Chapter 115: Chapter 115: The Moonlight Makes the Green Gown Look Like Jade
"Sect Master He, are you working with them?"
At the first terrace, Su Junhao, dressed in a golden crown and purple clothing, clutched at his chest as blood gushed out.
The expression on He Qingyu’s face was terrifyingly somber.
According to his plan, there was no need to expose his intentions. As long as Shi Xiaole was captured, it was likely to yield the martial arts skills he wanted.
Unfortunately, the greedy Lotus Lord from the Nine Lotus Sect had set his sights on Su Junhao, and even tried to drag him into his scheme. What a pig-headed teammate!
"Hehe, Young Master Su, you didn’t expect this, did you? All of tonight was just a trap we laid out. As long as you obediently recite the martial arts you’ve learned, we can spare your life."
The Lotus Lord was an seemingly amiable old man with white hair, his eyes now squinted in delight as he looked between He Qingyu and Su Junhao.
The Nine Lotus Sect had not acted honorably, and the blows they had recently taken were increasing. The Lotus Lord had long intended to temporarily withdraw from the Martial World.
In his opinion, since he was planning to retreat anyway, why not make a fortune before leaving? And as for you, He Qingyu, why should you earn both reputation and martial arts skills and withdraw together!
"Young Master Su, don’t make things difficult for us, cooperate."
Unwilling to burn bridges with the Nine Lotus Sect, He Qingyu turned to Su Junhao.
Around them, heaps of dead bodies fell, some from the Nine Lotus Sect and some from the Subdue Evil Sect. Evidently, in order to gain Su Junhao’s trust and prevent him from escaping, the two sects had previously had a real brawl.
"Hypocritical villains! Humph, you think you can seize the martial arts of the Truth Sword Sect?"
Step by step, Su Junhao backed away, filled with both rage and deep dissatisfaction.
Both the Lotus Lord and He Qingyu were at the fifth tier of Qi Absorption, either of which were beyond his capability, let alone the additional presence of the Seventh Lotus Lord, Eighth Lotus Lord, the Subdue Evil Sect’s overseer and other experienced masters watching intently.
Forget fighting off enemies, even escaping seemed like a luxury.
"No one is coming to save you. Young Master Su, there’s no need to feel upset. That Shi Xiaole must have already been incapacitated, so at least you’ll have him for company."
The overseer of the Subdue Evil Sect spoke with a smug grin.
"If you dare to hurt me, are you not afraid of retaliation from the Truth Sword Sect?"
Su Junhao shouted.
"Hahahaha, the famed Young Master Sword of the Cloud Triangle, to think you’d say something so utterly foolish. Why not surrender?"
The Seventh Lotus Lord couldn’t help himself, clenching his fist and indifferently throwing a punch at Su Junhao’s face.
"Truth Sword Technique!"
Letting out a roar in his heart, Su Junhao, who was previously severely wounded by the Lotus Lord, suddenly unleashed a sword strike. The sword was incredibly peculiar, the flash of light resembling a kaleidoscope, causing a dazzling confusion.
The Seventh Lotus Lord was split into two without even uttering a sound.
He Qingyu’s eyes brightened, and his body trembled.
The swordplay just now was undoubtedly second-rate.
"You son of a bitch, you’re asking for death!"
Equally agitated was the Lotus Lord. But along with his agitation came a full-blown rage. He was clearly on the verge of victory, yet one of his generals had been killed; it was simply outrageous.
As he stepped forward, his aged palm targeted Su Junhao’s chest and pushed down.
With the fifth tier Qi Absorption internal power, the severely injured Su Junhao could not even muster his sword arts, and was sent flying like a broken bag, vomiting blood everywhere.
His eyes were slightly unfocused, filled with despair.
"Sever his tendons and throw him into the dungeon."
With a wave of the Lotus Lord’s hand, two members of the Nine Lotus Sect immediately stepped forward.
Clang.
Just then, a sword rang out, and the two members screamed as they fell to the ground. A slender silhouette flashed in the black night, suddenly landing in front of Su Junhao.
"You are, Shi Xiaole?"
Upon seeing the newcomer, the overseer of the Subdue Evil Sect uttered a low cry, looking extremely taken aback.
The rest of the group looked at each other. How could a man who should have been taken care of and thrown into the dungeon appear here? Could it be...
"Where are fourth and fifth brother?"
The Lotus Lord asked in a deep voice, his expression fluctuating.
"They’ve already gone to meet the King of Hell."
Shi Xiaole held the handle of the green sword lightly and calmly replied.
"You killed them and dared to show up here so blatantly?"
The Eighth Lotus Lord laughed out of extreme anger, her voice hoarse, and her eyes filled with an icy killing intent.
At this point, Su Junhao on the ground also slowly propped himself up, looking at the figure before him with a complex expression, and said with a wry smile, "You shouldn’t have come to die."
A martial artist at the first tier of Qi Absorption, no matter how powerful, could not possibly compete with the people here. Even in his prime, Su Junhao couldn’t make it possible.
Despite this, seeing that Shi Xiaole did not escape, but stepped in to help, Su Junhao felt a rare sense of gratitude.
"Whichever hand you use to kill, I’ll destroy that hand."
The Lotus Lord gave a frosty smile, and with a step, he appeared ghost-like before Shi Xiaole, his speed so fast that few people on the scene were able to react.
Third-rate superior flying skill, Ghost God Steps.
Just as he steadied his footing, the Lotus Lord’s old palm grabbed Shi Xiaole’s right hand. It felt like a pair of iron pliers, giving the illusion of inescapable grip.
Third-rate superior loose hand, No Way Hand.
"You think a bit of skill means you can act recklessly?"
The overseer of the Subdue Evil Sect started laughing. He was still bitter about being defeated by Shi Xiaole, and was keen to witness his miserable state.
"I’m going to make you wish you were dead."
Lotus Lord, holding a hateful grudge, felt an extreme sense of satisfaction.
"There’s no escaping now."
Su Junhao’s heart sank. Even though he saw what was about to happen, he couldn’t help but shiver all over.
Shi Xiaole didn’t dodge, not because he couldn’t, but because he didn’t need to.
With a bizarre sheen lighting up his eyes, an invisible force surged into the Lotus Lord’s eyes. A loud bang echoed as if a hammer had struck down from the sky, causing the Lotus Lord’s movements to abruptly halt.
The closer the Soul Transfer Great Method is used, the greater its damage.
The Lotus Lord wanted to take down Shi Xiaole with an overwhelmingly powerful strike but instead accidentally entered into a lethal zone.
At that instant, the knife light swirled like shattered snowflakes tearing through the darkness.
No one could describe how fast Shi Xiaole’s blade was. They only knew that as soon as the blade’s energy erupted, a spray of blood spattered into the air.
Everything was over before it began.
"Ah, ah, you..."
The Lotus Lord, clutching his neck, backed away, producing a faint voice while his eyeballs almost popped out from sheer shock.
"Your reaction wasn’t quick enough."
Shi Xiaole calmly proclaimed.
Compared to Yintong, the Lotus Lord not only lacked internal power, but his reaction was also slower. At least the former was able to recover from the Soul Transfer Great Method and evade the attack. Still, they both suffered injuries.
But when his words reached the ears of the onlookers, it was as stunning and loud as a clap of thunder, leaving many of them practically deaf.
Seeing the fifth-tier Qi-absorbing Lotus Lord laying dead, people couldn’t help but inhale sharply.
"Impossible, this is impossible."
The overseer of the Subdue Evil Sect, pale from fright, repeated in disbelief.
Lotus Lord’s lips trembled as he took three steps back unconsciously.
"Was that the pupil skill just now?"
He Qingyu’s eyes flashed brilliantly, revealing a mixture of murderous intent, fear, and an indescribable sense of jealousy.
Shi Xiaole’s ability to kill the Four Lotus Lord and Five Lotus Lord proved his exceptional potential. His newfound mastery of the Pupil Skill made him an even bigger threat to He Qingyu, surpassing even Su Junhao.
This man, now an enemy, must be eliminated.
"Gentleman, if news of today’s events spread, none of us will escape unscathed. Let’s all attack together and kill this lad."
Since He Qingyu didn’t dare to approach Shi Xiaole because of the Pupil Skill, he planned to deplete his power first by initiating a group battle.
"Brothers, kill!"
Lotus Lord roared and led the high-ranking members of the Nine Lotus Sect forward in an attack that sought revenge for the death of the Lotus Lord.
Meanwhile, He Qingyu and the overseer of the Subdue Evil Sect were also impatient to engage.
As for the other higher-ups in the Subdue Evil Sect, most of those unwilling to participate in tonight’s ploy are already dead.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
Under He Qingyu’s orders, people surrounded Shi Xiaole, always maintaining a gap of two Zhangs. This strategy not only minimised the effect of the Soul Transfer Great Method but also ensured that concentrated attacks of internal power could critically hurt Shi Xiaole.
The raging power surged like a perfect circle of tidal waves, causing faint tremors on the ground and blowing Shi Xiaole’s black hair and green clothes.
For some reason, Su Junhao felt an unprecedented admiration towards Shi Xiaole.
Because on that face, bathed in the moonlight, he saw not an ounce of fear. What he saw instead was a calm acceptance, as if nothing in the world could make this young man in green anxious.
With pressure heavy as a mountain on his chest, his internal organs felt like they were churning. The aura of danger was already palpable, even before the actual pressure had come down.
If this were before, all he could do was to slice open an exit with a lethal move, get injured in return and then close in on the crowd as fast as he could.
But now, things were far from reaching an impasse.
Hand gripping the hilt of the blade, Shi Xiaole took a deep breath, leaped into the air, and as his body followed a dipping arc, he slashed through the night, creating a trail of shattered, snow-flake like glow in the sky.
Lethal move, Phoenix Soaring.
Being a long-range killing move, the Phoenix Soaring has both a continuous and coherent attack phase. Therefore, there was no need to switch moves within three Zhangs.
Amidst a sound that made people’s teeth ache, the energy dispersed. People were horrified to find that Shi Xiaole had already broken through the encirclement.
"Die."
With a swing of his blade, two men were instantly slain. Swapping for his Wild Wind Blade Technique, Shi Xiaole was like a tiger among sheep. Where his blade passed, heads rolled.
This was a massacre. A one-sided massacre.
The encirclement that usually invoked fear in others was totally useless against Shi Xiaole.
"Falling Flower Drifting Water!"
Glimpsing an opening, He Qingyu roared. His left hand formed a fist and his right a palm, both attacking simultaneously with a ferocious killing move.
With the quick circulation of his Fuyang Qi Skill, Shi Xiaole launched a straight-line Life thread with his right hand just as his left-hand’s knife energy was about to expire.
Bang!
The energy burst forth, causing many to fall to the ground.
Both Shi Xiaole and He Qingyu were pushed back three steps.
"A tie?"
Su Junhao couldn’t believe it.
Feeling his own Qi Absorption at the second tier, he was already no match for He Qingyu. Didn’t this mean that even without the Pupil Skill, Shi Xiaole was stronger than him?
