A journey through the world of martial arts

Chapter 420 Secret Hand
Late at night, in Sword Forging City, in a volcanic cave.

Several dark figures gathered at the foot of the mountain, looking at the black mountain peak standing in front of them. Although they were still several feet away from the mountain path, the scorching heat wave was still hitting them.

"Do it."

The leader spoke in a deep voice, and the four of them immediately took out heat-resistant clothing from their packs. After changing, they split into two groups and climbed up from two different directions. The disciples guarding the mountain seemed completely unaware, and after a short while, the four of them easily reached the mountainside.

"Why is the defense of this crucial place so lax in Zhujian Forging City? Could there be a trap?" The leader of the men in black frowned, but at this point, they no longer cared what Zhujian Forging City might have witnessed.

Calling to their companions, the two used their lightness skills to evade the patrol and easily reached the stone gate halfway up the mountain. Looking at the stone plaque above the gate that read "Forbidden Area," the two exchanged a glance, then stepped forward and pressed their hands. The stone gate slowly opened, and after leaving a mark, they seized the opportunity to dart inside. Just after the two disappeared, the patrol team circled back.

"Tell the people inside that the fish have taken the bait."

The patrol captain looked at the inconspicuous mark on the stone gate and gave an order to his trusted confidant. The confidant immediately replied, "Yes." He went to the stone gate, knocked on it, and after three soft knocks, the confidant turned back.

"Captain, it's been sent."

"Ah."

The patrol captain nodded and continued his patrol. Half a moment after the three left, the other two arrived. Looking at the hidden mark on the stone door, they pushed it open without hesitation and ran inside. However, they did not know that although there was only one stone door, it led to different places.

Inside the cave, Wei Guang scanned the mountain walls on both sides, which were inlaid with luminous pearls. After walking along the mountain path for a while, Wei Guang felt uneasy. Logically, the temperature outside should be higher as you go closer to the center of the cave, but the two of them felt that it was getting colder and colder outside as they walked, as evidenced by the ice shards hanging on the mountain walls.

"Commander Wei, something's wrong. We've fallen into a trap."

The other man in black, Yuan Xiang, also reacted at this moment. His heart sank, and he reached out and drew his short knife, slashing at the mountain wall. With a clang, the blade struck the stone wall, leaving no mark except for a few sparks. Wei Guang's expression turned solemn at this sight.

"Retreat quickly!"

Wei Guang called out to Yuan Xiang, whose face was gloomy, and the two hurriedly returned the way they came. But at that moment, they heard the sound of a stone door falling to the ground. A thick stone wall blocked their retreat. At the same time, the luminous pearls on the two mountain walls shrank inward, revealing holes in front of them. Wei Guang's expression changed drastically upon seeing this.

"careful!"

As soon as Wei Guang finished speaking, the sound of machinery clattering rang in their ears, followed by a whooshing sound as short arrows rained down upon them. The two hurriedly drew their weapons to parry, fighting and retreating. Before they knew it, they had moved forward another ten feet.

"It seems they want to force us to move forward. If that's the case, then I'll see what tricks they're up to."

Wei Guang took a deep breath, swallowed a few pills to recover some of his energy, and looked at Yuan Xiang, who had been shot in the arm. He walked over to him and saw that the wound was black and red, with signs of rotting. He frowned slightly, pressed his finger on an acupoint, and placed his palm on Yuan Xiang's back. A surge of true energy coursed through his body, enveloping the fire poison that had invaded his body. With a muffled groan, Yuan Xiang opened his mouth and spat out a mouthful of black blood, which emitted a scorching heat.

"Luckily, I took the Clear Meridian Pill, otherwise the fire poison would have taken root in my dantian. How are you? Can you still move?"

Wei Guang withdrew his hand and looked at Yuan Xiang, whose complexion had improved slightly. Upon hearing this, Yuan Xiang straightened up, swallowed a few pills, shook his head, and said in a deep voice, "It's nothing. I can handle this minor injury. Commander, what should we do now? Should we just follow the path the enemy has laid out for us?"

"Our retreat has been blocked by the Dragon-Severing Stone. We have no choice but to continue forward. We came out prepared to die anyway. Since they want to play us, let's show them who the final winner is."

Upon hearing this, Yuan Xiang was greatly encouraged.

Just as the two were heading deeper into the cave, the other two were also attacked. These two were only of average or below-average martial arts skills, but they managed to dodge the attack perfectly and reach the cliff edge thanks to their agility.

"Commander Li, what is this?"

Wang Chen looked at the iron chain bridge ahead, with rolling lava below. As soon as he got close, a scorching heat made him feel quite uncomfortable. Li You, who was next to him, also changed his expression slightly when he saw the iron chain bridge. There was only one way to cross it, but if he was not careful, he would be reduced to ashes. Just as Li You was hesitating, a rumbling sound suddenly came from the mountain path behind him.

"Oh no, Commander Li, that stone ball is rolling over again."

Wang Chen exclaimed in surprise, his face changing drastically. Li You was also shocked to hear the sound. Just now, the two of them had finally managed to drive the stone ball into the mountain, but unexpectedly, another one appeared. Hearing the sound getting closer and closer, Li You made a quick decision and called out to Wang Chen. The two of them quickly stepped onto the iron chain bridge. The moment they stepped on it, a surge of heat shot from the soles of their feet to their heads. The two of them hurriedly circulated their energy to resist it and used their lightness skills to rush to the other side.

"hurry up!"

Li You moved swiftly, and in the blink of an eye, he was less than half a zhang away from the other side. He lunged forward, landed safely, turned around, and looked at Wang Chen, who was still running. He shouted anxiously, and when he saw the rolling ball appear, Li You's eyes suddenly sharpened. He took out three throwing darts from his pocket, shouted at Wang Chen to lower his head, and the latter hurriedly ducked. Three sharp weapons flew past his head.

Three crisp clanging sounds rang out, and the rolling stone ball was slightly slowed down by the three darts. However, it quickly continued to roll forward and rushed directly onto the iron chain bridge. The moment the stone ball hit the iron chain bridge, the bridge could not withstand the pressure and immediately cracked.

Hearing the sound of breaking behind him, Wang Chen dared not turn around. He was still about ten feet away from the other side. He threw a grappling hook at the other side, which landed firmly on the stone wall. He flipped over and retrieved the hook. Using the momentum of the swing, Wang Chen leaped into the air. By the time the bridge broke off and landed on his side, he was already out of danger.

Seeing this, Li You breathed a sigh of relief. But at that moment, the magma under the bridge suddenly erupted, and streams of flame shot up. Wang Chen's expression changed drastically, and he hurriedly swayed left and right, barely managing to dodge. However, his clothes were set on fire, and with a bang, Wang Chen instantly became a human torch, leaving Li You dumbfounded.

"not good!"

Li You immediately grabbed the grappling hook chain and pulled it upwards with force. Wang Chen was pulled up and flipped to the ground, rolling around. Li You hurriedly went forward to extinguish the flames, and it took a while for the flames to be put out.

"How about it?"

"It's just some superficial wounds, nothing serious." Wang Chen was extremely excited to have escaped death. He applied ointment to his wounds, and the cool sensation made him feel much better.

"Let's go, we can't stay here any longer."

Li You glanced around, seeing only red rocks, then called to Wang Chen, and the two quickly left. Just as the four from the Supreme Alliance entered the mountain cave, in the main chamber of the volcano's mechanisms, Jian Xiong and the four swordsmen used the mechanisms to keep track of the four's movements.

"Young City Lord, two people have entered the icy pool, and two people have entered the sea of ​​flames."

"Hmm, these four are not simple either. We must finish this quickly and not give them any chance."

"Yes."

The Dragon Sword Master responded and went down to make arrangements. After a while, the Dragon Sword Master returned and nodded to the Sword Hero.

Just then, someone came to report that someone else had come out of Qingxin Garden and was heading towards the Sword Hall. Upon hearing this, Jian Xiong remained expressionless, simply replying that he knew, and then waved for the person to leave.

"The city lord will handle the Sword Hall, so we don't need to be distracted. Otherwise, we might end up with nothing to show for our efforts."

Somewhere in the mountain cave, Wei Guang and Yuan Xiang trembled as they looked at a large pool in front of them, emanating a chilling aura and with ice blocks floating on its surface.

"What exactly is this place, and why is there such a cold place inside the volcano?"

Yuan Xiang exhaled and rubbed his hands together.

"If I'm not mistaken, it should be the icy pool water used for quenching. This place is extremely cold and can easily wear down one's spirit. We can't stay here long, let's go quickly."

Wei Guang reached out and touched the pool water. Instantly, a bone-chilling cold rushed straight into his dantian. Wei Guang was shocked and quickly withdrew his hand. In just half a breath, his fingertips were covered with a thin layer of frost.

"There seems to be no road ahead."

Yuan Xiang circled the icy pool but found no exit. Wei Guang, seeing this, had a flash of insight. He stood on a high platform, looking down at the pool. A cold glint flashed in his hand, and a silk dart shot straight into the icy pool. But in the instant it hit the water, the dart froze, and the cold air surged towards Wei Guang along the silk thread. Upon seeing this, the latter quickly drew his fingers and cut the silk thread.

"Commander, could the exit be hidden in the icy pool?"

Seeing Wei Guang do this, Yuan Xiang immediately realized what was going on. Wei Guang remained silent for a long time before finally saying slowly, "The exit must be underwater, but this pool is extremely cold. With our current true energy, our protective aura can only last for three quarters of an hour at most. If we can't find the exit before then, we'll definitely freeze to death here."

"We're going to die anyway, so we might as well go all out. Our trip has been a complete failure. We didn't even see a glimpse of the Frost Sword. We'll have no face to go back."

Yuan Xiang sighed. By now, he understood that the reason they had infiltrated the mountain cave so easily must have been because Sword Casting City had allowed them to enter on purpose. Now, finding clues was not the most important thing; preserving their lives was the priority.

"I'll go down first, be careful."

Now that things had come to this, Wei Guang had no other choice but to do so. He gave Yuan Xiang a command, then leaped into the icy pool and disappeared from Yuan Xiang's sight with a splash.

Upon entering the icy pool, the protective aura quickly froze under the erosion of the cold air, and the vision in front of him gradually blurred. Seeing this, Wei Guang circulated his true energy, and instantly a warm current melted away the frost, revealing the scene at the bottom of the icy pool.

"This is!"

Above the icy pool, Yuan Xiang followed Wei Guang into the water, but the moment he entered, his expression changed drastically. A thick layer of frost formed on the shield, and gravity pulled him down, dragging him straight to the bottom. Yuan Xiang only had time to scream before the shield shattered, and the icy air assaulted him. He instantly transformed into a lifelike ice sculpture. His descent continued, and several crimson fish crashed into the ice sculpture, cracking several times before Yuan Xiang's body split apart.

Just as Wei Guang and Yuan Xiang entered the icy pool, Li You and Wang Chen on the other side were also running forward along the passage. After passing several forks and dodging three attacks, Wang Chen finally accidentally stepped on a trap and fell into the lava.

Li You stared at Wang Chen, who had sunk into the lava, with a grim expression. He sighed, threw half of the flying claw into the lava, and continued running forward. But just as he entered a spacious hall, candlelight suddenly ignited around him, and seven dragon-slaying stones crashed down, leaving only a doorway in front of him.

"Who dares to trespass into the forbidden area of ​​my Sword Forging City?"

A deep voice rang out in the hall, and Li You immediately felt as if he were facing a formidable enemy. He held his long sword horizontally in his hand and warily scanned his surroundings. After a few breaths, a glint flashed in Li You's eyes, and he threw several fire bombs at the broken dragon stones. With a series of booming sounds, the smoke and dust dissipated, and Li You's expression changed drastically when he saw the intact broken dragon stones.

"How is that possible!"

Just then, a sword light suddenly shot in. Li You hurriedly swung his sword to block it. With three clangs, the sword light shot out in all directions, and meteors flew everywhere. Li You felt a huge force transmitted through the sword. His true energy stagnated, and the sword broke free of its restraints. He flipped over and landed on the ground, his eyes fixed on that familiar figure.

"Tiger Sword, one of the four great swordsmen of Sword Forging City!"

Li You's heart sank slightly. He knew about the Four Great Sword Masters of Sword Forging City and had even studied them. He had previously thought that he was not far from being on par with the Four Great Sword Masters, but after exchanging blows just now, he realized that he was very wrong. The Tiger Sword Master, as one of the Four Great Sword Masters, was already no less powerful than the Hall Master of the Supreme Alliance. What must the Dragon Sword Master, who was above him, be like?

"It seems your faction anticipated this."

"I thought you would at least wait a while before scouting, but I didn't expect you to be so impatient as soon as you arrived in Sword Forging City. Very well, tonight I will start with you and cut off your arrogance. Let's make our move."

After speaking, Tiger Swordsman raised his sword and looked coldly at Li You. The latter remained silent, pointed his long sword diagonally, and with a flick of his fingers, a flash of sword light appeared. Li You's figure flew, and he thrust his sword straight at him. Seeing this, Tiger Swordsman expressionlessly held his broadsword upright in front of him, as if standing firm like a mountain. The sword light struck the broadsword precisely with a clang.

Li You's sword strike was powerful and heavy. If his opponent were a swordsman who favored agility, he might have been restrained. However, Tiger Swordsman was a swordsman who relied on killing and ruthlessness, and was least afraid of such moves. With a turn of his sword, he instantly deflected Li You's sword force. Not only that, Tiger Swordsman's left palm struck out like thunder, unleashing a "Mountain-Shaking Palm." The powerful palm force and fierce wind rushed towards Li You. At the same time, he swept "Horizontal Edge Slicing Mountain" towards Li You's waist. Sword moves and palm force attacked from both sides. Li You only had time to swing his sword to defend, and could only use his internal energy to block the Mountain-Shaking Palm.

With a "bang," Li You, despite using his sword technique, was violently sent flying by the Mountain-Shaking Palm. The Tiger Sword was relentless, and just as he was about to take advantage of the situation to attack, he suddenly stopped and hurriedly dodged. There was a clanging sound as a cluster of hidden weapons were stuck in the spot.

(End of this chapter)