A journey through the world of martial arts

Chapter 342 One Sword Kills

At the foot of Tianshan Mountain, Fu Tianjiao first used her flute to drive away the deadly bees, then shot out a volley of flying needles, killing most of the Tang Clan disciples on the spot. Fu Tianjiao pressed her advantage, her long sword gleaming coldly, with starlight flashing. The remaining Tang Clan disciples had no time to react and died instantly.

Fu Tianjiao flicked her sword, her eyes flashing with a fierce light as she looked at Tang De, who was being swarmed by the deadly bees. Her figure moved instantly, and taking advantage of Tang De's serious injury, she thrust out a Heavenly Mountain Divine Light. In the blink of an eye, Tang De's wailing stopped abruptly. The deadly bees realized that their target was dead and all paused. Just as they were at a loss, a string of sparks suddenly fell from the sky and exploded in the swarm. In an instant, it became a sea of ​​fire, and the deadly bees were burned to a crisp and fell from the sky, forming a thick layer.

"It's better to destroy such harmful things."

Fu Tianjiao withdrew the fire tube with her right hand, looked at Tang En who was being surrounded and killed not far away, trembled her long sword, used her lightness skill to rush towards that place.

Previously, Tang En's situation was also very bad. Zhuo Bing and the other two knew that they could not give Tang En a chance to catch his breath, so the three of them took turns attacking him to prevent him from using poisonous insects. Just now, Tang En had to endure taking a sword from Zhuo Bing before he took out a few poisonous centipedes and threw them out, thus creating a slight opening for himself.

After Zhuo Bing and the other two killed the poisonous insects, Tang En was free to act. A black light flashed from his sleeve, and a black snake-scale whip shot out. With a flick of the whip, a crisp sound rang out, and the blood-red tail needles on the whip tip gleamed with a predatory light. Upon seeing this, Zhuo Bing and the other two all looked solemn, holding their long swords horizontally and silently watching Tang En.

"If we don't capture the three of you today, how can the Tang Clan save face!"

With a fierce roar, Tang En lashed out with his snake whip, the whip tip flashing unpredictably. Dozens of whip shadows attacked Zhuo Bing and the other two simultaneously. The three of them couldn't distinguish between the real and fake whips and hurriedly raised their swords to block. They held their ground tightly, preventing Tang En from escaping. However, although Tang En's martial arts skills were not great, his methods of using poison were endless. As the snake whip attacked the three of them, he flicked his sleeve again, and a small green snake flew out, directly attacking Luo Ying.

Tang En was trapped in the three-person formation, but he also knew the strength of the three. Therefore, in order to break the formation, he had to start with Luo Ying, who was the weakest. This little green snake was a type of bamboo viper. Although it was small, its venom was stronger. If the opponent was not strong enough, it could end his life in the blink of an eye. Even a first-class master would be temporarily unable to fight if he was bitten by this snake.

Zhuo Bing and Zhou Jing were wielding their swords to cut off the incoming whip shadows when they saw Tang En release a poisonous snake to attack Luo Ying. Their expressions changed slightly as they tried to stop him, but they found that the force of the attacking soft whip had increased significantly, blocking the two of them for a moment, and they could not escape in a short time.

Just as Tang En was channeling ninety percent of his power into Zhuo Bing and Zhou Jing, Luo Ying felt the pressure on her body ease, but her heart sank. Just as she became alert, she saw the whip shadow suddenly withdraw, and a swift blue light shot towards her. Luo Ying looked closely and saw that it was a poisonous insect. Her expression remained unchanged, and she brandished her long sword, the sword light flashing and revealing a cold glint. The chilling sword light firmly guarded her defenses.

The green snake was incredibly fast. Almost the instant Luo Ying set up her defenses, it crashed into the sword light. How could the green snake's flesh and blood withstand the sharpness of this divine weapon? In the blink of an eye, it was shredded by the sword light. As blood and flesh flew everywhere, Luo Ying's expression changed drastically, and her body swayed slightly. A sweet and cloying smell filled her nostrils.

"not good!"

Luo Ying sensed a disturbance in her internal energy, her movements faltered, and as the sword light dissipated, an even stronger, sweet and cloying aura rushed towards her.

Tang En, who was fighting against Zhuo Bing and Zhou Jing, was overjoyed when he saw Luo Ying's strange behavior. He tightened his soft whip, which became like a long stick, and swept it across Zhuo Bing and Zhou Jing, forcing them to retreat temporarily. He then moved quickly towards Luo Ying.

"Go away!"

Zhuo Bing and Zhou Jing naturally noticed their junior sister's unusual behavior. They shouted in unison and used their lightness skills to chase after Tang En. However, they had just been forced back several steps and Tang En had seized the initiative. It was impossible for them to arrive before Tang En captured Luo Ying. Thinking of this, a fierce glint flashed in Zhuo Bing's eyes. She slowed down slightly, gathered her inner energy, and poured it all into her longsword. The longsword immediately gleamed with a cold light, and a murderous aura appeared around her. With a loud shout, the longsword left her hand and transformed into a white dragon, rushing forward like a raging sea. Its momentum was like lightning, and its power was like the collapse of the sky. The void trembled, and clear sword cries resounded throughout the surrounding area. Even Li Dengping and Qu Wei, who were fighting in the distance, heard the sound.

"A jade dragon from beyond the heavens!"

Li Dengping's expression turned serious. Once this move was used, regardless of whether it succeeded or not, he would be exhausted and lose his fighting ability.

Sensing Li Dengping's clone, Qu Wei's eyes flashed with a sharp light, and his palm shimmered with dark light as he unleashed a powerful palm strike. A dense ball of black palm energy swept towards Li Dengping like a tornado, and a foul, rotten stench immediately spread out. Li Dengping regained her senses, her longsword trembled, and with a deep shout, her figure flashed. Two phantoms appeared beside her on the left and right, and the three swords were unleashed simultaneously. Three white sword lights converged at one point, like a silver river spreading out, determined to cleanse the filth before her.

The sword light and palm energy collided, their brilliance flickering. The palm energy continuously eroded the sword light, while the sword light constantly wore down the palm energy. After a moment, the two forces finally dissipated. However, Li Dengping's heart sank. Qu Wei's Corpse-Dissolving Palm was too insidious. It had actually penetrated the sword light's defense and directly wrapped around the Xuan Tie Sword. Seeing the faint crimson color on the Xuan Tie Sword, Li Dengping poured her true energy into it, instantly refining it. However, this undoubtedly consumed unnecessary true energy. If this continued, she would inevitably exhaust her true energy prematurely.

"Elder Li, let's make a deal. Why don't we both compromise? I have already obtained the Nourishing Spirit Pill and have no intention of being enemies with your sect anymore. In return, your sect must promise not to cause me any trouble for the next five years. What do you think?"

Qu Wei was very perceptive; he had clearly heard the flute music and the screams. If there were no surprises, something must have gone wrong on the Tang Clan's side. He was cautious by nature, and since things were already heading in an out-of-control direction, it was better to cut it off in advance, take the benefits he deserved, and leave, rather than end up losing everything.

Li Dengping pondered for a long time after hearing this, but then he thought of something and said to the person opposite him in a firm voice: "Elder Qu, there is no point in saying more. Since you have done something that is detrimental to the Tianshan Sect, as an elder of the sect, I naturally have the responsibility to defend the sect's dignity. If I don't leave something behind, I will have no face to face the sect leader when he returns."

As soon as she finished speaking, Li Dengping turned with her sword, and three figures rushed forward. One sword was used to slash upwards, another to stab the abdomen, and the third to attack downwards. The three killing moves were different, and a chilling killing intent immediately enveloped Qu Wei. Upon seeing this, the latter snorted coldly. He had said all the nice things, but the other party still left no way out, so he had nothing more to say.

With a surge of dark light in his palm and a deep shout, Qu Wei's sleeves fluttered as he scanned the three longswords that were thrusting towards him. Instantly, his eyes narrowed, and he unleashed a palm strike towards the figure on the far right.

Seeing that Qu Wei had seen through the illusion, Li Dengping remained calm. The two phantoms raised two long swords, their swords flashing and buzzing. The incoming palm energy shattered instantly. Before the remaining turbid energy could dissipate, a white light broke through the illusion, carrying sharp sword energy that shot straight at Qu Wei.

"Good move!"

Qu Wei watched Li Dengping's sudden thrust and exclaimed in admiration, but his hands were not slow either. He brought his hands together, and the dark light and black energy merged into one. As true energy continued to flow in, the dark light formed a ball of pitch-black light. He pushed it forward, and the ball of pitch-black light met the white light head-on. A shocking explosion was heard, and Qu Wei was immediately pushed back several steps by the shock wave before he could stop. His blood and qi surged in his body, and it took him a while to calm down.

Looking at the billowing dust ahead, and sensing it briefly, he realized that although Li Dengping's aura was weak, she was recovering rapidly.

"No, we can't keep wasting time with her like this. We need to leave quickly, otherwise, once the experts from the Tianshan Sect arrive, we won't be able to leave even if we want to."

Qu Wei hesitated for a moment, then reached out and took out the porcelain bottle containing the Nourishing Spirit Pill. He broke the stopper, swallowed the pill, and instantly a surge of vitality emanated from his dantian, and the true energy he had consumed was rapidly restored.

Before Li Dengping could make a move, Qu Wei gathered his inner energy, shouted loudly, and pushed forward with both hands. A jet-black palm wind suddenly shot out, instantly stirring up a raging storm several feet high, heading straight for Li Dengping. Taking advantage of this opportunity, Qu Wei's figure flickered, mounted a fine horse, and galloped away from Tianshan.

Li Dengping looked at the towering Kuang Lan and noticed that Qu Wei's aura had disappeared. Her face turned very ugly. Qu Wei was determined to leave, and she couldn't stop him. She had originally thought of dying together with him, but she hadn't found an opportunity. Now that Qu Wei had escaped, she didn't know when she would be able to find him. The reputation of the Tianshan Sect had been trampled on so wantonly. How could he face his senior brother, the sect leader, after this?

"Thinking about it now is useless. Let's deal with the Tang Clan members first."

Li Dengping's expression turned serious as he looked at the approaching raging storm. His longsword flashed brightly for a moment, and a snow-white sword light slashed down at the waist. The several-zhang-high raging storm paused for a moment, then collapsed with a roar, scattering into a sky full of turbid air. Wisps of black evil energy fell from the sky, and the moment they hit the ground, they corroded the stone surface into pits of varying depths.

"Evil heretics!"

Seeing this, Li Dengping frowned deeply. With a flick of his sleeve, a gust of wind swept through, condensing the remaining black evil energy in the air into a ball. Then, he stirred his true energy and used pure internal force to slowly refine it. After a while, the black evil energy completely disappeared.

On the other side, after Zhuo Bing used "Heavenly Jade Dragon", her body became heavy and she almost fell to the ground. Zhou Jing immediately noticed and was about to turn around when Zhuo Bing shook her head to stop her. "Go and help Junior Sister Luo quickly."

Upon hearing this, Zhou Jing didn't hesitate for a moment. Looking at the long sword that had already taken the lead, she mustered all her inner energy and sped up to catch up. At the same time, Tang En was less than three feet away from Luo Ying. Seeing the panicked look on her face, he revealed a ferocious smile. He swung his snake whip forward, about to tear Luo Ying's neck off. Just then, Tang En felt the hairs on his body stand on end. He turned around and saw a long sword flashing with cold light stabbing towards him.

Without time to think, Tang En hurriedly withdrew his snake whip, flicking his wrist to create several circles that coiled around the longsword. Tang En's withdrawal gave Zhou Jing and Luo Ying an opportunity. The two simultaneously raised their swords and leaped into the air, slashing at Tang En. Two crescent-shaped blades flew swiftly towards him.

At this moment, Tang En was dealing with the flying longsword. Seeing Zhou Jing and the other woman make their move, he hurriedly dodged to the side. Two crescent-shaped blades clashed twice, striking the ground. With a snap, Tang En used his soft whip to strike the flying longsword, which hummed incessantly like a trapped dragon. Tang En was also covered in sweat and was starting to feel the strain. Just then, Zhou Jing and Luo Ying attacked Tang En from the left and right, respectively. He had to divert some of his strength, which left his soft whip slightly weaker.

Just after Tang En forced Zhou Jing and the other person back with two poisonous insects, his expression suddenly changed. The long sword, gleaming with a cold light, cleanly severed the snake whip and continued to fly towards them.

The chilling sword energy pointed directly at Tang En, startling him so much that his face paled. Without a second thought, Tang En swung his broken whip, entangled the longswords of Zhou Jing and the other man who were about to surround and kill him, and with a forceful pull, the two men suddenly found their hands empty as their longswords were swept away by the whip. Tang En then swung the whip backward, sending both longswords simultaneously meeting the flying sword.

"not good!"

Zhou Jing and Luo Ying were shocked. Losing their swords wasn't a big deal, but if the three swords clashed, they would inevitably be injured. The three of them, now without their weapons, would be less effective against Tang En. Seeing that it was too late to retrieve their swords, Zhou Jing and Luo Ying focused their energy on their palms and kept a close eye on Tang En, fearing a sudden attack.

However, to Zhou Jing and her companion's surprise, after Tang En seized the longsword, he didn't even look at it and rushed straight towards the outside. At this moment, the three longswords were about to collide in mid-air, and Zhou Jing and her companion immediately showed expressions of regret. Just then, they heard a few clanging sounds of metal clashing, and then they saw two longswords suddenly appear and be stuck in the ground not far from them.

"Senior sister!"

Zhou Jing and Luo Ying exclaimed in surprise. Zhuo Bing, who arrived shortly after, held her long sword and looked at Fu Tianjiao, who was chasing Tang En, with a joyful expression.

"Your martial uncle needs a lot of help, you should go and assist him quickly."

Fu Tianjiao's voice faded into the distance, and her figure flickered and disappeared from their sight in an instant.

Outside the town of Tianshan, Qu Wei rode a fast horse, whipping it as he galloped. He turned around and saw that the people from the Tianshan Sect were not chasing after him, and he breathed a sigh of relief.

"It's not safe here yet. We need to head to Miao territory. Although the Tianshan Sect is powerful, it can't manage that far."

As Qu Wei was galloping on his horse, two figures on horseback suddenly appeared in front of him. Upon seeing them, Qu Wei tightened the reins and narrowed his eyes.

"So it's Sect Master Zhong and Sect Master Sha. It's been a long time."

Qu Wei looked at the middle-aged man in an earthy yellow shirt and the short old man, and gave a slight bow.

The newcomers were Zhong Yue of the Polar Sect and Sha Tiweng of the Sand Rat Sect. Since the Battle of Bailing Mountain, the two had fled to Miao territory with Tang Entangde to recuperate. Later, upon learning of the growing conflict between the Tianshan Sect and the Zhongxin Hall, they returned to the Central Plains, hoping to reap the benefits of the conflict between the two factions.

"Elder Qu, leave the Nourishing Spirit Pill. This is a condition we agreed on before. You can't go back on your word."

Zhong Yue looked at Qu Wei, who looked exhausted, frowned slightly, and said in a deep voice.

Qu Wei had previously used the Spirit Nourishing Pill as an excuse to obtain the cultivation manual for the Corpse Transformation Palm.

"Gentlemen, this is not the place to talk. The Tianshan Sect is currently fighting with the Tang Clan. We need to leave this dangerous place immediately. The Nourishing Spirit Pill is already in my hands."

Qu Wei reached into the porcelain bottle, pulled out the stopper, and fanned it with his hand. Zhong Sha and the other man immediately smelled a fragrance. After exchanging a glance, Zhong Yue nodded, turned his horse around, and gestured to Qu Wei. The three of them rode off towards the edge of the town. But just as they were about to leave Tianshan Town, a familiar figure suddenly appeared on horseback galloping towards them from not far to the east.

"Ni Qingfeng!"

As Shatie cried out in alarm and tried to flee, a flash of sword light appeared. To the horror of Qu Wei and Zhong Yue, Shatie's body was severed in two and he fell from his horse, but without a drop of blood.

"Brother Zhong, let's go!"

Qu Wei was horrified. He called out and hurriedly turned his horse around. He was determined that if he could capture a Tianshan disciple, he might still have a way to survive.

However, Zhong Yue gave a bitter smile upon hearing this, remained motionless for a long time, and said in a hoarse voice, "It's too late. Ni Qingfeng's martial arts skills are already superb. We are practically no different from children in front of him."

Having witnessed Ni Qingfeng's skills before, he was well aware of the gap between them. He was not even as good as the White-headed Eagle, yet the latter was defeated by Ni Qingfeng in one move. How could he possibly fight against him?

Zhong Yue is now filled with regret. He thought he could achieve his goal while Ni Qingfeng and the others were away from the mountain, but now it seems he might even lose his life here.

"Brother Zhong, why are you so dejected? There is always a way out. As long as we can grasp the enemy's weakness, there may still be a glimmer of hope."

Seeing Zhong Yue's spirits gradually waning, Qu Wei knew something was wrong and quickly sent him a few words through telepathy. Upon hearing this, the latter's eyes lit up.

Seeing Ni Qingfeng getting closer and closer, the two hurriedly ran back the way they came. Qu Wei, worried about being attacked from behind, reached into his pocket and took out a few black pills, throwing them out. The pills exploded the moment they hit the ground, and thick black mist rose up, directly obscuring the two figures.

Seeing Qu Wei and Ni Qingfeng's actions, Ni Qingfeng, who was riding a horse, pondered for a moment. Looking at the dispersing black mist, he reached out and grabbed it. A gust of wind swept away the mist, and within a few breaths, the black mist was dispersed by the wind.

Ni Qingfeng cracked his whip a few times, and his horse galloped forward. Just as the two sides realized that they were getting smaller and smaller, Ni Qingfeng shouted, pushed off the horse's back with his toes, and took off into the air. He quickly approached and drew his long sword, launching a "Thousand Mountains Silver Chain" attack directly at Zhong Yue and Qu Wei.

(End of this chapter)