Chapter 378: Strange Blade

The blood threads around the crimson skeleton transformed by Wei Ziyang would at times congeal, and at times drift apart...

His entire figure transformed into a red shadow, rapidly changing direction at various inconceivable angles.

Jiang Zhe and the other three also flashed left and right, surrounding Wei Ziyang tightly.

Although the four had surrounded Wei Ziyang, the various lethal moves they launched at him were either dodged by Wei Ziyang with eerie footwork, or were taken head-on by him.

Jiang Zhe's expression was somewhat ugly; he had not expected the person before him to be so difficult to deal with. His Filthy Blood Divine Art had clearly reached a state previously unknown to the Sect.

Jiang Zhe realized that it was already difficult for them to achieve a quick victory; the only way, he feared, was to slowly wear this person to death!

He was just about to remind his companions not to advance rashly and to consume him slowly, but before he could speak, he saw Shen Qing, who was positioned diagonally opposite him, suddenly flash his blade and leave his defensive position, stabbing a knife at the back of the crimson skeleton's head at a tricky angle.

"Shen Qing! Fall back!"

Jiang Zhe shouted, having already raised his Sword to sweep across.

But he was clearly a step too late; the moment Shen Qing's blade thrust out, the crimson skeleton, with blood threads wriggling all over its body, suddenly turned to one side, and a bone hand glowing with red light flashed out from the floating blood threads, grabbing his blade, and then, the other crimson skeleton hand slapped onto Shen Qing's chest.

However, the moment that crimson skeleton hand touched Shen Qing's chest, Jiang Zhe's sword edge swept over, and Wei Ziyang had no choice but to retreat and withdraw!

But even so, blood still spilled from the corner of Shen Qing's mouth as he flew backward! His long, narrow blade also flew off at an angle, spinning several times in mid-air before plunging into the ground!

Shen Qing fell to the ground, the Qi in his dantian momentarily in chaos; he could not spare the time to wipe the blood from the corner of his mouth, and immediately sat cross-legged on the spot to circulate his Qi!

With Shen Qing out of the fray, the pressure on Jiang Zhe and the others suddenly increased, but they still fought with all their might, surrounding Wei Ziyang tightly to prevent him from escaping!

After circulating his Qi for a few breaths, Shen Qing suddenly flipped his hand and pinched a palm-sized, long and narrow Black Jade Box in his palm!

It was unknown what kind of object that black jade was, but it was clearly extremely icy!

As Shen Qing held it in his hand, waves of cold air permeated the surroundings, and frost patterns instantly condensed on Shen Qing's palm.

With a grave expression, Shen Qing opened the black jade to reveal three objects inside that looked like Ice Sugar Gourds; they were round and plump, only about the size of a thumb's fingernail, with a layer of frost on the surface and a faint blood-red color inside.

Shen Qing pinched one "Ice Sugar Gourd" and stuffed it into his mouth, immediately continuing to sit in meditation and circulate his Qi!

Duan Rong stood there, looking at the long, narrow blade stuck in the ground not far away; that was Shen Qing's weapon!

At this moment, the setting sun was already hitting the buildings!

The crimson sunset shone on the blade, and that blade, which seemed to be plated with a layer of gold, strangely flashed with a faint, phosphorescent white glow.

"That is..." Duan Rong's gaze shifted.

Shen Qing was a powerhouse of the Qi Refining Realm. Ordinary mortal iron could not withstand the violent nature of Heaven and Earth Qi, which meant that the weapon must have been mixed with some kind of rare material that was not a mortal object.

Duan Rong walked slowly to the blade and pulled it out from the ground.

Duan Rong stared intently at the strange light emitted by the blade before him. He said inwardly: "Spirit Reader!"

Following this, a set of data floated before his eyes.

Artifact: Phosphor Crystal Gilded Blade

Spirit Artifact Tier: Level 8

Devour Requirement: Host Mental Power Level 8

Devour Effect: Six Harmonies Blade Art First Layer

Duan Rong looked at the data panel floating before him, his heart stirring slightly. "It's a martial art of the Qi Refining Realm?!"

"Devour!"

Just as Duan Rong finished speaking in his heart, he saw Shen Qing, who was sitting cross-legged and circulating Qi over there, suddenly open his eyes.

The moment Shen Qing opened his eyes, he saw Duan Rong holding his weapon. His brows furrowed as he glared at Duan Rong.

A Martial Artist's weapon is almost like their private property.

Duan Rong naturally noticed the change in Shen Qing's expression, and saw that the data panel before him had already dissipated and vanished, which meant the Spirit Tool had finished devouring.

The moment the data panel dissipated, Duan Rong threw the weapon in his hand toward Shen Qing, calling out: "Catch!"

Shen Qing leaped up, grabbed his weapon, gave Duan Rong a look of gratitude, and went to surround and attack Wei Ziyang! He thought Duan Rong had pulled out the weapon just to throw it to him.

After Shen Qing rejoined the battle, the pressure on Jiang Zhe and the others suddenly decreased greatly!

Jiang Zhe, Shen Qing, Bai Yuan, and Lu Jin soon found the rhythm to wear Wei Ziyang down!

Every so often, one person would withdraw from the battle to sit cross-legged not far away to circulate Qi and adjust their breath.

Duan Rong noticed that every time this happened, they would take out a Black Jade Box and swallow something that looked like an "Ice Sugar Gourd."

Duan Rong was very curious, what on earth was that thing?

But Duan Rong could be almost certain that it was not a Pill, because its shape did not seem very regular.

Not long after Shen Qing joined, Bai Yuan withdrew from the battle! He sat cross-legged not far away, closing his eyes to circulate Qi!

Just as Bai Yuan withdrew from the battle, the sound of horse hooves, chaotic like a thunderclap, suddenly rang out all around outside Xiangu City!

Before long, on West Street, a burst of hoofbeats came thundering like a sudden rain of hail!

Seven or eight Heavy Armored Cavalrymen were seen charging in!

The leader was clad in heavy armor, holding a long spear, and jumped off his horse not far away!

At this time, West Street was already completely empty!

The man jumped off his horse, his gaze sweeping over the battle surrounding Wei Ziyang, then sweeping over Duan Rong and the others not far away, and then he stood there by himself, motionless like a stone statue!

And whether it was the thunderous sound outside the city or the arrival of the Heavy Armored Cavalry, throughout the whole process, Bai Yuan sat cross-legged there, motionless, minding his own business circulating Qi and adjusting his breath.

After Bai Yuan finished adjusting his breath, he joined the battle.

Lu Jin then withdrew! Jiang Zhe was the one who held on until the last to adjust his breath; when he withdrew, his face was already somewhat pale!

Jiang Zhe only glanced at the team of Heavy Armored Cavalry not far away, then sat down cross-legged without a word!

Under the siege and rotating consumption of the four, Wei Ziyang's movements had already slowed down; the blood threads wriggling on the upper part of the crimson skeleton seemed to have become somewhat thin, and the color was no longer as blood-red and dripping as before.

Jiang Zhe and the other four could take turns surrounding him and replenishing one by one, while Wei Ziyang could only be consumed bit by bit.

Although it was unknown what that "Ice Sugar Gourd" actually was, as long as Jiang Zhe and the others swallowed one and adjusted their breath slightly, they would become full of vigor!

It was clearly very useful!

Just at this moment, Jiang Zhe suddenly struck with his sword, piercing a rib of the crimson skeleton that Wei Ziyang had transformed into!

On that rib, a tiny crack actually split open!

Although it was only a minor feat, Jiang Zhe felt a surge of joy in his heart! His strategy was to wear Wei Ziyang down to death, accumulating small victories into a great one!

Although it was only a minor feat now, one leaf falling signifies the autumn of the world; Wei Ziyang had already entered the path to defeat!

Indeed, just as Jiang Zhe had expected, a few breaths later, Shen Qing managed to strike a crack into the shoulder blade of that crimson skeleton!

As time passed, Wei Ziyang's movements were no longer as swift as they were at the beginning, and there were already many cracks all over the skeleton's body!

In the eye sockets of that crimson skeleton, two bloodshot eyeballs were rotating eerily!

Wei Ziyang knew himself that there was almost no chance of survival today!

He glanced at Ge Qinglei, who was pinned to the ground and unable to move by a pitch-black Long Sword not far from the battlefield; he actually began moving toward Ge Qinglei while continuing to fight.

Ge Qinglei had his hands and feet severed, looking just like a human stick, yet he had not been killed; clearly, these people wanted to keep him alive for harsh interrogation.

As a Hall Master of the Filthy Blood Sect, Ge Qinglei naturally knew many secrets of the Holy Sect! Wei Ziyang could absolutely not tolerate him falling into the hands of the Taiyi Sect!

Wei Ziyang suddenly launched a surprise attack toward Ge Qinglei, but Jiang Zhe and the others did not notice anything amiss at all; seeing the cracks all over Wei Ziyang's body increasing, they all felt that Wei Ziyang was at the end of his rope!

In their view, Wei Ziyang's sudden attack at this moment was nothing more than a trapped beast fighting, vainly hoping to seek life in death!

The few of them did not stop Wei Ziyang, and instead avoided his fierce killing moves, continuing to surround and entangle him!

Unknowingly, they were already at the side of their battlefield where Ge Qinglei was!

Jiang Zhe suddenly discovered that not far behind Shen Qing, who was opposite him, was Ge Qinglei, pinned to the ground by a Long Sword; a bad premonition flashed through his heart!

But just at this moment, Wei Ziyang had already lunged toward Shen Qing!

Shen Qing dodged Wei Ziyang and slashed a blade at Wei Ziyang's back, directly severing a bone in his lower back. Shen Qing thought he had achieved a feat and was overjoyed.

But Jiang Zhe saw from afar that Wei Ziyang had already lunged toward Ge Qinglei.

Ge Qinglei's face was pale; looking at the bloodshot crimson skeleton lunging over, he gave a miserable smile and said, "Dharma Envoy, let us go to the Yellow Springs together!"

He knew what Wei Ziyang was going to do, but at this moment, he felt not a shred of fear in his heart; just a moment ago, he had been in constant terror, wanting to live, yet also fearing the inhumane, miserable torture of the Taiyi Sect.

But, knowing he was now certain to die, he felt calm instead.

Without hope, there is no fear!

Wei Ziyang lunged toward Ge Qinglei, and the two looked at each other, suddenly shouting in unison: "The fire of the Holy Sect, inextinguishable for ten thousand generations!"

Following this, Wei Ziyang quickly formed seals with both hands and shouted fiercely: "Brother Ge, see you in the next life!"

"Explosive Burial!"

Then, there was a loud boom!

It was deafening!

Duan Rong stood in the distance, and the ground beneath his feet shook, actually splitting open a crack; he staggered, almost failing to stand steady. A massive blast of air exploded with Wei Ziyang and Ge Qinglei's location as the center, sweeping toward Duan Rong, still scraping his cheeks until they stung!

The air wave dissipated, and Duan Rong stood there in a daze!

"This is...?!"

He saw that where the battle had originally taken place, a large cloud of dust had risen, like yellow sand filling the air, obscuring his vision!

The dust slowly dissipated, and he saw that there was actually a large crater nearly a zhang in radius; many cracks of various sizes at the edge of the crater spread outward, and one larger crack split right up to not far from Duan Rong's feet.

And in the center of the crater's bottom, there was only a bare, crack-filled skeleton, shining with a crimson light.

Beside the skeleton was a pitch-black Long Sword. Ge Qinglei, who had originally been pinned by the Long Sword, had already turned into powder, drifting in the wilderness just like the pervasive dust!

At the edge of the crater, there were three figures still sitting cross-legged; blood was spilling from the corners of their mouths, and they were covered in dust!

It was Jiang Zhe, Lu Jin, and Bai Yuan; the three were clearly all heavily injured, and their complexions were very unsightly!

Not far in front of the three was half a corpse; this corpse was only half there, covered in blood and gore, with half its face pressed against the ground, its eyes dull and hollow—it was dead beyond any doubt!

This corpse was Shen Qing, who had been closest to Wei Ziyang just a moment ago!

Jiang Zhe sat cross-legged there; his internal organs were injured, and fresh blood kept spilling from his mouth, but compared to the injuries on his body, his heart felt even more bitter!

He truly had not expected that this Wei Ziyang would be so fierce!

Jiang Zhe glanced at the blood-covered Shen Qing not far away and sighed in his heart. Shen Qing was his best friend; for this mission, he had specifically asked Shen Qing to come along, thinking it would be a great achievement, but he never expected Shen Qing to die here!

As an Elder of the Elder Council of the Taiyi Sect and also the Director of the Office of Transmission, Ge Rusong had specifically instructed him when handing this mission to Jiang Zhe to bring Wei Ziyang and Ge Qinglei back to the Sect alive.

But he never expected that things would turn out like this!

However, at this moment, Jiang Zhe pondered to himself that the responsibility for this matter did not actually lie with him, but with Ge Rusong!

Although Ge Rusong was a Sect Elder, he suffered from the flaw of being overly eager for merit.

Their Office of Transmission had always only been responsible for the work of intelligence gathering and transmission. Such operations to capture people and bring them back to the Sect had always been the duty of the Ruling Sect Justice Division!

But Ge Rusong, after receiving the news sent back to the Sect from the Xiangu County contact point, knew that two big fish were about to enter Xiangu County. Because he was greedy for merit, he did not inform Yang Sixuan, the Director of the Ruling Sect Justice Division, but instead sent people on the mission privately!

The reason Ge Rusong dared to do this was because he had already thought of a reason. The incident was sudden, and time was rushed; there was simply no time to notify Yang Sixuan.

This could also be considered the truth!

The information sent by the contact point stated that the Total Altar Dharma Envoy would arrive in Xiangu County in four days. But two days had already passed by the time the Sect received the information. They only had two days to mobilize for the operation. Ge Rusong naturally had an excuse to act directly!

Time was pressing, and he was afraid that notifying Yang Sixuan would delay the opportunity for battle!

But Jiang Zhe pondered at this moment that if, at that time, it hadn't been for Ge Rusong's eagerness for merit, and if this matter had been handed to Yang Sixuan to handle, the result might not have been so bad!

The people under Yang Sixuan often walked in the secular world and frequently supervised various major cases, especially cases related to the Filthy Blood Sect, which they almost all participated in.

Yang Sixuan also held many secrets of the Filthy Blood Sect in his hands! He had used his Hand Seal of Soul Illumination to extract who knows how many secrets from the hearts of Filthy Blood Sect members.

If Yang Sixuan had organized this operation, there would definitely not have been a situation like theirs, where they got lost and arrived several hours late.

Moreover, with Yang Sixuan's experience, he would certainly have sent personal disciples of the Qi Cyclone Realm.

Actually, it wasn't that Ge Rusong didn't want to send Qi Cyclone Realm disciples; it was because he hadn't taken on any disciples at all, had no personal disciples, and had no Qi Cyclone Realm disciples under his command to use!

Although Jiang Zhe felt that it would be difficult for him to answer to Ge Rusong when he returned, he was even clearer that Ge Rusong would have an even harder time answering for it!

Once this matter was exposed, it would be another great storm within the Elder Council!

(End of chapter)