Xu Ziqing dodged instinctively. Then came a wet puchi as something pierced flesh. His ribs suddenly went cold, followed by a burst of intense pain.
At that moment, the Adamantine Giant Ape’s fist wind arrived. Xu Ziqing had no time to care about the pain. He rolled through the air and barely evaded it. Then a sword stabbed toward him from the side, forcing him to strike out with a Wood Essence Finger that hit the flying sword head-on.
Clang! With the force of that single finger, Xu Ziqing barely escaped the attack from several directions. When he landed in front of a huge tree, he clutched his ribs. Blood streamed through his fingers, and cold sweat covered him from the pain.
He raised his head and saw Nian Hongzhi and Wang Jun holding saber and sword. They were the ones who had ambushed him.
Xu Ziqing’s heart went cold. “Why would the two of you…”
Before he could finish, the Adamantine Giant Ape gave him no chance to ask and closed in again.
A long staff suddenly appeared in the Adamantine Giant Ape’s hand. It looked forged from refined iron, black light flowing across its surface and baleful qi pressing outward. In its other hand it held the thousand-year Steelwood, which Xu Ziqing had lost when dodging the earlier attack.
The Adamantine Giant Ape had already decided Xu Ziqing was its enemy. It paid no attention to the immortal cultivators turning on one another. It threw aside the Steelwood, raised the long staff, and smashed it straight down toward Xu Ziqing’s head.
Xu Ziqing hurriedly dodged. With a beckoning motion of his right hand, the Steelwood flew back to him. He raised both arms with all his strength and caught the descending staff against it.
Clang! Clang! Clang! Clang!
The Adamantine Giant Ape’s strength was terrifying. Although the thousand-year Steelwood did not break, the mountain-like force behind each blow was more than Xu Ziqing could bear. His feet gradually sank into the ground.
He wanted to break away and find an opening to fight properly, but the Adamantine Giant Ape’s momentum was overwhelming. Its staff strikes came without pause, like a violent storm, sealing him in so tightly that not even water could pass through.
The thousand-year Steelwood was incomparably hard, but it was not truly indestructible. Under such relentless attacks, before much longer the Steelwood would snap, and Xu Ziqing would become a ghost beneath the staff.
Nian Hongzhi and Wang Jun watched with great satisfaction. The Adamantine Giant Ape was wholly intent on killing Xu Ziqing and therefore paid no attention to them. Once Xu Ziqing died, they could simply reap the benefit. So what if the Adamantine Giant Ape had cultivation comparable to the ninth layer of Qi Refinement? After exhausting itself in battle against Xu Ziqing, it would have little strength left. The two of them had both been at the eighth layer for a long time and would have nothing to fear.
Wang Jun laughed. “Xu Ziqing, you’re already doomed. We might as well let you die knowing why.”
Nian Hongzhi thought the same. Satisfaction entered his voice. “We brothers deliberately approached you for precisely this moment.”
Xu Ziqing struggled beneath the storm of staff blows and forced out the words, “I have… no grievance or hatred with you…”
Nian Hongzhi said, “You simply haven’t remembered yet. If you ever do, you become a hidden danger.”
Wang Jun added, “Pulling out the grass by the roots is the safest course. You can only blame yourself for seeing us brothers at sea and then happening to survive the Yingyu!”
The moment those words left their mouths, Xu Ziqing’s eyes widened and countless images flashed through his mind.
He remembered.
The sea. The Yingyu. E Jiaoran disappearing beneath the waves…
These men had been among the twelve cultivators who abandoned E Jiaoran and fled.
Xu Ziqing recalled E Jiaoran once saying that she was the daughter of the Purple Light Sect Master. Could these people be afraid he would report them, and so had decided to kill him first?
What kind of absurd reason was that?
At the time, the waves had towered over the sea, and Xu Ziqing had not seen those cultivators’ faces clearly at all. That was why even after encountering them several times afterward, he had failed to recognize them.
Under the circumstances, why would he ever have gone to report them? Moreover, although he had thought their actions improper, they were still several living people. How could he bear to send them to their deaths?
He had no intention of harming others, yet others intended to harm him.
All because of one chance encounter, they could actually harbor such vicious thoughts.
Even Xu Ziqing, whose nature had always been gentle and kind, could not help becoming angry.
When words could no longer meet, there was nothing more to say. Xu Ziqing stopped paying attention to the two men.
He had never known there were people in the world so skilled at disguise. To kill him, they had planned every possible trick. Their earlier warmth, friendliness, and repeated attempts to help had all been nothing more than steps toward finding the right moment to strike. Such false affection was truly nauseating.
Blood continued pouring from the wound at his ribs. Xu Ziqing gripped the Steelwood tightly in both hands and endured the Adamantine Giant Ape’s unending staff shadows.
After holding out only a short while, his shoulders and arms had already gone weak. With so much blood lost, his entire body began to turn cold. His head swam. Thoughts had still been turning through his mind a moment ago, but now everything was becoming blank.
No. I absolutely cannot lose consciousness!
Xu Ziqing bit down on the tip of his tongue. The sharper pain barely brought back a little clarity.
In the present situation, if someone could draw the Adamantine Giant Ape’s attention away for even a moment, he could escape from beneath the staff. But he was isolated and without help. Only Chonghua circled high above. If Xu Ziqing wished, one whistle would call the bird down to assist him. Yet Chonghua had cultivated for only a short time. He was not fully grown and had not formed a demon core. Even with a little innate divine ability, how could he possibly be a match for this vicious beast?
Better not to drag Chonghua into this. He had to think of another way.
Hatred and fury consumed the Adamantine Giant Ape. In its eyes there was only the murderer of its child.
Yet this immortal cultivator’s cultivation was only slightly inferior to its own, and for the moment it was actually unable to kill him.
Its poor child had not even grown up yet…
At the thought, agony surged through the Adamantine Giant Ape’s heart. It swung the long staff even faster, almost using all the strength in its body, determined to smash this hateful immortal cultivator’s skull and bones to pieces.
Smash! Smash! Smash!
The impacts made Xu Ziqing’s chest ache. Blood spilled rapidly from the corner of his mouth in a thin stream, staining his green robe and leaving him wretched.
Yet at this moment, something restless began clamoring inside Xu Ziqing’s heart. It mixed with his anger and transformed into an intense will to survive. He had done nothing wrong, yet scheming villains wanted his life. How could he possibly accept that?
Another thought arose, and his mind seemed to catch a flash of inspiration.
Why did the Adamantine Giant Ape regard him as a mortal enemy? It could not be because of the Iron-Hide Giant Ape, or last night would not have passed so peacefully. Then what was the reason?
Xu Ziqing thought again. Nian Hongzhi and Wang Jun had schemed against him. Could their scheme truly consist of nothing more than the ambush itself? With hearts so narrow, had their earlier concern for Wang Yingwu really been sincere?
In an instant, many ideas arose in his mind, and suddenly many things became clear.
He thought, The Adamantine Giant Ape is this enraged because… those two must have something to do with it!
But what good was understanding that? The Adamantine Giant Ape was overwhelmed by fury and would never listen to a mere immortal cultivator explain.
Then… then…
At that very moment, an extraordinarily strong thirst for blood suddenly rose from Xu Ziqing’s dantian.
Something was churning inside his dantian. Something wanted to break free.
An anger unlike anything he had ever felt flooded his mind. An extremely strange and terrifying blood-baleful aura suddenly spread from Xu Ziqing’s entire body.
This was not Xu Ziqing’s aura. It contained none of his usual gentleness. Instead, it was horrifyingly dreadful.
A tiny tender shoot suddenly pushed out from Xu Ziqing’s blood-covered palm. The bud grew, rapidly extending into a slender vine complete with stems and leaves, white as jade and crystal clear.
The vine grew even longer in the wind. Barely after emerging, it spiraled upward along the Steelwood, rapidly wrapped itself around the long staff, then abruptly reared its head and stabbed.
The tip of the vine plunged directly into the Adamantine Giant Ape’s heart. A point of scarlet immediately appeared where they joined, then raced backward along the vine until it reached the root.
The Adamantine Giant Ape’s eyes widened. The fierce light and hatred in its blood-red gaze gradually faded. Its enormous body stiffened, and its staff fell to the ground with a heavy bang.
Nian Hongzhi and Wang Jun had been watching happily and never expected such a sudden change.
They saw the vine emerge from Xu Ziqing’s palm and rapidly burrow into the Adamantine Giant Ape’s body. The ape had been powerful and muscular, yet its full flesh visibly began shriveling at a speed the naked eye could follow.
That thing was drinking blood!
What kind of strange creature was this?
Nian Hongzhi and Wang Jun felt their hearts lurch. They and Xu Ziqing had now become mortal enemies. If they could not kill him here, then in the future they would be the ones to die.
Xu Ziqing’s aptitude was exceptional and far above theirs. If all of them continued cultivating normally, they would certainly be unable to keep up with him. Worse, he possessed this bizarre thing as well. It was enough to inspire intense jealousy.
There was no time to lose. They had to attack.
Without further hesitation, while Xu Ziqing’s mind was still somewhat muddled, the two sprang forward. Saber and sword came down together, both aimed directly at the top of Xu Ziqing’s head.
At that moment, two exceptionally clear voices rang out.
“How shameless!”
“How despicable!”
Two transparent cords shot over at tremendous speed. One wrapped around the saber and the other around the sword, forcefully stopping both weapons from reaching Xu Ziqing.
Nian Hongzhi and Wang Jun turned around and saw that Gui Yin and Gui Yang had arrived.
Wang Jun said, “Gui Yin, Gui Yang, why insist on opposing us?”
Nian Hongzhi’s expression was ugly as well. At such a crucial moment, why had this pair of dangerous women appeared?
Still, he knew this was not the time to offend them. Suppressing his anger with difficulty, he said, “If the two of you refrain from interfering in this matter, we brothers will certainly repay you afterward.”
Gui Yin smiled sweetly. “Men beneath Heaven are all hateful, but at least the one you want to kill can still say a few words fit for a human being. How could we let him die at the hands of despicable villains?”
Gui Yang smiled as well. “If you want us sisters not to interfere, that’s easy. Just let my little spider bite you once, and we’ll agree. How about it?”
Nian Hongzhi nearly exploded with anger. Everyone knew the male spider carried deadly poison. How could he possibly let it bite him?
Wang Jun was equally helpless. Who knew when Xu Ziqing might regain consciousness? Suddenly, another person appeared in the distance, and delight surged through him. “Third Brother! Quickly, kill Xu Ziqing!”
This time it was Ruan Yuanliang.
When Wang Yingwu had fled, he had followed the path out of the valley and encountered several concubine-born sons with the experts protecting them. Gui Yin and Gui Yang were first. After hearing Wang Yingwu explain what had happened, something stirred in their minds and they came searching together. Ruan Yuanliang followed later. Once he heard the story, he naturally understood what his two sworn brothers intended and, worried about them, hurried after them.
Thus the two groups arrived one after the other.
Hearing Wang Jun’s shout, Ruan Yuanliang immediately leaped forward and rushed toward Xu Ziqing.
Gui Yin and Gui Yang’s expressions changed. They wanted to go help, but this time Nian Hongzhi and Wang Jun blocked one sister each with saber and sword.
The situation reversed in an instant. Ruan Yuanliang raised his flying sword. The blade was sharp and its light icy as he stabbed straight toward Xu Ziqing’s heart.