Mere Chickens and Dogs

Zhou Chen froze, thinking she had misheard. But Liao Xiaojin had already let out a wild roar. The Flying Sword, purple as crystal from hilt to tip, shot from his mouth. Nine golden stripes on the blade suddenly flared, transforming into nine streams of purplish-gold light—each over a foot wide and thirty feet long, like silken bolts—as they cleaved down upon the one woman and three men. The tremendous boom made the ground within a hundred feet tremble. Its might was truly unmatched.

Liao Xiaojin understood Zhou Qing's character very well: if others did not offend him, he would still occasionally offend them; but if others offended him, he would wipe out their entire family. That was a true portrayal of Zhou Qing's temperament. Thus, the moment Zhou Qing opened his mouth, Liao Xiaojin knew an all-out brawl was coming.

Even Zhou Qing, an expert in artifact refinement, could not fathom the changes concealed within Liao Xiaojin's Flying Sword. Since the sword had been forged, Liao Xiaojin had only used it for cultivation and once against the Eight Extremes Wolf King. But then, he had only practiced the Soaring Sword Qi Art for three days and had not even entered the gate, so he had failed to unleash the strange sword's true power. This was its first proper battle, and even Zhou Qing was secretly startled by its imposing might.

Zhou Chen snapped out of her daze as well and gave a sharp cry. The Flying Sword Zhou Qing had given her turned into a streak of clear light twenty feet long and slashed at the girl holding the Eight Trigrams Mirror. Zhou Chen was enraged that the girl had suddenly attacked her younger sister, and this strike contained all her strength. Yet its power was clearly nowhere near as frightening as Liao Xiaojin's, and there was only one streak of sword light. Unlike Liao Xiaojin's nine sword lights, it did not envelop all four of them.

Zhou Can knew her cultivation was lacking. Though she had been diligently cultivating these past days, she had only just reached the Qi Induction Stage - Early Phase. She could not help at all in the battle, so she could only clutch the Heavenly Seal Zhou Qing had given her, ready to smash whoever exposed an opening with a chunk of iron.

Seeing the power of Liao Xiaojin's strike, Zhou Can secretly thought, This big brother is always so cheeky and smiling. I never knew he was this capable. He's actually so powerful.

Zhou Qing was secretly astonished as well. Liao Xiaojin had clearly not yet cultivated to the point of splitting sword light, yet with that strange Flying Sword in his hand, he could actually divide it into nine streams of sword light? Zhou Qing found it utterly inconceivable.

The three men and one woman on the other side had not expected the two people who had just been so respectful to suddenly attack like monsters. They had turned hostile faster than one could turn the pages of a book, leaving them flustered. Yet they were disciples of a prestigious sect after all, and their training showed. In an instant, they calmed down. The three men shouted in unison, and purple, azure, and crimson lights rose into the air. Hundreds of tri-colored rays formed a massive light shield, protecting the four within.

Liao Xiaojin's nine purplish-gold Sword Qi streams struck the light shield in rapid succession. Swish! Swish! Swish! Huge clanging sounds of metal against iron rang out. The tri-colored shield abruptly sank inward, clearly on the verge of failing beneath the tremendous force of Liao Xiaojin's Sword Qi.

Pfft! Blood flashed within the tri-colored light shield. Someone had clearly spat out their own essence blood to drive the artifact's power. The shield suddenly expanded, and Liao Xiaojin's nine Sword Qi streams vanished like clay oxen entering the sea, without a trace. Zhou Chen's Sword Qi, meanwhile, had achieved practically nothing.

Their cultivation levels had originally been close, all around the Qi Induction Stage - Mid Phase, so the outcome depended entirely on their artifacts. Liao Xiaojin had relied on his strange Flying Sword and launched a sudden attack, yet he had still failed to take down even one of them. It was clear that the three men's artifacts were no ordinary items either.

Zhou Qing circulated his Primordial Spirit and had long since seen clearly that the objects releasing the tri-colored light shield were three strange bracelets floating in the air, neither gold nor iron nor jade. Clearly, they were a set of artifacts.

This set of artifacts was no ordinary treasure! It would be perfect for the three of them. As for me, I'll take that Eight Trigrams Mirror. Zhou Qing had already divided up the spoils in his heart. They were fish caught in his net anyway, so he was in no hurry. Letting Liao Xiaojin and Zhou Chen gain some practical combat experience would be good too.

"Demonic heretics, you truly do not value your lives!" the girl shouted angrily from within the shield. "You dare rebel? Mystic Eight Trigrams, go!"

Golden light flashed, and the tri-colored shield split apart, revealing the four furious figures within. One man, covered in blood, cried out, "Fine! You monsters actually dared attack members of the Dragon Group! It seems you've truly grown tired of living. If I don't capture you and skin your fox hides, I'm not human!" It seemed this unlucky man was the one who had spat out his essence blood to activate the artifact.

"Why waste words on these demonic heretics? We martial brothers will attack together and kill them! Junior Sister, activate the Mystic Eight Trigrams Formation with all your strength!" another man said in a deep voice.

The girl continuously formed hand seals. The palm-sized Eight Trigrams Mirror released countless rays of golden light and slowly rose into the air.

At the same time, the three men let out a metallic clang! and spat out their Flying Swords, sending them stabbing toward Liao Xiaojin and Zhou Chen. Liao Xiaojin was completely fearless. Relying on his immensely powerful Flying Sword, he tightly entangled the three streams of sword light. With Zhou Chen darting in from the side with her own Flying Sword, the two faced three without falling into a disadvantage. The five began circling and fighting, and for a time, none could do anything to the others.

Zhou Qing secretly nodded. Letting them train really was the right choice. See? Aren't they handling their Flying Swords more smoothly now? While Zhou Can watched the five battle with their Flying Swords, Zhou Qing focused his attention on the girl's Eight Trigrams Mirror. In just an instant, the mirror had grown to the size of a washbasin. A massive golden phantom of eight trigrams, a hundred feet across, emerged from it. Sss! Sss! Eight gilded rays descended around the forest, then dissolved into the air.

"Ah, I am the ancestor of formations. Your Mystic Eight Trigrams Formation may be exquisite, but in my eyes, it is nothing but mere chickens and dogs! I cannot let you complete this formation and disturb their sword fight!" Zhou Qing muttered softly.

With a casual toss, eight jade plaques scattered around the forest. As they spun, the eight golden rays that had already merged into the void were forcibly dragged back out and absorbed into the plaques. The emerald jade plaques immediately began to emit a gilded glow, making for a striking sight.

Ever since the Blood-Devouring Divine Saber had recovered its wondrous functions, Zhou Qing had spent every day, aside from cultivation, immersed in the intricate methods of arranging the Twelve Divine Demon Annihilation Formation. His understanding and application of formations had advanced by leaps and bounds. The girl had used the Mystic Eight Trigrams Mirror to activate the Mystic Eight Trigrams Formation, and once formed, it would naturally possess formidable power. But Zhou Qing saw through the location of the formation eye at a glance. Using one formation to break another, skill against skill, he destroyed the formation eye in one stroke just as the Mystic Eight Trigrams Formation was about to take shape, causing the grand formation to collapse.

Zhou Qing rubbed his hands together, and the jade plaques turned fiery red, radiating scorching heat. Purple flames over a foot long rose from the plaques. Under the searing purple flames, the golden light actually gave off sizzling cries. Before long, it was refined into nothingness by the fire.

As the eight golden rays scattered, the Mystic Eight Trigrams Mirror seemed to have leaked all its spiritual energy. It returned to its original form and spun as it fell from the air. The girl was horrified. She stared fixedly at Zhou Qing as though she had seen a ghost, trembling so badly that she could not speak.

Zhou Qing said nothing more. With a point of his finger, an invisible force struck the girl's body. Pfft! She spat out a mouthful of blood and fainted. The disparity in cultivation was simply too great; she had no room to resist at all. One was at the Qi Induction Stage - Mid Phase, while the other was at the Transformation Stage—a difference as vast as heaven and earth.