Chapter 35

The Thirteen Tai Bao Golden Bell Shield skill is excellent for resisting blows, but for healing it is certainly inferior to techniques such as the Immortal Everlasting Spring Technique—if he had used those, the shallow wounds on Bai Lang would already have scabbed over by now. Bai Lang had already walked along the road for half an hour—the group of guys had originally occupied a pavilion, but Bai Lang's reasoning failed; he had no idea which way to go, so he finally chose a direction that led out of the mountains—at least it was easier to walk.

The road was empty now, and the farther Bai Lang walked, the more uncertain he felt, "I have no idea how those brothers are doing…" With that thought, his ears twitched slightly, and he immediately slowed his pace, using Lightness Skill to slip to the side. After concealing his figure, Bai Lang moved slowly within the shadows, and after bypassing a rock formation, he saw another pavilion on the distant road, inside which, as usual, six martial artists wielding swords and knives were present.

"Now I'm really unsure—am I heading the right way? I can't just stride over there flamboyantly… maybe grab a live one," Bai Lang glanced at the strips of cloth tied all over his body, weighed the sword in his hand, and said, "There's no place to hide here; sneaking in won't work, and if I fight head‑on and these guys are as skilled as the ones before, I might meet my end." Bai Lang truly couldn't decide what to do, so his final choice was to wait a while.

These people weren't any kind of disciplined troops; their discipline seemed lacking, and they were drinking, eating meat, and chattering idly inside the pavilion. Bai Lang focused his internal force on his ears, but because of the distance he couldn't hear clearly; however, one person's action made him overjoyed. "Hall Master… Shaolin Temple…" Though he only caught those words, the direction the person pointed with his finger showed Bai Lang the correct bearing—indeed, it was inside the mountains.

Bai Lang muttered to himself that he had indeed been lazy, "I should have known to go into the mountains; after all, temples love being in the mountains." In truth, temples prefer to be built in towns to collect money faster. Silently, Bai Lang reversed his direction; this time he directly used Lightness Skill, ignoring the drain on his Internal Force, and darted toward the opposite side of the road. During this Lightness Skill, Bai Lang actually felt his Internal Force had improved.

The recent life‑or‑death clash clearly helped him grow a lot; he gained an ability almost like combat intuition, and his Internal Force's robust, circular flow also advanced. While using Lightness Skill this time, his Internal Force circulated and replenished itself naturally, reaching a seemingly endless state. However, Bai Lang knew this was limited; without a bridge that communicates with Heaven and Earth to continuously replenish his qi, once the food in his stomach is fully digested, his recovery will essentially slow down.

Taking advantage of the fact his stomach wasn't yet hungry, Bai Lang sprinted across the main road; the Grass Flying Lightness Skill required only a tip of the foot on the ground, allowing him to glide low like a bird and cover almost two zhang forward—speed nearly matching that of a horse. Soon he passed the pavilion he had cleared of people and headed deeper into the mountains, but another pavilion soon appeared, housing three knife‑wielders.

Bai Lang smiled, halted to steady his breath, then took a big stride toward the three knife‑wielders. With sword in hand, the opponents also recognized a life‑or‑death battle and each drew their knives from the pavilion, charging at Bai Lang. Everyone used the moment of approach to adjust their breathing and circulate Internal Force, preparing for combat; once they closed in enough, each let out a fierce roar and surged forward.

Bai Lang activated the Golden Bell Shield Internal Force, power coursing through both arms; during the impact a large arc formed, a sword and a knife together creating a ring of light that rolled up dazzling silver and enveloped the two knife‑wielders. Yet, with the violent recoil and explosion, the two were merely staggered away—using their own knives to block Bai Lang's attack, they were blown back but otherwise unharmed.

Bai Lang's own movement paused briefly, and the last knife‑wielder seized the chance, lunging forward with a thrust straight at him; the slash was like thunder and lightning, seemingly about to cleave Bai Lang in two. Bai Lang let out a tiger's roar, instantly tossed aside the swords in both hands, drew his short sword and activated Internal Force to block. The Golden Bell Shield's Internal Force excels in this: after the recoil, the recovery is extremely fast, like a great bell struck, its ringing continuous.

His short sword, though fairly thick, was just an ordinary folding blade; the opponent's knife seemed superior. The knife technique wielded immense force, and with Internal Force added it was razor‑sharp, yet the Golden Bell Shield's internal skill was no joke—the slash cleaved the short sword in half and also struck Bai Lang's shoulder, cutting three‑quarters into the flesh before the blade shattered. Bai Lang was wounded again, this time seriously; his left arm was likely unusable for the moment. He roared, lunged forward, and with his right claw struck the knife‑wielder's head, smashing it into his chest. Then, with a tiger‑claw snap, the foe's Heavenly Spirit Cover shattered.

He killed one, but the other two recovered their breath and lunged from left and right, their blade flashes like snow threatening to engulf Bai Lang. Bai Lang didn't linger; he simply forced his Internal Force, fully employing Lightness Skill to run forward—resulting in the cloth strips tied to his back fluttering wildly as new wounds were slashed across his back. Bai Lang hummed, activated Internal Force to contract his muscles, preventing blood from spurting, and accelerated his speed to keep running.

At this point he could only fight while running; neither of the two remaining knife‑wielders was any weaker than him— even the one he killed likely hadn't expected his Golden Bell Shield to be so effective, and his short sword was surprisingly thick; when it was cut open the blade was already damaged and shattered against the skin protected by the Golden Bell Shield. Meanwhile Bai Lang's shoulder bone was fractured, and without a proper bind, his left hand would struggle to exert force.

He could only run, and might not even break through a possible next gate, but perhaps he could find a way on the road to counter‑attack and kill the two knife‑wielders—if they insisted on pursuit. At this moment Bai Lang had no intention of going after that Hall Master; keeping his own life was enough, and he could only hope that the disciples of East Sea Guan Tao Pavilion, Washing Flower Sword Gate, Murong Family, Shaolin Temple, and Medicine Valley would be strong enough—Bai Lang could no longer help.

Rolling and crawling all the way, Bai Lang surged at top speed into the ridge forest beside the road, and the so‑called "Divine Warrior Hook" accurately gauged the distance and speed of the two pursuing knife‑wielders, ready to counter at any moment—simply fleeing the whole way was impossible.