Chapter 29: Chapter Twenty-Eight: Tragic and Fierce

When Hong Laolao's appearance changed, the red silk flying from her sleeve wrapped around the shattered bone.

Nine Palm Command subconsciously looked along the red silk; this red silk was also a treasure that, with his strength and the quality of the straight blade in his hand, could not even be nicked.

The shattered bone slowly spinning in the air touched the red silk, and with a "chi-la" sound, this extremely sturdy red silk was torn open a thumb-sized hole by the bone. The shattered bone drifted slowly toward the main hall's front gate, about to fly out.

Nine Palm Command let out a long whistle, leapt into the air, and swung his straight blade to block the shattered bone.

When the red silk tore, Hong Laolao's expression shifted slightly; seeing Nine Palm Command move to intercept the shattered bone, she coquettishly laughed, her wide red robe billowing like a red cloud carrying her as she chased after Nine Palm Command.

The blood mist exploded by the three attendants turned into surging, boiling power inside Hong Laolao's body, with faint blood light spurting from every pore. Hong Laolao, as if wrapped in a blood-colored crystal, laughed softly and thrust both palms forward from tens of meters away.

With a strange whistle, two blood-colored palm prints about the size of a meter shot out like lightning, one after the other, slamming toward Nine Palm Command's back.

When Nine Palm Command's straight blade touched the shattered bone, a crisp sound rang out; the shattered bone was unharmed, and the tip of his blade, about three inches long, exploded into countless sparks.

Nine Palm Command roared in anguish, and in angry shame he backhandedly slashed his blade.

The straight blade was damaged; the blade light spraying from its edge became flickering and unstable, its length shrinking to about three to five meters. The much-thinned blade aura collided with the two palm prints, the blade aura burst apart with a boom, and the blood-colored palm prints heavily struck Nine Palm Command's chest.

Nine Palm Command grunted, being blown over a hundred meters by the blood-colored palm prints, and crashed headfirst into a dozens-of-meters-tall crystal cluster shooting straight up.

The crystal cluster was extremely hard; Nine Palm Command bounced back from it, blood spraying all over, and fell in a dense thicket of crystal clusters on the ground.

Hong Laolao laughed triumphantly, the red silk in her sleeve continuously spraying out, turning into a sky-filling rainbow shadow that wrapped around the shattered bone. She smugly said to the blood-spitting Nine Palm Command: "You country bumpkins, how could you know the mighty fame of our Changsheng Sect outside the Cangyan Realm?"

Before her words finished, Stone Spirit Qing standing on the prow and the gathered young men and women all exclaimed in surprise.

Behind Hong Laolao, another Nine Palm Command's apparition appeared out of thin air, a straight blade silently stabbing forward, vicious and ruthless, like a striking snake easily piercing into Hong Laolao's waist.

With a miserable howl, the red silk flying from Hong Laolao's sleeve, whistling shrilly, swirled and danced, enveloping her body at the center, while several strands of red silk shot rapidly toward the Nine Palm Command behind her.

The Nine Palm Command blown away by Hong Laolao in the distance exploded into a puff of smoke and dissipated; the Nine Palm Command behind Hong Laolao swung his straight blade, forcibly clashing with her.

Blade light and rainbow shadow collided chaotically, countless sparks flying everywhere.

Nine Palm Command and Hong Laolao trailed dozens of afterimages as they wildly danced in the air; in the blink of an eye they exchanged blows countless times, finally grunting repeatedly, the two figures split left and right and landed together on the blue-brick passageway before the main hall's gate.

Blade aura and rainbow shadow surged, heavily striking the shattered bone slowly flying outward.

The shattered bone, meeting resistance, slowly retreated several meters into the main hall; the blade aura and rainbow shadow vanished, revealing the figures of Nine Palm Command and Hong Laolao.

Hong Laolao's red robe was ripped to shreds, revealing her tight-fitting red inner garment. Having absorbed the blood mist exploded by the three attendant youths, her rejuvenated body was tall and shapely, her curves a sight to behold.

Yet across this beautiful body, knife wounds crisscrossed deeply to the bone.

The wound's white skin and red flesh flipped out like a child's mouth, beads of blood clinging to it as if an invisible force held them, the blood continually flowing back into the wound, not a drop leaking outward.

Nine Palm Command's headgear shattered, revealing a broad-mouthed, flowing-bearded square face; his dignified, extraordinarily mighty appearance made him a heroic man of soaring valor—who could imagine he was one of the commanders of the Mist Blade Assassin Organization?

It must have been a lash of red silk across his cheek; half of Nine Palm Command's facial skin was blown away, his cheek studded with dozens of silver needles as fine as cowhair. Faint blue light glimmered on the needles, obviously coated with deadly poison, and this half of his facial skin was rapidly turning blue.

With a "chi" sound, Nine Palm Command unhesitatingly backhandedly slashed his own face, cutting away a large flap of skin and flesh from his cheek.

Skin split, flesh gaped, revealing a broad expanse of grim white facial bone; Nine Palm Command's appearance was ghastly like a ghost, frightening some of the Changsheng Sect youths on the wooden ship into sucking in cold breaths.

Only Stone Spirit Qing lightly clapped and laughed: "Nine Palm Command is decisive in slaughter, truly a heroic figure… why not, please have Nine Palm Command sit down and have a proper chat with my grandmother; why must we fight to the death and ruin the mood?"

Stone Spirit Qing twisted her slender waist and lightly laughed: "Please let Nine Palm Command know, our Changsheng Sect has nothing else—only beauties, wealth, and power… if you want beauties, the sisters on our wooden ship, even Hong Laolao herself, are at your disposal."

"If you want wealth, our Changsheng Sect has countless hidden disciples, among them not lacking city-state masters of great riches; with your status and ability, Nine Palm Command, how much wealth could you not obtain?"

"If you want power, heh, as long as Nine Palm Command becomes one of us, with your standing in the Mist Blade, if you can help our Changsheng Sect control the Cangyan Realm, you will be the Changsheng Sect's Cangyan Hall Master, and could rise even higher—future power shaking the heavens is unknown, eh?"

Nine Palm Command gave a hollow chuckle, pulled out a few pills, and swallowed them quickly.

Hong Laolao drew deep breaths; with each inhale, the dozens of bone-deep wounds on her body twitched, obviously healing rapidly. Having swallowed the blood mist exploded by three youths, her inner vitality was overflowing, and her wound-healing power was immensely strong.

While sucking in cold breaths, Hong Laolao laughed: "Indeed, it's still Spirit Qing lass who's sharp and capable—no wonder she's honed by handling sect affairs outside… compared to these wastes kept in the sect, she's a hundred times stronger… heh, I even want to take you as my adopted daughter."

Stone Spirit Qing gave a light smile and coquettishly replied.

Hong Laolao twisted her waist and threw a seductive glance at Nine Palm Command: "Nine Palm Command, did you understand what my precious daughter Spirit Qing said? Heh, as long as you submit to my Changsheng Sect, I have many adopted daughters for you to enjoy."

With a strange laugh, Hong Laolao pointed backhanded at the wooden ship: "Even if these are my adopted sons, if Nine Palm Command is pleased, he may freely take pity on them."

Wu Tie, having had half his blood sucked away, staggered to his feet; hearing Hong Laolao and Stone Spirit Qing's words, he felt as if he'd been force‑fed a big chunk of cold, fatty pork left overnight, his whole body nauseated to the point of vomiting.

"Shameless." Wu Tie planted his long spear, barely managing to steady himself, and shouted his rebuke.

Hong Laolao laughed, watching Nine Palm Command ignore Wu Tie; in her heart, such a petty figure as Wu Tie was hardly worth her concern.

Stone Spirit Qing, smiling, pointed at Wu Tie and softly said to the two handsome, graceful youths beside her: "Please, elder brothers, make a move… this kid is rather odd; if we can capture him alive, that's best, but killing him is also excellent."

Wu Tie gripped his long spear, stepped back half a step with his right foot, and pointed the spear at the wooden ship.

When Old Iron threw Wu Tie toward the shattered bone, the tight-fitting armor on Wu Tie's body slipped off on its own. Wu Tie, having prepared for battle, saw his tight‑fitting armor turn into a white metallic stream that swiftly flowed along the ground, winding up his legs, and in an instant reformed into the armor that re‑encased him.

The pallid armor reflected no light, looking chilling enough to make one's heart pound.

Two Changsheng Sect youths smiled faintly, their eyes gleaming, greedily glancing at Stone Spirit Qing's face and body, then lightly leapt up with graceful ease, landing lightly before the main hall's gate, drew their waist‑worn blades, and stepped toward Wu Tie.

"Kid, if you lay down your weapon and surrender, perhaps you might still live." One youth loudly said: "Our Changsheng Sect offers many benefits; maybe you've tasted our sect's delights and wouldn't want to leave."

"If you dare resist, don't blame us for giving you a hard time." The other youth chuckled at Wu Tie, his vigorous blood surging within, his face flushing red.

Wu Tie drew a deep breath, stomped his foot hard, and thrust his long spear forward.

The two youths were obviously startled, they hastily stepped back a step and swung their long blades to block Wu Tie's feinting spear thrust.

They didn't notice; Wu Tie's spear was just a wild gesture, and behind them two broken bricks shot up, carrying a vicious wind to smash the backs of their heads.

The square bricks used in this architectural ruin were all specially made, three feet on a side and half a foot thick.

Such large broken bricks came howling; the two youths' bodies jerked, they rolled their eyes upward and collapsed forward, their bodies twitching slightly as they fainted to the ground.

The broken bricks smashed the ground, heavily crushing the youths' sword‑holding hands, pulverizing their palms so they could no longer grip their long blades.

As the broken bricks flew up, Red Granny and Nine Palm Command, who had been staring each other down, both struck out, their bodies turning into afterimages that shot straight up to a kilometer above the ground in an instant. Blade aura and rainbow shadow flashed chaotically, thunder‑like booms continually echoed in the air, and great masses of energy slammed about everywhere.

Suddenly a great roar rang out; in the high air Nine Palm Command's figure steadied, a large mass of flesh behind his shoulders twitched, and from his back four new arms sprouted, unknown where he pulled five more straight blades from, six arms waving six straight blades that coalesced into a ball of light, wildly chopping and striking at Hong Laolao.

Hong Laolao likewise gave a strange laugh; her close‑fitting red inner garment instantly turned to ash, her every pore spewing threads of blood‑colored flame, her two long legs below the waist becoming a blazing fire‑cloud that bore her upper body as it darted rapidly back and forth in the air.

Dozens of flame‑forged whips lashed wildly through the air, tangling with Nine Palm Command's blade light into a single mass.

Wu Tie knocked out the two Changsheng Sect youths, Stone Spirit Qing cursed "trash", was about to call for others when the six subordinates Nine Palm Command brought had already escorted Wu Lao Da, Luo Lin, and Ding, clutching the badly wounded Qiao, over.

Nine Palm Command and Hong Laolao fought desperately; the six Mist Blade masters, without a word, drew their straight blades and charged straight at the Changsheng Sect's wooden ship.

Their figures flickered, leaving afterimages as they rushed onto the wooden boat, like a tiger among sheep, drawing their swords and slashing wildly.

On the wooden boat, the Changsheng Sect's group of handsome, elegant young men and women, or beautiful, graceful youths, were as delicate as flowers in a greenhouse. They seemed to have never experienced any combat; at a mere clash, the group of young men and women cried out and fell to the ground.

The Mist Blade's followers were ruthless; a group of young men and women suffered wounds to vital spots like necks and chests, and in an instant were all slain, with not a single survivor.

Only Shi Lingqing knelt down on the ground decisively, assuming a posture of full prostration awaiting disposal; the six Mist Blade followers did not kill her immediately, and after all the Changsheng Sect members on the wooden boat were killed, one Mist Blade follower seized her long hair and roughly lifted her up.

"Commander!" the Mist Blade follower holding Shi Lingqing shouted loudly.

In the high sky, spinning like a windmill, a blade aura several dozen meters long roared as it swept across a hundred meters; the Nine Commanders laughed loudly, and he loudly mocked: "Red Granny? Is that all the Changsheng Sect can do? These weaklings are all you have?"

With two "hiss" sounds, the blade aura swept over Hong Laolao's body.

Hong Laolao's body was no longer like flesh and blood; her flesh was filled with intense flames. The blade light swept over, her body was split open, and large amounts of high-temperature liquid similar to magma gushed out, turning into rolling flames that poured down from the sky.

Hong Laolao likewise gave a strange laugh: "You don't understand the Changsheng Sect... these adopted sons and daughters were never meant for combat."

A flame descended from the sky; Hong Laolao transformed into fire and swooped down, crashing heavily onto the wooden boat.

The bodies of the slain young men and women exploded with a boom, blood mist boiled and gathered toward Hong Laolao's body. Hong Laolao was like a great vortex, instantly devouring the blood mist from the dozens of young men and women who had been blown apart.

Heat surged, a terrifying aura shot up to the sky; Hong Laolao's body swelled to thirty-odd meters tall, radiating firelight everywhere, flames soared and swept across a radius of several hundred meters.

The two young men knocked unconscious by Wu Tie with a broken brick had their bodies swept by the flames, exploding on their own into two strands of blood mist that merged into Hong Laolao's body.

The gigantic Hong Laolao laughed loudly: "These adopted sons and daughters are consumables for combat... heh, in daily life they can also be used to bribe valuable targets... our Changsheng Sect has never relied on them for fighting!".

Amid the laughter, Hong Laolao waved both hands, and a terrifying heat wave surged outward; the six Mist Blade followers screamed shrilly, as if they were fish thrown into magma, their armor quickly burning and melting, their garments turned to black smoke, and their flesh and blood instantly vaporized by the intense heat.

A fireball nearly a hundred meters in diameter shot up into the sky.

In the high sky, the Nine Commanders gave a long, shrill whistle; his body suddenly transformed, his lower half turning into the semblance of a giant insect, his six arms rapidly merged into two long arms that gripped a long blade and slashed downward.

Blade light and fire light collided; in the high sky the blaze was intense, plus the light reflected from countless crystal clusters, and for a moment everyone closed their eyes, unable to see anything around them.

With a "thud-thud" sound, the impact was heard.

Wu Tie opened his eyes and saw the Nine Commanders and Hong Laolao collapsed on the ground, both bodies mutilated, their wounds severe as if they might die at any moment.