Five Hells Heart-Eating

Rubble pierced the sky, ten fingers shattered mountains! A crushing force as heavy as Mount Tai collapsing came crashing down from above!

"My life is over!" Qin Leopard raised his demonic blade in desperate resistance, but beneath that pressure, the demonic weapon was instantly ground to dust! Qin Leopard roared in despair, falling heavily despite his grievous wounds, his intestines spilling across the ground. Both hands clawed into the dirt as he struggled without cease. "Shangguan, save... save me..."

"Heh heh! He's still not dead!" Gu Jingchuan stared at the half-dead demon. Gu Feibai sent his head flying with one sword stroke, then thrust another sword through his heart.

Qin Leopard died on the spot!

A thousand-foot tidal wave surged through Shangguan Hui's heart. He no longer dared linger and transformed into a streak of blood-red light, fleeing through the air!

"Still trying to run!" Gu Jingchuan pursued at top speed, but crimson mist obscured his vision. Sticky things continually plastered themselves against his face. He cursed, halted, and shook the blood mist apart with his cultivation. He sneered. "Blood Demon Escape! Burning the essence of the five viscera—ruthless enough!"

Gu Jingchuan returned to the field. Shui Xuanshuang, Gu Feibai, Lei Zhaoye, Cai Yuelin, and Gong Liefeng had slain half of the remaining stubborn resisters, while the dozen or so survivors had all been bound!

Gu Jingchuan asked curiously, "Brother Lei, why are you here?"

"Brother Liu and I killed all those thieves except for Zhao Hungry Tiger. Shangguan Hui and Qin Leopard were both experts. Brother Liu feared you might be hard-pressed, so he had me return first to reinforce you!" Lei Zhaoye wiped his hands.

"I say we should kill all this trash together!"

"Exactly!"

The moment Gong Liefeng finished speaking, Gu Feibai chimed in. The two seemed to get along quite well, laughing as they chatted together.

"The martial world isn't all fighting and killing; there are also human ties and worldly ways!" Gu Jingchuan rebuked him. Gu Feibai muttered, "You were only born a year before me, yet you always act like my father!"

Shui Xuanshuang and Cao Langao burst into laughter.

"Young sister-in-law, you should talk him around more often. Second Brother is too hot-tempered. I fear he'll suffer greatly for it!" Gu Jingchuan was in the midst of advising her when a terrifying aura rose in his heart. "Not good!"

Boom!!

A mountain-shattering roar came from ten li away! A gigantic fire lotus then rose into the air! Its might was like sunlight blazing across the heavens, like Mount Hua collapsing!

"Impossible! There are still people in this world who know the Five Sacred Mountains Sword Art?" Gu Feibai was thunderstruck and looked toward his elder brother.

"Quick, go! Brother Liu's life is in danger!" Gu Jingchuan unleashed his cultivation and raced toward the source of the blast!

Half an hour earlier, Liu Yunshen and Lei Zhaoye had been locked in fierce battle with more than ten disciples of the demonic sect!

Zhao Hungry Tiger and six others besieged Liu Yunshen. Lei Zhaoye fought the other six!

His seven-foot sword flashed up and down, advancing without retreat! Lei Zhaoye faced six alone and did not fall into the slightest disadvantage!

"What do you idiots usually eat for? Two at the second realm and four at the peak of the first realm, yet you can't even beat one little thief at the first realm!" Zhao Hungry Tiger angrily berated them. Black qi drifted before him, and in an instant, three men were smashed to death!

"You!" Zhao Hungry Tiger was shocked and enraged. Looking back, he found only two subordinates remained. The pair were so frightened they wet their pants, threw down their weapons, and fled with a shout!

Liu Yunshen's footwork was unfathomable as ghosts and gods. He angled his body, stepped straight forward, then angled again. Within only a few breaths, his staff rose and fell, killing the two men! Boundless black qi across the field gathered upon the black staff!

Cold sweat streamed down Zhao Hungry Tiger's face as he stared at that terrifying black iron staff! Lei Zhaoye had likewise already slain all six opponents!

"Brother Lei, go reinforce the others. I'll stay behind and deal with him!"

"But..." Lei Zhaoye pointed at the hundred or so disciples of the evil sect rushing toward them from behind.

When the crowd saw Liu Yunshen in his striking women's attire, every one of them leered wickedly. "Little beauty! How about big brother helps—"

With a thunderous crash, the black staff shot out a three-foot sword radiance, blasting five men to death on the spot!

Liu Yunshen angrily shouted at them, "My treasured sword is parched beyond endurance and wishes to drink blood! Are you gentlemen willing to lend it a hand?"

Zhao Hungry Tiger seized the opportunity and stabbed fiercely with his spear!

"Attack together! Kill this little bitch!"

"Brother Lei, go!" Liu Yunshen gave a sharp shout and transformed into a black bolt of lightning, weaving across the field. His formerly awkward footwork suddenly flowed through to ninety percent mastery, while the speed of his dual swords rose once more. In an instant, he blasted more than thirty thieves to death!

"These people are far weaker than Qin Leopard and Zhao Hungry Tiger! Brother Liu should be safe enough!"

Lei Zhaoye departed at a swift pace.

Liu Yunshen's killing intent was gradually stirred by the black staff. His swordsmanship was plain and unadorned, yet every strike carried the force of a thousand jun, swift as racing thunder. Of the hundred-plus thieves, only thirty remained alive. Apart from seven relatively fierce ones, the rest shouted and scattered in every direction!

Zhao Hungry Tiger glared at the others. "Join forces and kill him!"

Liu Yunshen took a deep breath and stopped slaughtering, only because his dantian was already filled with Gang Qi. The acquired qi of water and grain, rippling through his meridians like a small river, had already raised wave upon wave of wild tides. His frail Yellow Sprout root veins gradually swelled, and the strength in his entire body demanded release!

"The little thief's Gang Qi is exhausted!"

"Strike while he's sick and take his life!"

The thieves grinned savagely and pounced like a pack of wolves!

"No! Watch out!" Zhao Hungry Tiger cried out in alarm. The black iron staff, wrapped in fierce Sword Qi, swept sideways through the air. Tyrannical as a steel whip and iron mace, heavy as an iron hammer and great spear, it killed every man except Zhao Hungry Tiger!

Black qi filling the sky flowed into the black iron staff, wrapping around Liu Yunshen. Zhao Hungry Tiger retreated step by step and said in terror, "Don't kill me! Don't..."

Boom!!!

The sound of a skull bursting rang out. Zhao Hungry Tiger's head exploded, and he died!

Liu Yunshen took some silver, medicinal pills, and books of secret manuals from his robes. Just as he was about to join the others atop the mountain wall ten li away, that soul-deep tremor made every hair on his body stand on end once again!

A silent Sword Qi, as fine as a woman's sewing needle, stabbed toward him!

Liu Yunshen instinctively twisted aside. The Sword Qi skimmed past his face!

A soft "Eh?" sounded. Six people appeared behind him. The leader was none other than Jie Xiao!

"You're quite good! But someone bought your life. I'll do my best to let you die without suffering!" Jie Xiao pointed his sword at the ground, his body transforming into an afterimage as he pounced!

Liu Yunshen staggered back in terror and ran into the mountains!

"Surround him!" Jie Xiao made a gesture. His men closed in from all sides, sealing every route of retreat. Five strange Sword Qi patterns suddenly rose into being!

"I'll stake my life on one try!" With no way forward or back, Liu Yunshen gripped the black iron staff and smashed toward the west.

The shadow to the west vanished, replaced by bone-rotting poisonous mist. A crimson moon hung across the sky; ghostly shadows appeared one after another on a plank road stretching through the heavens. Countless strands of Sword Qi merged into the blood mist and shot through the air toward his eyes!

"The Western Sacred Mountain stands in towering majesty—petty scoundrels cannot comprehend it, nor can evil demons climb it! Yet you still dare play ghosts and gods here!" Liu Yunshen gave a sharp shout. His eyes became double pupils, and the Yellow Sprout root veins in his dantian drilled several feet into the earth. The blood qi throughout his body surged upward from the Yongquan acupoints, feeding back into his lower dantian. Vast Gang Qi, carrying the killing intent of the black staff, became a three-foot Sword Qi that blasted apart the blood moon and the corrupt mist!

The black shadow to the west had no time even to scream before dying on the spot!

"An epiphany in battle!" Jie Xiao sucked in a cold breath. "No wonder my lord warned me never to hold back against this boy!"

"The third stage of the first realm of Qi Refinement, Earth Vein Rooting!!" Liu Yunshen's cultivation broke through once more. His meridians were already beginning to resemble small rivers, their tides surging endlessly and mightily!

The other four shadows were shocked and enraged as they closed in again. Jie Xiao transformed into an afterimage once more, and silent Sword Qi suddenly appeared three inches from Liu Yunshen's neck!

"This treacherous bastard!!" Liu Yunshen bent at the waist and knees, dodging in terror! The needle-like Sword Qi nearly grazed the bridge of his nose! He dared not hesitate any longer and could only sprint in the opposite direction!

"My lord, why not use your strongest Five Hells Heart-Eating Sword to kill him?"

"The Gu Family's eldest young master is to the northwest. His cultivation is equal to mine. If one strike fails to kill this youth, it will certainly bring trouble!"

"How could Lord Jie Xiao fail to kill this boy with a single sword?"

"A cautious sailor sails for ten thousand years. Who knows whether he has some life-saving trump card!" Jie Xiao was exceedingly cautious.

The Shadowless Flying Sword he cultivated was one of the five fastest sword arts in the world.

The Five Hells Heart-Eating Sword was even more extraordinarily powerful. Legend said that several hundred years ago, a senior named the Heart-Demon Cultivator had created it by reversing the principles of the Five Sacred Mountains Sword Art.

The Five Sacred Mountains Sword Art had originally been an ancient immortal sword art, yet the Five Hells Heart-Eating Sword was even more powerful!

The assassins pursued at full speed, always remaining more than ten zhang behind the fleeing youth ahead!

Liu Yunshen ran swiftly and had no choice but to draw demonic qi from the black staff. I wonder whether I can reach the fourth stage, Rain-Nourished Branching. This stage most forbids forcing a breakthrough with an unstable foundation, but at this moment of life and death, I can't worry about that much!

"Hm! His aura is still rising!" Jie Xiao used a forbidden art. With a flash, he appeared twenty zhang away. He stepped forward swiftly and swept his sword through the air! Liu Yunshen blocked with the black iron staff, only to be sent rolling across the ground as blood sprayed from his mouth!

The four black shadows advanced again.

"Watch out, it's a trick!!" Jie Xiao had no time to warn them! Liu Yunshen raised his iron staff and, with the speed of blazing lightning, smashed one man to death and gravely wounded two others before turning again and fleeing northwest!

"You are simply trash! This youth's movement art is exceptional. He could even evade my peerless Shadowless Flying Sword just now, so why would he take this strike head-on? He clearly wanted you to lower your guard!" Jie Xiao flew into a rage, tossing medicinal pills to the two gravely wounded men. "If there is a next time, I will personally execute you all!"

"Yes!" The three men fell silent as cicadas in winter. Before the pills had even dissolved, they did not delay in the slightest and gave chase at top speed.

"Why are these people trying to kill me?" Liu Yunshen glanced sideways as the assassins caught up once more.

Jie Xiao flashed forward to block his path. His left palm and right sword attacked in an impenetrable downpour! With the iron staff in hand, Liu Yunshen did not contest strength with him. He dodged left and right, seeking chances to strike at the three men!

"Hah!" Jie Xiao lightly pushed aside the iron staff with his left palm, while the sword in his right hand drew an arc. Then he took a deep breath! Liu Yunshen seized the chance, and sword radiance rapidly burst from the black staff, sweeping behind him!

The two wounded men's movement arts had greatly declined. They were blasted to death in despair! The sole survivor looked at the fiery Sword Qi in the sky and fell to his knees, begging, "Lord Jie Xiao! Don't!"

"Keeping you alive would only make you a burden!" Jie Xiao had finished gathering his power. A fire lotus ten zhang high bloomed in the air!