"All right! Since you refuse to come out, don't blame this young master for being ruthless!" Xiao Hua said coldly. "It was precisely because I saw that you didn't take the chance to launch a sneak attack while we were admiring the scenery that I spoke up and exposed you!" As he spoke, Xiao Hua waved his hand. From somewhere in the black-blue night sky at the horizon, vast masses of dark clouds came surging forth...
"Impressive methods! You must be Xiao Hua of the Thunder Control Sect, the one known as the Terrifying Phoenix!" A voice came from the foothills dozens of zhang below them. A swordsman clad in dark-red sword robes appeared eerily in midair, his face bearing unconcealable shock.
Seeing this swordsman silently draw near, Li Zongbao and the others were startled. When they saw that he actually possessed Illusion Sword Second Rank cultivation, they understood at once.
"Have them all show themselves," Xiao Hua said coldly. "Since you're already here, why keep skulking about with your heads hidden and tails tucked? Do you really find this interesting?"
The swordsman stood in midair, his eyes glowing brilliantly in the night like flickering sword radiance. There was clearly a thoughtful look in his gaze, as though he were considering whether Xiao Hua was merely bluffing.
But Xiao Hua grew impatient. Pointing with his finger, he said, "You, you, you... There are only three of you. Did you think this young master wouldn't notice?"
Upon hearing this, the swordsman was utterly astonished—more astonished than when Xiao Hua had discovered him.
He waved his hand and said somewhat helplessly, "**, Cheng Jian, Cheng Ming, come out!"
At the places Xiao Hua had just pointed to, several faint flashes of light passed through the air. Three swordsmen of identical height, identical