Azure Dragon Tempered Edge Slays Iron Garb

Although Panyang's Iron Garb Sect was not considered a top-tier major sect, it was still renowned within several hundred miles of Panyang City.

Its body-tempering secret art, the "Iron Chain Across the River Method," was said to render one impervious to blades, spears, water, and fire when cultivated to great mastery, earning it the title of the Vajra Iron Pagoda.

Moreover, the Iron Garb Sect had always acted arrogantly and domineeringly. None of the surrounding factions dared provoke them, and their prestige was immense.

Although Yellow Dragon Post was still far from the Iron Garb Sect's sphere of influence, all the martial artists present had heard of the sect's reputation and voluntarily scattered to the sides.

"Jin Kaiyuan, your Clear Wind Escort Agency has some nerve. You knew our Iron Garb Sect was going to move against the Lin Family, yet you still dared accept the Lin Family's escort contract!"

An Iron Garb Sect martial artist stepped forward and barked out the rebuke in a deep, booming voice.

His voice seemed to carry the resonant clang of metal striking metal.

Jin Kaiyuan cautiously cupped his hands and said, "My Clear Wind Escort Agency has no intention of becoming enemies with the Iron Garb Sect. Accepting this escort job was merely the ignorant act of the younger generation.

"I ask that your honored sect show mercy and allow us to deliver the goods. After that, my Clear Wind Escort Agency will have no further connection whatsoever with the Lin Family.

"Then I will personally visit the Iron Garb Sect with generous gifts to apologize. I only hope you gentlemen will give us a chance."

Jin Kaiyuan was a steady and prudent man. He knew the Iron Garb Sect's overbearing style, and he also knew that they valued their reputation above all else.

When the time came, he could hand over the money paid by the Lin Family, bleed himself dry a little further, and humble himself into the dirt. Once the Iron Garb Sect had their face, they should spare their lives.

The leading Iron Garb Sect martial artist looked at the others behind him, then suddenly burst into laughter.

"Jin Kaiyuan, Jin Kaiyuan, you do know how to read the situation. You understand the temperament of our Iron Garb Sect."

Hearing this, Jin Kaiyuan immediately let out a sigh of relief.

But the Iron Garb Sect martial artist's tone abruptly changed, his voice turning cold.

"But do you know that we brothers chased you for hundreds of miles and ran several horses to death? As expected of professional escorts, you people really can run.

"Now you say you know you were wrong and want to go to the Iron Garb Sect to apologize. What were you thinking earlier?

"Letting you go is easy enough, but what about the credit due to us martial brothers? Did we run these hundreds of miles for nothing?

"If we kill you and reclaim the Lin Family's Mystic Weapon, Azure Dragon Blooddrinker, won't that be an even greater achievement?"

Jin Kaiyuan's eyes widened at once, and he inwardly cursed. This is bad.

Lowering his stance and apologizing publicly could indeed persuade the face-conscious Iron Garb Sect to spare them.

But the problem was that these Iron Garb Sect disciples wanted the credit and had no intention of letting them go!

"Scatter and run!"

Jin Kaiyuan shouted, snatching the case from Qingqing's back and slinging it over his own shoulder before charging straight for the door.

He possessed Blood-Shifting Realm cultivation, and after years of escort work, his movement technique was exceptionally nimble. With one leap, he was instantly outside.

The leading Iron Garb Sect disciple had reached the Qi Forging Realm. Seeing this, he snorted coldly. His body stood like an iron tower, a hazy layer of gray true qi spreading around him as he blocked Jin Kaiyuan's path.

His fist came down, and the fierce force of the blow sent Jin Kaiyuan flying backward, coughing blood.

Then the Iron Garb Sect martial artist grabbed the case and crushed it in his hand.

Wood chips fell to the ground, but there was no weapon inside—only a pile of stones.

"Dammit! Stop the others!"

The other Iron Garb Sect disciples also moved, blocking Qingqing and the rest.

Qingqing and the other young escort disciples were all in the Meridian-Unblocking Realm, while the remaining Iron Garb Sect martial artists were all in the Blood-Shifting Realm and outnumbered them.

The battle was therefore little more than a one-sided slaughter. Within a few exchanges, the Clear Wind Escort Agency's people were badly wounded, coughing blood as they gathered around Jin Kaiyuan.

One of the Iron Garb Sect martial artists crushed a case open, revealing a long saber.

The saber was long and narrow throughout, its blade dazzlingly bright and incomparably sharp. Its edge bore a vivid crimson sheen, as though bloodlight flowed within it.

The hilt was shaped like an azure dragon swallowing the blade. However, the dragon head's eyes, which should have been two gemstones, were now missing.

The Iron Garb Sect disciple raised the saber in his hand and cried excitedly, "Senior Brother! Azure Dragon Blooddrinker is here!"

The Iron Garb Sect's eldest senior brother sneered and waved his hand. "Kill them all. Take their heads back and claim the reward!"

At that moment, a flash like a startled goose gleamed, and an incomparably swift blade light suddenly lit up the hall.

The Iron Garb Sect disciple wielding Azure Dragon Blooddrinker had no time to activate his body-tempering technique before his head was severed in an instant.

Chen Yuan snatched Azure Dragon Blooddrinker away. His left hand gently brushed across the crimson blade, feeling its utterly chilling sharpness, and he could not help but praise, "What a fine saber!"

This saber was the purpose of Chen Yuan's journey.

By rank, Azure Dragon Blooddrinker was a high-grade Profound Tier weapon, but it had once been an Earth Weapon.

It had been forged by Ouyezi, a master weapon forger of the Central Plains. Two Blood-Congealing Spirit Stones had once been set into the dragon head on its hilt as its eyes.

When the blade drank blood in battle, it would gather blood qi and channel it into the Blood-Congealing Spirit Stones, transforming it into powerful vital energy that enhanced its wielder's combat strength.

Because this saber could drink blood, it was called Azure Dragon Blooddrinker.

However, after countless battles and accidents, the two Blood-Congealing Spirit Stones on the dragon head had shattered. It lost its blood-drinking effect, and the saber became a Mystic Weapon.

Even so, Azure Dragon Blooddrinker had been forged entirely to the standards of an Earth Weapon. Its materials possessed extreme sharpness and effects such as edge-shattering and qi-breaking, far surpassing ordinary Mystic Weapons.

If one had to put it that way, it could even be considered a top-grade Mystic Weapon, second only to Earth Weapons with all manner of miraculous effects.

Earth Weapons were priceless, and they were generally held either by major factions or by formidable martial artists.

Chen Yuan could not possibly storm a major sect to seize an Earth Weapon. That would simply be courting death.

This Azure Dragon Blooddrinker before him was the most cost-effective weapon Chen Yuan could obtain.

"You're courting death!"

The Iron Garb Sect's eldest senior brother roared angrily, "Our Iron Garb Sect has always been the one taking things from others. Who has ever dared snatch something from our hands?

"Kill him! Crush his head into a meat patty for me!"

As his words fell, the Iron Garb Sect's eldest senior brother shot toward Chen Yuan like a cannonball.

The other Iron Garb Sect disciples circulated their inner force, their muscles swelling as their skin even began to darken.

The Iron Garb Sect's Iron Chain Across the River Method could indeed strengthen the body in its early stages, but not to the exaggerated extent of completely ignoring blades and swords.

Only by driving it with inner force and uniting flesh and muscle could one achieve the protective effect of hard martial arts.

The Iron Garb Sect disciple Chen Yuan had killed with a single strike earlier had been slain before he could circulate his inner force and activate his hard technique.

As for the Iron Garb Sect's eldest senior brother, he had already reached the Qi Forging Realm. With a thought, inner force and true qi fused into his flesh, forming Iron Armor, Cold Garb. He was far faster than his Blood-Shifting Realm junior brothers.

Chen Yuan gripped Azure Dragon Blooddrinker as inner force surged around him, pushing the Surging Waves, Flowing Clouds Formula to its limit.

A faintly reddish true qi emerged from the dark crimson edge of Azure Dragon Blooddrinker.

The inner force cultivated through the Surging Waves, Flowing Clouds Formula was actually without attribute. Chen Yuan had not drawn killing intent into his body now, so his true qi could not be considered Blood Fiend Power.

But his entire body had been tempered by the impact of Blood Fiend Power, so his inner force and true qi still carried a faint trace of the Blood Fiend attribute, presenting itself now as pale red true qi.

Blue waves surged, and the blade's momentum was boundless.

Autumn Waters, Startled Goose, Wave-Treading Slash!

The Iron Garb Sect's eldest senior brother's expression changed drastically.

He had originally thought the saber thief was merely some audacious madman. He had not expected the man to possess such deep foundations.

The might of this strike brought both speed and power to their limits. Furthermore, Chen Yuan held Azure Dragon Blooddrinker. Even though he had cultivated the Iron Chain Across the River Method to minor mastery and condensed Iron Armor, Cold Garb, he still did not dare receive it head-on.

His charging momentum suddenly halted. The Iron Garb Sect's eldest senior brother yanked off the Iron Conical Hat on his head, gripped it in his hand, and met Chen Yuan's attack.

An explosive clang of metal rang out as a deep saber mark was cut into the Iron Conical Hat.

But with a twist of his hand, the Iron Garb Sect's eldest senior brother knocked Chen Yuan's blade aside and drove the Iron Conical Hat straight toward Chen Yuan's chest.

The Iron Garb Sect specialized in body-tempering martial arts, but that did not mean they did not use weapons. This Iron Conical Hat was the sect's signature weapon.

Its raised center was a half-foot-thick block of iron that could serve as a shield when held in the hand.

Its edges, meanwhile, were sharp as blades, with cutting edges all around that allowed for countless angles of attack.

Iron Garb Sect martial artists possessed powerful body-tempering techniques and could directly grip the sharp edges of the Iron Conical Hat without harm. It was an unusual weapon designed specifically for the Iron Garb Sect.

Chen Yuan rapidly retreated, but three Iron Garb Sect martial artists stood behind him like three massive door panels, blocking his path.

His blade momentum shifted as he slashed out in an all-encompassing sweep. Countless blade shadows condensed in the air, like autumn leaves fluttering down, carrying endless ferocious killing intent amid the falling canopy!

Autumn Wind Slash!

The Iron Garb Sect's eldest senior brother could withstand Chen Yuan's strike, but those ordinary Blood-Shifting Realm disciples could not.

Under the all-encompassing blade momentum, the Iron Conical Hats in their hands were sent flying. The three men were instantly cut down, severed limbs scattering across the floor.

The body-tempering technique they relied upon offered almost no defensive power against Chen Yuan's formidable strength and Azure Dragon Blooddrinker's extreme sharpness.

The reason the Iron Garb Sect had been so determined to seize Azure Dragon Blooddrinker was that one of their vice sect masters had died beneath this very blade.

Such an exceptionally sharp weapon was far too threatening to the Iron Garb Sect.

At the very least, within the Iron Garb Sect's territory, only the Iron Garb Sect had the right to possess a weapon of this caliber.

"You deserve to die!"

The Iron Garb Sect's eldest senior brother charged at Chen Yuan with a furious roar, smashing tables, chairs, and benches to pieces everywhere he passed.

Chen Yuan did not clash with him head-on. The Surging Waves, Flowing Clouds Formula possessed tremendous explosive power. With a movement of his body, Chen Yuan instantly arrived before an Iron Garb Sect disciple.

The blade flashed. Before the Iron Conical Hat in the man's hand could even rise to block, Chen Yuan cut him in two at the waist, his organs and intestines spilling across the ground.

The blade was stained with blood, yet the droplets instantly gathered upon its scarlet edge, an exceedingly strange sight.

Chen Yuan was simply too satisfied with this saber's power.

Though it had lost its blood-drinking effect, its sharpness had reached the utmost limit, and its might was exceptionally formidable.