A Fierce Battle

Jiang Qing heard the wind breaking behind him but did not hurry to turn around. He raised his sword and killed another man. Then he turned slowly, formed a sword seal, and three streaks of azure light appeared again, cutting down every one of the spikes.

Nine had besieged him, and in the blink of an eye, only four remained!

"A witch beast?!" Only then did Jiang Qing get a clear look at the evil creature. It had green eyes and red teeth, a leopard's head and a bear's paws, and its black skin was covered from head to toe in densely packed venom sacs.

"You're from the Grass Witch Cult!" Jiang Qing looked at the horse-faced man and shouted coldly.

"That's your granddaddy!" the horse-faced man spat. He brought out a Law Seal to help the witch beast attack Jiang Qing.

"Break!" The Three-Turn Azure Edge Sword shot out, and the Fire Spirit Pendant at Jiang Qing's waist flashed red. Dozens of streaks of crimson Sword Qi wove together into a net that came down squarely around the witch beast.

"Roar!" A muffled wail came from the witch beast's mouth as the sword net sliced away great chunks of flesh. Blood poured out, and a white-and-green heart flickered in and out of sight behind a membrane in its chest.

"Ha!" Jiang Qing sneered and caught his returning flying sword.

He first waved it lightly a few times, knocking the horse-faced man's Law Seal back. Then he flicked aside another cultivator's demon-subduing pestle, closed in with quick steps, and stabbed straight through his heart!

Three left!

Panic seized the horse-faced man, and he hurled his Law Seal at Jiang Qing again.

"Explode!" Jiang Qing's expression changed drastically. The swift movement restriction on his White Cloud Robe blazed as he pushed it to its limit, finally escaping the center of the Law Artifact's self-destruction.

The horse-faced man spat out a mouthful of Essence Blood, and the Qi around him weakened further. He had probably damaged his foundation.

When the smoke cleared, Jiang Qing's White Cloud Robe had been blasted pitch-black. Its spiritual radiance had dimmed considerably; it was plainly badly damaged.

Before he could catch his breath, the witch beast closed in. The venom sacs all over its body burst at once, threatening to drench Jiang Qing in foul-smelling black blood and pus.

"Damn you. When I get back this time, senior brother's going to scold me again."

Jiang Qing brushed his Storage Bag, and the Treasure Light Mirror expanded to a zhang across, shielding him.

Black blood and pus splashed against the Treasure Light Mirror, raising a cloud of white vapor.

Neither side moved slowly. Jiang Qing rapidly formed a sword seal, and the power of the blazing sun rose once more along the blade of the Three-Turn Azure Edge Sword. It shot from behind the Treasure Light Mirror straight at the witch beast's head;

The pupils of the witch beast's eyes swelled, squeezing out the whites in an instant and filling its entire eyes. Two streaks of black light then shot from them, striking straight at the Three-Turn Azure Edge Sword's blade;

The horse-faced cultivator brought out an inkstone and gritted his teeth as he poured all his spiritual power into it. Spiritual light flared from the inkstone, and he seized the chance to send it rushing at the Treasure Light Mirror. Of the other two cultivators, one brought out a black-and-yellow tower, while the other sent a demon-suppressing ruler close behind.

The two streaks of black light struck the blade, dispersing most of the power of the blazing sun on the Three-Turn Azure Edge Sword, but the sword's momentum did not falter.

The thin membrane over the witch beast's heart could not stop it in the slightest. In an instant, the blade pierced through the beast and emerged stained with black blood.

This witch beast's heart blood can defile Law Artifacts! Jiang Qing thought, alarmed. The Three-Turn Azure Edge Sword seemed drunk, staggering and stumbling; how could he wield it as effortlessly as before?

The flying sword could not return in time. With nothing to stop them, the inkstone, the black-and-yellow tower, and the demon-suppressing ruler struck the Treasure Light Mirror squarely, one after another.

A mid-grade defensive Law Artifact was expensive for a reason. The horse-faced man was already a spent force, and the other two early-stage cultivators were weaker still. Despite the heavy blows, the Treasure Light Mirror did not budge.

"Explode!" Three explosions followed. This band of Black Mountain Bandits was unusually decisive, and every one of them turned as pale as paper.

Cracks spread across the Treasure Light Mirror. It too had suffered severe damage.

Jiang Qing was not much better off. Although the Treasure Light Mirror had borne most of the force, the shock that passed through it was not to be underestimated.

It made him cough several times. A dull ache came from his internal organs, and he knew his injuries were serious; his organs were probably damaged.

Jiang Qing hastily swallowed a few healing pills and took advantage of his opponents' weakness to recall the Three-Turn Azure Edge Sword to his hand. He cast a Clear Wind Incantation, cleansing the filth from its blade.

It had been nearly ten years since Kang Dabao gave him this flying sword. Not a day had passed without him carefully nurturing it, treating the sword with utter sincerity.

But now the Three-Turn Azure Edge Sword's spiritual light had greatly diminished, and though Jiang Qing held it in his hand, it felt utterly unfamiliar. Years of painstaking effort had been ruined, filling him with rage and fierce hatred for the surviving enemies before him!

Gritting his teeth, Jiang Qing shrank the Treasure Light Mirror back to the size of his palm, hung it over his heart, and leaped out with his sword thrust forward.

The horse-faced cultivator could no longer stop him and turned to flee.

He had detonated two Law Artifacts in succession and had a costly Technique Method broken, yet he still had not fallen and had enough strength left to run. Jiang Qing did not know what secret technique he had used, but for the moment he could not catch him. The two early-stage cultivators were not so fortunate. Empty-handed, how could they evade Jiang Qing's azure blade?

After two strokes, Jiang Qing said fiercely, "One left!"

Hearing the screams behind him, the horse-faced cultivator did not dare look back. His body trembled, and he shouted for help to the bandits still surrounding Wang Daoqiong. "Aren't you going to save me?!"

"Lady Guo, let those small fry go and save the second chief first! Once I kill this He Household man, we'll join forces against this brat!"

The black-faced, burly bandit chief had not expected Jiang Qing to be so formidable either. In such a short time, Jiang Qing had already killed nine Black Mountain Bandits!

Although He Degong's cultivation was low, he was quite wealthy. He even had a First-Tier Superior-Grade defensive Law Artifact, and he scattered handfuls of spirit talismans as though they cost nothing. The chief could not take him down anytime soon.

The Sixth Layer of Qi Refining cultivator leading the attack on Wang Daoqiong's group was a pockmarked woman. She wielded a black-silver iron chain that was also a superior-grade Law Artifact, and her methods were fierce.

Of the eleven people under siege, all eight Early Qi Refining Stage cultivators had been cut down. Only Wang Daoqiong and the two other Middle Qi Refinement cultivators were left, struggling to hold on.

Wang Daoqiong and his companions' skills were indeed mediocre; not one of the pockmarked woman's group had lost their life.

"Get lost!" The pockmarked woman met the horse-faced cultivator and ordered her underlings to open their formation. Instead, they moved to face Jiang Qing, and the two sides stood off.

Wang Daoqiong and the others felt as though they had been granted a pardon. Who would not be happy to keep their lives? They did not even dare pick up their companions' Storage Bags scattered on the ground, and withdrew while taking turns covering one another.

"Wang Daoqiong, aren't you afraid of my elder brother?!" He Degong knew saying so was futile. The two sides had merely exchanged benefits; why should the man risk his life for the He Household?

Even so, he could not stop himself from speaking in outrage. Jiang Qing had managed to turn the situation around, only for their excellent position to be lost because of this. How could he not hate him?

Sure enough, Wang Daoqiong acted as though he had not heard and did not even answer.

"He Lao'er, you'd better worry about saving your own life first!" The bandit chief's black face grew even darker. Having lost so many men, even killing He Lao'er would not make up for it.

Wang Daoqiong's decisive departure made He Degong hate him all the more, and his handsome face turned visibly ferocious. What frightened him even more was the thought: what if Jiang Qing left too?!

Jiang Qing had no intention of leaving. Had Kang Dabao and Yuan Jin been here instead, they would of course have run long ago.

As the third junior brother, he was nothing like his two good-for-nothing senior brothers in this respect.

"You can't become a sword cultivator by sitting at home." Jiang Qing recalled what he had said to his sect leader senior brother.

The injuries to his internal organs were difficult to suppress for the moment, and a thread of blood seeped from the corner of his mouth.

The Three-Turn Azure Edge Sword had been tainted by filth and was far harder to control than before. Both the White Cloud Robe and the Treasure Light Mirror had been badly damaged. "When I get back this time, senior brother will definitely give me a scolding!"

"Kill first, talk later!" The Three-Turn Azure Edge Sword shot from Jiang Qing's hand into the air once more. Red light flashed from the Fire Spirit Pendant, and a sword net formed in moments, covering an even wider area than before!

The pockmarked woman could not stop it in time, so she did not bother trying. She first used her Movement Method to evade the sword net, then sent three black mystic needles shooting from between her fingers, glinting with dark light.

Jiang Qing's expression was grave. Forming this sword net consumed an enormous amount of spiritual power, and he had already used up more than half of his. He threw out the Treasure Light Mirror, which expanded once more to the size of a millstone, the cracks on it deepening further.

The five cultivators caught beneath Jiang Qing's sword net died swiftly. Their low-grade defensive Law Artifacts delayed their deaths for a moment, and then all that remained was a ground littered with pieces of flesh.

The pockmarked woman's three black mystic needles pierced clean through the Treasure Light Mirror. The mirror let out a single booming sound and shattered across the ground.

Jiang Qing used his Movement Method to narrowly dodge two of them. The third was just about to pierce his brow, and delight had already appeared on the pockmarked woman's face.

But the Fire Spirit Pendant at Jiang Qing's waist gave a soft chime, and a Bright Fire Shield as tall as a person appeared instantly, burning the black mystic needle straight to ash.

Jiang Qing had barely escaped danger, but with the azure blade in hand, he showed no fear. He charged alone into the enemy ranks again, slipped past several Law Artifacts, and pierced the throats of two Early Qi Refining Stage cultivators in succession.

What's this brat's background?! The pockmarked woman's heart grew uneasy, and panic had appeared on the horse-faced cultivator's face.

Aside from the bandit chief, the horse-faced cultivator, and the pockmarked woman, the only Black Mountain Bandit left at the scene was an old Qi Refining Second Layer cultivator in blue robes, his legs trembling! Who knew whether he had survived because Jiang Qing had some respect for the elderly?

"Big brother, you'd better take over!" The pockmarked woman had used up all her black mystic needles. Though she still held the black-silver iron chain, a rare superior-grade Law Artifact, she suddenly felt very unsafe.

She was accustomed to fighting people to the death, but when she saw the low-grade flying sword dripping blood in Jiang Qing's hand, her heart actually began to tremble.

"Damn it!" In the blink of an eye, the black-faced bandit chief saw Jiang Qing standing off against the three remaining Black Mountain Bandits, breathing heavily, and fury rose in his heart.

More than a dozen desperate men willing to fight to the death—who knew how many Spirit Stones and how much effort it had taken to bring them together? Yet they had been destroyed just like that, at the hands of a pretty boy!

His superior-grade Law Artifact unleashed a streak of deep-blue saber Qi, cutting down one of the three men with He Degong. Then, without looking at them again, he slashed several streaks of saber Gang toward Jiang Qing.

Without a second thought, He Degong turned and fled with his remaining subordinate.

Gripping the Three-Turn Azure Edge Sword, Jiang Qing slashed horizontally to meet the streaks of saber Gang. The saber Gang dispersed, but the blade was damaged.

The saber Gang forced Jiang Qing back several steps, and the web of his hand split open, staining the Three-Turn Azure Edge Sword even redder.

But he had no time to rest. The pockmarked woman's black-silver iron chain lashed fiercely at him like a giant python, worsening the cracks in the Three-Turn Azure Edge Sword's blade.

Even the bandit chief's face lit up with delight as he rushed over. Spiritual light blazed on his deep-blue great saber and, moments later, condensed into the phantom of a fierce tiger, which pounced at Jiang Qing with an overbearing momentum.

The pockmarked woman worked in perfect coordination with him, striking at Jiang Qing's head with her black-silver iron chain. The horse-faced cultivator, his face deathly pale, also pulled out a handful of talismans to support them.

The Three-Turn Azure Edge Sword blocked the black-silver iron chain, but finally could endure no more and shattered across the ground. Jiang Qing spat out a mouthful of Essence Blood.

The three opposite him felt greatly reassured. What was there to fear from a sword cultivator without a sword?

Then they suddenly felt the temperature around them rise. Three Fire Wave Techniques stirred up raging flames that rushed at each of them with intimidating force.

Does he still have unused talismans? Just three superior-grade Fire Wave Talismans? Nothing more than a trapped beast struggling! All three thought the same thing.

The bandit chief saw his tiger phantom break through the fire wave, and the corner of his mouth lifted slightly. He thought about chasing down the He Household's second son after killing this brat.

That second son of the He Household had mediocre skills but considerable wealth. Unfortunately, he had used up quite a few of his life-saving treasures just now, which was rather painful to think about.

"Big brother, watch out!" The chief suddenly heard the pockmarked woman cry out. A sharp gleam scattered the tiger phantom, passed through the fire wave, and came straight at him.

This brat actually has another flying sword! the chief thought.

Damn it, how can I dodge in time now?! The chief's black face grew even darker. He brought out a tortoiseshell Law Artifact to protect himself and scattered several defensive talismans before he felt reassured. He thought, He's just a spent force.

The Seven Luminaries Heart-Slaying Sword's blade blazed hotter than fire. Jiang Qing completed a spiritual hand seal and gave a fierce shout, activating all four restrictions upon it: "Sharpness," "Explosion," "Heart Scorching," and "Armor Breaking."

A hole the size of a human head was punched through the tortoiseshell Law Artifact, and it fell to the ground. Before the bandit chief could even react, all he could see was red!

"Big brother!" The horse-faced man and pockmarked woman watched as the Seven Luminaries Heart-Slaying Sword sliced away half the chief's head.

The horse-faced cultivator's expression was one of utter pain, and tears streamed down the pockmarked woman's face. But without a second thought, both turned and fled.

This god of slaughter—they truly did not dare fight him again! Once they had succeeded in their cultivation, they would come back and avenge their big brother!

"Whew!" Jiang Qing's eyes were unfocused. Ninety-nine percent of his spiritual power was gone.

His whole body was in agony, but he still raised a hand and recalled the Seven Luminaries Heart-Slaying Sword to his grip. Only then did he sink to the ground, hugging the sword as he began to recover his spiritual power.

After only half a quarter of an hour, he felt slightly better and began controlling his sword to pick up the Law Artifacts and Storage Bags scattered across the ground.

"I have to take these back to sect leader senior brother. He'll be delighted! Maybe he'll scold me a little less."

I'm back in my hometown and have quite a few things to take care of. If I have time tonight, I'll post another chapter. Thank you all for your support.