Volume 1, Chapter 101 – You Hong

“Thud!”

With a dull boom, what was left of the burly man’s body toppled to the ground.

Seeing this, the black-robed old man froze, stunned for a long moment.

True qi surged out, blowing away the blood mist in front of her. Shi Lan lifted her gaze to the two in midair, killing intent undimmed. Light flashed, and the Purple Star Seven-Section Halberd was already in her grip.

Shi Lan’s true qi poured wildly into the Cloud-Stepping Boots. Halberd in hand, she shot into the sky. The halberd light flared, extending more than three zhang as it thrust toward You Hong!

You Hong’s expression was cold. His slightly trembling right hand steadied and once more took on a layer of crimson light. Facing the charging Shi Lan, he advanced instead of retreating, slapping out two gigantic palms condensed from Innate true qi to meet the halberd light head-on.

“What are you spacing out for, why aren’t you attacking?!”

Seeing the black-robed old man still dazed, You Hong shouted angrily.

The black-robed old man snapped back to himself, face grave. Four flying swords hovered at his side, one of them currently under his foot.

He waved a hand, and a disk-shaped artifact flew out to replace the sword beneath his foot, steadying his stance in midair. Once that was done, the four flying swords at his sides all let out a low hum at the same time.

Their blades swelled, each growing to five or six zhang long. Strands of pink sword qi crisscrossed outward, carrying a strange fragrance.

“Boom!”

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The halberd light slammed straight into the giant palms. At this moment Shi Lan was drawing on all the strength in her body, Innate true qi pouring out without the slightest restraint.

The two giant palms were pierced through in an instant. Most of the halberd light was dissipated, but it still had strength to spare as it continued stabbing toward You Hong without pause.

You Hong’s expression changed slightly. He raised both arms, channeling true qi into his artifact, forming two fan-sized palms that clapped in from either side toward the halberd light.

“Clang!”

A metallic clash rang out as the two palm imprints clamped down on the halberd light, pinning it in place.

Though these two prints were small, their solidity was more than ten times that of the earlier giant palms.

You Hong’s face flushed red, veins bulging on his forehead. He was clearly pushing his true qi to the limit.

“Break!”

Shi Lan let out a sharp shout. The halberd shaft in her hands trembled, Innate true qi surging like storm-tossed waves, pouring into the war halberd layer upon layer. Like overlapping breakers, each wave following on the last, they tore apart the restraints of the two palm imprints in an instant.

Less than four feet of halberd light remained, but Shi Lan didn’t hesitate. She kept the halberd moving, the tip like a flood dragon bursting from the sea, about to drive straight for You Hong’s throat when four flying swords wreathed in that strange fragrance slashed in from the side.

The moment she inhaled that aroma, Shi Lan’s head suddenly swam. The strength in her hands slackened, and the halberd light scattered at once.

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You Hong did not miss the opening. He slapped aside the halberd blade that had come so close and sent a palm strike toward Shi Lan.

At the same time, the four giant swords chopped toward Shi Lan’s limbs.

Shi Lan barely managed to lift her halberd, blocking two of the flying swords. Suddenly her shoulder sank as You Hong’s palm, delivered through the air, smashed into her left shoulder, shattering the armor there and sending pieces flying.

“Screech!”

The remaining two giant swords hacked down at Shi Lan’s legs, instantly slicing open the armored skirt around them. But when they met her flesh, it was as if they’d struck another artifact instead, sparks spraying. In the end they only left two red marks on her calves.

“Old bastard, you’re still holding back? Trying to get yourself killed?!” Seeing this, You Hong’s eyes went bloodshot as he roared.

At that, the black-robed old man’s expression turned bitter. “I’ve already given it everything I’ve got. This isn’t on me. This little girl’s body is too tough, almost no weaker than an ordinary mid-grade artifact.”

Blasted back to the ground by You Hong’s palm, Shi Lan shook her head. The earlier dizziness quickly faded. After taking those hits, she didn’t even have so much as a minor injury. Even that palm of You Hong’s had only left her shoulder a bit sore.

Seeing Shi Lan regain clarity so quickly, the black-robed old man’s bitterness deepened. For her to recover this fast after being hit by his Seven Fragrance Powder, her physique was truly extraordinary.

…

Wu Lingkong raised her spear and flicked apart a slashing arc of sword qi. Looking at the few Innate Realm martial artists encircling her, her expression was icy. “Who exactly are you people? You dare make trouble for the Demon-Suppressing Army, have you had enough of living?!”

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No one answered.

The attacks around her only grew fiercer. Clearly, the name of the Demon-Suppressing Army meant nothing to these people. Wu Lingkong faced several Innate Realm martial artists alone, and with that blue-robed man holding a longsword, whose strength was already close to her own, among them, she could only grit her teeth and barely hold on, stretched thin on all sides.

“They really are spirit crystals!”

Just as Wu Lingkong was starting to falter, a shout filled with ecstatic surprise suddenly rang out across the battlefield.

Everyone else turned to look, their gazes drawn to a torn cloth bundle on the back of a flood-dragon horse. The spirit crystals within, each one giving off a clear, translucent luster under the sunlight, all but burned away their reason.

The Innate Realm martial artists surrounding Wu Lingkong scattered, actually leaving her to the side as they charged straight toward the other bundles.

…

Seeing Shi Lan practically unscathed, You Hong felt a chill in his heart. He let out a long howl, trying to summon all the other Innate Realm martial artists over.

But only a scant few heeded his call. Everyone else had their full attention captured by those spirit crystals.

“Useless when it comes to getting things done, only good for screwing everything up.”

You Hong cursed to himself. With a makeshift band cobbled together like this, it was impossible to expect any discipline. With such heavy profit dangling in front of them, they’d all lost their minds.

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“Don’t stand guard over the spirit crystals, fall back!”

Seeing this, Wu Lingkong made a snap decision and shouted the order. Spirit crystals were just dead objects; how could they compare to the lives of Demon-Suppressing Army soldiers?

The Demon-Suppressing Army troops quickly pulled away from the herd of flood-dragon horses, yielding those cloth bundles stuffed with spirit crystals.

Watching from afar, Shi Lan let out a small breath of relief. From the looks of it, their opponents did not seem to be from a single faction. The situation was not hopeless yet.

You Hong looked at the crowd scrambling over the spirit crystals in the distance, then at Shi Lan, hatred churning in his chest. For all his careful planning, he had never counted on this seemingly delicate woman being so hard to deal with.

The black-robed old man glanced at You Hong beside him, then at Shi Lan not far away. His eyes rolled, and he abruptly turned his flying sword, streaking toward the depths of the valley. After bringing out a few maidservants, he fled into the distance without so much as a backward glance.

You Hong clenched his hands tighter, his face utterly calm, but the killing intent in his heart was almost tangible. This time, he had risked offending some unknown great power and staked his entire fortune, all to gamble on a single opportunity.

If he ended up with nothing to show for it, not only would everything he’d accumulated in the first half of his life vanish like foam, but once the forces behind these people moved against him, he would have no choice but to flee for his life, and who knew which day he would end up dying in some wilderness ditch.

There was no retreat left to him; all he could do was fight to the death.

Shi Lan fixed her gaze on You Hong, weighing things in her heart. This man was the strongest here, surely one of the ringleaders this time, perhaps even the organizer. Once she took him down, the ins and outs of today’s events would all come to light.