Chapter 271: Kill Fu Cailin!

Raise hand to control the house, strike down to crush enemies.

Unmatched agility, astonishing swordsmanship.

True qi shield, bronze head and iron brow.

The appearance of such a six-sided warrior on the battlefield is devastating for Goguryeo, who rely on their mountainous fortifications.

Fu Cailin cast a deep glance at Gu Qing, then turned and fled—in that instant, his figure shot like lightning toward the outskirts of Liaodong City. The Goguryeo troops, already demoralized by Gu Qing's destruction of their buildings, now saw their leader fleeing and abandoned their armor and weapons, wishing they could grow two extra legs.

"Master Gu, Fu Cailin is the spiritual leader of Goguryeo; if you kill him, Goguryeo will lose all will to resist."

A man appeared beside Gu Qing, speaking with utmost reverence.

Gu Qing glanced slightly—he was Du Gu Feng, patriarch of the Du Gu clan, one of the four great aristocratic families. Under Yang Guang's rule, the realm was now engulfed in war and chaos; the Song clan resided in Lingnan, the Li clan in Taiyuan, while the Yuwen and Du Gu clans mostly stayed close to Yang Guang.

Du Gu Feng was also a renowned master of the realm. Having witnessed Gu Qing's domination over Fu Cailin and his ability to overturn buildings, he immediately offered advice upon seeing Fu Cailin attempting to escape.

"Not yet."

Gu Qing picked up a bow and grabbed a handful of arrows, saying: "Just now, standing on the city wall, I was surrounded by arrows—I struck with one palm and extinguished seven or eight out of ten, but a few slipped through."

As he spoke, Gu Qing nocked all the arrows onto a single bowstring. Du Gu Feng watched closely—he saw Gu Qing's posture was perfectly standard, yet he felt the shot lacked precision.

"Whoosh…"

Gu Qing released the string—the arrows flew into the air, then scattered, bending in all four directions, weaving through fleeing soldiers, and pinning nine of them dead with pinpoint accuracy.

「……」

Du Gu Feng stared, dumbfounded.

"Master Gu, is this… archery?"

Du Gu Feng had seen archery before, but never anything like this—arrows turning midair and locking onto targets shattered his understanding entirely.

"This is called the Locking Heaven Arrow Array."

Gu Qing grabbed another handful of arrows. In the supreme Eastern Depot, there existed such an archery technique: firing multiple arrows together, allowing them to curve and kill at will. After mastering the Absorbing Power Great Law, Gu Qing specifically traveled to the Eastern Depot to learn this art.

In archery, Gu Qing initially trained under Guo Jing and had slain many foes; when learning the Locking Heaven Arrow technique, he picked it up with astonishing speed.

"Whoosh…"

Long arrows spun through the air, killing indiscriminately—this time, they pinned several officers dead.

Du Gu Feng, watching beside him, had grown numb.

"Master Gu."

Du Gu Feng suddenly snapped back to his senses and hurriedly said: "In my Du Gu family, there is a girl named Du Gu Feng—she has loved swordplay since birth. Master Gu, your swordsmanship is unparalleled—could you take Du Gu Feng as your disciple…?"

"We'll talk about it later."

Gu Qing tossed the bow into Du Gu Feng's arms.

"Master Gu, do you have business?"

Du Gu Feng asked anxiously.

Du Gu Feng now realized that a peerless grandmaster was about to emerge in the world—he wanted to get ahead and cling to Gu Qing's leg.

"Hmm…"

Gu Qing said: "I'm going to pursue and kill Fu Cailin."

At these words, Du Gu Feng was stunned again. Earlier, he had urged Gu Qing to kill Fu Cailin, but Gu Qing had been unmoved; Du Gu Feng had watched Fu Cailin flee beyond Liaodong City and vanish from sight, while Gu Qing calmly shot arrows and killed two waves of soldiers before finally moving to pursue.

Was this letting Fu Cailin run for a while?

Du Gu Feng stared at Gu Qing, seeing the faint blue shadow already slipping beyond his vision.

Liaodong is full of mountains.

Gu Qing raced through the mountain ranges, and despite giving Fu Cailin a head start, he seemed to precisely sense his direction—climbing and descending the peaks for over thirty miles before finally halting on a mountain slope.

Fu Cailin sat calmly on the slope, the famed Yi Jian resting before him. His grotesque face now glowed with vitality; after escaping Liaodong City, he had fully regained his peak state within these mountains.

"Gu Qing, what do you think life is?"

Fu Cailin asked.

This was the hallmark mental suppression technique of Huang-style masters—using philosophical discourse to suppress the opponent's mind, making it harder for them to fully unleash their martial arts.

"You really want to talk culture with me?"

Gu Qing found it amusing. "What culture do you even have? Even your Nine Mysteries Art is just a derivative of Huang-Lao philosophy."

Hearing his own culture dismissed, Fu Cailin felt a pang of defensiveness.

"You must be quite old, aren't you?"

Gu Qing asked casually.

Fu Cailin paused, then replied: "I was already past eighty when I took Junque as my disciple—I'm nearly a hundred now."

Fu Junque was an orphan he raised as his own daughter; recalling her death just now, Fu Cailin's heart ached.

"And in your hundred years, how many fights have you had?"

Gu Qing asked again.

"Is fighting really that interesting?"

After a pause, Fu Cailin said: "Life holds mysteries beyond comprehension. If one delves deeply, one can climb out of the mire of hatred and conflict, and finally see the ugliness, stupidity, and darkness within humanity—then one realizes that conflict only destroys the joy of life."

Fu Cailin spoke sincerely, revealing his path. To defeat Gu Qing, he had to use mental suppression.

"Oh…"

Gu Qing replied: "No wonder you're weak. I'm much younger than you, yet I've fought tens of thousands of battles."

Gu Qing's strength was forged entirely through combat.

Fu Cailin stared at Gu Qing, unwilling to believe he'd fought tens of thousands of battles—but he had to accept it: Gu Qing's combat experience and diverse techniques far surpassed his own.

"I'm just curious—how did these three grandmasters earn their reputations?"

Gu Qing stroked his chin, looking down at Fu Cailin. "Each of you has only a hollow reputation, with almost no verifiable victories. If I kill you, will Ning Daoqi and Bi Xuan bow to me as the supreme grandmaster, or will they expel you from the Three Grandmasters and try to pair me with you instead?"

Gu Qing was genuinely curious about this.

Fu Cailin sighed. His mental suppression was about philosophical depth, but Gu Qing was simply verbal bullying—and it was crushing him.

This made Fu Cailin abandon further dialogue. He gripped his Yi Jian, standing before Gu Qing, activating the Nine Mysteries Art—his face grew increasingly vibrant.

！

Gu Qing lifted his gaze slightly. After absorbing Fu Junque's power, he had also mastered the Nine Mysteries Art—he understood it as Fu Cailin's supreme internal skill, designed to unlock hidden potential and regulate essence, energy, and spirit. This very art had opened Gu Qing's mind to the spiritual realms of the Huang system and allowed him to perceive the vibrant, subtle, and vast vitality of heaven and earth.

"Hum…"

Fu Cailin's sword shimmered as he advanced.

Fu Cailin admitted: Gu Qing was the greatest, most unimaginable foe he had ever faced. His Yi Jian technique, when faced with Gu Qing, was like a chessmaster confronting an opponent who simply picked up the board—any strategy became useless. So this single strike was pure instinct, unburdened by past or future—in that instant, his swordsmanship seemed to ascend further.

Gu Qing's eyes sharpened; his sword moved with blinding speed. This strike wove together the Quanzhen Swordplay and the Jade Maiden Swordplay—normally requiring two hands and two swords, the Jade Maiden Heart Sword now flowed seamlessly into a single blade.

Fu Cailin struck once; Gu Qing countered five times.

In those five strikes, Fu Cailin glimpsed Gu Qing with a white-robed maiden beneath blossoms, sweeping snow and brewing tea—their tender affection transformed into sword qi. As the blades met, Fu Cailin desperately shifted, evading the real with the false, countering the false with the real. After five strikes, he was stunned.

"Nine Mysteries Art!"

Fu Cailin exclaimed.

The spiritual emotion embedded in Gu Qing's sword technique was unmistakably the trace of Fu Cailin's own Nine Mysteries Art.

"Your disciple didn't die in vain."

Gu Qing wielded his sword again, unleashing the Jade Maiden Heart Sword. Facing Fu Cailin, Gu Qing wasn't just refining his techniques—he was refining his soul. In adapting to the Nine Mysteries Art, his spirit seemed to return to its origin.

Quanzhen Swordplay, Jade Maiden Swordplay—training with the Condor through floods, refining internal energy in tidal waves, honing his sword in the Green Robe Pavilion of the Lu Xiaofeng world, dueling Ximen Chuixue and Ye Gucheng…

The path of swordsmanship had been arduous and monotonous, yet vibrantly alive. Facing Fu Cailin, Gu Qing laid bare his entire journey—each battle, each trial… His spirit surged. When he reached Ximen Chuixue's technique, a sharp "whoosh" rang out—the blade swept past, leaving a trail of blood.

A gash opened on Fu Cailin's abdomen, yet his swordsmanship didn't falter—he was admiring Gu Qing's path.

In the hazy dream of life, Fu Cailin pursued inner and outer beauty; in clashing swords with Gu Qing, he saw the beauty of Gu Qing's journey—the accumulation of countless battles had matured Gu Qing's swordsmanship. In responding, Fu Cailin appeared graceful and effortless, but in truth, danger lurked everywhere—only the transcendent Yi Jian technique and his century of cultivation made him seem slightly at ease.

"Clang!"

Gu Qing's sword wove through Fu Cailin's strikes; their blades clashed, generating dozens of variations. In this endless entanglement, Gu Qing thrust his sword forward—Fu Cailin twisted his blade to intercept. They exchanged rapid strikes, then Gu Qing suddenly released his grip, reaching out with a finger to manipulate the hilt with Shaolin's "Duo Luo Ye Finger," making the blade flow like a living thing—suddenly, Gu Qing seemed to command the sword. With a "whoosh," it sliced across Fu Cailin's hand, then returned to Gu Qing's grasp.

Fu Cailin stared at the wound on his hand.

The essence of Yi Jian lies in luring the opponent into a trap the moment they feel the urge to win, then turning defeat into victory.

But Gu Qing had endless reserves—Fu Cailin thought Gu Qing was cornered, only to find himself trapped instead.

Fu Cailin had to admit: Gu Qing's swordsmanship was astonishing, his martial knowledge vast—far surpassing Fu Cailin's own status as a grandmaster. And Gu Qing's combat experience, even compared to Fu Cailin's nearly century-long life, was incomparable.

"It seems… I've truly lost."

Fu Cailin sighed.

Earlier in Liaodong City, Gu Qing's victory had relied partly on overwhelming power—but here, in the wilderness, Gu Qing had used no formidable internal energy, only swordplay and diverse techniques, yet still bested Fu Cailin.

No matter how magnificent Fu Cailin's philosophy or how dreamlike his techniques, they met Gu Qing's cold, unyielding reality.

Fu Cailin let out a long howl, preparing to fight to the death.

Gu Qing lowered his gaze slightly. After prolonged combat and mastering the Nine Mysteries Art, he now fully understood the Yi Jian technique. Seeing Fu Cailin's resolve, he unleashed his full power to end this.

"Qian Kun Da Nuo Yi!"

Gu Qing roared, reaching out to the mountains—rocks tumbled through the air, swirling around him. With a forward push, they surged toward Fu Cailin.

Fu Cailin soared through the air, his sword cleaving rocks into fragments, his body weaving through gaps—then, in one sudden thrust, his blade aimed straight for Gu Qing's forehead.

"Da Bei Palm!"

Gu Qing struck with a palm.

The Da Bei Palm was the martial art of Master Jie from the Book of the Great Unity—a palm strike with infinite follow-up power. But Gu Qing was no longer the boy who couldn't match internal energies. With his power grown, he now relished the joy of numerical dominance. This palm strike sent Fu Cailin, who had nearly reached him, crashing deep into the mountain.

"Absorbing Power Great Law!"

Gu Qing reached out, drawing in the tumbling rocks from the mountains, all surging toward Fu Cailin. As his power intensified, the rocks crushed him completely—then Gu Qing slashed downward, sending the pile of rocks crashing into the mountainside.

"Puh…"

Even though Fu Cailin was one of the Three Great Masters of the world, the impact turned his internal organs to pulp; he lay on the ground, barely clinging to life.

"Thud!"

Gu Qing did not hesitate further; he pointed a finger, and Fu Cailin died instantly.

(End of Chapter)