The First Sword of the Universe

Chapter 464 Fall! Fall! Fall!
Bang!
The force of the energy exploded, creating a gust of wind.

A fighting dog the size of a yellow ox shot backwards at lightning speed, crashing into a thick apricot tree and rolling several times after landing on the ground.

The upper half of the tree, broken in half, slowly tilted to the ground. In the blink of an eye, it was smashed apart by the rapidly operating dog-beating formation, turning into countless broken branches and leaves that flew in all directions.

Bang!
Another burst of energy erupted.

The second fighting dog slammed into the ground, and with a deafening roar, a large amount of dirt shot into the air, rising three zhang (approximately 10 meters) into the sky.

Bang!
Within the rapidly expanding circle of energy, the third fighting dog knocked a Beggar Clan elder wielding an iron staff off balance, leaving him in a sorry state.

Thud! Thud! Thud! Thud! Thud! Thud! Thud!
Qiao Feng unleashed the Taizu Long Fist, his fists striking out in rapid succession, like drumsticks shattering a drum, creating ripples in the air.

Any fighting dog struck by those iron fists was sent flying backward, unable to withstand even the slightest blow.

One after another, the charging fighting dogs were sent flying backward, crashing through trees, creating craters, flying into the sky, and knocking over the elders.

Its terrifying power is in no way weaker than the Eighteen Subduing Dragon Palms.

The thousand Beggar Clan disciples swirling around them used the Dog-Beating Formation to connect their internal energy to the backs of more than a dozen Beggar Clan elders.

A multitude of multicolored streams of air gathered together, making it appear as if a pair of enormous, colorful wings had appeared on the backs of the Beggar Clan elders, creating a magnificent and dazzling sight.

This also increased their power several times over.

Unfortunately, the power of the formation is limitless, but the number of people who can control it is finite.

Even though the dozen or so Beggar Clan elders moved as fast as afterimages, rapidly circling Qiao Feng in the center, with a dozen or so solid fighting dogs assisting in the attack, they still couldn't defeat their former leader. Instead, they were constantly being pushed back by their former leader.

"How could this be? All sixteen elders joined forces, and with the help of the Dog-Beating Formation, why can't we capture Qiao Feng?"

"Qiao Feng's strength may not be greater than ours, but his grasp of timing in battle is unmatched. That's why we haven't been able to break through his defenses for so long."

"Qiao Feng is only using the Taizu Long Fist right now. If he manages to escape even like this, our Beggars' Sect will lose all face."

"Hmph! No matter how powerful Qiao Feng is, he shouldn't be able to withstand the combined attack of so many of us. In my opinion, some people are holding back because of Qiao Feng's past kindness to you."

"Quan Guanqing, don't sow discord among the troops and spout nonsense. When it comes to matters of principle, I believe my old brothers can still distinguish what's important and what's not."

The Beggars' Sect elders surrounded and attacked Qiao Feng, shouting and arguing loudly. But whenever someone approached Qiao Feng alone and met his silent, cold face and sharp, angry eyes, they all couldn't help but shut up, feeling guilty and weak.

On the treetops in the distance.

Xu Xingchen's figure swayed gently with the movement of the branches beneath her feet.

He had a clear view of the battle ahead, and he was amazed by the strangeness of the Beggars' Sect's Dog-Beating Formation, and admired Qiao Feng's unparalleled fighting talent.

He had traveled through several worlds and seen many protagonists with extraordinary martial arts talents, but if he really had to choose the number one among them, Qiao Feng would be the only one.

Qiao Feng's martial arts talent and combat talent are both at their peak.

When learning martial arts, any martial arts move can be learned quickly and mastered in a short time, and the power of the move will often be unexpected.

Listen to what that means! Is that even something a human being would say?!
Other martial arts practitioners, even if they master the martial arts moves of their predecessors, are already doing well if they can unleash eight or nine tenths of the power of those moves.

Qiao Feng not only quickly mastered the skill, but also unleashed its full power.

Xu Xingchen was extremely envious of such martial arts talent.

Next comes combat talent.

He possesses boundless ambition and is unafraid of any opponent. His grasp of the timing of battle is exquisite, and even when faced with a stronger opponent, he can often emerge victorious.

Looking at Mr. Jin Yong's many martial arts novels, apart from A Qing, who defeated three thousand Yue soldiers with a single sword, Qiao Feng's talent is unmatched by anyone, a talent that cannot be measured by ordinary standards.

In the battle ahead.

The reason why Qiao Feng was able to defeat the sixteen elders of the Beggars' Sect with just one set of Taizu Long Fist was that Qiao Feng's martial arts level had reached the realm of "a heavy sword without an edge, great skill without artifice".

Any martial art technique he uses can unleash astonishing power.

However, the Beggars' Sect's Dog-Beating Formation is no joke.

The combined strength of a thousand Beggars' Sect disciples put immense pressure on Qiao Feng.

Without killing anyone, it would be virtually impossible for Qiao Feng to break out of the Dog-Beating Formation.

However, he couldn't bring himself to be ruthless and kill his former Beggar Clan brothers for the time being.

Therefore, the battle reached a stalemate.

Xu Xingchen examined the Dog-Beating Formation for a long time, then shook his head slightly. After all, this was a martial arts world where great power belonged to the individual; although formations existed, their effectiveness was quite limited.

For example, in the previous life, when the Seven Masters of Quanzhen used the "Big Dipper Formation," they could only contend with one of the Four Great Masters.

In the final battle in the imperial city, all seven of them were eliminated early.

The current dog-beating formation, though seemingly powerful, was only able to barely trap Qiao Feng under the control of the sixteen Beggar Clan elders.

From this glimpse, one can see that the power of the formation is limited, while the individual's combat strength has been elevated to a level far greater than that of the world in the book.

In such a world, taking on a thousand men single-handedly is no longer a dream.

"I have to help Chief Qiao out, otherwise, if this fight continues, who knows when it will end." Xu Xingchen muttered to himself, then turned to Duan Yu, who was standing on another big tree, and said, "Brother Duan, I'm going to interfere with the Dog-Beating Formation. If things get bad, you'd better run away quickly!"

Duan Yu turned around and asked in surprise, "Brother Xu, are you really going to make a move?"

"Hmm!" Xu Xingchen hummed in response, then raised an eyebrow slightly, turned to look in another direction from the apricot grove, and after a moment, smiled and said, "It seems I don't need to take action!"

Upon hearing this, Duan Yu turned to look in the direction Xu Xingchen had been gazing, but after craning his neck for a long time, he still couldn't make out anything.

Just as he was about to turn around to ask, he caught a glimpse of the dog-beating formation being meticulously operated in the woods ahead, and suddenly something unexpected happened.

The Beggars' Sect disciples fell down one after another like dominoes.

In no time, thousands of people collapsed to the ground, their eyes red and tears streaming down their faces.

The dog-beating formation was thus broken!
Immediately afterwards, even the sixteen Beggar Clan elders who were fighting in the center collapsed to the ground one after another, their eyes red, too weak to move.

One by one, the solidly shaped fighting dogs ran and then vanished into thin air, never to be seen again.

Qiao Feng, whose martial arts skills were the most profound, looked even more stern than usual. He staggered a few steps and sat down on the ground with a thud. He tried to circulate his internal energy to resist the poison that had invaded his body, but to little avail.

In the entire apricot grove, only Xu Xingchen and Duan Yu remained unaffected.

Xu Xingchen looked at Duan Yu with slight surprise, thinking to himself, "Could it be that this kid actually ate that Manggu Toad in the end and became immune to all poisons?"

The Beggars' Sect disciples who had fallen in front of them could not move their bodies, but they could still speak. They were all shocked and angry, and they cursed loudly.

"Oh no, we've been ambushed!"

"What kind of poison is this? How could it kill so many of us at once?"

"It must have been those guys from the Western Xia First-Class Hall who did it. Our Beggars' Sect has been at odds with them for many years. The original purpose of this Beggars' Sect meeting was to discuss the challenge to a duel with the Western Xia First-Class Hall."

"That's for sure. The people of the Western Xia First-Class Hall are despicable by nature and shameless in their actions. This time, seeing us gathered together, they resorted to the underhanded tactic of poisoning to assassinate us."

In the center of the battlefield, among the fallen elders, one cried out in despair, "It must have been Qiao Feng, colluding with the people of the Western Xia First-Class Hall to ambush us!"

One of the elders angrily cursed, "Quan Guanqing, at this point, you still want to blame the gang leader for this? The gang leader didn't even know about our arrangements beforehand!"

"Chief Quan, shut up! This matter has absolutely nothing to do with you, Chief. Even if you are no longer a member of our Beggars' Sect, you would never cooperate with the people of the Western Xia First-Class Hall to plot against us."

Some elders sided with Quan Guanqing, saying resentfully, "Who knows if any of us sixteen informed Qiao Feng about today's events beforehand?"

"Elder Wu, from what you're saying, does that mean the gang leader colluded with the people of the Western Xia First-Class Hall to ambush him as well? Is that right or wrong?"

Qiao Feng felt that his internal energy was unable to dispel the poison in his body, and his eyes inexplicably became sore and red, so he had no choice but to stop circulating his energy.

Hearing the commotion of the elders around him, his face darkened. His gaze swept over the fallen Beggars' Sect disciples before him, and a mixture of anger, anxiety, and sorrow welled up within him. He shouted, "Even if I, Qiao Feng, were not the leader of the Beggars' Sect, or even if I were not a Song citizen in the future, I would never collude with the Western Xia's First-Class Hall to harm my own brothers!"

Today's events, whether it's the mystery of his own origins or the sneak attack and poisoning by the Western Xia Yipintang, were all beyond his expectations.

He never imagined that he, who once dominated the world, would one day become a fish on someone else's chopping block, at the mercy of others.
"Hahahaha, what Murong Fu of the South, Qiao Feng of the North, they've all fallen to the Sorrowful Breeze of our Xixia First-Class Hall."

A loud laugh rang out, followed by a flurry of footsteps approaching rapidly from afar.

Then, a large number of martial arts figures appeared in the apricot grove and surrounded the Beggar Clan disciples who had fallen to the ground.

A dozen figures leaped and landed in the center of the arena, looking at the messy surroundings and exclaiming in surprise.

"Huh, what's going on? Could it be that your Beggars' Sect has experienced internal strife?"

"Hahaha, what a coincidence!"

"So, we've arrived just in time."

(End of this chapter)