Chapter 816: [Heaven-Slaying Seven Swords] (Part 1)

The old man in blue robes sighed: "How unfortunate, to be so stubborn at such a young age!" He reached out and lightly snapped a green bamboo.

Huo Shengnan struck first, stepping forward with a stride, her blue-steel sword gathering a hint of cold light, she thrust toward the old man's wrist like chasing wind and lightning; Huo Shengnan's main aim was to defeat the enemy, she did not necessarily intend to kill him.

A faint sneer of slight contempt appeared at the corner of the blue-robed old man's mouth, seeing that Huo Shengnan's sword tip was still about a foot away from him, he then raised his hand, the clear shadow in his hand trembled, the tip of the bamboo struck the edge of the blue-steel sword, with a 'swish!' sound, he used the sword's blade to just shave off a bevel on the bamboo's tip, sharp and keen like a sword blade, then the old man's wrist made a subtle turn, the bamboo trembled slightly, slapping against the sword's body, with a 'crack!' sound, the blue-steel sword trembled all over from this impact, a buzzing sound rang continuously in the ears, the strong force transmitted through the sword to Huo Shengnan's right hand, shocking her so that her tiger's mouth ached severely, the blue-steel sword nearly flew from her grasp.

The blue-robed old man retracted the bamboo by an inch, then shot it out like a venomous snake, straight thrusting at Huo Shengnan's throat; Huo Shengnan endured the soreness and pain in her arm, and backhandedly sliced the bamboo.

The old man's thrust at her throat was a feint; after Huo Shengnan made her move, his wrist swiftly rotated, the bamboo instantly changed direction, its tip striking Huo Shengnan's wrist at the Taiyuan point; her wrist felt as if electrified, her whole arm sore and numb, the Taiyuan point being the gateway of the Hand Taiyin Lung Meridian; once struck, her right arm instantly lost strength, she could no longer hold the blue-steel sword, which clanged to the ground.

As the blue-robed old man raised his bamboo, preparing to press his advantage, he heard a voice chanting the Buddha's name from behind: "Amitabha, why do you, as a patron, commit such bullying of the weak within my Buddhist domain?"

It was Jue Zheng and his junior disciple Jue Ming appearing before the thatched hut.

The blue-robed old man furrowed his brows. He said in a deep voice: "Two little masters, I am merely settling a personal grudge; I do not mean to disturb the temple's tranquility. This is an outside matter; I hope the two little masters will not interfere."

After exchanging blows with the blue-robed old man, Huo Shengnan already knew her martial arts were vastly inferior to his; she did not want to implicate the two innocent monks. She shouted: "Two masters, please leave quickly; this is our personal grudge, it has nothing to do with you!"

Jue Zheng stared intently at the blue-robed old man and said: "Within the bounds of Spirit Sound Temple, we will not allow any bullying of the weak; please, patron, leave this temple, do not disturb the other monks and cause unnecessary trouble."

The blue-robed old man chuckled: "Since the little master says so, I can only obey." He gave Huo Shengnan a cold glance and said: "Remember this. Today's matter will not be left unsettled; as long as mountains stand and waters flow, we will surely meet again." He clasped his hands and walked toward the pine tree, apparently to fetch his black donkey.

Huo Shengnan did not expect that after the two monks appeared, he would so easily give up chasing Hu Xiaotian and choose to leave; she felt the blue-robed man was deceitful.

As expected, after the blue-robed old man took two steps, he suddenly lunged forward in an arrow-like step toward Jue Zheng, his bamboo emitting a sharp whistle; like lightning he jabbed at Jue Zheng's right eye. The old man's move was extremely vicious, intending to catch Jue Zheng off guard and subdue him first.

"Be careful!" Huo Shengnan shouted a warning.

Jue Zheng raised his right fist. Aiming at the bamboo, he threw a forward punch; at the moment of striking, his arm muscles bulged. With his legs firmly planted in a horse stance, this ordinary straight punch concealed the mighty aura of Subduing Tiger, Seizing Dragon.

The tip of the bamboo split the air with a hissing sound like a venomous snake spitting its tongue, the bamboo and air friction producing continuous explosive bursts; effortlessly, an ordinary piece of green bamboo in the blue-robed old man's hand actually possessed the power of thunder and lightning, shocking heaven and earth, moving ghosts and gods; it turned into a spray of green light bearing an overbearing domineering force, thrusting toward Jue Zheng's fist.

Jue Zheng's countenance was kind, showing no fear, nor any anger from the blue-robed man's vicious treachery; his plain punch was like his plain monk's robe—simple and unadorned yet great skill appears clumsy, the Tiger-Subduing, Demon-Quelling Fist, whose force can subdue a tiger and whose momentum can quell demons; facing the opponent's demon-like sword, he did not yield in the slightest. When his fist met that swiftly advancing green light, the blue-robed man's lips curled in a cold smile, as if seeing Jue Zheng's right fist pierced through; yet when the bamboo's point poked the opponent's skin, it was like striking a rock—hard as iron, tough as old bamboo; although the bamboo's point could dent the flesh, it could not break through.

That fierce, matchless punch nevertheless shook the bamboo until it split from the middle; a crack appeared at the tip, then rapidly spread toward the old man's right hand, in an instant reaching the final segment; the old man's wrist paused, his internal energy flowing along the bamboo upward, the crack's expansion halted at the last segment, then it emitted a series of cracking sounds; the front part that had split burst into more than ten bamboo splinters, which then, under the old man's internal force, spun and recongealed into a whole; although he held only an ordinary piece of green bamboo, under the old man's control it was no different from a divine weapon; a flash of green shadow stabbed toward Jue Zheng's right ribs.

Jue Zheng did not move his feet; his fist sank, turning punch into a grasp, trying to seize the bamboo in one grip, he shouted loudly: "Junior brother, take them away!"

Jue Ming responded with an affirmative, and together with Huo Shengnan they rushed into the room.

During the earlier clash between Huo Shengnan and the blue-robed old man, Hu Xiaotian heard everything clearly; he felt both worried and anxious, wanting to get up to check on Huo Shengnan's condition, he moved to the bedside, but unable to control his balance, he fell with a thud onto the floor beside the bed, bruising his nose and swelling his face, a state of utter disgrace he had never experienced before.

Huo Shengnan hurriedly helped him up from the ground; her Taiyuan point had been pierced by the blue-robed old man, damaging her Hand Taiyin Lung Meridian, her right arm still not recovered. Fortunately, Jue Ming helped, he hoisted Hu Xiaotian onto his back and said to Huo Shengnan: "Let's first go inside the temple to find help."

Huo Shengnan nodded gratefully.

The three exited the room, only to see Jue Zheng already enveloped in a green light-shadow by the blue-robed man; the old man waved his bamboo, conjuring myriad clear shadows, the bamboo sometimes scattering into more than ten splinters, sometimes spinning and coalescing into one, endlessly transforming; although Jue Zheng's internal energy was deep and his foundation solid, under the blue-robed man's strange and varied attacks he already showed signs of defeat, now merely struggling to hold on.

The sky-full of clear shadows suddenly vanished; Jue Zheng felt the pressure ease, and upon looking again, the blue-robed old man shot like an arrow straight at Hu Xiaotian; Huo Shengnan drew her bow to shoot an arrow, intending to block the old man's approach, but the old man snatched the arrow and flung it back; his bare-handed throw surpassed the release of a strong bow and powerful crossbow, Huo Shengnan could not dodge, her left leg was struck by the arrow deep into the flesh, pain making her grunt, her left leg gave way and she knelt on the ground.

Jue Ming carried Hu Xiaotian on his back while still holding his luggage, hesitating whether to set Hu Xiaotian down to block the blue-robed old man's attack; just then a hand reached out from behind, snatching a large sword from his luggage and letting out a roar; he swung the great sword at the blue-robed old man, the rising new moon reflecting off the broad blade of Hidden Edge Sword; as the sword moved, it rolled up a band of dim moonlight, an invisible sword qi broke free from Hidden Edge and flew toward the old man; the old man, who had been preparing to charge at Jue Ming, suddenly changed color at this unexpected sword; his bamboo in midair blocked back and forth, his body twisting and transforming in the air, he retreated more than ten zhang before landing, his bamboo reduced to less than a third of a foot, while the bamboo grove beside him seemed swept by a strong wind, the bamboo fell in disarray, the broken spots looking as if sliced by a sharp sword, smooth and neat.

No one expected that this sword strike was actually made by Hu Xiaotian; seeing Huo Shengnan in danger, in his panic he noticed the sword hilt peeking from Jue Ming's pack—it was his own great sword Hidden Edge Sword; he instinctively drew it with his left hand, not thinking much, he swung it regardless of the three-seven-twenty-one, never expecting it to work; his haphazard swing actually achieved the realm of emitting sword qi.

The blue-robed old man's face changed dramatically from fright at this sword strike; only after he figured out what was happening did he stare at Hu Xiaotian in utter shock.

Hu Xiaotian sighed and said: "You are truly as stupid as a pig, do you really think I'm paralyzed? Hah! Since you've come to offer your death, I will fulfill your wish."

The blue-robed old man gazed at Hu Xiaotian with a gloomy, probing look, his lips moving slightly, his face full of suspicion.

Although Hu Xiaotian had just successfully emitted sword qi, his Dantian Qi Sea having been activated, the sword qi immediately sealed up as usual afterward; he couldn't help but inwardly curse, how could it fail after just one use? Damn it, if we can't scare off this blue-robed old man, today we'll all be in trouble; even if the four of us joined forces, we might not be his match.

The blue-robed old man nodded, extending his right hand; the blue-steel sword that Huo Shengnan had just dropped to the ground was drawn by a strong suction, moving without wind with a 'whoosh!' toward him; the old man's broad palm firmly caught the sword, his face showing an unprecedented gravity, he said in a deep voice: "Hu Xiaotian! Today I will learn your Heaven-Slaying Seven Swords!"

Upon hearing this, Hu Xiaotian's heart skipped a beat; he immediately recalled the black-iron sword he had obtained in the pool and the black-iron tablet; it was precisely by practicing a sword technique from that tablet that he had defeated the Sword Palace's junior chief Qiu Mubai; however, Hu Xiaotian had never been certain whether he was practicing the Heaven-Slaying Seven Swords, but now the blue-robed old man's words seemed unlikely to be wrong.

The blue-steel sword in the blue-robed old man's hand actually emitted a faint blue-green radiance; no wonder they say that a true master can pick up any weapon and turn an ordinary implement into an invincible peerless divine weapon; previously the old man had not taken these juniors seriously, but only now did he reveal his true strength.