Chapter 53

"Isn't this what I'm teaching you, what exactly should be above the top?"

Li Miao swept Zuo Lishan with a faint look and raised his hand to beckon: "Come again, Sect Leader Zuo."

"Are you tired so soon? It's still early before school is out."

There is a kind of spider that ambushes prey, weaving a "lid" of spider silk and leaves at the entrance of its nest, and dragging the prey into the nest when it passes by.

Zuo Lishan's body had long been occupied by insects, and the holes Gao Ling saw on his face were the paths for the insects to enter and exit. And those covered skin and flesh were the insects' "lids."

At this time, his internal energy was restless and his anger was attacking his heart, and he could no longer maintain his disguise. Several pieces of flesh on his face fell off, revealing the flesh and gums underneath. Those few pieces of flesh fell to the ground with a "plop," covered in pus and blood.

Zuo Lishan suddenly looked up and laughed wildly: "Hahaha—! Good!"

"With such an opponent, after I defeat you, my sword technique can reach the peak!"

"Your martial arts realm is indeed above mine, unfortunately, you are too arrogant!"

Zuo Lishan's gaze swept over the branch in Li Miao's hand, his thoughts turned, and his pitch-black right claws instantly elongated, tightly "locking" the sword hilt in his palm.

He pointed the sword in his hand diagonally toward the sky.

Boom!!

Dust flew under his feet!

In an instant, he appeared in front of Li Miao!

The sword body slashed diagonally from the upper right to the lower left, directly "smashing" toward Li Miao's shoulder!

This move was exactly "Rugged Ridge Across the Sky" in the Taishan sword technique! With the majestic momentum of Mount Taishan, it directly shattered the opponent's weapon and smashed the skull!

Li Miao raised his hand to meet the attack, still doing the same thing, the branch carrying majestic internal energy, hitting the weakest point of Zuo Lishan's sword force.

Clang—

Zuo Lishan's sword force was loose and lifted slightly upward.

And then it whistled downward again! It was still "Rugged Ridge Across the Sky"!

Zuo Lishan's right hand had been reshaped and was no longer the same as an ordinary person's. At this time, he locked the sword hilt tightly in his palm, leaving no gaps, and would never let it go.

And he had been transformed by insects, his flesh was tough, and he was no longer like ordinary experts who needed to adjust their stance, moves, and breath after their power was loosened.

This move used momentum to suppress people, slashing diagonally downward, covering the whole body, and could not be easily dodged.

The branch in Li Miao's hand was infused with his internal energy to be able to clash with the precious sword in Zuo Lishan's hand. But this branch was not an iron weapon after all; if they clashed head-on, it would break after a few times.

Zuo Lishan wanted to rely on his own weird physique transformed by insects to forcibly slash the branch and Li Miao together!

"Rugged Ridge Across the Sky"!

"Rugged Ridge Across the Sky"!

"Rugged Ridge Across the Sky"!

As sword after sword fell, Li Miao kept resolving them, but the branch had already begun to break, and wood chips flew.

The sword body was getting closer and closer to Li Miao's shoulder!

Zuo Lishan grinned and thought to himself: "If you used a handy weapon, I haven't covered my whole body with insects yet, and there are still flaws, I'm afraid the outcome would still be between the two."

"You say I'm arrogant, but you don't know that you will also die of arrogance today!"

"Die!"

Finally, the branch broke, and the long sword fell toward Li Miao's shoulder!

Clang!!——

Pfft.

Two sounds overlapped.

The long sword in Zuo Lishan's hand instantly swung away, and he looked down at his heart.

Half a branch was inserted right there.

Li Miao retreated a few steps and shook his left hand: "Good sword, good strength, still quite hard."

In that instant, Li Miao's left hand made a fist and hit Zuo Lishan's sword edge directly, shaking Zuo Lishan's stance, and his right-hand branch pierced his heart directly.

Li Miao looked at Zuo Lishan, smiled, and raised his left hand to him: "Iron Sand Palm, combined with Shaolin's Heart-Intention Hold, haven't seen it, right?"

Zuo Lishan pulled out the branch from his chest, the blood stopped flowing for a moment, and insect limbs faintly appeared at the wound.

"What kind of martial arts are you practicing?" he asked expressionlessly.

A move covers power, internal energy, and routine; all three are indispensable.

But Li Miao's move was Iron Sand Palm, so he could use his fist edge to shake the sword edge. The power and routine were Shaolin Heart-Intention Hold, so he could break Zuo Lishan's fierce stance.

If an ordinary person used it this way, internal energy and power would fight in the body, and it would be good if they didn't go into demonic deviation. Li Miao could actually use it perfectly, and his attainments were not inferior to top experts who specialized in this path.

And those five distinct Five Mountains sword techniques... this completely violated the foundation of martial arts!

Li Miao smiled: "Didn't I say it? You are just someone who took a shortcut up the mountain. When you saw no one at the top, you felt that the top of the mountain belonged to you."

"Last time I saw you, I said that among the top experts in the world, there are a few who are not worthy of the name, just relying on the thick internal energy cultivated by age to suppress people."

"Now, you are the same."

"Come, let's continue."

As soon as the words fell, Li Miao approached in an instant, fingers, claws, fists, palms, his hands drawing afterimages in the air, attacking Zuo Lishan.

Zuo Lishan raised his sword to parry left and right, his eyes fixed on Li Miao, and they exchanged more than a dozen moves in an instant, but the more they fought, the more shocked he became.

"Taiji, Baji, Iron Eagle Spear, Blood Dissection Knife, Iron Punishment Battle Post, Four Image Palm..."

"Five Mountains, Shaolin, Wudang, Emei, Embroidered Uniform Guard, Blood Clothes Building, Cao Gang..."

"Fingers into swords, fists into spears, palms into knives..."

Every move and style of Li Miao was ever-changing and following his heart, power and internal energy were upside down, and the routines were messy and unclear.

Just in these dozen moves, Zuo Lishan actually saw the shadows of dozens of sects' martial arts. The moves changed instantly when they reached his eyes, and looking at internal energy, power, and moves was like an antelope hanging its horns, with no traces to be found.

In an instant, Li Miao's right hand became a palm and hit Zuo Lishan's face, and the move was exactly the Emei unique skill "Four Image Palm."

Zuo Lishan raised his sword to attack with a move "Crane Comes to Clear Spring," but it slashed into the empty space. Looking down again, Li Miao's right hand had already curled into a claw, digging toward his chest, exactly Wang Hai's fundamental martial art "Leaving Leaves."

Zuo Lishan raised his sword to block, but the sword body was hit by a huge force and smashed heavily on his body!

Pfft!——

Zuo Lishan retreated violently with the force, a mouthful of blood sprayed out, and he retreated a full ten feet before barely stabilizing his figure.

Looking up at Li Miao again, his right hand hadn't been retracted, and that claw had clearly been clenched into a fist.

It was the "Progressive Move Blocking Hammer" from Wudang Taiji Fist, forcibly breaking his block!

In this move, he actually changed three unique skills in a row!

Li Miao retracted his fist, didn't take advantage of the victory to pursue, but looked at the vomiting Zuo Lishan with ease on the spot: "How is it, Sect Leader Zuo, do you see clearly?"

"If you still can't see clearly, I won't be willing to teach you, this stupid apprentice."

Zuo Lishan inserted his long sword into the ground, pointed a few times on his chest with both hands, and black energy lingered on his face.

Looking up again, there was no trace of blood on his face, his pitch-black right hand elongated again, twisting into a weird angle.

He said hoarsely: "So that's how it is."

"This is... above the top..."