Wiping Out the Baishui Town Branch Single-Handedly

"Ding, ding, ding, ding, ding, ding—"

Twelve crisp sounds rang out, like rain hitting banana leaves.

However, the scene Zhao Hanjiang had envisioned did not occur.

Chen Xuan did not fall, nor did he even take a single step back.

Facing the twelve silver needles, Chen Xuan merely raised his hand to shield his eyes, his most vital point. The remaining needles struck his chest, throat, waist, and abdomen, but each one merely pierced his clothing; the moment they touched his skin, they stopped, as if they had collided with an invisible iron wall.

Ding, ding, ding—

These silver needles slid off Chen Xuan's body and fell to the ground.

Although Zhao Hanjiang's Flying Star Life-Taking Needle was designed to break through internal energy, that was only against the energy cultivated from ordinary or superior-grade techniques.

The Vajra Technique was a top-tier technique, and Chen Xuan had cultivated it to the peak of the Body Tempering realm; not only was his physical body powerful, possessing skin of copper and bones of iron, but the quality and quantity of his internal energy had also increased several times over.

"Is that it?"

Chen Xuan's voice was calm, as if he were asking what was for dinner.

"This... this is impossible!"

Seeing this, Han Tieshan, who had been holding onto his final breath in hopes of seeing Chen Xuan join him in the afterlife, saw his eyes bulge wide before his body collapsed straight to the ground.

He was dead.

His final struggle before death, using his own life to lock Chen Xuan's weapon in place, had been intended to create an opportunity for his companion, Zhao Hanjiang.

Unfortunately, the opponent he encountered was Chen Xuan.

Although Zhao Hanjiang had seized the moment, he had failed to injure Chen Xuan in the slightest.

He died with his eyes wide open.

Unable to see Chen Xuan accompany him to the underworld, Han Tieshan died with deep resentment.

Up on the roof, Zhao Hanjiang's mouth hung open, yet he could not utter a single sound.

His mind was a complete blank.

Although he had fallen from the Zhuqi Realm, his Flying Star Life-Taking Needle had long since reached the perfection stage, specialized in breaking internal energy; how could it be that he couldn't even break through the opponent's protective energy?

Back then, when he hadn't yet reached the Zhuqi Realm and was still at the ninth level of Body Tempering, he had used the Flying Star Life-Taking Needle to kill more than one Huajin martial artist.

And that was back when his Flying Star Life-Taking Needle hadn't even reached perfection.

Yet now, all twelve poisonous needles had struck Chen Xuan, but they hadn't broken through the opponent's protective energy.

"No... impossible... how could you have such immense internal energy?" Zhao Hanjiang muttered to himself in a low voice: "Unless, you are practicing a top-tier martial art."

Top-tier martial arts.

Generally, only those hegemon-level factions possessed them.

What was a hegemon-level faction?

It was a faction that dominated an entire prefecture or even several prefectures.

But the higher the grade of the martial art, the greater the difficulty of cultivation; those with the courage to practice top-tier martial arts had to be prodigies with at least superior-grade aptitude, or even top-tier aptitude.

Could it be that the opponent was truly a genius disciple of Ten Thousand Sword Villa?

In the few moments that Zhao Hanjiang was distracted, Chen Xuan had already charged over with his sword; with a light tap of his toes on the stone table in the courtyard, he leaped onto the roof.

Zhao Hanjiang's pupils shrank, his body retreating rapidly while his hands waved in succession, sending thin needles flying out to weave a dense silver net in the air, shrouding all of Chen Xuan's vital points.

Flying Star Life-Taking, Hundred Needles Piercing the Heart.

This was Zhao Hanjiang's signature technique.

In the past, he had used this move to slay countless powerful enemies.

Even though his cultivation had fallen, the power of this move was still not to be underestimated.

Chen Xuan flicked the long sword in his hand, and six sword shadows appeared in the void.

Clang, clang, clang, clang—

The sword light collided with the silver needles, emitting the sound of metal clashing.

Most of those needles, as thin as ox hair, were knocked away by Chen Xuan's sword, scattering like autumn leaves; even the few that managed to strike his body could not break through his protective energy.

"I'll risk it all!"

Watching Chen Xuan close in rapidly, Zhao Hanjiang knew that if he didn't fight for his life now, he would meet his end here.

His right index and middle fingers pressed together, and a silver stream of air as thin as a silk thread condensed at his fingertips, gathering on the silver needle held between his fingers.

This wisp of silver air was true energy.

Internal energy was formless, but true energy had a visible form.

This was Zhao Hanjiang's trump card for survival.

More than twenty years ago, as a Zhuqi Realm expert, he had been famous throughout Tiannan for his Flying Star Life-Taking Needle; although he was later severely wounded by a Zhuqi Realm expert from Ten Thousand Sword Villa, his energy channels shattered, and his cultivation fell to the ninth level of Body Tempering, that wisp of origin true energy had always remained dormant deep within his dantian.

However, because his energy channels were shattered, forcibly stimulating that wisp of true energy in his dantian would cause unimaginable damage to his body.

His lifespan was already running thin.

Forcibly stimulating his true qi this time would cost him at least three years of his life.

An unnatural flush appeared on the face of Zhao Hanjiang, and fresh blood spilled from the corners of his mouth. Forcing his true qi had already caused him internal injuries, but he had no choice; if he did not use it, he would die under the sword of Chen Xuan.

Risking his life was the only way to survive a few more years.

"Life-Taking Needle!"

With a flick of his wrist, the silver needle in his hand shot out like a bolt of lightning.

The speed of this needle exceeded the limits of the naked eye; even a Body Tempering ninth-stage martial artist with enhanced senses would struggle to track its trajectory.

This needle contained the sharp edge of Zhuqi Realm true qi, capable of piercing anything.

"True qi?"

Chen Xuan's pupils shrank.

He sensed a massive crisis.

Although that wisp of true qi was faint, it carried the unique pressure of the Zhuqi Realm, far beyond what ordinary internal energy could compare to.

However, Chen Xuan felt no panic in his heart.

The Vajra Technique reaching the fourth level could contend with an ordinary first-stage Zhuqi Realm expert; this had been tested by disciples who reached the ninth stage of Body Tempering back when the Vajra Sect's ninth-stage Zhuqi ancestor was still alive.

Instantly, Chen Xuan pushed the Vajra Technique to its limit. A bronze luster emerged on the surface of his body, making him look as if he were cast from molten copper.

At the same time, Chen Xuan held his longsword horizontally to block.

"Clang!"

The poisoned needle, condensed with true qi, pierced through the blade, its momentum undiminished as it drove straight toward Chen Xuan's chest.

"Clang!"

With a deafening sound of metal clashing, a tiny pinhole appeared on the sword. The silver needle punched through the blade and, without losing momentum, struck dead center into Chen Xuan's chest.

Chen Xuan let out a muffled grunt, his figure stalling for a brief moment. He looked down to see that his black martial attire had been pierced by a needle-sized hole; the tail of the silver needle was still exposed, while the tip had buried itself into his flesh.

Fortunately, the tip had only penetrated the skin and muscle.

A sharp pain radiated from his chest, accompanied by a faint sensation of numbness.

It was poisoned.

Immediately, Chen Xuan gathered his internal energy to prevent the toxin from spreading.

With the Vajra Technique at the fourth level, beyond possessing skin of bronze and bones of iron, his internal organs were like a furnace, greatly increasing his resistance to toxins.

"Hit! It hit!"

Seeing the needle strike home, Zhao Hanjiang's face erupted in wild joy, his voice trembling.

Ever since his cultivation level fell, this was the first time he had stimulated the wisp of origin true qi in his dantian to unleash the Life-Taking Needle.

This was his trump card for survival.

This needle was enough to severely wound an ordinary first-stage Zhuqi Realm expert.

As for a ninth-stage Body Tempering martial artist, their body would absolutely be pierced through in an instant.

However, his smile lasted only a single breath.

Chen Xuan did not fall.

He did not even take a step back.

Chen Xuan looked down at the silver needle in his chest, reached out to pinch the exposed tail, and slowly pulled it out.

The silver needle was quite long, a full three inches, with a trace of blood on the tip—barely enough to count as a single drop.

"A good needle."

Chen Xuan held the needle up to his eyes, examined it under the moonlight, and then tossed it casually to the ground.

"No... impossible..."

Zhao Hanjiang's smile froze on his face. His voice sounded as if someone had choked him; suffering a mental and physical blow, he lost his footing and tumbled from the roof.

"You... you actually blocked true qi from the Zhuqi Realm..."

Zhao Hanjiang collapsed on the ground, his murky eyes staring fixedly at Chen Xuan.

This needle had condensed the very last wisp of origin true qi in his dantian. Even a first-stage Zhuqi Realm expert would be severely wounded and lose their ability to fight if struck in a vital spot, yet this person before him, a ninth-stage Body Tempering martial artist, had actually... taken it head-on with his physical body?

"Zhuqi Realm true qi is indeed formidable." Chen Xuan walked slowly to Zhao Hanjiang, his gaze cold. "If you were still in the Zhuqi Realm, I truly wouldn't have been able to block this hidden weapon technique. It is a pity, however, that you only have one wisp of true qi, and it isn't enough to break my body."

He raised a hand to touch the spot on his chest where he had been struck.

The needle tip had entered his flesh by half an inch before being clamped tight by his bronze-like muscles, failing to reach his internal organs.

As for the poison on the needle, it would not take his life for the time being.

As long as he killed Zhao Hanjiang, he would naturally be able to find the antidote.

Zhao Hanjiang's face turned as pale as paper.

He finally understood.

The person before him not only practiced a top-tier cultivation technique with exceptionally dense internal energy, but this technique also tempered the physical body, making it a supreme method that cultivated both the inside and the outside.

His Flying Star Life-Taking Needle could pierce the internal energy of ordinary and superior techniques, but it was powerless against the energy cultivated from a top-tier technique. Although the origin true energy he had forcibly unleashed was sharp, there was only a single wisp of it; while it managed to break through the protective energy, it was fundamentally insufficient to penetrate the physical body of Chen Xuan.

"Who exactly are you?" Zhao Hanjiang asked. "A top-tier technique that cultivates both the inside and outside is not something an ordinary faction could possess. Are you a disciple of Ten Thousand Sword Villa, or a disciple of Guiyuan Sect?"

"Dead men don't need to know so much."

Chen Xuan swung the long sword in his hand, severing Zhao Hanjiang's head, and then he searched Zhao Hanjiang's body to find the antidote and consumed it.