Despicable

The moment he appeared.

In the cold-block cell, Xiang Qianli, whose shoulder blades had been pinned by hooks, smiled.

The Earth Gecko dragged the short blade along and whipped its long tail. With two loud cracks, the iron hooks in his back snapped!

Xiang Qianli was free again.

The Earth Gecko climbed onto his shoulder. The mechanism in its mouth folded and shifted, ejecting a pill the size of a soybean.

Xiang Qianli sucked the pill into his mouth. As its medicinal power took effect, flames rose around him, and the puncture wounds in his back rapidly healed!

But his right arm was utterly ruined, nothing but skin and bone. No medicine could save it now.

The Red Dragon could only jam the central mechanism. It would not hold for long. He had to hurry and break out!

Xiang Qianli picked up the short blade. It was barely a foot long, inlaid with jewels, exquisite and sharp.

"Fine blade. No wonder it could sever the Soul-Seizing Pipa Hook."

Holding the blade in his left hand, he drove it into the iron door. It cut through iron like mud, and a few strokes carved out an opening. But before he could step outside, a chilling longsword struck from ahead and to the side, aimed straight at his throat!

"Get back in!"

Even he was slightly startled by the speed of the newcomer's sword. He hurriedly knocked it aside with his blade and tried to rush out on the right, only for a second thrust to come straight at his heart!

Xiang Qianli had no choice but to knock the sword away again. Taking advantage of his opponent's fully extended attack, before he could recover his guard, Xiang Qianli turned to slip out unexpectedly on the left. But the third strike swept across to meet him, a spinning slash that used the sword like a saber to cut at his throat!

In an instant, Xiang Qianli made several attempts to leave the cell, but the sword light clung to him like a maggot to bone, blocking his path a step ahead every time!

Trouble!

Xiang Qianli finally took a proper look at his opponent. The man wore a silver-gray Flying Fish Uniform, had handsome features, and held a longsword with an imposing bearing.

"You're Shen Xiang?"

As far as he knew, only an outstanding disciple of the Shushan Sword Sect could possess such swordsmanship. His internal energy was lacking, but his exquisite sword techniques could not be dismissed.

"Shen Xiang's over there."

Cao Jinxing tilted his head.

Xiang Qianli looked over.

A man was battling Tie Xiongshi in the corridor. His longsword had left his hand and moved at his will, like a silver dragon roaring around Tie Xiongshi.

Though Tie Xiongshi whirled his coiling-dragon staff so tightly that not even wind could pass through, he still could not break through the sword light. It was the Shushan Sword Sect's signature technique-Sword Control by Qi!

"Xiang! What are you waiting for?"

Tie Xiongshi shouted from over there.

The mechanisms had already activated.

Thunderous rumbling filled the entire third-floor corridor. Had the Red Dragon not jammed the core with its superior materials, the passage would probably have sealed already, trapping them like fish in a barrel!

But Kuai Xiang had made the Red Dragon before building the Imperial Prison. He was bound to have taken precautions against small mechanical beasts of its kind. It certainly could not hold out much longer!

Like a stone beneath a cartwheel, it could at most make the cart jolt, not wreck the entire vehicle.

They had to move fast!

There was little time left!

Xiang Qianli narrowed his eyes, internal energy surging throughout his body. He would have to spare a little time to finish this man first...

Flames surged.

Xiang Qianli flung the short blade!

It spun toward Cao Jinxing. The same Radiant Zenith Thirteen Forms, the same blade-control technique-yet in this man's hands, it was worlds apart from Han Rong's earlier display!

Fierce winds carried blazing flames like a fiery tornado, closing in instantly. Cao Jinxing raised his sword across his body to block. Blade met sword with a thunderous crash!

Clang!

Cao Jinxing grunted and staggered back more than ten paces. The web of his hand split, and the Snow Soul Sword flew from his grip, humming and trembling!

Now Xiang Qianli pressed his advantage. With a flash of Phantom Light Step, he was already before Cao Jinxing.

Holy Flame Heaven-Burning Palm!

His palm slammed down!

Cao Jinxing knew he absolutely could not meet it head-on. With Xiang Qianli's internal energy, even a glancing blow would be more than he could bear. His footwork changed abruptly, and Lightning Movement Step carried him backward.

The terrifying palm strike hit empty ground. With a crack, it effortlessly shattered the floor tiles, leaving an enormous scorched handprint on the bluestone!

Having missed, Xiang Qianli did not linger. He turned and charged toward Shen Xiang, intending to join Tie Xiongshi and break out of the Imperial Prison together.

Just then.

Shing!

A sword rang out!

Clear and sweet, like a crane's cry high in the heavens!

Behind him, Cao Jinxing guided it with his sword fingers. The Snow Soul Sword, which had fallen to the ground, suddenly rose and shot straight toward Xiang Qianli's back, aimed at his heart!

Sword Control by Qi!

"?!"

The moment he unleashed that technique, everyone in the corridor was stunned. Shen Xiang's hand shook, nearly allowing Tie Xiongshi to break out of the encircling sword light.

Holy shit!

When did this kid learn that?

"Xiang! Watch out!"

Tie Xiongshi hurriedly warned him.

The sword light arrived in a flash!

After forcing Cao Jinxing back, Xiang Qianli had been desperate to escape and never imagined he still had this move. By the time he heard the sound and turned, the sword light was already at his heart!

He hurriedly summoned his protective qi to block the longsword.

"Fourteen."

In that split second, Xiang Qianli heard the Embroidered Uniform Guard utter that inexplicable word. Then, out of the corner of his eye, he caught a white shadow shooting from the leather pouch at the man's waist!

It looked like a cat.

When he landed, he was only palm-sized, but in the blink of an eye, he was upon Xiang Qianli like a tiger charging down a mountain!

This is bad!

Alarmed, Xiang Qianli forcibly circulated his energy and strengthened his palm strike, knocking the longsword away while twisting aside to evade the great cat's swiping claws!

He moved fast!

But Xuan Yuan Fourteen moved faster, slashing straight at his throat!

The Mani Jewel contained more than the divine art of Tummo. It also held Crimson Flame Palm, a secret palm technique Venerable Milarepa had learned from the Kagyu School.

His claws were like blades!

Laced with fiery force!

The white shadow moved like lightning, flashing past the tip of Xiang Qianli's nose. Xiang Qianli hurriedly dodged, barely escaping that lethal swipe through his supreme movement skills!

Though he avoided a strike to the throat, the residual force of the claws' Crimson Flame Palm swept across his left eye. His eyeball felt as though a blade had sliced it, and agony seared through him.

Blood streamed down!

"Aah!"

Xiang Qianli cried out in pain. His left eye went dark. He was blind in it.

"Despicable! Despicable!"

Bloody tears streamed from Xiang Qianli's eye as he roared furiously.

"The despicable part is still to come!"

Cao Jinxing sneered. Lightning flashed, and he appeared above Xiang Qianli's head like a phantom. Gathering all his power, he descended from above and slammed down a palm!

Cloud-Discharging Palm: Calamitous Clouds Descend!

The Imperial Prison was dank and damp, already thick with moisture. At that moment, all the moisture on the third floor gathered in his right palm, turning into layers of dark clouds.

Cao Jinxing's palm struck Xiang Qianli's chest!

Crack!

Unmatched force shattered Xiang Qianli's ribs and slammed heavily into his heart!

"Get back in your cell!"

Boom-

Xiang Qianli flew backward like a punching bag, crashing hard into the cell's ruined door!

"Xiang!"

Tie Xiongshi panicked. He swung his long coiling-dragon staff with all his might, knocked the Condensed Light Sword away, and used his peerless lightness skill to rush to Xiang Qianli's side.

"Do it now!"

He suddenly growled.

His voice was deep as muffled thunder, carrying far beyond the Imperial Prison.

A response came immediately from outside. Faint strains of zither music drifted in, tender and lilting, weeping and pleading, like the gentle whispers of a wife or lover, intoxicating to the heart.

A lover's embrace was a hero's grave.

Soul-Seizing Zither Music!

At the first notes, Shen Xiang's and Cao Jinxing's attacks faltered. Seizing the opening, Tie Xiongshi hoisted Xiang Qianli onto his back and prepared to rush out of the Imperial Prison.

Just then, the secret chamber's door opened. A figure flashed out, holding a bowed fiddle. A casual stroke of the bow drew forth a desolate note, utterly heartrending!

The moment that sound arose, the tender haven became a mass grave.

Even a man like Tie Xiongshi, who had slaughtered countless people, felt his heart convulse at those mournful, sobbing notes. His eyes stung, as though tears were about to fall...