Whoosh, whoosh.
The Long River Duo held blow darts in their mouths and, amid the surging waves, fired them with extreme stealth. The darts left soundlessly, swift as whipping grass.
Fortunately, Shen Yi had long since focused his inner power into his ears and eyes.
In an instant, he detected the trajectories of the two dart shadows. Yet suspended in midair, he could not easily twist or dodge, so he simply brought two fingers together and reached toward them.
This was a finger technique among the six freeform moves of the Bone Dislocation Hand.
It was called "Seizing Clouds and Catching the Moon."
Shen Yi extended a finger, like rippling light upon water.
In the blink of an eye, he caught the two speeding blow darts between his fingertips, then flicked them back with a sharp whoosh.
The two ghosts had never expected Shen Yi to react so swiftly in the heat of battle. They immediately raised their sabers in a fluster to block.
Clang! Clang!
The two were not worried about Shen Yi's counterattack.
He was still in midair; falling into the water was inevitable.
Once he fell into the river,
he would be within the domain controlled by the two water ghosts.
One of them was in the First-Class Realm, the other in the Second-Class Realm. They were utterly confident they could kill Shen Yi in the river.
Shen Yi knew that as well.
Though he could swim, compared to those men who had made their living in the water year-round, he was nothing but a landlubber.
Once he fell into the water,
he would certainly be dragged into a predetermined defeat.
In the midst of danger,
Shen Yi poured all eight remaining months of secluded cultivation into his lightness skill. In that instant, at the critical moment, he entered the secluded cultivation space:
You continued studying the art of Grass Treading Flight, concentrating on refining lightness and speed. Combined with the inner power cultivated through the Array Breaker Art, your Grass Treading Flight advanced further. After eight months of secluded cultivation, your Grass Treading Flight entered the realm of perfection. You comprehended a supreme technique: Water Treading Wave Step.
In that instant,
understanding came to Shen Yi like a blessing from heaven.
His inner breath coursed through his entire body, and he suddenly felt as light as a swan's feather.
His feet lightly touched the water's surface, somehow borrowing force from the yielding water beneath him. His body swept forward like the wind.
Before the astonished eyes of the two water ghosts,
Shen Yi formed claws with both hands, like a hunting eagle diving down. His claws seized for their throats—this move was called Eagle Strikes the Water.
Crack!
One man's arm twisted and broke, and he let out a shrill scream.
The other man's neck was pierced through on the spot by Shen Yi's fingers, blood gushing out in streams.
Killed a Second-Class Realm martial artist. Obtained secluded cultivation time: three years and four months. Remaining secluded cultivation time: five years.
Shen Yi borrowed the force to flip through the air, lightly tapping the river's surface as his body swiftly swept toward the bank.
Had Qin Jianghe seen this scene, his jaw would have dropped.
He could never have imagined that the mere Third-Rate martial art Grass Treading Flight could be cultivated to the level of Water Treading Wave Step.
Unfortunately,
Qin Jianghe was too busy to save himself.
Though he possessed Acquired Realm cultivation and rich combat experience,
he was seriously wounded after all.
His combat power was severely limited. The moment Shen Yi flung him onto the shore, he turned and ran.
It was not that he lacked loyalty.
Rather, in his current condition, facing this perilous situation,
the faster he ran, the better it would be for both Shen Yi and himself.
Yet he had still underestimated the Whale Gang's arrangements. Not only did two ghosts leap onto the embankment behind him, pursuing with sabers in hand,
ahead of him,
two figures, one black and one white, also appeared.
Qin Jianghe's heart jolted.
This is bad.
The thought had barely arisen when a fierce wind came howling toward him.
Two steel forks stirred up twin currents of air,
spinning as they stabbed toward Shen Yi.
Wherever they passed, wild grass and shrubs were severed at the waist by the razor-sharp force.
These were the core fighting strength of the Whale Gang's Yaksha Branch.
The Black and White Rakshasa.
One man and one woman, they were both lovers and comrades-in-arms.
Both possessed First-Class Realm cultivation.
Working together, they had flawless coordination.
Even Qin Jianghe at his peak would have been unable to do anything to them for a while, let alone in his severely crippled state.
Qin Jianghe came to an abrupt halt.
His broken saber slashed horizontally with the motion.
Daring not to meet them head-on, he used the clever force of four ounces deflecting a thousand pounds, hoping to delay them for a moment.
However, the Black and White Rakshasa seemed to have planned this long ago.
The force condensed around the two steel forks
was one strand incomparably fierce, the other sinisterly soft and tricky.
Even with Qin Jianghe's wealth of experience, the instant his blade met the two steel forks, he felt a vortex-like force twisting and strangling him.
It made him want to vomit.
Bang!
Qin Jianghe barely borrowed the force to retreat.
He broke free of the Black and White Rakshasa's encirclement and charged toward the side.
Blood was already faintly seeping from the corner of his mouth.
His body, which had been recovering from its injuries, had suffered another blow when it was already down.
"Hehehehe..."
A string of silver-bell laughter rang out.
The brawny woman in white, holding a steel fork, spoke in a voice utterly mismatched to her frame as she issued her final ultimatum:
"Qin Jianghe, today is the day you die!"
The Black Rakshasa, thin as a stick, let out a low howl like a ghost wailing, wave after wave of demonic sound shrieking into Qin Jianghe's ears.
His blood and qi churned violently.
What drove him even deeper into despair was that the Long River Duo, who had been pursuing him from behind, arrived with cruel grins, short sabers clanging in their hands.
He was hemmed in from both sides.
He had almost no hope of survival.
Unless...
Suddenly, a black shadow came swift as a breeze, fierce as lightning, light as a feather, treading over the grass.
In an instant,
Shen Yi arrived after setting out later.
Within a single breath, he closed in on the Long River Duo pursuing Qin Jianghe.
While still in midair,
a thought rose in Shen Yi's mind.
He poured three years of secluded cultivation time into his fists and feet.
You diligently cultivated the Bone Dislocation Hand without cease. You completely integrated the six grappling moves and six freeform moves, and were thus able to cast off the old and bring forth the new. Your Bone Dislocation Hand entered the realm of perfection. You comprehended a supreme technique: Bone Dislocation Tendon Severing.
Crack!
A gleam flashed through Shen Yi's eyes.
He shook both hands.
A burst of crackling rang out as his sinews and bones sounded in unison.
Layer upon layer of palm shadows spilled forth.
How could the two ghosts have expected a Cheng Yaojin to come charging out halfway through? Even less could they imagine that Shen Yi had emerged completely unscathed...
Then their two brothers...
Their thoughts were as chaotic as flickering shadows.
In the span between a spark and a flash,
Shen Yi had already exchanged several moves with the sturdy man before him.
Shen Yi took three rapid steps forward.
The man retreated again and again, struggling desperately to fend him off.
Shen Yi spread his arms, fist shadows and claw shadows sweeping forth like a raging tempest, swallowing the man whole.
"Bone Dislocation Tendon Severing."
Every joint in the man's body was dislocated. He crumpled limply to the ground, letting out screams that pierced to the bone.
The short saber in his hand had somehow already fallen into Shen Yi's grasp.
Clang!
The blade sweeping toward the man's neck
was blocked by another short saber that had barely arrived in time.
An enraged roar exploded beside Shen Yi's ear:
"Damn it, you're courting death!"
Shen Yi sighed inwardly. The two ghosts truly watched each other's backs, preventing him from pressing further. Nor could he greedily pursue the advantage.
Qin Jianghe was already trapped in grave danger.
His body swayed as he spun toward Qin Jianghe, whom the Black and White Rakshasa had caught up with again. He shouted in a low voice:
"Duck!"
Qin Jianghe understood immediately. Ignoring the deadly twin forks striking from behind, he lunged forward toward Shen Yi.
Shen Yi held the short saber.
His inner breath surged mightily through his entire body.
His intent condensed into an edge.
His arm flashed like lightning.
Saber light burst forth, like moonlight flowing over the clear river, gathering at the horizon where river and sky became one into a deadly single line of water and sky.
A horizontal slash!
"Falling Moon over the River."
The battle intent stirred by the Array Breaker Art in an instant pushed Shen Yi's condition to an unprecedented peak.
The perfected Wind Severing Saber Technique condensed its saber light into radiance, every ounce of its sharpness revealed, already carrying the first traces of true intent.
Clang!
Three forces erupted at once, sending up waves of air like raging billows. The surrounding mugwort grass was pulverized into dust.
The next second,
the short saber shattered!
Both steel forks snapped apart as well!
Shen Yi flashed forward, seized Qin Jianghe by the back of his collar with one hand, and sprinted into the distance.
"Everyone, until we meet again!"
As the dust settled,
the figures had already vanished into the distance.
Only the furious roars of the Long River Duo remained, while the Black and White Rakshasa stood frozen in astonishment.
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