Chapter 37: One Move

Li Miao didn't care what Zuo Lishan was thinking and said on his own: "Before I came to Qi-Lu, I learned about Sect Leader Zuo's life."

"Sect Leader Zuo's father was a veteran of the Taishan Sect, laying the foundation from childhood, and never lacked the resources for practicing martial arts."

"I entered the Taishan Sect at twelve, knelt before the previous Sect Leader, and became his closing disciple."

"At fifteen, you had the level of a third-rate expert and had the name of the young sect leader within the sect."

"At twenty-five, you achieved success in martial arts and went down the mountain to walk the Jianghu. First, you went to Lingnan, and with one person and one sword, you leveled the 'Blood Clothes Tower' that was notorious at the time. Then you went to the northern desert and killed 'Great Asura' Meng Nan."

"That year, you returned to the Taishan Sect to participate in the Five Mountains Alliance meeting, defeating a group of experts from the Huashan Sect, Hengshan Sect, Songshan Sect, and Hengshan Sect with your sword, and earned the name 'Mountain-Suppressing Sword'."

"Now nearly forty, you are already a top-tier expert who is hard to find a rival for in the Jianghu."

Li Miao smiled and continued: "At the level of a top-tier expert, there are a few people who are actually unworthy of the name, relying on the deep true energy accumulated over the years to suppress others, with no particular skill in their moves."

"But Sect Leader Zuo is different; you are a top-tier expert who is solid and even has the hope of going further."

"Your life is just like what is written in storybooks. So you think you are the person chosen by heaven, so you don't put others in your eyes."

"You think that even if I set a trap for you, I won't be able to keep you."

"So you sit here composed, wanting to see what I mean."

Zuo Lishan did not deny it.

"So I said, you think too much."

Li Miao raised his palm, slowly sweeping through the air, and struck Zuo Lishan's chest from a distance.

Boom!!!

With a muffled sound, Zuo Lishan's figure retreated suddenly, dragging the chair and carving a deep groove in the ground!

Seeing that he was about to reach the wall, Zuo Lishan suddenly exerted force to stand up, bringing the long sword beside his feet to insert into the ground, stopping his figure. The chair beneath him smashed against the wall, shattering into a pile of wood blocks.

The clothing on his chest was torn, leaving a palm print.

Zuo Lishan suddenly looked up at Li Miao.

"There is no trap, no ambush, and what I said has no hidden meaning."

"It is simply that I brought you down here alone, and it is enough to kill you."

"Literally."

Li Miao then picked up the cup of wine Zuo Lishan had poured for him and drank it in one gulp.

Zuo Lishan frowned tightly.

Li Miao's palm strike just now was very slow; he saw it clearly, but he didn't dodge.

He was not yet forty, and his internal energy cultivation was not outstanding among top-tier experts, but he had a foundation. That palm strike had loose strength, and there was no surge of true energy; it was almost like an old man's health-preserving trick.

But that palm strike had simply shattered his stance!

Strength starts from the ground; the first thing a martial artist must learn is the horse stance. Stabilizing the stance, advancing and retreating, all depend on the feet.

In a duel between experts, if one's stance is shattered, it is almost a matter of life and death.

Not to mention that Li Miao's palm strike came from a distance; Zuo Lishan didn't even have a concept of how deep the true energy required to do that would be.

Fei Junxuan was dumbfounded on the side, terrified and unable to move.

Mei Qinghe had long known this would be the result and had no surprised expression.

Zuo Lishan was silent for a long time and said: "Who... exactly are you?"

"As far as I know, Battalion Commander Li of the Embroidered Uniform Guard is only thirty-five this year; it is impossible for him to have such vigorous true energy as you."

Li Miao said again: "I just said you think too much."

"You think you are the proud son of heaven, you think you are the one who sets targets for others to chase."

"You always win, winning so arrogantly, winning so lawlessly, winning so you think you can treat others as grass, thinking that rules are restrictions set for mediocre people, not rules you must follow."

"So you dared to do that thing you shouldn't have done and summoned me over."

"You haven't experienced that kind of thorough, devastating defeat, the kind of defeat that makes you kneel on the ground unable to lift your head."

"Today I am here to make up for that lesson for you."

Li Miao stood up and beckoned to Zuo Lishan: "Come."

Zuo Lishan did not speak and charged with his sword.

Hum—!!

With a sword hum, the long sword stabbed straight at Li Miao's face!

So-called sword techniques are nothing more than hooking, hanging, pointing, picking, stabbing, lifting, and chopping.

It's just that in each sect's sword techniques, the angle of the sword, the path of the strength, the movement of true energy, and the artistic conception when stabbing are all different, so a simple straight stab is completely different in each sect's sword techniques.

Zuo Lishan's straight stab was exactly the "How is Taishan?" from the Taishan Sword Technique.

Just like the "Sword Roaring in the Cold River" from the Huashan Sword Technique that Mei Qinghe used that day, both were straight stabs, but they could not be mentioned in the same breath.

This sword was heavy, majestic, and like the sky collapsing.

It "smashed" directly toward Li Miao!

Mei Qinghe closed her eyes; she already knew the result.

As a fellow swordsman, she couldn't bear to watch.

Snap~———

A crisp breaking sound.

Whoosh—Clang!

The sound of wind, and then the sound of something nailing into wood.

Mei Qinghe opened her eyes.

Only half of the long sword in Zuo Lishan's hand remained.

The broken half was stuck on the table in front of Li Miao.

It was exactly the same as the day Mei Qinghe met Li Miao.

Zuo Lishan retreated a few steps, finally unable to maintain his expression, looked at the broken sword in his hand, and then looked up at Li Miao.

"You—" he couldn't continue.

Li Miao raised his hand again and beckoned to Zuo Lishan: "Come, doesn't your subordinate still have a sword? You can still make one more move."

"After one move, I will kill you."

Zuo Lishan threw the sword on the ground, turned around, drew the long sword from Fei Junxuan's waist, and faced Li Miao again.

Sweat flowed down his face.

Li Miao was clearly just standing there casually, with no stance under his feet, no strength in his hands, his whole body relaxed, full of flaws.

But he couldn't make a move.

Just now, his sword had almost reached Li Miao's chest before Li Miao reached out and grabbed it with his bare hand.

He didn't understand Li Miao's Wu Gong, only thinking he had hard-body skills and wanted to snatch his weapon barehanded, so he changed his move to slash at Li Miao's wrist, wanting to cripple Li Miao's hand.

Who would have thought that a sword slash on Li Miao's wrist would be like a mud ox entering the sea, with all strength disappearing!

Only then did Li Miao grab the blade and break it casually.

With a crisp sound, he broke the sharp sword he had used for twenty years into two pieces and chopped it onto the table.

What kind of Wu Gong is this! What realm! What kind of person!

He couldn't even understand it!

Could it be that there are really monsters and immortals in this world!

Zuo Lishan stopped thinking, because if he kept thinking, he was afraid that his next sword wouldn't even be able to maintain the sharp artistic conception of moving forward.

He held his breath, did not hesitate, stepped forward, and it was still a move of "How is Taishan?"!

I don't believe it! I don't believe it! I don't believe it!

This sword consumed his essence and blood, exhausted his true energy, and used all his strength.

He used all of Zuo Lishan's strength, just for this peak sword!

It stabbed straight toward Li Miao!

(End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 38 =====