Fortunately, Xu Ziqing had spent a long time tempering his sword amid the Five Elements astral winds, and his reactions to incoming attacks had become exceptionally quick.
Almost the instant he felt the chill, he flipped his palm, caught his Steelwood Sword in a reverse grip, and brought it up to shield his neck.
Clang!
The blow struck the Steelwood Sword, and he blocked the attack by the narrowest possible margin!
The short man appeared surprised that Xu Ziqing had escaped that strike. He froze for an instant, giving Xu Ziqing an opportunity.
He could not remain on the defensive forever.
The thought flashed through his mind. Xu Ziqing sprang forward with a long thrust, and a thunderous roar burst from his sword tip!
A dazzling sphere of light surged forward amid wind and thunder, its momentum overwhelming. Within the sword wind, the essence of blazing fire moved freely, sending scorching heat rushing toward the enemy.
The short man truly was an expert. His momentary astonishment lasted only an instant. As soon as he saw the sword light, he regained his composure and flicked his wrist. His slender sword darted out like a venomous snake, following an extraordinarily strange curve!
Xu Ziqing steadied his mind and planted his feet slightly apart. But his sword technique changed instantly, shifting from violent force to lingering gentleness in the blink of an eye. Like thin strands of winding vines, it enveloped the venomous snake, curled around it twice, and dissolved the attack.
He could not yet confront enemies using only the four most fundamental sword movements, but he had learned to judge an opponent’s attacks quickly. The short man’s swordsmanship was indeed excellent. Even so, Xu Ziqing had no intention of yielding in fear!
With two killing moves blocked in succession, the short man finally abandoned his contempt.
He had originally assumed Xu Ziqing was merely an ignorant youngster who had helped the newly advanced Perfected Yun through sheer luck and thereby earned a place as a personal disciple of Little Bamboo Peak. Who would have thought the boy’s swordsmanship was so accomplished? Could the rumors be true? Was Perfected Qiu He only nominally his master, while Perfected Yun had personally trained him?
If that was so… Killing intent blazed in the short man’s heart. If it was true, Xu Ziqing deserved to die all the more!
His body suddenly twisted like a spiritual snake lifting its head to bite. His slender sword moved in coordination with his footwork, splitting into five sword images that wound toward Xu Ziqing from every direction!
* * *
Why did this short man hate Yun Lie so much? There was, in fact, a reason.
The man’s name was Pan Hong, and he too had once possessed grand ambitions. Unfortunately, he had begun as a rogue cultivator. After enduring countless hardships, he had finally entered the outer sect of the Wuling Immortal Sect. Years of scheming later, he had managed to advance to the inner sect. His aptitude, however, was merely upper-middle, hardly exceptional, and he had already been fairly old when he entered. Naturally, he could only become an ordinary inner disciple. No Perfected One had taken an interest in accepting him.
Pan Hong thought very highly of himself. How could he accept fading into obscurity? Even within the inner sect, he scrambled for advancement, cultivating diligently while searching for opportunities to improve his position. His cultivation was respectable, and he was ruthless, ambitious, and scheming. Gradually he developed a network of acquaintances and began cleaning up inconvenient matters for certain inner-sect disciples who could not act openly. He received many benefits in return.
As his connections expanded, Pan Hong learned more about the sect’s outstanding disciples. Seeing people with aptitudes inferior to his own receive abundant resources merely because of their fathers or ancestors filled him with resentment. Yet he still needed those people, so he endured it and joined them in speaking ill of prominent disciples… One of the names mentioned most often was Yun Lie.
After hearing the name so many times, Pan Hong remembered him.
Rumor had it that Yun Lie possessed dual spiritual roots with high-grade aptitude, only slightly better than Pan Hong’s when the differences were examined closely. Yet Yun Lie had been far luckier. A Golden Core Perfected One had accepted him as a disciple almost from birth, and as his sole personal disciple at that. Pan Hong could scarcely compare himself to someone born and raised in the sect. But Yun Lie had supposedly been just as lacking in outside support as he was, and they were of roughly the same age. Why had Pan Hong been forced to struggle for everything himself while Yun Lie enjoyed such fortune?
The more he thought about it, the more jealous he became.
Of course, even as Pan Hong envied Yun Lie, he also looked down on him.
Yun Lie cultivated the Ruthless Slaughter Sword Dao, a sword path nobody had ever successfully completed. Wasn’t choosing it equivalent to condemning his immortal path to end prematurely? What did it matter if he kept making breakthroughs, or even if he comprehended sword intent? Ultimately, he would become a murderous madman, and sooner or later the sect would have to eliminate him!
Others feared the merciless brutality of that sword Dao. Pan Hong, however, regarded Yun Lie as a joke. That attitude at least eased some of the resentment in his heart.
But Pan Hong had never imagined that after being trapped at a bottleneck for little more than a dozen years, Yun Lie would actually break through!
Pan Hong made inquiries everywhere and learned that Yun Lie had apparently received help from some ignorant country bumpkin. With heaven-defying luck, he had first advanced to Golden Core, then surged to fifth place on the Heavenly Dragon Ranking, and finally become the foremost of the ten core disciples!
With so many distinctions bestowed upon him, Yun Lie was surrounded by glory. Pan Hong believed himself no worse in aptitude or diligence and far superior in understanding worldly affairs. Yet now, instead of looking down on Yun Lie, he had to address him respectfully as “Perfected Yun” whenever his name arose. The humiliation made his eyes redden with hatred, while his innards seemed to twist together.
That Yun Lie! That Yun Lie… Even grinding his teeth could not quell the jealousy churning inside him!
This time, Pan Hong had accepted a commission to kill someone named Xu Ziqing of Little Bamboo Peak.
As soon as he heard the name, he knew it belonged to the country bumpkin who had helped Yun Lie. Naturally, he was delighted to take the job. He did not imagine that the cold and distant Yun Lie cared particularly about Xu Ziqing. Even though Xu Ziqing had moved onto Little Slaughter Peak, Pan Hong assumed that was at the request of the master of Little Bamboo Peak. There were eight female disciples living on that peak; arranging separate accommodations for the two male disciples was perfectly normal. Besides, Xu Ziqing had helped Yun Lie, and Yun Lie had arranged for his master to accept Xu Ziqing as a disciple. Surely that settled their accounts. Still, Xu Ziqing was Yun Lie’s junior martial brother, and causing Yun Lie trouble by killing him would give Pan Hong considerable pleasure.
Later, Pan Hong investigated further and heard that Yun Lie had taken Xu Ziqing to the Sword Cave for training at their master’s order. An idea immediately came to him. This would be his opportunity.
Pan Hong was at late Foundation Establishment, only a step away from Essence Transformation. With his strength, disposing of some junior at middle Foundation Establishment ought to be effortless! Xu Ziqing’s ability to resist him had therefore come as a tremendous surprise.
He knew that Perfected Qiu He was an Earth-attributed cultivator who was not skilled in swordsmanship. The only person who could have trained Xu Ziqing to this level was Yun Lie.
That meant Yun Lie really did care about this junior martial brother. He had not simply used him and discarded him. If Xu Ziqing were killed, wouldn’t Yun Lie be devastated?
The thought alone made Pan Hong eager to act.
Kill Xu Ziqing! I must kill him!
Pan Hong licked his lips. His eyes gleamed with excitement that he could no longer contain.
* * *
How could Xu Ziqing know that Pan Hong had entertained so many thoughts in the space of a few breaths? Still less did he know the man’s extraordinary jealousy toward his senior martial brother. At present, he was wholly occupied with sensing the five sword images before him and determining their directions.
The sword images approached unpredictably. If he dodged one, another would entangle him. Evasion was not a viable choice. He thought briefly, then made his decision.
If he could not dodge, then he would not!
Xu Ziqing’s gaze sharpened. He inhaled deeply, and his right arm began vibrating at incredible speed.
Clang, clang, clang, clang, clang!
The repeated impacts sounded like pearls striking a plate, clear and ringing yet filled with killing force.
Pan Hong grew even more excited. The swordsmanship he employed was the Poison Dragon Sword Art, while his footwork was the Spirit Snake Hundred Steps.
The Poison Dragon Sword Art was exceptionally vicious, its techniques strange and difficult to anticipate or defend against. The Spirit Snake Hundred Steps was no less remarkable. Once perfected, it enabled a cultivator to move within a hundred steps like a serpent hiding in the mountains, impossible to track yet capable of striking unerringly!
The two methods complemented each other and were extraordinarily powerful. By combining these sword techniques and footwork with his own treacherous nature and habit of attacking from concealment, Pan Hong had killed many cultivators who were even stronger than himself!
Now Xu Ziqing was discovering their power firsthand!
The slender sword wound through the air at treacherous angles, every line of attack unexpected. Pan Hong struck with astonishing speed, making a single thin blade seem to turn into countless serpent shadows that poured down on Xu Ziqing like a torrential rain!
At the same time, Pan Hong’s feet traced a strange pattern.
His figure split from one into two, then from two into four, four into eight, eight into sixteen… The number of images continued increasing. They swayed from side to side, and his squat body seemed suddenly to stretch into something long and thin. Identical shadows appeared throughout the surrounding space, overlapping and shifting through countless variations.
Next, the multiplying figures seemed themselves to turn into spiritual snakes, threading through innumerable serpent shadows. Neither wholly human nor wholly snake, they moved so quickly that man and serpent appeared to merge into a single being, impossible to distinguish.
For a moment, Xu Ziqing felt that sword images filled the entire world. An immense pressure sealed him in on every side. No matter which direction he attacked, the blades seemed certain to kill him from another direction while he defended the first!
It appeared that every path led to death and none to life!
Xu Ziqing’s thoughts raced. To break out, he needed to find which figure was real and which were false. Then he could strike directly at the real Pan Hong and dissolve the technique.
Almost the instant he had that idea, he released his spiritual sense over the surrounding area, intending to distinguish the genuine figure from its illusions. Under spiritual sense, even the smallest details of everything would be revealed. If there were any difference, he ought to see it at once!
But Xu Ziqing had underestimated Pan Hong’s abilities. Every cultivator at Foundation Establishment or above possessed spiritual sense. If his weakness could be discovered so easily, how could Pan Hong have relied upon his swordsmanship and movement art to survive?
Xu Ziqing was shocked to discover that even under the scrutiny of his spiritual sense, he could not tell the real figure from the false!
In that case, he could only force his way through!
At this moment of extreme danger, Xu Ziqing’s mind remained as still as an ancient well, without a single ripple.
He thought only, I will not die here. Even if I’m gravely wounded, I must break out of this killing formation!
With that resolve, Xu Ziqing unexpectedly threw himself forward.
If I cannot evade it, then I’ll take the blows!
His mind was perfectly clear. The sword techniques he had practiced over the past days flashed through his sea of consciousness. At last he felt his body and Steelwood Sword become a single entity. He used his body as a sword, utterly unafraid of death!
“Ugh!” Xu Ziqing gave a muffled groan.
At least a dozen gashes had opened across his body, leaving him drenched in blood. But the Steelwood Sword in his hand had truly knocked aside the serpentine thin blade!
He had escaped!
This time, Pan Hong was genuinely astonished.
Ever since he had mastered this sword art, no one had escaped his assassinations in all those years. Yet today, a mere brat at middle Foundation Establishment had broken through it?
Impossible!
Xu Ziqing had no attention to spare for Pan Hong’s expression. He already understood that he was no match for this man. While his attacker was stunned, he needed to flee toward a place where other people gathered and consider his next move from there!
Without wasting a moment, he ran straight ahead.
But the instant he fled, Pan Hong recovered. His face twisted as he shrieked, “Where do you think you’re going?”
As he shouted, Pan Hong hurled his slender sword through the air!
Xu Ziqing felt a cold wind rushing up behind him and ran even faster.
No! The sword is getting closer!
Just then, out of the corner of his eye, he saw a hole in the ground, pitch-black and of unknown depth.
There was no time!
Clenching his teeth, Xu Ziqing jumped in.