"Boom--!!!"
The sword light collided with the palm print, unleashing a deafening roar.
Gu Changqing was thrown back several feet by the shock, and a slight tingling sensation came from the palm of his hand holding the sword.
Yan Wuji, who acted hastily, was unable to retreat even half a step because he used extremely vicious demonic techniques.
"They're here..."
Sensing a familiar aura rapidly approaching, Yan Wuji's lips curled into a twisted smile.
If he could just hold on for a few more breaths, he could survive.
He was all too aware of the formidable strength of the newcomer.
Even though there were seven grandmasters here, he believed that they had the ability to rescue him.
Judging from Yan Wuji's expression, it's not hard to guess that the approaching unfamiliar grandmaster might be extremely powerful.
Not daring to give Yan Wuji a chance to catch his breath, Huiming, Bai Yujing, Li Hanjiang, Liu Meiniang, and Chenmo followed closely behind Gu Changqing and launched a fierce attack.
Because the attack followed closely behind Gu Changqing's, Yan Wuji, who had just blocked Gu Changqing's attack, had no time to defend himself and could only use his protective aura to block it.
"Click--"
Although Yan Wuji gained a temporary boost in strength through demonic techniques and secret arts.
However, under the continuous attacks of the Grandmaster level, the blood-red Internal Qi shield on the body could not hold and shattered.
Without the protection of the crimson shield, all the subsequent attacks landed on Yan Wuji.
Yan Wuji suffered injuries in many places, the most serious being those inflicted by the Silent Sword, to the point that his bones were now visible.
"Ha ha--"
Yan Wuji coughed up blood, but a smile appeared on his face.
He finally pulled through, and his vision was now able to see the blood-red figure rushing to his rescue.
However, at this moment—
A buzzing sound suddenly rang out.
Lei Lie wielded a massive, jet-black blade, unleashing a terrifying, all-encompassing slash.
After a long period of preparation, the Saber Aura solidified into a tangible substance, emitting extremely terrifying fluctuations.
The blade couldn't withstand the pressure, and even faint, fine cracks appeared inside.
This strike was so fast it defied logic.
This strike was ruthless, exceeding all limits.
Everything is as fragile as paper in the face of this one cut.
"Pfft--!"
The giant blade swept across Yan Wuji's waist and abdomen, producing a dull cutting sound.
Yan Wuji's body stiffened abruptly.
He looked down at the rapidly expanding line of blood on his waist.
His eyes were filled with resentment.
Clearly... clearly only a little bit more...
His lips moved as if he wanted to say something, but the blood rising in his throat choked him up.
The next instant, his body was severed cleanly from the line of blood.
His upper body slid to the ground with a dull thud.
Blood and internal organs gushed from the cut, spreading a shocking dark red across the ground.
His eyes were wide open, his pupils still holding resentment and a trace of fear.
--This master, who practiced demonic arts and unleashed a bloody massacre in Qingyang Prefecture, thus met his end.
"Call..."
Lei Lie let out a long breath, his hand gripping the knife trembling slightly from the excessive force.
That last strike was one he had been charging up for a long time. Because of the long charging time, he even experienced a brief period of exhaustion after unleashing the strike.
He had no time to pay attention to his own condition; his gaze was fixed in one direction—
The unfamiliar grandmaster has arrived.
It stopped less than a hundred feet from the battlefield.
The gazes of the other six grandmasters also fell upon this suddenly appearing figure.
The air seemed to freeze at that moment.
It was a woman.
The clothes were so red they looked as if they had been soaked in blood, and they gleamed with a dull sheen in the evening light.
His face was covered by an exquisite silver mask, revealing only his eyes.
Those eyes were icy cold, devoid of any warmth, carrying a chilling aura that sent shivers down one's spine.
At that moment, those eyes were fixed on Yan Wuji's body, which had been severed in two.
There was no anger, no sadness, not even a trace of emotion.
It was as if it were just a corpse that had nothing to do with him.
But this calm only fueled a deeper sense of apprehension in the seven grandmasters.
Who are you?
Gu Changqing spoke, his voice carrying an invisible pressure.
A long, cyan sword was pointed diagonally at the woman, and a drop of blood was slowly sliding down its tip.
The woman did not answer.
She slowly withdrew her gaze, her icy eyes sweeping over the seven grandmasters.
That gaze was very calm, yet it made every grandmaster present feel an indescribable unease.
It was like a ferocious beast eyeing its prey.
"They must be accomplices who practice demonic arts..."
Huiming clasped his hands together and whispered a Buddhist chant, a solemn expression appearing in his half-open eyes.
"This woman's aura is exactly the same as Yan Wuji's; she must be using demonic arts."
Li Hanjiang looked wary and said in a deep voice:
"I never expected that Qingyang Prefecture would hide a grandmaster like you. You've kept it well hidden."
Gu Changqing slightly raised the tip of his sword, its blade gleaming coldly in the afternoon light, his voice deep and resolute:
"Seize her and interrogate her thoroughly!"
Before he finished speaking, he had already taken the first step.
The cyan sword light transformed into a streak of light that tore through the sky, heading straight for the woman's face.
This sword strike was incredibly fast; where the blade passed, it cut a fine crack in the air, which remained solidified.
Almost at the same time, Huiming clasped his hands together, and his whole body shone with golden light.
A golden palm print, solid as a tangible object, struck out from the right. Wherever the palm wind passed, the pebbles on the ground were shaken up and then crushed into dust in mid-air by the force of the energy.
With a roar, Lei Lie unleashed a massive black blade that cleaved through Mountain-Splitting Stone-Cracking, Saber Aura a deep furrow in the ground as it hurtled towards the woman's waist and abdomen.
Bai Yujing drew his longsword, its light like a rainbow, and charged forward without hesitation.
Liu Meiniang moved swiftly, her pink sword light flowing like mercury, piercing the woman's back from a tricky angle.
A silent figure flickered in the shadows, an ancient and worn longsword aimed straight for the woman's vulnerable ribs.
Li Hanjiang unleashed both claws simultaneously, the dark claw blades carrying a chilling, bone-chilling force, sealing off the woman's left-side escape route.
The seven attacks covered almost all of the woman's vital points.
The woman's eyes remained calm, as if the overwhelming attack was nothing more than a gentle breeze.
She slowly raised her right hand.
The five fingers are slightly curved, resembling claws.
There were no weapons on the claws, but the moment those five slender, white fingers slightly bent, a chilling aura suddenly spread out.
The air seemed to freeze at that moment.
The next moment, she moved.
The right hand reached out with a speed that seemed slow, but was actually faster than thought.
Seven blood-red claw-like beams burst forth from her fingertips, solid as a tangible substance, carrying an aura that could tear everything apart, meeting the attacks of the seven grandmasters.
"Sizzle--!"
The seven blood claw beams collided with the seven attacks, but there was no earth-shattering roar, only a sharp sound like cloth being torn apart.
The golden palm print was torn apart, the pitch-black Saber Aura shattered inch by inch, and the azure sword light trembled violently as if struck by a heavy blow. Pink sword light, Plain Longsword, and pitch-black claws—
All attacks that came into contact with the crimson claws were torn apart, disintegrated, and annihilated in that instant.
The seven grandmasters simultaneously took several steps back, their expressions changing.
" Grandmaster Late-Stage!"
Gu Changqing's voice was filled with barely suppressed solemnity.
The strongest among the seven had reached the Grandmaster Mid-Stage, yet their combined attack was torn apart by a single claw from the opponent. This level of strength could only be attributed to the Grandmaster Late-Stage.
The woman didn't speak, but simply raised her hand again.
The crimson claw-like energy condensed once more, even sharper and more solid than before.
Seven crimson claw-like beams, carrying a sharp intent to tear everything apart, swept towards the seven grandmasters.
The seven grandmasters dared not be negligent and each unleashed their full power to resist.
With a deafening roar, the force of the energy spread outwards, carving deep, crisscrossing furrows into the ground.
As the smoke and dust dissipated slightly, the woman used the momentum to drift backward.
Her figure moved like a red leaf blown by the wind, rapidly retreating through the dust and smoke at an astonishing speed.
However, a small tear appeared in the red robe on the right shoulder, from which bright red blood seeped out.
Even with her Grandmaster Late-Stage level strength, she was injured when faced with an attack from seven Grandmasters.
But the injury was clearly not serious; it was only a minor injury and had no impact on her whatsoever.
"Chase!"
Lei Lie roared, his voice like muffled thunder exploding in the forest, causing the surrounding dust that had not yet settled to surge again.
He stomped his feet hard on the ground, and the already cracked ground beneath his feet could no longer withstand the enormous force, collapsing into a pit several feet deep, with rubble and soil shooting out in all directions.
Using the force of the recoil, his tall figure shot out like a cannonball.
He held the massive, black sword, as thick as a door panel, in one hand, its Saber Aura surging with a powerful, tearing force as he relentlessly pursued the rapidly retreating blood-red figure.
Behind him, Gu Changqing remained silent, but with a flash, he had already drifted dozens of feet away.
His steps appeared unhurried, but with each step he took, an invisible current of air lifted him up.
He moved with astonishing speed, as if propelled by the wind, and relentlessly pursued the blood-red figure.
Huiming clasped his hands together, his golden robe fluttering in the strong wind.
Unlike Lei Lie, he did not charge forward with a frenzied speed. Instead, with each step he took, a faint golden lotus phantom flashed beneath his feet, his figure flickering between reality and illusion, and his speed was surprisingly fast.
Bai Yujing stood straight as a sword, his moon-white robe stretched into a straight line as he sped away.
He seemed to transform into a drawn sword, relentlessly pursuing with an indomitable spirit.
Liu Meiniang's figure moved swiftly like a butterfly, her pink dress fluttering in the wind.
Her Body Movement differed from the others; she didn't pursue in a straight line, but rather moved gracefully among the trees and rocks.
It may seem like a roundabout route, but the speed is by no means slow.
The most eerie figure was the silent one—he almost blended into the shadows.
It moved silently through the shadows of trees and rocks, sometimes appearing dozens of feet to the left and sometimes emerging from the shadows to the right, like a ghost.
Although they didn't show off, their pursuit speed was in no way inferior to others.
Li Hanjiang was like a bat flitting through the night, his wide black robe billowing in the wind, moving so fast that only a series of black shadows could be seen.