Chapter 27: Chapter 26: Azure Dragon Slashes the Ironcloth
The Pan Yang Iron Armor Sect wasn’t a top-tier Major Sect, but its reputation was formidable within a radius of hundreds of miles around Pan Yang City.
Its Horizontal Training Secret Technique, the *Iron Chain Cross River Skill*, when cultivated to a profound level, was said to make one impervious to blades and spears, immune to water and fire, and was known as the Vajra Iron Massacre.
Moreover, the Iron Armor Sect had always been arrogant and domineering. None of the surrounding factions dared to provoke them, and their power was at its peak.
Although the Yellow Dragon Posthouse was still far from the Iron Armor Sect’s sphere of influence, all the Jianghu People present had heard of the sect’s reputation. They all proactively scattered to give them a wide berth.
"Jin Kaiyuan, you people from the Qingfeng Escort Agency have some nerve! You knew my Iron Armor Sect was going to move against the Lin Family, yet you still dared to accept their job!"
An Iron Armor Sect Martial Artist stepped forward, his voice booming as he berated them.
His voice even seemed to carry the metallic clang of clashing steel.
Jin Kaiyuan carefully cupped his hands. "My Qingfeng Escort Agency has no intention of making an enemy of the Iron Armor Sect. Accepting this job was an ignorant act on the part of our juniors."
"I ask that your esteemed sect show us some leniency. Let us deliver the goods, and after that, the Qingfeng Escort Agency will cut all ties with the Lin Family."
"Afterward, I am willing to personally visit the Iron Armor Sect with generous gifts to apologize. I hope you gentlemen will give us a chance."
Jin Kaiyuan was experienced and level-headed. He knew the Iron Armor Sect’s domineering style and understood that they valued face above all else.
’He would offer them the money from the Lin Family, and then pay a hefty sum out of his own pocket. By humbling himself completely, the Iron Armor Sect would gain face and would likely spare their lives.’
The leading Iron Armor Sect Martial Artist glanced at the men behind him, then burst out laughing.
"Jin Kaiyuan, Jin Kaiyuan... you really know how to read a room. You understand the Iron Armor Sect’s temperament."
Jin Kaiyuan breathed a sigh of relief.
But then the Martial Artist’s tone shifted, his voice suddenly turning icy.
"But do you have any idea that we brothers chased you for hundreds of miles? We ran several horses to death. As expected of professional escorts—you sure can run."
"Now you say you know you were wrong and want to come to the Iron Armor Sect to apologize? Where was this realization earlier?"
"It’s easy for you to say ’let us go,’ but what about the credit for me and my martial brothers? Did we run hundreds of miles for nothing?"
"If we kill you and retrieve the Lin Family’s Profound Soldier Cyan Dragon Blood Drink, wouldn’t that be an even greater achievement?"
Jin Kaiyuan’s eyes widened. ’This is bad,’ he thought.
He had humbled himself and offered a public apology, which should have been enough to appease the face-conscious Iron Armor Sect.
The problem was that these specific disciples, for the sake of their own personal credit, didn’t want to let them go!
"Scatter!"
Jin Kaiyuan roared, snatching the case off Qingqing’s back and slinging it over his own shoulder as he bolted for the door.
With his Blood Movement Realm cultivation and years of escort work honing his Body Technique to peak agility, he was outside in an instant.
The leading Iron Armor Sect disciple, however, had reached the Qi Casting Realm. He snorted, his body as immovable as an iron pagoda. A layer of misty gray True Qi erupted from him, blocking Jin Kaiyuan’s path.
He threw a single punch, and the ferocious shockwave sent Jin Kaiyuan flying backward, coughing up blood.
The Iron Armor Sect Martial Artist then snatched the case and crushed it in his hand.
Wood splinters rained down, revealing not a weapon, but a pile of rocks.
"Damn it! Stop the others!"
The other Iron Armor Sect disciples sprang into action, intercepting Qingqing and the others.
Qingqing and the other young escorts were only at the Meridian Passage Realm, while the remaining Iron Armor Sect Martial Artists were all at the Blood Movement Realm and outnumbered them.
The result was a complete rout. Within a few exchanges, the members of the Qingfeng Escort Agency were all grievously wounded, spitting blood as they staggered back to Jin Kaiyuan’s side.
One of the Iron Armor Sect Martial Artists crushed another case, revealing a long saber.
The saber was long and narrow, its body dazzlingly bright and impossibly sharp. The cutting edge, however, shimmered with a deep crimson hue, as if a bloody light swirled within.
The hilt was fashioned in the shape of an Azure Dragon swallowing the blade, but the dragon’s eyes, which should have held two gemstones, were now empty sockets.
The Iron Armor Sect disciple held up the saber, exclaiming excitedly, "Senior Brother! The Cyan Dragon Blood Drink is here!"
The Iron Armor Sect’s senior brother sneered and waved his hand. "Kill them all. We’ll take their heads back for the reward!"
At that exact moment, a brilliant flash—a saber glint moving with impossible speed—suddenly lit up the hall.
The Iron Armor Sect disciple holding the Cyan Dragon Blood Drink didn’t even have time to activate his Horizontal Training Techniques before his head hit the floor.
Chen Yuan snatched the Cyan Dragon Blood Drink from the falling body. He gently ran his left hand along the blood-colored edge, feeling its supreme, chilling sharpness, and couldn’t help but exclaim, "A fine saber!"
This saber was the very reason Chen Yuan had come.
In terms of rank, the Cyan Dragon Blood Drink was a Profound Level, Upper Grade weapon, but it had once been an Earth Soldier.
It had been forged by the Central Plains’ Weapon Casting Master, Ou Yezi. The dragon head on its hilt was once inlaid with two Blood Coagulation Spirit Stones for eyes.
In the heat of battle, the blade would "drink" blood, concentrating the Blood Qi into the Blood Coagulation Spirit Stones. This would then transform into powerful Qi and Blood Power, greatly enhancing the user’s strength.
The saber could drink blood, which is how it earned the name Cyan Dragon Blood Drink.
But later, due to countless battles and accidents, the two Blood Coagulation Spirit Stones on the dragon head shattered. It lost its blood-drinking ability, and the weapon was demoted to a Profound Soldier.
Even so, the Cyan Dragon Blood Drink was still forged with the quality of an Earth Soldier. The sheer sharpness of its materials allowed it to shatter other weapons and pierce through protective qi, making it far superior to ordinary Profound Soldiers.
In fact, it could be considered a peak-grade Profound Soldier, second only to the Earth Soldiers and their various miraculous abilities.
Earth Soldiers were priceless and were almost exclusively held by major powers or legendary Jianghu masters.
Chen Yuan couldn’t possibly attack a Major Sect to steal an Earth Soldier. That would be suicide.
As things stood, the Cyan Dragon Blood Drink was the best weapon he could possibly obtain.
"You’re dead!"
The Iron Armor Sect’s senior brother roared, "It’s always been the Iron Armor Sect taking things from others! Who dares to snatch something right from under our noses?"
"Kill him! I want his head crushed into a pulp!"
The words had barely left his mouth when the senior brother shot toward Chen Yuan like a cannonball.
The other Iron Armor Sect disciples circulated their Inner Strength. Their muscles bulged, and their skin began to take on a dark hue.
In its early stages, the Iron Armor Sect’s *Iron Chain Cross River Skill* did enhance physical durability, but not to the exaggerated point of being completely immune to weapons.
Only by channeling Inner Strength to unify muscle and sinew could they achieve the protective effect of a Hard Skill.
The disciple Chen Yuan had just killed was cut down before he even had time to channel his Inner Strength and activate his Hard Skill.
But the senior brother had already reached the Qi Casting Realm. With a single thought, his Inner Strength True Qi fused with his flesh, forming the Cold Armor Iron Clothing. His reaction speed was far greater than that of his Blood Movement Realm juniors.
Chen Yuan held the Cyan Dragon Blood Drink, his Inner Strength surging as he pushed the *Surging Waves and Flowing Clouds Technique* to its absolute limit.
A faintly reddish True Qi began to emanate from the crimson edge of the Cyan Dragon Blood Drink.
The Inner Strength cultivated through the *Surging Waves and Flowing Clouds Technique* was inherently without an attribute. Since Chen Yuan hadn’t drawn killing intent into himself, his True Qi didn’t possess the Blood Fiend Power attribute.
However, his entire body had been tempered by the force of Blood Fiend Power, so his Inner Strength True Qi was still tinged with a faint Blood Fiend attribute, manifesting now as light red True Qi.
Azure waves churned, and the saber’s momentum was limitless.
Autumn Water Shocking Swan, Wave-Treading Slash!
The Iron Armor Sect’s senior brother’s expression changed drastically.
He had thought the man who stole the saber was just some audacious fool, but he never expected his opponent to possess such profound power.
The might of this slash—its speed and power—was pushed to the absolute limit. Furthermore, his opponent wielded the Cyan Dragon Blood Drink. Even though he had cultivated the *Iron Chain Cross River Skill* to Minor Achievement and formed the Iron Armor Cold Clothing, he didn’t dare to meet the attack head-on.
His charge came to a dead stop. The senior brother snatched the Iron Conical Hat from his head and used it to meet Chen Yuan’s blade.
A deafening CLANG of metal on metal rang out, and a deep gash appeared on the Iron Conical Hat.
But with a flick of his wrist, the senior brother used the Iron Conical Hat to knock aside Chen Yuan’s blade and thrust it toward Chen Yuan’s chest.
The Iron Armor Sect specialized in Horizontal Training Techniques, but that didn’t mean they eschewed weapons. The Iron Conical Hat was the sect’s signature weapon.
The raised center was a solid block of iron several inches thick, allowing it to be used as a shield.
Its edges, however, were as sharp as any blade, allowing for attacks from countless angles.
Because of their powerful Horizontal Training Techniques, Iron Armor Sect Martial Artists could grip its sharp edges without harm. It was an unconventional weapon designed specifically for them.
Chen Yuan retreated hastily, but three Iron Armor Sect Martial Artists blocked his path, standing like three massive door panels.
He reversed his saber’s momentum, unleashing a sky-blotting slash. It condensed into a flurry of saber-images, like swirling autumn leaves, each one carrying a ferocious, boundless killing intent!
Autumn Wind Slash!
The senior brother might have been able to block Chen Yuan’s strike, but the other ordinary disciples at the Blood Movement Realm certainly could not.
Under the overwhelming force of the attack, the Iron Conical Hats were knocked from their hands. All three were killed in an instant, their severed limbs scattering across the floor.
The Horizontal Training Techniques they prided themselves on offered virtually no defense against Chen Yuan’s immense power and the supreme sharpness of the Cyan Dragon Blood Drink.
The Iron Armor Sect was so determined to seize the Cyan Dragon Blood Drink because one of their vice sect leaders had once been killed by it.
A weapon of such sharpness was too great a threat to the Iron Armor Sect.
At least within their own sphere of influence, a weapon of this caliber was something only the Iron Armor Sect was qualified to possess.
"You deserve to die!"
The senior brother roared in fury and charged at Chen Yuan, shattering tables and chairs in his wake.
But Chen Yuan refused to meet him head-on. The *Surging Waves and Flowing Clouds Technique* granted immense explosive power. With a flicker of movement, Chen Yuan appeared before another Iron Armor Sect disciple.
With a flash of his saber—before the man could even raise his Iron Conical Hat to defend—Chen Yuan sliced him in two at the waist. Guts and entrails spilled across the floor.
The blade was stained with blood, but the droplets instantly converged on the scarlet edge in a bizarre fashion.
Chen Yuan was more than satisfied with this saber’s power.
Even though it had lost its blood-drinking effect, its sharpness had reached the absolute peak. Its power was incredible.
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