The Two Girls of Xiandu

Shi Feiyang cast his spell in midair, controlling the Crow-Venom Thorn from afar. The treasure suddenly surged forward, driving straight at Yue Qinbin's forehead.

Yue Qinbin knew how formidable this magical treasure was. Though he kept trying to persuade Shi Feiyang, he had remained on guard the entire time. Seeing it attack again, he immediately moved his sword to block. With a clang, the Crow-Venom Thorn struck the Immortal Sword, and green sparks burst amid yellow light!

Clang, clang, clang, clang... The Crow-Venom Thorn thrust nearly a hundred times in lightning-fast succession.

Yue Qinbin proved himself worthy of being a Sword Immortal of Wutai. As his thoughts raced, his Flying Sword spun, swept, and parried within a tiny space. Not only did it block every attack from the Crow-Venom Thorn, it forced the thorn farther and farther away from him.

Seeing that the Crow-Venom Thorn could gain no advantage, Shi Feiyang spat out his two Inner Cores as well.

Yue Qinbin saw two pearls as large as bowl rims, one ice-blue and the other crimson, circling each other as they thundered down from the clouds. Their momentum chilled him to the bone. Knowing he could never withstand them, he hastily cast a spell to merge with his sword and shot up from the ground, trying to flee.

The two Inner Cores suddenly separated, one pursuing and the other intercepting. The Divine Fire Inner Core slammed into the rapidly ascending Sword Light with a clang. The Sword Light scattered, and Yue Qinbin fell back into the dust, even his crown knocked askew.

His flying sword had been forged with Grandmaster Taiyi Hunyuan's help and was far superior to those of the previous two men. It remained undamaged and now returned of its own accord to protect him, blocking the other true water inner core. It circled his body, sword and pearl clashing repeatedly in a cacophony of ringing blows.

Shi Feiyang surrounded Yue Qinbin with his two Inner Cores, spinning them through an unbroken chain of attacks. At the same time, he sent the Crow-Venom Thorn skimming through the grass just above the ground in a streak of emerald fire, driving it into Yue Qinbin's calf once more.

Yue Qinbin cried out in pain and staggered to the ground, spitting out bursts of true qi as he desperately controlled his sword to defend himself.

In the midst of this fierce, tightly pressed battle, two streaks of Sword Light suddenly flew from the woods on the opposite peak. These Sword Lights were unusual: several dozen feet long, yet only as thick as a thumb, with a hazy red glow within. One shot toward the clouds, a crimson rainbow startling the heavens, thrusting straight at Shi Feiyang's vulnerable "seven-inch" spot. The other flew beneath the trees to help Yue Qinbin hold off the Divine Fire Inner Core.

Along with the Sword Qi came a little girl's angry shout: "Vile beast, stop harming people!"

Shi Feiyang had concealed his body within the clouds and used an evasion art to hide himself. Even a direct Wutai disciple like Yue Qinbin could not see him, yet this newcomer had seen through him at a glance. His heart jolted; he knew an expert had arrived.

Not daring to be careless, he spat out the White Light Sword to meet the red light. The two swords clashed, exchanging several moves in an instant. His opponent gave a surprised "Huh?" as though she had never expected a dragon to wield such fierce swordplay.

Shi Feiyang was just as astonished. There was no physical substance within the red Sword Light. These were not true Daoist School Immortal Swords, but two strands of Sword Qi condensed through an exceptionally advanced spell!

The sword qi condensed by ordinary Sword Immortals could cleave iron and shear gold, split mountains and shatter stone, but it quickly dissipated rather than remaining concentrated. The strand before him, however, held together without dispersing. It was every bit as wondrous as a true Daoist Immortal Sword, darting up and down with sword strokes like rainbows.

Shi Feiyang sensed that things were going badly. A deeply ominous premonition rose in his heart, and then he saw two figures fly out from behind the opposite peak. They were identical little girls, their rosy faces and jade-like skin so exquisite that they looked like porcelain dolls. Each controlled a strand of Sword Qi with one hand, and both little faces were filled with anger.

At the sight of these twins, Shi Feiyang's heart gave a lurch. He knew he had run into formidable opponents this time.

The Two Girls of Xiandu!

These two little girls were named Xie Ying and Xie Lin. Among the orthodox schools of Mount Shu, there were many obnoxious members of the younger generation, and these sisters ranked among the worst. Relying on their elders' backing, they rode roughshod over others and were thoroughly unruly by nature.

"Vile beast, stop this at once!" the little girl on the right scolded in a clear, ringing voice. Raising her hand, she released a gleaming emerald hook-shaped light dozens of yards long. It flew toward him at an angle, seemingly slowly, yet reached Shi Feiyang in an instant.

Shi Feiyang could tell that this thing was even more formidable than the Sword Qi. He hurriedly recalled his true water inner core to block it and spoke at the same time. "Are you two Xie Ying and Xie Lin?"

The girl who had released the flying hook sounded surprised, with a touch of smugness. "A beast like you actually knows our illustrious names? That's right. I'm Xie Lin, and this is my elder sister, Xie Ying."

Insulted, Shi Feiyang suppressed his anger, deciding not to stoop to a child's level. "That Daoist down below is Yue Qinbin of Wutai. He captured many innocent children and extracted their living souls to refine a demonic sword, yet you're helping him fight me? Didn't your godmother Cui Wu tell you what Wutai is like?"

Xie Lin snapped, "You ugly thing, how dare you address my benefactress by her name! You're courting death!"

She paid no attention whatsoever to what Shi Feiyang was saying. Merely hearing him speak Cui Wu's name had enraged her. Forming spell seals with both little hands, she drove her yin-metal sword qi and Azure Centipede Divine Hook into a furious assault. Then she rubbed her hands together and released over a hundred clusters of golden sparks—all Pure Yang True Fire cultivated through the Daoist Taiyi Xuandu Orthodox Method—which flew straight toward Shi Feiyang.

This Pure Yang True Fire belonged to the orthodox Daoist tradition and specifically subdued all evil beings. The two Inner Cores originally cultivated by Black Dragon would not have been able to withstand it. Fortunately, true yin had already arisen within Shi Feiyang's True Water Inner Core. He spun the core before him, creating a vast bank of true water mist. The true fire flew into the mist and burned with a chorus of sizzling sounds before being extinguished moments later.

He had recalled his true water inner core to defend himself, while Xie Ying held his Divine Fire Inner Core at bay with her yin-metal sword qi. Given a chance to catch his breath, Yue Qinbin tried to escape, merging with his sword once more and shooting into the air.

Shi Feiyang sent the White Light Sword slanting out to intercept him. Xie Ying and Xie Lin shouted angrily and attacked together. Two strands of Xin Metal Sword Qi, two Azure Centipede Divine Hooks, two rapidly spinning Inner Cores, the White Light Sword, and Yue Qinbin's Flying Sword became entangled in a three-sided clash. Their collisions sent sparks exploding across the sky, red and white, green and black, weaving together in a dazzling spectacle that was as perilous as it was beautiful.

In the end, Yue Qinbin failed to escape. The Divine Fire Inner Core blasted him back down, and he landed on the ground in utter disarray, even his hair aflame.

Shi Feiyang thought that although the Two Girls of Xiandu behaved barbarically and struck ruthlessly, they were still heirs to an orthodox school. Once he explained things clearly, they would stop protecting Yue Qinbin. They might even cut him down before Shi Feiyang could.

He recalled his Inner Cores and defended without attacking, then spoke again. "This man is Yue Qinbin, a wicked Daoist from Wutai. He killed more than a dozen children in the woods over there and extracted their living souls to refine a demonic sword. I know you're Xie Shan's daughters. He must have taught you to distinguish righteousness from evil. Surely you wouldn't help a Demon Daoist play jackal to a tyrant?"

These words gave Xie Ying pause. In her clear little voice, she asked Yue Qinbin, "Is that really true?"

Yue Qinbin reacted swiftly, immediately putting on a show of anguish, stamping his feet and beating his chest. "I am Yue Qinbin, a cultivator of Mount Heng. Have you heard of Mount Heng? It's beside Dongting Lake. Golden Granny Luo Ziyan lives there, as does Cloud-Chasing Elder Bai Guyi, one of the Two Elders of Mount Song. We've always been on excellent terms and address one another as fellow Daoists. Are you the young ladies of my fellow Daoist Fairy Green Parasol Cui's household? I haven't seen her in so many years, and now she has two fine children with immortal roots and jade bones!"