A Scroll of Infinite Glory

Chapter 141 Testing the Waters, Sword Qi Soars to the Sky

The long corridor and steps of Laojun Mountain are not straight stone steps leading directly to the top of the mountain. Instead, they avoid some strange rocks and ancient trees, and places where the terrain is too dangerous, so they show a somewhat winding posture, pressing down in this forest.

These disciples on duty were far apart from each other, and their distribution was somewhat irregular due to the winding corridor.

Logically speaking, if someone were to break in, the people at the bottom would have been alerted and taken action long ago when the people at the bottom were immobilized and started acting strangely.

But the truth is, when Guan Luoyang climbed from the halfway point of the mountain all the way to near the summit, none of the disciples on duty had a chance to take any precautions.

The swords were all in their sheaths, the hands were at his sides, and his body was already stiff.

What kind of offensive could traverse such a winding distance so swiftly, encompassing and suppressing all the guarding disciples?

As Guan Luoyang approached the summit, pondering this question, he suddenly retreated, disappearing into the shadows of the starlight and foliage.

He returned to the mountainside, chose a bend in the path, and with a swift movement, led the two most inconspicuous disciples into the forest to attempt to release their pressure points.

Based on the several worlds that Guan Luoyang has experienced so far, the human body structure in different worlds is not much different, and the acupoints are almost the same.

When he was studying grappling techniques with Tian Gongyu, he had already learned about acupoints and positions. After arriving in this world, he also learned the acupoint striking techniques of the Ice School. He has gained a considerable understanding of how to use internal force to seal an enemy's acupoints.

Although there are many acupoints in the human body, and the ways they can be arranged and combined are as numerous as the stars in the sky, the number of acupoint sealing techniques that can stiffen a person's limbs without causing immediate death is very limited.

Following the principles of acupoint striking and releasing techniques of the Ice Glacier School, Guan Luoyang tried more than a dozen methods, but the two disciples on duty, leaning against the tree, remained completely immobile, their eyelids only able to blink slightly, revealing a hint of urgency and anticipation.

After the starlight passed through the tree canopy, it left faint spots of light on Guan Luoyang's face. The acupoint release technique was useless. After pausing for a while, he switched to the massage and blood circulation method from the four major training systems, moving the joints of one of his disciples and pushing and pricking the muscles.

The coordinated movement of his muscles caused the disciple to tremble all over each time he was stabbed by Guan Luoyang's fingertips, and he even made some movements of raising his arms and kicking his legs. However, when Guan Luoyang stopped, the disciple fell backward like a wooden doll.

Guan Luoyang grabbed the man's collar and pressed his other hand on his shoulder, then poured his vital energy into the man's body, hoping to use his profound skill to open the blocked acupoints.

Such a method will definitely cause considerable pain to the disciple on duty, and there may be some aftereffects, but we can't worry about that now.

Strangely, when his vital energy rushed into the meridians of the disciple on duty, he did not encounter any obvious obstacles. After circulating through the Ren and Du meridians and flowing throughout his body, he found nothing.

"Hmm? Could it be that it's not pressure point manipulation, but magic?"

Having exhausted all other options, Guan Luoyang released the man and remembered one of their mission objectives: the opposing Reincarnator squad.

Although the main god's mission required both sides to go to Chang'an in August, it did not stipulate that they could not meet before then.

If it really was that Reincarnator team that used some magical means to launch a surprise attack on Lao Jun Mountain, it would seem to explain how these disciples were subdued.

Unable to glean anything useful from the disciples on duty, Guan Luoyang could only continue exploring up the mountain.

He climbed to the top of the mountain, passed through several grand halls and palaces, and finally saw signs of battle in the square ahead.

There were dozens of Taoist priests scattered across the square in all sorts of strange poses. Some were striking with their palms, some were swinging their swords upwards, some were sitting cross-legged, and some were lying on their sides. They were all frozen there like statues.

Nine of them were Taoist priests, who had probably formed some kind of sword formation, their long swords faintly pointing in the same direction.

The paving stones in that direction were cut open, leaving deep, crisscrossing marks. The rubble was thrown up and spread out in a jagged, mottled pattern for over a hundred meters, destroying the railing on the other side of the square.

From that gap, you can see the clouds swirling in the mountains, and cool, moist air is faintly blown onto the square.

However, this sword formation attack clearly missed their target.

Their goal was to escape the sword formation in a single exchange and defeat all nine masters.

Guan Luoyang could see that blood was flowing down from the ribs, sides of the neck, back of the heart, and top of the head of these nine people, soaking their Taoist robes.

They are dead.

Unlike the disciples who were merely immobilized but not injured, most of the experts from Lao Jun Mountain in this square were dead.

Only five or six faint breaths lingered within the stiff, immobile body, clinging to life.

Looking ahead, Guan Luoyang saw a long bridge, over fifty meters long and about two meters wide, connecting the mountaintop plaza to the cliff opposite.

The bridge is partially hidden by the clouds and mist of the high mountains, and there are traces of dew everywhere. Although there are lion head railings on both sides, it is still slippery and scary.

Several Taoist priests were also standing on the bridge, their swords already pierced into the bridge structure. Judging from their appearance, they seemed to want to destroy the stone bridge and perish together with the invaders.

The cause of death for all of these people was that their dantian (lower abdomen) had been pierced.

The sharp, indescribable aura instantly destroyed their dantian and dantian, stirring up the internal energy they had painstakingly cultivated over many years, which exploded from their waists, leaving behind sprays of blood on the bridge surface.

Even though their swords had already pierced the stone bridge, they no longer had the internal energy to destroy it.

Unlike the continuous Taoist buildings on the mountaintop, on the other side of the stone bridge, on the opposite cliff, there is only one tall building, standing there all alone.

The nine-story building stands silently and majestically, seemingly poised to pierce the sky from the height of the cliff.

Black tiles and flying eaves, mahogany railings, doors and windows tightly closed, but at this time, bright lights shine through the old paper pasted on the doors and windows on each floor.

Guan Luoyang saw a figure moving inside the window on the fifth floor.

The person was walking sideways through the window, but seemed to sense something and turned around, facing out of the window.

suddenly!

The figure had moved from inside the tightly closed window to outside.

In Guan Luoyang's eyes, what was merely a thin image projected onto the paper window instantly transformed into a three-dimensional, tall, clear, and powerful human figure!

That person's appearance did not match the characteristics of any of the enemy's Reincarnation Squad.

With a prominent nose, wide mouth, high eyebrows, deep-set eyes, thick beard, golden hair ornaments, and light gold clothes, but covered with a rough garment resembling a fishing net, this is precisely the image of a Western Region barbarian in the minds of the people of the Central Plains.

His entire process of passing through the window was almost silent. Only when his figure disappeared outside the window could one see that a large hole, about the height of a person, had appeared in the window and the wall.

The materials that originally made up the windows and walls have turned into dust particles lighter than air, which are now scattered and floating around, shining brightly under the lights shining from inside the building.

In the next instant, the person seemed to be bathed in the glow of a floor of lights, appearing from a relatively distant place before Guan Luoyang, his palm obscuring all the scenery as it pressed down on Guan Luoyang's face.

Guan Luoyang leaned back, raised his hands with both palms crossed, and used all his strength to catch the object.

His mind and dantian roared with power, unleashing it at the level that Guan Luoyang could control, the closest he could get to the grandmaster's form.

The two palms collided.

The surrounding environment instantly showed signs of a depression.

The air, the light, and the large amount of soil and rocks from the ground seemed to be drawn out from all directions, from the sky to the ground, forming sharp spikes, some solid, some illusory, some bright, some deep, all converging at the point where the two palms collided.

However, this extraordinary sight only lasted for a very short time.

Next, all the gathering phenomena were reversed, and the concave environment became a violent expansion.

The air roared, the ground sank into a hemisphere, and the bricks and stones at the edges were squeezed, cracked and bulged. The air blast carried gravel and dust, expanding rapidly and sweeping across the square and bridge.

Guan Luoyang's body, leaving a trail of expanding gray-white dust, retreated backward.

The man from the Western Regions flipped in the air and fell to the ground, silently frowning as he moved the wrist that had just struck out.

A doubt arose in his mind. Although there was no sense of a Grandmaster level on the other party, the profound gate of the mind, the dantian, the power of a Grandmaster, and the moves of a Grandmaster were all present.

Without even reaching this level, one can still possess all the characteristics and have combat power approaching that of a grandmaster. I really don't know how they developed this skill.

Lu Gu'an, the number one below Grandmaster?

No, that Minister of Revenue practically controlled the entire Tang Dynasty's purse strings and resided in Luoyang; he couldn't possibly be that young.

The Western Region people failed to land a single blow.

On the stone bridge, the clouds and mist swirled, and four figures appeared walking on the railings.

All four were dressed in black robes and silver tall crowns, with the appearance of young men from the Central Plains and handsome features.

Because their clothes, height, and temperament are so similar, even though they each have distinct and handsome features, it can be difficult to tell them apart at first glance.

However, the oval-shaped jade in the center of their forehead ribbons were all different colors, namely emerald green, fiery red, warm yellow, and pure purple.

The two people on the left, one in front holding an umbrella, and the other behind holding a rolled-up bamboo scroll.

The two people on the right, one holding a sword in front and the other carrying a seven-stringed zither at an angle behind.

They didn't take big steps, but each step allowed them to gracefully leap from one lion's head to the next.

Suddenly, the four of them leaped up simultaneously, their black robes fluttering as they soared through the air. Their figures, traversing the sky, carried a wondrous arc that was both brief and enduring, much like a great calligrapher who had wielded his brush for millennia, attempting to create the most expressive stroke of ink ten thousand times, each stroke different yet always similar.

Such a movement technique may not seem fast to the eye, but it is actually impossible to avoid.

Guan Luoyang slid backward, and just as he regained his footing, four black rainbow-like shadows fell beside him.

The four directions of east, west, south, and north perfectly blocked him out.

As soon as the person holding the zither plucked the strings, Guan Luoyang immediately felt layers of ripples and chaotic waves in the air around him, rushing and sweeping towards his body.

A green aura rippled around him, countering the chaotic and turbulent air fluctuations. With a thunderous sound, he struck the person carrying the zither.

The four people shifted their positions, and a large umbrella was opened. The orange oil-paper umbrella seemed to have a frame made of thick bamboo strips. It was a cheap item that cost ten coins and could be seen everywhere.

But Guan Luoyang's powerful palm strike landed on the umbrella, producing only a muffled thud, and surprisingly, it didn't break the umbrella.

He raised his wrist and pressed down again, unleashing force from his palm. His strike was like a whirlwind, penetrating through the umbrella and causing the person holding the umbrella to feel a numbness in their hand and stagger backward.

The person holding the sword did not draw the sword from its sheath; he merely pushed the end of the hilt forward, and a burst of sword energy shot out, striking from Guan Luoyang's right front.

Guan Luoyang's pursuit was momentarily halted by the sword energy, and with a slight tremor, the sound of the zither rang out again.

These people moved swiftly and coordinated perfectly. In the blink of an eye, they had already unleashed at least twenty-eight deadly attacks on Guan Luoyang, who was surrounded by them. It was clearly an exquisite and ingenious formation.

Especially the one holding a bamboo slip.

In this brief exchange, Guan Luoyang used his strength to create openings in the other three six times. The one holding the bamboo slip then filled in the gaps, rolling or unfolding the bamboo slip and poking at the openings, causing the flaws in the formation to disappear in the process of changing.

But Guan Luoyang's figure moved around, leaving more than a dozen circular footprints on the ground around him.

Suddenly, he spread his arms apart and pressed down as if he had no special moves at all.

The weight on the four people intensified, and just as they were about to break free, they felt their feet sink into emptiness.

The power seeping from Guan Luoyang's footprints had actually destroyed the surrounding foundation. The surface stone bricks did not appear to be broken, but the soil and rocks underneath had been churned into a loose and scattered state, like dry sand.

The force of gravity, combined with the pressure from the spreading azure energy, forced all four people to their chests and sank them into the ground.

Guan Luoyang did not try to kill the four people because they were only momentarily caught off guard and had not suffered any damage. In fact, the formation was still intact and they still had a strong ability to resist.

More importantly, a large part of Guan Luoyang's attention had to be focused on that Western Region man.

He kept a vigilant eye on the Western Region man, and when the four people around him were forced into the ground, he immediately used his lightness skill to fly backward and leave the place first.

In his sight, the man from the Western Regions never pursued them; in fact, he even took a step back, his gaze fixed on Guan Luoyang's rear.

rear!!!!

Guan Luoyang spun around in mid-air.

A man with long hair, around thirty years old, was also looking at him, accompanied by a black robe, hanging there quietly, suspended in the ancient and timeless high mountains and long winds, in the void of the night.

They were at a slightly higher altitude than Guan Luoyang at that moment, and had no idea how long they had been there.

But as soon as Guan Luoyang saw this person, he immediately had an absurd and distorted illusion, as if what was in front of him was not a person, but an empty space.

The hole was in the black-robed man's chest, in his heart.

With an incomparable, annihilating, and ruthless ferocity that was about to engulf him entirely, it still failed to destroy his seemingly frail figure.

But the person was clearly still hanging there, standing in the air, his chest flat and covered by his clothes.

He then asked, "Who are you?"

"close……"

Guan Luoyang was inexplicably dazed and almost blurted out his own name. Just as he uttered the last word, his vocal cords vibrated and his Adam's apple moved, he snapped back to reality.

His figure suddenly disappeared.

It should be noted that he originally soared into the air in one breath, heading towards the man in black. It was already quite an achievement that he was able to spin around in mid-air and become face-to-face with him.

At this moment, Guan Luoyang, surprisingly, reversed his leaping trajectory despite having no leverage.

This fleeting, shimmering movement in the void was as swift as thunder and lightning, a blur of light and shadow, like the lingering fragrance of plum blossoms beneath a tree. The moment the pages of an old book were turned, the scent of the bookmark had already faded away, reaching a distant horizon beyond the reach of the mind.

With this retreat, he brought the remaining movement techniques inherited from the Azure Bird True Form within the Supreme Azure Sky Divine Skill to their absolute limit.

During this half-step retreat, a knife appeared in his hand, and as he raised it, all the light was extinguished.

The next moment, an extreme streak of light folded across the dark sky, like a silent lightning bolt, striking the man's head like a thunderbolt.

Heavenly Serpent Drinking Light - God-Slaying Whip!

This slash cut through the darkness, splitting open heads and clothes.

But there was nothing inside this person's body, and even the seemingly real sensation of the knife wound became illusory, and the black clothes that had been torn in two faded away.

At the distance where the blade missed its mark, the man in black remained suspended, floating forward and giving a push.

Guan Luoyang swung his sword horizontally, the blade facing outwards. The famous sword, Hyakki Yako, which could transmit power through sound, erupted with intense noise in his hand. The air in the fan-shaped area where the sword was swung became blurred.

The invisible and ignorant air was almost shaken and shattered into random particles of varying sizes.

But none of that could stop that push.

With a single palm strike, a perfectly clear, straight trajectory appeared within the blurred fan-shaped area, piercing straight through.

The strange air created by the trembling noise was wiped away by this hand. When the Hundred Tongues Blade was touched by this hand, it was slightly stiffened before being severed—the middle section of the blade was directly broken into tiny dust particles that even Guan Luoyang's eyesight could not detect.

Boom! ! ! !

Guan Luoyang's figure shot out and crashed into the front eaves of a grand hall, breaking countless pieces of wood and tiles before he suddenly flipped over and jumped onto the roof ridge.

The shattered tiles crashed down into the crack he had created, and Guan Luoyang flipped his hand, revealing a token from his personal storage space in his palm.

With the character "军" (military) facing forward, his white knuckles trembled, and he crushed the token.

The broken tiles that were still cascading down the roof of the main hall suddenly slowed down, as if they had fallen into an invisible, viscous glue, and gradually came to a stop.

The four handsome servants, one holding a zither, one carrying an umbrella, one holding a bamboo slip, and one presenting a sword, were still trying to leap out from underground, but for some reason, their strength suddenly gave way, and they got stuck there, looking up blankly.

The Western Region man's expression suddenly hardened, his eyebrows furrowing sharply inward, the wrinkles on his skin resembling the texture of steel forged through countless hammer blows.

This was a display of his full power. He unleashed the "Human Heaven Evolution Method"—Eight Winds Tremor—at the level of a Fire Luo Dao Grandmaster, and clashed with the sweeping will, holding fast to himself.

When Guan Luoyang crushed the token, his mind was also jolted. He seemed to feel that at this moment, every tiny magnetic field of every thing in the palace buildings of Lao Jun Mountain, down to every tile, every piece of wood, every blade of grass, and every tree, was swept over by an overwhelming and domineering will.

The clouds and mist from all directions, the starlight and moonlight in the sky, and the broken tiles and wood coming down the mountain swirled into a vortex, compressing into a giant fist with lightning speed.

The man in black robes seemed to be caught in a large spider web woven from fine electric light. His body was surrounded by magnetic fields and electric sparks like spider silk, and the spider web-like electric sparks continued to expand behind him, drawing power from magnetic fields from all directions.

The spider web resembled a target that was growing and expanding on its own, trapping the man in the black robe at its center.

The magnetic fields between the fist and the spider web resonated, the electrodes attracted each other, and suddenly, the giant fist slammed down.

Military Way Killing Fist, Silent Thunder Cannon!

A hand, hidden in a black sleeve, rose up, the back of the hand rubbing against the cuff, before emerging from the sleeve.

The sword in the attendant's hand flew through the air.

Lightning!!

Lightning!!

The man in black's eyes gleamed. He flicked his wrist and raised his arm, his black sleeves flowing smoothly as he slashed at the fist with his sword.

………………

By the time the giant fist and the lightning spider web had both taken shape, Guan Luoyang had already moved from the top of the main hall to the broken railing gap at the edge of the square, and without the slightest hesitation, he rushed over.

They leaped out of the brick square of this Taoist holy site and into the unfathomable sea of ​​clouds at the cliff's edge.

Stimulated by the power of intention, the Thousand Illusion Robe underwent a violent and rapid transformation.

The colorless, rigid wings, resembling those of a glider, unfolded from behind, growing larger and faster as it flew between the mountains, the edges of the wings fluttering slightly from the rapidly passing air currents.

Guan Luoyang swooped down towards the distant wilderness. Behind him, on the increasingly distant mountaintop, the aura of two powerful forces collided and shot upwards into the sky.

With a sharp, sword-like motion, it slashed diagonally through a thick cloud that had just drifted in from beneath the starry sky.

(End of this chapter)