Chapter 66

Seeing a purple long sword appear in Gu Hanyuan's hand, Duan Yanqing vigilantly focused his mind to face him.

"Crown Prince Yanqing, I have always felt guilty towards you; today, I shall lend you a hand."

Because of the events of that year, Duan Zhengming felt his position was illegitimate, so he wanted to take this opportunity to resolve his hatred.

Duan Yanqing, however, showed no appreciation, speaking through ventriloquism:

"Duan Zhengming, do not think I will give up on reclaiming the throne."

Duan Zhengchun originally did not want to get involved, but firstly, he held a grudge against Gu Hanyuan, and secondly, he could not let Duan Zhengming go to help alone, so he called upon Master Huangmei and the four "Fisherman, Woodcutter, Farmer, and Scholar" to step forward together.

Although Ye Erniang and Yue Laosan were fearful, they both had confidence in Duan Yanqing and did not believe Gu Hanyuan could kill him in one move, so they firmly held their weapons to help.

Gu Hanyuan did not care about the increase in the number of opponents; after all, apart from Duan Yanqing and Duan Zhengming being Grandmasters, the rest were merely at the Acquired Realm.

"Sword Twenty-One."

After Gu Hanyuan gave a soft shout, sword Qi emerged from the magic sword, and the sword Qi grew more and more numerous, with twenty-one streaks of sword Qi carrying the momentum of thunder and lightning shooting towards Duan Yanqing.

Although Duan Yanqing had long been vigilant, because the two were quite far apart, he waited quietly for the opponent to make a move.

He did not expect it to be a sword Qi attack, and in such great numbers.

Duan Zhengming had always thought the "Six Meridians Divine Sword" was the only martial art in the world capable of emitting sword Qi; he did not expect to see even more terrifying sword Qi today.

Just by looking at the momentum, he felt Duan Yanqing could not block it.

Duan Yanqing, Duan Zhengming, and Duan Zhengchun tried their best to fire the "One Yang Finger," but they only managed to knock down a few streaks of sword Qi, and the remaining dozen or so streaks continued to shoot towards the crowd.

Except for Duan Zhengchun, who was avoided because he was still useful, the others hit by the sword Qi faced almost certain death.

Despair even began to appear in everyone's eyes.

Yet at this moment, five monks entered the scene.

They were the high monks of Tianlong Temple, led by Master Kurong.

Originally, Master Kurong had been hiding in the shadows out of concern for the safety of Duan Zhengming and the others.

After all, he was the emperor of a nation; if he were to pass away, the nation would inevitably be in turmoil.

Furthermore, he also felt guilty towards Duan Yanqing and had to prevent him from being killed, which led to the current scene.

Duan Zhengming and the others had already been somewhat desperate, not expecting to find a way out of a hopeless situation.

The five monks of Tianlong Temple simultaneously began to emit sword energy from their fingers; it was indeed the "Six Meridians Divine Sword."

In particular, Master Kurong's "Shaoshang Sword" could almost knock down a streak of sword energy every time.

As the foundation of Dali, all members of Tianlong Temple were Grandmasters, and Master Kurong was even at the late Grandmaster stage, using the ultimate technique of the "Six Meridians Divine Sword," so they quickly knocked down most of the sword energy.

But several streaks of sword Qi still landed in the crowd.

Duan Yanqing's shoulder was pierced through.

As the main force of the defense, Master Kurong was struck by three streaks of sword energy. Blood flowed from his arm, thigh, and abdomen; fortunately, his realm was high enough that he dodged the lethal attacks at the last second, leaving him only severely injured.

Benguan and Benxiang were also injured in the arms by sword energy while protecting Duan Zhengming.

The "Fisherman, Woodcutter, Farmer, and Scholar" and others had low realms and were not the main targets, so they were not hit.

"Amitabha. Benefactor, your martial arts are peerless; please spare Duan Yanqing. Tianlong Temple will keep this in mind."

After Master Kurong pressed acupoints on his wounds to stop the bleeding, he pressed his palms together and bowed.

He knew that a single move had made it difficult for everyone to parry; if he insisted on fighting, no one would leave alive.

Not daring to insist on saving face, he directly begged for mercy.

"I keep my word. Since he did not die under my 'Sword Twenty-One,' I will give him a chance to live."

Gu Hanyuan did not have the intention to kill Duan Yanqing; since his life was not meant to end today, he would let him go.

Master Kurong breathed a sigh of relief and performed a Buddhist salute again.

"From now on, wherever you are, the Four Great Evils will surely keep their distance."

Duan Yanqing also knew he was just lucky today; shocked by Gu Hanyuan's martial arts, he spoke softly and directly fled with Ye Erniang and Yue Laosan.

Dao Baifeng cast a subtle glance at the departing Duan Yanqing and breathed a sigh of relief.

Duan Zhengming also signaled to Duan Zhengchun with his eyes not to provoke such a formidable enemy.

Duan Zhengchun nodded with grievance; he knew he would not be getting Gan Baobao back.

The crowd then departed.

Although Gan Baobao was slightly unwilling about this result, she knew her status in Gu Hanyuan's heart was not high and did not dare to force it.

She pondered asking Zhong Ling to help beg him together.

After Gan Baobao collected Zhong Wanchou's remains, she returned to Wan Jiegu with Gu Hanyuan.

Zhong Ling was also very sad after learning of Zhong Wanchou's death from Gan Baobao.

Although she already knew he was not her biological father, the affection from raising her for more than ten years was still very deep.

Afterwards, Gu Hanyuan stayed in Wan Jiegu to comfort Zhong Ling.

The continuous rushing made Gu Hanyuan somewhat tired, and he rested well in Wan Jiegu for a few days.

During this time, Zhong Ling gave herself to Gu Hanyuan.

"Brother Gu, I like you. Even if you are a bad person, I still like you."

Zhong Ling bravely wrapped her arms around Gu Hanyuan's neck.

Gu Hanyuan, having removed his mask, had gentle eyes as he gazed at Zhong Ling, who looked like a startled little deer.

"I like you too."

"Brother Gu, will you always like me?"

Zhong Ling was still somewhat fearful of what was about to happen.

Gu Hanyuan did not reply, only blowing out the candle with a palm wind.

This forest-elf-like girl had bounced her way into his heart; how could there be any reason to let go?

Because of the previous events, Gan Baobao was still very worried about whether Zhong Ling could handle it.

Fortunately, Gu Hanyuan was still very gentle with Zhong Ling; after all, he didn't feel heartless using her like he might with someone else's wife.

However, although Zhong Ling was innocent, she was intelligent after all.

These past few days, Gan Baobao would always find various excuses to come find her, chatting about trivial things.

In reality, her eyes would often steal glances at Gu Hanyuan, and she knew something must have happened between the two.

Coupled with the fact that she already knew Gu Hanyuan was a bad person, she was not too surprised when she saw the two come out of the room together.

Of course, dissatisfaction was inevitable, and she ignored Gu Hanyuan for quite a while.

But being sunny and open-minded, she soon stuck to him sweetly again.