Wuxia: Become the 100-Victory Sword King at the Beginning

Chapter 417. The Gu Tide Dilemma: Breaking the Crisis with Wisdom
Shi Feiyang had just taken two steps when he suddenly felt a strange tremor coming from the ground beneath his feet.

Looking down, one could see countless scarlet Gu worms crawling out from the cauldron wall, densely packed like a flowing river of blood.

His pupils contracted sharply as he activated the "Supreme Forgetfulness of Emotions: Ice Soul Cold Prison" technique of the Mingyu Gong. In an instant, a layer of ice armor formed on the ground within a radius of ten feet. When the Gu worms touched the ice surface, they emitted a series of hisses.

"Trying to trap me with these little bugs?" Shi Feiyang brandished his Xuan Shuang Blade, the Nine Netherworld Ghost Fire blazing fiercely, burning the Gu worms that tried to break the ice to ashes. However, there were simply too many Gu worms; no sooner had one wave been cleared than new ones surged forth from the ground. He frowned, then suddenly noticed the golden silk whip left behind by the man wearing the skull mask he had killed earlier, and a thought struck him: "I've got it!"

He picked up the soft whip and used the "Dog-Beating Stick Technique - Luring the Dog into the Village" to whip out like a nimble snake, wrapping around a bamboo stalk in the distance and using the force to swing into the air.

Having lost their target, the Gu worms began to bite each other, filling the air with a nauseating stench.

Shi Feiyang, hanging on a bamboo branch, wiped the cold sweat from his forehead: "That was close, I almost became the food of these insects."

Just as he was preparing to find a way out, a sinister laugh suddenly came from the bamboo forest.

"Shi Feiyang, today is your death day!" Another voice wearing a skull mask came from all directions.

Immediately afterwards, dozens of Heart Gu puppets emerged from the depths of the bamboo forest and surrounded him.

The puppets' eyes flashed red, and the weapons in their hands gleamed with a ghostly blue poisonous light.

Shi Feiyang smirked, wrapped the soft whip around his waist, and roared, "Perfect timing! I was just looking for someone to spar with!" He unleashed the "Sword Qi Tribulation" from the Nine Heavens Sword Manual, and the Xuan Shuang Blade burst forth with dazzling light. Amidst the crisscrossing sword qi, the puppets' weapons were all knocked away.

However, the puppets were fearless and charged forward with their bare hands. Shi Feiyang used "Shifting Flowers and Jade!" and shouted, "Looking for death?!" A vortex of suction force emanated from his left palm, pulling the puppet at the front towards him. Using the force of the attack, he flung it towards the group of puppets behind him.

In an instant, the puppets collided with each other, producing a series of muffled thuds.

However, more and more puppets kept coming in, and Shi Feiyang gradually felt his strength failing.

"This can't go on!" he thought to himself, his gaze suddenly falling on the sachets at the puppets' waists. The sachets emitted a faint medicinal fragrance, the "Heart-Clearing Powder" used to suppress the Heart Gu.

Shi Feiyang's eyes lit up. He used his unparalleled lightness skill, "Leaving No Trace for a Thousand Miles," and his figure moved like a ghost through the puppet group, specifically targeting and snatching sachets. "Old ghost, let's see what other tricks you have up your sleeve!" Shi Feiyang held up the snatched sachet, activated his Bright Jade Skill, and turned the "Heart-Clearing Powder" into powder, scattering it with the wind.

Upon smelling the medicinal fragrance, the Heart Gu puppets immediately slowed down, and the red light in their eyes gradually dimmed.

Upon seeing this, the man wearing the skull mask flew into a rage: "Damn it, how dare you ruin my plans!" Taking advantage of the opportunity, Shi Feiyang unleashed the ultimate move of the Hundred Victories Blade Technique, "Severing Reincarnation," his palm strike as powerful as thunder, slashing towards the man with overwhelming force.

The man hurriedly brandished his soft whip to defend himself, but the shockwave from Shi Feiyang's sword made his hands go numb, and he retreated repeatedly.

"You little beast, don't think you've got this all figured out!" The man suddenly pulled out a black token and tossed it into the air. The moment the token hit the ground, the earth trembled violently, and a gigantic Gu worm burst forth from the soil. This Gu worm was a full three zhang long, its body covered in sharp thorns, and the poisonous mist it spewed from its mouth withered and died wherever it touched.

Shi Feiyang's expression changed drastically: "Good heavens, this is the legendary 'Netherworld Blood Gu'!" He circulated all his inner strength, and the Nine Netherworld Ghost Fire on the Xuan Shuang Blade burned even more fiercely. However, when confronting the Blood Gu, he noticed a bulge on its abdomen—it was none other than Lianxing's jade flute that had been swallowed into its belly!
"So that's how it is! You old devil, you actually dared to use Lianxing's things as bait!" Shi Feiyang's eyes blazed with killing intent, and he suddenly unleashed "Sword Ruins Annihilation - Ruins Annihilation of the Azure Sky." Thousands of skeleton phantoms appeared along with the sword energy, engaging in fierce combat with the Netherworld Blood Gu.

The poisonous mist spewed out by the blood gu was ignited by the ghost fire, exploding into dazzling sparks in the air.

Seizing the opportunity, Shi Feiyang plunged the Frost Blade deep into the Blood Gu's abdomen. The Blood Gu, in pain, thrashed wildly, throwing Shi Feiyang several feet away. He endured the excruciating pain, pulled out the "Bone-Corroding Powder" he had smuggled from Medicine King Valley, and sprinkled it on the Blood Gu's wound.

The blood gu emitted a shrill scream, and its body rapidly rotted away.

Taking advantage of the blood gu's inability to resist, Shi Feiyang rushed forward and snatched the jade flute from its abdomen.

"Old ghost, now it's your turn!" Shi Feiyang gripped his jade flute, and the sound suddenly rang out. The sound waves transformed into invisible blades, aiming straight for the man's vitals. The man couldn't dodge in time and was struck in the chest by the sound waves, spitting blood as he collapsed to the ground.

Shi Feiyang stepped forward and pressed the Xuan Shuang Blade against the man's throat: "Speak, what exactly happened to Lianxing? And what about the conspiracy of Yihua Palace? You'd better tell me the truth!" The man suddenly laughed eerily: "You think... you really won?"

Before he could finish speaking, Shi Feiyang felt a chill run down his spine as an icicle pierced through his body. He turned his head in disbelief and saw the Palace Mistress of Yaoyue Palace standing not far away, dressed in a long, flowing ice-silk dress, her eyes filled with murderous intent.

"Shi Feiyang, who gave you permission to touch my pawn?" The Palace Mistress of Yaoyue's voice was as cold as ice. "Today, you will not escape!"

As Shi Feiyang's vision blurred, he gripped the jade flute tightly and secretly vowed, "I... I will never admit defeat so easily." With that, everything went black, and he collapsed heavily to the ground.

In the last moment before he lost consciousness, he seemed to see a pink figure rushing towards him from a distance!

When Shi Feiyang's Xuan Shuang Blade hit the ground, it shook the last withered leaf from the branches. He stared at the spiderweb-like Gu patterns spreading across Nangong Xiaodie's neck, and the metallic taste rising in his throat was even more piercing than the Xuan Shuang Blade itself.

“This isn’t real…” He staggered forward, his skin trembling with the luster of the Mingyu Gong as he circulated it. “You clearly turned to ashes in my arms, why…” Nangong Xiaodie’s soft sword gently pressed against his chest, but the blade was trembling.

Moonlight filtered through her increasingly translucent fingertips, casting dappled silver spots on his clothes: "Shi Lang, do you remember the Lantern Festival in Bianliang? We squeezed through the crowd watching the revolving lanterns, and you secretly slipped me a sugar figurine..."

She suddenly smiled, a dimple blooming on her blood-stained lips, a smile more heartbreaking than tears. "At that time, I thought, if I could continue walking with you in this absurd way, what would it matter if there were swords and shadows in the martial world?"

Shi Feiyang suddenly gripped her wrist, the swirling suction in his palm as gentle as holding fragile glass. He looked at his reflection in Nangong Xiaodie's eyes, the once unrestrained and arrogant young man in the martial world, now only filled with panic: "Don't say these things!"

His voice was hoarse, trembling with sobs, “We still want to go to Yanmen Pass to herd horses, and to the summit of Mount Emei to see the snow! You promised to embroider a mandarin duck handkerchief for me, and said you would embroider my name on it…”

(End of this chapter)