Chapter 135: One Slash, One Victory

A fierce wind howled as Shangguan Qingqing, clad in crimson robes, surged her martial qi beneath her feet, her entire figure nearly becoming a streaking crimson afterimage.

Her spirited, beautiful face was now filled with urgency and cold severity.

Her flying daggers continuously shot forth like lightning, and though constantly blocked by the qi-armored surfaces of Sha Wenshan and the other two, she persisted without pause in her attacks.

And at that moment, from beneath the eaves of a nearby shop, a sharp blade of light suddenly surged out.

A young man in white clothing shot forward with swift motion, his gaze icy, his sword thrusting straight ahead—the blade's edge condensing into a single thread of white radiance, like the fleeting shadow of a venomous snake's tongue lashing toward Shangguan Qingqing's throat.

Shangguan Qingqing's eyes shifted, her feet instantly halted, and she swiftly leaned back to evade the sudden killing strike.

Then she raised her hand and launched two flying daggers straight at the young man's face.

The young man in white immediately retracted his sword to block—metallic clangs rang out shrilly as the daggers were each deflected away.

At that moment, he sneered dismissively:

"With your level of strength, you dare try to rescue someone from my father's grasp? Stay here!"

Speaking, he changed his sword technique instantly, launching relentless attacks toward Shangguan Qingqing's vital points.

Shangguan Qingqing's expression grew anxious, but helplessly she halted her advance and temporarily turned to deal with the young man before her.

Meanwhile, Sha Wenshan glanced back with indifference, his five fingers curling like iron hooks, his claw wind tearing through the curtain of daggers before him, then pressing directly onto Qin Hao's broad blade.

Seeing this, Qin Hao's face flushed with shock—he urgently channeled his martial qi to pull his blade free.

Yet he found the force in the other's grip as heavy as a thousand catties—he could not budge it even slightly.

At that moment, two middle-aged men closed in, their palms pressing onto his shoulders.

Instantly, Qin Hao felt his martial qi crushed and immobilized by their pressure—he strained desperately, but could not move a single thread of it.

At this point, Qin Hao's heart sank—he knew he was powerless to change his fate, now a fish on the chopping block, entirely at their mercy.

"Hand over the other half of the map, and I might spare your female disciple's life."

Sha Wenshan pried Qin Hao's broad blade from his grip and spoke tersely.

Qin Hao frowned, his gaze shifting to Shangguan Qingqing, who was still battling the young man in white, and said:

"I don't know what you're talking about."

"Then it seems you wish to experience the White Sand Gang's methods of torture."

Sha Wenshan narrowed his eyes, then seized Qin Hao by the collar and dragged him toward a nearby blacksmith's shop.

Yet at that very moment, a rough voice suddenly rang out along the street:

"Wait."

Sha Wenshan froze, turned, and followed the sound—where a simple linen-clad coachman stood silently atop the broken wooden beam of a damaged shop opposite.

The coachman's face was ordinary; in his hand he held a broken sword.

Seeing this, Sha Wenshan frowned—he was about to speak.

But in the next instant, the coachman atop the roof had already swung his blade downward.

Instantly, blade-light spilled like a shattered silver vase—shattered shards of radiance engulfed Sha Wenshan and the other two.

"Die!"

Sha Wenshan's eyes turned icy—he sealed Qin Hao's acupoints and casually tossed him to his subordinates.

Then, in perfect unison, he and the two middle-aged men struck together.

Launching terrifying claw shadows and palm imprints, they shattered the falling fragments of blade-light and surged toward the coachman atop the roof.

Cao Gaoshan lowered his gaze slightly, glanced back at the single open window on the second floor of the inn, and said gravely:

"Young Master, watch!"

And in the next instant, his blade had already cut through the air invisibly.

Hum!

In that moment, the entire surrounding air trembled—the tiles shattered by the battle's residual waves vibrated violently.

A ten-foot-long blade shadow silently rose before the coachman—its aura tyrannical and fierce, brilliant blade-light slicing through the air, then crashing down with thunderous force onto the blue-stone street below.

This slash was so swift—from the blade shadow's appearance to its disappearance—Sha Wenshan and the other two could not perceive even a trace of its path.

In an instant, the entire sky of claw shadows and palm imprints vanished—the figures of Sha Wenshan and the others, just leaping into midair, plummeted back down with even greater speed.

Boom!

The three crashed onto the blue-stone street—the terrifying impact shattered the stones, sending fragments flying and dust swirling, carving out a pit half a man deep.

"Cough… cough…"

Violent coughing echoed from the pit—Sha Wenshan and the other two lay at the bottom, crimson blood continuously oozing from their lips.

On their bodies each was a deep, grotesque blade wound—visible to the bone—just now, the coachman's slash had nearly cut them in half!

At this moment, all three wore expressions of horror and agony, suffering deeply, with not a shred of resistance left.

Inside the inn's second floor, Hu Rui, who had watched the entire scene, stared at the coachman Cao Gaoshan's figure and murmured in surprise:

"When did his martial strength improve again? He's nearly touched the threshold of Semi-Heavenly."

The battalion commander Wu Shang, standing nearby, could not help but exclaim:

"Cao Brother's 'Que Dao Zhan' has become so powerful… but… I've never seen him use this slash before."

At that moment, the coachman Cao Gaoshan turned his head, his gaze fixing on Li Musheng by the window—his weathered face, rarely showing emotion, now betrayed a rare flicker of tension:

"Young Master, how was my slash?"

"Far from adequate."

Li Musheng shook his head directly—Cao Gaoshan's face froze.

But quickly, standing atop the broken beam, he raised his rough palm in salute toward Li Musheng, his expression filled with shame:

"I will keep striving."

At these words, all three—including Hu Rui—stared at Li Musheng seated by the table, their expressions altered.

From the moment Cao Gaoshan volunteered, they had begun to suspect the relationship between Li Musheng and Cao Shan.

And now, the doubt in their hearts grew even deeper!

In their view, Cao Gaoshan seemed extremely respectful toward Li Musheng, yet this respect clearly did not stem from the other's status as an Imperial Prince.

It felt more like the respect one shows a teacher, a desire to gain the other's approval...

However, this was obviously illogical; Cao Gaoshan was a Grand Master of the Wudaoda Sect, while Li Musheng, though often speaking with great arrogance, possessed not a shred of true martial Qi himself.

This strange contrast left Hu Rui and the others finding it utterly incredible.

Meanwhile, the young man in white, seeing his father cut down by a single blade, immediately cried out in shock, abandoned his opponent Shangguan Qingqing, and rushed toward the large pit on the bluestone street.

Seeing this, Shangguan Qingqing did not take the opportunity to pursue and kill the other; instead, she moved her body and hurried to find her senior brother Qin Hao.

(End of this chapter)