"Clink, clink, clink, clink, clink, clink—"
Twelve crisp chimes rang out, like rain striking plantain leaves.
Yet the scene Zhao Hanjiang had anticipated did not appear.
Chen Xuan did not fall. He did not even take a single step back.
Faced with the twelve silver needles, Chen Xuan merely raised a hand to shield his eyes and face, those vital areas. The remaining needles struck his chest, throat, waist, abdomen, and other spots, but every single one only pierced his clothing. The instant they touched his skin, they stopped, as though they had slammed into an invisible iron wall.
Clink, clink, clink—
The silver needles slid off Chen Xuan's body and fell to the ground.
Although Zhao Hanjiang's Flying Star Life-Taking Needle specialized in piercing through force energy, that was only when facing force energy cultivated through Ordinary Technique or Superior Technique.
The Vajra Technique, however, was a Top-Tier Technique. Chen Xuan had cultivated it to the peak of the Body Tempering Realm. Not only was his fleshly body powerful, possessing Copper Skin and Iron Bone, but both the quality and quantity of his own force energy had increased severalfold.
"That's it?"
Chen Xuan's voice was calm, as though he were asking what they were having for dinner.
"Th-this is impossible!"
Seeing this, Han Tieshan, who had clung to his final breath in hopes of watching Chen Xuan join him on the road to the Yellow Springs, stared so wide-eyed that his eyes nearly burst from their sockets. Then his body toppled over stiffly.
He was dead.
With his final desperate struggle before death, he had used his life to lock down Chen Xuan's weapon and create an opportunity for his companion, Zhao Hanjiang.
Unfortunately, the opponent he had encountered was Chen Xuan.
Although Zhao Hanjiang had seized the opportunity, he had failed to harm Chen Xuan in the slightest.
He died with his eyes unclosed.
Unable to witness Chen Xuan accompany him to the Yellow Springs, Han Tieshan died with his eyes unclosed.
Up on the roof, Zhao Hanjiang's mouth hung open, yet no sound came out.
His mind was completely blank.
Though he had fallen from the Zhuqi Realm, his Flying Star Life-Taking Needle had long since reached perfection. It specialized in piercing force energy—how could it fail to even break through the other man's protective force energy?
Back when he had not yet reached the Zhuqi Realm and was still at the Ninth Layer of Body Tempering, he had slain more than one Huajin martial artist with the Flying Star Life-Taking Needle.
At that time, the Flying Star Life-Taking Needle had not even reached perfection.
And now, all twelve poisoned needles had struck Chen Xuan, yet they had failed to break through his protective force energy.
"No... impossible... How could you possess such abundant force energy?" Zhao Hanjiang muttered under his breath. "Unless... you cultivate a supreme martial art."
Supreme martial arts.
Usually, only Overlord-Tier Factions possessed them.
What was an Overlord-Tier Faction?
It was a faction that dominated one commandery, or even several commanderies.
But the higher the grade of a martial art, the harder it was to cultivate. Anyone bold enough to cultivate a supreme martial art needed, at the very least, high-grade innate talent—or even the peerless talent of one with top-grade innate talent.
Could this man truly be a genius disciple of Ten Thousand Sword Mountain Villa?
In the few breaths Zhao Hanjiang was distracted, Chen Xuan had already charged in with his sword. He lightly tapped the stone table in the courtyard with the tip of his foot, and his entire body leaped onto the roof.
Zhao Hanjiang's pupils shrank sharply. He retreated rapidly while both hands waved in succession, firing out needle after needle. They wove a dense silver net through the air, covering all of Chen Xuan's vital points.
Flying Star Life-Taking, Hundred Needles Piercing the Heart.
This was Zhao Hanjiang's famous ultimate move.
Back then, he had used this move to slaughter who knew how many powerful enemies.
Even though his cultivation had now fallen, the power of this move still could not be underestimated.
Chen Xuan flicked the longsword in his hand, and six sword shadows appeared in the air.
Clang, clang, clang, clang—
Sword light collided with silver needles, producing the ringing of metal against metal.
Most of those hair-thin silver needles were knocked away by Chen Xuan's longsword, scattering like fallen autumn leaves. Even the few needles that struck his body could not pierce his protective force energy.
"I'll stake everything on this!"
Watching Chen Xuan rapidly close in, Zhao Hanjiang knew that if he did not risk his life now, he would be finished here.
He pressed together the index and middle fingers of his right hand. A strand of silver airflow as thin as a gossamer condensed at his fingertips, gathering upon the silver needle held between those two fingers.
That strand of silver airflow was true qi.
Force energy was invisible, but true qi possessed visible form.
This was Zhao Hanjiang's trump card, the means he kept at the bottom of the chest.
More than twenty years ago, when he had been a Zhuqi Realm expert, he had shaken Tiannan with his Flying Star Life-Taking Needle. Though he was later grievously wounded by a Zhuqi Realm expert from Ten Thousand Sword Mountain Villa, his qi channels shattered and his cultivation fell to the Ninth Layer of Body Tempering, that strand of origin true qi had always lain dormant deep within his dantian.
However, with his qi channels shattered, forcibly activating that strand of true qi in his dantian would inflict unimaginable damage upon his body.
He did not have much lifespan left to begin with.
Forcing out true qi this time would cost him at least three years of his life.
An unnatural flush appeared on Zhao Hanjiang's face, and blood seeped from the corner of his mouth. Forcibly activating true qi had already injured him internally, but he had no choice. If he did not activate it, he would die beneath Chen Xuan's sword.
If he risked his life, he might still scrape out a few more years.
"Life-Taking Needle!"
Zhao Hanjiang flicked his wrist, and the silver needle in his hand shot forth like lightning.
This needle was so fast that it surpassed the limits of the naked eye. Even a martial artist at the Ninth Layer of Body Tempering, with strengthened five senses, would find it difficult to catch its trajectory.
This needle contained the sharpness of true qi from the Zhuqi Realm, capable of piercing anything.
"True qi?"
Chen Xuan's pupils contracted sharply.
He sensed an immense crisis.
Though that strand of true qi was weak, it carried the unique oppressive presence of the Zhuqi Realm. It was far beyond ordinary force energy.
Yet Chen Xuan was not panicked.
Once the Vajra Technique reached the fourth level, one could battle ordinary Zhuqi Realm first-level experts. This had been tested by the Vajra Sect's Ninth Layer of Qi Casting patriarch while he was still alive, using sect disciples who had reached the Ninth Layer of Body Tempering.
At once, Chen Xuan pushed the Vajra Technique to its limit. A bronze radiance surfaced over his body, making him seem as though he had been cast from molten copper.
At the same time, Chen Xuan held his longsword horizontally before him.
"Clang!"
The poisoned needle condensed with true qi pierced through the sword blade. Its momentum did not diminish as it shot straight toward Chen Xuan's chest.
"Clang!"
An ear-splitting clash of metal rang out. A tiny needle hole appeared in the sword blade. The silver needle pierced through the blade without losing momentum and embedded itself directly in the center of Chen Xuan's chest.
Chen Xuan let out a muffled grunt, his body briefly stiffening. He lowered his head and saw that his black martial outfit had been punctured with a hole the size of a needle's eye. The tail of the silver needle still protruded outside, while its tip had already entered his flesh.
Fortunately, only the needle tip had entered his flesh.
A stabbing pain came from his chest, accompanied by a faint numbness.
Poisoned.
Chen Xuan immediately gathered his force energy to stop the poison from spreading.
After the Vajra Technique reached the fourth level, he not only possessed Copper Skin and Iron Bone—his five viscera were like furnaces, greatly enhancing his resistance to poison as well.
"It hit! It hit!"
Seeing that the needle had struck, Zhao Hanjiang's face filled with wild joy, and even his voice trembled.
Since his cultivation had fallen, this was the first time he had activated that strand of origin true qi within his dantian to execute the Life-Taking Needle.
This was his life-saving trump card.
This needle was enough to severely wound an ordinary Zhuqi Realm first-level expert.
As for a martial artist at the Ninth Layer of Body Tempering, their body would absolutely be pierced through in an instant.
Yet his smile lasted only one breath.
Chen Xuan did not fall.
He did not even take one step back.
Chen Xuan lowered his head and glanced at the silver needle in his chest. He reached out, pinched the exposed needle tail, and slowly pulled it out.
The silver needle was very long, a full three inches. Its tip was stained with a trace of blood—only that trace on the needle tip, not even enough to count as a drop.
"A fine needle."
Chen Xuan raised the silver needle before his eyes and examined it under the moonlight, then casually tossed it onto the ground.
"No... impossible..."
Zhao Hanjiang's smile froze on his face. His voice sounded as though someone had seized him by the throat. His body and mind struck by a devastating blow, he lost his footing and tumbled off the roof.
"Y-you actually blocked true qi from the Zhuqi Realm..."
Zhao Hanjiang sprawled on the ground, his clouded eyes fixed fiercely on Chen Xuan.
That needle had contained the final strand of origin true qi in his dantian. Even a Zhuqi Realm first-level expert struck in the chest's vital area would be severely wounded and lose all combat strength. Yet this man before him, a martial artist at the Ninth Layer of Body Tempering, had actually... taken it head-on with his fleshly body?
"True qi from the Zhuqi Realm is indeed formidable." Chen Xuan slowly walked before Zhao Hanjiang, his gaze cold. "If you were still in the Zhuqi Realm, I truly would not be able to block you with that hidden-weapon skill of yours. Unfortunately, you only have one strand of true qi. It still cannot break my fleshly body."
He raised a hand and touched the spot on his chest where he had been struck.
The needle tip had sunk only half an inch into his flesh before being clamped tight by muscles as tough as Copper Skin and Iron Bone. It could not harm his internal organs at all.
As for the poison on the needle, it could not take his life for the time being either.
Once he killed Zhao Hanjiang, he would naturally find the antidote.
Zhao Hanjiang's face turned pale as paper.
At last, he understood.
The man before him had not only cultivated a Top-Tier Technique and possessed extraordinarily abundant force energy, but that Top-Tier Technique also tempered the fleshly body. It was a Top-Tier Technique that cultivated both internal and external aspects.
His Flying Star Life-Taking Needle could pierce the force energy of Ordinary Technique and Superior Technique, but against force energy cultivated through a Top-Tier Technique, it had already become like an old ox dragging a broken cart. And though the origin true qi he had forcibly activated was sharp, it was only a single strand. Though it had broken through Chen Xuan's protective force energy, it was nowhere near enough to penetrate Chen Xuan's fleshly body.
"Who exactly are you?" Zhao Hanjiang asked. "A Top-Tier Technique that cultivates both internal and external aspects is not something an ordinary faction can possess. Are you a disciple of Ten Thousand Sword Mountain Villa, or a disciple of Guiyuan Sect?"
"The dead do not need to know too much."
Chen Xuan swung the longsword in his hand and severed Zhao Hanjiang's head. Then he searched Zhao Hanjiang's body, found the antidote, and swallowed it.
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