Chapter 33: All Trump Cards Exhausted

The Fire Scale Sword blazed on the peak of South Mountain, while the Snow Drink Saber lay deep in the North Sea; the alternating heat of the Fire Scale Sword's scorching Sword Qi and the cold chill of the Snow Drink Saber's blade aura left Xiongba momentarily unsure of how to parry.

Seeing their moves were effective, Duan Fengyun and Nie Feng attacked with even greater decisiveness and speed.

Xiongba prided himself on having martial arts unparalleled in the world, yet he dared not use his Mortal body to forcefully withstand these two peerless divine weapons, the Fire Scale Sword and the Snow Drink Saber.

Qin Shuang and Bu Jingyun, suffering from internal injuries, could only lie there and watch helplessly as Duan Fengyun and Nie Feng battled Xiongba; unable to intervene, the two could only silently act as bystanders.

Duan Fengyun attacked from the left with the Fire Scale Sword, while Nie Feng struck at Xiongba's lower stance with the Snow Drink Saber; the two coordinated their sword and saber strikes with impeccable synergy.

Xiongba had to deal with the attacks from Duan Fengyun on his left while simultaneously guarding against Nie Feng's sneak attacks on his lower stance. Facing their increasingly fierce offensive, he began to feel overwhelmed.

Duan Fengyun noticed Xiongba's struggle and shouted at him, "Xiongba, today is the day you die."

Seeing that he could no longer control the situation, Xiongba prepared to use his family's martial art, the Huiyuan Blood Hand, a trump card for survival passed down to him by his father, Ziyi Laoda.

Xiongba twisted his face into a smile and said, "Congratulations, you have successfully angered me. I will let you see the power of my family's martial art, the Huiyuan Blood Hand."

Xiongba's hands turned into claws as he unleashed the Huiyuan Blood Hand, pulling the members of the Tianchi Twelve Killers lying on the ground into mid-air, and proceeded to absorb all of their cultivation power.

The Tianchi Twelve Killers, either severely wounded or unconscious, had no power to resist and could only watch helplessly as their own and their companions' cultivation was drained by Xiongba.

Seeing that things were taking a turn for the worse, Duan Fengyun and Nie Feng hurriedly attacked Xiongba with their weapons, but Xiongba's True Qi was boiling, and with a shake of his powerful frame, he easily sent them both flying.

Xiongba slowly absorbed all the internal energy of the Tianchi Twelve Killers; their auras continuously weakened, while conversely, Xiongba's aura rose steadily.

Finally, Xiongba stopped. Having absorbed the internal energy of the Tianchi Twelve Killers, he felt stronger than ever before, and his full head of black hair turned white in an instant, making him look like a white Demon God.

Duan Fengyun panicked at the sight; he had never seen Xiongba use the Huiyuan Blood Hand in the original story, so he had mistakenly assumed Xiongba did not know this ultimate technique.

He instantly understood why, in the original story, Xiongba had regained his martial arts in less than a year after crippling himself, and had even increased his power significantly.

He guessed that after crippling his own martial arts, Xiongba must have secretly used the Huiyuan Blood Hand to absorb the power of martial arts experts in the Jianghu, thereby covertly restoring his power and breaking through to higher levels of martial arts.

The white-haired Xiongba looked at the four of them with contempt and said, "Now my True Qi is full, while you are either wounded or have exhausted your True Qi. Let's see how you can fight me now. Today, I will see how the prophecy Ni Pusa made for me comes to pass. Prepare to die."

With that, Xiongba kicked out with a Wind God Leg, and Duan Fengyun and Nie Feng instantly fell to the ground; now it was their turn to experience the feeling of being pummeled.

Xiongba looked at the four of them with a smug expression; today would be their death day, and he would have no more worries.

Just as Xiongba was gloating, Duan Fengyun staggered to his feet and said, "Xiongba, don't think you are the only one with a trump card; I have one too."

Duan Fengyun had actually been holding back a lethal move, but he had been reluctant to use it, even when he was injured by the Tianchi Twelve Killers and others, he still hadn't wanted to bring it out.

It turned out that when Jiansheng's Soul left his physical shell, he had left behind the Sword Qi of Sword Twenty-Three within the Fire Scale Sword, hoping that Duan Fengyun would make good use of it.

He hoped that Duan Fengyun could use this Sword Qi to gain insight into the Dao of the sword and reach a new level of swordsmanship.

On the other hand, this was also a life-saving trick left for Duan Fengyun by Jiansheng; if Duan Fengyun encountered a crisis, activating this Sword Twenty-Three Sword Qi could save his life. Jiansheng was confident that the person capable of receiving this divine sword move had yet to be born.

Duan Fengyun picked up the Fire Scale Sword, and his starting stance shifted into that of Sword Twenty-Two.

Indeed, the key to awakening this Sword Qi was Sword Twenty-Two, which was also the reason Duan Fengyun had not used Sword Twenty-Two since the final battle with Jiansheng.

Duan Fengyun felt the Fire Scale Sword in his hand trembling continuously, unlike the trembling he felt when facing Wuming. That time it was fear of Wuming's Heavenly Sword aura; now, the Fire Scale Sword was excited.

With the Sword Twenty-Three Sword Qi infused into its blade, the Fire Scale Sword felt as if it had gained a sword spirit, eager to strike down the Xiongba before him.

Duan Fengyun gathered all his True Qi and used all his remaining strength to launch the Fire Scale Sword at Xiongba.

In Xiongba's eyes, what appeared was not just a Fire Scale Sword, but the image of Jiansheng holding the Fire Scale Sword and attacking him.

Xiongba exclaimed, "Jiansheng? How is this possible? Didn't you already die?"

The Fire Scale Sword, carrying the Sword Twenty-Three Sword Qi, charged directly at Xiongba, and the defensive barrier Xiongba had created with all his True Qi was pierced through by the sword.

But perhaps such was fate; the Fire Scale Sword still only pierced Xiongba's chest, just like Jiansheng's sword finger had done before.

Although it wounded Xiongba, it was not fatal.

The Sword Twenty-Three Sword Qi was exhausted, and the Fire Scale Sword had completed its mission; after piercing Xiongba's chest, it fell to the ground and broke into several pieces.

The Fire Scale Sword could ultimately not withstand the fierce Sword Qi of Sword Twenty-Three and shattered directly.

The wounded Xiongba dared not linger and left under the protection of a group of Under Heaven Sect soldiers.

The battered Duan Fengyun and the others, not wanting to fight Xiongba to the death, could only watch helplessly as Xiongba left.

Duan Fengyun struggled to crawl up from the ground and made an effort to walk forward to pick up the Fire Scale Sword, which had broken into several pieces.

He sighed while holding the broken Fire Scale Sword; the sword that had accompanied him for so long had broken just like that. This divine weapon of the Duan family had ultimately been destroyed in his hands.

Nie Feng stepped forward and patted Duan Fengyun on the shoulder to comfort him; he knew that for a swordsman, the sword was his life, and Duan Fengyun must be feeling terrible right now.

The battle had been truly tragic; the four of them had used up their last Fire Bodhi, broken the Fire Scale Sword, and most importantly, used up the Sword Twenty-Three Sword Qi left by Jiansheng. Their trump cards were all exhausted.

But it was the same for Xiongba's side; the Tianchi Twelve Killers had been drained of their cultivation and were now useless, and the Under Heaven Sect had suffered another massive loss of combat power after the four Hall Masters. Now that the Under Heaven Sect had lost its two greatest trump cards, only Xiongba remained as a lone commander.

Nie Feng and Duan Fengyun helped Bu Jingyun and Qin Shuang up from the ground, and the four battered men supported each other as they walked toward Chuchu's home.