Chapter 38: Devastating Defeat

When this sword was stabbed out, Zuo Lishan already understood—his heart was in chaos.

"How is Taishan?" is the strongest sword of the Taishan Sword Technique, but it is not a move to gain the upper hand, but a defensive sword move.

He couldn't believe the fact that the sword was easily broken by Li Miao; he didn't want to, and he didn't dare to believe it.

Emotions overwhelmed his mind, making him stab this sword again, as if to prove something. To prove that he, Zuo Lishan, was not a frog in a well, not a self-righteous joke.

Snap—

The sword blade broke again, and this time Li Miao threw the broken sword body back with a backhand.

Whoosh—

The thin iron piece grazed past Zuo Lishan's cheek, a few strands of hair fell, and a smear of blood flowed down his face.

Stumble, stumble, stumble—

Zuo Lishan retreated rapidly, raised his hand to wipe his face, brought his hand in front of him, and looked at the scarlet blood on his palm.

After a long while, he said hoarsely: "Who exactly are you?"

Li Miao spread his hands and said: "Sect Leader Zuo, you have already asked this question three times today."

"You cannot be that Four Seasons Battalion Commander!"

Zuo Lishan stared dead at Li Miao's face: "Thirty-five years old, he is only thirty-five years old!"

"I have practiced martial arts since childhood; in terms of bone structure, aptitude, and comprehension, I dare say few in the world can compare with me! I have practiced hard every day without a single day of slack! Only then did I reach my current realm at thirty-eight!"

"How could you possibly be only thirty-five!"

"That's it, that's it, ageless appearance, seeing the god without damage!"

"I didn't expect such an old monster to be hidden in the Embroidered Uniform Guard!" Zuo Lishan realized suddenly, reaching a conclusion on his own.

The more a person achieves in their own field, the harder it is to accept things beyond their cognition.

A person's character is determined by their experience; it was Zuo Lishan's first half of his life of horizontal and vertical maneuvering that established his domineering, fierce, and conceited sword technique. He was unwilling and unable to accept that someone younger than him had achieved a realm he might not reach in this life.

Once he accepted this fact, the state of mind supporting his sword technique would also collapse. At best, he would go into demonic deviation and his internal energy realm would regress; at worst, his self-created sword technique would lose the support of artistic conception and return to its original form, turning back into the original Taishan Sword Technique.

At that time, his top-tier status would also regress to first-rate.

"I thought your sword technique's artistic conception was so rigid and fierce, and your character should be tough, but I didn't expect it to be just a castle in the air," Li Miao said.

"If you don't believe it, don't believe it. What you should be thinking about now is not who I am."

"But how you should survive today."

Having said that, Li Miao stood up and walked toward Zuo Lishan.

"Sect Leader!" Fei Junxuan shouted, pointing his fingers like a sword, and pointed toward Li Miao.

Swish!

Before he could get close, he was forced back by Mei Qinghe's sword, blood spraying wildly from his arm, which hung limply.

"Sect Leader!" Fei Junxuan gritted his teeth, covered his wound, and shouted again.

Zuo Lishan suddenly reacted—that's right, now is not the time to think about this and that.

The problem at hand is how to survive in this person's hands.

He couldn't run; if he turned around, his back would be completely exposed to this person, and he would die even faster!

Zuo Lishan was not a fledgling who had just entered the Jianghu; he had seen life and death! He knew what he should do!

Jianghu struggles, seeking life in death, moving toward death to live!

Once his mind was set, Zuo Lishan immediately excluded distracting thoughts, held the broken sword in his hand, and slashed at Li Miao!

This sword was false and real, hiding countless changes and follow-up moves.

Li Miao laughed: "That's right."

Having said that, he still grabbed at the blade, but grabbed empty air.

Zuo Lishan's broken sword changed moves, circled around Li Miao's palm, suddenly went downward, and slashed at Li Miao's lower body.

"Tsk!"

Li Miao turned sideways, caught this sword with his forearm, tearing his clothes, but leaving no trace on his skin.

Wu Gong is a killing technique; the throat, crotch, eyes, and back of the head are all vital points that are difficult to train with hard-body skills. Attacking the enemy where they must save, Zuo Lishan attacking these places was intended to break his vital points.

In a life-and-death struggle, anything goes; Li Miao didn't say much, just felt a bit dissatisfied.

With this dissatisfaction, Zuo Lishan was in trouble.

Swish!

Li Miao split his fingers into claws and grabbed at Zuo Lishan's back of the head at a speed invisible to the naked eye.

This move was exactly Wang Hai's fundamental martial art "Leaving Leaves." Used by Li Miao, if it grabbed firmly, it would result in a shattered head and lost life.

Zuo Lishan lowered his body to attack Li Miao's lower three paths, his head was lowered, and he just heard the chilling wind from the back of his head that made his hair stand on end.

The sword body was like a crispy snack in front of Li Miao, unable to block or catch. At this moment, Zuo Lishan was unable to dodge and was trapped in a desperate situation!

In an instant, Zuo Lishan's wrist turned, the broken sword turned in his hand, and the hilt was held in the web of his thumb and index finger.

He raised his hand upward and stabbed at Li Miao's palm above!

It was the hilt!

No matter how the sword body is forged, it is a thin and sharp path. And the Taishan Sword Technique follows a majestic and upright artistic conception; long swords require weight and stability.

So Fei Junxuan's sword hilt was a piece of pig iron forged as a whole!

Your hard-body skills are at their peak, and you can break the sword blade with your bare hands! Then I will use this pig iron sword hilt to block your palm!

Come and try to break it!

Mei Qinghe sighed softly, and Li Miao smiled.

Without changing his move, Li Miao was stabbed in the palm by the hilt, and his five fingers formed a claw and grabbed the hilt.

Squeak—

With a harsh sound, Li Miao's fingertips pierced deeply into the pig iron sword hilt, and then he twisted.

Crack!

The sword hilt snapped!

Zuo Lishan abandoned the sword and rolled, his right hand trembling, blood flowing continuously. When he raised it again, only three fingers remained.

He stabbed out holding the hilt; the hilt itself was only a few inches long, and Li Miao's claw had forcibly "pinched" his thumb, index finger, and the web of his thumb together with the hilt.

Clang—

Li Miao threw the deformed iron block on the ground, the flesh and blood already fused with the pig iron.

Zuo Lishan's right hand was crippled.

Zuo Lishan had no expression on his face, his trembling crippled right hand picked up the sword that had been broken by Li Miao at the beginning and handed it to his left hand.

He charged at Li Miao again!

The left-handed sword stabbed straight at Li Miao's throat!

Li Miao grabbed the blade with his right hand and crushed it directly.

Just at this moment, Zuo Lishan raised his crippled right hand, three fingers together, and stabbed straight at Li Miao's eyes.

Li Miao grabbed Zuo Lishan's right hand with his left hand and exerted force to squeeze.

He crushed Zuo Lishan's right hand from the wrist!

Zuo Lishan had no expression on his face, and his right arm, which only had a bare wrist, slashed violently at Li Miao's face!

Swish!

A smear of blood splashed toward Li Miao's face.

Li Miao raised his sleeve to block the blood splashing toward him.

After a while, Li Miao lowered his arm, and the space in front of him was empty.

Spots of blood on the ground extended toward the door.

Zuo Lishan, at the cost of his dominant hand, cut off his tail to survive and finally escaped.

(End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 39 =====