Xu Yang and the others flew on their swords straight out of the capital, heading for the Imperial Manor thirty li north of the city. Once they reached its vicinity, they descended from the sky and continued toward the manor on foot, moving stealthily.
When they arrived outside the Imperial Manor, they saw that it was ablaze with lights. Music and dancing filled the air, with the faint sound of women laughing reaching their ears.
At the sight, Liu Yuan's expression darkened. "How bold! A mere Rogue Cultivator dares to show such contempt for us. He deserves to die." As he spoke, Liu Yuan was about to attack.
Looking at the scene inside the Imperial Manor, Xu Yang felt uneasy. His keen senses told him that something was amiss. Seeing Liu Yuan about to strike, he immediately raised a hand to stop him. "Senior Brother, wait! Something isn't right!"
Liu Yuan halted at once and looked at Xu Yang. "What did you notice?" Xu Yang replied gravely, "The scene before us is suspicious in itself. They must already know we've arrived at the Imperial Palace, so why would they hold a grand banquet instead of taking strict precautions? Doesn't that seem strange?"
He paused, then continued, "And Senior Brother Xu should have arrived here long ago, yet there's no sign of him. That's even stranger."
After hearing Xu Yang's words, Liu Yuan and the others' expressions changed. They were just about to speak when a sinister chuckle rang out. "You brats are pretty sharp. But tonight, every one of you is staying here."
Liu Yuan immediately shouted angrily, "Who's there? Stop skulking around and show yourself!" Xu Yang and the others quickly took out their Dharma Artifacts and warily scanned their surroundings.
A fire dragon suddenly appeared, roaring as it charged toward Xu Yang and the others. Xu Yang immediately controlled the Sky-Severing Sword to slash at it, while Liu Hao raised a hand and sent a yellow Flying Sword thrusting toward the dragon. Li Qingqing formed a hand seal, releasing a wooden shield that stood before them.
With a boom, the fire dragon was cut into pieces by Xu Yang and Liu Hao. The flames that scattered in every direction were blocked by the wooden shield. At the same time, three black-robed cultivators appeared before them.
Seeing the three cultivators, Xu Yang's heart sank. He knew things were bad. They wore black robes embroidered with a blood-red wave over the left breast. Worse still, their cultivation was formidable. Two were in the Foundation Establishment Realm, while the third was at the peak of the Ninth Layer of Qi Refining.
At the sight of their attire, Liu Yuan was greatly alarmed. He secretly sent a voice transmission to Xu Yang and the others. "Junior Brothers and Junior Sister, this is bad. These three are disciples of the Demonic Path's Blood Refining Sect. I can only hold one of them off; you'll have to deal with the other two. Take the chance to escape if you can!"
As he spoke, Liu Yuan raised his left hand and sent a blue sword light flying toward one of the Blood Refining Sect disciples. The man laughed heartily. "Good! I'll play with you." He released a red blade of light, which collided with Liu Yuan's sword light. The two immediately began fighting fiercely.
Before Xu Yang could react to Liu Yuan's transmission, Liu Yuan was already battling the Blood Refining Sect disciple. Looking closely, Xu Yang cursed Liu Yuan's cunning in his heart. The opponent Liu Yuan had chosen was only at the Foundation Establishment Early Stage.
The stronger cultivator, who was at the Foundation Establishment Middle Stage, had been left to them. How devious—Liu Yuan's words had been nothing but pretty talk. Looking at the Demonic Path cultivator across from him, Xu Yang felt bitter.
The two Blood Refining Sect disciples facing Xu Yang and the others smiled. "Just surrender. Stop struggling in vain." As they spoke, the two slowly advanced toward them.
Seeing this, Xu Yang immediately sent a voice transmission to Liu Hao and the other companion beside him. "Junior Brothers, I suggest we split up. That way, we'll all have a chance to escape. There are only two of them, so they can't capture all of us."
After receiving Xu Yang's transmission, the two nodded, agreeing with his suggestion. The three then chose separate directions and fled at full speed.
Seeing Xu Yang and the others' actions, the two Blood Refining Sect disciples grew furious. The disciple at the Ninth Layer of Qi Refining immediately chased after Liu Hao, while the Foundation Establishment Middle Stage cultivator pursued Xu Yang.
As Xu Yang fled with all his might, he saw through his spiritual sense that the Blood Refining Sect disciple at the Foundation Establishment Middle Stage was chasing him. His heart sank, and he silently groaned. He hurriedly urged his Flying Sword with all his strength, speeding ahead.
Seeing Xu Yang's frantic escape, the Foundation Establishment cultivator laughed. "Brat, let's see how long you can keep this up!" He followed behind Xu Yang on his sword, accelerating whenever Xu Yang slowed down to chase him. Xu Yang had no choice but to keep flying at full speed, not daring to slack off for even a moment.
After flying for a while, Xu Yang's expression changed drastically. The Gang Qi within his body was nearly depleted, and he was starting to falter. He immediately realized that the enemy behind him had been wearing him down on purpose.
With no other choice, Xu Yang hurriedly descended. Once he landed, he took out a Lesser Qi Recovery Pill and swallowed it, doing his utmost to replenish the Gang Qi in his body as he prepared to face his powerful enemy.
A short while later, the Blood Refining Sect disciple at the Foundation Establishment Middle Stage arrived in front of Xu Yang. He looked him up and down. "You're not bad, brat. You saw through my scheme earlier, and you reacted quickly this time, too. You're far better than the fool who came before you."
Hearing this, Xu Yang seized the chance to stall for time and replenish his Gang Qi. He asked, "My Senior Brother, Xu Shaoyang, was captured by you. What happened to him?"
The Blood Refining Sect disciple laughed heartily. "Once Xue Meng got his hands on him, he was bound to die. I drained all his blood and used it to cultivate my blood-path spells."
Xu Yang's heart turned cold. He stared at the man and said icily, "If I fall into your hands, I'll meet the same fate, won't I?" The Blood Refining Sect disciple laughed loudly. His meaning was clear.
Xu Yang said no more. Feeling that his Gang Qi had recovered, he immediately summoned the Sky-Severing Sword to slash at the man. The sword tore through the air with a buzzing hum, shooting straight for his head.
At the same time, the Indeterminate Ring flew out and hovered above Xu Yang, a curtain of light hanging before him. Another blade, the Golden Ray Blade he had obtained from Xu Xianzhong, flew out of his Qiankun Bag and circled nearby, looking for an opening to attack.
When Xue Meng saw the Sky-Severing Sword coming, he immediately flicked his sleeve. A blood-red Sword Qi struck the sword with a sharp clang, knocking it flying before continuing toward Xu Yang.
Xu Yang's expression darkened. He hadn't expected a mere Sword Qi to knock his Dharma Artifact aside. Foundation Establishment cultivators truly were formidable. He immediately controlled the Golden Ray Blade to meet the blood-red Sword Qi. With another sharp clang, the sword light shattered against the Golden Ray Blade.
The Golden Ray Blade trembled, then attacked Xue Meng alongside the Sky-Severing Sword as it returned to Xu Yang's side. Seeing how easily Xu Yang had blocked his Sword Qi, Xue Meng paused in surprise. Then, when he saw the two Dharma Artifacts flying toward him, anger flared in his heart.
He raised his right hand and quickly released another Sword Qi to meet the two Dharma Artifacts. At the same time, a black-and-red Flying Sword appeared before Xue Meng. He pointed, and the sword immediately flew toward Xu Yang.
Seeing Xue Meng's Flying Sword attack, Xu Yang immediately sent out the Breeze Sword to block it. A hole the size of a grain of rice appeared in the Breeze Sword's blade. Xu Yang's heart ached at the sight, but he had no choice but to control it again to fend off Xue Meng's Flying Sword.
Seeing his Flying Sword blocked, Xue Meng was about to attack again when his expression suddenly changed. He quickly retreated, for Xu Yang's two Dharma Artifacts had shattered his Sword Qi and were now coming at him. After dodging their attack, Xue Meng immediately threw out a red bracelet. It expanded and flew toward Xu Yang's two Dharma Artifacts, trying to trap them.
Xu Yang hurriedly controlled the two Dharma Artifacts to dodge and return to his side, then casually knocked Xue Meng's black-and-red Flying Sword away. Xue Meng recalled his sword and looked at Xu Yang in surprise. "Brat, I didn't expect a cultivator at the Seventh Layer of Qi Refining to have so many Dharma Artifacts. But do you have enough Gang Qi to keep using them?"
Xu Yang's expression darkened. Xue Meng was right. Controlling four Dharma Artifacts at once—including two high-grade ones—was rapidly draining the Gang Qi in his body. He was almost running on empty.
But with a powerful enemy before him, he couldn't exactly ask for time to recover. He could only grit his teeth and hold on. Xu Yang replied coldly, "You don't need to worry about that."
Xue Meng laughed heartily. "Good, brat. You've got backbone. I like people like you. Once I capture you, I'll make sure to put you through the wringer and see if you're still so tough." As he spoke, he controlled his Flying Sword and bracelet to fly toward Xu Yang.
Seeing Xue Meng attack, Xu Yang could only control his four Dharma Artifacts once more and fight him. As soon as the battle began this time, Xu Yang fell behind. His two high-grade Dharma Artifacts were held back by the bracelet, while the Breeze Sword was already covered in damage from blocking the black-and-red Flying Sword.
Even worse, Xue Meng finally had a free hand. Blood-red Sword Qi after blood-red Sword Qi shot from his hands toward Xu Yang. Although Xu Yang dodged again and again, a few blades of Sword Qi still landed on the light curtain before him, making it shudder violently. It looked as though the defensive barrier could break at any moment.
After they fought for a while, Xu Yang's situation grew increasingly dire. Suddenly, a sharp clang rang out. Xu Yang let out a muffled groan: the Breeze Sword had been sliced in two by Xue Meng's black-and-red Flying Sword. The spiritual sense he had attached to the Flying Sword was damaged, and the backlash struck him.
Taking advantage of Xu Yang's backlash, Xue Meng immediately intensified his attacks, both hands releasing streams of red Sword Qi that shot toward Xu Yang. Xu Yang reacted extremely quickly, but even so, four or five blades of Sword Qi struck him.
A sharp crack rang out as the light curtain before Xu Yang shattered and vanished. Xue Meng was overjoyed. He immediately controlled his Flying Sword to stab toward Xu Yang's chest, while he himself began to relax, believing the outcome was already decided and Xu Yang could no longer fight back.
Thinking of this, Xue Meng felt quite impressed with Xu Yang. Despite being only at the Seventh Layer of Qi Refining, he had managed to fight him for a while. That was truly remarkable.
He looked up at Xu Yang—and his expression changed drastically. A purple orb was flying toward him at incredible speed.
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