Chapter 1605

However, Xue Zhenhai's body suddenly shifted backward, for Liang Wensheng saw that Shangguan Yun Chong had not caught up, so he made a detour and came again to rescue. Though his strength in direct clash was inferior to Shangguan Yun Chong's, he still held the advantage in body technique.

Annoyed by his meddling, Shangguan Yun Chong thrust his three‑bladed sword forward, releasing an invisible sword qi that pierced Xue Zhenhai's chest like chasing wind and lightning. Liang Wensheng had to let go of Xue Zhenhai and dart left at astonishing speed, just barely avoiding the sword qi that would have pierced his chest.

Xue Zhenhai was not so lucky; a hole about an inch in diameter was blasted through his chest, blood spraying from front to back. He cried out, raised his dog‑beating staff and hurled it with all his might at Shangguan Yun Chong. On the brink of death he gathered his lifelong energy into that throw; even Shangguan Yun Chong dared not underestimate it, sidestepping a step to avoid the staff that came like a powerful crossbow bolt. The staff missed its mark and flew backward, striking the head of a beggar who was one of Xue Zhenhai's attendants today. That beggar had already been poisoned; seeing the staff fly toward him he could not dodge, and was struck squarely, his brains bursting and he died on the spot. Another beggar was splattered with blood and brains, still dazed, when Shangguan Yun Chong glided ghost‑like to his face and thrust a sword into his throat.

Liang Wensheng watched as Shangguan Yun Chong killed all three of Xue Zhenhai's men; though he felt pity, he could do nothing but wring his hands and sigh, his sympathy useless.

After a horizontal slash, the Eyebrow Knife swiftly chopped downward; the snow wall standing before Blade Demon FengXingyun split down the middle and collapsed outward like waves, leaving a triangular space where Weichi Chong stood arrogantly, like a great magnetic field drawing all the flying snow to him. His burly form was enveloped in wind and snow; facing the incoming invisible blade qi, he leapt like a tiger, fish‑like, and smashed his fists downward, sending the snow flying for miles in the direction of his punch.

The two invisible fist strikes shattered FengXingyun's emitted blade qi into fragments. Within a radius of ten zhang, snow mist filled the air, obscuring both figures; true masters in a duel cannot rely solely on sight, for their five senses and six perceptions are heightened to extreme acuity, allowing them to sense danger even when hearing and vision are severely impaired.

After Weichi Chong shattered the opponent's blade qi, he gave FengXingyun no chance to breathe. Raising his right fist, he struck FengXingyun's Eyebrow Knife with the force of a thunderclap. Though the knife was sharp, only its blade edge was so; under Weichi Chong's heavy punch the blade bent into a great arc. The tip struck FengXingyun's chest, but he reacted instantly, shifting his torso back an inch before the fist hit, thus escaping a deadly blow. His feet slid backward over a zhang on the ground, yet that distance was still insufficient to dodge the ensuing attack.

Weichi Chong stepped forward, and at that moment he heard a faint tearing sound from behind.

Shangguan Yun Chong finally moved in; after eliminating Xue Zhenhai he did not withdraw, but fixed his target on Weichi Chong, for tonight was never merely an internal struggle of the Beggars' Sect.

The three‑bladed sword thrust like a venomous snake flicking its tongue, striking at an extremely odd angle toward Weichi Chong's left ribs. He retreated three steps, widening the distance from Shangguan Yun Chong, while slipping his hands into his waist and donning a pair of dragon‑scale gloves he had never shown before.

The blue‑gray gloves resembled overlapping dragon scales, each scale gleaming with a deep cold light; the surrounding snow mist gradually thinned, and the three figures emerged faintly.

Weichi Chong stood arrogantly to the southeast, while Shangguan Yun Chong and FengXingyun each held a corner, the three forming a triangular standoff.

Blade Demon FengXingyun furrowed his brows; prior to this move he had not expected any outsiders to intervene. Earlier, while battling Weichi Chong, he had noticed Shangguan Yun Chong slaying three Beggars' Sect experts, and was astonished that such a youth had already mastered the free emission and retrieval of sword qi. FengXingyun himself had devoted half a life to the blade, only recently breaking through, and had thought his return to the jianghu would let him laugh at the world and erase past shame—yet his first battle down the mountain ended in utter defeat. Under Weichi Chong's fierce onslaught he retreated repeatedly, and even feared that this young man might surpass him; the proud heart of Blade Demon FengXingyun suffered another setback.

Shangguan Yun Chong gave FengXingyun a slight smile, thinking their goals tonight aligned and they should join forces to slay Weichi Chong. FengXingyun ignored the overture, his face as cold as ice, even realizing that his employer doubted his own strength, otherwise he would not have sent others.

Shangguan Yun Chong launched the first attack, his three‑bladed sword thrusting straight at Weichi Chong's brow; the three‑foot‑three‑inch blade felt light and nimble in his hand, as if he held not a sword but a steel needle.

Unlike FengXingyun's overbearing outward blade qi, Shangguan Yun Chong's assassination did not cover a wide area nor make a grand show; instead it focused on a single point, the needle‑like aura, though small, easily piercing tough objects. By condensing his inner energy into a line, he minimized air resistance and reduced the loss of that energy to the lowest possible level.

Weichi Chong crossed his arms before his chest, focusing entirely on Shangguan Yun Chong's attack; the dragon‑scale gloves could block a blade's edge but could not be sure they would stop the sword's sharpness. A cold glint of the three‑bladed sword flashed in his eyes, and he finally moved: raising his hands as if embracing the moon, he cried 'Pa!' and seized the sword's blade from front and back, the blade scraping against the gloves' palms with a shrill screech. He twisted his hands in opposite directions while simultaneously lifting his right foot to sweep sideways at Shangguan Yun Chong; his leg technique was in no way inferior to his fist technique.

Under Weichi Chong's twisting, the three‑bladed sword deformed like a twisted dough. Facing the incoming sweeping kick, Shangguan Yun Chong showed no panic, meeting it with his own foot; their legs collided, the tremendous impact causing the surrounding space to reverberate, and amid the dull thud the falling snow scattered in all directions.

FengXingyun finally overcame his pride, swinging the Eyebrow Knife to chop at Weichi Chong's back, in concert with Shangguan Yun Chong's move; as FengXingyun's blade flashed, a figure suddenly appeared behind him—like a mantis catching a cicada with an oriole waiting—this was Liang Wensheng, using his ghost‑like footwork to come to the rescue.

This move of FengXingyun was a feint; he had long anticipated Liang Wensheng's attack. When Liang Wensheng used phantom shift to appear behind him, FengXingyun's Eyebrow Knife reversed in an arc, using his left foot as pivot, his body turning counter‑clockwise; the knife sang, but its light had already outrun the sound, shooting straight at Liang Wensheng's waist and abdomen. FengXingyun did not even glance at the blade Liang Wensheng thrust at him, for his own strike was far faster; Liang Wensheng's face went white as snow from the blade's glare, and he instinctively raised his own knife to block, only to hear a 'Clang!' as the Eyebrow Knife split his weapon in two. The blade's light swept past, inner energy burst forth, and only then did the blade qi emanate. Though Liang Wensheng retreated in time, the qi still struck his body, inflicting for the second time a wound from FengXingyun's strike: a gash about three cun deep on his chest, flesh torn deep, blood pouring out steadily.

After landing the blow, FengXingyun did not pursue, for Liang Wensheng's elusive footwork was not worth expending energy on, especially since his main target today was not Liang Wensheng; he leapt into the air, a gray shadow rising to a height of three zhang in the night sky.

Weichi Chong had already broken Shangguan Yun Chong's three‑bladed sword; Shangguan Yun Chong apparently had not expected Weichi Chong's fierce assault. Their legs collided, each feeling pain to the marrow, and Weichi Chong secretly marveled that Shangguan Yun Chong's inner strength seemed to surpass his own, unaware that his opponent had received the inner energy of the three Beggars' Sect transmission elders.

Shangguan Yun Chong discarded the broken sword, raised his right fist and roared, then struck straight at Weichi Chong's chest.

Inspired by the formidable youth, Weichi Chong also felt a surge of heroic spirit, planting his legs firmly in the snow and throwing a straight punch toward Shangguan Yun Chong. Shangguan Yun Chong's punch coiled inward, snowflakes whirling wildly around his arm like a frigid snow dragon coiling his right forearm, while Weichi Chong met it with a plain, unadorned thrust—no flashy technique, yet great skill appearing clumsy. As he punched, the surrounding snowflakes suddenly burst outward in all directions, his force compressing a snow‑free zone within its radius. A snow dragon surged forward, forcing its way into that empty space, and the fist of Shangguan Yun Chong, enveloped in the snow dragon, collided with Weichi Chong's.

With a deafening 'Peng!' the two bodies shuddered violently, the snow beneath their feet exploding upward as if detonated; on the ground where they stood, a three‑zhang radius became a snow‑free space.

Shangguan Yun Chong's body remained unmoving, while Weichi Chong swayed slightly, his chest feeling as if struck by a heavy hammer; in this hard clash, Weichi Chong's inner power proved inferior to Shangguan Yun Chong's.

At the instant Weichi Chong's body wavered, Blade Demon FengXingyun shot downward with astonishing speed, his Eyebrow Knife already cleaving the air from mid‑air; the invisible blade qi, having traveled halfway, had expanded to a radius of two zhang, and he intended to cleave Weichi Chong in two with a single stroke. (To be continued~^~)

At the moment Weichi Chong's body swayed, the Blade Demon FengXingyun swooped down with astonishing speed; while airborne, his Eyebrow Knife had already slashed out a strike from a distance, the invisible blade aura having expanded to a range of two zhang by mid-flight, intending to cleave Weichi Chong in two with a single stroke. (To be continued~^~)