Ye Xingge had been charging forward in great strides, but seeing this, he dared not rush in. Instead, he held his saber in one hand and thrust forward to probe his opponent.
Gold-Chasing Gentleman's eyes were bloodshot and his steps unsteady, yet his movements were uncharacteristically fierce. As the blade approached, he raised his hand and swept his saber upward!
Clang-
Sparks flew everywhere!
The Black Banner Saber was finely made, and its edge did not chip. But the force behind the blow made it impossible for Ye Xingge to keep his grip with the arm he had just used the Ravine-Leaping Tiger on. The saber flew sideways into the air.
Swish~
Gold-Chasing Gentleman's blood-red eyes resembled a demon's. He staggered forward with the motion and thrust, plunging the blade into Ye Xingge's chest before he had much time to react.
Ding~
Ye Xingge had pulled back his left arm and brought it down in time, but the thrust still struck his chain mail.
Chain mail was less effective against direct thrusts. Its fine steel links snapped taut and broke in an instant, and the blade sank half an inch into his flesh. Fortunately, his timely downward strike sent the rest of the blow scraping across his chest in a streak of sparks.
Rip~
With the right hand that had dropped his saber, Ye Xingge had already drawn the Filth-Severing Whip. It became a six-foot short whip and lashed toward his opponent's head.
Crack-
With an explosive snap, the whip left a bloody welt across Gold-Chasing Gentleman's hooded face.
But Gold-Chasing Gentleman did not pause in the slightest. He staggered after Ye Xingge, eyes fixed on the opponent before him, and even let out several low moans like a vengeful ghost:
"Hoh..."
Swish!
The sound came with the blade. In a single step, the three-foot blood-red blade hacked toward Ye Xingge's face.
Ye Xingge could have simply run, but the Return to Origin Cult lay behind him. With no choice but to advance, he forced his left arm up to block while whipping at the saber-wielding right arm.
Gold-Chasing Gentleman drove his saber down in a heavy chop, never expecting the brat to have such substantial resources of his own.
The blow landed with a muffled thump, as though it had struck thick cowhide.
The Heaven-Obscuring Arm was not cut through, but the blade left a mark, and the force spread across Ye Xingge's entire arm and into his body.
Ye Xingge grunted from the impact, but he did not hesitate for a moment before the demon in front of him. He wrapped the whip around his opponent's right arm, making it difficult for him to withdraw his saber quickly, then sprang forward like a monkey leaping onto a tree.
In midair, he clamped both legs around the right arm and pinned it against his chest. His right hand gripped the saber-wielding wrist, his left bracer caught the saber guard, and his waist snapped straight in midair.
"Hah-"
The flying armbar formed in an instant, pulling Gold-Chasing Gentleman's right arm completely straight.
Ye Xingge's momentum also dragged the unsteady Gold-Chasing Gentleman backward, and they both crashed to the ground.
Thud-
Ye Xingge controlled the saber with both hands. The blood-red blade was almost against his face, but his bracer caught it, preventing it from advancing another fraction of an inch. He immediately arched his back and put his whole body into it:
"Hah-"
Gold-Chasing Gentleman was gravely wounded, and with one arm resisting the strength of Ye Xingge's entire body, his arm bent backward, almost forming a bow.
As Ye Xingge roared, the bone was forcibly snapped with a crisp crack.
Crack-!
Gold-Chasing Gentleman used the last of his strength to struggle. Finding himself completely locked in place and unable to escape, he released his grip on his chest. The bloody flesh was immediately exposed to the moonlight, blood gushing out like a waterfall shooting into the sky.
With his freed left hand, he pulled out a file over a foot long and stabbed at the knee Ye Xingge had pressed against his chest.
The gold-melting file was not a weapon and had no sharp point, but under the circumstances it was no different from one. If it struck his kneecap, his right leg would be ruined on the spot.
But Ye Xingge's muscles bulged and his face twisted fiercely. After breaking the right arm, he had already jerked his leg back out of the way, then drove a foot into the torn wound in Gold-Chasing Gentleman's chest.
Thump~
Blood splashed everywhere, accompanied by the muffled sound of bones cracking.
Gold-Chasing Gentleman's chest had been torn open, and the blood pooled in his lungs made it impossible for him to breathe. He had managed those few strikes solely on the last of his strength.
When the kick drove into his chest cavity, crushing his organs, Gold-Chasing Gentleman went limp at once. The file slipped from his hand, and his savage eyes turned vacant and unfocused.
Yet even with his arm forcibly broken, his fingers were the last thing to loosen, finally releasing the Fate-Robbing Saber in his right hand.
Swish~
Ye Xingge had kept his bracer hooked against the saber guard all along. The moment his opponent let go, he pulled the saber free with a reverse grip and slashed at the head beside his leg with the speed of rushing thunder.
Puchi-
The blood-red blade fell, and half a head rolled across the mountainside.
But the crimson on the blade did not fade. Instead, it continued to give off a presence like a bloodthirsty red wolf.
Ye Xingge then felt a surging power coming from the bloodstained blade, rapidly permeating his limbs and bones.
He could even clearly feel his muscles itching, while an invisible force widened his Qi sea and meridians.
The Fate-Robbing Saber's Devour Ten Thousand Powers granted a return of cultivation after slaying an opponent, based on the gap between their strengths.
Ye Xingge knew roughly how it worked, but he truly had not expected that seizing the saber and killing its original owner could also trigger the divine weapon's passive ability.
The improvement he felt was very obvious, but the leap was so great that he could not say how long he would have had to train to achieve the same result. Nor did he have time to investigate.
After that slash, Ye Xingge did not hesitate for an instant. He quickly rose with the saber and looked toward the higher ground on the island.
Hongyu had been watching the situation and was already racing downhill. Along the way, she threw the only two remaining Heavenly Maiden Scatters Flowers, one after the other, toward the slope on the other side:
"Grab the things!"
Ye Xingge immediately clamped the saber between his teeth and quickly searched the bloodstained Gold-Chasing Gentleman-gold, wood, water, fire, earth!
After tucking the things into his robes, Ye Xingge stood, threw the cloak over himself, and raised his Qi to try it.
But clearly, the thing conflicted with his bracer and had no effect whatsoever.
"Fuck!"
Ye Xingge did not know whether it had been damaged and did not dare remove the Heaven-Obscuring Arm recklessly. He immediately took up the saber and ran toward Great Beauty:
"Here!"
Hongyu slid down the slope at full speed. When she reached him, she took the cloak and covered herself with it.
The cloak turned insubstantial, concealing her figure.
Ye Xingge's eyes filled with wild delight. Forgetting even his pain, he repeatedly slapped Yu'er's big butt, sending ripples through its flesh:
"Go, go, go! Quick, quick, quick! Run, run, run..."
Hongyu's eyes were equally full of excitement, and she had no mind to notice any of this. Holding up the cloak with both hands, she sprinted toward the lake with Ye Xingge.
Thud, thud, thud...
At the same time, Duan Lianshan and the others charged onto the ridge, sabers and spears in hand.
Looking down, they saw a corpse lying below. A piece of bloodstained cloth floated along the ground, raced across the grass, and plunged straight toward the lake.
Before entering the water, Ye Xingge did not forget to fling an illumination tube back up the mountain!
Splash-
Whoosh~
As water sprayed into the air, a dazzling meteor rose above the island, instantly turning the mountain wilderness as bright as day!
Duan Lianshan raised a hand to shield his eyes. Seeing this, his hair nearly stood on end with fury:
"Quick, after them! They can't swim far!"
He Lin realized that the other side had truly picked the peaches, licked the corpse clean, and run without leaving them so much as a scrap. He was so angry that his soul nearly left his body. Sword in hand, he stepped across the treetops in pursuit toward the lake.
But the essence of "telecom fraud" was to make the customer believe without a doubt, then leave them without a cent to their name, their fortune ruined and possibly their life forfeit.
Before the group had charged down the slope, a voice suddenly rang out from deep among the waves:
"Bold scoundrels! How dare you stir up wind and waves on my Black Dragon Island..."
The voice was like an azure dragon bursting from the sea. Even from over ten li away, it still sounded like thunder rolling down from the nine heavens!
"Hiss-"
Rustle...
The fury vanished from Duan Lianshan's face. He sucked in a cold breath and hurriedly skidded to a stop.
He looked up and saw great masses of firelight gathering on the distant lakeshore.
Far out on the lake, a figure came hurtling through the air, sweeping up huge waves.
Several others followed, skimming over the water and leaving white trails beneath the moon as the distance rapidly closed.
"Fucking bastards..."
Only then did He Lin realize why the other side had given them the "flares"!
Seeing that he was about to be treated as a discarded pawn and draw Black Dragon Island's three thousand saber-and-axe men away for Ye Xingge, He Lin's face turned ashen and he shouted:
"Ye Xingge took the Fate-Robbing Saber and escaped underwater..."
Duan Lianshan cursed, "What fucking good is shouting? They can't hear you, and if they could, we wouldn't be able to escape. Retreat!" With that, he took up his spear, turned, and fled wildly toward the south side of the island.
Meanwhile, on the other side.
Jiang Jinjiang was speeding over the waves, followed by hall masters who had come to provide support.
At first, they had only seen flashes of light on Green Snail Island. It was too far away and too dark to make out any details.
But halfway there, they suddenly saw someone "light a fire." Half of Green Snail Island turned as bright as day, and even the empty lake was illuminated.
Jiang Jinjiang was clearly not blind. He immediately spotted four or five people racing across the island with weapons in hand.
Jiang Jinjiang did not know whether they were friend or foe. Since he himself was also bathed in the intense light with nowhere to hide, he shouted to confirm their identities.
Instead, they fled like rats with their heads in their hands.
There was no need to guess now!
Jiang Jinjiang's eyes blazed with fury as he shouted to those around him:
"After them! They'll surely flee south. They're Third Rank at most and can't get far. Tell every gang ahead to intercept them!"
The hall masters skimming over the water nearby immediately took out three signal tubes and launched fireworks into the sky at different angles.
Islands several li away responded in kind, and the signals spread onward into the depths of the seven-hundred-li Dongyuan Lake!
By then, Duan Lianshan and the others had not even made it down the southern slope. When they understood the signals, their faces turned green!
Knowing they were headed for certain death, they could only hurriedly pull out their tokens and contact their superiors to get them out...