408 One Staff to Shake Heaven
Inside the First Tower Under Heaven, Lei Wujie and Li Fansong sensed a sharp and acute wave of sword aura coming at them. They jumped to their feet and whirled around.
"Book of Knowledge." Li Fansong blinked.
The Book of Knowledge sword flashed past their eyes, made an abrupt rotation, and sped out of the tower again.
"Does that mean it wants us to go out?" Lei Wujie asked in confusion.
Li Fansong thought about it briefly and slapped Lei Wujie on the shoulder. "Let’s go!"
The two of them jumped out of the First Tower Under Heaven. Xie Xuan released a deep exhale, caught the Book of Knowledge in his hand, and followed them out. Without Xie Xuan’s consummate sword aura to oppress the tower, the doors slammed shut immediately.
Qi Tianchen chuckled. "Looks like victory is ours."
"Although I really want to try my sword against the Western Chu medicine men, I should probably just leave that to the two who just came out of the tower." Xie Xuan grinned.
"Lei Wujie, take the left!" Xiao Se pointed his Wuji staff at the two assassins on his left.
"Coming." Lei Wujie waved his hand and armed with his Heart sword, he attacked the two assassins. After his trip into the tower, and after exiting the tower, he realised that his degree of resonance with the Heart sword had become stronger.
"Jiejie, what you didn’t manage to teach me at Sword Heart Tomb… I think I’ve learned it for myself." Lei Wujie closed his eyes. His every sword move flowed as smoothly as the clouds in the sky and the water in the river. He only had to think of the sword move and his hands had already executed it.
"He has truly achieved one with the Heart sword. This kid has mastered at least the eighth level realm of the Sword Heart Tomb’s Sword Heart Formula," Xie Xuan praised. "He’s not far from where his mother was back then."
"Li Fansong, take the right!" Once again, Xiao Se pointed his Wuji staff at the two assassins on his right.
"Of course." Li Fansong looked at the two swords in his hands, then pushed the Azure Empyrean sword. It flew back and resheathed itself in the scabbard on Fei Xuan’s back. Then, he raised his Drunken Song sword and pointed it straight ahead as he attacked.
However, in the midst of the dark night, there was a sudden flash of rainbow light.
Qi Tianchen couldn’t help but commend, "Great potential."
Xie Xuan also nodded, agreeing with the compliment.
"As for you!" Xiao Se pointed his staff at Xie Jiucheng standing in front of him. "You’re mine!"
Xie Jiucheng returned a twisted grin as he laughed. "I'll… kill you."
"Then come and try!" Xiao Se took a flying leap. Xie Jiucheng raised his long sabre and slashed downwards with all his strength. But, Xiao Se had vanished from where he was standing.
"I'm here." A voice came from behind him.
Xie Jiucheng immediately raised his sabre again.
But he was struck with a staff and forced back!
Xiao Se pressed his staff against his waist, then aimed a brutal kick at Xie Jiucheng, smacking him to the ground. But this Xie Jiucheng would never give in so easily. He immediately roared and tried to flip over to get up. But, he only managed to turn his head.
He was beaten down by Xiao Se's staff again.
"Stay down!" Xiao Se growled angrily.
Xie Jiucheng roared again and got to his feet.
"Kneel!" Xiao Se slammed his staff down and this time, the cracking sound of bones breaking was clearly audible.
"Damn… it hurts!" Xie Jiucheng's face was covered with blood, and he gasped out the three words through gritted teeth. Then, he flashed past at an incredible speed, grabbed his long sabre on the ground, and slashed another sabre in return.
His angry roar contained a savage qi, and even Ye Ruoyi and the others standing further away felt a sense of unease spread through their bodies. He slashed his sabre down and this sabre encompassed his entire life's worth of cultivation.
"Xiao Se, look out!" Sikong Qianluo had fought against Xie Jiucheng, and she naturally understood how powerful he was.
"Don't worry." Xie Xuan said with a smile, "Right now, Xiao Se has just stepped into his pinnacle and is exactly the time when his edge is the sharpest. A duel also depends on their momentum. This Xie Jiucheng's martial arts is not much weaker than the current Xiao Se, but in terms of momentum, how could a medicine man have any momentum to speak of?"
"Die!" Xie Jiucheng yelled angrily.
Xiao Se raised his head and glared coldly at Xie Jiucheng.
Xie Jiucheng felt a sudden flash of fear in his heart. He was already a medicine man and had already lost his own mind and reason. But, at this moment when he met Xiao Se's eyes, he suddenly gained a flash of clarity. During that instant of lucidity, he suddenly felt a strong sense of fear rush through his mind.
The fear of death.
Xiao Se waved his staff.
The two brushed past each other.
Xie Jiucheng, like his master Xie Qidao, glanced at the sabre in his hand in his last moments, then closed his eyes forever. Unfortunately, he didn't die upright like Xie Qidao, but collapsed face down onto the ground.
"You should have been dead a long time ago. Death is setting you free now." Xiao Se lowered his staff and looked up, only to see Lei Wujie and Li Fansong looking at him like he was a monster.
"What?" Xiao Se asked them.
With the help of Ming Hou and Wuchan, Lei Wujie and Li Fansong took care of the remaining four assassins in quick order. They had then returned to where they were to see how Xiao Se's martial arts had improved after ascending the tower. But, what they saw was not only an ultimate martial expert… but a sadist.
"Lei-xiongdi, I don't think I've ever offended this Xiao Se-xiongdi, have I?" Li Fansong couldn't help asking.
Lei Wujie smiled. "With his character, even if you've offended him before, he won't show it. He will just hold a grudge silently, and then… kill you like this."
"I don't get it." Xiao Se was puzzled.
"Look at our opponents." Lei Wujie pointed to the four assassins on his side, each of whom was killed by a clean sword move.
"Then, look at yours again." Lei Wujie pointed at Xie Jiucheng behind Xiao Se. The man's bones looked completely shattered, his body was covered in blood, and even his death was extremely unsightly as he collapsed flat on his face.
Xiao Se understood and his lips curled in a cold smile. "That's right. So, you shouldn't provoke me."
"Xiao Se, you…" Sikong Qianluo stepped forward, wanting to take a look at Xiao Se's injuries, but she was hit by a sudden dizzy spell and passed out.
Xiao Se hurried forward and caught Sikong Qianluo in his arms. "Let's go back to the Princely Residence first."
"The spear that my niece, Qianluo, used has her father's style. But, taking advantage of the opportunity to faint in the arms of a handsome young man is definitely her mother's style," Xie Xuan quipped.
Qi Tianchen scratched the head of the little Daoist boy beside him. "Children, don't pick up these bad habits."
"State Preceptor, what about that person earlier?" Ye Ruoyi asked.
"Escaped." Qi Tianchen shook his head. "But with such a serious injury, I'm afraid he won't live much longer."
Red Prince Residence.
Xiao Yu sat in the room waiting anxiously for news.
Su Changhe looked into the distance and whispered, "Would you like me to go take a look."
"No need. This time, if we succeed, we'll succeed. If we lose, we'll lose. With the State Preceptor Qi Tianchen there, I can't afford to offend him," Xiao Yu said with a frown.
At this time, Long Ye tumbled in through the door and vomited a mouthful of blood on Xiao Yu's robe.
Xiao Yu was shocked. "We lost?"
Long Ye nodded and said, "Ming Hou… Ming Hou is back, and there's another development. Xiao Se and the others entered the First Tower Under Heaven, and came out again."
"Their martial arts improved by leaps?" Xiao Yu asked.
"Indeed, they were a lot more… powerful." Long Ye panted, "But I feel they're still inferior to… him." Long Ye glanced at the black-robed man beside Xiao Yu.
Wuxin.