Sword drawn from the constellations, poison as its edge.

Chapter 202 Lesser Formless Skill vs. Beiming

Li Qiushui chuckled, then flashed into the sword light, raising her hand to grab Jiang Mingzhe's wrist.

The Duan Family Sword is a top-tier martial art in the martial arts world. Since mastering it, Jiang Mingzhe has never encountered anyone who could break through it so forcefully. He was immediately filled with pride, let out a loud shout, and his inner strength surged. He wielded the sword faster and faster, and the sword light shone brightly.

Li Qiushui exclaimed, "Excellent swordsmanship! Excellent internal strength! Young man, if you hadn't met me, there probably wouldn't be many people in this world who could defeat you!"

As she spoke, her attacks were not slow at all. Zhong Ling, Wang Yuyan, and the heroes watched in a daze, feeling that Jiang Mingzhe's sword light was like a tide, while Li Qiushui was like a snow-white fish rushing against the current in the silver tide. One was like a general charging into battle, and the other was like a fairy princess. The fight was both extremely dangerous and pleasing to the eye.

The two fought faster and faster. Jiang Mingzhe infused each sword strike with profound internal energy, causing the sword to hum and vibrate, growing louder and louder until it merged into a sound like howling wind and thunder. The surrounding tables and chairs were instantly reduced to dust upon impact, and the onlookers all changed color and retreated.

Zhong Ling excitedly grabbed Wang Yuyan's hair tightly and said, "Look at my brother Jiang's sword! I've seen Prince Duan wield a sword, but he doesn't have such imposing power!"

Wang Yuyan struggled to break free from Zhong Ling's demonic claws, panting, "We shouldn't be happy. That woman's movements and claw techniques are extremely advanced. Big brother, relying solely on your swordsmanship, I'm afraid you won't last more than twenty rounds!"

Zhong Ling retorted, "Impossible! I'll count for you, one, two..."

As she counted to the eighth move, her expression changed. She realized that although Jiang Mingzhe's sword strikes were still powerful, he had unknowingly become more defensive than offensive. His sword hovered close to his body, and all his moves were for self-defense.

As the count reached the nineteenth move, Li Qiushui let out a charming laugh, conjuring up a series of claw shadows. Jiang Mingzhe stepped back, and his hand suddenly felt light as his sword was snatched away.

Li Qiushui casually tossed aside her sword and grabbed Jiang Mingzhe's arm, saying, "Young master, aren't you going to submit..."

Before he finished speaking, Jiang Mingzhe raised his arm horizontally and threw out his left fist, delivering a "Holding the Pestle to the Sky" strike towards Li Qiushui's face.

The punch was extremely powerful, and Li Qiushui quickly withdrew her hand to parry it, asking in surprise, "You also know Shaolin Kung Fu?"

Jiang Mingzhe ignored him and raised his right hand, delivering another heavy punch. Li Qiushui refused to give in and also struck out with her palm. She felt the opponent's fist force like a tidal wave, rushing towards her with a thunderous roar. It was the ruthless move "One Pestle Breaks the Six Paths" from the Great Vajra Pestle!

Li Qiushui laughed, "What a strong young man!" She unleashed her palm force, blocking two punches in front of her. She then quickly withdrew her palm. Jiang Mingzhe unleashed his internal energy, intending to clash head-on with his opponent. However, he suddenly discovered that his opponent's strength had completely dissipated, and his own energy had rolled away as if it had vanished into the ocean or a toothpick into a rice jar, leaving no trace.

Jiang Mingzhe was greatly alarmed. In his past encounters with others, even those as strong as Duan Yanqing and Kumārajīva, the competition was mostly about martial arts techniques. If it came to internal energy, it was a matter of brute force. He had no experience in using techniques to circulate internal energy and engaging in a grappling battle.

In an instant, it occurred to me: Could the other party have used the Northern Darkness Divine Art?

But something felt wrong. What dissipated was the internal energy he had released; there was no sign that the internal energy within his body had been absorbed.

He immediately understood that although Li Qiushui had obtained the manual of the Northern Darkness Divine Art, her foundation in the Lesser Formless Skill was already extremely profound. She would never risk dispersing her power to rebuild the Northern Darkness True Qi. This move by her opponent was most likely a simulation of part of the power of the Northern Darkness using the Lesser Formless Skill. Just as he settled his thoughts, he suddenly felt Li Qiushui's palm force coming like a tidal wave. He hurriedly tried to pull his hand away, but Li Qiushui clenched her five fingers and grabbed his fist, laughing sweetly, "Young master, try out your sister's tricks too."

Internal force clashes are more direct and dangerous than fist and foot strikes. Jiang Mingzhe didn't have time to unleash his full power. Although he was unwilling to reveal his trump card, he was also unwilling to take the risk of testing whether Li Qiushui would let his looks stop her from going all out.

With a low roar, he unleashed the full power of the Northern Darkness Absorption Technique, opening all the acupoints on his entire arm, creating countless vortexes that dispersed and stored Li Qiushui's internal energy along the way, while also continuously drawing out the internal energy from her body.

Li Qiushui instantly lost her composure and screamed, "The Northern Darkness Divine Art! You actually know the Northern Darkness Divine Art!"

Jiang Mingzhe ignored him and gritted his teeth, inhaling deeply. Unexpectedly, just as he was enjoying the inhalation, the opponent's internal energy suddenly stopped. Jiang Mingzhe accelerated his internal energy circulation and felt that the opponent's body was empty and lifeless, as if it were a lifeless corpse.

Since mastering the Northern Darkness Divine Art, Jiang Mingzhe had never encountered such a situation. Before he could react, Li Qiushui had already released his fist. Since Jiang Mingzhe had already revealed the Northern Darkness Divine Art, he didn't care about anything else. Taking advantage of the opponent's astonishment, he unleashed the full power of the Five Elements Battle Immortal Technique, attacking relentlessly with both hands, whether fists, palms, fingers, or claws.

Li Qiushui had something to say, but Jiang Mingzhe's counterattack came so swiftly that she was too slow to dodge and was ripped off by Jiang Mingzhe, revealing her face. The onlookers saw it clearly and many of them couldn't help but gasp in surprise.

Li Qiushui had an exceptional figure and a charming demeanor. Although she always covered her face, everyone knew that she must be an unparalleled beauty.

No one expected that the face beneath the white silk looked to be in her early forties. Although her features were beautiful and her skin was snow-white, she had four extremely long scars that crisscrossed and formed a grid pattern.

The worst part is that these four sword wounds caused her right eye to bulge out and her left corner of her mouth to become crooked, turning a beautiful woman into a hideous monster.

Li Qiushui realized that her true colors had been revealed and let out a scream. This scream was no less than before; it was like the howl of a female demon in the night. Jiang Mingzhe was the first to be hit. He felt a buzzing in his head, and his punches and kicks were slightly slower. Li Qiushui waved her long sleeves and struck several of his major acupoints with lightning speed. Then, she darted out like a ghost, clawing and striking. The onlookers were immediately left dead and injured.

Jiang Mingzhe knew something was wrong. This old hag clearly intended to kill everyone who saw her face. Others were one thing, but Zhong Ling and Wang Yuyan were still standing there dumbfounded!
Without hesitation, he opened the hidden compartment, took out the Seven Child Swords, leaped up, and used the Hanging Cloud Sword Technique. Wherever his inner force went, a golden sword aura flashed out, which was the Golden Essence Piercing the Battle Sword that Duan Yu had named for him!
Each of the seven-colored sword energies has its own strengths, with the golden sword energy being the sharpest and fastest. Li Qiushui was in the midst of a massacre when she suddenly felt a chill down her spine. She spun around in mid-air, and a golden light grazed past her side, flashing and piercing through the bodies of two martial artists.

Li Qiushui landed and turned around, only to see the short sword in Jiang Mingzhe's hand flash with colorful light again. Before she could think, a clear and colorless crystal dagger slid out from her sleeve. With a gentle wave, the sword energy that Jiang Mingzhe shot out immediately changed direction and rushed around wildly, instantly killing all the living people except for Zhong and Wang.

Upon seeing this, Jiang Mingzhe immediately realized that Li Qiushui's dagger was the nemesis of the Seven Child Swords. He dared not release any more sword energy, so he swung his sword into a fan, and with a sideways flick, he moved to block in front of Zhong Ling and Wang Yuyan.

Li Qiushui didn't attack. She stared at Jiang Mingzhe for a long time, then suddenly smiled, sheathed her dagger, and said, "You're quite the chivalrous one. You even protect such a little clown. Hmph, brat, you've mastered the Northern Darkness Divine Art quite well. You were able to absorb my internal energy instantly and break my Cold Sleeve Acupoint Flicking Technique. Moreover, you obtained the Seven Child Swords and the Hanging Cloud Sword Technique. You are truly blessed. However, you swore a great oath to kowtow a thousand times and serve me. Now that you've seen me, why don't you bow down?"

Jiang Mingzhe also stared intently at Li Qiushui: "So the jade statue in the Sword Lake Grotto of Wuliang Mountain is the senior? I was afraid of disappointing the senior, so I kowtowed a thousand times and wore out the prayer mat. It's just that that brother doesn't like killing. When he saw that the senior wanted him to kill all the disciples of the Xiaoyao Sect, he felt that he could not do it, so he gave me the secret manual!"

(End of this chapter)