Kill

Cao Jinxing's [Arm strength] attribute was extremely high.

In ancient times, even if he fell short of men like Xiang Yu and Li Cunxiao, whose strength could wrench heaven down or lift the earth if only they had something to grip, he would still have counted among those born with divine strength.

With internal energy driving it, his strength became even more overpowering.

To exchange palm strikes with him, one needed not only strong internal arts, but equally formidable external arts.

Wu Feng and Han Rong suffered for it in a single exchange. The bones in their striking hands broke, and they hastily retreated to put some distance between them.

Cao Jinxing pressed his advantage mercilessly. In a flash of lightning, he appeared before Wu Feng and brought his sword down, using a move from Tyrant Saber: Mountain-Splitting River-Cleaving!

Wu Feng was horrified.

What the hell was that speed?!

He hurriedly drew the short saber behind his waist with his other hand to block. But fighting one-handed already put him at a disadvantage, and his arm strength and explosive power were far inferior. The result of taking that sword strike head-on was inevitable.

With a sharp crack, the short saber snapped!

A line of blood appeared across his neck.

Cao Jinxing swept past him, paused briefly, then turned to attack Han Rong.

Thud!

A head hit the ground!

Wu Feng's eyes were wide open, terror frozen on his face!

Behind them, Lu Kunlun was dumbstruck.

He had never seen Cao Jinxing fight at full strength. He had thought the [Dark Yin Sword] used to kill the Twelve Zodiac that day was his signature skill. Its sword strikes were incredibly fast, its sword energy bitterly cold; even he would have struggled to block it.

He had never imagined Cao Jinxing was also a swordsman who relied on sheer strength!

These two moves had a completely different style from before: wild as the wind, fierce as the waves, their momentum overwhelming!

Right now, he looked more like a saber-wielding madman!

"To blend two styles so perfectly... no wonder Master said there was always a higher heaven, always someone better..."

Lu Kunlun was highly talented and possessed exceptional arts. He had always been proud, but faced with Cao Jinxing, he had no choice but to concede-and he did so wholeheartedly.

Cao Jinxing's presence was overpowering.

Seeing him kill Wu Feng with a single sword strike, Han Rong's eyes nearly popped out. Terrified that he would use the same move again, he hurriedly summoned his crescent saber back.

It was a sixth-grade spirit weapon, forged from red gold iron unique to Bright Peak. It was indestructible; at least he would not suffer the same fate of a broken blade and a severed head.

But watching Cao Jinxing charge forward without hesitation, his heart pounded, and his saber hand trembled uncontrollably!

Twanging strings-

At that critical moment, two notes suddenly rang out. Several invisible sound blades shot from the peach grove straight at Cao Jinxing!

Peach blossoms fluttered through the air.

A thread of murderous intent lurked within their poignant beauty!

Han Rong's heart steadied. This was Wind-Blown Lotus Leaf Sha!

The piece would surely buy him some time. He hurriedly set his broken bones, then took a Blazing Fire Pill from the Bright Sect out of his waist pouch.

Gritting his teeth, he swallowed it.

In an instant, fiery energy surged through Han Rong's body, raising his internal energy to the fifth level of Xiantian. Even if his bones and sinews ruptured afterward, he could no longer afford to care. Unless they dealt with the man before them, they would all die!

The sound blades surged toward Cao Jinxing like a tide, interrupting his attack.

This was Cao Jinxing's first encounter with such martial arts. The zither music affected his mind, while the sound blades had substance but no visible form. Attacked both within and without, even his internal energy began to fluctuate!

Interesting.

Cao Jinxing thought that, as expected of a superior martial art from a renowned school, this was far better than that shitty Sixteen Heavenly Demon Dance.

He raised his sword and blocked again and again.

The zither music grew increasingly piercing.

At first, each note was followed by a brief pause, its lingering resonance drifting like a breeze over an endless expanse of lotus leaves.

Then the music quickened, like intermittent light rain falling on those leaves. The sound blades grew ever more numerous, ever fiercer!

Cao Jinxing's sword moved faster in response!

At last, Wind-Blown Lotus Leaf Sha reached its climax!

Hidden from sight, Su Miaoyun swept her five fingers rapidly across the strings. Her internal energy poured out like a raging storm, sending sound blades shooting forth. Cao Jinxing felt as though he could see an army charging from the depths of the peach grove!

Now this was interesting.

In that case, he couldn't let them look down on him, could he?

Cao Jinxing gathered his energy with one hand. His internal energy surged, and Tyrant Saber's saber intent rose like a towering mountain thrusting up from the earth!

"No!"

Su Miaoyun could not withstand that move!

Han Rong abandoned any thought of continuing to absorb the pill's power. With his eyes blazing red, he flung out his crescent saber. Its light was crimson as blood, and flames rose from its blade!

Radiant Zenith Thirteen Forms!

Though launched later, the crescent saber arrived first, sweeping ahead of the sound blades in an instant like a hardened battlefield general leading an army into the charge!

Saber light and sound blades filled the sky.

Cao Jinxing's gaze was cold. He slashed diagonally, sending his attack crashing forth like monstrous waves with the force to topple mountains and overturn seas!

Tyrant Saber · Shocking Tide Slash!

The mighty attacks collided, and the turbulent force sent peach blossoms whirling across the sky!

The crescent saber was hurled away, and the sound blades vanished!

All three suffered injuries!

Cao Jinxing staggered back three steps, his blood and vital energy churning!

His cultivation was still too low. He had only recently broken through; no matter how strong his foundation, he could not directly withstand the combined internal-energy attacks of an expert four levels above him and a zither player of the same level.

He had come off worse in that exchange.

But the two opponents were in even worse shape, especially Han Rong. Afraid Su Miaoyun would be hurt, he had controlled his saber to take that incomparably fierce sword energy head-on. He spat blood on the spot and was thrown five paces back, both hands trembling!

And that was after the Blazing Fire Pill had boosted his internal energy. Had he remained as he was before, that sword strike would have left him without an intact corpse!

What terrifying sword energy!

Han Rong was scared out of his wits.

"Attack together! Use your palms!"

An urgent voice came from the peach grove.

Han Rong snapped to attention and immediately mobilized all his power, gathering it in his right palm. Driven by the Sacred Fire Canon, the flames in his palm took on an aura that seemed capable of burning the entire world to ash!

He swiftly closed in on Cao Jinxing with Phantom Light Step!

At the same time, Su Miaoyun cast aside her long zither in the peach grove, took out two golden needles, and drove them into her Shanzhong and Shenque acupoints!

Secret art · Golden Needle Acupoint Stimulation!

In an instant, all the internal energy she had cultivated through the Chess and Sword Music House transformed into Sacred Fire Canon true qi, then rapidly climbed to the fifth level of Xiantian!

She was actually a Bright Sect disciple too-and the strongest of the three!

The same flaming palms.

The same footwork.

Two figures wreathed in flames charged at Cao Jinxing from either side. Their palm strikes were so fierce that all the moisture in the surrounding space evaporated in an instant!

Bright Sect supreme skill · Holy Flame Heaven-Burning Palm!

Cao Jinxing's expression grew grave.

He finally understood the source of his earlier unease. Su Miaoyun was no ordinary woman either. All these people were undercover agents of the Bright Sect!

He recalled that, while hunting the remnants of the Hehuan Sect, he had discovered that the Bright Sect's holy maiden, Jiang Lvxia, had made a deal with the Hehuan Sect's leader and guided him to the tomb of their patriarch, Jialin Zhenshan.

The Bright Sect was far away at Bright Peak in the Western Regions. How could an outsider like her know where Jialin Zhenshan, who had died in the capital, was buried?

Even then, he had suspected that the Bright Sect had a considerable force hidden in the capital.

He simply had not expected the Red Sleeve House to be part of it. And judging by appearances, these were true inheriting disciples of the Bright Sect, whose techniques and training were all of the highest caliber!

Their supposed identities as disciples of the Chess and Sword Music House were nothing more than a cover.

He had been careless...

Against an attack this powerful, even he would have had to evade if he had no hidden move.

Fortunately...

Cao Jinxing remained utterly fearless. He planted his sword in the ground and unleashed Cloud-Discharging Palm again. Using [Dark Clouds Veil the Sun], he gathered the moisture in the air and met both opponents' palms head-on!

Blazing flames clashed against the force of Cloud-Discharging Palm. Under the impact of the two currents of true qi, Cao Jinxing suffered internal injuries, and blood seeped from the corner of his mouth.

Behind him, Lu Kunlun was alarmed.

Internal energy was not Cao Jinxing's strong suit. His strength lay in explosive bursts and the application of techniques. Why had he abandoned his sword to compete purely in internal energy?

Wasn't he pitting his weakness against the enemy's strength?

Su Miaoyun was taken aback too.

Though their fight had been brief, her impression of the man before her was that his moves were fierce, his thinking meticulous, and he was extremely difficult to handle. Why would he abandon his sword in this situation?

"Hahaha!"

Han Rong was the only one who did not think too deeply. He was delighted to have suppressed Cao Jinxing in one stroke. "I admit you've got some skill, but unfortunately, your brain doesn't work! Taking on two of us in a contest of internal energy? You're asking to die!"

He increased his power, pouring in Sacred Fire Canon true qi without pause, determined to break through Cao Jinxing's defenses, destroy his meridians, and avenge Wu Feng!

But just then, a strange sensation arose in his dantian. The true qi in his body began rapidly dissolving, and Han Rong's expression froze.

What was happening?

Why was my internal energy starting to dissipate?!

Su Miaoyun felt it too. Her expression changed drastically, and she cried out in panic, "The Starry Sea's [Power-Dissolving Powder]? How is that possible?!"

The corners of Cao Jinxing's mouth lifted.

It had finally taken effect...

"There's nothing impossible about it."

Old Zhou's weak voice drifted out from the peach grove, carrying a gleeful smile. "Even searching me wouldn't have helped! The poison was hidden in my mouth, and the antidote was beneath the false skin on my arm... how does it feel?"

"Hahaha!"

Wei Wuyan laughed heartily. "You knew Old Zhou came from the Starry Sea, yet you still dared let your guard down. You're the ones asking to die! You two who came later, keep it up! Kill them! I'll hand over the jade flat peaches!"

"Gladly."

Cao Jinxing smiled faintly. Cold Toad Art erupted, and the force of his palms grew fiercer!

As one side weakened and the other grew stronger, Han Rong gradually began to buckle, sweat covering his head. The more internal energy he used, the faster it dissolved!

Su Miaoyun clenched her teeth and snapped, "You tricked us!"

Cao Jinxing showed no sign of trouble. He had clearly taken an antidote beforehand! What humiliated her even more was that these three men had laid their trap right under her nose, and she still had no idea how they had done it!

It was actually quite simple.

After receiving the "antidote," Cao Jinxing had not used it, but it had made him doubly cautious against treachery.

Thus, the moment he reached the cave entrance, he sensed something wrong. His internal energy showed a faint sign of dissolution, and the more he circulated it, the faster it dissolved!

Only one poison had that property: the Starry Sea's Power-Dissolving Powder.

He immediately understood the purpose of the "antidote" and guessed that Old Zhou intended to use them to escape.

Even so, he still had not taken that bottle of antidote. What if Old Zhou also wanted both sides to fight each other to exhaustion? Taking it rashly would only put him in danger.

By comparison, Bai Yunxiu's medicine was more trustworthy, so he had taken out a [Holy Origin Pill] and swallowed it.

It was precisely because of that delay that he had failed to save Lu Kunlun before he was injured.

"All's fair in war!"

Wei Wuyan sneered. "You can only blame your own stupidity! I've never let anyone threaten me in my life. You dared threaten me? I'd rather give it to anyone else than you! Go to hell!"

"You!"

Su Miaoyun was beside herself with rage.

"Pfft!"

Han Rong spat out a mouthful of blood, the first to give way.

Cao Jinxing pressed forward without pause, increasing his palm force again and crushing their resistance. Unable to hold on, both were sent flying backward. Cao Jinxing followed with two swift sword strikes, sending sword energy through their chests. Two more corpses lay on the ground...