A journey through the world of martial arts

Chapter 426 Brawl
Sword Forging City, Volcanic Caves
Half an hour ago, as soon as the Sky-Covering Dust Array appeared, Guan Yutian remained unmoved, calmly watching the billowing white mist. Within the white mist, a tall figure appeared and disappeared. Upon seeing this, Guan Yutian said in a deep voice, "Sword Master, now that you've arrived, why hide? This Alliance Leader is waiting here."

Upon hearing this, the billowing white mist in the distance paused abruptly, and then a crimson sword light shot out from the mist at great speed, reaching Guan Yutian half a foot away in the blink of an eye. Further ahead was Guan Yutian's Tanzhong acupoint.

"Good idea."

Guan Yutian was not surprised but delighted. He reached out and grabbed it, and a transparent aura appeared around him. Although it looked very fragile, the crimson sword light was like sinking into a quagmire when it struck it. In the end, the sword light was completely swallowed up by it. Guan Yutian pinched it with his fingers, glanced at it, and then exerted a little force. The sword light shattered instantly. With a flick of his sleeve, the aura around him disappeared, and a dense gale swept forward, blowing the white mist backward.

"What a brilliant move, 'The Rise of Wind and Clouds.' Guan Yutian, it's been many years. Your skills have improved considerably. Let this old man test your mettle."

As soon as the deep voice fell, a sword light easily cleaved through the swirling wind and emerged from the surging white mist. The Bloodstained Sword in its hand emitted a scorching red light, and the surrounding temperature suddenly rose, the stifling heat making Guan Yutian slightly uncomfortable.

"It seems you have already mastered the Dragon Riding Slash to the ninth level. Unfortunately, even if you had mastered it to the eighteenth level, you would still be no match for this Alliance Leader."

Guan Yutian snorted coldly, and before the Sword Venerable could speak, he raised his hand and unleashed a powerful Dragon Palm strike. The immense force caused the surrounding space to tremble slightly. The Sword Venerable remained calm upon seeing this, and with a deep shout, he didn't even use the Bloodstained Sword. Instead, he pointed his finger in front of him, and a crimson spot appeared at his fingertip. He then slashed forward, and the sword energy shot out like shooting stars, colliding with the Dragon Palm. Instantly, the energy swept wildly, the void trembled, and the surging white mist was suppressed, leaving the surroundings empty.

With a bang, the sword master's outer aura suddenly contracted, and his body retreated several steps. The bluestone slab under his feet was also covered with cracks. The sword master looked at Guan Yutian, who was calm and composed, with a solemn expression.

"Take out your Dragon Rider Slash, or you'll never have another chance to use it."

Guan Yutian stared at the Sword Master with a grim expression. He reached to his waist and flicked his wrist. With a hum, a fine steel soft sword appeared in his hand. Its color was dark and crystal clear, with a cold light flickering. The moment it was taken out, a bone-chilling coldness instantly lowered the surrounding temperature. Upon seeing this, the Sword Master's heart skipped a beat, and he stared at the sword in Guan Yutian's hand with a grim expression.

"Frosty Autumn Jade!"

"Lord of the City has a good eye. It is indeed Frost Autumn Jade. How does this sword compare to your Bloodstained Sword?"

Guan Yutian chuckled, his true energy surged, and with a flick of his longsword, a stream of icy energy shot towards the white mist. The surging white mist instantly stopped, then visibly transformed into chunks of ice crystals.

"Now that this sword is in your hands, there's nothing more to say. The only thing to do is send you to the Abyss to die!"

Sword Master's figure flashed, a crimson light flashing on his longsword, splitting into six beams mid-air, each attacking one of Guan Yutian's six vital acupoints. This move was called "Six Yang Welcoming Slash." All six sword lights were illusory, but they would materialize the moment they struck the opponent. Moreover, in addition to these six sword lights, the final strike was hidden. When the Six Yang move was broken, this move would be unleashed in response, catching the opponent off guard. However, Sword Master did not expect this move to injure Guan Yutian; it was merely to buy time.

Guan Yutian looked at the incoming sword light with disdain. His sword hummed, and his figure moved nimbly. He swung his sword repeatedly, and wielded it. Strands of sword energy condensed into ice threads to meet the Six Yang Sword Light. The ice threads turned into a soft ice net the moment they made contact. When the Six Yang Sword Light struck it, it was like a dragon bound by ropes. No matter how hard it tried, it could not move. Under the erosion of the icy energy, the Six Yang Sword Light gradually dimmed.

Just as the Six Yang Sword Light was completely devoured, a crimson beam of light burst forth from it, like the rising sun. The ice net instantly vanished, its obstruction gone. The crimson sword light hurtled straight for Guan Yutian's head, and in an instant, it was right in front of him. A scorching sword aura made Guan Yutian's brows and eyes ache. He circulated his true energy, and a protective aura appeared around him, its surface shimmering with endless light. Although the crimson sword light was incredibly sharp, it was instantly shattered when it struck the protective aura. The scattered sword aura shot in all directions, and the white mist that had turned into ice crystals was instantly pulverized. Countless ice crystal fragments flew into the air, merging with the scorching heat wave. Streams of flame swept in all directions, most of them aimed at the Sword Venerable.

"Innate Qi!"

Sword Master looked at the aura surrounding Guan Yutian and his heart sank. Without hesitation, he held the Bloodthirst Sword horizontally in front of his chest, made a hand seal, channeled the Dragon Riding Sword Qi, and slashed forward with the sword. The space here flickered for a moment, and the incoming flames and light instantly vanished.

The Dragon-Riding Sword Qi absorbed all the power of the flames and flowing light, increasing its power even further. It slashed fiercely at Guan Yutian's aura shield with unstoppable force. With a loud bang, the Sword Master gripped his sword with both hands, his face turning red. The giant light blade formed by the Blood Fiery Sword struck the aura shield squarely, but failed to break through it in the slightest. Instead, there was a devouring and refining power within the aura shield, constantly eroding his sword qi. In just a few breaths, he had already consumed half of his true qi.

"The defense of this innate qi is indeed as the Taoist priest said, it is simply indestructible. To deal with this move, we still need to let Master Sixin take action, otherwise it will be difficult to shake it."

Sword Master stared intently at Guan Yutian, who was maintaining the protective aura. He quickly considered the situation, but less than half an hour had passed. If he retreated now, the situation might collapse. After careful consideration, he decided to hold on a little longer. With the Yuanzhen Pill given by Daoist Gu Xu, he could barely hold on.

Thinking of this, the Sword Master added three more points of strength to his hand. While Guan Yutian was resisting, he reached into his robes, took out a pill, and swallowed it. As soon as the pill entered his mouth, it turned into a warm current and sank into his dantian. With a surge of true qi, his originally depleted true qi was replenished again.

On the other side, Guan Yutian saw the Sword Master swallow the pill and his eyes flashed. The Sword Master was so blatantly taking the pill in front of him. Could he have some other trick up his sleeve?
But upon further reflection, Guan Yutian felt that he didn't need to worry about the Sword Master. The key now was to get out and reunite with the others. A considerable amount of time had passed since the Ling Shuang Sword's energy had dissipated, and he didn't know what the situation was like inside.

"drink!"

Just then, Guan Yutian felt the pressure on the energy shield increase significantly. His expression changed slightly, and he raised his hands high, gathering his true energy. He then suddenly lifted them upwards, shattering the energy shield and even breaking the giant light blade. The impact of the energy caused the Sword Master to grunt and retreat repeatedly, his body slamming against the wall.

"Sword Master, so nothing special."

Guan Yutian waved his sleeve to clear away the turbid air in front of him, his face cold as he looked at the Sword Master whose lips were stained with blood. Upon hearing this, the latter said in a deep voice, "Heh, although innate qi is extraordinary, it is not a martial art that can be unparalleled in the world. I am powerless against you, but what about this one?"

As soon as the Sword Master finished speaking, a white mist suddenly appeared out of thin air, obscuring him. Guan Yutian saw this and thought to himself, "This is bad." He swept his sword light across the mist, which was instantly frozen, but the Sword Master had already disappeared. At the same time, a faint melody of a zither came from all directions. At first, it was barely perceptible, but when it reached his ears, it was like a mountain collapsing and the earth splitting. Caught off guard, Guan Yutian was shocked and his blood and qi surged. He hurriedly circulated his qi to suppress it and then looked around.

“Master Sixin, now that you’re here, why hide? This leader of the alliance wants to see your Seven Wonders Zither.”

The sound of true energy reverberated, causing a loud boom all around. The newly formed white mist was swept away by the sound waves and gradually dissipated, revealing the hidden Abbess Sixin. Abbess Sixin sat upright on the ground, her seven-stringed zither lying across her knees. With her delicate hands, she played a few mournful notes that flew out of the zither, converging into cold flying blades that shot straight at Guan Yutian.

Seeing Abbess Sixin unleash her Frostbite attack immediately, Guan Yutian remained calm. His Frost Sword rang out, and he moved with lightning speed, slashing diagonally. A crescent-shaped blade met the dozens of flying icy blades head-on. Without a sound, shards of ice crystals scattered and fell, forming a thin layer of blue ice on the ground. Just as Guan Yutian was about to mock Abbess Sixin for overestimating herself, he suddenly felt the temperature around him plummet. Looking closely, he saw that the blue ice on the ground was spreading outwards at a visible speed, amplified by the music. Guan Yutian's pupils constricted, but his reaction was swift. Before the ice could close, he unleashed three powerful Dragon Palms in quick succession, simultaneously shifting his feet and thrusting directly at Abbess Sixin.

But at that moment, the three Dragon Palms were neutralized by three sword energies halfway through. Guan Yutian didn't even look, and raised his hand to strike down with another palm. This palm was even more domineering than the previous three, with blazing energy rising like clouds, and the blue ice layer showed signs of melting.

"Master, be careful."

Sword Master transmitted a message and charged towards Guan Yutian with his sword. The Dragon Riding Sword Qi was extremely sharp. With one sword, he first broke through the Mighty Dragon Divine Palm, and then with another sword, he directly cut off Guan Yutian's right arm. Meanwhile, the nun Si Xin seized the opportunity and used her zither music to continuously influence Guan Yutian's mind, gathering the power of cold evil to form a vast ice torrent that surged towards Guan Yutian.

While Sword Master and Master Sixin were fighting Guan Yutian, several other battlefields in the Covering Heaven Bewildering Dust Formation were also fiercely contested. Although Zhu Long and Xue Jian were assigned to the same area, they were repeatedly defeated by the four sword masters. In no time, Xue Jian was killed on the spot, and Zhu Long was also seriously injured and on the verge of death. Now they were just fighting like cornered beasts.

In the western part of the formation, the Drunken Immortal and his apprentice, along with Yan Cangfeng, were locked in a fierce battle with the Black Spirit Taoist. Although the Black Spirit Taoist possessed extraordinary martial arts skills, his mind had been taken over by Guan Yutian, and he could only unleash less than 80% of his full strength. Under the combined attack of the three, he was already covered in wounds, his left arm was hanging limply, and the black sword in his right hand had been broken by the Drunken Immortal.

"Seniors, Xiaoyao Lang, please protect me. I will use the Wind God's Fury to finish this battle quickly."

Yan Zangfeng spoke to Jiu Zhongxian and Xiaoyao Lang, and the two immediately nodded. One used the Overlord Fist, and the other used the Great Subduing Demon Fist. Both were fierce moves, which were the nemesis of people like Hei Ling Daoren who followed the path of lightness and agility.

Seeing that the Wine Immortal and his disciple were entangled with the Black Spirit Taoist, Yan Zangfeng straightened his face, put his hands together, circulated his true energy throughout his body, and then his eyes flashed with a sharp light. While transmitting his voice to the Wine Immortal and his disciple, he leaned forward, separated his hands, used his left hand to protect himself, and pushed outward with the palm force gathered in his right hand.

The two who were locked in combat with the Black Spirit Taoist heard Yan Cangfeng's telepathic message and first threw two punches before retreating and dodging. At that moment, they saw the tornado whistling past. The already seriously injured Black Spirit Taoist had no time to react and was instantly swept into it. A moment later, a scream was heard, and the blue tornado was immediately stained red. When the wind dissipated, nothing was left behind.

"What a powerful Wind God's Wrath!"

The Immortal of Wine looked at Yan Cangfeng in shock. This Black Spirit Daoist was no ordinary person. Although he was seriously injured, he was not without the power to fight back. However, even so, he was still rendered beyond recognition by the weakest of the Four Symbols Technique of Heavenly Will, Wind God's Wrath. It was truly shocking.

"Zang Feng, are you alright?"

Seeing Yan Cangfeng staggering, Xiaoyao Lang quickly took a few steps to support him and asked with a worried expression.

"It's nothing, just that my true energy was depleted a bit. With the pills given by the Daoist, I'll recover quickly. Senior, Xiaoyao Lang, now that we've dealt with our opponent, let's hurry up and help the others, especially the young city lord. Ren Qianxing is not easy to deal with."

After swallowing a few pills, Yan Zangfeng's pale face regained some color. Once his true energy flowed smoothly, he immediately called for Jiu Zhongxian and Xiaoyao Lang to support Jianxiong. Upon hearing this, the two exchanged a glance, and Jiu Zhongxian said, "That's right. The formation has been activated for almost half an hour. We can't let any of the people on the list escape. Let's go find Ren Qianxing and Xiaoyao Lang first."

The Immortal of Wine gave an order to the Carefree Gentleman, who understood and immediately took out a compass. He flicked it, and the pointer spun continuously until it stopped in the north. The pointer continued to jump, and the Carefree Gentleman's expression changed drastically upon seeing this.

"Master!"

"Come on!"

The Immortal of Wine hurriedly called out, and the three of them rushed north. At the same time, Jian Xiong looked at Helian Ba, who appeared beside Ren Qianxing, with a grim expression, and gripped the Bloodstained Sword tightly in his hand.

"Palace Master Helian has arrived at just the right time."

Ren Qianxing glanced at Helian Ba ​​and sneered. Helian Ba ​​remained unfazed and said calmly, "Our two families have already formed an alliance, so I naturally have to fulfill my responsibilities as an ally. Hall Master Ren, you can't even defeat the young master of Sword Forging City. Your status as the top-ranked Dragon Tiger Hero is somewhat demeaning."

Helian Ba ​​scoffed, and Ren Qianxing's face darkened. He said coldly, "I don't need outsiders to interfere with my business. You want to take the Ling Shuang Sword? Now is the perfect time. Almost all the experts in the Sword Casting City are tied up. If you don't go now, when will you?"

Upon hearing this, Helian Ba's eyes flashed with a sharp light, but he quickly regained his composure and said solemnly, "It would be better to capture Jian Xiong. Having leverage in hand is essential for negotiating a deal. Besides, how does Hall Master Ren know that no one is going to try and seize the sword?"

In fact, Helian Ba ​​was able to accurately locate Jian Xiong's side entirely thanks to a treasure of Changyangzi called the Qiankun Instrument, which is specifically designed to break various strange and escaping techniques. However, using it once consumes five years of internal energy. This time, in order to seize the initiative, Helian Ba ​​spared no expense.

Jianxiong listened to every word the two said, and his expression gradually returned to normal.

"They're all birds of a feather."

"Young City Lord, please forgive me."

Seeing that Ren Qianxing was still hesitating, Helian Ba ​​immediately transformed into six phantoms that rushed straight towards Jian Xiong. Upon seeing this, Jian Xiong threw the Bloodstained Sword into the air, made a hand seal, and the long sword spun, flashing with red light. Beams of red light shot out forward, and the six phantoms could not dodge in time. The moment they touched the sword light, they vanished without a trace.

(End of this chapter)