Chapter 966

It seems this Miss named Zhou Zhiruo is ultimately no match for Cao Duzhu!

"How about it? Miss Zhou, will you step aside now?"

Cao Zhengchun, basking in the flattery of the Eastern Depot agents, also showed a few traces of self-satisfaction on his face.

He reckoned that in this Jianghu, only Zhu Tie Dan alone could be his opponent.

No one else could.

So his willingness to make a move for Zhou Zhiruo was simply because her Wu Gong cultivation had startled him.

Zhou Zhiruo had not expected that, despite having gathered the Nine Yin force and employed the Mount Emei Golden Summit Cotton Palm together with the Heart-Severing Palm — two palm techniques —

trading blows with this eunuch, she still fell into a disadvantage.

When that thick, vast Heaven-Gang true essence surged forth between his two palms,

it made Zhou Zhiruo feel as though she stood amid a raging wind and towering waves, one careless moment away from capsizing.

With no recourse, she could only be sent back seven steps by a single palm strike.

Were it not for the Nine Yang Divine Art she bore — capable of shielding the body and rapidly healing wounds —

Zhou Zhiruo would likely have truly been injured by that palm strike just now.

"It seems I underestimated you."

After Zhou Zhiruo regulated her breathing, she heard Cao Zhengchun's words and merely replied coolly.

"Oh? You still wish to fight on?"

Hearing this, Cao Zhengchun's brows knit, and he suddenly sensed that Zhou Zhiruo had actually recovered.

He was greatly astonished within.

Though that palm of his was not his ultimate trump-card technique, it was still an extremely fearsome strike.

To say nothing of others — even the Gedazhang Sect leaders, if they took it head-on, would not escape unscathed.

How could this delicate, young beauty recover so quickly?

"Try!"

Zhou Zhiruo replied no more; with a backhanded thrust of her sword, she seized the initiative and attacked.

Cao Zhengchun, seeing this, was also delighted.

Though he was a high minister of the court, burdened with great authority and responsibility,

his mastery of martial arts looked down upon all of Wu Lin.

Deep down, he too was a man who delighted in Wu Gong and loved to spar with others.

Zhou Zhiruo's ability to take that palm of his had long since earned his approval.

Seeing Zhou Zhiruo seize the initiative and thrust at him, he was not alarmed or angered in the least — on the contrary, he was overjoyed.

After a burst of strange laughter, he took up no weapon, meeting Zhou Zhiruo with only his bare palms.

The Heaven-Gang Child's Skill originally derived from the Child's Skill, one of Yunzhou Shaolin's Seventy-Two Supreme Techniques.

But Cao Zhengchun blazed his own trail, fusing into the Child's Skill the Heaven-Gang True Art of the Xuanmenzheng Sect.

Daoism and Buddhism were inherently mutually exclusive; anyone who cultivated both a Daoist and a Buddhist divine art simultaneously would, before long, surely suffer a qi deviation.

Yet Cao Zhengchun, owing to his eunuch's body, his great perseverance, great wisdom, and even great fortune,

inadvertently merged these two divine arts into one — this was the Heaven-Gang Child's Skill.

After arduous practice for several decades, the Heaven-Gang true essence coursing through his body had long been invincible.

Even a mere punch or kick carried the might to split mountains and rend the sea.

Now, knowing Zhou Zhiruo's strength was no small matter and that she could not be harmed by a single punch or kick,

he simply let himself loose, the Heaven-Gang true essence gushing forth.

As the fight grew exhilarating, he even cried out in sheer delight.

Zhou Zhiruo's cultivation was originally no match for Cao Zhengchun's, even with the unique augmentation of Nine Yin and Nine Yang.

But her mind was steadfast, and her ability to adapt on the fly far surpassed that of ordinary people.

Since her cultivation was inferior, she brought out one by one the many Wu Gong she had learned.

Mount Emei swordsmanship, Mount Emei palm techniques, Nine Yin Divine Claw, Great Demon-Subduing Fist, Heart-Severing Palm, Hand-Waving-Five-Strings, and other divine arts.

Under the augmentation of two utterly different true essences — Nine Yin and Nine Yang — yet merged into one,

for the time being, though she was at a disadvantage, she could just barely hold her own.

At the start of this fierce battle, the surrounding onlookers watched with great relish.

After all, it had been a long time since the Wu Lin's mighty had clashed like this.

But when the two had exhausted their supreme techniques and grew ever more exhilarated in the fight,

the shockwaves of battle forced the surrounding onlookers — including the Eastern Depot agents, Wu Lin figures like Liaofan, and Shangguan Haitang's group — all to retreat without exception.

After all, even the mere sound of their colliding strikes was like thunder.

The fist-force and sword-intent unleashed could directly tear open terrifying fissures in the mountain hollows, ridges, and earth.

At this, the crowd certainly cried out in delight.

Yet they could no longer stand by and watch.

They could only scramble to flee the place.

They fled a full li's distance before they were beyond the reach of the battle's shockwaves.

"Master Liaofan, what is the background of this Zhou Zhiruo? How can she fight the Duzhu to such an extent?"

While Cao Zhengchun was engaged in battle, the one with the highest cultivation present was Liaofan.

Thus, in their urgency, the Eastern Depot agents sought out this old monk to question him.

The old monk could not help but be at a loss — you ask me, but who should I ask?

He couldn't help rolling his eyes, didn't answer this Eastern Depot Battalion Commander, and just continued to go watch the battle.

That Eastern Depot Battalion Commander, having drawn a blank, couldn't help but go ask Luo Jusheng,

"Mr. Luo, between this Zhou Zhiruo and the Chief Eunuch, who wins and who loses?"

"Battalion Commander Ma, I don't know either…"

Luo Jusheng didn't dare not reply to this Battalion Commander Ma, but he truly couldn't tell who was winning and who was losing, so he could only answer with a wry smile.

Battalion Commander Ma, hearing this, could only give up and continue watching the distant battle circle without blinking.

As the crowd withdrew from the battle circle, the fight over there grew even more intense.

The originally steep mountain hollow, under the波及 of the battle's aftershocks from the two great experts, had already been leveled into flat ground.

During the fight, Cao Zhengchun kept shouting.

From his shouts, it was obvious he was having a great time.

Luo Jusheng, hearing this voice, couldn't help but say to Battalion Commander Ma,

"But judging from the Chief Eunuch's aura, it won't be hard for him to win this fight."

"That's good then."

Battalion Commander Ma, hearing that Cao Zhengchun could win, felt the great stone in his heart drop to the ground.

Suddenly he saw not far away, Shangguan Haitang driving a horse carriage watching the battle from afar.

His mind stirred, and he恰好 saw Tiezhua Feiying walking over in a sorry state, supported by others, so he immediately stepped forward and said,

"Second-in-Command, at this moment that Zhou Zhiruo has already fallen into a disadvantage; it won't be hard for the Chief Eunuch to win.

Why don't we act right now and go search that horse carriage?"

Tiezhua Feiying had not only lost a great deal of face this time, but had also suffered no light an injury.

His heart was filled with resentment.

Hearing Battalion Commander Ma's words, he gazed faintly toward Shangguan Haitang's side.

He looked again at the distant battle circle, then immediately nodded.

Battalion Commander Ma, having received the order, was overjoyed.

He then picked a squad of Eastern Depot agents, preparing to go surround the horse carriage.

Shangguan Haitang came to her senses and prepared to drive the carriage away.

But then she thought of how righteous Zhou Zhiruo had been, and how could she possibly abandon her and flee.

Just as she was hesitating, the Eastern Depot agents had already swiftly closed in from all four sides.

Shangguan Haitang's heart turned to ashes, and she murmured,

"Yidao, if they want to slaughter you, they have to step over my corpse first."

At once Shangguan Haitang pulled out the short dagger from her bosom, preparing to wait for the Eastern Depot agents to charge up and fight them desperately.