Slay the Twin Fiends

The wind-attribute Low Earth Tier cultivation method, Raging Wind Tide, might not surpass Xiong Ba's Three-Part Return-to-Origin Qi, but with the enhancement of wind-attribute energy, Li Chenfeng's Meridian-Severing Sword Qi would become even sharper, wielding power beyond divine weapons. That was why he was confident that his current strength was no weaker than top experts such as Xiong Ba and the Sword Demon.

Li Chenfeng had also tried using fire-attribute Dou Qi to drive his Meridian-Severing Sword Qi. It made the already supremely hard and yang sword qi even more violent. Given how much he had tempered the sword qi within his body, it had actually begun to show signs of slipping beyond his control, leaving Li Chenfeng secretly alarmed.

In the main hall, seeing that Li Chenfeng had made up his mind, the Four Sword Elders considered matters for a moment. Then Changli Sword Elder, who had always supported Li Chenfeng without reservation, rose and said, "Since you have made your decision, Villa Master, why not let this old man accompany you?"

In Sword Worship Villa, aside from Li Chenfeng himself, the strongest were Changli Sword Elder and Lichou Sword Elder. From what Li Chenfeng understood, their current strength should be roughly comparable to any of the Twelve Fiends of Heavenly Pool apart from the Child Emperor.

However, Li Chenfeng did not intend to bring anyone else this time. Against an opponent on Xiong Ba's level, bringing more people would be useless. Unless every one of them was a Peerless Master Realm expert at the Xiantian Peak Realm, they were not qualified to interfere in a battle between the two of them.

After once again assigning everyone present their tasks for the coming period, Li Chenfeng mounted his prized Black Steed and headed alone toward the World Society's main headquarters on Mount Tianshan.

Along the way, the struggle between Sword Worship Villa and the World Society had thrown the martial world north and south of the Yangtze River into chaos. Even while still within Sword Worship Villa's sphere of influence, Li Chenfeng encountered quite a few scum of the martial world engaged in robbery and slaughter.

Whenever he met such people, Li Chenfeng naturally showed no mercy, usually exterminating them completely. Before long, the name of Sword Worship Villa's young villa master had begun spreading throughout the martial world as a fearsome killer.

Neither Li Chenfeng nor Sword Worship Villa cared about that. After all, if one wanted to gain a firm foothold in the martial world, reputation could sometimes be quite important.

Whether it was a good name or a bad one, it served much the same purpose to people of the martial world.

At the very least, within Sword Worship Villa's territory, bandits, brigands, and martial world scum fled one after another, terrified of encountering this harbinger of death.

After passing through a small town, Li Chenfeng saw a forest not far ahead. In the evening breeze, leaves rustled softly, and the surroundings were exceptionally tranquil. The setting sun and the woods formed a breathtakingly beautiful scene.

The instant the galloping Li Chenfeng entered that scene, an inexplicable chill suddenly flooded his entire body. Then Black Steed reared up on its hind legs and let out a long neigh.

"What overwhelming killing intent and baleful aura! In the martial world, only the former number-one assassin organization, the Heavenly Pool Assassin Group, could possess such killing intent."

Li Chenfeng's calm voice sounded from atop the horse, breaking the silence around him.

"Hehe, worthy indeed of being Sword Worship Villa's young villa master! At such a young age, you not only possess such cultivation, but such extraordinary knowledge as well."

Ahead, two oddly shaped men blocked the road, sneering coldly.

Li Chenfeng frowned as he looked at the speaker's skeletal, emaciated face. Only his large hands were conspicuous, spread open like a pair of eagle claws. The joints of his fingers protruded, faintly tinged blue-black, making him look like some demon or monster.

"Heh, you actually believed it when I said you were impressive." A trace of mockery curved Li Chenfeng's lips.

"The Heavenly Pool Assassins were once hunted by the Sword Saint like homeless dogs. If you hadn't cowered like dogs in the World Society's headquarters for years, too scared to show your faces, your bones would probably have been gnawed clean by wild wolves and stray dogs by now. And yet you still dare show yourselves here!"

Li Chenfeng's words instantly enraged the two men. After an angry curse, they charged at him together.

Li Chenfeng remained calm. He had intended to provoke them from the start.

The Twelve Fiends of Heavenly Pool had been quite formidable during the early days of Wind and Cloud. Especially when all twelve acted together, even top experts like Xiong Ba or the Sword Demon might not have been able to defeat them.

Only Hand Dance and Foot Dance stood before him now, so Li Chenfeng had no objection to taking care of these two first.

Whoosh...!

Hand Dance and Foot Dance were brothers, and after decades together, they had long reached perfect mutual understanding. They needed no signal to launch their attack at the same time.

One used Bone-Ripping Claw to seize Li Chenfeng's throat, while the other swept his Crippling Leg toward Li Chenfeng's legs.

Bone-Ripping Claw and Crippling Leg were both sinister external techniques. The two had practiced these arts for decades. Once Hand Dance unleashed his pair of sinewy hands, their force could tear bones and sever meridians. Combined with Foot Dance's Crippling Leg, they became even more vicious.

Clang—

The sword cry howled like a freezing wind.

The Snow Soul Divine Sword, reforged from the divine weapon Snow-Drinking Saber, erupted with a dazzling icy-blue sword radiance under the support of inner force. As Li Chenfeng slashed down through the air, powerful Sword Qi stirred the wind and clouds of heaven and earth. Frost and snow were even carried through the air as the blow struck the ground in an instant.

Fleeting Glimpse of Frost!

This had originally been the first move of the Nie Clan's Six Frosty Techniques, a saber technique of absolute cold, domineering might, and straightforward brutality.

Li Chenfeng had now transformed it into a Sword Technique, yet its power remained tremendous. Combined with the Snow Soul Divine Sword, it was far beyond what assassins like Hand Dance and Foot Dance could withstand.

Sure enough, a tremendous boom rang out, and a cloud of dust surged several yards into the air. Immediately afterward, the crisscrossing figures of the Hand Dance and Foot Dance brothers were sent flying backward.

Yet Li Chenfeng's attack was far from over. Sword lights shot through the air one after another, crisscrossing and sweeping toward the two men in an overwhelming torrent amid the endless frost and snow.

As Sword Qi howled, the air all around was sliced apart by the sharp blades of qi. Violent winds surged forth, and countless grasses and trees were pulverized in their wake.

The Frost-Lingering Sword Art had evolved from the saber art Six Frosty Techniques. Thus, rather than possessing the nimble elegance of ordinary sword techniques, every move it unleashed was filled with domineering force.

Having been driven back by a single strike, the Hand Dance and Foot Dance brothers were utterly shocked. Xiong Ba had told them that Sword Worship Villa's young villa master, despite his youth, possessed extraordinary strength.

They had originally come prepared. Ten of them had split into pairs precisely because they feared that any one of them alone might not be a match for him.

But now, it seemed they had still underestimated him.

The two of them had attacked together. Even the heads of the former nine great sects would not have dared claim they could withstand such an assault, yet before this little brat, they had not even the slightest ability to fight back!

Hand Dance looked at the wounds across his body, cut open by the other party's Sword Qi. They now carried a faint icy-blue tint and were constantly trying to invade their meridians. In an instant, he made his decision.

"Run!"