It was covered in muscle and blood, distinctly adult-sized. It was unclear what kind of evil art allowed one to peel off skin and switch bodies, shrinking bones and muscles to fit into such a small monk without attracting attention.

"What, a Blood God Spawn! No, that's impossible..." Master Yao whispered, his face showing rare shock.

Li Fan, overhearing half of it, knew it was probably that Profound Heaven Sword Intent guy pointing fingers again, hyping up demonic arts and divine skills to scare little Yao.

However, this demonic art was indeed powerful. Using his divine sense, he saw that the blood figure of 'Puxiang' was actually at the Golden Core realm. It had been completely undetectable while disguised within the monk's skin.

Gongsun Han, however, was undaunted. Seeing the poisonous lines in his hands already attacking his heart, he popped two pills, one gold and one black, into his mouth and laughed heartily. "Hidden for fifty years, today is finally the day Gongsun Han purges demons and upholds righteousness! Satisfying!

Swift! The Beichen Tiangang Seven Star Sword Array. Xuanji Reflection Sword! Slay the demon!"