A journey through the world of martial arts

Chapter 285 The Storm Temporarily Subsides
In Zhongxin Hall, Shangguan Yun received a message from the Sun and Moon Duo and was overjoyed. He had thought it would take some effort to take down Qiushui Manor, but now it had saved him a lot of time.

"Qiu Tanggui, Qiu Tangjie and Qiu Ruofeng are all mediocre talents and are destined not to achieve great things in the future. Moreover, they have gone to Tianshan, which makes it difficult to deal with them. However, since we have already acquired the Qiushui Manor's assets, the rest is not a problem."

Shangguan Yun put down the report in his hand, his expression becoming solemn. Although Qiu Tangbai was dead, the Dragon Pearl could not simply disappear without explanation. He already had two, and if he obtained another one, his power would double, which would increase his chances of defeating the Tianshan Sect.

"We can't touch the Tianshan Sect for now; the only place we might be able to touch is the Madam."

Shangguan Yun wrote a letter and sent it to the Sun and Moon Duo, while he himself led a dozen or so people toward Mount Kongtong.

Inside the Demon Cave, Ni Qingfeng led Fu Tianjiao and Zhao Kai, following the guidance of "Vermilion Powder," to a magnificent black hall. As soon as they entered, Fu Tianjiao and Zhao Kai felt a chill and quickly circulated their true energy to expel the cold.

The two dared not be careless. Holding their swords, they cautiously looked around. After the three of them had walked along the black stone path for a while, candlelight suddenly lit up around the walls, extending all the way into the depths. Ni Qingfeng narrowed his eyes, gave a soft shout, and strolled leisurely forward. Fu Tianjiao and the other hurriedly followed.

After walking for a while, the three of them suddenly found themselves in a wide-open space. In the place where the candlelight was brightest, four people were sitting or standing.

"Absolutely no opportunity."

Ni Qingfeng walked forward again and looked at the figure sitting on the throne. He had already confirmed the other party's identity. As for the three people next to him, they should be the Sorrowful Old Man, the Soul Judge, and the Yin Scholar.

“Master Ni, you are truly skilled. Even my thirty-six layers of traps could not subdue you. If we only consider martial arts cultivation, even Shangguan Yun, the leader of the martial arts alliance, is probably slightly inferior. Master Ni, you are quite cunning.”

Jue Qianji stepped down the stairs, his gaze turning cold as he looked at Ni Qingfeng. The decades-long foundation of the Evil Ghost Cave had come to an end today. It was all the work of the person in front of him. Thinking of this, Jue Qianji's eyes revealed a fierce glint without any attempt to conceal it.

"The Evil Ghost Cave has acted recklessly and harmed countless people. Previously, it was because I was powerless that you were able to act so recklessly. Today, I am here, and I will not let you off easily. Jueqianji, there is no point in saying more. Show me all your trump cards, otherwise, you have no chance of winning today."

As soon as Ni Qingfeng finished speaking, he slowly drew his sword. The blade was gleaming, and its cold light flowed like silver under the candlelight. Near the tip of the sword, a sharp edge flashed. This flash of light made the three men, including Bei Qi Weng, hold their breath and look terrified.

"Alright, then please enlighten me!"

Jue Qianji hadn't planned to confront the enemy head-on. Upon hearing this, he sneered and clapped his hands. Eighteen puppet corpses clad in black armor staggered in from all directions, surrounding Ni Qingfeng and the other two. They roared, and a foul stench quickly spread.

"Do it!"

At Jue Qianji's command, the eighteen puppet corpses rushed towards Ni Qingfeng and his companions in pairs. Upon seeing this, Ni Qingfeng's long sword flashed with a cold light, and with a clash of swords, the first four puppet corpses to attack were immediately beheaded with a single sword strike. The four mangled heads rolled around and landed beside Bei Qiweng and his companions.

"Hmph! You think you can get away with just cutting off my head? You underestimate me. I went to great lengths to create these eighteen puppet corpses. Enjoy yourselves."

Jue Qianji sneered inwardly as he watched Ni Qingfeng and the other two continuously chop off the heads of the puppet corpses. However, the headless puppet corpses did not stop their actions; on the contrary, their attack speed increased significantly.

Fu Tianjiao swept away two puppet corpses with her sword. Seeing the headless puppet stand up and attack again, she was shocked. She hurriedly used the Nine Palaces Step to force back the killing move and pierced the heart of one of the puppet corpses with her sword.

However, the puppet corpse seemed to be immortal. After falling to the ground, it immediately stood up, waved its hands, and attacked Fu Tianjiao again. On the other side, Zhao Kai was also in a bad situation. Although the Xuan Tie Sword was extremely sharp, each puppet he killed would consume some of his true energy. After only a few breaths, Zhao Kai was panting heavily, and his hand holding the sword was trembling.

In contrast, Ni Qingfeng strolled leisurely, and with each swing of his longsword, a puppet would fall to the ground and remain motionless for a long time. Upon seeing this, Jue Qianji's expression changed drastically. He gave a signal to the three of them, Bei Qiweng, and they immediately stepped onto the field and attacked Ni Qingfeng.

These three were also quite skilled in martial arts, roughly comparable to elite disciples of major sects like Fu Tianjiao. However, they lived deep in the Evil Ghost Cave for many years and often used traps and hidden weapons in battles against external enemies, so their experience might not be as good as Fu Tianjiao's.

Even so, the combined power of the three was not weak. When Ni Qingfeng saw that Zhao Kai and Fu Tianjiao were gradually losing their strength, he moved in an instant and shouted. A cold light spread out, and a large number of puppet corpses immediately fell down and could not get up for a long time.

"The puppet corpse's weakness is its limbs. Also, be careful of poison gas."

Ni Qingfeng transmitted a message to Fu Tianjiao and the other two, then looked at the three men, Bei Qiweng, who were attacking him. His eyes sharpened, and with a few leaps, he quickly jumped out of the encirclement of puppet corpses. He swung his sword horizontally, and with a circle of sword light, he directly pulled the three men into his battle circle. At the same time, he retreated while fighting, moving towards Jue Qianji.

When Jue Qianji saw Ni Qingfeng approaching him, he sneered, flicked his sleeve, and a thin long sword appeared in his hand. Holding it, the tip of the sword was like a thousand cold stars. He then leaped into the air and shot towards Ni Qingfeng's chest.

"Well done!"

Despite fighting three opponents alone, Ni Qingfeng still held the upper hand in the battle, while Fu Tianjiao and the other two managed to stabilize the situation. Ni Qingfeng immediately drew his longsword and launched the Poison Scorpion Staff, Judge's Pen, and Iron Fan at Jue Qianji. Upon seeing this, the latter's expression changed slightly, and he changed his move, switching from a thrusting slender sword to a horizontal slash.

With a few clangs of metal clashing, Jue Qianji's slender sword trembled slightly, then bent into an arc shape under the force. Jue Qianji seized the opportunity to leap forward, closing to within three feet of Ni Qingfeng. A flash of light appeared on his left hand, and a hidden weapon was thrown towards Ni Qingfeng's face. At the same time, the other three seized the opportunity, joined forces, and used their weapons to entangle Ni Qingfeng, giving him no chance to react.

"If you're hit by the Soul-Slaying Dart, you're doomed!"

Jue Qianji was not alarmed but rather pleased to see Ni Qingfeng neither dodging nor flinching. This Soul-Slaying Dart was soaked in a hundred poisons and would kill instantly upon drawing blood. It was specially made by Jue Qianji after Wuchan Gui's death. Even if Ni Qingfeng had protective qi, he would not be able to escape death.

To everyone's surprise, Ni Qingfeng thrust his longsword straight forward, completely abandoning his defense. Just when the four thought the Soul-Slaying Dart had hit Ni Qingfeng, they witnessed a terrifying scene: the Soul-Slaying Dart stopped half a foot away from Ni Qingfeng and could not go any further.

"How can this be!"

Jue Qianji was shocked. This Soul-Slaying Dart was specifically designed to break through Qi, so why was it not making any progress? Could it be that Ni Qingfeng's martial arts cultivation had reached the level of divine enlightenment?

Ni Qingfeng's aura surged, and the Soul-Destroying Dart suddenly turned into a pile of fragments that scattered to the ground. Taking advantage of this opportunity, Ni Qingfeng's longsword pierced through the iron fan without hindrance, and the tip of the sword touched Yin Xiushi's chest three inches away. The latter was slightly stunned, then his face turned pale, his eyes widened, and he immediately fell to the ground dead.

Ni Qingfeng killed Yin Xiushi with a single sword strike. His movements were fluid and ghostly. With just a turn, the old man of sorrow lost his target. Seeing Yin Xiushi dead, he felt a chill in his heart and hurriedly turned his staff to protect himself. In doing so, he exposed the Soul Judge's weakness.

A winding, graceful sword light pierced the Soul Judge's heart in horror, causing his body to go limp and collapse to the ground.

"Damn it!"

By the time Jue Qianji reacted, Ni Qingfeng had already killed two people. His expression changed drastically, and the thin sword in his hand hissed and shone brightly, accompanied by a wailing sound, as it pierced straight towards Ni Qingfeng.

"Ghost Shadow Point Kill Sword".

Ni Qingfeng drew his longsword back and forth, its blade flashing crimson light. It clashed with the thin sword, sparks flying and cold light flashing. With a crisp sound, the thin sword couldn't withstand the two forces and broke on the spot. Seeing this, Ni Qingfeng spun his longsword, drawing the broken half of the sword towards him. He then flung it to the left. The old man's expression changed drastically. He wielded his poisonous scorpion staff with perfect precision, trying to stop the broken half of the sword.

With a sharp "sizzle," like silk being torn apart, a half-inch hole appeared in the Scorpion Staff. Through the hole, one could see that the Sorrowful Old Man behind him had been pierced through by the sword and was already dead.

With a clang, the Poison Scorpion Staff fell to the ground, and the corpse of the Sorrowful Old Man also fell to the ground. Seeing that Ni Qingfeng had killed three people in just a few moves, Jue Qianji felt a deep sense of dread.

“Ni Qingfeng, so what if you kill me? Do you think you can wipe out all the disciples of my Evil Ghost Cave? As long as one person from the Evil Ghost Cave manages to escape, they will surely deal with the Tianshan Sect at any cost in the future.”

Ni Qingfeng remained expressionless upon hearing this, and walked step by step closer to Jue Qianji. The latter's face immediately turned ashen, and he said hatefully, "Since you are so ungrateful, even if I die, I will not let you get away with this."

A ruthless glint flashed across Jue Qianji's face as he threw the broken sword at Ni Qingfeng, who easily deflected it. Taking advantage of this opening, Jue Qianji reached the throne and was about to activate the mechanism when a white light suddenly shot from the front. Jue Qianji roared and channeled his energy into his right palm, which was covered by a dark aura. He intended to take the attack head-on, relying on his Black Luo Palm, which he had honed for over ten years, to buy himself a few more breaths.

However, what Jue Qianji did not expect was that this move "Snow Mountain Silver Dragon" was a sword throwing technique, which was similar to the Taoist flying sword. It was not afraid of head-on confrontation. Although the Black Luo Palm had been practiced to perfection, how could it compare to this superior sword technique?

A bloodcurdling scream rang out as the longsword pierced through Hei Luo's palm, penetrating Jue Qianji's right hand. Its momentum undiminished, it pierced through his chest, and with a clang, the longsword disappeared into the stone seat. Before Jue Qianji could even recover from his shock, he was already lifeless, his left hand still in the position of pressing a mechanism.

Ni Qingfeng walked up the steps, confirmed that Jue Qianji was dead, drew his longsword, shook the blade to shake off the bloodstains, and looked down at Fu Tianjiao and the other person who were still fighting with the puppet corpse. Ni Qingfeng did not go forward to help. The weakness of the puppet corpse had already told them that if they still could not take it down, they would have wasted all their efforts.

Fu Tianjiao glanced at the scene and saw that Jue Qianji and the others were dead. Her heart settled down immediately. She gave a soft shout, and the white jade sword in her hand shone brightly. Dozens of sword shadows crisscrossed in chaos. The three puppet corpses had blood holes torn open on their four limbs at the same time. Their bodies suddenly stopped, and the white jade sword slashed across, tearing off all four heads at the same time.

On the other side, Zhao Kai saw that his martial uncle had dealt with Jue Qianji and the others, and his face lit up with joy. His hands immediately quickened, golden light flashed, and after completing a set of the Seven Absolute Swords of Tianshan, the three puppet corpses died on the spot. "Be careful!"

Ni Qingfeng moved in an instant, arriving beside Zhao Kai. He pressed down on Zhao Kai's shoulder with one hand and leaped to the side. Just after the two left, the fallen puppet corpse suddenly released wisps of yellow smoke, instantly melting the corpse clean and leaving behind a pool of blood.

As soon as Ni Qingfeng shouted "Be careful!", Fu Tianjiao immediately moved away from the puppet corpse. Looking at the scene before her, Fu Tianjiao couldn't help but feel nauseous.

"Uncle Master."

Zhao Kaixin looked at the distance with lingering fear. He had been extremely careful, but this hidden attack was still impossible to guard against. If it weren't for his uncle's reminder, he probably would have turned into blood.

“The Demon Cave is ruthless. Such heinous creatures as puppet corpses cannot be allowed to exist in the world. Even if they don’t destroy themselves, I will burn them to ashes.”

"Walk."

After scavenging the corpse, Ni Qingfeng found the treasure trove. Looking at the room full of rare and precious items, Fu Tianjiao and Zhao Kai's pupils constricted slightly.

"Even our Tianshan Sect is probably slightly inferior. The fact that the Evil Ghost Cave could accumulate such wealth in just a few decades must mean that the methods used were extremely bloody."

"First, pick out the valuable items, and then have the disciples come and clean them up after everything is settled."

Ni Qingfeng glanced around and found that the contents here were mostly gold, silver and jewels and medicinal herbs, with a few scattered weapons and books. After flipping through them a few times, he found that they were just some rudimentary martial arts techniques, far inferior to those of the Tianshan Sect.

"It's probably in complete chaos outside right now. Pack your things and let's get out of here immediately."

Ni Qingfeng destroyed all the extremely dangerous items and packed some precious medicinal herbs into a wooden box about half a person's height. Upon seeing this, Zhao Kai immediately carried it on his back, and the three of them returned along the original route, walking out of the Demon Cave.

"Uncle-Master, look."

Zhao Kai pointed ahead with his right hand. Fu Tianjiao looked up and saw yellow sand swirling in front of her, blurring her vision. She could only barely make out dozens of figures fighting, with the sounds of battle constantly coming from ahead.

"It's Tianxiang and the others! Let's go!"

Fu Tianjiao glanced at Ni Qingfeng, who nodded to her. Fu Tianjiao immediately used her lightness skill and, holding her long sword, headed towards Tianshan Sect to provide support.

"You should go help too."

Ni Qingfeng took the wooden box and gave an order to Zhao Kai, who immediately responded, gave a soft shout, drew his sword, and charged forward.

"Judging from the battle, Tianxiang and the others have the upper hand. It seems that they have mastered the formation quite well."

Ni Qingfeng focused his energy in his eyes and could clearly see the situation inside the yellow sand. There were about thirty people from the Evil Ghost Cave who were besieging the Tianshan disciples. It was almost one against three, but the Tianshan disciples relied on the formation to block several times their number of enemies.

"Tianxiang, Luo Ying's Seven Absolute Swords of Tianshan is already quite skilled. After this battle, it will surely come to fruition. Gu Ming's swordsmanship has changed from gentle to sharp, which is very good."

As Ni Qingfeng walked and observed, when he was less than ten feet away from the battle, the disciples of the Evil Ghost Cave inside were already in complete disarray. They had been caught off guard when Fu Tianjiao and Zhao Kai broke in, resulting in the loss of several people in an instant. Now that the two of them had joined, the power of the formation had increased even more.

Originally there were thirty-four people, but now only nineteen remain. The difference between the two sides is now negligible. However, the overall strength of the Evil Ghost Cave is far inferior to that of the Tianshan Sect. With everyone's combined efforts, they killed everyone with their swords in less than half a moment.

"Uncle Master."

When the disciples of the Tianshan Sect saw Ni Qingfeng arrive, they all bowed respectfully.

Ni Qingfeng nodded, then looked at Luo Ying and asked, "Have the Golden Whip Sect and the An family sent a signal yet?"

"Reporting to my master, half an hour ago, I received signals from both sides. Soon after, we engaged in combat with the people from the Evil Ghost Cave, and we have been fighting ever since."

Ni Qingfeng understood what was going on and said to Fu Tianjiao, "Tianjiao, take your junior brothers and sisters and retrieve all those things. We'll return to Tianshan in a few days. Keep this tomb map safe. Be careful on this trip."

Although Ni Qingfeng had destroyed the central mechanism of the tomb before leaving, there was no guarantee that there wouldn't be any unforeseen circumstances.

"Yes, Uncle-Master, I obey your command."

Fu Tianjiao took the tomb map, asked Gu Ming to stay, and then left with her junior brothers and sisters.

"Master, look."

Gu Ming exclaimed in surprise as he looked at the blue signal rising in the southeast.

Just a few breaths later, a red signal appeared in the northwest direction.

"It seems these two are also moving quickly. Ming'er, send out the signal."

This was agreed upon by the three families beforehand. Once successful, they would release a signal: the blue one represents the Golden Whip Sect, and the red one represents the An Family.

Gu Ming responded, took out a firework signal, pulled the string, and a green signal exploded in the sky.

……，……

On Mount Kongtong, although the Yellow Spring Powder in Shangguan Feiyan's body had been neutralized, her face was still somewhat pale. At this moment, looking at Lu Yi sleeping soundly on the sickbed, she couldn't help but ask with concern, "Mother, how is Lu Yi? Why hasn't he woken up yet after so long?"

Shangguan Feiyan felt a pang of sorrow. After learning the reason for the incident from the guard Jiang Che, she felt very guilty. If it weren't for her, Lu Yi wouldn't have ended up like this.

"Don't worry, his pulse is stable. He's just been depleted of vital energy. Mother has already used the Qi-creating needle to cast a spell on him. Judging by the time, he should wake up in the next two or three days. There's no need to worry."

He Yanrong looked at Shangguan Feiyan with affection, but sighed in her heart. A daughter is not meant to be kept at home. This Yan'er cares so much about this boy. She only hopes that he is someone she can entrust her life to.

"Really? Thank you, Mother."

Upon hearing He Yanrong's words, Shangguan Feiyan breathed a sigh of relief. She knew her mother's abilities, and since her mother said so, she must have absolute confidence.

Just as the mother and daughter were talking, Jiang Che's voice came from outside.

"Madam, Miss, the Hall Master is on his way to Mount Kongtong and will arrive in four days."

Upon hearing this, Shangguan Feiyan was overjoyed. Her father and mother had a distant relationship, but perhaps this time they could reconcile. In addition, Lu Yi was about to wake up, and all the good things were happening at once. It was really wonderful.

"understood."

He Yanrong gave a curt reply, and Jiang Che immediately withdrew upon hearing this. Shangguan Feiyan, however, shook He Yanrong's hand and said coquettishly, "Mother, Father has finally come of his own accord. Please, for my sake, don't make things difficult for him, okay?"

(End of this chapter)