Within Autumn Moon Nunnery, a fierce battle raged.
With an upward flick of Zuo Qingshuang's sword, a sharp hiss tore through the air, spraying a shower of blood as a dark figure tumbled from midair.
A bloody severed thigh plummeted separately from the figure... The man was none other than Feng Lixiao.
His lightness skill was exquisite, and his ability to conceal his breath was peerless in the jianghu. So hidden had he been on the rooftop during the Seven Sects' council that not a soul had noticed him.
Yet his martial arts left much to be desired. He relied purely on swift footwork and soundless stealth to launch sneak attacks from the shadows. Such tactics worked at first, but once his opponents were on guard, they proved fundamentally inferior. Zuo Qingshuang had seized an opening and sheared off one of his legs with a single sword strike.
Yet as she swept her gaze across the battlefield, her expression remained tense.
Tonight's battle had turned from a feint into a true assault because Fang Wen had caught Feng Lixiao spying, prompting the seven righteous sects to change their strategy on the spot. The fiends of Autumn Moon Nunnery had assumed this was an opportunity, exerting only thirty percent of their might to mock the Seven Sects' masters, intending to wipe them out in a single stroke once the real clash began. As a result, the Seven Sects' masters had shattered their defense in one go and charged straight into the nunnery.
During the first half of the raid, everything had gone smoothly. Sweeping forward like a tempest through dead leaves, they had slain several fiends in succession.
Yet right at that moment, an unexpected turn occurred.
King Cao, the true master entrenched within Autumn Moon Nunnery, made his appearance.
Fang Wen did not know who the Hundred Ghosts Hall was, but Zuo Qingshuang knew all too well.
The Hundred Ghosts Hall was a shadowy demonic force looming over the jianghu. Its power was secretive and immense, far beyond anything the Black Fiend Cult could match. Their martial arts were utterly unconventional, said to originate from the Hundred Ghosts Scripture. Relying on it, the Hall Master had founded the Hundred Ghosts Hall; an unfathomable figure, he had never shown his face before the world. Beneath him sat the Four Ghost Kings: Blood, Flesh, Bone, and Life. These titles were bound directly to their martial arts, each a separate branch derived from the Hundred Ghosts Scripture.
Yet the hall's true objective remained unknown, and its master was shrouded in mystery, having never clashed head-on with the Seven Great Sects. Even so, because cultivating their arts required the sacrifice of human lives, their traces had eventually been uncovered. The sects had clashed with them several times, both sides suffering casualties, only for the encounters to end inconclusively. Later, after focused investigations, much was learned about the Hundred Ghosts Hall, though most of that intelligence had leaked from Golden Bell Tower.
None of them had expected to find the Flesh King of the Hundred Ghosts Hall, Cao Jiuyin, right here!
The last report concerning him had come from Taixu Dao three years ago.
Within the bounds of Taixu Dao's mountain gate, someone had died an abnormal death, leaving behind nothing but a pool of fresh blood and bloodstained bones. Every scrap of flesh and skin had vanished without a trace. Following the trail, Taixu Dao tracked down Flesh King Cao Jiuyin hiding deep in the mountains, gorging himself on raw human flesh. After a desperate battle, Taixu Dao lost two elders, and Cao Jiuyin escaped wounded. Subsequent searches found no further trace of him. To warn the other sects, they had circulated the news.
Thus, upon laying eyes on him today, someone from Taixu Dao recognized his identity at once.
At the time, several fiends still remained within Autumn Moon Nunnery. Joining forces with Cao Jiuyin, they clashed with the masters of the Seven Sects. After several exchanges, both sides took losses. Even Zuo Qingshuang had sustained multiple wounds... Meanwhile, Feng Lixiao had flitted about without a trace, using his lightness skill to vex them to no end, until Zuo Qingshuang finally caught an opening and brought him crashing down.
Paying no heed to Feng Lixiao as he sat wailing and clutching his single remaining leg, she shifted her stance. Her Ten-Thousand-Word Sword Dao wielded the blade like a brush, flicking upward. Cao Jiuyin's pudgy finger had been aimed squarely at the shoulder of the comely woman from Yuqing Pavilion, but this strike intercepted it.
Cao Jiuyin had built momentum behind the move. When his fingertip struck the flat of the blade, the sword hummed and shuddered violently. A blast of force erupted, jolting Zuo Qingshuang's tiger's mouth so hard the flesh nearly tore. Yet she twisted the hilt, tightening her grip through sheer force of will, and slashed diagonally with a furious shout:
"Die, fiend!"
A brilliant arc of sword light flashed, tracing along Cao Jiuyin's arm straight toward his throat.
*Squelch!*
The blade cut horizontally across his neck, yet sank only halfway through the flesh. Across Cao Jiuyin's fleshy face, beady eyes no larger than soybeans gleamed with cold malice. As his true qi circulated, the flesh and blood around his neck began to writhe, clamping tightly around the blade.
Abandoning the woman from Yuqing Pavilion, he stepped forward and drove a palm straight toward Zuo Qingshuang. The woman from Yuqing Pavilion did not stand idly by either; her hands moved like blooming orchids, stabbing and tapping against vital acupoints across Cao Jiuyin's chest. Yet the man was far too obese, and his blubber harbored a bizarre secret. Her finger strikes failed to penetrate his vitals, merely rippling through his flesh without forcing him back a single step.
The palm strike came crashing down.
Zuo Qingshuang felt no fear. Where righteousness lay, death was met without regret!
With a sharp cry, her right hand still strained to wrench the sword free while her left flipped upward. Driving the Gold and Jade Divine Skill to its utmost, her palm blazed with brilliant golden light as she met the blow head-on.
A resounding crash shook the air!
Zuo Qingshuang finally succeeded in wrenching her blade from Cao Jiuyin's neck, but the recoil sent her flying backward. She spewed a mouthful of blood in midair, and just as she was about to slam into the ground, a hand caught her by the back.
Startled, she glanced over her shoulder to see Fang Wen!
He had already placed the two client escorts atop the courtyard wall, and his divine Yijin Jing was already surging into Zuo Qingshuang's body.
Opening her eyes, Zuo Qingshuang gasped, "Young... Young Hero Fang... don't worry about me. Watch out for... Cao Jiuyin..."
"Focus. Do not speak," Fang Wen said in a low voice.
Having landed a blow, Cao Jiuyin had no intention of letting them off. His corpulent frame bounded forward with unnatural agility, pressing a palm downward to crush Zuo Qingshuang where she lay. As for Fang Wen... he did not even take the young man into account.
Fang Wen had to mind Zuo Qingshuang's wounds, so he did not dare circulate his true qi too violently. Seeing Cao Jiuyin's palm strike crashing down, he raised an arm across to block it with a muffled thud.
As the blow landed, Fang Wen touched down with Zuo Qingshuang in his grasp. Cao Jiuyin cast a startled glance at him, never expecting this youth out of nowhere to actually block his palm strike.
Without hesitation, Cao Jiuyin unleashed a flurry of strikes, seamlessly parrying and attacking in succession.
Fang Wen's brow furrowed slightly. Holding Zuo Qingshuang in his embrace with one hand pressed against her back, continuously channeling internal breath into her body, he used his other hand to meet Cao Jiuyin's onslaught.
In the blink of an eye, they exchanged several blows.
Within these few fleeting moves, aided by his threefold Comprehension, Fang Wen grasped the knack of dividing his focus between two tasks. The internal force channeled into Zuo Qingshuang was gentle and steady, while the force directed at Cao Jiuyin was fierce and explosive. With a final palm strike, he forced Cao Jiuyin back step after step.
At the same time, two furious bellows rang out as two burly monks from Nianhua Zen Courtyard rushed forward, intercepting Cao Jiuyin and keeping him at bay.
With this respite, Fang Wen pressed both palms against Zuo Qingshuang's back.
She had suffered severe trauma from that single strike: many of her meridians were severed, and her internal organs had sustained varying degrees of damage. Fang Wen had already realized this the moment he caught her, which was why he had not dared exert his full might earlier, lest it cost Zuo Qingshuang her life.
Now, using the divine Yijin Jing to protect her heart's meridians and suppress the rampaging internal force in her body, he turned his head to glare at the two perched atop the wall.
"If she dies, you won't be going to Feixue City—and you won't be returning to Jinghua Pavilion either!"
Chapter 73