Chapter 54: Night Raid

Taishan Sect, back mountain, midnight.

Zuo Lishan walked along the path, the glove he wore on his right hand during the day had been removed, revealing pitch-black claws, tightly gripping the hilt of his sword. His thumb rubbed against the hilt constantly.

Wisps of living things wandered under his clothes, leaving traces on his garments.

He licked his dry lips, feeling his true energy surging and his blood boiling, and couldn't help but reveal a ferocious smile.

Since he made a name for himself as the "Zhenyue Sword" at the Five Mountains Alliance meeting at the age of twenty-five, he hadn't experienced this feeling for more than ten years.

Excited, jumping for joy, unable to restrain himself.

Li Miao was right, Zuo Lishan himself knew very well that the foundation of his sword technique was indeed "conceit."

The conceit gained from defeating all his peers, killing Western Region demons, and challenging assassin organizations alone, and defeating Five Mountains experts with his sword!

But his sword technique hadn't made any progress for several years.

No matter how hard he practiced, getting up before dawn, regardless of the cold winter or hot summer, he had never been lazy for a single day. But he just—couldn't make any progress.

He knew the reason—he needed an opponent, an opponent who was enough to be conceited after defeating him.

After reaching the peak, there were only a few people in the world who could fight him, all of whom were the heads of major forces or honored guests. Rashly going to the door to invite a battle, regardless of victory or defeat, would affect his plan to integrate the Five Mountains.

His sword technique was a sword technique won by winning. But there was no one left to let him win.

And tonight, he would defeat his last opponent.

"Li Miao..."

Zuo Lishan chewed this name in his mouth, savoring it carefully.

He even suddenly felt a mood: should he let Li Miao go?

He had already crossed the peak and climbed to the uninhabited summit. Killing this only audience, how boring would this Jianghu be for him in the future?

Killing an Imperial Guard Battalion Commander, the Taishan Sect was afraid it would be difficult to preserve. But with his martial arts, the world was big enough to go anywhere in the future, why bother with a small Taishan Sect?

But Zuo Lishan immediately shook his head, denying his own thoughts.

The Taishan Sect was not important, and the Five Mountains Sword Sects were not important. What was important was that he had to hand over the Five Mountains Sword Sects to the Ming Sect in exchange for more witchcraft.

The witchcraft given to him by the Ming Sect was not enough to transform his whole body, which left him with a flaw. If he let Li Miao escape, he was afraid that before the Five Mountains Alliance meeting, the Imperial Guard would press the border with a large army, and then he would have no bargaining chips to trade with the Ming Sect.

He had to kill Li Miao.

Zuo Lishan actually felt a bit sad.

A moment later, he arrived in front of that private residence.

"Creak—"

Zuo Lishan pushed the door open and saw Li Miao standing in the courtyard with his hands behind his back, looking at a tree in the courtyard with ease. Through the branches, the moonlight spilled on the ground, and the light and shadow moved.

"My lord Li."

Zuo Lishan was not in a hurry to draw his sword; he walked up and greeted Li Miao, as if he were a friend keeping an appointment.

"Sect Leader Zuo, you're here."

Li Miao didn't look back and replied casually.

"What is my lord Li looking at?"

"Oh," Li Miao said: "Looking at which branch is more suitable to whip you with."

"You!"

This sentence completely shattered the mood and atmosphere that Zuo Lishan had brewed—"experts meeting for a battle, cherishing each other, and after tonight, there will be no more opponents."

"After I defeat you, I will definitely dig out this tongue of yours." Zuo Lishan drew his sword in anger.

Li Miao reached out and broke a branch from the tree, a foot long, held it in his hand, smoothed the branches and leaves, tapped it in his palm, and nodded.

Only then did he smile and say to Zuo Lishan: "That's right, Sect Leader Zuo."

"You are here to seek revenge and silence me; don't put on a posture of cherishing each other, making it seem like I invited you to enjoy the moon."

"Those who don't know might think you have a taste for men."

Zuo Lishan sneered: "Don't you think I'm still the original me?"

"I have already crossed the peak, and my name should be in the legends of the future Jianghu, mentioned alongside Master Sanfeng and Master Bodhidharma."

"I don't know how you reached this realm, but after tonight—I will be the only one invincible in the world."

"Pfft—" Li Miao seemed unable to hold back his laughter and leaked a sound.

"Took the Ming Sect's technique and witchcraft, took the small road up the mountain, and you really think you've made it?"

"Sect Leader Zuo, if the peak were so easy to cross, there wouldn't have been only Ji Tianrui in these decades. If the technique he created were so easy to use, the Ming Sect would have been full of peak experts and masters long ago, and they wouldn't need to win you over?"

"Master Sanfeng and Master Bodhidharma are not as cheap as you."

"Fine, today I will give you another lesson; the tuition will be paid with the Five Mountains Sword Sects you are thinking about."

"Come."

Li Miao raised his palm and hooked it at Zuo Lishan.

Zuo Lishan looked at Li Miao through gritted teeth and said with a ferocious smile: "Good!"

"Today we will decide life and death, and see who is the big joke who talks big!"

In an instant, he lunged with his sword!

It was still the move "How is Mount Dai!"

This sword thrust out, true energy burst forth, bringing a shrill whistle, and the sword wind blew the branches and leaves in the courtyard, dropping leaves one by one.

As! If! The! Sky! Was! Falling!

In the blink of an eye, it reached Li Miao's chest!

Li Miao's arm drew an afterimage in the air, and the branch whipped at the weak point of Zuo Lishan's sword force, actually scattering the force of this sword and swinging it away in mid-air!

"Swallow Returns to the Sun!" Zuo Lishan frowned: "Huashan sword technique... are you an Imperial Guard, or a peerless senior of the Huashan Sect?"

Li Miao smiled: "This is just the beginning; why don't you try again and see?"

Zuo Lishan immediately shut his mouth; his temperament was crazy after practicing evil arts, but his mouth skills were still the foundation of the Taishan Sect Leader.

When it came to angering people, he was no match for Li Miao; he had already experienced this at noon.

He immediately stepped forward, and it was a series of "Five Great Doctor Swords"; this set of sword techniques was simple and ancient, with hidden wonders, five swords in a row, just right for probing.

But he saw Li Miao's figure flying, his force moving with his heart, the branch drawing afterimages in the air, constantly hitting the weakest point of Zuo Lishan's sword force, actually breaking five swords in a row, and scattering his stance.

*Deng deng deng deng—*

Zuo Lishan took a few steps back, looked up, and shouted at Li Miao in astonishment: "Who exactly are you?"

"'Heavy Sword Funiu', 'Hundred Changes Thousand Illusions Hengshan Mist Thirteen Styles', 'Heaven and Earth Crane Soaring', 'Swallow Returns to the Sun', and my Taishan Sect's 'Stone Pass Returning Horse'!"

"You actually used one move from each of the Five Mountains to break my five swords!?"

"What kind of evil art are you practicing!?"

Forcing Zuo Lishan, who raised bugs on his body, to shout "evil art," Li Miao was the only one.

When peak experts fight, if they forcibly use martial arts that do not fit their temperament, they will leave flaws that the other party cannot ignore.

But the Five Mountains Sword Sects are located all over the country, and each sect's mental method and artistic conception are different. How could Li Miao use the Five Mountains sword techniques so skillfully!? Actually able to break his self-created sword technique!?

What shape is his temperament, that any sword technique can fit into it!?

(End of Chapter) ===== CHAPTER 55 =====