Successful Escape

Noticing the sharpness in Feng Qingyang's eyes, Song Qingshu knew things were not looking good. Yet he was not particularly afraid; instead, a flicker of eagerness rose within him.

With a sweep of his left hand and a forceful palm strike from his right, he attacked Feng Qingyang with the Eighteen Dragon Subduing Palms' "Dragon Ascending to Heaven."

Seeing that Song Qingshu stood some distance away, and recalling how unpredictable his earlier techniques had been, Feng Qingyang decided to respond to all changes with constancy. He secretly gathered Innate Sword Qi at his fingertips.

Before the move could run its course, Song Qingshu drew another circle with his left hand and struck out again with his right, unleashing the exact same "Dragon Ascending to Heaven."

The force of the two palms stacked together, surging like furious waves with unstoppable momentum, like an invisible wall of qi crashing toward Feng Qingyang.

Feng Qingyang felt his breathing grow labored. He hurriedly formed a sword gesture and met the attack with the Qi Breaking Style.

Using the force of his forward rush, Song Qingshu leaped into the air. With "Soaring Dragon in the Sky" from the Eighteen Dragon Subduing Palms, he launched a third "Dragon Ascending to Heaven," the three waves of qi stacking together as they surged fiercely toward Feng Qingyang.

Feng Qingyang's expression finally changed. He had still underestimated Song Qingshu's strength. The Innate Sword Qi in his right hand had more than enough power to shatter the first two palm waves, but who could have expected that, in that split-second flash, Song Qingshu would send forth a third palm? With three strikes layered together, the force of the palm wind increased geometrically. Feng Qingyang had just broken through the first two waves when his Innate Sword Qi was blasted apart by Song Qingshu's third palm. Left with no choice, he used his footwork to dodge several yards away.

Feng Qingyang's face darkened. After all, this was the first time in many years that an opponent had forced him to withdraw his sword and defend, and that opponent was a youth barely out of his teens. "Dragon Tide Wave! Are you Xiao Feng of the Khitan?"

"If King Xiao were here, Elder Feng would hardly be as at ease as he is facing me." Song Qingshu's words gave a negative answer, though he inwardly breathed a sigh of relief. He knew the Eighteen Dragon Subduing Palms and understood the principles behind Xiao Feng's greatest technique. He had forced himself to give it a try and had actually managed to imitate it. Of course, there was still a considerable gap between him and Xiao Feng in power, the angles of his qi, and the timing of his choices. That was why he had needed Soaring Dragon in the Sky to complete the final palm.

"Then who exactly are you? You possess the orthodox martial arts of Emei and Wudang, know such an unorthodox skill as the Nine Yin White Bone Claw, and have even used the Beggar's Clan's supreme art, the Eighteen Dragon Subduing Palms. In the entire Beggar's Clan, only Xiao Feng and Guo Jing can barely surpass you in mastery of the Eighteen Dragon Subduing Palms. Every other clan chief and elder falls far short of you." Feng Qingyang's discerning eye was exceptionally keen, and he quickly saw through the nature of Song Qingshu's martial arts.

"You can call me Gou Dan'er." Song Qingshu glanced back at Mu Wanqing, who stood beside him dumbfounded, and revealed a mischievous smile. Yet he thought, For now, I should build up strength quietly and bide my time. I wronged Zhou Zhiruo. If I make a name for myself and she comes looking for me after hearing of it, I really won't know how to deal with her.

"Three moves have passed. Since you refuse to speak, then stay." A trace of anger rose in Feng Qingyang's heart as he formed a sword gesture and attacked.

The speed of the sword qi left Song Qingshu clicking his tongue in alarm. In his panic, he hurriedly used the Serpentine Feline Roll, tumbling across the ground to evade Feng Qingyang's incomparably fierce strike.

But he had already lost the initiative. Feng Qingyang's sword qi came one strike after another without end. Song Qingshu could only dodge, with no power to retaliate, and the gaps in which he could maneuver were being consciously compressed smaller and smaller by his opponent.

Song Qingshu understood that if this continued, he would meet his end within ten moves. Yet he did not rashly counterattack with the Eighteen Dragon Subduing Palms. From their earlier exchange, he had already realized that palm wind and the like were at far too great a disadvantage before his opponent's sword qi. Coupled with the Nine Swords of Dugu's Qi Breaking Style, even the most powerful palm force would be no sturdier than paper.

With equal force, the area struck by a palm was vastly greater than that of the Innate Sword Qi at his opponent's fingertips. Damn that pressure formula! Song Qingshu viciously cursed physics. With his opponent using a point to break through a surface, all palm techniques were inherently restrained.

Spotting an opening, Song Qingshu sent a tremor through his inner energy. The wooden sword on his back shot forth, and he caught it in his right hand before slashing out several times to begin his counterattack.

Feng Qingyang had noticed the wooden sword long ago and had assumed it was merely an ornament. He had not expected this young man to have reached the realm of no sword at such an age. A thin layer of sword qi faintly shimmered along the wooden sword's surface. Moreover, his sword moves were precisely those carved into the walls, yet he was not mechanically copying them. Several ordinary moves of Five Peaks Swordplay carried restrained strength and concealed dozens of possible variations, waiting to adapt at any moment to Feng Qingyang's response.

Feng Qingyang stepped on the Seven Stars and swiftly retreated several yards. Song Qingshu's first three moves had already been astonishing, but they had not shocked him as much as this. He asked in disbelief, "You only glanced at those sword moves on the wall a few times, and you already comprehended them completely?"

Song Qingshu looked somewhat awkward and replied with slight embarrassment, "It seems... that's the case."

Hearing those words, Feng Qingyang nearly spat out a mouthful of blood. He himself was a swordsmanship prodigy seen only once in centuries, able to roam the world with sword in hand by the age of thirty. Only with decades of swordsmanship experience had he been able to take one look at the moves carved upon the wall and fully grasp their sword intent. This young man before him could not possibly have practiced swordsmanship for more than three years, yet in terms of realm alone, he could actually stand on equal footing with him. How could Feng Qingyang not be shocked?

"Whether those are empty boasts can only be known after we test them." Feng Qingyang still did not believe him and decided to test him with all his strength.

Song Qingshu quickly focused himself, channeling qi into the wooden sword as he met the attack.

For a time, sword qi crisscrossed the cave. Though Feng Qingyang was largely attacking while Song Qingshu defended, and though Song Qingshu was often driven into a miserable state, he was like a lone skiff amid a storm, always able to guard his own position. With ordinary Five Peaks Swordplay, he forcibly withstood Feng Qingyang's Nine Swords of Dugu without defeat. At times, he even struck back with several sword moves that forced Feng Qingyang to withdraw his sword and defend. If word of this spread through the martial world, it would surely shake the realm.

Yet Song Qingshu alone knew his suffering. Although he could fight Feng Qingyang for a hundred moves without losing, if this continued, Feng Qingyang would no longer hold back. Once the sword qi invaded his body, he would surely die.

Thinking of this, how could he be willing to keep fighting? He formed a strange sword gesture and shouted, "Watch my ultimate move—Myriad Swords Returning to Origin!"

Feng Qingyang was startled. This young man had brought him too many surprises, and he truly feared being caught off guard and injured by some bizarre technique. He formed sword gestures with both hands and waited in full readiness.

Seeing that he had taken the bait, Song Qingshu dared not hesitate. He drove Treading Sand Without Trace to its limit, swept up the nearly stupefied Mu Wanqing in his arms, and shouted, "Run!" The two of them shot out of the cave like meteors.

After recovering from his astonishment, Feng Qingyang flew into a rage and hurriedly used his lightness skill to chase after them. But he had lost the initiative. Song Qingshu possessed the supreme lightness skill Treading Sand Without Trace, and with his heart set on fleeing, even while carrying someone in his arms, all Feng Qingyang could do was watch helplessly as the distance between them grew ever greater...

Once he sensed that they had finally shaken off Feng Qingyang, Song Qingshu gently set Mu Wanqing down and said in relief, "Wife, luckily you're soft as boneless and light-bodied. Otherwise, we really wouldn't have escaped."

But the answer he received was a loud slap from Mu Wanqing.