A journey through the world of martial arts

Chapter 343 Annihilating the Scoundrels
Qu Wei and Zhong Yue felt a chill down their spines. Without turning around, they knew it must be Ni Qingfeng who had made the move. The two hurriedly dodged left and right, but the chilling killing intent lingered. Just as the danger drew closer, Qu Wei glanced at Zhong Yue beside him. The latter, seeing Qu Wei's malicious gaze, was startled. Before he could speak, a cloud of white ash was thrown towards them. Although Zhong Yue reacted quickly, sweeping it aside with his sleeve, his speed suddenly slowed down.

"Qu Wei!"

Zhong Yue watched as Qu Wei, who had pulled three paces ahead, galloped away in a cloud of dust. He roared in anger and, without thinking, hurriedly rode forward. But he hadn't gone far when a bright sword light flew towards him. Zhong Yue felt a chill in his heart. Just as the sword light was about to hit him, he tilted his body and clung to the side of his horse, hoping to dodge the sword. But the sword light seemed to have a mind of its own. It paused for a moment, then changed direction, locked onto Zhong Yue, and then thrust forward again.

"not good!"

Zhong Yue was terrified by the sword light. In all his years of wandering the martial world, he had never seen such a sword move. This Ni Qingfeng must be a sword immortal. Thinking of this, Zhong Yue's spirits dissipated. He flipped onto his horse, gathered his true energy, and galloped away. But to his surprise, a battle suddenly broke out ahead. Qu Wei was entangled by several figures, cold light flashing, and palm energy flying everywhere.

Zhong Yue gritted his teeth, glanced at the lightning-fast sword light behind him, slapped his horse's back with his palm, and with a light touch of his toes, used his lightness skill to rush straight towards Qu Wei. At the same time, he reached out and shot out several hidden weapons to meet the incoming sword light. Not only could he not question Qu Wei now, he also had to help him capture the Tianshan disciple, otherwise he would not be able to leave Tianshan.

Ni Qingfeng watched Zhong Yue's movements calmly, his figure flashing as he rode the wind.

Zhong Yue's hidden weapon was shattered just before it reached the sword light. Ni Qingfeng reached out and caught it, and the sword light instantly disappeared into his palm. Looking at Qu Wei and the others fighting in front of him, Ni Qingfeng's figure blurred, and in the blink of an eye, he had already landed three feet away. Watching the several long swords flying up and down in the arena, Ni Qingfeng nodded involuntarily.

Li Dengping, along with Fu Tianjiao, Zhou Jing, and Luo Ying, formed a sword formation, tightly trapping Qu Wei. Meanwhile, Zhuo Bing, whose power had not yet recovered, relied on her agility and the sharpness of the Xuan Tie sword to temporarily block Zhong Yue, preventing him from getting close to the sword formation.

Zhong Yue was also a renowned expert in the demonic path. Logically speaking, he shouldn't have had such a hard time dealing with Zhuo Bing. However, he had just been terrified by Ni Qingfeng's sword strike, and his spirit had completely collapsed. Now, seeing the sharpness of this precious sword and the crisscrossing sword energy, he could only unleash half of its full power. Although Zhuo Bing's power was not complete, it was undoubtedly a pipe dream for Zhong Yue to gain the upper hand within a dozen or so moves.

Zhong Yue looked at the precious sword with a pained expression. It was forged from refined iron and was considered to be of superior quality, but under the Xuan Tie sword, it was practically as good as tofu. Every time it collided with the sword, it would add a nick.

Thinking of Ni Qingfeng behind him, Zhong Yue's eyes flashed with malice. He brandished his precious sword and, seizing an opportunity, fiercely slashed at Zhuo Bing's waist. Zhuo Bing hurriedly swung his sword to block, but Zhong Yue's all-out attack directly shocked Zhuo Bing, causing his blood to surge and his wrist to go numb. Zhuo Bing was tough; he swallowed the gushing blood, steeled his heart, and with a hum from his longsword, he forcefully gathered his energy while Zhong Yue's old strength was exhausted and new strength had not yet arisen. He unleashed a "Flying Swallow of Tianshan" technique, transforming it into a blade of light that slashed towards Zhong Yue. Zhong Yue's expression changed slightly, and he hurriedly drew his sword. The sword light struck the blade squarely, a flash of white light, and with a crack, the precious sword broke. The sword light continued its momentum, piercing Zhong Yue.

Zhong Yue grunted, looking at his chest and abdomen that had been struck by the sword light. However, he reacted quickly, performing a somersault and, despite his serious injury, using the force, heading straight for the sword formation.

Seeing Zhong Yue rushing towards the sword formation, Zhuo Bing felt a sudden urgency. Just as she was about to give chase, a familiar figure swiftly passed by her. Zhuo Bing was overjoyed to see the person appear and exclaimed in surprise.

"Fourth Uncle-Master!"

At this moment, within the sword formation, Li Dengping and the other three's longswords flew up and down, just like four silver dragons, constantly dispelling the turbid mist and evil energy within. Zhuo Bing's voice could be clearly heard in their ears.

"Junior brother!"

"Fourth Uncle-Master!"

All four were overjoyed, and their movements became even more swift. Qu Wei, however, was suffering in silence. He kept unleashing his Corpse-Transforming Palm Qi, but it was constantly being worn down by the sword Qi within the sword formation. In just half a quarter of an hour, Qu Wei's true Qi was severely depleted, and his Nourishing Spirit Pill was gradually failing to keep up with the rate of consumption. If this continued, even if he wasn't killed by the longsword, he would be worn down to death, or he would die at the hands of Ni Qingfeng who was on his way.

Just as Qu Wei was struggling to hold on, the pressure from the array suddenly lessened, and at the same time, a familiar figure came into his view.

"Good, good timing, Zhong Yue, you've really done me a great favor this time."

Qu Wei smiled as he looked at Zhong Yue, who had broken into the formation. Then, his eyes sharpened, and he stretched out his hand into a claw, his figure flashing as he grabbed at Zhou Jing, who was closest to him. As long as he could capture a Tianshan disciple and use her life as a threat, he figured that Ni Qingfeng and the others would not dare to make any rash moves.

Just as Zhong Yue entered the sword formation's warning range, Li Dengping was the first to notice. Without hesitation, she immediately sent a telepathic message to Fu Tianjiao, instructing her to stop Zhong Yue. Meanwhile, she and Zhou Jing continued to besiege Qu Wei. Qu Wei had already exhausted a lot of his true energy, and with the combined strength of the three of them, they could at least hold him off for a while, if not kill him. With backup, Li Dengping had no more worries at this moment.

However, just as Fu Tianjiao withdrew from the sword formation to block Zhong Yue, a sudden change occurred within the sword formation. Qu Wei disregarded the sword energy attacking from the left and right and unleashed a Corpse-Transforming Palm Qi directly at Zhou Jing. Although the latter was prepared, the difference in skill was still significant. The Corpse-Transforming Palm Qi broke through the sword light defense and directly struck Zhou Jing's forearm. Her sleeve tore, and her fair forearm was instantly stained with black. Moreover, the poison gas was spreading at a visible speed. In a few breaths, her entire arm had turned as black as charcoal and emitted a rotten, fishy smell.

Qu Wei looked at Zhou Jing, who was seriously injured and lying on the ground, and his eyes lit up with joy. Just as he reached out to grab her, a cold light descended from the sky. Li Dengping and Luo Ying, who were about to make a move, stopped in their tracks and stared blankly at the dazzling sword light.

"what!"

Swords flashed, followed by Qu Wei's miserable scream. Li Dengping looked closely and saw that Qu Wei's right arm had disappeared, and his left arm was covered with a thick layer of frost, emitting a chill.

"Ice Soul Cold Light Technique".

Li Dengping murmured to herself, "This is Ni Qingfeng's unique skill. My junior brother has indeed arrived." Li Dengping didn't look at Qu Wei's miserable state, but scanned the surroundings, searching for Ni Qingfeng's whereabouts. Suddenly, Fu Tianjiao, who was not far away, exclaimed in surprise. Li Dengping hurriedly turned around and saw that Zhong Yue had already turned into an ice sculpture. Amidst everyone's horrified expressions, the ice sculpture shattered inch by inch, and Zhong Yue's body melted away.

"Fourth Uncle-Master!"

Fu Tianjiao saw the Taoist priest descending from the sky and hurriedly stepped forward to pay her respects. Ni Qingfeng nodded to her, then turned around and looked at Qu Wei, who was seriously injured and lying on the ground not far away. He slowly walked over, and Li Dengping and the others made way for him.

"Nourishing Spirit Pills are not so easy to obtain. If you force yourself to take them when your cultivation is insufficient, it will only backfire."

Ni Qingfeng glanced at Qu Wei with his calm and indifferent eyes. Just one glance was enough to terrify Qu Wei. Ignoring his serious injuries, Qu Wei immediately knelt down and kowtowed heavily to Ni Qingfeng, begging for mercy. But Ni Qingfeng ignored him.

Qu Wei raised his head, a fierce glint flashing in his eyes. With a flick of his left hand, a volley of needles shot towards Ni Qingfeng. At the same time, his figure blurred, closing in on Zhuo Bing. His left hand formed a claw, reaching for her neck. However, Zhuo Bing remained unmoved. Li Dengping and the others also sneered. Just as Qu Wei's vicious claw was about to succeed, a gust of wind blew from the side. The wind swept Qu Wei into the air, and with a scream, his flesh and blood were instantly shredded, leaving not a trace.

Upon seeing such a tragic scene, Luo Ying couldn't bear it and turned her body halfway away. Fu Tianjiao, Zhuo Bing, and Zhou Jing exchanged a glance. Zhou Jing wanted to say something, but Fu Tianjiao stopped her with a look.

"Junior brother, quickly check Zhou Jing's injuries. Is there any way to treat this Corpse-Transforming Palm Qi?"

Seeing that Ni Qingfeng had dealt with Qu Wei in no time, Li Dengping didn't want to ask any more questions. She then pulled Zhou Jing to Ni Qingfeng's side. Ni Qingfeng looked at Zhou Jing's right arm, which had turned completely black, and narrowed his eyes. This palm strike was full of various poisonous miasma and corpse energy, which was extremely corrosive to the flesh. Fortunately, Zhou Jing cultivated pure Taoist internal energy and had taken various pills refined by Ni Qingfeng, which gave her some resistance. Otherwise, this palm strike would have been enough to kill her.

"It's alright, we just need to expel the poison gas. Senior sister, you should take Tianjiao and the others to the side to avoid getting poison gas on them."

Li Dengping nodded upon hearing this, and then led Fu Tianjiao and the others to retreat three feet away.

"Guard your mind and don't let external influences affect you," Ni Qingfeng instructed Zhou Jing. The latter immediately closed her eyes, silently circulated the Mind-Calming Technique, and her breathing quickly calmed down.

Seeing this, Ni Qingfeng nodded slightly and suddenly swung out a palm with his right hand. However, the palm energy was not condensed into a ball, but scattered into threads, shaped like needles. In the blink of an eye, it had already pierced Zhou Jing's right arm into a dense patch, and the dark right arm was instantly covered with small white dots.

While Zhou Jing was calming herself down, she felt a sudden tingling and numbness in her arm, followed by a needle-like pain. However, she remembered her master's instructions, gritted her teeth, and sweat dripped from her forehead and temples. Her face also turned pale, which made Li Dengping and the others standing to the side very nervous.

Although she knew that Ni Qingfeng would be fine after taking action, the pain during the process was unavoidable. Seeing Zhou Jing's painful appearance, Li Dengping made up her mind that when her senior brother, the sect leader, returned, she would compile a special technique for detoxification to alleviate some of the pain.

Ni Qingfeng moved his fingers quickly, and saw that most of the needles covering Zhou Jing's arm had turned black, and most of the blackened arm had regained its color, except for the palm, which still looked like it was poisoned.

Just as Zhou Jing was about to give up, Ni Qingfeng gave a soft shout. A white light flashed and cut through Zhou Jing's right hand fingers. With a few splattering sounds, streams of dark blood gushed out, splashing onto the ground, corroding the stone slab, and causing wisps of white mist to rise.

"Thank you, uncle."

Zhou Jing felt a sense of relief, as if a heavy layer of impurities had been removed. Her internal energy began to slowly grow, becoming even purer than before. Zhou Jing knew that her martial uncle had helped her. Seeing that her arm had fully recovered, Zhou Jing bowed respectfully to Ni Qingfeng.

"Ah."

Ni Qingfeng nodded, then looked at Li Dengping and the other three who were walking over.

"Uncle-Master, Tang En and Tang De of the Tang Clan have all been executed. What should be done with the Tang Clan disciples in the town?"

"As long as they don't do anything outrageous, we don't need to worry about them."

Li Dengping was not a bloodthirsty person. Since those Tang Clan disciples did not participate, he would let nature take its course. The Tianshan Sect did not have time to deal with them now.

"Tianjiao, you take your junior sisters up the mountain first and take care of things in the sect. Your fourth uncle and I still have things to discuss."

Upon hearing this, Fu Tianjiao immediately agreed, and after the group bowed, they headed up the mountain.

Ni Qingfeng looked at Li Dengping, who was about to speak, and spoke first: "Senior Brother Sect Leader was worried about changes in the sect, so he sent me ahead. It seems that Senior Brother Sect Leader's prediction was right."

Li Dengping breathed a sigh of relief upon hearing this, but guilt followed. Before leaving the mountain, her senior brother, the sect leader, had repeatedly instructed her, but she still failed to take good care of the mountain gate. If her junior brother hadn't arrived in time, Qu Wei would probably have already escaped.

"I have failed the sect leader's trust. I will personally apologize when the sect leader returns to the mountain."

Ni Qingfeng remained silent upon hearing this. Someone should indeed be held responsible for this matter, and he did not intend to plead for Li Dengping. After all, it was an indisputable fact that Qu Wei had taken the Nourishing Spirit Pill. Perhaps Li Dengping had her reasons, but for someone like him who only looked at the results, this was a huge mistake.

"Our sect leader and senior brothers may not arrive for another day or two. In the meantime, we need to restore Tianshan to its original state."

Upon hearing this, Li Dengping's eyes lit up. Although her junior brother hadn't said it explicitly, he had given her a hint: handling the affairs of the sect properly might lessen her punishment. Thinking of this, Li Dengping looked at Ni Qingfeng gratefully.

"Senior sister, please return to the mountain quickly. I will handle the trivial matters here."

Ni Qingfeng looked at the corpses on the ground, nodded to Li Dengping, who didn't stand on ceremony and turned to run up the mountain.

Just after Li Dengping left, Ni Qingfeng swept his sleeve, and four white crystalline lights flashed by, landing around the foot of the mountain. A barrier immediately isolated this place from the outside world.

"Edict!"

A glint flashed in Ni Qingfeng's eyes, and five-colored light suddenly appeared behind him. A treasure mirror radiating clear light slowly floated into the sky. As Ni Qingfeng continued to chant the incantation, the clear light in the treasure mirror grew stronger and stronger, quickly filling the entire barrier. The corpses were instantly enveloped in the clear light. Then, an unnamed flame suddenly appeared, and the corpses disappeared at a speed visible to the naked eye, leaving only colorful beads of energy in their place.

"receive!"

With a soft shout, the energy beads flowed into the treasure mirror like rivers flowing into the sea. After the treasure mirror absorbed these energy beads, its light shone slightly brighter.

After the last Qi Bead was swallowed, the Treasure Mirror hummed and then fell into the five-colored light behind Ni Qingfeng, fluctuating within it. After a flash of light, the Treasure Mirror disappeared.

Inside the Tianshan Grottoes, Gu Xu sat cross-legged on a stone platform, looking at the gradually stabilizing cave in front of him. He pointed his finger, and black and white energies swirled outside the cave. As one true incantation after another was cast in, a Tai Chi disc condensed and took shape.

(End of this chapter)