Chapter 334: Chapter 165: Full Strength
Blood Rakshasa!?
Hearing this, Chen Qing and Yan Yaoyang both shuddered internally.
Hu Mei, the Blood Rakshasa, was one of the Demon Sect’s Eight Great Guardians. Her fame was on par with Zuo Feng’s—in fact, she had risen to prominence even earlier. Her power was unfathomable, and her reputation for cruelty was even greater!
She had recruited and trained many masters, but the most feared among them were the elusive and brutal "Nether and Ghost Guards"!
Both were masters who had opened all Twelve Orthodox Meridians and reached Embracing Pill Power Perfection!
The man (the Nether Guard) curled his lips into a cruel smirk but did not reply.
The woman (the Ghost Guard) let out a delicate laugh, but her voice was incomparably cold. "Kill them all! Leave no one alive. All this True Qi and Essence Blood will be enough for our Cultivation for quite some time."
She spoke nonchalantly, as if discussing a trivial matter.
The Nether Guard added flatly, "I’ll kill the ones inside. You take the ones outside."
"Alright."
The Ghost Guard agreed. With a flicker, her form became like a wisp of incorporeal black smoke, and in an instant, she drifted out of the inn’s main doors.
Inside the inn, the Nether Guard swung his sleeve, and a thick, ink-black Evil Qi erupted from his body.
The Evil Qi spread rapidly. The light throughout the inn seemed to dim, and the temperature plummeted.
"Hmph!?"
Chen Qing immediately felt his entire body grow heavy, as if he had sunk into a mire. The circulation of his True Qi became sluggish and stagnant.
Yan Yaoyang’s expression changed drastically. "Junior Brother Chen, be careful!" he cried out. "This is Black Evil Qi! It’s incredibly venomous. Don’t let it enter your body and corrode your meridians! We have to break out of here!"
He knew full well how terrifying the Nether and Ghost Guards were; they were no match for the two of them. Before his voice had even faded, he had already forced his Geng Metal True Qi into a protective barrier around his body and was charging desperately toward the inn’s main doors.
Chen Qing’s eyes darted around. The sounds of fighting and screaming from outside were incessant. The Ghost Guard was on a rampage. The situation out there was unknown; rushing out blindly could lead them into a more dangerous ambush.
’Inside the inn, on the other hand, while the Nether Guard is terrifyingly powerful, he’s still just one person...’
As these thoughts raced through his mind, Yan Yaoyang was already about to reach the entrance.
Chen Qing, however, crouched slightly and gripped his Cloud-Coiling Spear. He did not immediately follow, instead watching the movements of the Nether Guard and Zhu Yi with vigilance.
Just then, a shrill, despairing scream came from the direction of the counter.
Chen Qing whipped his head around. Through the thin, spreading, blackish-green Evil Qi, he saw that the Nether Guard had, at some unknown point, appeared before the Shopkeeper like a phantom.
Before the Shopkeeper could even get a plea for mercy out, the Nether Guard’s claw-like hand shot out like lightning, easily tearing open his chest. The next second, a still-beating heart was brutally ripped out!
The Nether Guard’s expression was blank. He gently closed his five fingers.
SQUELCH!
The heart was instantly crushed, turning into a gory pulp of flesh and blood.
The Shopkeeper’s eyes were wide and round. His corpse slumped to the ground, his face frozen in an expression of absolute terror.
The act was swift, clean, and utterly brutal, sending a chill down the spine and deep into the heart of anyone who witnessed it.
The atmosphere inside the inn instantly froze.
The Nether Guard let out a cold laugh. He walked through the Black Evil Qi, which was now so thick and black it seemed to swallow all light, plunging the inn into a gloomy darkness where one couldn’t even see their own hand in front of their face.
His voice, tinged with the playful cruelty of a cat toying with a mouse, echoed through the black fog. "There’s still one more. Are you hiding? Did you think I wouldn’t find you just because you’re holding your breath?"
The inn was dead silent, save for the soundless surge of the Black Evil Qi as it corroded the wooden beams and tables, emitting a faint SIZZLE.
"Hmph!"
Suddenly, the Nether Guard snorted coldly. His figure melted into the Evil Qi like a phantom, and when he reappeared, he had already closed in on Chen Qing’s position without a sound!
A claw-like hand, wreathed in thick, blackish-green Evil Qi, tore through the fog. The five fingers were like hooks, their tips gleaming with a dark, poisonous light as they viciously clawed for Chen Qing’s throat!
Its speed was astounding, like a vengeful spirit coming to claim a life!
SWOOSH!
A glint of cold light shot out from the Evil Qi to the side without any warning!
Though it moved second, it arrived first, striking toward the force of the Nether Guard’s claw with unerring accuracy!
The spear tip was densely concentrated with cyan-black True Qi, carrying a stern momentum as heavy and solid as a mountain!
It was Chen Qing’s Cloud-Coiling Spear!
The Nether Guard’s expression flickered. He clearly hadn’t expected Chen Qing to counter so swiftly and precisely while under the suppression of the Evil Qi. He was forced to retract his claw like a flash of lightning, changing the grab into a palm strike that he slapped against the spear’s shaft.
CLANG!
The collision of palm and spear let out a dull, reverberating sound!
A tremendous force traveled up his arm. The Nether Guard felt his palm go slightly numb. He used the momentum to drift half a step back, melting into the Evil Qi. "Good, kid! You’ve got some tricks! To think you could see through my movements!"
Chen Qing stood with his spear at the ready, his figure flickering in and out of sight within the roiling Black Evil Qi.
His gaze was electric. Though his vision was obstructed, his hearing and perception were heightened to their absolute peak.
"You can’t hide your killing intent," Chen Qing said calmly.
"Kid, you’re truly arrogant!"
The Nether Guard laughed in fury, and his figure vanished once more.
The next moment, the sharp whoosh of claws came from behind Chen Qing, as well as from his left and right, all at the same time!
The Nether Guard’s Body Technique was incredibly bizarre. Under the cover of the Black Evil Qi, he seemed capable of launching attacks from multiple directions at once. Streaks of claw-shadows tore through the air, carrying a sinister, mind-corroding chill as they enveloped all of Chen Qing’s vital points!
Chen Qing remained perfectly composed. His Step Technique was flawless; his posture was as solid as a boulder, yet as nimble as a willow catkin.
He executed the Shadow Stealing realm of his Startled Swan Escape Shadow Technique, leaving a trail of afterimages in the black fog.
The Cloud-Coiling Spear in his hands danced, as steady as a mountain, yet as swift as a startled swan!
Mountain Prison-Suppression Spear! Thousand Peaks and Ridges!
Layer upon layer of spear-shadows instantly appeared, like the phantoms of countless mountain ranges materializing before him. Each shadow was heavy and solid, carrying a suffocating sense of pressure.
