Chapter 1109

After a bout of dizziness, when Hearing Gai Nie opened his eyes again, he found himself in another strange place.

The sky here was tinged with a faint crimson, and every plant and tree in the surroundings had withered away.

Only atop a distant Gaoshan stood a sprawling, grand and imposing complex of buildings.

A faint, strange fragrance permeated the entire world.

"Ah… how could this be? Why can't my true Qi circulate?"

"Right, what's going on? Mine too…"

"Me as well…"

Just as Hearing Gai Nie was surveying his surroundings, the martial artists of the Nine Provinces who had entered with him suddenly cried out in alarm.

Hearing Gai Nie's heart stirred, and he immediately silently activated the Guigu Sect's breathing technique, attempting to mobilize his true essence.

But just as these people had said, the moment a breath of true essence left his dantian, it immediately dispersed and could not take form.

Huh?

Hearing Gai Nie was puzzled, and immediately sat cross-legged, preparing to use a deeper breathing method to try to gather his true essence.

What martial artists of the Nine Provinces needed most was true essence and true Qi.

Without it, speaking purely of physical technique, they were barely stronger than ordinary people.

Although Hearing Gai Nie also had swordsmanship, the realm of the Sword Dao, and the like.

Even having lost his true essence, he still had the power to fight.

But after all, his strength would be greatly diminished.

Just as Hearing Gai Nie sat cross-legged, closed his eyes, concentrated his spirit, and began adjusting his true essence—

a group of people suddenly appeared all around.

These people wore strange masks on their heads and walked toward the crowd, laughing.

"Hahaha! Another batch of greedy fools has come knocking. Our Despair Shanzhuang can reopen for business again."

"Indeed, indeed. You rabble—be smart and surrender obediently, come back with us and await judgment.

Otherwise…"

The two leaders played off each other as they walked and talked, not taking these Nine Provinces martial artists seriously in the slightest.

When they finished speaking, they happened to arrive beside one of the Nine Provinces martial artists.

This Nine Provinces martial artist was an elder-level expert of a Yimingzong Sect from the Great Han.

His Wu Gong had not reached the Realm of Heavenly Beings, but he did possess cultivation at the Earthly Immortal Realm.

After arriving here, he too had immediately noticed something was wrong at the first moment, and promptly began breathing exercises to adjust his breath, wanting to rally his spirit.

When these masked strangers appeared, he was also the first to suspect that it was most likely these people who had set the trap.

So he deliberately kept up the act of meditating and adjusting his breath, as if his spirit were wandering beyond the heavens, unaware of their arrival.

When the two leaders drew near, this sect elder immediately struck out like lightning.

The moment he attacked, it was his sect's signature killing technique.

This technique was generally used only at the brink of life and death.

At this moment, the situation was no different from life and death.

He was fully convinced that once he unleashed this move, he would surely take down one of the two.

Then, using that as leverage, he could threaten these masked strangers.

And from their mouths, he could find out exactly what this place was, what Despair Shanzhuang was, and where the treasure left behind by the Great Zhou lay.

With all these calculations in mind, he did not expect his true essence to have failed to recover.

Although his strike was still as swift as lightning, there was not a trace of true essence within the move.

As a result, this killing blow was riddled with openings.

The leading masked stranger laughed coldly and eerily, just as he was saying "otherwise."

It happened that this sect elder's attack arrived, and he did not even bother to dodge.

He simply threw out a single punch, and easily shattered this true-essence-less killing move on the spot.

Not only that, the force of the punch did not dissipate—it directly smashed this sect elder's skull apart with a single blow.

An ordinary person could not possibly smash another's skull apart with one punch.

A martial artist without true essence, bare-handed, would also find it very difficult.

Yet this masked stranger had done it—clearly, he had true essence within him!

He saw this masked stranger casually flick the fresh blood, brain matter, and the like from his hand, then take a silk handkerchief from behind his waist and gently wipe his own fist.

Once it was clean, he grinned ferociously at the Nine Provinces martial artists and said,

"This is a warning. Whoever dares to move again—I won't just smash his head, I'll take his corpse and feed it to the dogs."

As he spoke, he gestured lightly behind him, and it was seen that each masked stranger held a vicious hound by the hand.

These vicious hounds had crimson eyes and bared fangs—clearly they had been feasting on human flesh quite recently.

That miserably killed Great Han sect elder, among this group of martial artists who had come seeking treasure, could already be considered a mid-to-upper-tier figure.

Even someone of his caliber had been killed with a single punch.

The remaining Nine Provinces martial artists all fell deathly silent.

Not a single one dared to raise an objection, let alone resist.

Hearing Gai Nie had switched through several breathing methods in succession, even employing the Guigu Sect's most profound "Vertical and Horizontal Under Heaven" breathing technique.

Still, the moment true essence left his dantian, it immediately collapsed and dispersed.

Only then did he understand that, for the time being, there was truly nothing he could do.

Hearing the commotion over there at this moment, although he felt it was pitiful in his heart, he did not rush to act.

Although with his own sword Dao cultivation, even without true essence, defeating these masked freaks still held some hope.

But these masked freaks were clearly only the advance scouts.

Behind them, there were surely even stronger experts.

To strike before seeing the full picture of the enemy was truly not the Guigu Sect's way of handling things.

Therefore Hearing Gai Nie could only sit and watch it all unfold, silently nurturing his sword heart within.

A glance from the corner of his eye caught sight of Old Six not far away.

He found that the most peculiar of the Yellow River Six Freaks was at this moment also limp-limbed, sitting not far off.

Yet even at this stage, Old Six still clung tightly to that cloth sack.

Clearly, the Fire Monkey was extremely important to her.

Hearing Gai Nie could not help but sigh; he himself had ventured into this dangerous place for the Fire Monkey.

Old Six had also fallen to this state for the Fire Monkey.

Was this Fire Monkey, or rather the Mud Bodhisattva, truly so important?

Just as these feelings stirred in Hearing Gai Nie, those masked freaks had already begun using iron chains to take the people into custody.

Only, though they called it taking people into custody, it was no different from rounding up dogs.

Taking those thick iron collars, they clamped them right around the captives' necks.

Any unusual movement brought immediate punches and kicks.

But the slightest resistance meant a direct punch to the kill — without a single exception!

After killing several people in a row, including one assassin from the Net,

the remaining martial artists of the Nine Provinces gradually quieted down.

Not one person dared to resist those masked freaks anymore.

After all, eking out a wretched existence was still better than dying on the spot.

When the masked freaks reached the five people around Young Master Murong, the leading masked freak suddenly spoke up,

"Oh! Could it be that Young Master Murong of the Gusu Murong clan has arrived?"

"This unworthy one is indeed Murong Fu!"

That Young Master Murong had already resigned himself to fate, his face full of gloom.

Hearing the masked freak's respectful tone now, he was immediately overjoyed, turning sideways and cupping his hands in salute.

"It really is Young Master Murong!"

The leading masked freak's voice actually held a hint of delight. He stepped forward and helped Murong Fu up,

"Since it is Young Master Murong who has arrived, naturally there is no need to be together with these sorry wretches.