Chapter 551: Blood Sword Breaks Heavenly Phenomenon, Two Moves Defeat the Sword Saint

Tianyin City.

This is a city under the governance of the World Society; to ascend Tianshan and pay respects to the World Society, one must pass through this city.

Tianyin City is also different from Wushuang City; under the governance of the World Society, the people live in peace and prosperity, and there are absolutely no harsh taxes or levies. This is because the World Society's treasury is funded entirely by both the righteous and underworld paths. Even though Xiongba's methods are ruthless, they are only directed at his rivals in the Edo, and he has never brought disaster upon innocent commoners. In this regard, he is indeed far superior to Dugu Yifang.

As dusk approached, a child of about ten years old also broke into Tianyin City.

He was covered in the dust of travel and his face was stained with blood, yet his small face was chillingly cold, as if it were ice that had not melted for ten thousand years. The day was late, and unlike the residents rushing home to accompany their friends and family, he was all alone.

Clearly, he had only just experienced fatherly love not long ago, but in the blink of an eye, his home was destroyed and his family lost, leaving him solitary and helpless.

His gaze was firm; even though he was only a child of about ten, even though no one was willing to lend a hand, and even though his enemy was Xiongba, who had swept across half the martial arts world, he was determined to seek revenge by his own strength.

However, with his meager strength, even if he reached Tianyin City, how could he exact revenge?

A gust of wind blew by, brushing past his filthy hem and also brushing past a notice on the wall.

He took a slight glance and discovered it was a notice posted by the World Society; the content of the notice was roughly to recruit healthy youths over the age of ten, who, after careful cultivation, would be used for the future expansion of the society's business.

The child had a sudden inspiration, a cold sneer appeared on his icy little face, and he immediately stepped forward to tear down the notice and tuck it into his bosom.

Before long, the child arrived before the ten-thousand-step heavenly stairs that towered into the clouds; these stairs led directly to the summit of Tianshan, and every thousand steps, there was a guard post.

The child had finally climbed to the Tianxia First Pass, and before he could even rest, a burly guard clad in armor and holding a weapon stepped forward, his expression stern as he said, "Kid, what are you doing coming up to the Tianxia First Pass?"

The child did not answer, but simply took the torn notice out from his bosom.

Upon seeing it, the guard immediately understood and snorted coldly, "So you want to join our World Society; you have some ambition. Kid, state your name."

The child had originally intended to call himself Huo Jingjue for his whole life to commemorate his foster father Huo Butian, but to conceal his past identity, he pondered for a moment and decided to use his real name, so he said word by word: "Bu, Jing, Yun!"

Just at this moment, a large sedan chair carried by eight men passed by; the men carrying the chair were all strong and healthy, their breathing even, and one could tell at a glance that they had practiced external martial arts.

Being able to have experts in external arts carry the sedan, the person inside was naturally extraordinary.

And this eight-man sedan was not only huge, but the curtains were also embroidered with nine ferocious golden dragons.

And in the center of the golden dragons, there was a large character also embroidered with gold thread—"Ba" (Tyrant).

Nine dragons supporting, dominating the Central Plains.

Based on this overwhelming aura alone, it was enough to make one understand that the person inside the sedan was capable of shaking the world and looking down upon the realm.

"Bu Jingyun? You are called 'Yun' (Cloud)?"

The person inside the sedan emitted a deep and majestic voice, then ordered the sedan bearers to stop.

A moment later, a man stepped out of the sedan, his eyebrows like swords, his domineering aura natural.

A row of guards knelt down toward the man, shouting, "May the Gang Leader dominate for ten thousand generations, and his hegemony last for a thousand autumns."

After Bu Jingyun nodded slightly, Xiongba laughed heartily; the laughter was extremely resonant, like rolls of muffled thunder, echoing through the mountains.

"Bu Jingyun, what a good name, Bu Jingyun. This Gang Leader likes this name. From now on, you are a member of the World Society. If you perform well, this Gang Leader might consider taking you as my second disciple."

A golden scale is no creature of the pond; once it encounters wind and cloud, it will turn into a dragon.

Xiongba had a premonition that this child was very likely the "Cloud" who would help him soar upward.

Since the cloud had arrived, could the "Wind" be far behind?

Just as Xiongba was in high spirits, a sinister premonition suddenly arose in his heart. He looked toward the horizon, where a bright, bloody red had appeared at some point, looking like sunset clouds, but it was definitely not; sunset clouds were not this vivid.

That blood-red color was spreading rapidly, making the originally clear sky look as if a ladle of blood-red dye had been poured over it, giving people a sinister premonition.

A moment later, the blood-red had stained the sky above Tianyin City.

In the sky, there were originally flocks of birds, but after being brushed by that streak of blood color, they fell down one after another, as if struck by arrows.

The members of the World Society could not help but feel terror, feeling only that the Red Cloud was pressing down upon them, almost causing them to collapse to their knees.

The sinister premonition in Xiongba's heart grew stronger, yet he still stood proudly like a mountain.

Apart from Xiongba, Bu Jingyun was also gritting his teeth; even though his bones were creaking under the invisible pressure, he still did not yield in the slightest, making Xiongba, who was standing to the side, even more certain that this was the "Cloud" who would help him unify the Central Plains.

That streak of blood cloud finally drew closer and closer, rushing straight toward the World Society.

And it was only at this moment that Xiongba was shocked to discover that what had caused such a change in the Heavenly Phenomenon was actually a small blood-colored sword.

"The target is me!?"

Looking at the approaching blood-colored sword, Xiongba suppressed the fear in his heart, tore off the cloak behind him, and driven by his palm force, the cloak swirled violently, condensing into a giant palm that carried the force of a falling meteor to meet the blood-colored sword; this was exactly the "Disastrous Cloud Descends" from the Paiyun Palm.

However, the giant cloak-palm had only just made contact with the blood-colored sword when it was torn to shreds by the sharp force, and scraps of cloth flew everywhere.

Fortunately, by this time, Xiongba had already unleashed a punch, a palm, and a leg.

The punch was "Proud Snow Lingering Frost" from the Tianshuang Fist; the punch force was chilling and freezing, the gale cold and biting, blowing Bu Jingyun and the crowd of underlings until they swayed and were almost frozen stiff.

The palm was "Tearing Heaven and Pushing Clouds" from the Paiyun Palm; the palm force was powerful, with the strength to pull up a mountain, and the air currents were almost torn in two.

The leg was "Thunderous and Swift" from the Fengshen Leg; the force was like thunder, the leg as fast as wind, carrying the sky full of broken force and turning it into a single kick.

These three moves were already extremely formidable, and when they were unleashed at the same time, the forces did not repel each other but instead merged into one, vast and mighty, like a tornado meeting the blood-colored sword, with an extremely astonishing momentum.

"This is... the Three Ultimates as one?" Even Xiongba was surprised by his own strike.

In the past, Xiongba studied under the Three Ultimates Elder and learned the three divine arts: Tianshuang Fist, Paiyun Palm, and Fengshen Leg.

Later, the Three Ultimates Elder made Xiongba and his senior brother Xiong Wu duel to choose one of them to pass down the ultimate technique, "Three Qi Returning to Origin."

To obtain the manual, Xiongba provoked Xiong Wu with words during the competition and won. But the Three Ultimates Elder saw through Xiongba's ambition and therefore passed the manual to Xiong Wu. That night, Xiongba poisoned his master at a banquet, and the Three Ultimates Elder died on the spot, while his senior brother Xiong Wu escaped the disaster and fled with the "Three Qi Returning to Origin" manual.

Over the years, although Xiongba had constantly sent people to track down Xiong Wu's whereabouts, he had never succeeded.

However, as his cultivation progressed, Xiongba had already gained some clues about the Three Qi Returning to Origin, but to truly cultivate it, he feared it would take at least ten years of effort.

Yet he did not expect that in a moment of extreme crisis, he would actually unleash the ultimate technique of the Three Qi Returning to Origin.

However, this blood-colored sword descending from the sky was simply too strong. It actually sliced the torrent of the Three Qi Returning to Origin in two, turning into a streak of sinister red light that pierced straight at Xiongba.

Xiongba unleashed another move, "Chongyun Shensuo" from the Paiyun Palm, but his palm was pierced through in an instant.

Chi!

Xiongba's chest was directly pierced by this sword, and his entire body was carried flying for more than ten zhang, slamming heavily into the mountain wall.

As rubble fell like rain, Xiongba knelt on one knee, his face pale, his breath extremely weak.

If not for him accidentally stepping on a pebble at the very last moment, causing his body to shift slightly, that sword strike would likely have sent his soul to the Western Heaven.

Moreover, for some reason, as this sword was swung down, Xiongba vaguely felt as if something within him had been severed along with it.

"Gang Leader, Gang Leader."

"Gang Leader, are you alright?"

A group of lackeys hurried up to support Xiongba.

Bu Jingyun looked at the heavily wounded Xiongba, his heart filled with killing intent.

This was perhaps the weakest moment for Xiongba, a once-in-a-millennium opportunity, but he quickly suppressed his killing intent.

Even if Xiongba were weak, he was not someone he could deal with at present, not to mention the many lackeys nearby.

Bu Jingyun looked toward the direction from which the Flying Sword had come, a flicker of light in his eyes.

What kind of God or Saint could heavily wound Xiongba from such a distance?

Could that nameless uncle in black be capable of this?

……

Wushuang City.

Yu Liancheng had once again stepped into this majestic city.

He had originally notified Jia Dugu that he would be entering the city today, but the latter had not sent anyone to welcome him.

Just as Yu Liancheng passed through a small alley, figures suddenly darted out from both sides, totaling twenty-one people.

The sound of clanging was incessant; twenty-one blades were drawn simultaneously, their blade momentum forming a net of heaven and earth, enveloping Yu Liancheng like spilled mercury.

If a descendant of Bai Xiaokuang Sheng were here, they might have recognized that this group was the second-ranked assassin organization after the "Tianchi Killer"—Iron Wolf, who had been hunted down and gone into hiding years ago; it was unknown why they had appeared here.

Yu Liancheng's figure remained still, and his expression did not change in the slightest.

But in the next moment, these twenty-one assassins fell to the ground simultaneously, and on each person's forehead was a finger-sized hole, blood gushing out, dying with their eyes wide open.

"Worthy of being the 'Terror of Terror', what a formidable invisible Sword Qi." At the end of the alley, someone clapped and walked out with a smile; was it not Jia Dugu?

Yu Liancheng shook his head and sighed.

"What are you sighing about?" said Jia Dugu.

"I am sighing at you; you truly are a dog that cannot be tamed."

"You are courting death!" Jia Dugu's expression turned fierce, and as he raised his arm, brave-looking disciples of Wushuang City immediately surged out from both sides of the alley, while dozens of archers appeared on the walls, aiming their bows and arrows at Yu Liancheng.

"Enough, do not bring these small lackeys out to die." Yu Liancheng waved his hand impatiently, his gaze looking straight toward the end of the alley, and said leisurely: "Dugu Jian, since you have come, why hide? Does it not damage the reputation of the 'Sword Saint'?"

"Hmph! Such trivial reputation has long been cast to the back of my mind by this old man."

Suddenly, a cold snort rang out.

This sound exploded out of thin air, filled with a lingering, sharp chill that made one's heart tremble. It did not sound like something a human possessed, but rather like a drawn longsword, ready to slice through all living things at any moment.

Beside Jia Dugu, someone had appeared out of nowhere.

The person held a longsword, was tall in stature, and had long, silver-white hair dancing in the wind. Anyone who saw him would feel a chill rise from the bottom of their heart.

In heaven and on earth, besides the Sword Saint Dugu Jian, how many others possessed such sharp and abundant Sword Intent?

The moment he appeared, the entire alley was instantly filled with invisible and intangible Sword Qi; even the lackeys brought by Dugu Yifang felt as if blades were held to their necks, as if the slightest movement would result in being sliced into fragments by the countless Sword Qi.

Dugu Jian's eyes were like lightning and swords, and he said coldly: "Draw your sword."

As the words were spoken, all the Sword Qi in the sky surged toward Yu Liancheng. But as soon as the Sword Qi approached within three feet, it was immediately blocked by an invisible wall of Qi.

Yu Liancheng's expression remained unchanged, and a faint smile even appeared on his face as he smiled: "Have you mastered Sword Twenty-Three?"

Dugu Jian frowned slightly and remained silent.

"It seems you have not mastered it."

Yu Liancheng shook his head: "Since that is the case, I advise you not to fight me. Because although the Holy Spirit Sword Art is profound, to me, everything except Sword Twenty-Three is not worth mentioning."

"Arrogant!

"

The Sword Saint raised his eyebrows slightly and shouted sharply.

Instantly, his entire body's Sword Qi erupted, surging toward Yu Liancheng like a tidal wave, capable of cutting through metal and jade.

But Yu Liancheng stood like a mountain peak supporting the heavens, completely unaffected. Only the ground three feet around his feet was already covered in dense sword marks.

"Two moves." Yu Liancheng held up two fingers and said calmly: "I will defeat you in two moves."

"You! Say! What!?" Dugu Jian was by no means a person with a good temper; he was proud and arrogant, and upon hearing this, he felt a great humiliation. His Sword Intent erupted, the ground beneath his feet shattered inch by inch, and the Jia Dugu beside him felt as if he were being sliced by a thousand knives, hurriedly retreating three feet.

"Defeat you in two moves; if I cannot defeat you, I shall draw my sword and commit suicide." Yu Liancheng stood with his hands behind his back, his tone calm, yet filled with confidence in himself and mockery and disdain for the Sword Saint.

"Then go to your death."

As the words fell, a clanging sound was heard, and the Wushuang Sword was drawn.

A flash of lightning, the sword light like a rainbow startling the heavens, or like a raging, stormy wave.

A simple horizontal strike, yet it fused thousands of sword techniques into one. The mystery within it had already transcended the realm of language; it was precisely Sword One of the Holy Spirit Sword Art.

In an instant, the sword light had reached Yu Liancheng's throat.

Yu Liancheng only felt a peerlessly sharp Sword Qi attacking him.

Wherever the sword light reached, his entire body was enveloped by Sword Qi, and a bone-chilling cold rushed toward his face.

But he did not show the slightest sign of being moved.

"Well come."

……

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