Captured Alive

"Die!" A savage glare burned in the scar-faced man's eyes. Qin Sang was moving far too quickly; escape was out of the question, and fleeing blindly would only bring death faster. The scar-faced man understood this plain truth. His only choice was to risk his life in a desperate gambit! Sword qi flared violently from his flying sword, loosing an earth-shattering hum as it shot straight toward Qin Sang like an arched rainbow. Faced with the onslaught of razor-sharp sword qi, Qin Sang remained utterly composed. When he had decided to lure the scar-faced man into pursuit, he had already anticipated such a turn. The ebony sword was the trump card he had left in reserve. Sword qi suddenly erupted from the ebony sword as it manifested the Thousand Mechanism Sword Array, instantly suppressing the flying swords of Yu Daiyue and his companion. Tearing through the void, it flicked like a swimming fish and sped back in a flash. *Clang!* With a crisp impact, the ebony sword parried the piercing beam of sword light at the razor's edge. Throughout the exchange, Qin Sang did not pause for a fraction of an instant. Seeing his flying sword thwarted and Qin Sang closing in, panic finally seized the scar-faced man. At Qin Sang's blinding speed, he had no chance of unleashing another magic tool in defense. In desperation, he flung out several spirit talismans, trying to force Qin Sang back. For a moment, talismans danced in the air as rages of fire, golden swords, and ancient vines flew together in a brilliant display of multicolored light. Unfortunately, the might of these talismans fell far short of the Thunderclap Talisman from earlier. Putting away the Nine Dragons Heavenly Chariot Talisman, Qin Sang surged with spiritual power, forcibly braving the talismans' onslaught. With a flick of his raised hand, a cloud of black, venomous miasma burst forth with a whoosh, readily enveloping the scar-faced man at such close range. Affected by the Heavenly Poison Gauze's venom, the scar-faced man's consciousness blurred. A violent shudder jerked him awake, only for him to realize in sheer horror that his spiritual power had ground to a halt. At the same time, his flying sword stuttered for a fraction of a second. Seizing the opening, Qin Sang drove the ebony sword to swat the weapon aside and plunged directly into the venomous miasma. The scar-faced man suddenly felt a cold pang in his chest. Looking down, he saw a gaping, bloody hole where his heart had been, blood gushing outward. A look of profound disbelief froze in his unblinking eyes as he died with grievances unavenged. From the moment Qin Sang turned around to his slaying of the scar-faced man, barely an instant had passed. Yu Daiyue and the young man had only just regained their footing, intending to assist the scar-faced man in besieging Qin Sang, only to witness a scene of pure terror—the scar-faced man's corpse tumbling out of the venomous miasma. The crimson blood pierced their eyes like blades. Their eyes bugged out in shock. Exchanging a single glance, they turned and fled without hesitation. Having eliminated the most troublesome foe, Qin Sang felt his tension ease slightly. Yet this was no time to relax; not one of the three could be allowed to escape! The Yin-Yang Compass inverted, aligning with the young man in martial attire once more, though this time emitting white light. The powerful suction left the young man feeling as though he had fallen into a quagmire. In haste, he activated the seven-colored parasol, sending thousands of auspicious rays streaming from the treasure like supple swords to sever the pull of the Yin-Yang Compass. Yet Qin Sang was faster. Before the young man could break free of the compass's suction, Qin Sang had already closed the distance. *Whoosh!* Repeating the trick, Qin Sang unleashed the Heavenly Poison Gauze again, casting a sheet of miasma down upon his foe's head. Having just witnessed the scar-faced man perish by the Heavenly Poison Gauze, the young man was petrified. He hurriedly raised the seven-colored parasol once more to ward off the poison. The powers of the two magic tools clashed. While the miasma and the seven-colored light seemed to cancel each other out, Qin Sang's cultivation surpassed that of the young man, causing the treasure parasol's glow to dim rapidly. Then, Qin Sang abruptly retracted the Heavenly Poison Gauze. The ebony sword took up the attack, capitalizing on the faded radiance to pierce through the seven-colored parasol from an exceedingly tricky angle. At that very moment, Yu Daiyue launched a sneak attack from behind. With Qin Sang possessing the Nine Dragons Heavenly Chariot Talisman, escape was impossible for Yu Daiyue. Knowing this in his heart, he had secretly activated the octagonal bronze mirror the moment Qin Sang engaged the young man. A bronze beam of light shot toward the back of Qin Sang's heart like a bolt of lightning. *Swish!* As though he had eyes in the back of his head, Qin Sang shifted the moment Yu Daiyue struck, the Nine Dragons Heavenly Chariot Talisman carrying him out of harm's way. Swift though the bronze mirror's beam was, it struck only an afterimage. Yu Daiyue's face turned the color of ash. The disparity in cultivation was one thing, but Qin Sang's speed was utterly despair-inducing. Just as the ebony sword was about to behead the young man, a thought struck Qin Sang. At the final moment, he tilted the sword slightly, steering it away from vital points to pierce straight through the right side of the young man's chest. *Squelch!* A bloodcurdling scream tore from the young man's throat, only to cut off abruptly as the Heavenly Poison Gauze flared once more, sending venomous miasma surging past the breached parasol. Ravaged by the venom, the young man's body stiffened instantly. Qin Sang flickered forward and tapped several fingers against him, swiftly laying down restrictions to seal his sea of qi and meridians, capturing him alive. Seizing the young man by the scruff of the neck, Qin Sang dropped him onto the ground for the moment, then turned toward Yu Daiyue's fleeing silhouette and gave chase. Even without relying on the Nine Dragons Heavenly Chariot Talisman, Qin Sang was faster than Yu Daiyue. The distance between them shrank rapidly. Just as Qin Sang was about to overtake him, Yu Daiyue suddenly turned around, his arm swinging wildly to unleash a flurry of spirit talismans. Anticipating this, Qin Sang halted abruptly, easily evading the attacks before resuming his pursuit. With one of Yu Daiyue's companions dead and the other captured alive, Qin Sang had no need to rush or take risks; he could play cat and mouse, systematically exhausting every last measure Yu Daiyue had. Yu Daiyue proved relentless as well. Magic tool after magic tool was shattered by Qin Sang, his spiritual power dwindled toward exhaustion, and he failed to land a single scratch, yet even as his reserves ran completely dry, he never uttered a single word of apology or begged for mercy. Nor did Qin Sang have any intention of demanding his surrender. Between the two fellow disciples, not a single word had been exchanged since Yu Daiyue's opening remark. At last, sharp pangs pierced Yu Daiyue's sea of qi. Gritting his teeth, he reached once more into his mustard seed bag, only to freeze. It was... empty! With a bleak, bitter smile, Yu Daiyue channeled his last shred of spiritual power into his right palm and slammed it violently toward his own glabella. Only then did Qin Sang, who had been holding back, tap into the Nine Dragons Heavenly Chariot Talisman once more. Seizing Yu Daiyue's arm, he struck the back of his neck lightly with his left hand, knocking him unconscious before sealing his sea of qi as well. Having captured Yu Daiyue alive, Qin Sang cast a glance in the direction of the Changyang Cultivation Market. Not knowing whether anyone had sensed the battle, he knew he could not linger. With that in mind, Qin Sang immediately returned to the earlier battlefield, erasing the obvious traces of their auras. Then, clutching the young man in martial attire and the scar-faced man's corpse, he took his leave. Not long after, several streaks of escape light sped over from the Changyang Cultivation Market, arriving one after another. After circling in midair for a time, they dispersed in various directions. The area sank back into dead silence. Elsewhere, Qin Sang carried the two living men in hand as he flew straight out of the rocky mountains and into the vast wilderness. Only after confirming that no one was tailing him did he burrow beneath the desert sand, excavating a cavern within the dunes.