Chu Xiaotian had only a cultivation method, but no techniques at all. When facing an enemy, he relied entirely on instinct. Of course, the words he had learned from the Fire Cloud Evil God—"All martial arts under heaven are invincible, except for speed, which cannot be broken"—had still inspired him greatly. He thought they made a lot of sense. Since he had no techniques to speak of, he might as well rely on speed to fight his opponents.
As for speed, the Heavenly Corpse Art offered no way to increase it. Zombies had never been known for being particularly fast, either. Still, Chu Xiaotian had watched enough wuxia stories to know a thing or two about training speed and lightness skills. In other people's eyes, the things in those novels were pure nonsense. But he had practiced running with weights tied to his legs and arms, then thrown punches underwater in the same way to improve his attack speed, and the results had been quite remarkable. So now he felt that the things in novels weren't necessarily fake.
When he fought Huang Nian's guard, Chu Xiaotian relied entirely on speed. The long spear in his hands whirled like a raging gale. His movements had no discernible form, but his speed still left Huang Nian's first guard feeling like a dog trying to bite a hedgehog, with nowhere to sink his teeth. As the two of them remained locked in a stalemate, Ba Dao had already crippled Huang Nian's other Sea-Opening Realm guard. As for the remaining two, he simply knocked them unconscious. One kick had shattered their dantian, and they had passed out on the spot. With his dantian destroyed, a person was completely ruined. In truth, if the guard had been given just two more breaths, he could have refined all the Bone-Softening Powder in his body and fully recovered.
"Bastards! You two can both die! Qi-Transforming Slash!" Seeing his companions crippled, the guard fighting Chu Xiaotian shouted furiously. He raised his long sword over his head and brought it down toward Chu Xiaotian.
A Sword Qi burst from the blade and slashed toward Chu Xiaotian.
"Sword Qi!" Chu Xiaotian was badly startled. Someone in the Sea-Opening Realm could actually use such a thing? The guard's strength was far beyond what he had expected. After all, though people in the Pulse-Opening Realm could possess spiritual essence, it took an Essence-Transforming Realm expert to send that essence outside the body and form something like Sword Qi. This guard was clearly only in the Sea-Opening Realm, yet he could unleash such an attack. The reason lay in the combat art he was using.
Cultivation methods could raise one's cultivation and absorb spiritual energy. Combat arts, on the other hand, were used to wield that energy and make it as deadly as possible. Combat arts were ranked just like cultivation methods: the higher the rank, the greater the power they could unleash. Huang Nian's guard possessed Qi-Transforming Slash, a high-grade Human-rank combat art. By using half the spiritual essence in his body, he could unleash a slash of Sword Qi while in the Sea-Opening Realm.
Sword Qi formed from spiritual essence was far faster than a sword swung by hand. Chu Xiaotian had only just reacted when it was already barely a meter away. He had little hope of escaping, so he could only circulate the Heavenly Corpse Art and gather all his Corpse Poison at his chest. A layer of purple fur grew beneath his clothes without anyone noticing. At the same time, instead of retreating, he thrust his long spear toward Huang Nian's guard.
Seeing Chu Xiaotian not only refuse to dodge the Sword Qi but charge at him instead, the guard gave a cold smile. Qi-Transforming Slash was a high-grade Human-rank combat art, and it had drained half his spiritual essence. Once this slash landed, anyone at the same level without something to protect themselves would be doomed. In his eyes, the arrogant boy had no chance of avoiding being split in two.
A look of horror flashed across Ba Dao's and Xia Xue's faces. The Sword Qi was so fierce that they feared Chu Xiaotian wouldn't be able to withstand it. But it was too late for them to do anything now. They could only pray that Chu Xiaotian was confident he could block it, and wasn't foolishly trying to meet the Sword Qi head-on.
In truth, Chu Xiaotian wasn't confident at all. He only knew that after transforming into a Purple Corpse, a layer of purple fur would appear on his body, and that fur had formidable defensive power. He had no idea whether it could stop the Sword Qi. But the situation gave him no choice. He could only meet it head-on.
With a thunderous crash, the Sword Qi struck Chu Xiaotian and sent him flying backward under its tremendous force. But in that same instant, he hurled the long spear from his hands with all his strength, sending it hurtling toward the guard, who was still wearing a cold smile. Chu Xiaotian and the guard were only three meters apart. At that distance, there was little chance of dodging a spear thrown with all his might. More importantly, seeing Chu Xiaotian struck by the Sword Qi had made the guard's mind slacken. He believed Chu Xiaotian could no longer threaten him.
And so, just as Chu Xiaotian hit the ground, the guard was pierced clean through by the spear. His face filled with disbelief as his body slowly fell.
"Brother Xiaotian, are you all right? Little brother, how are you?" Xia Xue and Ba Dao rushed to Chu Xiaotian at almost the same time and asked anxiously. The other disciples of Mad Blade Martial Hall, meanwhile, still looked disbelieving as they slowly approached the Sea-Opening Realm guard lying on the ground. They wanted to see whether the man was really dead.
"I seem fine. It just hurts a little. Xue, rub it for me. Once you do, it should stop hurting." Chu Xiaotian touched his chest. He had withdrawn the purple fur so it wouldn't scare anyone. There was no horrible wound there, only a burning pain where the Sword Qi had struck him. The Heavenly Corpse Art really was powerful. Chu Xiaotian thought excitedly. The purple fur's defensive power had exceeded his expectations. He had thought that even if the Sword Qi couldn't kill him, it would at least leave him seriously injured.
"You're so annoying! You're still joking at a time like this." Xia Xue's pretty face flushed slightly, and she couldn't help rolling her eyes at Chu Xiaotian as she chided him.
"Little brother, I'm glad you're all right. But wasn't your body unable to absorb spiritual energy? How did you become so powerful in such a short time?" Ba Dao looked at Chu Xiaotian, his face full of confusion. It was a mystery he had never been able to understand.
"I don't know what happened, either. Not long ago, I suddenly discovered a cultivation method in my mind. I practiced according to it, and ended up like this." Chu Xiaotian didn't know how to answer, so he casually made up a lie.
Ba Dao paused. It was clear he didn't really believe what Chu Xiaotian had said. Still, he didn't ask any more questions. There were many things cultivators shouldn't pry too deeply into, and cultivation methods were one of them. Ba Dao didn't press him, and Chu Xiaotian didn't bring it up again. In truth, he really couldn't explain the matter, so it was better not to say anything.
Half a quarter of an hour later, a carriage drove out of Mad Blade Martial Hall. A young man sat up front, driving, while two middle-aged men behind him watched with expressionless faces, as though urging him to hurry. The boy's face was covered in bruises, swollen beyond recognition. It was obvious he had been beaten badly. But his eyes gleamed with unmistakable hatred. The carriage rocked as it rolled along, and bursts of laughter could be heard from inside.
Anyone who saw this scene could imagine what had happened. Throwing their weight around, abducting a woman, then forcing her husband to drive the carriage—when he refused, they beat him until even his mother wouldn't recognize him. Many people in Greenwood Town witnessed the scene, but the two expressionless middle-aged men kept everyone from daring to step forward. Weren't they guards of the Huang Family's young master from Yufeng City? He was abducting a woman in broad daylight. Who would dare stop him? Many people only cast a pitying glance at the young man driving the carriage, then immediately turned away, afraid of getting dragged into trouble. Some even watched with gloating expressions. Chu Xiaotian, disguised as the battered driver, could only feel speechless.
Under the watchful eyes of everyone in Greenwood Town, the carriage sped out of town and into the endless forest. From that day on, no one ever saw it return.
The Huang Family's young master had left Greenwood Town. They might have gone to explore that endless forest, only to meet with disaster—perhaps becoming prey to some demonic beast. Even the man and woman they had forcibly taken away never returned. Of course, no one in Greenwood Town knew who those two were. Even if they had come back, the townspeople probably wouldn't have recognized them.
That was Chu Xiaotian's plan: disguise the Huang Family's men as having been devoured by demonic beasts in the mountains, leaving no trace of their bones. That way, no matter what the Huang Family did, they would have no excuse to take their anger out on anyone else. The people of Greenwood Town were all witnesses. They had seen Huang Nian go to his death with their own eyes; no one could have done anything about it.
As for the people from Mad Blade Martial Hall who knew the truth, Chu Xiaotian wasn't worried they would reveal it. No one was stupid enough to tell the story and get everyone killed. Besides, in their eyes, Huang Nian had deserved to die. Who would be inclined to seek justice for him?
At that moment, Chu Xiaotian, the one who had orchestrated the whole affair, sat on the grass in the valley where they lived, beaming as he looked at the four Qiankun Bags and one white bracelet in front of him. Huang Nian and his four men had vanished without a trace, so Chu Xiaotian had naturally claimed the things they had been carrying without the slightest hesitation.
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