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Holy shit!

It was that huge!

Cao Jinxing stared at the monster in midair. He had known this mission would not be easy, but this was absurd!

Its roar alone put him under the kind of pressure he felt facing a Xiantian expert.

"Fall back!"

Cao Jinxing flashed backward like lightning. Pei Yangchun snapped out of his daze and hurriedly used his lightness skill to rush outside.

Cao Jinxing left the cave first.

A figure attacked him head-on!

-The attacker had planned to catch him off guard, but Cao Jinxing's senses were sharp. Without a second thought, he struck with Cloud-Discharging Palm.

Cloud-Discharging Palm brimmed with killing intent, its momentum overwhelming. It could gather cloud energy from the heavens to strengthen its attacks, blending the tangible with the intangible. Compared with a purely ice-based technique, it lacked the tendency to freeze everything solid at the slightest provocation, but offered greater elusive variety.

The strike was as light as drifting clouds, yet its power was immense!

The man did not even see Cao Jinxing counter in that split second. He only felt an overpowering palm force rushing toward his face, stifling his breath!

Their palms collided.

The attacker's hand bones snapped, and he flew backward.

"You're not Pei Yangchun!"

The man was shocked. Pei Yangchun was not skilled in palm techniques, nor could his palm force possibly be this strong!

Standing at the cave entrance, Cao Jinxing looked outside. The speaker was a dark-skinned man in his thirties, dressed in green, with a flute hanging at his waist.

Behind him were masses of snakes and thirty other green-clad disciples of the Ten-Thousand Snakes Cave.

The dozen or so Taiyi Gate disciples had already been subdued, all bound tightly with their hands tied and mouths gagged.

"Five Poisons Palm... You're Yang Wanli?"

Seeing him in person left Cao Jinxing even more disappointed. "That surprise counterattack took a little skill, but your poison arts really aren't much. Someone like you can control the White Dragon Gu?"

Yang Wanli's expression tightened, his eyes narrowing to slits. "You actually recognize..."

Only then did he notice the Flying Fish Uniform beneath Cao Jinxing's cloak and the Embroidered Spring Saber. His pupils contracted sharply. "The Embroidered Uniform Guard! Pei Yangchun actually gave the fire tortoise to the Embroidered Uniform Guard!"

"Zheng!"

Pei Yangchun rushed out of the cave. Seeing his disciples captured filled him with shock and fury, especially when he saw his eldest disciple, Xia Zheng, tortured into a puppetlike state, his eyes empty.

Pei Yangchun whipped out his sword and glared at Yang Wanli. "What did you do?!"

"Nothing much."

Yang Wanli was ruthless too. He gripped his right arm with his left hand, shifted and twisted it to reset the bones, then grinned viciously. "I only planted a Soul-Bewitching Gu in him. He was pretty tight-lipped. I had no choice."

The Soul-Bewitching Gu could control a person's mind and be used to extract confessions.

Yang Wanli's gaze swept over Cao Jinxing, his expression darkening. "You certainly surprised me, Sect Leader Pei. I'd only just pried the news of the Millennium Fire Tortoise out of your disciple, and you've already found someone to hand it over to-the imperial court, no less!"

People in the martial world were accustomed to fighting and killing, using their martial prowess to defy the law. They had little fondness for the authorities to begin with.

Moreover, the current court maintained the Embroidered Uniform Guard and the Eastern Depot specifically to deal with martial artists, forcing every sect to surrender its signature arts. They already hated these organizations with a passion, and looked down even more on sects that willingly courted the powerful.

By doing this, the Taiyi Gate had gained the Embroidered Uniform Guard's backing, but effectively cut itself off from the martial world. It would inevitably earn the hostility of other sects.

Pei Yangchun had long prepared himself for that outcome. He no longer cared.

The Taiyi Gate's legacy mattered more than its reputation. He could not let its centuries-old foundation end in his hands.

"Unfortunately, whoever you've brought here today, you're all going to die!"

Yang Wanli said coldly, "So what if he's from the Embroidered Uniform Guard? I'll just move somewhere else! Once I've plundered everything your Taiyi Gate owns, why would I worry about finding a good site for my sect?"

In his mind, the White Dragon Gu was invincible.

Once it attacked, the Embroidered Uniform Guard was certain to die!

As for the Pacification Commission seeking revenge afterward...

At worst, he would abandon the sect grounds and set up somewhere new!

He pulled out his flute and prepared to blow.

Cao Jinxing had never understood why protagonists in so many films always waited for enemies like this to finish a whole series of unnecessary actions-taking out the flute, raising it to their lips, and playing it. If they knew the flute had some special use, why not simply stop him from playing?

It was not a metal blade, just a bamboo flute. How hard could it be to break?

That was what he thought, and that was exactly what he did.

Saber light flashed.

Just as Yang Wanli was about to blow, the flute in his hands exploded! Incomparably sharp saber energy sliced through both hands and struck his neck, producing the clang of metal against metal!

Yang Wanli flew backward like a punching bag!

"Oh?"

Cao Jinxing was a little surprised. Looking closely, he spotted a ring of glittering silver scales around the man's neck. "So it's skin shed by the White Dragon Gu. It really is impervious to blades..."

"Pfft!"

The tremendous force nearly snapped his neck. Yang Wanli flew more than ten meters and landed on his back, coughing up a mouthful of blood.

Scarlet blood splashed across his face.

He looked utterly bewildered. Everything had happened so fast that he had not even seen what had just occurred.

Only when he saw his mangled hands and felt the piercing agony from them did he understand. He screamed in pain.

"Aaaah!"

Six of his ten fingers had been severed in an instant! Had he not put on snakeskin armor beforehand, that strike would have taken his head off!

"Young master!"

"Young master!"

The disciples paled in alarm and hurried to help him up, their gazes filling with fear as they looked at Cao Jinxing.

"Quick!"

Yang Wanli's heart hammered, his face deathly pale with fright. Extreme panic made him seem hysterical as he pointed toward Cao Jinxing and screamed, "Use poison! Scatter Heartbreak Powder! Bone-Melting Water! Kill him! Kill him!!!"

Silence answered him.

"Do it! Do you all want to die?!"

Yang Wanli flew into a rage.

Looking up, he finally realized Cao Jinxing had vanished from the cave entrance. He turned around and saw the disciples frozen in the act of reaching for their poisons, utterly motionless.

Thud!

Thud!

Thud!

Heads rolled from the disciples' necks one after another. Blood spurted from the perfectly smooth cuts.

Yang Wanli's remaining words died in his throat. He stared blankly at the bodies strewn across the ground, his eyes nearly bulging from their sockets!

A chill shot from the soles of his feet to the crown of his head, terrifying him out of his wits-all the disciples had died in a single instant!

Brilliant saber light bore down on him!

Cao Jinxing stared coldly at his head. This time, I'll cut through your skull instead of your neck. Let's see how you block that!

Yang Wanli screamed in terror.

At that critical instant!

A sudden blast of wind struck from behind. Cao Jinxing's expression shifted, and he hurriedly turned to block horizontally. A tail descended from above and lashed his Embroidered Spring Saber!

Crack!

Cao Jinxing felt as though a speeding train had slammed into him. His Embroidered Spring Saber snapped on the spot!

He went flying backward.

That single blow broke eight of his ribs. He crashed into the cave's stone wall, his internal organs violently jolted, leaving him gravely injured!

The White Dragon Gu hovered above Yang Wanli, roaring at Cao Jinxing. Without giving him any time to react, it lunged again!

"Fuck! You damned beast!"

The blow had truly enraged Cao Jinxing. He spat out a mouthful of bloody foam, inhaled deeply, and endured the searing pain as he marshaled all his internal energy into his palms.

In an instant.

Wind rose and clouds churned above the peak!

Cao Jinxing raised his hands toward the sky, drawing the cloud energy into them, then struck at the White Dragon Gu with overwhelming, crushing force!

"Die!"

The White Dragon Gu moved like lightning, its impact brutally powerful. Cao Jinxing was just as swift, his lethal palm strike unstoppable!

The two powerful opponents collided.

Their violent energies whipped up a gale that sent the snakes flying backward and the Taiyi Gate disciples staggering. Even Pei Yangchun could not help retreating two steps.

Watching Cao Jinxing's utterly fearless momentum left him deeply shaken.

We're both Xiantian, yet I probably don't have even half his strength. Bringing a Sixth-Rank Spiritual Martial Art to this level requires both an exceptional physique and extraordinary comprehension. No wonder...

Boom! Boom! Boom!

Their energies clashed.

The ground split apart!

Cao Jinxing and the White Dragon Gu both flew backward.

"Roar!!!"

The White Dragon Gu had been hurt, its head spinning. Its playful attitude vanished, and its eyes reddened as it let out a deafening roar.

"Stop roaring! Hurry up and kill him!"

Yang Wanli clearly had not understood his own place. He hid behind the White Dragon Gu and loudly issued orders.

The White Dragon Gu whipped its head around, its scarlet slit pupils filled with killing intent. Its body flashed, and its long coils wrapped around Yang Wanli.

"You! What are you doing?!"

Yang Wanli panicked and shouted, "I'm your mas-"

Crack!

His words cut off abruptly.

Yang Wanli died without further fuss.

-I only saved you because you helped me shed my skin these past two months. Did you really think you could subdue me?

-You?

The White Dragon Gu disdainfully flung aside the pulped flesh clinging to its body and fixed its gaze on Cao Jinxing again, its forked tongue flicking in and out. This human was far more interesting...

Like a cat spotting a ball or a dog spotting a bone, it lunged again!

Cao Jinxing had already used that brief distraction to swallow a [Fortune Creation Pill].

The fifth-rank pill truly worked miracles.

His flesh and bones healed in an instant.

True energy flowed ceaselessly within his dantian.

But...

Watching that enormous creature charge savagely toward him, Cao Jinxing could not help feeling a little helpless.

Its hide was tough, its flesh thick, and its body immense. Palm force alone would struggle to inflict a fatal wound. He still needed a weapon, but ordinary weapons were useless...

"Get to the summit!"

Pei Yangchun shouted, "There's a fifth-rank sword at the summit!"

Cao Jinxing turned into a streak of lightning and rushed toward the summit.

The White Dragon Gu sprang after him!