When a little girl who appeared frail and delicate, as if she could be swept away by the wind at any moment, said such arrogant words, no one would take her seriously.
Everyone couldn’t help but reveal mocking expressions. Seven Kill Hall Master Ying Ruli said to Jing Wuwei, “She’s merely at the end of her rope, deliberately saying this to scare us… General Jing need not worry. Even if you truly were poisoned, once the General masters the secret manual Wu Run carved on the stone wall, what poison would there be to fear?”
“The Hall Master speaks truly. At worst, we’ll run errands for the General and drag that little princess of Yan Kingdom here for the General to deal with as you please.” Zhenwu Sect Leader Ping Shang conveniently offered some verbal flattery, pointing at Changling. “Right now, let Ping take the initiative to capture this girl first!”
With that said, he leaped down from the ship. A seemingly soft palm wind drifted toward her. Although this palm appeared gentle, it actually contained profound and powerful internal force. If she dodged, this palm would become ten times faster in an instant, capturing the person in one move. If she met it palm to palm, the palm force would pour out completely—this was precisely Zhenwu Sect’s signature ultimate skill, the Capture-Kill Palm.
Changling didn’t even furrow her brow. Her right hand reached for Aguo Mei’s shoulder and grabbed. In the next instant, Ping Shang’s palm struck empty air. He watched helplessly as the two people so close before him vanished from his field of vision in a flash. The moment he landed, he immediately turned back alertly. Before he could hear anyone’s warning, he felt a severe pain in his brain—he had actually been kicked from behind with someone’s toe!
Ping Shang immediately felt the world spinning, unable to muster strength in his hands and feet. Suddenly his form was supported by someone—it was Canghai Sect’s Huo Zhen who had jumped forward in time to steady him. Just now, in full view of everyone, Changling had darted and leaped while carrying Aguo Mei at such speed that even those on the ship could only see an afterimage. Ping Shang admitted that although he hadn’t used his full strength just now, he absolutely hadn’t been distracted, yet he was still kicked in a vital spot. His heart was filled with extreme terror. He only heard the woman standing five steps away say indifferently, “Ping Shang, I told you before to watch your head when using the Capture-Kill Palm. After all these years, how have you still not improved at all?”
These words were too familiar. Upon hearing them, Ping Shang’s entire body shook violently. Trembling, he pointed his fingertip at the woman before him. “You… you are…”
What she was, he could no longer say, for a crack had burst open at the back of his skull, like a cup with a hole in the bottom. Blood and brain matter sprayed out simultaneously. Huo Zhen’s hand trembled at being splattered, letting Ping Shang’s entire body fall stiffly backward, rolling into the flood.
This turn of events shocked everyone. Judging by her tone, she was an old acquaintance of Sect Leader Ping. This girl appeared to be only seventeen or eighteen years old—how many years old was she years ago? How dare she speak so brazenly?!
Yet the fact that she had killed Ping Shang in one move was undeniable…
A strange panic arose in Jing Wuwei’s heart—much, much stronger than that day’s dazzling performance at the imperial martial arts competition…
Huo Zhen had been one of the eight sect leaders trapped at Dazhao Temple that day. He hadn’t recognized her at first glance just now, but being so close at this moment, he recalled that masked woman who had fought five great monks with her own strength alone. He couldn’t help but grip the long blade in his hand tightly. “You, you’re the one from that day at Dazhao Temple…”
“Sect Leader Huo, this demonic woman is extremely devious. You must not waste words with her!” Jing Wuwei’s heart faltered, and he said to those around him, “All of you quickly go assist Sect Leader Huo!”
This command was actually ordering several dignified sect leaders who dominated the Eastern Xia martial world to jointly surround a young girl. If this were to spread, how would they establish themselves in the jianghu in the future?
The several sect leaders immediately showed unwillingness. In their hearts, they were certain Ping Shang had been momentarily careless. But since Jing Wuwei had spoken, they had no choice but to comply. Immediately their feet pushed off, and Danxia Sect’s Luo Fei, Iron Sword Sect’s Wei Tuo, and Tieling Sect’s Chu Ying all floated down gracefully, taking positions at various ends atop the stone peak, surrounding Changling and Aguo Mei completely. Changling glanced sideways, looking at the crowd of Seven Kill Hall experts surrounding Jing Wuwei on the ship, and coldly shouted, “I advise you not to hold back your strength. With just these few people, fighting them won’t be satisfying at all.”
Huo Zhen hadn’t dared to attack rashly earlier, but relying on superior numbers—everyone present being top-tier experts in the jianghu—he no longer had any misgivings. “Hmph! You ignorant little wretch who knows not the height of heaven!”
As his words fell, his form suddenly flashed. The single blade in his hand, channeling full internal energy, slashed toward Changling. At the same time, Luo Fei, Wei Tuo, and Chu Ying also swung the weapons in their hands—since they’d already thrown away their dignity anyway, they might as well be thorough and finish this in one move!
In that lightning-fast instant, Changling quickly stuffed the wooden box into her lower back with one hand while embracing Aguo Mei with the other, leaping away. Since mastering the Shimo True Scripture, although she had encountered countless powerful enemies and never been defeated, simultaneously facing so many sect leaders who dominated the jianghu was unprecedented in her life, not to mention she had a completely defenseless burden by her side!
Her earlier bold words had been intended to provoke the Seven Kill Hall people to join the battle together. If so, she would only need to dodge in time until her shishu returned, and they could fight the enemy together.
Unexpectedly, Hall Master Yin Zun didn’t take the bait. This being the case, if Seven Kill Hall took advantage of any opening and used some despicable underhanded methods on the little girl…
Just as she thought this, she saw over a dozen ox-hair-thin needles, barely visible to the naked eye, stabbing straight toward Aguo Mei. Changling spun to avoid them, but the other four people’s blades, spears, swords, and staffs seized every opportunity, attacking from above, below, left, and right in four directions—
Changling had already been overcome with grief. Now during this struggle, seeing these experts who dominated the jianghu unwilling to observe even basic human decency, she couldn’t help but ignite with raging fury. Thinking of how since returning from death, every time she fought with others she had to consider how to use cleverness, she thought to herself: From childhood to adulthood, when have I, Yue Changling, ever been so stifled!
Thinking thus, Changling no longer cared how much strength had recovered or how long she could fight. She channeled her surging fury into her arm and struck forward with one palm cleaving through the air!
Suddenly one person let out an “Ah!” of agonized screaming. When his body fell to the ground, his entire person had been disemboweled, his five viscera and six bowels all ruptured, as if he had fallen from a ten-thousand-zhang abyss and been smashed into a pile of mush!
That person was precisely Huo Zhen. The others were shaken by this encounter and retreated repeatedly—they almost suspected they were seeing things. How could a mere palm strike from a distance possibly beat the martial arts-profound Sect Leader Huo into such a state… What kind of demon or monster was this woman!
Now not only was Jing Wuwei shocked, even Changling looked at her own palm somewhat incredulously. She felt that long-absent powerful true qi circulating endlessly back and forth within her body—the internal force sealed away for so long had actually returned at this moment!
The corner of Jing Wuwei’s eye twitched. He subconsciously retreated behind the Seven Kill Hall Master. Luo Fei trembled miserably, “You, you… who exactly are you?”
Changling’s eyes swept around the surroundings in a circle. Then she bent down and picked up Huo Zhen’s blade. The blade tip touched the ground with an understated gesture, yet a sense of oppression like that before a storm assaulted them head-on. She said in a low voice, “Eleven years ago, you broke my sword and owed me a battle. Today, I borrow this blade. I wonder, gentlemen, are you prepared?”
The four words “eleven years ago” weighed down like Mount Tai. Atop the stone peak, there was momentary dead silence, with only the sound of the roaring flood.
“Impossible…” Jing Wuwei said with eyes nearly splitting from their sockets. “Impossible!”
Yue Changling had long since died, died beneath the waterfall at Taixing City. How could he possibly return from the dead!
Wei Tuo couldn’t even grip the sword in his hand steadily anymore. “Second, Second Young Master… no, how could Second Young Master possibly be a woman… Who exactly are you! Why are you playing tricks and pretending to be a ghost!”
“Wei Tuo.” Changling pulled Aguo Mei and walked in his direction, the long blade slowly dragging on the ground, the sound of blade against stone particularly grating. “You once said that in ten years your iron sword would become the number one sword under heaven. Today it should have achieved perfection, shouldn’t it? I wonder if I might seek some pointers from you?”
Wei Tuo’s entire body trembled like a sieve. Suddenly he gave a great shout, like a fierce beast raising his iron blade horizontally and lunging forward. His speed and strength had already reached a level difficult to discern with the naked eye. However, just barely three steps out—which is to say, in the blink of an eye—his entire body stiffened. Eyes wide, he slowly lowered his head, staring at his own torso which had been carved with the character for “rice,” his lips moved, and before he could say another word, he fell down.
Changling kicked him off the stone peak with one foot. After he had floated far away, only then did she remove the hand covering Aguo Mei’s eyes, turning to look at the remaining people, saying word by word, “What, still don’t believe who I am?”
This last sentence was spoken in a male tone. Everyone present immediately became terrified. Including all the Seven Kill Hall people on the ship, they looked at her as if at demons and monsters—suddenly, they saw that half-masked, majestically divine war god from eleven years ago overlap with this woman!
At this life-or-death juncture, everyone could no longer care about anything else. The experts on the deck knew deeply that it was too late to flee, and they all joined the battle. Although they were terrified to the extreme, after all they were first-rate experts, and their attacks weren’t panicked. One after another, like a wheel they surged forward, a spectacle that could not be called anything but shocking.
New grievances and old hatreds, accumulated for so long and irrepressible, accompanied by profound internal force and poured out. Even heaven and earth cracked for it, mountains and seas churned for it. The Hero’s Tomb had reemerged in the jianghu—how could there be any survivors?
Immediately some had ribs shattered inch by inch, some were separated from their heads, some had livers crushed and limbs broken, one after another falling into pools of blood!
If just moments ago Jing Wuwei still harbored a trace of shocked doubt, now seeing one jianghu expert after another forced by this fierce battle into a state of seeming madness, ultimately unable to escape the fate of heads flying—
He believed it.
Under heaven, besides Yue Changling, who else could be unstoppable?
Those years when he followed Second Young Master campaigning north and south, those years he had only seen that momentum of one person holding the pass against ten thousand—only now did he deeply comprehend… to be enemies with Yue Changling was such a terrifying thing!
Even the agonized screams of the dying were decreasing. Seeing the situation was unfavorable, Jing Wuwei quickly hid and ordered people to withdraw the ship and flee.
After Changling killed the last person in her hands—the Seven Kill Hall Master—she saw that warship had already sailed some distance away. Just as she was hesitating whether to skim across the water in pursuit, she suddenly saw the ship’s hull shift direction, and several openings appeared from hidden compartments in the ship—three cannon muzzles extended from within!
Her heart cried out in alarm. With one hand she scooped up Aguo Mei and leaped up. She heard three earth-shaking “boom” “boom” “boom” sounds as explosives thunderously exploded. Atop the stone peak, grass and trees ignited in great flames, shattered rocks flew everywhere, and the spot where she had stood a moment before was razed to flat ground.
Changling borrowed this forceful wind to soar upward, then landed with Aguo Mei on a piece of driftwood. Originally killing Jing Wuwei would have been a matter of moments, but who knew the other side would bring out such a rule-breaking weapon as gunpowder—how could this not make her furiously angry?
She saw three more fire cannons being hurled from the sky. Changling spun in midair to avoid them. Not yet having found a place to land, she suddenly saw a towering huge wave rise horizontally across the sky, like a giant curtain suddenly rising from the water, forcibly intercepting the explosives’ path.
Changling leaped backward onto a crooked-necked tree wedged against rocks, her gaze probing forward. She saw the fire on the stone peak ahead had been extinguished, and atop the peak stood a tall and slender figure.
She suddenly froze.
This scene was truly something she wouldn’t dare imagine even in dreams. Her vision blurred for a moment, her heart pounding chaotically. When her vision cleared again, she saw that person turn his head and smile at her, saying, “Sorry for making you deal with this alone for so long. I’m not too late, am I?”
Changling stared blankly at the person she had thought she would never be able to see again in this life. She couldn’t help but hold her breath, not daring to blink, afraid that if she blinked even once, the person would disappear.
Aguo Mei, lying on Changling’s back, softly let out an “Ah.” “It’s the immortal gege…”
Changling’s entire body shook. She asked, “It’s him, you… you see him too?”
Aguo Mei said strangely, “Can’t sister see him?”
At this moment, the soldiers on the deck had been completely terrified. One was a killing god who kicked heads like balls, and now another demon who batted explosives like balls had arrived—this was the rhythm of heaven wanting to destroy them!
The soldiers continuously lit explosives and hurled them out. Ye Qi had originally been anxious to fly to Changling’s side, but seeing several more explosives flying through the sky, Ye Qi turned back and raised his hand. Water curtains rolled up into several flying dragons, opened their mouths and swallowed the explosives, sinking them into the flood.
“You stay there and don’t move, wait until I finish dealing with this side…”
Before his words finished, his form suddenly halted. A pair of hands unexpectedly encircled his waist from behind, embracing him tightly from the back, warm breath close at the nape of his neck.
Ye Qi’s eyes trembled deeply.
He heard her say softly, “Ye Qi, I’ve fallen for you. I’m certain.”