Chapter 129: The Big Haul!

Hoo!

A low, forceful shout rang out. Zhang Zhang Yuanfang threw himself into a donkey-roll and darted far away. Li Yuan heard several whooshing sounds slicing through the air.

Several shadows lunged toward him at extreme speed to kill.

The real haul has dropped!

Li Yuan raised his long hammer sideways, blocking the long saber of the man charging at him head-on. The instant they touched, they parted, and he swept the hammer backward in one motion.

Bang bang~

Two muffled thuds exploded almost simultaneously.

Zhang Zhang Yuanfang had only done a single donkey-roll. When he turned to look—

Of the four men who had pounced out from the temple, three were already beaten clean off the ground, spraying fresh blood as they flew several zhang away.

The saber-wielder facing him had slammed heavily into the bluestone temple wall, embedded in the cracks like a pasted-on picture.

The remaining man had raised a steel staff horizontally, meeting the descending heavy hammer with the momentum of dragging a cauldron.

"Ah!"

A scream drowned out the clash of weapons; fresh blood sprayed.

"How could this be?!"

Zhang Zhang Yuanfang was dumbfounded. Three Body Tempering and one Internal Strength—four of them joining forces couldn't even last a single exchange?!

Wasn't he just at the initial stage of Body Tempering?

"Too weak…"

Slowly raising his hammer, he looked at the middle-aged man half-sunk into the ground, coughing up great mouthfuls of blood, his eyes full of disbelief.

Li Yuan broke his arm, dislocated his jaw, and left him alive.

"An ordinary Body Tempering martial artist, even an Internal Strength one, is like paper paste under my hammer."

Li Yuan savored the feeling for a moment, then lifted his foot and caught up with the disheveled Zhang Zhang Yuanfang, who was fleeing in panic.

"Spare me…"

Puh!

The hammer rose, the man flew, soaring up like a scarecrow. When he fell again, he was already lifeless.

"Too weak."

His internal energy rippled lightly; the scattered fresh blood hadn't even reached him before being shaken into a mist of blood. Li Yuan looked toward the Blood Vajra Temple.

After reaching Great Completion of Body Tempering, his physical strength had grown further, already no inferior to the elite disciples within the sect who had reached Great Completion of Internal Strength.

That old man he'd sent flying into the wall with one hammer strike—his Wu Gong was no weaker than Cao Yan's—yet Li Yuan had killed him with a casual swing of his hammer.

"Body Tempering slaying Internal Strength—as expected of the Dragon-Shaped Root Bone, a true disciple of the Divine Weapon Valley!"

The temple gate was slowly pushed open, and a youth in a black greatcoat stepped out unhurriedly.

He walked slowly with his hand on his saber, looking no more than twenty-something, yet his speech was precociously aged:

"What a pity, you've met this old man…"

Li Yuan narrowed his eyes slightly. From this youth's body, he saw the shadow of that old fellow from the Zhao family's Bai Shen Fa manual:

"You're Zhao Zhao Yunsheng?"

Crash~

Behind the pushed-open temple gate, over a dozen people swarmed out, fanning apart in a crescent, all gripping saber or sword, wary and cold.

"Correct, this old man indeed!"

Zhao Zhao Yunsheng walked forward with his hand on his saber:

"This old man had originally planned to lie low for a while, but who would have thought there would still be a chance to personally slay a true disciple of the Divine Weapon Valley!"

Bone-deep hatred surged onto his face:

"Not just you—Ba Ba Wanli, Qiu Qiu Changying, every disciple of the Divine Weapon Valley—every single one must die!"

Li Yuan slowly retreated: "You—you really are Zhao Zhao Yunsheng?"

His face was full of shock, and in his heart he was genuinely curious.

He naturally didn't believe such nonsense as coming back from the dead, but he was still somewhat shocked by the sinister nature of that Bai Shen Fa.

Does this man really think he's Zhao Zhao Yunsheng?

"Slaying the Divine Weapon Valley begins with you!"

Before his words had faded, the gust of energy had already risen. Zhao Zhao Yunsheng strode forth and drew his saber; in a single blur, the blade edge had arrived.

His face was full of savage bloodlust, the thrill of revenge.

A Dragon-Shaped true transmission—the Divine Weapon Valley hadn't had one in seventy years. Killing one of them was worth more than a hundred inner disciples.

Bang!

It was as if thunder had exploded right before him.

Li Yuan stepped back. He saw Zhao Zhao Yunsheng, who had been hacking down with his saber, now flying backward at an even greater speed, slamming heavily into the ground.

"Qiu Qiu Changying!"

Zhao Zhao Yunsheng coughed up great mouthfuls of blood, his eyes

wide and round with fury, but his whole body was as if nailed to the ground. He struggled several times yet couldn't get up.

"Soul-Tracking Arrow…"

On the river several hundred meters away, a small boat drifted downstream. Seeing Qiu Qiu Changying standing on the sampan with bow in hand, Li Yuan's eyes burned with eagerness.

The Soul-Tracking Arrow was a superior archery art secretly passed down within the Qiu family. Among the three thousand Divine Guard Army, only Qiu Qiu Changying alone had received its transmission.

"Not good!"

"Soul-Tracking Arrow—Qiu Qiu Changying!"

"Run!"

The instant Zhao Zhao Yunsheng coughed up blood and collapsed, the faces of the dozen-plus people pouring out of the temple gate all changed drastically.

They fled almost without thinking, but how could they outrun the Soul-Chasing Arrow?

Li Yuan only heard bang-bang explosions; before the screams had even faded, the dozen-plus people had all been shot dead on the spot.

"Truly clean and efficient."

Li Yuan set down his hammer.

Among those dozen-plus people were several Internal Strength martial artists; he had originally wanted to try his hand against them.

"Qiu Qiu Changying!"

Zhao Zhao Yunsheng finally crawled to his feet, roaring:

"My Zhao family has worked for your Qiu family for decades—how could you, how dare you? Ah!"

Four arrows in quick succession, the sound of cutting air barely perceptible.

Li Yuan only saw four white lines streak past in front of him; Zhao Zhao Yunsheng had already been pinned through all four limbs.

"The Qiu family never told you to secretly practice the Bai Shen Xie Fa!"

A skiff raced over at top speed; Qiu Qiu Changying stepped up, her body like a hawk as she came ashore, and after a few bounds she was already close at hand.

This woman had a well-proportioned figure, dressed all in black close-fitting attire, carrying a longbow in her hand, a long spear on her back, and a quiver of arrows at her waist.

"Qiu—"

Zhao Zhao Yunsheng still wanted to curse angrily, but Li Yuan had already dislocated his jaw; he could only stare with bloodshot eyes.

Li Yuan looked up; from the dense forest beside him, Ba Ba Wanli strode out, his giant hammer swinging:

"You little wench, not leaving a single one for Laozi…"

Bang!

He raised his hammer to block the arrow; Ba Ba Wanli still wanted to speak, but had already been pulled back by Fang Fang Bao Luo.

"Hmph!"

Qiu Qiu Changying swept a cold glance over Li Yuan, her pretty face slightly darkening.

When Ba Ba Wanli and the other had appeared, she had already sensed something was off—with these two people at her side, he still sent someone to notify her?

This kid probably wanted to see whether she would make a move against him?

At the turn of the thought, her face darkened even more; she felt this was very likely…

"Zhao Zhao Yunsheng?"

Ba Ba Wanli strode forward, while Fang Fang Bao Luo surveyed the surroundings, his brow furrowing:

"Something's not right…"

"Mm?"

Li Yuan suddenly looked up toward the Blood Vajra temple; before his eyes, a dazzling blood-colored radiance burst forth without warning:

【Five Ghosts Nine Palaces Blade (Sixth-Tier)】

【Forged from nine kinds of exotic iron materials into Five Ghosts statues, fused together after three hundred years of incense offerings, it has already developed spiritual strangeness…】

【Control Requirement: Worship of the Five Ghosts, Bai Shen Fa Fifth Layer】

【Control Effect: Divine Art, Sixth Layer (Yellow), Nine Palaces Life-Seeking Blade Mastery (Yellow), Divine Palm Scripture Fragment (Yellow), Mother-Son Qi Art (Green)】

Damn!

A big haul!

"Two senior brothers, let's go!"

Li Yuan's eyelids twitched wildly.

Old Han's Wind-Thunder Ruyi Scepter is only Fifth-Tier!

His heart stood on end; without thinking he swapped out the five pairs of boots including the Liuhe Boots he controlled, turned, and fled.

Whoosh!

Internal force exploded beneath his feet; Li Yuan shot forward nearly a hundred meters, the rushing wind against his face like a blade, hurting his cheeks.

"Shit!"

Almost at the same moment, Ba Ba Wanli and Fang Fang Bao Luo also sensed something was wrong and turned to flee; both men's lightness skills were top-notch.

But at this moment, gazing at Li Yuan vanishing into the distance, they could not help showing shock and astonishment on their faces.

How is this kid so fast?!

A beat slower than the two, Qiu Qiu Changying retreated violently backward, simultaneously drawing her bow to the full moon, black light rising on the arrow.

"Where do you think you're escaping!"

Li Yuan heard a soft rebuke, then immediately heard the long cry of a mighty eagle.

He could not help glancing back, and saw a shocking scene.

From within the Blood Vajra temple, an old man leapt dozens of meters into the air, his great sleeves flapping wildly as he dove down,

both palms striking out; the majestic and terrifying internal qi actually transformed into a visible fierce tiger, simultaneously pouncing to kill Ba Ba Wanli, Fang Fang Bao Luo, and Qiu Qiu Changying.

Meridian Opening Great Completion, Internal Qi Taking Form!

"Su Su Wanxiong!"

The bowstring snapped and trembled like sudden thunder; Qiu Qiu Changying loosed nine arrows in succession, black light like lightning shooting straight at the old man diving down.

Ba Ba Wanli's feet exploded with force; amid flying dust, his heavy hammer let out a tiger-roar-like sound tearing through the air.

Fang Fang Bao Luo shook out his sleeves; two miniature hammers became afterimages, meeting that overwhelming, irresistible palm force cleaving through the air.

The three, who had not been working together, joined forces in an instant.

Boom!

The thunderous explosion at the river's edge was still clearly audible several hundred meters away, and people on the merchant ships along the Grand Canal looked over in shock.

"Helmsman of the Baishen Sect, Su Su Wanxiong!"

Li Yuan felt his scalp go numb; he had never imagined that his very first time fishing would land him such a big catch.

"Good thing, good thing…"

Seeing the three core disciples being pressed into the wind in an instant, Li Yuan instead stopped in his tracks.

He heard the cry of a cicada.

A figure, sword-light raised, darted forth at a speed no less than his own; in just a few rises and falls, he was thrusting straight in.

"Withered Moon!"

Li Yuan heard a sharp rebuke, followed immediately by the sound of inner Qi bursting apart.

Looking closely, he saw dust billowing, Ba Ba Wanli swinging his hammer and roaring, while Qiu Qiu Changying and Fang Fang Bao Luo violently retreated and pulled back.

One coughing up blood, the other drawing his bow and nocking an arrow, both staring fixedly at the battle circle.

"Good thing Daoist Master acted prudently…"

Li Yuan breathed a quiet sigh of relief. Before leaving the city, he had already prepared himself for the possibility of running into a 'big catch.'

Liu Zheng and the other split up—one went to find Qiu Qiu Changying, the other went to find Withered Moon; only after getting confirmation did he leave the city.

"That old fellow leaps several dozen meters high, his speed is probably no less than mine. The boots still aren't good enough…"

Li Yuan felt somewhat reassured, but still did not approach.

Watching the two fighters clash at the river's edge from afar, he made up his mind that once he got back, he absolutely had to temper his boots up to fifth-tier.

Clang clang clang~

Even separated by several hundred meters, Li Yuan's eyes were quite sharp, yet he still couldn't see the details clearly—only the sounds of blade and sword colliding reached him,

along with the sight of the two fighters moving so fast they left afterimages.

"What a fine Heaven-Cicada Sword!"

At one moment, Li Yuan heard Su Su Wanxiong's low shout, and immediately, the sound of weapons clashing ceased.

"Hold onto this old man's belongings properly!"

At the river's edge, the echo lingered; Su Su Wanxiong rose and fell like a hawk as he departed, and as he left, he cast a long glance at Li Yuan from afar.

'That youngster's speed is no worse than this old man's…'

"Hoo!"

Only now did Li Yuan breathe a proper sigh of relief, and he strode quickly toward where the several had fought.

He swept his gaze quickly, only to see two squads of Divine Guard soldiers rushing in at speed, and on the large ships at the river's edge, it seemed experts had also appeared.

"Down the mountain is far too dangerous…"

Looking at Qiu Qiu Changying and Fang Fang Bao Luo, whose faces were deathly pale, Li Yuan's expression turned solemn.

His speed was fast, but if that Su Su Wanxiong fellow had lain in ambush to launch a sneak attack on him, today would likely have been the end.

He glanced again at Ba Ba Wanli, who was completely unscathed and cursing up a storm, and felt he had learned another lesson:

"Horizontal training is very important!"

Qiu Qiu Changying and the other, who had fought while retreating, were both wounded; Ba Ba Wanli, who had taken several direct hits head-on, was completely unscathed, his voice full of vigor…

"Su Su Wanxiong was already injured—it should be Meng Ying's Demon-Slaying Blade."

Withered Moon sheathed his long sword, cast a slightly surprised glance at Li Yuan, his expression darkening slightly:

"What thing of his did the four of you take?"