knife

Chapter 693 A Clash of Titans
Cui Shu stood atop the city tower, the biting wind blowing his cloak and his long, flowing hair dancing in the wind. Judging by his appearance alone, he truly looked like a hermit sage.

Looking at the army formation taking shape below, Cui Shu revealed a disdainful expression.

"Even the great families have their own formations to counter innate masters, but kid, are you sure yours will do?" He laughed loudly, "The head, the center, and the tail of the formation each require at least one ninth-grade Xuan Yuan master, and then they need to be paired with a military formation composed of Xuan Yuan masters to directly confront an innate master. Do you even have a ninth-grade Xuan Yuan master here? Even you yourself are a little short!"

Hearing the other party's sarcastic tone, Linghu Zhishu took a deep breath and said, "What you said is true, but that's for a normal innate master. Are you normal?"

Cui Shu flew into a rage and brandished his one-armed halberd at Linghu Zhishu: "I'm going to pull out all your teeth and see if you can still be so sharp-tongued."

Linghu Zhishu smiled and said, "We'll have to try to find out. I heard from my uncle that Li Dachui planted the Qiankun Qi in your body. It contains two extremely poisonous true qi, Phoenix Fire and Moonlight Weak Water. Uncle, please don't let it flare up during our competition! The pain, hehehe, I've heard, is truly unbearable for ordinary people!"

"You're courting death!" Linghu Zhishu's words struck a nerve with Cui Shu, who had just broken through to the Innate Realm and was full of vigor and eager to make a name for himself when he ran into Li Dachui.

Originally, it was thought that the four innate masters could easily crush Li Dachui by ganging up on him. However, unexpectedly, the final result was that, due to a series of cunning schemes by the extremely cunning Li Dachui, his path to becoming an innate master came to an abrupt end.

Cui Ming threw him onto Tiger Roar Plain in an attempt to extract the last bit of value from him as a master of innate cultivation.

The pain caused by the alternating attacks of Phoenix Fire and Moonlight Weak Water was indeed unbearable for Cui Shu.

As soon as Cui Shu moved, Linghu Zhishu let out a roar, and a hundred guards raised their swords and slashed forward at almost the same time. These Wolf Fang Guards practiced the same martial art and were handpicked by Linghu Zhishu from tens of thousands of border troops and Monkey Fort. They were top-notch in both physical and mental aspects.

Hundreds of sword energies passed through this formation and eventually converged on Linghu Zhishu's sword.

The wind and snow suddenly swirled outwards, and Linghu Zhishu's face turned crimson, with blood seeping from his eyes, ears, nose, and mouth, making him look extremely terrifying. Yet, he was smiling, smiling at Cui Shu.

Cui Shu was holding a person in his hand; that person was a member of the Wolf Fang Guard.

With a loosening of his grip, the Wolf Fang Guard fell to the ground with a thud, his body limp and devoid of any healthy bones.

Even with the combined strength of a hundred men, Cui Shu still managed to grab one person from the army formation and kill him.

However, Linghu Zhishu's confidence continued to grow.

With that last strike, he tore Cui Shu's clothes, and the long slit in his chest seemed to be proving to Linghu Zhishu that even if he was born with innate talent, he could still hurt him!
"Uncle, it seems I guessed right, you're about to fall from your cultivation level, aren't you? How much longer can you stay in the Innate Realm? Hahaha, take this!"

With a roar, the remaining ninety-nine guards swung their swords again.

Cui Shu snorted coldly, "I'd like to see how many more blows your body can withstand. If you don't have the skills, don't take on this job!"

"Uncle, you can't kill me in a hurry. Your troops that ambushed me can't stop my Wolf Fang Guards! Hahaha!"

The knife fell, and the wind whistled through the air.
Cui Shu's cloak was cut in half, and another Wolf Fang Guard flew out of the formation and fell straight down from the city wall.

Cui Shu turned to look into the city, a wave of irritation washing over him.

Linghu Zhishu was right. Although Tiger City had already prepared everything and was just waiting for the prey to come to them, the prey they had waited for was too ferocious. So ferocious that although they had fallen into the trap, they were now slowly climbing out of it.

Despite suffering heavy losses, they are indeed climbing out of the trap, and in some places, the Wolf Fang Guards are even beginning to gain the upper hand.

The troops of Huju County, plus the organized able-bodied men, outnumbered the Wolf Fang Guards by several times. However, wolves and dogs are ultimately no match for tigers. Although they caught the enemy off guard at the beginning, once the enemy reacted, they began to gradually turn the tide.

However, the opponent was too well prepared, so the Wolf Fang Guards suffered heavy losses in the first wave of attacks, with a third of them dying ignominiously in the first wave.

Even so, the two sides are now gradually moving towards a balance of power.

If we also consider the Wolf Fang Guard's resilience, endurance, and ability to withstand pressure, the longer the battle goes on, the more likely the Wolf Fang Guard will be to win.

Although it may end up being a Pyrrhic victory, a victory is a victory.

Now all the changes lie with Cui Shu. If Cui Shu can quickly kill or capture Linghu Zhishu alive, the Wolf Fang Guard, without its leader, will inevitably collapse.

Linghu Zhishu cleverly chose the city wall as the location for his battle with Cui Shu.

All the Wolf Fang Guards in the city could see their commander still fighting as soon as they looked up, and the Cui family soldiers in the city could also see that their revered Cui Shu could not defeat his opponent and was instead hacked to pieces by his opponent. The rise and fall of their morale was predictable.

Although Linghu Zhishu was holding on desperately, and people were dying in every round, Cui Shu's only cost was another minor cut on his body.

It's not immediately noticeable if a few are missing from a hundred people, but Cui Shu's tattered and disheveled appearance is obvious to everyone.

Linghu Zhishu didn't know how many more strikes he could deliver. He only felt that every tendon in his body could snap at any moment, and his blood was about to boil, as if it might break free of his flesh and gush out at any instant.

Cui Shu is right. This kind of military formation that can withstand even a master of the Innate Realm is not something he, with his eighth-grade Xuan Yuan martial arts cultivation, can support. The officers and soldiers who make up the military formation are strong enough; it is he, as the leader, who is not strong enough.

Not far from the battlefield, Li Dachui stood atop a tree, flanked by Gu Xiaoman and Lu Zhi on either side of him. Below, fully armed soldiers were making their final preparations.

"This formation is quite interesting!" Li Dachui exclaimed. "Wealthy families still have some tricks up their sleeves."

"Young Master, how many more strikes can Linghu Zhishu wield?"

"At most ten strikes!" Li Dachui said, "After ten strikes, he will be exhausted, but Cui Shu will also be in bad shape. Don't be fooled by the fact that Linghu Zhishu's strikes didn't actually injure the opponent; the sword energy still penetrated into the opponent's body. If Cui Shu hadn't been injured, this sword energy would have been nothing, but now, this sword energy has the potential to exacerbate the injuries in his body!"

"A draw would be ideal!" Lu Zhi said. "The fighting prowess of the Wolf Fang Guards is astonishing!"

"The Wolf Fang Guard was originally one of the strongest armies outside the Great Wall!" Gu Xiaoman said. "It's a pity that after this battle, the Wolf Fang Guard will be disbanded!"

(End of this chapter)