Grand Ancestor Saber Technique, Ascending to the Hall

He'd been careless...

Bitterness filled Wei Xuanfeng's heart. He had still been too idealistic.

He had thought that with his strength, while he might not be able to kill every last one of these wolf demons, he could at least kite them without a problem.

Reality, however, had slapped him hard across the face!

They had not even reached Chen Family Village before the three of them were blocked halfway there by a pack of wolf demons...

"Take the Strength Pills, activate the Armored Horse talismans!"

Seeing this, Wei Xuanfeng immediately squeezed a Strength Pill from his collar and shoved it into his mouth.

At the same time, he used a drop of blood essence to ignite the Armored Horse talisman on his leg.

Ever since becoming banner officers, the three of them had been carrying plenty of such consumables.

Against wolf demons at the demon general level, they had to bring out every ounce of their strength.

Wen Shihan had taken her pill long ago. Standing behind Wei Xuanfeng, she felt her heart sink inch by inch.

Even from so far away, she could clearly sense the brutality and greed radiating from those emerald-green eyes.

An ordinary person would likely have their soul scared out of them. Wen Shihan considered herself strong, yet the hairs all over her body still stood on end.

The three demon generals charged madly toward them. Their lightning-like speed made Wei Xuanfeng groan inwardly.

He was confident against one. But three...

"You two go first. I'll hold them off for a while!"

With the demon generals already close at hand, Wei Xuanfeng took the initiative and met them head-on.

In the blink of an eye, the three demon generals had reached him. Their afterimages still lingered more than ten meters away—their speed was simply unbelievable!

Just as Wei Xuanfeng was considering which one to deal with first, one demon general let out a low howl toward the sky. A crescent-shaped wind blade as long as a forearm shot like lightning toward Fox Murong.

"Damn it, this beast can do that too?!"

Not every demon general could launch this kind of ranged attack. Seeing it, Wei Xuanfeng could not help feeling envious.

If he could use blade aura too, why would he need to fear these three beasts?

The wind blade was similar to a martial artist's blade aura or Sword Qi, and its killing power was immense.

The one unleashed by a demon general was even more powerful, capable of piercing iron and stone.

Fox Murong had seen its power before and swiftly dodged aside. But she did not know lightness skill, so her evasive speed was not particularly fast.

With a tearing sound.

Fox Murong sucked in a sharp breath. Her thigh had been sliced open.

Through her torn trousers, her snowy-white skin was clearly visible, along with a wound so deep that bone could be seen.

But Wei Xuanfeng had no time to worry about her. The other two demon generals were already pouncing on him.

These two beasts were incredibly fast. Wei Xuanfeng had no time to dodge and could only raise his longsword to block head-on.

The instant they clashed, Wei Xuanfeng felt as if a massive boulder had smashed into his blade.

His entire body was sent flying backward.

The tremendous force of the impact made him tumble repeatedly through the air, bleeding off the force.

When he landed, he staggered back three steps and spat out a mouthful of blood.

He had suffered internal injuries in their very first exchange.

Wei Xuanfeng was shocked. He had not expected the gulf between their realms to be this vast!

That was only because it was him—he possessed Heaven's Motion, along with many traits that enhanced his physical attributes.

If it had been another martial apprentice, that one blow would have left them dead without even a burial ground.

The two demon generals gave Wei Xuanfeng no time to catch his breath and pounced again.

His arms were still numb, and he did not dare receive their attack again.

He now knew that demon generals were not something he could contend with at his current level. He could only use One Reed Crossing River and dodge with all his might.

Not only were the two demon generals immensely strong, but their speed and agility were equally outstanding.

However, their bodies were too large. In close-quarters maneuvering, they were far less nimble than Wei Xuanfeng.

After his initial frantic scramble, Wei Xuanfeng quickly stabilized the situation and even found chances to counterattack from time to time.

In particular, after gathering all his inner force into his legs, his speed was no longer inferior to that of the Black Xuanlan Wolf Demon King.

As the third demon general joined the battle, one man and three wolves immediately descended into the most primal kind of slaughter.

Whoever found an opening took a bite out of the other.

For a time, howls and furious shouts rang out without end.

By then, Wen Shihan had used her meteor hammer to deal with the surrounding servant-level Xuanlan wolf demons. Supporting Fox Murong, she hid up in a tree.

As she bandaged her, Wen Shihan's gaze also fell on Wei Xuanfeng.

Wei Xuanfeng was in a miserable state, being chased into a frantic scramble by three demon generals.

His occasional counterattacks were neither painful nor irritating to the demon generals.

Unless one possessed a divine weapon or could expertly unleash saber aura like Boss Jiao.

Otherwise, even a Martial Master would be helpless against a demon general.

Just then, several more demon servant-level wolf demons arrived after hearing the commotion.

Not wanting to add to Wei Xuanfeng's burden, Wen Shihan told Fox Murong to take care, then charged out with her meteor hammer in hand.

"Two lunatics!"

Fox Murong cursed, struggling to her feet.

If it had been her three months ago, she would certainly have chosen to betray them both and flee alone.

But...

Now, she silently took the bow from her back and aimed an arrow at the wolf demons...

Though Wei Xuanfeng was in the thick of battle, he kept watch in every direction.

Seeing Wen Shihan and Fox Murong trapped in an encirclement, his anxiety grew ever fiercer.

No. If this dragged on, they would all die!

Wei Xuanfeng suddenly made a bold decision.

He cast aside every stray thought and erased every chance of escape from his mind.

As he fought the three demon generals, he recalled the saber aura Jiao Yu had unleashed in the brothel that day.

That saber aura had left an extraordinarily deep impression on Wei Xuanfeng.

The bearing and movements Jiao Yu had displayed when she struck slowly surfaced in his mind.

Gradually, his Grand Ancestor Saber Technique was no longer bound by individual stances and forms...

Although to the two women, Wei Xuanfeng still appeared to be in constant peril, only he himself knew—

These three demon generals posed to him...

No threat at all!

Wei Xuanfeng gripped his Xiuchun Saber. His style was no longer broad and sweeping as he circled the three wolves in a running fight.

After battle upon battle, his inner force had been severely depleted. Fighting this way happened to conserve it.

He did not merely defend. Whenever he spotted an opening, he would strike without hesitation.

With every slash, he sent a thread of yin force into the demon generals' bodies, slowly destroying their internal organs.

The three wolves were no pushovers either. Every time Wei Xuanfeng succeeded, he paid a price, more or less.

Fortunately, every one of his attacks had been proactive, allowing him to avoid vital spots. The battle had lasted only a short while, yet he was already covered in blood, dozens of wounds crisscrossing his body, his clothes torn to rags.

Though he looked utterly terrifying, all his wounds were superficial.

Still, the wounds of every size continued to bleed slowly.

As time passed, Wei Xuanfeng's stamina dropped drastically.

His speed slowed.

The three wolves were in even worse shape.

They were now slower than demon servant-level Xuanlan Wolf Demons.

Both sides were competing in endurance.

At last, after taking twenty-three consecutive blows, one demon general wolf's internal injuries erupted. During a pounce, it staggered and fell toward Wei Xuanfeng, its forelegs weakening and exposing the patch of soft hide beneath its throat, thinner even than the skin on its scalp...

The wolf clan's only vital point.

Wei Xuanfeng did not hesitate.

He twisted his waist and stepped sideways, pouring every last shred of inner force in his body into his right arm. The Xiuchun Saber flashed beneath the moonlight, and a half-inch arc of dark cyan light surged from its tip.

The light was thin and faint, like a layer of ice that would neither melt nor disperse along the blade's edge.

He swung. When the arc of the saber passed through the wolf demon's throat, it met no resistance at all, as though slicing paper.

The demon general's body stiffened in midair for an instant. Black blood spilled from its eyes, ears, mouth, and nose at once before it crashed to the ground, gouging out a shallow pit.

The surrounding demon servant-level wolf demons let out a string of hurried whimpers and shrank back half a step.

Wei Xuanfeng stood where he was, lowering his head to look at the tip of his saber.

That inch-long arc of dark cyan light was still there, slowly drawing back, like a candle flame extinguishing itself in windless air.

The hand holding his saber trembled—not from fear, but excitement.

That slash should have split the wolf demon's skull, but the saber aura had cut its throat first. The blade itself had not even touched bone.

[Successfully killed a demon general-level demonic beast. Gold +500]

"Blade aura!"

Standing atop the tree, Fox Murong clearly saw that inch-long blade aura flash past, and her face instantly lit up with wild delight.

She knew all too well how obsessed Wei Xuanfeng had been with forging a blade aura. Even Wen Shihan, that reckless workhorse, fell slightly short of him when it came to cultivation.

Now that she saw him release a blade aura, a fierce excitement surged up in Fox Murong's heart!

Wen Shihan also halted her meteor hammer and shot Wei Xuanfeng a look from afar, a brief glimmer flashing through her eyes.

But the battlefield gave no one time to catch their breath.

The remaining two general-rank wolf demons had gone red-eyed. Attacking from both sides, they pounced at the same time.

They were even faster than before, their sharp claws tearing through the wind. The tips of one wolf demon's claws nearly touched Wei Xuanfeng's left ribs.

Wei Xuanfeng did not retreat.

He did not even twist aside to evade.

He could feel that inch of dark azure light at the tip of his blade trembling faintly in his palm, like a living thing drawing breath.

He made a movement he would never have made before...

He held the saber horizontally before his chest and closed his eyes.

The instant the wolf claws descended, he opened them.

The Embroidered Spring Saber swept out. The blade aura before its tip surged to three inches, and as the blue-white arc of light tore through the night wind, it gave off an exceedingly thin shriek, like metal scraping across glass.

The first wolf demon's head split diagonally from the bridge of its nose. Its brains only had time to spray into the air afterward.

The second wolf demon's charge was too fierce for it to pull back in time. Half its chest cavity was sliced open by the blade aura, the broken ends of its ribs neat and even, like stalks of grass severed by a guillotine.

Fox Murong and Wen Shihan both watched it all with their little mouths slightly open...

They could hardly be blamed for being so shocked.

Slaying three general-rank Xuanlan Wolf Demons in succession while still in the Martial Warrior realm—no one would have believed such a record!

[Successfully killed a general-rank demonic beast. Gold +500]

[Successfully killed a general-rank demonic beast. Gold +500]

"Jackpot..."

As two more notifications sounded, Wei Xuanfeng's vision went black.

He fell straight backward.

But before he could hit the ground, a dark streak shot toward him.

A chain wrapped around his body, and with a pull and tug from Wen Shihan, he was yanked to her side.

"Go!"

Wen Shihan hoisted Wei Xuanfeng over her shoulder and grabbed Fox Murong by the collar.

Like a wisp of green smoke, they vanished into the mountain forest...

[Successfully killed a general-rank demonic beast. Gold +500]

[Successfully killed a general-rank demonic beast. Gold +500]

The system notifications rang in his mind, but he had no energy to look at them. Lowering his head, he stared at the blade tip. That inch-long dark azure arc had already vanished, leaving only a thin layer of fading residual heat on the blade. His wrist ached and swelled so badly that he could barely grip the hilt, while his heart pounded as if it were about to leap out of his throat.

Worth it. He said it to himself.

Then his vision went black, and he toppled straight backward. He heard Wen Shihan shout something, but he could not make it out. The meteor hammer's chain wound around his waist, and with a pull and tug, his body turned in midair before landing on a slight but exceedingly steady shoulder.

"Go."

Wen Shihan gave him a bounce on her shoulder, freeing her other hand to seize Fox Murong by the collar. Like green smoke, she vanished into the night.