"Master Gu, why put yourself through this?"
The towering, nine-foot-tall brute charged down from the stronghold wall, running like a bear or tiger, Killing Intent billowing around him.
Yet when he drew near, he abruptly stopped.
He stood three zhang away from Gu Dashi, holding his staff behind his back...
From a wild charge to complete stillness.
He did not seem strained in the slightest.
Even his voice remained calm and deep.
"You came empty-handed. So you did not take my words seriously. I suppose Mistress and Junior Brother never imagined that you would be so heartless as to disregard whether they lived or died."
"Death is death. Who does not die? Trading their two worthless lives for the death of an ambitious bandit chief like you gives their deaths at least a little value."
Perhaps he had been enraged beyond the limit, but Gu Dashi was not angry at all.
There was not even much hatred left in his eyes.
A trace of suspicion flashed through Chen San-yang's eyes. "The one thing Chen did not expect was that, with that sanctimonious air of chivalry of yours, you would abandon the lives of every old and young person in Gu Family Village and come alone to Chaoyang Stronghold to die. Could it be that you have some hidden move?"
"Unfortunately, before absolute strength, every scheme is nothing but empty air.
Master Gu, why do you not understand? You are merely somewhat skilled with a bow. How could you understand the wonders of supreme martial arts?"
Though he spoke this way, he forcibly held himself back and did not take another step forward.
Only when the second chief, Soul-Reaping Spear Ge Zhong, clad in silver armor and holding a silver spear, arrived at his side and stood shoulder to shoulder with him did he slowly advance.
He looked rough and bold, but was in fact extremely cautious.
Lu Wu-bing saw that the man had even pricked up his ears, carefully listening to every movement around them.
He knew that a sneak attack or ambush would be useless now.
He immediately shook his head and stepped out from behind the tree with Ouyang Lan.
"May I ask Chief Chen which sect's supreme martial art you have learned? Why not use it and let us broaden our horizons?"
Thinking of Chaoyang Stronghold's savage deeds and their past atrocities, Lu Wu-bing's gaze turned icy, killing intent surging hotly in his heart.
He was more than happy to exchange a few more idle words with Chen San-yang. The more information he learned, the better his chances of victory.
"So, you found two juniors to back you up. Young heroes are Chen's favorite. I only hope that after you are captured, your tongues will still be this sharp."
Chen San-yang threw back his head and laughed.
Yet inwardly, he relaxed considerably.
Invisible enemies were the frightening ones. Once seen, they were nothing much.
As though stretching lazily, he swung the dragon-patterned black staff from his back and struck upward at the sky, smashing out a half-moon arc. With a boom, it came crashing down toward Lu Wu-bing's head.
This man's staff technique was exceptionally exquisite.
Just as he had said, it was indeed a rare supreme martial art.
They were clearly three zhang apart.
Yet as the staff descended, his feet slid forward as if the earth had shrunk beneath him.
The tip of the staff had already reached Lu Wu-bing's brow.
The air exploded, and the fierce wind rolled like waves...
From all directions came the sound of breakers crashing against the shore.
Ring after ring of ripples became visible to the naked eye.
Lu Wu-bing, standing at the heart of it, felt both ears go deaf at once. He could no longer hear insects chirping or birds calling, leaving only the wailing wind and the faint roar of a dragon.
"Fine staff technique."
He tapped lightly against the ground, and his body suddenly shifted sideways.
He slipped half a body-width aside and pressed close along the staff.
A streak of rainbow light flashed like sudden lightning.
"Hiss..."
The longsword cut through the wind without a sound and thrust toward Chen San-yang's throat.
When it came to speed,
Lu Wu-bing had never fallen behind anyone.
Especially after these recent days of bitterly training [Inch Step] and barely breaking through to proficiency.
When he used this footwork now, it was light and unpredictable, his shifts between motion and stillness as ghostly as a phantom.
Within an inch of space, life and death hung by a thread.
What he excelled at most was using the tiniest space to evade, meeting speed with speed, and seizing the first strike.
Chen San-yang's staff strike had yet to land. Just as he was about to change from a downward blow into a horizontal sweep, his throat jolted.
"Ah..."
He let out a furious roar, ice flooding his heart.
By instinct, he mobilized the blood and qi throughout his body and gathered it at his throat, while twisting his neck slightly.
"Scrreeech!"
Like a blade cutting through steel, the sword edge sprayed tiny blossoms of blood as it slid to one side, carving out a long bloody mark.
Blood trickled down.
A faint golden gleam flickered at Chen San-yang's neck.
"Thud! Thud! Thud!"
Chen San-yang retreated three steps, no longer daring to attack.
He dragged the thick dragon-patterned staff back and spun circling dragon shadows around himself.
Amid the shrieking gale, Lu Wu-bing's second sword could no longer pierce through.
The wind from the staff swept it up and flung it diagonally aside.
After one exchange, the two men each withdrew.
Both their gazes turned grave.
"What a fast sword."
Chen San-yang cried out in shock.
Blood still seeped steadily from his throat. Just half an inch more, and that strike would have pierced it through.
"What thick skin!"
Lu Wu-bing's eyes were likewise full of surprise.
This was the first time he had encountered someone who could rely solely on flesh and skin to stop his sharp sword imbued with [Dripping Water Force].
Though it had still failed to kill the man,
it did not feel like his encounter with Lu Zhongkui and the [Life-Severing Sword] back when he had yet to learn offensive inner force.
First, his swordsmanship had lacked sufficient attacking power at the time.
Second, that strike had not failed to pierce in. Rather, the blade had sunk half an inch into the flesh and broken through the fascia before being blocked by qi force as it moved to attack the internal organs.
Lu Zhongkui's defensive strength could only bully ordinary experts.
It could never withstand a longsword imbued with inner force.
Yet this bear-and-tiger-like brute before him had blocked it with his physical body alone.
When the blade struck, Lu Wu-bing could feel it...
The man's skin was like rubber, his tendons like steel wire.
And just as Lu Wu-bing exerted his greatest force, threads of golden light rose up and wrapped around the blade.
As a result, the sword tip had penetrated merely half an inch beneath the skin before being firmly stopped.
"Celestial Star Sect's Thirteen Life-Snatching Swords. So you are a disciple of the Celestial Star Sect."
Chen San-yang's gaze grew solemn.
Ferocious light flickered in his eyes.
"If I gave you a few more years of training, Chen might truly be unable to withstand your sword edge. But now, you are still too green."
He had clearly developed killing intent.
He knew that once one made enemies of disciples from these famous orthodox sects, it was best to kill them cleanly and destroy the bodies.
Otherwise, they would call friends and summon allies, leaving endless future trouble.
"It is the Golden Thread Armor, an outer sect body-tempering and hard-training art of Great Brahma Temple...
This man possesses immense strength and has entered Sixth Rank. Do not clash with him head-on. We must gather small victories into a great one."
Ouyang Lan rapidly reminded him from the side, her longsword weaving a cloudlike, mistlike curtain of sword light.
It blocked the shining silver spear head-on.
Even as she identified the origins of the opponent's moves, she intercepted the Soul-Reaping Spear's surprise assault.
That silver-armored commander from the Northern Army clearly fought in a manner entirely different from martial artists of the jianghu.
Without a word, he struck dirty whenever he found an opening.
Fortunately, Ouyang Lan had spent a long time with Lu Wu-bing and had grown quite accustomed to this style of fighting.
She knew that her junior brother excelled only at the single sword technique of "thrusting," and was not skilled in complicated moves such as washing, parrying, lifting, chopping, twisting, and clouding. Thus, she voluntarily filled in the gaps and laid down the first line of defense.
Boom!
The sky suddenly darkened.
As Soul-Reaping Spear Ge Zhong made his move, Chen San-yang's long staff once more unleashed a surging sea of staff shadows.
This time, his strength did not run out, and the lingering force flowed without end... Coordinating with Soul-Reaping Spear's vicious attacks, they struck together.
One forceful, one ingenious, they complemented each other so perfectly that not even a drop of water could pass through.
"Master Gu, it is not too late to turn back now."
While pressing his attack, Chen San-yang tried to persuade Gu Dashi to surrender. "Chen is not an ungrateful man. Inviting Master Gu up the mountain was only because I wished for us to join Wild Goose Mountain Marsh's Brother Zhao Zhengming and rebel against this fatuous Li Dynasty together... One day, we might hold high office, be granted marquisates, and become generals. Would that not be splendid?"
This man was clearly rather quick-witted.
Even in battle, he did not forget to employ a tactic aimed at the heart, hoping to persuade Gu Dashi to surrender.
The fight was evenly matched for now, and he had not truly fallen into disadvantage. However, Gu Dashi had kept his bow drawn and arrow nocked, waiting to strike, which also divided some of his attention.
He hurriedly spun the Coiling Dragon Staff, fierce winds howling as dragon roars rang out, while protecting his head and face and fighting steadily...
As for the few tiny bloody holes that Lu Wu-bing's [White Rainbow Pierces the Sun] had stabbed into his body, he paid them no mind.
"This man's hard training is too strong. Change!"
Lu Wu-bing's thoughts shifted, and he gave a low shout.
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