Poisoned Hand

The moment Zhang Jian stepped out of the room, he heard a sound above him as though the air were splitting apart. A streak of coldness cleaved down at his head like a bolt of silk.

It was Jian Yao's saber.

The snowy-white saber light was like a full moon.

Zhang Jian was exceptionally familiar with his Hundred Victories Force. The fierce saber light slashed toward his head, followed by the cold gleam of saber and sword colliding.

The ring of metal striking metal rang out.

Such a sound so close to one's body could make the hair stand on end, yet Zhang Jian felt his blood boil.

"This must be what they mean by great skill breeding great courage!"

Zhang Jian somewhat understood martial artists. Many carried lethal weapons, and killing intent naturally rose within them.

With strength came confidence.

Of course, too much confidence became arrogance.

As thoughts flashed through his mind, Zhang Jian's ears twitched. After just the first exchange, he faintly sensed the direction in which the two forces converged upon saber and sword. A thread of exceedingly tricky force had jolted Jian Yao's tiger's mouth open.

His spiritual senses could practically "smell" a faint trace of blood.

The young swordsman wielding the azure blade was clearly stronger than Jian Yao.

That was hardly surprising.

For those who had attacked were the senior brother and junior sister Zhang Jian had met once before.

Internal-refinement martial artists at the Essence-Nourishing stage.

Yet Jian Yao completely ignored the wound in his hand. The tendon-transforming force in his legs erupted, blasting the stone slabs beneath his feet apart as he leapt into the air and slashed viciously at the young swordsman.

Zhang Jian looked over and seemed to see layers of red-hot force "shrouding" Jian Yao's ring-pommel saber.

That was the special force cultivated by body-tempering martial artists.

Though the path of body tempering focused on forging bones and transforming tendons, after stepping into the force-transforming stage, one would also develop a special power. It was a force refined through coordinating one's own blood and qi, tempering vital essence, and arduous training.

This force was entirely opposite to the one formed through internal refinement.

From the outset, it possessed an overwhelmingly tyrannical and tricky power.

Yet compared to the inner breath formed through internal refinement, it lacked the rich depth that nourished the five viscera and six bowels and fostered one's life essence.

Its explosiveness in the early stages, however, far surpassed it.

But once internal-refinement experts reached the Essence-Nourishing stage, that advantage gradually disappeared.

Jian Yao unfolded his Golden Crow Saber Technique like a crimson storm. Even while suspended in midair, he launched slash after slash, unleashing a ferocious assault upon the young swordsman.

The young swordsman maintained a faint smile throughout. The sword light in his hand was clear and ethereal, and the sword qi and force he scattered formed an impenetrable defense, as though not even water could seep through. No matter how fiercely Jian Yao attacked, he could not break in. In his fury and haste, the young swordsman immediately seized an opening.

In an instant, the man sneered. Boundless Essence-Nourishing astral qi burst from his sword tip, tearing through the saber light. Closing in, he delivered an Iron Mountain Lean, sending Jian Yao flying more than ten meters with powerful inner-breath astral qi and smashing down a lotus lantern pillar.

Jian Yao staggered to his feet. His internal organs had been injured, and blood seeped from the corner of his mouth.

"Fine skills indeed. A hero truly emerges in youth!"

Zhang Jian frowned slightly. Though he lacked much experience, he knew Jian Yao had ultimately lost because his force was insufficient.

One stage apart was still a genuine gap.

It was also somewhat related to their methods of combat. Jian Yao certainly possessed extremely rich experience in deadly combat, but his opponent appeared to come from a prestigious school as well, and his methods were exceedingly "brilliant"!

However, Zhang Jian noticed that though both were at the Essence-Nourishing stage, the Essence-Nourishing astral qi condensed by this young swordsman seemed distinctly "different" from his own.

Scarlet sparks and lightning flickered in his eyes before vanishing in an instant.

At the side, Zhang Yi drifted over. He glanced at the injured Jian Yao without changing expression, merely looking blandly toward the two people on the roof.

The moment he landed and his sinister gaze swept over them, the young swordsman felt as though he had fallen into an ice cellar.

His expression changed dramatically at once.

An immensely frigid power seemed to follow an invisible intent and press toward the depths of his soul, seeking to freeze him stiff where he stood.

This was spiritual intent!

In an instant, the young swordsman could no longer endure it. He directly swung his longsword, actually taking the initiative to attack and choosing to resist that terrifying, suffocating sensation.

Clang! Clang!!

Sword cries clashed. The sword sheath flew straight from his hand first, like a sharp sword itself, and in an instant embedded itself three feet into the ground.

A streak of cold sword qi drifted toward Zhang Yi.

This was tangible Essence-Nourishing astral qi. Combined with his sword technique, it immediately swept toward Zhang Yi like a vast bank of icy mist.

But what greeted him was a hand as white as jade. That figure appeared at the young swordsman's side like a ghost.

"Senior Brother, watch out!"

The graceful, slender woman beside him paled. At last, she drew her own longsword. With a slight tremble of the blade, she flicked out streak after streak of cold gleam toward Zhang Yi. Yet Zhang Yi paid it no heed, casually thrusting out a palm. His palm turned black-jade in color, and black-jade chill swept forth fiercely.

The woman's beautiful face changed color. She hastily withdrew her sword, her body shifting into a phantom as she fled from her original position.

Rumble!!

A wide expanse of bricks and tiles at that spot turned to powder, while frost gathered in specks along the edges, spreading into a broad sheet of white.

"Black Jade Ice-Fire Palm... Poisoned Hand Zhang Yi?"

Gu Xiu'er watched this scene, inwardly sensing that things had gone badly.

Poisoned Hand Zhang Yi was a notorious unorthodox villain of the northern lands, a powerhouse of the same generation as their master, famous for more than a decade.

The Black Jade Ice-Fire Palm was incomparably vicious. Anyone struck by it would surely die.

They had clearly never imagined that this notorious unorthodox villain would be hiding within the Zhang family.

As her thoughts raced, Gu Xiu'er called out loudly, "Senior, please do not misunderstand. The two of us entered the Zhang family only in order to..."

Zhang Yi's expression was cold and blank. "I do not care what you came for. Since you two injured someone from the Zhang family, first preserve your lives beneath my hand before speaking of anything else!"

He sprang forward, carrying a skyful of icy qi as he charged recklessly toward the young swordsman. He resembled a giant eagle hunting its prey, his black robes snapping in the wind while the horsetail whisk in his hand scattered icy qi across the sky, like countless steel needles of freezing rain descending upon the young swordsman.

He had no intention whatsoever of showing mercy.

Sensing that sky-filling chill, Duanmu Yan groaned inwardly without end.

The all-encompassing black-jade chill was far too tyrannical.

Whether in cultivation or martial skill, he was far inferior to this underworld giant. He feared he would be done for after blocking merely three to five moves.

Gu Xiu'er regretted it even more. The two martial siblings had accepted someone's request to probe the Zhang family's true strength, yet they had never expected the Zhang family to be a crouching tiger concealing a dragon. They had only just entered when they were discovered and surrounded.

And now they had encountered such a terrifying fiend as Poisoned Hand Zhang Yi.

Her bright eyes swept across the scene below, landing instantly upon Zhang Jian, who was watching the spectacle with keen relish.

What, did watching the show get you dragged into the trouble?

Zhang Jian's five senses were extraordinarily sharp. The moment Gu Xiu'er looked his way, his heart stirred. He immediately acted as though he had noticed nothing, wearing an innocent and harmless expression.

Yet a point of blazing red light gathered deep within his palm. His heart was quite dark as well, and he calculated that if Gu Xiu'er dared rush over to seize a "hostage," he would gather his strength and strike her with a palm, ruthlessly crushing a flower.

Gu Xiu'er was indeed hesitating inwardly at that moment. Her master's assessment of Poisoned Hand Zhang Yi flashed through her mind.

This man was vicious, cunning, and profoundly calculating.

As the thought passed, she saw that Duanmu Yan was nearly unable to hold on any longer and promptly called out again, "Senior Brother Duanmu, stop! Since we martial siblings were the ones who acted rudely first, we are naturally willing to surrender and offer compensation!"

"Senior, our master is Wang Yuanlang, the Westwind Swordsman of the Upper Origin Sect. I ask that, for my master's sake, you teach us only a light lesson and let it serve as a warning. We martial siblings are willing to accept punishment!"

With that, she directly withdrew her sword and clasped her fists.

Duanmu Yan was currently facing Zhang Yi's incomparably fierce palm force. At her words, his eyelids twitched wildly, but after thinking it over, he still gritted his teeth and chose to trust Gu Xiu'er. He withdrew his sword and assumed a completely unresisting posture, preparing to take a palm strike head-on.