Moon Shadow Flowing Light

Lu Wu-bing circled his feet, his body spinning...

He brushed past Ouyang Lan's body, arcing away.

The two had learned from the same school, their understanding in sync. They spun and turned simultaneously, having switched positions.

Ouyang Lan faced Chen San-yang head-on.

Her long sword suddenly bloomed with starlight that filled the sky, flickering unsteadily.

Yaoguang Swordplay was unleashed with full force.

The sword tip swayed, making hissing sounds.

It was like stars twinkling in the dark night, their positions uncertain.

It was impossible to tell which sword strike was real and which was fake.

At the same time, a streak of light, like a rapidly flashing silver snake, burst forth and stabbed at Ge Zhong's left chest.

"Pfft!"

This sword strike did not miss.

In the instant Ouyang Lan's sword light dazzled everyone's eyes, Lu Wu-bing seemed to teleport, his sword piercing Ge Zhong's heart.

He tapped his sword tip on the whistling Coiling Dragon Staff, his wrist going slightly numb from the impact, and retreated.

"Close!"

Ouyang Lan cried out.

Her sword light, which had been swift and dazzling, suddenly became incredibly soft, like the clear wind in the mountains, like the flowing springs by the hills.

With a move called "Light Clouds Obscure the Moon," her swordplay was agile and light, blocking Chen San-yang's Coiling Dragon Staff for half a second.

Bang...

Lu Wu-bing, who had been flying backward, suddenly stopped. He crouched slightly, his left palm extending.

With incredible speed, he pressed it onto Chen San-yang's waist.

A dull thud echoed.

Chen San-yang's staff strike had failed, and his second-in-command, Ge Zhong, had died on the spot. Enraged, he wanted to swing his staff with all his might to crush the young man and woman before him into meat paste.

Just as he was mentally steeling himself, he discovered that the young girl was incredibly resilient, and his fierce attacks were not breaking through...

A long sword, dense and continuous, locked his staff, preventing him from swinging it.

And the young man was using his palm instead of his sword, which was bizarre.

Before he could react, He felt a chill in his waist as layers of force, like surging waves, impacted his internal organs, wave after wave.

It made his blood churn and his body go numb.

He couldn't draw a full breath.

He immediately knew it was bad.

At this moment, Lu Wu-bing's advantage of being able to grasp martial arts instantly and refine them to perfection became apparent.

He had only received the Eastern Sea Sword Sect's [Surging Wave Palm] three or four days ago, yet he had already grasped its essence and reached the mastery level.

The skill with which he channeled his force surpassed even Lu Zhongkui's [Life-Severing Sword].

With this palm strike, four layers of force surged like a tidal wave, damaging his meridians and veins, breaking his bones and extracting his marrow.

Even though Chen San-yang possessed the Golden Thread Armor technique, he was still sent reeling, stars flashing before his eyes, his blood and essence suddenly stagnating from the impact of the palm.

"Now's the time."

Having landed the palm strike, Lu Wu-bing saw that Senior Sister Xiaolan had been sent flying by the heavy staff strike, and Chen San-yang's body had also stiffened.

He moved diagonally, unleashing his ninth [White Rainbow Pierces the Sun].

This time, it was vastly different from before.

The sword light transformed into a blood-red rainbow, flashing past Chen San-yang's throat and piercing half a foot through.

The sword tip passed through the back of his neck, dragging back and cutting, severing half of his neck.

The tough and solid feeling made Lu Wu-bing doubt if he was cutting through cast iron.

"Cough, cough..."

Chen San-yang's vitality was indeed tenacious. Even with half his neck severed, he wouldn't die immediately.

His eyes bulged like a toad's, and a gurgling sound came from his throat, "Where... where's Second Brother?"

He could only regret that his second brother, Chen Gong, had led his troops down the mountain.

If he had been by his side to support him, With his brother's archery and Qinggong, even at his worst, he could have bought himself some time.

It's not like they could manipulate and scheme against him, leading to a complete loss.

"You're talking about that long-faced guy with ox eyes? He had over ten holes pierced through him. He died ten times more miserably than you did. If you had been a bit faster, you might have caught up to him on the Bridge of Helplessness."

Senior Sister Xiaolan had always been easygoing and cheerful, her usual words gentle and soft. She rarely uttered anything harsh.

Perhaps recalling the bloody scene she'd witnessed at Gu Family Village earlier, her words now seemed sharp.

Infuriating people to death without consequence.

Chen San-yang trembled all over.

Before he could draw his last breath, the hand tightly covering one side of his throat fell limply. The light in his eyes faded, and he toppled backward, falling to the sky.

Boom...

He hit the ground and didn't move again.

"So, you hadn't perfected the Golden Thread Armor to be seamless, and still needed to forcefully circulate your Blood Essence to protect vital points," Ouyang Lan said with sudden realization, looking at Chen San-yang's unseeing eyes.

She turned to Lu Wu-bing, her eyes filled with admiration.

In a flash, Junior Brother had discerned the opponent's weakness. First, he used the Surging Wave Palm to agitate the opponent's internal organs and Blood Essence, causing their blood circulation to stagnate. Then, he delivered a fatal sword strike, which indeed succeeded.

To calculate so precisely in the fleeting moment of a life-or-death battle.

In just two or three exchanges, he had broken through the opponent's hardened body-protecting technique.

One could only say, Junior Brother is a genius.

In actual combat, he possessed a sharpness far beyond ordinary people.

"Evil must be eradicated completely. While the bandits of the stronghold are all here, do not hold back. Kill whoever you can."

Lu Wu-bing casually searched the bodies of Chen San-yang and Ge Zhong, obtaining several bank notes and a yellowed, handwritten booklet...

Glancing at it by the dim firelight in the distance, he saw it described methods of striking and soaking in medicine to temper strength. He surmised it was likely the cultivation method for the Golden Thread Armor of this Grand Chieftain of Chaoyang Stronghold.

He was overjoyed. These mountain bandits and disciples of sects always liked to carry secret manuals when they went out; it was a good habit.

It made sense, if a martial art wasn't practiced perfectly, one should constantly review the book and practice. Carrying it on one's person was the most convenient and safest method.

With the secret manual obtained, Lu Wu-bing thought that even if he didn't practice it, it would be useful for reference. Moreover, he cultivated martial arts very quickly, and starting was simple. Whether it was to strengthen his physique for another means of dealing with enemies, or to reward a talented disciple or subordinate in the future, it would be good.

Now was not the time to examine the manual.

He tucked the handwritten copy into his chest.

The group invigorated their spirits and rushed towards the stronghold.

As expected, this time they didn't encounter much resistance. The powerful chieftains were all dead. The remaining ordinary strongmen, possessing only youthful vigor, were no match for Lu Wu-bing and his companions.

From the stronghold gate to the cliff behind the mountain, it took less than the time it takes an incense stick to burn. All those who carried weapons were cut down, a total of over sixty people. The rest knelt on the ground, begging for mercy.

The stronghold was completely conquered.

Looking at the vast expanse of kneeling men and women, old and young. Lu Wu-bing couldn't quite distinguish which were bandits and which were ordinary people robbed from the foot of the mountain to serve as servants. He simply called a few scantily clad women to identify the bandits.

"Don't be afraid. The chieftains are all dead, and the bandits are mostly dead too. The remaining fugitives will be identified one by one and killed on the spot. You don't need to worry about retaliation. On the contrary, those who perform well will receive more provisions."

As soon as he said this.

The crowd descended into chaos.

"Young hero, I recognize him! That Zhang Lin'er robbed a merchant caravan and killed two people. That night, he stayed at Old Zeng's house and slept with his wife."

"It wasn't me, I didn't!"

A thin man kneeling and kowtowing on the ground, his face full of fear, scrambled up on all fours and shouted, turning to flee.

Ching...

A flash of sword light.

The man stopped, looked down at the sword tip protruding from his chest, and his body went limp.

"Continue speaking. Who else has blood on their hands, who has harmed the common people? Not a single one can be spared."

Lu Wu-bing said coldly.

The task of identifying and executing the remaining criminals was handed over to Gu Dashi and the women who had been mistreated. Lu Wu-bing did not interfere further.

Gu Dashi found his wife and son, his murderous intent still burning. With red eyes, he struck ruthlessly.

Lu Wu-bing knew that Gu Dashi was avenging his fellow villagers and did not intervene...

He turned to look at Ouyang Lan and saw that Senior Sister was tilting her head back, her eyes sadly fixed on a high point of the flagpole.

There hung a emaciated female corpse, riddled with arrows. As the night wind blew, it swayed back and forth in the torchlight.

After cultivating the Yangming Large Intestine Meridian of the Hand, Lu Wu-bing's senses were greatly enhanced, and his eyesight was naturally extraordinary.

Even from a distance, he could now clearly see... the disheveled hair of the female corpse and the sky-blue sword attire she wore.

Although most of it had been stained black by blood.

A small crescent moon was still visible embroidered on the cuff.

"Could it be..."

"She must be a Senior Sister from the Bright Moon Palace. I wonder why she died here?"

Ouyang Lan felt distressed.

Before the New Year, she had visited Bright Moon Peak with her mother. Those Senior Sisters and Junior Sisters had been so good to her.

They had taken her sightseeing and bought her many gifts.

Aunt Guanghan had even taught her two free-style techniques... which were said to be secret moves obtained from the Great Li Imperial Family, useful for self-defense and protection.

Seeing a Bright Moon Palace disciple dead in a bandit's lair, she felt sad and full of questions.

She beckoned and called over a stout woman to ask.

She had asked this woman before; others called her Sister-in-law Tong. She had been on the mountain for half a year and was the longest-surviving woman.

Being in the bandits' den was, naturally, an unfortunate situation.

However, this woman was also one of the rare lucky ones on the mountain...

It was rumored that because she was so fat and ugly, even the bandits, who ate anything, had never laid a hand on her.

She was abducted to the mountain simply because she was a good cook.

Yes, Sister-in-law Tong had inherited the mantle of Chef Tong from Huifang Restaurant in Pingshan County. Her culinary skills were truly extraordinary.

Even bandits had desires for good food.

Having acquired such a talent, they did not mistreat her.

"When that female hero was surrounded that day, there was another with her who later escaped. The Great Chieftain... bah, that bandit Chen, even led his men to search the entire mountain, but they never found her..."

Seeing the two heroes paying attention to the female corpse, Sister-in-law Tong immediately spilled everything without needing further questioning.

"The female hero was amazing. Although that bandit Chen broke her neck, it's said that before she died, she killed seven or eight of them and even struck Chen with some kind of Shadow Palm, making him unable to sleep for days and nights, coughing constantly at night..."

"It's the Moon Shadow Palm, a supreme technique of the Bright Moon Palace, known as [Moon Shadow Flowing Light, Freezing All Things]. To be able to injure Chen San-yang, a Sixth Rank external martial arts master, while being surrounded... This Senior Sister must be at least Seventh Rank cultivation, possibly Sixth Rank. If it wasn't Senior Sister Xuan He, it must have been Senior Sister Xuan Yi."

"Yes, yes, that's the name, Moon Shadow Palm. I heard Chen say that he needed potent qi-replenishing medicine to heal. Then, the three bandit leaders took their men down the mountain."

Because Sister Tong was a cook, she had been diligent and well-fed on the mountain for the past six months. The bandits didn't guard her closely, so she had access to relatively good information.

This also explained why Chen Gong would go to such lengths as to destroy a village and slaughter its inhabitants to obtain the precious ginseng from Gu Dashi.

It was because the Great Chieftain, Chen San-yang, had suffered a palm injury.

He had not yet fully recovered.

Even with his injuries, he was still so formidable.

It was evident that this person was truly extraordinary.

If he were not such a person, he would not have considered joining a major power to gain status. He was a bandit leader with ambition.

"Let's bring the Senior Sister down and bury her properly. The Three Divine Peaks are united; we cannot let her remain so undignified."

Ouyang Lan personally brought down the Senior Sister, whether named Xuan He or Xuan Yi, not fearing the filth. She prepared to wash her hands and face with water.

"Huh!"

She discovered that the Bright Moon Palace Senior Sister's blood-stained hand was still tightly clutching something.

Judging by the way her fingers were tightly curled, it must have been an object she cherished dearly.

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