A journey through the world of martial arts

Chapter 341 Cleansing Up the Filth
Tianshan Sect, Hongyi Hall

"Uncle-Master, time is almost up."

Fu Tianjiao whispered something to Li Dengping, who was resting with her eyes closed. Upon hearing this, the latter nodded, opened her eyes, looked at the main hall with its doors wide open, and stood up to look outside. She saw shadows blocking out the sunlight.

"Elder Li."

Qu Wei, dressed in a tight-fitting outfit, led a group of high-ranking members of the Blue Shadow Sect into the hall. Fu Tianjiao and the others saw that each of them was holding a weapon, and their expressions instantly turned cold.

"Elder Qu, to make a long story short, I have obtained the Spirit Nourishing Pill, but I only have one."

Just as tensions were about to rise, Li Dengping reached out and pressed down Fu Tianjiao and the others, walked in front of them, took out an exquisite milky white porcelain bottle from her sleeve, uncorked it, waved it at Qu Wei, and then quickly put it away.

"Master Li is indeed efficient and decisive, I admire him. This is the antidote for the Thousand Days Intoxication, but it is only half."

Qu Wei was immediately invigorated when he smelled the medicinal fragrance from earlier. It was indeed a Nourishing Spirit Pill, but he didn't intend to ask for too much. One pill was enough. The Tang Clan was a leader in medicine making and pill refining. If he gave this pill to them, they might be able to mass-produce it in no time.

He then handed a black, thumb-sized porcelain bottle to Li Dengping, who took it and showed it to Zhuo Bing, who then nodded to Li Dengping.

"What does Elder Qu mean by this?"

When Li Dengping heard the other party say that this was only half of the antidote, she couldn't help but frown. What could half of the antidote do?

“Master Li, I have always valued my life, and I am well aware of the reputation of the Tianshan Sect. If I were to hand over everything, I fear I would not be able to leave Tianshan. Last night, Senior Xuanwu's sudden visit truly surprised me. Fortunately, I still have some skill, which prevented a conflict. Tell me, without obtaining the Nourishing Spirit Pill, how could I be at ease handing over all the antidote?”

Seeing Li Dengping's gloomy face, Qu Wei said at the right time, "Master Li, I only want the Nourishing Spirit Pill and have no intention of being enemies with your sect. As long as you give me the Nourishing Spirit Pill, I will immediately offer up all the antidote after I go down the mountain. How about that?"

Li Dengping gave Qu Wei a deep look and said in a deep voice, "I have no other choice now, Elder Qu. I will trust you one more time, but if you do not keep your promise, the Tianshan Sect will definitely use all its strength to surround and kill you!"

After speaking, Li Dengping flicked his sleeve, and the porcelain bottle containing the Nourishing Spirit Pill flew towards Qu Wei in a beam of white light. Upon seeing this, Qu Wei's face lit up with joy, and he quickly reached out to catch it, firmly grasping the bottle in his hand. After verifying its contents, Qu Wei immediately showed a satisfied smile, cupped his hands to Li Dengping, and said, "Master Li is a trustworthy person, I respect you, farewell!"

Amidst the resentful gazes of Fu Tianjiao and the others, Qu Wei led his men and quickly left the main hall.

"Uncle Master!"

As Zhao Kai watched Qu Wei and the others walk further and further away, he felt a little anxious. He couldn't say a word just now. Seeing his third uncle readily hand over the Nourishing Spirit Pill, he couldn't help but feel a little disappointed. However, when he thought of his imprisoned junior brothers and sisters, the disappointment disappeared.

Now that Qu Wei and the others have come down the mountain, they should at least put on a show, otherwise the reputation of the Tianshan Sect will probably be trampled on by those people.

"Qu Wei is ruthless and unscrupulous, and we are afraid to act rashly. Now we can only hope that he will keep his promise. Tianjiao, immediately dissolve this antidote in water and let the poisoned disciples and fellow martial artists take it."

Ignoring Zhao Kai, Li Dengping turned around and handed the antidote to Fu Tianjiao. After giving her a few more instructions, Li Dengping led Zhuo Bing, Zhou Jing, and Luo Ying away from the main hall and rushed down the mountain.

"Let's finish what Uncle-Master asked us to do first. Second Junior Brother, you take Third Junior Brother and Tianxiang with you. I'll go with Uncle-Master."

Not long after Li Dengping left, Fu Tianjiao immediately handed the antidote to Zhao Kai, said a few words, and then rushed out of the hall, disappearing in the blink of an eye.

"Second Senior Brother, Aunt and the others..."

Fu Tianxiang looked at Zhao Kai with a worried expression. Although she was simple-minded, she was not stupid. Now that her senior uncle and sister had gone down the mountain and obtained the antidote, a confrontation was inevitable.

"Our senior sisters will be alright. The important thing now is to rescue our junior brothers and sisters and other martial arts practitioners. Even if we can't recover our full strength, we have the numbers and if there's enough time, we can still help our senior sisters."

Zhao Kai put away the antidote, called to the two of them, and the three of them immediately headed towards Qingxin Courtyard.

At the foot of the mountain, Qu Wei appeared with the disciples of the Blue Shadow Sect. Just then, a group of people stopped in front of Qu Wei. At the head was a magnificently decorated carriage. A withered, yellow hand lifted the curtain, and two familiar figures immediately appeared in Qu Wei's eyes.

"Brother Tang."

"Brother Qu."

When Qu Wei saw that it was Tang Entangde, he was overjoyed on the surface, but he was secretly on guard in his heart. Although the two sides had an agreement, the other party's arrival was too timely, which made him think more.

"Brother Qu, this is not the place to talk. Let's leave here quickly."

Tang En got off the carriage and watched as several figures rapidly approached from not far at the foot of the mountain. He narrowed his eyes and spoke to Qu Wei.

"Brother Tang, please wait a moment. I still need to deliver the antidote for the Thousand Days Intoxication to Master Li. I don't want anything to go wrong at this crucial moment and cause trouble in the end."

Qu Wei glanced at Tang En, his tone very calm. Tang En chuckled and said, "Of course, I can't let Brother Qu have anything to say about me."

Tang De, standing to the side, was growing impatient. What was Qu Wei putting on airs for? They had come to this point; did he still think the Tianshan Sect would let him go? He was dreaming. He was about to say something, but Tang En stopped him with a look, which made him very unhappy.

Li Dengping and his three companions moved swiftly, and in no time they arrived about ten feet in front of Qu Wei and the others. Looking at the Tang Clan members behind Qu Wei, Li Dengping, though already aware of their presence, still felt a chill in his heart. Tang En and Tang De's martial arts skills were not great, but their poisoning abilities were quite impressive. If they were to fight later, they would have to be careful at every turn.

"Master Li, I keep my promise. You may take this antidote if you wish, and we will be even."

Qu Wei took another porcelain bottle from his sleeve and tossed it to Li Dengping, who quickly caught it and handed it to Zhuo Bing.

"Uncle-Master, the antidote is correct."

Hearing this, Li Dengping immediately felt relieved. Then she looked at Qu Wei with a cold expression. Qu Wei met her gaze and said calmly, "Master Li, the current situation is the best outcome for both of us. Once we start fighting, the situation will be difficult to manage."

"The reputation of the Tianshan Sect cannot be tarnished. Even if Li Dengping's cultivation is lacking, he must fight to defend the dignity of Tianshan! Attack!" With a deep shout from Li Dengping, four long swords were drawn simultaneously, accompanied by the sound of dragons roaring. Qu Wei saw four streaks of snow-white sword light hurtling towards him. Sensing the chilling killing intent, Qu Wei dared not be careless. He shouted to his subordinates, and seven or eight figures flew forward, each wielding a weapon to confront Li Dengping and her three companions.

However, under the sharp light of the Xuan Tie Sword, the person who tried to stop them was defeated in no more than two moves, which made Qu Wei and the others tremble with fear.

"The Xuan Tie Sword!"

Qu Wei looked on in shock as he stared at the few faint starlight points in the white light. He was greatly surprised, never expecting that the Tianshan Sect would possess the Xuan Tie Sword. But then, greed appeared in his eyes.

This Xuan Tie sword is a treasure coveted by martial artists. Although I am not skilled in swordsmanship, if I could obtain this sword and learn a sword technique, my strength would at least increase significantly.

“Brother Qu, we must not let this Xuan Tie sword go. We’ve already taken the Nourishing Spirit Pill, so what’s a little more Xuan Tie sword?”

Tang En's eyes lit up when he saw the Xuan Tie Sword appear. In addition to making medicine and refining pills, the Tang Clan was also skilled in weapon forging. If they could seize the Xuan Tie Sword and melt it down, they could forge many high-quality weapons. With these things, they could open up avenues and rebuild the Tang Clan would no longer be a pipe dream.

“Brother Tang is right. When treasures are delivered to our door, how can we refuse them?”

Qu Wei and Tang En exchanged a glance and laughed a few times. Then Qu Wei leaped and struck Li Dengping with a palm. Upon seeing this, Li Dengping immediately swept her longsword, and a bright sword light shot up. The corpse-dissolving palm energy was immediately dispersed by the sword energy, but Li Dengping's face showed a solemn expression.

An expert's skill is immediately apparent. Qu Wei's Corpse-Transforming Palm technique just now revealed his extraordinary strength. Li Dengping estimated that if he didn't have the Xuan Tie Sword, he would be slightly inferior.

Qu Wei was not surprised at all that his palm energy had been broken by Li Dengping. If the opponent was so easily defeated, he would have underestimated the Tianshan Sect.

With another palm strike, a dark light flashed in Qu Wei's palm, and he rushed straight towards Li Dengping. A foul stench emanated from Qu Wei's body. Li Dengping's expression remained unchanged. With a sweep and a sweep of her longsword, three sword lights met Qu Wei in a triangular formation.

Just as Qu Wei was fighting Li Dengping, Tang En, Tang De, and a group of Tang Clan disciples quickly surrounded Zhuo Bing, Zhou Jing, and Luo Ying. Although the three of them were all armed with Xuan Tie swords, the opponents did not engage them in direct combat, but instead repeatedly used hidden weapons. When the Tang Clan disciples arrived, they launched various poison pills, poisonous insects, and poisonous needles, forcing the three of them to retreat continuously.

"Senior sister, what should we do now? These poisonous insects are really too troublesome."

Zhou Jing slashed the venomous snake that was flying towards them with a single sword stroke. In the short time that followed, the three of them were surrounded by the corpses of the Five Poisons. The foul-smelling blood poison, combined with the shockwave from the exploding poison pills, created a colorful mist that spread towards Zhuo Bing and the other two. It was clear at a glance that this colorful mist was extremely poisonous.

"We have the Hundred Herbs Pill to protect us, so we don't need to fear this poisonous fog for a while. The first thing we need to deal with now is those Tang Clan disciples. Once we get rid of them, those Blue Shadow Clan people will be much easier to deal with."

Zhuo Bing's sword flashed repeatedly, tearing poisonous insects to pieces under her blade. She picked up a broken insect with her longsword and threw it into the poisonous mist. A plume of white smoke rose, and the insect was quickly refined into nothingness. Luo Ying's face paled at the sight. She took a deep breath to suppress her shock. This poisonous mist was truly insidious.

"But now those Tang Clan members are standing at the back. If we want to kill them, we still have to deal with the Blue Shadow Clan members first. But with this poisonous fog protecting us, if we get entangled, it will be very bad."

Zhou Jing was well aware that they should deal with the Tang Clan members first, but the Blue Shadow Clan members were not fools either. Knowing that the Tang Clan members were not good at close combat, they would definitely place them in a safe position in the rear.

"Follow my instructions later."

Looking at the hazy figure standing outside the faint poisonous fog, Zhuo Bing already had a plan in mind.

Zhou Jing and Luo Ying nodded upon hearing this. Then, the three of them spun their longswords like three wind blades. Any external object that came at them would be shredded by the wind blades. Not only that, Zhuo Bing used the sounds coming from the longswords to calculate the location of the person who released the hidden weapon and the distance between them. After about a few breaths, Zhuo Bing's eyes lit up and she said, "Found it!"

Upon hearing this voice, Zhou Jing and Luo Ying were both invigorated and stared intently at Zhuo Bing.

Zhuo Bing kept his eyes fixed ahead, and with a flick of his hand, a burst of white light shot out from his sleeve, most of it heading towards the southwest corner, while a few others flew towards the northeast.

"Southwest, thirty-six steps."

Zhuo Bing spoke softly, then rushed forward. Seeing this, Zhou Jing and Luo Ying swallowed the Hundred Herbs Pills that were under their tongues and followed closely behind Zhuo Bing.

By the time the Tang Clan disciples and Blue Shadow Clan members surrounding the outer area realized something was wrong, it was too late to react. A flash of cold light appeared, and several heads fell to the ground. Zhuo Bing, her sword still gleaming, looked at the remaining dozen or so Tang Clan disciples with a cold gaze and instantly charged into the crowd. Zhou Jing and Luo Ying followed closely behind. Taking advantage of the fact that the medicinal pills were still effective, the three of them worked together to overwhelm the Tang Clan disciples, who were almost powerless to fight back. In the blink of an eye, they were all dead or wounded.

By the time the disciples of the Blue Shadow Sect realized what was happening, the Tang Sect had already suffered a complete defeat.

"kill!"

Zhuo Bing, already seething with anger on the mountain, looked at the Blue Shadow Sect members without saying a word and charged forward with her sword. Zhou Jing and Luo Ying, still full of fighting spirit, also rushed to their aid with their swords. The three of them formed a sword formation and forced the dozen or so Blue Shadow Sect disciples to retreat. Every few breaths, one of them died. In just half a quarter of an hour, eight corpses lay on the ground.

Just as Zhuo Bing and his two companions were wreaking havoc, two palm strikes suddenly came from outside and hit the sword formation. Although they were neutralized by the power of the sword formation, Zhuo Bing's expression turned solemn.

"Be careful, it's Don Tangde."

Tang En and Tang De were a step too slow, and they saw that the Tang Clan disciples had suffered heavy casualties. They were immediately enraged and launched a Five Poison Palm attack on Zhuo Bing and the other two. Meanwhile, Tang De pulled the plug out of the fire lacquer gourd in his hand. A buzzing sound was heard, and tiny black bees crawled out of it. After Tang De uttered a strange tone, the black bees flew towards Zhuo Bing and the other two in formation.

"Deadly bees! Watch out!"

Zhuo Bing shattered Tang En's Five Poison Palm with a single sword strike. Seeing the overwhelming swarm of black bees, his expression changed drastically. He hurriedly called out, and Zhou Jing and Luo Ying, unaware of the origins of these deadly bees, knew from their name that they were no good.

These deadly bees are a unique type of poisonous insect raised by the Tang Clan. The first generation of deadly bees were the product of crossbreeding ordinary poisonous bees with various poisonous creatures. After more than ten generations, they have become extremely poisonous. An ordinary person would die on the spot if stung by one of them. Even a martial artist would die in excruciating pain if stung by one of them without an antidote, and their death would be extremely gruesome.

So many deadly bees were enough to engulf Zhuo Bing and his companions. Zhuo Bing swept his sword across, knocking down a large swarm of bees, but even more bees swarmed in. The death of their companions further fueled their ferocity, buzzing and vibrating, constantly disrupting Zhuo Bing and his companions. Just as the three were gradually becoming overwhelmed, a melodious flute sound suddenly rang out. The deadly bees, which had been enraged, all turned around and flew towards Tang De. Upon seeing this, the latter's expression changed drastically. He hurriedly sang a few notes, but no matter how he tried to manipulate them, the bees seemed to be out of control. To his horror, all the deadly bees swarmed onto him.

A series of screams rang in everyone's ears. Tang En was shocked by the sudden change before his eyes. Why had the deadly bees gone out of control? This was something that had never happened before. His eyes were vacant when Tang De's screams woke him up. Just as he was about to step forward to help, three long swords stabbed at him at the same time, their cold light flashing. Tang En was forced into a sorry state. Even though he had a hundred kinds of poisons on hand, he could not take them out for the time being.

When the Tang Clan disciples saw the elder's miserable state, they were about to rush forward to help when suddenly a series of flying needles shot out from the outside, instantly killing them all.

"Senior sister!"

(End of this chapter)