"Xu Taiping, don't act rashly!"
"Taiping!"
"Junior Brother!"
When they saw Xu Taiping aim his fist at the flying sword hurtling toward him, Sword Saint Amon and Chen Hao, Prefect Liu Chuxuan and Huang Que, and all the disciples of the Seven Peaks cried out in alarm.
They knew perfectly well that Sect Master Zhou Tong's sword strike was meant more to threaten and intimidate Xu Taiping. He would never kill him without cause.
That would violate Qingxuan's rules.
And even Qingxuan's sect master would face punishment from the Seven Discipline Hall if he broke those rules, or even be stripped of his position outright.
So Sect Master Zhou Tong would never strike at a time like this.
But if Xu Taiping took the initiative to strike back, even if someone ended up injured or dead, the sect master could absolve himself by claiming accidental injury or accidental killing.
Just as he had during the Seven Peaks Selection.
Xu Taiping had been wounded by the sect master's Sword Qi then, too, but since he had taken the initiative to hammer the sect master's flying sword with his fist, it had ultimately been called an accidental injury.
Xu Taiping knew this, of course.
But he simply wanted to use this sword of the sect master's to test his fist after three years of growth.
Boom!
With a blast of air, Xu Taiping's fist, wrapped in fist aura, slammed heavily into the flying sword that had once again blocked his path to Ye Xuan. That punch combined the fist force built up over thirteen hundred punches with the fist intent accumulated over seven years.
Bang!
Amid a violent collision ringing with the shudder of metal, Xu Taiping's fist broke through the Sword Qi surrounding the sect master's flying sword and hammered heavily