Lou Feng stared at Jiang Hao, who had reached foundation establishment perfection, still unable to believe it. But he dared not dwell on it.
He had to kill him first.
He spat out a mouthful of blood essence, using it to draw drops of blood from all over his body.
Every drop carried a scorching aura before surging toward Jiang Hao like meteors.
Qing Xue did not remain idle either. She took the lead in attacking Jiang Hao.
Blood rained down in an unrelenting bombardment. Jiang Hao could only dodge while fending off the sword shadows Qing Xue unleashed.
Blood fell like raindrops, and the sword intent was cold and powerful.
Boom!
The blood blasted a huge crater in the ground.
Bang!
Sword light swept across, shattering trees.
Beneath the night sky, saber and sword struck sparks. Life and death hung within mere inches.
Jiang Hao was under attack from both sides. If this continued, defeat was inevitable.
Ignoring the blood attacks, he turned the Shadow Saber. Demonic Sound Slash erupted like thunder as he slashed at Qing Xue.
Naturally, Qing Xue unleashed her strongest move as well.
Boom!
Saber and sword clashed, their power sweeping through the surroundings like a ring of light.
For a moment, the two were locked in a contest of strength.
Lou Feng unleashed his blood attacks, only to find that Jiang Hao's magical treasure blocked most of them.
Not daring to hesitate, he took advantage of Jiang Hao's restricted movements, drew his great saber, and spat blood onto it to empower it. Then he closed in at tremendous speed and slashed downward.
Qing Xue pressed the assault from the front, while Lou Feng launched a surprise attack from the side.
Jiang Hao did not panic. A wisp of purple qi appeared in his eyes as he looked at Lou Feng.
That wisp of purple qi spread through his entire body at incredible speed.
The great saber came crashing down.
Jiang Hao tilted his head to evade it, then raised his hand and gently tapped the blade with the back of his finger.
By then, the purple qi had reached his fingertip.
Clang!
A crisp sound rang out, and the great saber snapped.
The broken blade flew away. This is bad, Lou Feng thought, but he was already right in front of Jiang Hao. A palm wreathed in purple qi struck his chest with the speed of thunder before one could cover one's ears.
Bang!
Crack!
The force of that palm strike tore through his entire body, shattering his ribs and crushing his internal organs.
Pfft!
Lou Feng spat blood as he flew backward and slammed heavily into the ground.
Jiang Hao turned his gaze back to Qing Xue, circulating the Primordial Chaos Heart Scripture to its limit. Purple qi filled his entire body and even enveloped the Shadow Saber.
He shifted his saber, unleashing tremendous power. With a boom, he blasted Qing Xue backward.
Before she could land, Jiang Hao swung the Shadow Saber. Purple qi flowed around it as it traced a perfect arc.
It was still Demonic Sound Slash.
But this time, it carried purple qi.
Whoosh!
The saber shadow howled through the air, sweeping aside everything in its path before slicing through Qing Xue's body.
Only then did she land.
Realizing the state she was in, she stared at Jiang Hao in disbelief.
There was only one question in her mind: Why is he so strong?
Crack!
The longsword in her hand was cleanly severed and fell to the ground.
Not only that, a fissure appeared across her body, and her vitality dissipated.
The sight frightened Lou Feng out of his wits. He struggled to his feet and tried to flee.
Bang!
Before he could take more than a few steps, a saber pierced his neck and pinned him to a tree.
Jiang Hao had hurled the Shadow Saber at him.
"When we die, everyone will know you did it," Qing Xue said.
An undying resentment filled her eyes.
"Yes." Jiang Hao nodded.
"I know. But no one will come to investigate. You told me that yourselves."
With that, he took out ten Myriad Sword Talismans.
Each held the power of foundation establishment.
Even if it was only foundation establishment early stage, it was enough.
He divided the talismans into two groups, one of seven and one of three.
Then he sent them attacking Qing Xue and Lou Feng.
In an instant, myriad swords shot forth.
A short while later, Jiang Hao looked toward the two spots. The bodies of the two Heavenly Joy Pavilion disciples lay mangled.
They were well and truly dead.
Pfft...
Only once the battle was over did he spit out a mouthful of blood.
He had forced his breakthrough from the start, leaving his body injured already.
Then he had forcibly unleashed the power of the Primordial Chaos Heart Scripture, piling injury upon injury.
Otherwise, he would not have wasted the Myriad Sword Talismans. He would have gone over and finished them with two more slashes himself.
With the crisis averted, he immediately sat cross-legged and began healing.
But before long, several Demonfolk approached, drawn by the sounds of battle.
Five of them.
Jiang Hao sighed the moment he saw them.
Just when the roof leaked, the rain poured all night.
One month later.
Near the Demon Grotto's exit.
Zheng Nineteen of Frozen Moon Valley stood waiting, holding a paper fan as he gazed absently into the distance.
He seemed to be pondering something.
"You're here early, Senior Brother. You must have gained quite a lot on this trip?" Xin Yuyue of Thunderfire Peak arrived on her flying sword.
There were plenty of good things in the Demon Grotto. Anyone who searched diligently would always find something.
She had come across some herself, with a few scares but no real danger.
Even without the reward for this sect mission, she had already earned enough to make the trip worthwhile.
Zheng Nineteen smiled faintly and said,
"It seems you've encountered quite a few opportunities, Junior Sister. I wasn't so lucky. I only found a few little things."
"You're being modest, Senior Brother. Come to think of it, I didn't encounter many Demonfolk along the way, and I didn't see a single one on my way back.
"That should count as completing the mission, right?" Xin Yuyue said.
"Yes, I didn't encounter many Demonfolk either. The danger came from some Demon Beasts instead," Zheng Nineteen said with a nod.
Xin Yuyue also looked into the distance, then asked curiously,
"Do you think Junior Brother Jiang will return?"
"Probably not," Zheng Nineteen said after a moment's thought.
"I actually followed their trail and discovered that Lou Feng and Qing Xue were traveling together, with a specific goal in mind.
"The three of them must have met in the end.
"Against the combined assault of someone at foundation establishment late stage and someone at foundation establishment perfection, Junior Brother Jiang couldn't have survived, even if he had a few tricks."
"There's nothing we can do about that. After all, we didn't see what happened," Xin Yuyue said with a shrug, then asked,
"But what if Junior Brother Jiang does return?"
"That's impossible." Zheng Nineteen shook his head.
"But what if he really does?" Xin Yuyue asked curiously.
At that, Zheng Nineteen said gravely,
"Then we'd be in serious trouble."
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