Li Wudang's body was sent skidding across the ground. Only after retreating several steps did he barely manage to halt his momentum.
Shen Yi appeared unmoved.
Yet Li Wudang could clearly sense that Shen Yi's unbroken blade momentum had come to an abrupt stop. He smiled. Shen Yi...
In Clearwater Alley, he had drawn his blade in fury for a beauty.
He truly was a man who valued loyalty and sentiment!
"Where is he?"
Shen Yi's icy words were like a magistrate's summons from the Hall of Yama, each word chilling one to the bone!
Li Wudang held a broken blade in one hand and an Embroidered Spring Blade in the other.
He bared his teeth in a grin.
Blood trickled down, transforming his once handsome features into those of an Asura demon.
"Surrender without resistance. I'll take you to see him!"
A flicker of hesitation suddenly crossed Shen Yi's eyes.
In that instant, Li Wudang's waning aura abruptly surged. He crossed his twin blades, inner force flowing along their edges.
It then extended several inches beyond the blades, condensing into gleaming radiance.
Blade radiance!
The mark of an Acquired Realm martial artist who had cultivated to perfection.
One step further, and one would reach the blade qi that only Innate Realm experts could condense and release with true qi!
Li Wudang had accumulated experience in the Acquired Realm for many years.
His foundation had long since become incomparably solid. At this moment, he unleashed every last bit of his deeply concealed, life-ending move!
"This move was originally meant for when I returned to Shangjing. Shen Yi, die!"
Li Wudang stamped his foot, kicking up a ring of dust.
His body seemed to vanish where he stood.
Using the explosive secret of the Array Breaker Art's reversed circulation, he unleashed a dazzling blade technique with several times his usual speed and strength!
The blade momentum was vast and magnificent, like a thousand armies sweeping across the land.
The blade radiance was brilliant, like a star in the polar night.
Shen Yi's eyes narrowed.
He had no time to shift aside and could only hurriedly raise his hand!
Clang!
Cold Night was held crosswise, barely blocking the Embroidered Spring Blade, swift as rushing thunder and heavy as a mountain. On the other side, blood sprayed through the air...
The crimson spray fell into Li Wudang's eyes.
It only further inflamed his madness.
Shen Yi's left hand gripped the broken blade's body, blood streaming down. Yet its tip had still cut into his shoulder, slicing flesh and exposing bone.
Before that seemingly invincible blade radiance,
Even the incomplete Vajra Body Forging Art could only grant him a measure of resistance; it could not leave him completely unharmed.
Shen Yi's green robe
Instantly turned dark red at the shoulder.
Li Wudang gave a savage grin. It was as though he could see victory beckoning to him. Without another word, he swung his blade toward Shen Yi's neck.
However,
He discovered that the broken blade's tip was firmly wedged in Shen Yi's shoulder bone. What horrified him even more was...
Shen Yi's blood-soaked hand suddenly climbed up Li Wudang's forearm and clutched it tightly, as if afraid he might flee.
Li Wudang panicked.
"Shen Yi, what are you doing?! Qin Jianghe is still in my hands! Do you not care whether he lives or dies?"
To his surprise, Shen Yi, who had still appeared hesitant moments ago, grinned. His smile was even colder.
"Those of the martial world, Qin Jianghe's life and death are decided by fate! If he dies, I'll avenge him. If he lives, I'll retrieve his broken blade for him! Either way, I'm killing you. What is there to hesitate over?"
Li Wudang's pupils shook violently.
He discovered that Shen Yi was enveloped in an aura like that of an Asura. Rather than weakening from his injury...
It only grew stronger and stronger!
"No, no!"
"You... you were pretending just now?!"
Shen Yi's hand clamped around Li Wudang's arm like iron pincers. "If I hadn't pretended, why would you have dared to close in on me?"
"If I hadn't pretended, with your movement technique and lightness skill, I wouldn't have been able to stop you if you wanted to run."
Li Wudang looked horrified.
Only then did he realize
That the one being toyed with in the palm of another's hand had been himself all along.
"Die!"
Li Wudang flew into a rage from humiliation.
The Embroidered Spring Blade in his right hand shuddered, knocking aside Shen Yi's heavy-backed saber as he slashed toward Shen Yi's throat.
However, Shen Yi twisted his wrist in reverse.
No one understood and wielded basic blade techniques more masterfully than Shen Yi, who had trained in seclusion for over a decade.
In an instant,
Shen Yi's Cold Night instead entangled the Embroidered Spring Blade. His arm bulged as he violently shook it.
Clang!
The heavy-backed saber and the Embroidered Spring Blade both flew out and embedded themselves in the ground.
They continued trembling without end.
Shen Yi's right hand formed a claw, stirring up fierce gale force like a hunting hawk pouncing upon its prey.
Li Wudang was still shocked that his blade technique had been restrained.
The next instant, the joint in his arm had already been viciously seized.
This was...
The Bone Dislocation Hand?!
Li Wudang tried to counterattack with fists and kicks, but his reaction was already too slow.
Shen Yi's attacks were phantom-like.
Layer upon layer of claw shadows enveloped the joints throughout his body.
Bone Dislocation Tendon Severing!
In an instant, every joint in Li Wudang's body was twisted to pieces!
"AAAAARGH!"
"Your Bone Dislocation Hand has reached perfection!"
Bone Dislocation Tendon Severing.
He had only seen this supreme technique, which could instantly dislocate every joint in a person's body, at the Capital Headquarters.
There had been a Black-Clad Guard there who specialized in fist and foot techniques. Every fist and foot art in the Array Breaker Art had been cultivated by him to flawless perfection.
Back then, he had used the Bone Dislocation Hand to defeat Li Wudang.
He had even shown him the killing move Bone Dislocation Tendon Severing, which a perfected Bone Dislocation Hand could unleash.
It was exactly the same as what Shen Yi was using now!
Thud!
With every joint in his body shattered, Li Wudang crashed heavily onto the ground, his heart filled with doubt.
How could one person
Possibly cultivate blade arts, fist and foot techniques, inner cultivation, and body forging to such profound heights in such a short time?
He was simply a monster!
Shen Yi pulled the broken blade from his shoulder wound and used the Vajra Esoteric Art to circulate his blood and qi, stopping the flowing blood.
He carried the broken blade.
He planted one foot on Li Wudang's chest and raised his blade high.
"Alright, I'll send you to meet the old man in the sky!"
Li Wudang struggled frantically. "No, no! You can't kill me! If you kill me, the whole world will know! The Capital Headquarters will personally send people to purge you!"
Shen Yi remained unmoved.
"That will be after you are dead."
As his words fell, Shen Yi brought his blade down and chopped off Li Wudang's head. Blood scattered across the scene like blossoms bursting into bloom.
Slain an Acquired Realm martial artist. Obtained secluded cultivation time: five years and nine months. Remaining secluded cultivation time: 5 years and 9 months Shen Yi turned his head. The remaining Black-Clad Guard banner officer had long since fled in blind panic.
In truth, that Black-Clad Guard banner officer had already sensed that something was wrong when Shen Yi and Li Wudang began fighting at close quarters.
After Shen Yi used Bone Dislocation Tendon Severing, he had turned and fled without the slightest hesitation.
At the time, Shen Yi had been occupied with Li Wudang.
He simply had no time to bother with that Black-Clad Guard banner officer.
By then, the stars and moon had faded from sight.
Dawn was already appearing on the horizon.
Shen Yi tore off a strip of cloth from Li Wudang's corpse, wrapped up his head, and strode toward Xiaoqing Town.
At the entrance to Xiaoqing Town.
Early morning.
Farmers and merchants who had risen early streamed out of town in a mighty flow.
All of them kept their heads lowered and their eyes downcast, hurrying along.
For no other reason than that they were afraid to look at the two bloodstained heads hanging from the archway at the town entrance.
Suddenly,
The passersby leaving town cried out in alarm.
They saw a figure slowly approaching from afar.
He wore a green robe, torn in many places.
His shoulder was covered in bloodstains.
Two blades hung at his waist—one with a black hilt and one with a deep crimson hilt. Their sharp aura made them unforgettable at a glance.
He also carried a round, bulging bundle in his hand.
On the bustling mountain road,
All was now silent as a grave.
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