Scourge Messenger

Chapter 107 The Roar of the Tiger in Jiangnan
Shang Xuanwen felt as if he had fallen into an ice cellar.

He recognized it; it was the Secret Technique: Circulation.

Flow allows the messenger to forcibly cancel any currently launched attack, but like an arrow shot into the air, sudden stillness will cause the messenger to bear the brunt of any attack it has launched. A messenger skilled in Flow can skillfully guide the reaction force caused by stillness to launch an attack from another direction, but in any case, the messenger will be injured as a result, and the 'derivative attack' will always be weaker than the 'original attack'.

The Pharmacist intended to forcibly alter the direction of her attacks through the Flowing Principle, but due to the presence of the Mystic King Armor, all the damage inflicted by the Flowing Principle was added to her next attack. She first enhanced her attack with the Spinning Lamp, then further enhanced it through the Flowing Principle and Mystic King Armor combo, and tricked Shang Xuanwen into making the first move. Now he has no time to change his defense!
But Shang Xuanwen's shock didn't stop there... Being able to master two secret techniques, she was very likely already at the third level. From beginning to end, the pharmacist had been hiding her strength, even deliberately suppressing her own blood and qi intensity, until now she had revealed her true colors!
Boom!
The shaft of the steel spear was forged from the finest steel produced in the secret realm, making it incredibly sturdy and robust. Yet, it snapped in two under the full force of the Pharmacist's attack!
Five of the seven mirrors that appeared on Shang Xuanwen's body shattered instantly. He did not resist the terrifying impact, but instead chose to be thrown away. During the flight, the mirror surface of the heart-protecting mirror recovered at a speed visible to the naked eye—he was buying time to restore the mirror surface of the heart-protecting mirror.

But Ying Rushi would never let him escape. If she wasted the opportunity that Yaoshi Yuan had carefully arranged, she feared that Yaoshi Yuan would chase her from Chang'an all the way to the Nevernight City.

When the pharmacist activated the rotating lamp, Ying Rushi released the valiant general's sword and slowly drew the long sword from his waist. The long sword had two characters inscribed on it: Gui Cang.

Indeed, Ying Ru's hidden trump card was none other than the Gui Cang Secret Sword, one of the unique tokens of the Jie family. It may have been sold by the Jie family, or it may have been seized from a member of the Jie family. In any case, this sword was in the Qi State's treasury. Ying Ru obtained this sword from the treasury after learning of the opportunity to assassinate Shang Xuanwen.

The power of the Gui Cang Secret Sword lies in the fact that the more elaborate, complex, and lengthy the sword-drawing ceremony, the more terrifying the damage it inflicts. Jie Yuan Shao Hua drew the sword in two breaths, increasing its strength to 135%. How much time did Ying Ru Shi spend preparing?
Three days, totaling forty hours.

Although she carried it with her at all times, whether eating or bathing, the extended time she spent drawing the sword was enough to enhance its destructive power to nine times its original level. Moreover, Ying Rushi chose the Guicang Secret Sword because it resonated with the secret techniques she had comprehended.

The moment the tip of the Gui Cang Secret Sword left its sheath, Shang Xuanwen was knocked away by Yao Shiyuan, and Ying Rushi swung her sword. Although she was still three or four steps away from Shang Xuanwen, she didn't even hesitate to take a step forward, and slashed at Shang Xuanwen from afar, unleashing a dazzling sword light that captivated the heart.

It was as if she was wielding not a sword blade, but the bright moon itself, transforming the gentle moonlight into a cruel sword light.

Secret Technique: Sword Drawing Technique/Knife Drawing Technique.

Any sword or bladed weapon can be used to activate this ability.

This attack can be activated after the sword has been sheathed for five seconds. It consumes 10 points of current health plus 15% of maximum health to enhance the damage of the drawn sword attack by 1.5 times. If the theoretical damage is less than 300 points, it will be enhanced to 300 points; if the theoretical damage exceeds 300 points, for every additional 100 points, the drawn sword attack will extend a sword beam by 1 meter, up to a maximum of 10 meters.

The Gui Cang Secret Sword, prepared for three days and further strengthened by the Sword Drawing Technique, should be a strike that is close to the limit of the third level, just like the Dragon Tail Sweep that Yao Shiyuan strengthened twice with secret techniques!
Shang Xuanwen recognized him too, but he still tried his best to fight for a chance to live, perhaps out of pride as the Prime Minister of Liang, or perhaps because of the last gaze of the Rat Monk. He forced his sword to swing in mid-air, and even in such an unbalanced state, he still used the secret technique of sticking the sword. Although the Wave-Breaking Sword he used was only a rare third-rank artifact, it had the characteristic of being able to cut through all spiritual power, and naturally it could also attack the sword light that Ying Rushi had unleashed.

The sword light was slightly deflected, but it still struck his body, shattering the last vestiges of the breastplate. The sword light, still carrying considerable momentum, pierced his left abdomen, severing his belt, and the Heaven-Slaying Sword flew out.

He landed heavily on the ground. Without the protection of the Heart Mirror or the main city, Shang Xuanwen realized how painful it was to fall to the ground, and how being slashed made his whole body feel cold, as if all his strength had fled with his blood... He had been away from life-and-death battles for so many years.

Hearing the thieves' footsteps, like the approaching Grim Reaper, Shang Xuanwen still didn't give up. He gripped the Breaking Waves Sword with all his might. Since he couldn't protect the life of the Shang family head, he at least had to protect the dignity of the Prime Minister of Liang. In the final moment of life and death, Shang Xuanwen was finally able to admit frankly—he regretted it.

Lingxian, Yunrong, Xiaoxiao... I am not a good husband.

Yue'er, Qia'er, Tian'er, Xinhao, Xinlei, Xinyao... I am not a good father.

Su Pei... You've worked so hard all these years. And Rat Monk... You saved me so many times, and I never repaid you even once. I always thought I'd suppress you first, then give you a bright future. In the end, I even let you down. I just died a little later than you, and I didn't even suffer like you.

The Prime Minister of Liang, the head of a merchant family, used to think he was something special, that his word was law. But in the end, looking back, I was just an ordinary man filled with regret.

In a daze, he vaguely heard a tiger's roar.

How ridiculous! Where are there tigers in Jiangnan city?

"Ouch!——"

"What!?"

Shang Xuanwen's eyes widened as he saw a tiger-like girl leap out from the wall, knocking Yao Shiyuan aside before he could dodge. At that moment, Ying Rushi swung her sword at Shang Xuanwen, who forced out the last of his strength, clutched his wound, stood up, and used his weakest, sticky sword technique to forcefully deflect Ying Rushi's valiant sword.

"Found it, it's here!" the tiger girl shouted, and someone in the distance, seemingly searching, immediately responded with a shout.

The pharmacist was both shocked and furious. She never expected that the cooked duck could fly away. As she charged towards her, she asked sharply, "Who are you!"

"Listen up, I am Baiyun Qianjia, Qian Gongyu—Wow!" In a brief exchange, Qian Gongyu was sent flying, her defensive token shattered. She couldn't even withstand a single move from Yaoshiyuan. Her voice was filled with shock and fear, and her previously invincible aura vanished instantly: "How can she be so strong!"

Shang Xuanwen struggled to hold off Ying Rushi, and seeing this, he immediately said, "Don't fight them head-on, stall for time until the others arrive!"

"Mmm, mmm, no hard fight, no hard fight... Ahhh!"

Seeing Qian Gongyu being chased around by Yaoshiyuan, she still mustered the courage to stop Yaoshiyuan. In terms of strength, Yaoshiyuan was far superior to Qian Gongyu, but her weapon had now become a broken spear, and Qian Gongyu's tiger form was quite agile. Yaoshiyuan had never killed a tiger before, and for a time she was really entangled with her.

Shang Xuanwen glanced at her briefly and saw that Qian Gongyu almost always narrowly avoided Yao Shiyuan's spear. Although he knew it wasn't the right time, he couldn't help but ask during a lull in the fighting, "Why did you come to save me?"

"Ah? Ask me?"

The tiger girl who had retreated to the rooftop paused for a moment, as if Shang Xuanwen had asked a very strange question.

"Because you are the father of Xinlei."

(End of this chapter)