Wind speed, humidity, temperature, light…
One could say that all current conditions were terrible. Even with a sniper rifle, shooting would be extremely difficult. However, An Jiu’s status as one of the most outstanding snipers wasn’t solely due to the power of her weapons.
This face-to-face shooting might result in mutual destruction. Mei Tingyuan, standing next to An Jiu, was so tense she almost forgot to breathe.
Except for the howling wind, everything seemed to freeze.
An Jiu slowly shifted her arrow’s aim.
Mei Tingyuan’s eyes widened in surprise, realizing An Jiu wasn’t aiming at the black-clad figure in the ancient pine at all!
Just as she fell into confusion, An Jiu suddenly released her fingers!
The bowstring hummed, and the arrowhead tore through the fierce wind, flashing a cold light in the night!
Almost simultaneously, the archer on the opposite side also released his bowstring. His arrow, wrapped in a bright, dazzling blue light, looked like a bolt of lightning striking across!
Even a ninth-rank warrior’s internal energy couldn’t materialize like that! The opponent was a master who had reached the State of Transformation!
Mei Tingyuan opened her mouth, wanting to shout, but her voice was stuck in her throat, unable to make a sound! Then she watched in horror as An Jiu stood quietly in place, showing no intention of dodging!
An Jiu stared intently at the blue light, her eyes reflecting a bright blue.
“Are you crazy? Dodge quickly!”
With Mei Tingyuan’s shout, the light grazed past An Jiu’s temple with a sharp sound, the fierce wind it created blowing off her hood. The arrow plunged into the rock wall behind with a bang, sending stone fragments flying.
The black-clad figure in the ancient pine had initially disregarded An Jiu’s arrow, which seemed to lack internal energy and was off-target. But in an instant, he was astonished to find the arrow gradually pushed by the valley wind, changing its course. When it was about five zhang away, he could see the cold gleam of the arrowhead pointing towards his chest!
His thick eyebrows furrowed, and he abruptly moved. Even though he moved so fast he left no afterimage, the arrow still pierced a corner of his cloak.
The black-clad man stood on the cliff, lifting his cloak to examine the hole pierced by the arrow, his eyes unable to hide his shock.
An Jiu looked up, sensing the person on the opposite cliff looking back. Their gazes met for an instant before the figure disappeared into the night.
Her cheek, grazed by the arrow’s wind, stung fiercely. An Jiu turned back to see the opponent’s arrow almost entirely embedded in the rock wall, only its black-feathered end visible.
“Your face is bleeding,” Mei Tingyuan said, her voice trembling with what seemed to be both excitement and fear.
Seeing the fierce battle on the other side and Mei Tingchun trembling as he climbed over, An Jiu took out some wound medicine from her pocket. She rolled up half of her face mask, wiped away the blood, and applied some ointment.
“You’re amazing,” the Lou family girl said, her watery eyes fixed on An Jiu, her voice somewhat childish. “I’m Lou Xiaowu.”
Mei Tingyuan paid no attention, thinking she meant she was fifth in the family ranking. But Lou Xiaowu added, “I’m nineteenth in the family.”
Mei Tingyuan paused, her eyes turning slightly. “You just called out to ‘Second Sister’. Is your second sister very capable? What’s her name?”
“My second sister is called Lou Mingyue,” Lou Xiaowu said reluctantly. “But she told me not to talk about her abilities.”
Mei Tingyuan put her sword to Xiaowu’s neck. “Will you tell me or not?”
“I won’t,” Lou Xiaowu said with a look of resignation.
“Really?” Mei Tingyuan pressed the sword closer to her neck.
Lou Xiaowu glared at her. “If you dare kill me, my second sister will kill you to avenge me!”
“What are you glaring at? Showing off your big eyes, aren’t you?” Mei Tingyuan said irritably, hitting her head with the flat of the sword. “Childish!”
On the other side, after Mei Tingchun crossed over, Mei Tingjun untied the rope and drew his sword to join the battle.
“Fourteen, why don’t you help them?” Mei Tingyuan said, no longer teasing Lou Xiaowu.
An Jiu ignored her, sitting cross-legged to observe the battle.
Lou Xiaowu seemed very interested in An Jiu but didn’t dare get too close. She crouched about two chi away, awkwardly trying to start a conversation. “You shoot arrows well.”
“…”
“Weren’t you afraid just now?”
“…”
“I saw you didn’t even take a deep breath.”
“…”
“Why didn’t you use internal energy?”
“…”
“Ah, could it be you don’t have internal energy?”
“…”
“No, that’s not right. Your spiritual force is so strong, your internal energy must be strong too!”
“Do you know Mo Sigui?” An Jiu suddenly asked.
Lou Xiaowu, happy to get a response, eagerly replied, “I don’t. Who is he?”
An Jiu said coolly, “You should get to know him. You’re the same type of person.”
“What type?” Lou Xiaowu asked curiously.
An Jiu, still focusing on the battle across the way and not looking at her, uttered three words: “The annoying type.”
Lou Xiaowu glanced at her and thought to herself: She’s too sharp-tongued! Not at all like a great expert should be! I won’t admire her anymore!
Mei Tingyuan, seeing less than ten arrows left in An Jiu’s quiver, didn’t ask her to shoot again. She could only anxiously crane her neck to watch the battle.
The group of attackers, seeing they couldn’t quickly end the fight and that there was still an archer who hadn’t joined the battle, began to retreat while fighting.
The terrain here was narrow, and the plank bridge occasionally creaked, seeming like it could break at any moment. It was very dangerous, so Mei Tingjun and the others, seeing the enemy’s intention to retreat, didn’t fight to the death but deliberately left gaps for them to escape.
As soon as the enemy retreated, the five people caught their breath and leaped across one after another.
“Let’s go quickly,” Mei Tingzhu said.
The group, not bothering to tend to their minor wounds, hurriedly left.
As they ran, Mei Tingzhu’s voice could be heard over the whooshing wind, “These people’s martial arts are very high. They don’t seem to be trial participants! I’ve heard the Emperor has always been wary of the Four Great Families. Could he be taking this chance to eliminate us? To avoid another ambush, let’s go together!”
Although Lou Mingyue was displeased about being used earlier, she couldn’t deny the logic in Mei Tingzhu’s words.
“That’s right, Second Sister. The archer who ambushed us from across the cliff earlier was a master in the State of Transformation,” Lou Xiaowu said.
If they encountered a master in the State of Transformation, not just four or five people, but even all nine people from the Lou and Mei families combined might be instantly annihilated.
Thinking of this, Lou Mingyue’s eyes flickered slightly, her peripheral vision catching An Jiu at the back of the group. She didn’t understand why An Jiu didn’t use internal energy, but the almost tangible spiritual force earlier was that of a master in the State of Transformation! Could the Mei family be hiding a once-in-a-century prodigy?
“Alright!” Lou Mingyue agreed.
The plank bridge wound downwards, and it took the group about the time it took to drink a cup of tea to reach the foot of the mountain using qinggong. What met their eyes was an incomprehensible sight—a Buddha Tower that was simply unbelievable!
Surrounded by dense pine forests, at first glance, it looked like a rocky mountain, but upon closer inspection, the entire mountain had been carved into a giant tower! The tower body was divided into seven levels, utilizing natural rock caves, with countless caverns carved out. At the very top was a tower upon a tower, and against the vast night sky, one could see the shape of a stupa at the summit.
The nine people stood in silence for a while before Lou Xiaowu sighed, “I originally thought the trial period was too long, but now I think it’s too short!”
“This must occupy at least six or seven mu of land, right?” Mei Tingchun muttered.
Mei Tingyuan said, “Let’s go quickly. We arrived early, but when the people behind us catch up, there will surely be another round of fighting.”
The others felt a heavy weight on their hearts. Now the issue wasn’t whether they could find the fragments of the celestial book, but that someone was deliberately trying to harm them.
“If your guess is correct,” Lou Mingyue withdrew her gaze, “do you still plan to go in? There must be more ambushes inside.”
The Mei family members looked at each other, falling into silence.
Mei Tingjun said, “It’s equally dangerous inside or outside, isn’t it?”
“You mean we should go in?” Lou Mingyue asked.
“If it’s the Emperor trying to eliminate us, I’m afraid nowhere is safe. Inside, we might at least find a hiding place. Out here, we’d truly be on the defensive,” Mei Tingzhu said.
Lou Mingyue looked at An Jiu. “On the plank bridge, I sensed this young lady’s spiritual force exceeding the realm of warriors. You are…”
As she spoke, a powerful spiritual force spread out like a tide, then surged towards An Jiu like a giant wave. Even those standing nearby felt its pressure.
However, this great wave seemed to enter a swamp when it reached An Jiu, not causing even a ripple.
“Such strong pressure!” Mei Tingzhu slowly exhaled, feeling something unusual in her heart. “So you’ve already reached the eighth rank.”
Lou Xiaowu said proudly, “That’s right, Second Sister is the most powerful.”
Mei Tingyuan snorted, “Still, she couldn’t do anything to Fourteen.”
An Jiu pondered silently. Judging from their reactions, it seemed this so-called spiritual force could also be used to attack people! But why hadn’t she noticed anything unusual about herself in her previous life? Could this be unique to this world?
An Jiu had guessed somewhat correctly. In her previous life, she didn’t have this method of attack, but her tempered spiritual force showed its advantage here.
An Jiu discovered that after being in Mei Jiu’s body for so long, her sensitivity hadn’t decreased but had greatly improved. Every time she suppressed Mei Jiu while controlling the body to do other things, she would feel extremely tired, but after resting, she found herself getting stronger and finding it easier to control the body…
The most effective way to cultivate spiritual force was through battle and experiencing extreme situations. The more trials a person’s heart went through, the stronger their spiritual force would become. Therefore, for martial artists, cultivating internal energy was relatively simpler than cultivating spiritual force.
An Jiu originally had an advantage in this area, and the need to suppress Mei Jiu was like weighted training for her spiritual force—an opportunity ordinary people would never have.
But how to launch a spiritual attack?
An Jiu recalled the time she attacked the old madam from her sleep. Judging from the old madam’s reaction, she must have had considerable martial arts skills, yet An Jiu had managed to threaten her with a dagger at close range. Surely it wasn’t just because of the element of surprise!
Elder Qi’s words suddenly echoed in her mind: Spiritual force can also be called fighting spirit, battle intent…
Understanding this, An Jiu suddenly focused all her attention on releasing her killing intent. At the same time, she unsheathed her sword, pointing it directly at Lou Mingyue’s face.
As the sword stopped, An Jiu’s killing intent gradually dissipated, and everyone could finally move their stiffened bodies.
“I meant no offense,” Lou Mingyue said, sweat beading on her forehead. “I apologize for earlier.”
An Jiu withdrew her sword. Faced with the apology, she didn’t know how to respond, so she remained silent.