Swift Sword, Thick Hide, Skill Overcoming Strength

"Master Gu, why put yourself through this?"

The nine-foot-tall, burly man charged down from the stronghold wall, running like a bear or tiger, radiating killing intent.

He stopped abruptly as he got closer.

Standing three yards away from Gu Dashi, he held his staff behind his back…

From a mad dash to a dead stop.

The man showed no signs of exertion.

His voice was calm and powerful.

"Seeing you empty-handed, you clearly haven't taken my words seriously. I imagine Shimu and Junior Brother wouldn't have expected you to be so heartless, disregarding their lives."

"Death is death. Who can avoid it? For their two worthless lives, to exchange them for the death of you, a leader of ambitious bandits, they died with some value."

Perhaps it was because he was too angry, but Gu Dashi wasn't angry at all.

In fact, there wasn't much hatred left in his eyes.

A flicker of suspicion crossed Chen San-yang's eyes: "The only thing I didn't expect was that you, with your fake chivalrous demeanor, would abandon the lives of everyone in Gu Family Village and come to my Chaoyang Stronghold alone to die. Could it be you have some other plan?"

"Unfortunately, in the face of absolute power, all plans are just futile. Master Gu, why don't you understand this? You're just a bit good at archery, how could you understand the marvels of advanced martial arts?"

Despite saying this, the man somehow restrained himself and didn't take another step forward.

Only when the second-in-command, Soul-Reaping Spear Ge Zhong, who wielded a silver spear and wore silver armor, arrived beside him and stood shoulder-to-shoulder did he slowly advance.

He looked rough-faced, but was actually very cautious.

Lu Wu-bing saw that the other man's ears were perked up, carefully listening to the sounds around them.

He knew that a surprise attack or ambush would be useless now.

He shook his head and walked out from behind the trees with Ouyang Lan.

"May I ask, Village Chief Chen, what school of advanced martial arts do you practice? Why not show us and broaden our horizons."

Thinking of Chaoyang Stronghold's brutal actions and their past wickedness, Lu Wu-bing's eyes turned cold, and a surging, burning killing intent filled his heart.

He was happy to chat with Chen San-yang for a while longer; the more information he could gather, the greater his chances of winning.

"So you have the backing of two juniors. Young chivalrous heroes, Chen likes that the most. I hope you'll still be so eloquent when you're captured."

Chen San-yang threw his head back and laughed heartily.

His heart, however, relaxed considerably.

An unseen enemy is terrifying, but once seen, they're not so bad.

As if stretching, he swung the dragon-patterned black staff behind him, striking upwards towards the sky, creating half a moon. With a "boom," he brought it down towards Lu Wu-bing's head.

His staff technique was incredibly exquisite.

Just as he had said, it was a rare advanced martial art.

He was clearly three yards away.

As the staff came down, he slid forward as if shrinking the ground.

The tip of the staff reached Lu Wu-bing's forehead.

The air exploded with a ringing sound, the fierce wind like waves…

From all directions, it sounded like crashing waves on a shore.

Visible ripples spread outwards.

Lu Wu-bing, who was at the forefront, felt as if his ears went deaf at the same time, unable to hear the chirping of insects and birds around him, only the whistling wind and a faint dragon's roar.

"Good staff technique."

He lightly tapped the ground with his feet, his body suddenly shifting sideways.

He moved half a body's width, closing in on the staff from the side.

A beam of light flashed like lightning.

"Hiss..."

The long sword cut through the air silently, stabbing towards Chen San-yang's throat.

Speed.

Lu Wu-bing had always kept pace with others.

Especially after practicing the [Inch Step] diligently these past few days, reaching the mastery level.

This footwork, when used, was light and unpredictable, his movements shifting like a phantom.

Within an inch, a thread of life and death.

His specialty was evading in extremely small spaces, striking fast against fast, and seizing the initiative.

Before Chen San-yang's staff momentum could fully land, as he was about to change his downward strike to a horizontal sweep, his throat jolted.

"Ah..."

He roared, his heart turning cold.

Instinctively, he channeled his entire body's Blood Essence to his throat, simultaneously turning his neck slightly.

"Screech!"

Like a blade slicing through steel, the sword tip drew a spray of blood as it slid to the side, leaving a long, bloody gash.

Blood trickled down.

A faint golden light could be seen flashing on Chen San-yang's neck.

"Thump, thump, thump!"

Chen San-yang stumbled back three steps, no longer concerned with attacking the enemy.

He dragged his thick, dragon-patterned staff back, weaving a coiling dragon shadow around himself.

Amidst the howling wind, Lu Wu-bing's second sword thrust could no longer penetrate.

It was lifted by the staff's wind and sent spinning away diagonally to the side.

The two exchanged a single blow and retreated, each backing away.

Their gazes became serious.

"Such a fast sword."

Chen San-yang exclaimed in shock.

His throat was still oozing blood; he had been only half an inch away from having his throat pierced.

"Such thick skin!"

Lu Wu-bing was also full of surprise.

This was the first time he had encountered someone whose flesh and skin alone could prevent his sword, imbued with Dripping Water Force, from penetrating.

Although it hadn't killed him.

It was unlike his encounter with Life-Severing Sword's Lu Zhongkui when he hadn't yet learned offensive internal energy.

Firstly, back then, his swordsmanship lacked offensive power.

Secondly, on that occasion, his sword had penetrated half an inch into the flesh, attacking the internal organs through the fascia, only to be blocked by internal energy.

Lu Zhongkui's defense was only enough to bully ordinary skilled fighters.

He certainly couldn't withstand a long sword attached with internal energy.

But this burly man before him, like a bear or tiger, had blocked it with his physical body alone.

When the sword tip struck, Lu Wu-bing could feel...

The opponent's skin was like rubber, his sinews like steel wires.

Furthermore, at the moment of his strongest exertion, faint golden light had appeared, enveloping the sword tip.

As a result, the sword tip only penetrated half an inch beneath the skin before being firmly stopped.

"Thirteen Life-Snatching Swords of Celestial Star, so you're a disciple of the Celestial Star Sect."

Chen San-yang's eyes became serious.

A fierce glint flashed in his eyes.

"Give me a few more years to train, and Chen might truly not be able to withstand your sword. But now, you're too green."

He clearly harbored killing intent.

He knew that with disciples of these famous orthodox sects, it was best to eliminate them completely and destroy the evidence once an enmity was formed.

Otherwise, it would be like calling friends and inviting endless trouble.

"It's the Golden Thread Armor, a body-tempering external technique from the Great Brahma Temple...

This person possesses immense strength and has already reached the Sixth Rank. We cannot fight him head-on; we must win through small victories."

Ouyang Lan reminded him rapidly from the side, her long sword weaving a cloud-like mist of swordplay.

She was precisely blocking the silver spear.

While speaking of the origin of the opponent's technique, she was also blocking the sneak attacks of the Soul-Reaping Spear.

The silver-armored general, who came from the Northern Army, clearly had a completely different style of fighting compared to people from the martial world.

He remained silent, seizing any opportunity to strike viciously.

Fortunately, Ouyang Lan had spent a long time with Lu Wu-bing and was quite accustomed to this fighting style.

She knew that her Junior Brother was only skilled in the "thrust" of his sword, not in complex moves like sweeping, parrying, lifting, slashing, twisting, or clouding, so she proactively covered his weaknesses and set up 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 again unleashed a torrent of staff shadows.

This time, he didn't use his full strength, his remaining power lingering... complementing the Soul-Reaping Spear's vicious attacks, striking simultaneously.

One force, one skill, cooperating with each other, leaving no room for error.

"Master Gu, it's not too late to turn back now."

Chen San-yang attacked fiercely while trying to persuade Gu Dashi to surrender. "I, Chen, am not someone who forgets kindness. My invitation for Master Gu to come up the mountain was simply to join Brother Zhao Zhengming of the Wild Goose Mountain Marsh, and together rebel against this foolish Li Dynasty... In the future, you could hold high office, be enfeoffed as a marquis and appointed a general, wouldn't that be good?"

This person was clearly quite sharp-witted.

Even in the midst of battle, he hadn't forgotten to employ psychological tactics, trying to make Gu Dashi surrender.

Currently, they were evenly matched, and he hadn't truly fallen into a disadvantage. However, Gu Dashi's constant drawing and nocking of arrows, poised to shoot, also drew some of his attention.

He rapidly wielded the Coiling Dragon Staff, the wind whistling with dragon roars, while simultaneously protecting his head and face, fighting steadily...

He paid no mind to the several small bloody holes on his body, inflicted by Lu Wu-bing's few moves of [White Rainbow Pierces the Sun].

"This person's Iron Cloth is too strong, change tactics!"

Lu Wu-bing's thoughts shifted, and he shouted.