Ten Thousand Sword Masters

The underground palace was a maze of interconnected paths, and before long, Zhong Yang was walking alone on one of them.

In a typical underground palace, without torches, it would be completely dark. However, the Dianyun Mountain underground palace was different. The walls of this palace were somewhat special, emitting a faint blue light, and some stones on the mountainside overhead also emitted light. Therefore, the entire underground palace appeared somewhat bright.

The surroundings were quiet, and Zhong Yang's footsteps could be clearly heard.

puff!

Suddenly, a stream of black saliva flew towards Zhong Yang. He spun around and stepped over the wall to dodge it.

Looking back, the black saliva hit the wall, instantly producing black smoke. When the smoke disappeared, a hole appeared in the wall.

Before Zhong Yang could be shocked, a roar was heard and a six-legged black leopard appeared at the corner ahead.

"Phew~"

The six-legged black leopard took a deep breath, then exhaled black smoke from its nostrils.

Zhong Yang's heart tightened. He wondered if the black smoke had any powerful attack capabilities. If the smoke exhaled by the six-legged black leopard in front of him had a strong corrosive effect, just like the saliva it had exhaled before, then this battle would be impossible to fight.

call out!

The six-legged black leopard leaped into the air, its sharp claws extending from between its six paws as it reached for Zhong Yang.

Clang!

Zhong Yang's sword struck the six-legged black leopard's claws, sparks flying everywhere. Zhong Yang was quite helpless; these six-legged black leopard claws were comparable to divine weapons.

puff!

He spat at Zhong Yang, who could only dodge.

With no one around and no need to hide the Wind Eagle, Zhong Yang immediately summoned it.

Clang! Clang! Clang!

Riding the wind eagle, it launched a fierce attack, flipping its direction several times in the air, leaving the six-legged black leopard dizzy and disoriented.

laugh!

With a single sword strike to the back of the six-legged black leopard, amidst a series of roars, Zhong Yang severed the leopard's head.

Zhong Yang dared not approach the six-legged black leopard's corpse, for there was no guarantee that the corpse might be consuming some highly corrosive substance.

Just then, a cry of "Ah~ Help~" came. Zhong Yang put away the Wind Eagle, and with a few leaps, he saw three members of the Crimson Feather Sect being chased by a flying blue monkey in another path.

Boom!

One head was severed by the curved blade in the Flying Jade Monkey's hand, and the remaining two ran and roared even more frantically. In their despair, these two saw Zhong Yang and instantly unleashed an unprecedented will to live.

With cries of "Help me!" echoing through the air, the two managed to dodge the attacks of the Flying Jade Monkey time and time again.

boom!

Zhong Yang ran at top speed, kicked off the wall, and knocked the Flying Jade Monkey down from the sky.

Clang!

Taking advantage of the moment when the Flying Jade Monkey fell to the ground, Zhong Yang slashed with his sword. However, relying on instinct, the Flying Jade Monkey drew its curved blade horizontally and blocked Zhong Yang's sword.

Bang!

He blocked with his sword, but not with Zhong Yang's left elbow. The elbow struck the Flying Jade Monkey's throat, and the Flying Jade Monkey roared and flew backward.

With a hiss, Zhong Yang slashed with his sword, splitting the Flying Azure Monkey's body open from the middle of its nose, and blood instantly splattered onto his body.

He stood with his sword drawn, blood dripping down.

The two members of the Crimson Feather Sect, now revitalized, panted and looked at Zhong Yang with a sense of relief at having survived a calamity.

Zhong Yang turned around, his face covered in blood, which frightened the two of them so much that they hugged each other and took a few steps back.

"Thank you so much, Master Zhong, for saving my life."

After the two recovered, they hurriedly walked up to Zhong Yang, bowed their heads, and repeatedly expressed their gratitude.

Zhong Yang waved his hand, "No need for formalities. Since I've run into you, I certainly won't stand idly by."

After a pause, Zhong Yang asked, "How many demonic beasts did you encounter? Were you together the whole time, or did you regroup later?"

"Reporting to Your Majesty, we have been together the whole time. We were attacked by a demonic beast, which we killed together, and we haven't separated since. Later, we encountered Wang Gang, who was just killed by the Flying Jade Monkey. The three of us killed two demonic beasts together, and then we encountered the Flying Jade Monkey. We were no match for him and had to flee for our lives."

As they spoke, the two men felt a pang of grief. After all, they had a good relationship with the deceased Wang Gang, but they had only been focused on escaping and had no chance to avenge him after he was killed.

Hearing their words, Zhong Yang felt a mix of emotions, a sense of shared sorrow for the fallen, and a secret joy at the deaths of members from the three factions.

Human nature is complex; it possesses both great goodness and selfishness.

"You two follow me. I suspect that the master of this underground palace controls many demonic beasts. If I'm not mistaken, everyone has now been attacked by demonic beasts, and those who are alone are likely in grave danger."

Upon hearing Zhong Yang's words, the two members of the Crimson Feather Sect exchanged a glance, both seeing the schadenfreude in each other's eyes. They then recalled that when they first entered the underground palace, Zhong Yang had suggested that everyone work together to search, but this had been rejected by the three sect leaders, who had made the foolish decision to split up at every turn.

Just then, the paper crane on Zhong Yang's body trembled, and the paper cranes on the two members of the Chi Yu Sect also trembled.

Zhong Yang took out the paper crane and saw three lines of text on it: "Quickly gather at Master Nie Da'er's place!" He repeated this sentence three times on the paper crane.

Zhong Yang didn't know which of the three sect leaders sent the message, but he knew that they must have suffered heavy losses.

Zhong Yang and the two from the Chiyu Sect released the paper cranes, which fluttered up and flew in a certain direction, with the three of them following closely behind.

Boom boom boom!

Just as Zhong Yang and the others were running forward following the paper crane, a sound of something hitting the ground came from behind them. The three of them immediately stopped, knowing that another monster was attacking.

The two members of the Red Feather Sect quickly retreated behind Zhong Yang, spreading out to the left and right to form a defensive posture.

Zhong Yang slightly pushed to the side, lowered his body, and prepared to launch a sudden attack.

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The sound grew closer, and a dark figure appeared around the corner.

Zhong Yang leaped up instantly, stepped on the wall, grabbed the protruding corner of the wall with one hand, and held his sword close to the corner of the wall.

A monstrous beast appeared, trembling, spewing flames, and shaking its head.

Snapped!

Zhong Yang slammed his palm against the wall, used the momentum to leap off, and slashed at the demon beast with his sword.

"Fire Tiger?" The two from the Crimson Feather Sect exclaimed in surprise, not expecting that the monster that appeared would actually be Fire Tiger, who possessed the supernatural power to control fire.

Zhong Yang slashed his sword at Huo Hu'er, who suddenly stopped and spat out a mouthful of flame, which instantly burned Zhong Yang's bronze sword to ashes.

Zhong Yang didn't give up either. He flipped in the air and mounted Huo Hu'er's back, then punched Huo Hu'er's head fiercely with both hands.

Fire Tiger roared and leaped around wildly, while simultaneously tilting its head back and spitting out flames.

"What are you all standing there for? Come and kill this beast!" Zhong Yang roared at the two shocked members of the Crimson Feather Sect.

The two members of the Chiyu Sect were truly shocked by Zhong Yang. They didn't know where Zhong Yang got the courage to ride on Huo Hu'er's back and attack him.

After being attacked by Zhong Yang, the two came to their senses and hurriedly stepped forward with their swords.

"Sword, come!"

Zhong Yang roared, while his left hand continued to attack Huo Hu'er.

Upon hearing Zhong Yang's roar, one of them hurriedly threw his sword. Zhong Yang caught the sword and plunged it into Huo Hu'er's head.

Huo Hu'er went berserk. Zhong Yang grabbed his ears tightly with both hands. "Quick, stab him in the throat."

One of the Chiyu Sect members who still had a sword in his hand heard Zhong Yang's words and was not afraid. He jumped forward and steadily stabbed Huo Hu'er in the throat before pulling it out.

Huo Hu'er convulsed for a while before collapsing in a pool of blood.

Zhong Yang felt completely weak and collapsed to the ground with a thud, breathing heavily.

The two members of the Crimson Feather Sect stood respectfully beside Zhong Yang. Although they were standing while Zhong Yang was sitting, they felt that their gazes towards him were of utmost reverence.

The group gathered together, and at that moment, Zhu Guangqian had just killed one of the invading demonic beasts.

Nie Da'er and the others were in a sorry state, with disheveled hair and wounds on their bodies.

Now, the number of people gathered together is about a third less than when they first arrived, and everyone's face shows more sadness, creating a heavy atmosphere.

When Nie Da'er saw Zhong Yang arrive, he snorted coldly. He hated that Zhong Yang hadn't stuck to his opinion, allowing their foolish decision to be implemented.

When Zhong Yang arrived, he saw that the three factions had suffered heavy losses. He was still saddened, but when he saw that Nie Da'er still did not give him a good look, he was very unhappy and his sympathy for the three factions vanished instantly.

"Your Excellency is quite carefree, strolling leisurely all by yourself." Nie Da'er couldn't help but make a sarcastic remark. He simply couldn't accept that his disciples had suffered heavy losses, while Zhong Yang had come alone without any losses.

Zhong Yang really wanted to curse out loud, "Are you blind? Can't you see I'm covered in blood?"

Before Zhong Yang could utter a curse, the two Chi Yu Sect members he had saved spoke up, "What do you mean by that, Master Nie? I think everyone here has been attacked by demonic beasts, including the Lord. Moreover, the Lord saved the two of us and then led us to kill Huo Hu'er."

Upon hearing that Zhong Yang had killed Huo Hu'er, a glint appeared in the eyes of the group of young disciples, and they stared at Zhong Yang with some excitement.

"When we first entered the cave, the Lord proposed that we all work together in one place. I don't know who objected, but insisted on splitting up to search, and foolishly told us to split up whenever we encountered a road. If it weren't for that decision, we wouldn't have suffered such heavy losses. Wang Gang, Wang Gang wouldn't have died." The member of the Crimson Feather Sect said, tears streaming down his face.

Nie Da'er suddenly raised his hand to slap the two members of the Crimson Feather Sect, but found that everyone was looking at him with strange eyes. Embarrassed, he lowered his hand and said, "I was careless this time. Who could have expected that these demonic beasts would attack us in an organized manner?"

A barely perceptible look of disdain swept across everyone's eyes, followed by a hint of anticipation as they looked at Zhong Yang. At this moment, they hoped that Zhong Yang would lead them forward.

Lin Youzhi keenly sensed everyone's expectations; at this time when everyone was disheartened, a strong leader was needed.

"My lord, what should we do next?"

Lin Youzhi looked at Zhong Yang with anticipation, but also with some trepidation.

Zhong Yang glanced at everyone and saw that they all looked at him expectantly, except for Nie Da'er, who looked away.

"Master Lin, the losses this time were beyond everyone's expectations, so I'm afraid the reward will have to be increased," Zhong Yang said. In business, there's no reason to help for nothing. The three major sects suffered heavy losses, and he, Zhong Yang, also survived by the skin of his teeth.

"Indeed, absolutely, the reward will be increased fivefold, no, tenfold, on top of what it was before." Lin Youzhi said, forcefully spreading his ten fingers for Zhong Yang to see, and for everyone around him to see, repeatedly emphasizing the word "tenfold."

Zhong Yang took a breath. Lin Youzhi had previously offered him a reward of 30,000 gold coins for someone of his level. Now, the reward had been increased tenfold, amounting to 300,000 gold coins, a huge sum. He even wondered if Lin Youzhi would go bankrupt if he took it out.

"Master Lin is generous; he will also pay a sum of money for the disciples of the various sects who died this time."

"Absolutely, absolutely."

Zhong Yang is using Lin Youzhi's money to comfort everyone and gain their support.

Zhong Yang looked ahead and saw three forks in the road. At this point, no one dared to suggest splitting up.

"We'll keep walking straight ahead along the middle path," Zhong Yang said, then took the lead and walked away.

Nie Da'er, Zhu Guangqian, and Duan Chu exchanged glances, took a deep breath, and steeled themselves to lead their disciples in close pursuit.

The group turned a corner and caught up with Zhong Yang, only to find him standing still.

"Are they waiting for us? Looks like they don't have the guts to charge forward alone." Nie Da'er thought to himself, then hissed and gasped.

Everyone, including Zhong Yang, stopped abruptly.

Lin Youzhi's legs trembled, tears streaming down his face. "All I want is to find a daughter, why is the whole world against me?"

Following the gaze of the crowd, they saw a white fox hanging on the wall, its eerie green eyes gleaming with an unsettling light, its three tails wrapped around its body, and its fur swaying slightly from side to side.

boom!

Suddenly, the blue light emanating from the surrounding walls dimmed, leaving only the white fox's area illuminated.

"ah!"

Unable to bear the eerie atmosphere any longer, Nie Da'er roared and slashed at the fox with his sword.

puff!

"Ah~"

Everyone saw Nie Da'er attack the white fox, but then immediately slash his own shoulder with his sword, blood gushing out.

"What's going on?" Zhong Yang was also dumbfounded.

"You fiend, prepare to die!"

Seeing that Nie Da'er was injured, Zhu Guangqian and Duan Chu roared and charged at the white fox.

The moment the two attacked the white fox, the attack bounced back at them, instantly injuring them.

Zhong Yang was shocked. He couldn't understand why his attack would bounce back. Was this fox invincible? At this moment, he understood why Guo Yang was seriously injured. It was probably because he had encountered this fox. A fierce attack had injured him instead.

The leaders of the three major sects were all injured. The white fox charged towards the crowd. Zhong Yang quickly dodged to the side and shouted, "Everyone, don't attack the white fox! Retreat quickly! This fox can reflect attacks!"

After Zhong Yang finished speaking, he was about to leave, but when he saw that Zhu Guangqian and Duan Chu were injured and were helping Nie Da'er, he struggled with his own thoughts for a moment, but in the end he rushed over and blocked several attacks from the white fox.

"My Lord~"

Seeing Zhong Yang come to cover him, Nie Da'er felt very uncomfortable and called out "Lord" with a complicated expression.

"Let's go quickly, this fox is not something we can handle," Zhong Yang shouted.

The crowd retreated in panic, and many of them attacked the fox in the chaos, only to be bounced back and seriously injured.

After running for a while, they realized that the white fox was not chasing them.

Everyone stopped, panting heavily.

"If I'm not mistaken, that white fox just now should be a Heavenly Mirror Fox," Nie Da'er said with a grave expression.

Zhong Yang was somewhat surprised, "A Heavenly Mirror Fox?" He had never heard of this kind of fox.

Nie Da'er nodded. "This white fox can deflect attacks. Among all foxes in the world, only the legendary Heavenly Mirror Fox possesses such a supernatural ability."

Zhu Guangqian looked miserable. "Damn it, I've really lost out this time. I must have been cursed. Why did I accept this commission?"

Duan Chu's face twitched. "We've even encountered a monster like the Heavenly Mirror Fox. Now is not the time for regrets; we should consider going back."

Upon hearing this, Lin Youzhi panicked, "Everyone, my daughter hasn't been found yet!"

Before Lin Youzhi could finish speaking, Zhu Guangqian grabbed him by the neck and lifted him up, saying, "Do you believe I'll drag your entire family out and slaughter them right now? Just because your daughter is precious doesn't mean we all have to go and die!"

Lin Youzhi was terrified, his face turned pale, he trembled, and he couldn't speak.

"Alright, Sect Leader Zhu, now is not the time to dwell on these things. I have a plan to subdue the Heavenly Mirror Fox," Zhong Yang said.

Upon hearing Zhong Yang's words, Zhu Guangqian wanted to curse, but seeing that Nie Da'er and Duan Chu were looking at Zhong Yang with complicated expressions, as if listening to his advice, he could only angrily leave Lin Youzhi behind.

"Gentlemen, please listen to me."

I like the Ten Thousand Swords Master.