Wuzheng was thoroughly shaken. His agreement to join forces with Zhou Wuji in striking back had rested primarily on his confidence in the Yin Thunder Beads his master had given him.
In his mind, two Yin Thunder Beads ought to have been enough to shatter a squad of rogue soldiers and crush a seventh-rank martial artist.
At that point, Zhou Wuji would only need to advance with his sword and sweep through the disordered troops.
He had never imagined that the enemy's seventh-rank martial artist could actually take two Yin Thunder Beads head-on and emerge almost entirely uninjured.
Slaying that seventh-rank martial artist had been almost entirely Zhou Wuji's doing alone.
Zhou Wuji's exquisite mastery of spells and magical artifacts, together with his peerless swordsmanship, filled Wuzheng with profound admiration.
Even more awe-inspiring was Zhou Wuji's composure in the throes of mortal combat; every step he took was so unerringly precise that he managed to slay a seventh-rank martial artist against terrifying odds!
Wuzheng had thought he held Zhou Wuji in high enough regard, but looking back now, he had still underestimated him.
This eighth-rank Daoist who had only just completed his investiture possessed a true combat strength that was terrifying beyond measure...
Zhou Wuji had no mind to ponder such things. Slaying the seventh-rank martial artist was by no means the end; plenty of rogue soldiers remained here, and far more lurked outside.
Several dozen well-trained soldiers who knew how to coordinate would be utterly formidable once formed into a battle array.
Adjusting his true qi, Zhou Wuji glided forward, his Seven Stars Sword splitting into two flashes of cold radiance that thrust to the left and right.
Two soldiers whose faces had been struck by the Fire Bell Incantation barely opened their eyes when they saw the biting sword light gleaming toward them.
The pair tried to step back and evade, but Zhou Wuji's gliding lunges were blisteringly fast. In the blink of an eye, the blade pierced their throats, and blood sprayed in the wake of the cold gleam.
Having cut down two men in quick succession, Zhou Wuji did not halt; instead, he rode the momentum forward, striking with every step.
In a flash, Zhou Wuji killed another four spearmen.
Struck by the Yin Thunder, every one of these soldiers was seeing black and limp from head to toe. Even though they sensed mortal danger, they lacked the strength to dodge.
Among the remaining eight soldiers, however, were two eighth-rank martial artists. Their wounds were not severe; the Yin Thunder had merely ignited the blood and qi within them, scorching them inside and out as if by fire.
Seeing Zhou Wuji advancing with his sword, the two soldiers cast aside their internal injuries and swung their sabers at him almost simultaneously.
As eighth-rank martial artists, their internal and external force had fused into hidden force; erupting across their bodies, it could unleash a thousand jin of power.
Their swift-cleaving long sabers shrieked sharply as they cut through the air, the techniques simple yet exceptionally ferocious.
The two soldiers' blade craft could well be called seasoned, their left-and-right split slashes sealing off every path for Zhou Wuji's advance.
Zhou Wuji saw the remaining two soldiers struggling to get back on their feet as well, and clamorous voices rose from behind the rooms—clearly, another squad of rogue soldiers was about to charge through from the rear.
He had no time to tangle with these two. The slightest delay would let the main force behind them rush in. With only one Yin Thunder Bead and a single Northern Culmen Heavenly Dipper Divine Talisman left, he feared he could not withstand them...
Zhou Wuji flicked his left sleeve, and two bursts of fire shot out, blasting straight for the faces of the two soldiers.
The distance was simply too close. Seeing the flames descending upon their faces, the two soldiers had no time to dodge; they could only squeeze their eyes shut and jerk their heads aside, which inevitably slowed the descending arc of their swift blades.
Seizing the opening, Zhou Wuji erupted with his full true qi. His body moved like a drifting cloud, tracing an arc that evaded the left soldier's blade and brought him around to the man's blind side.
This movement technique from the Flowing Cloud Sword appeared leisurely but was blindingly swift. The moment his silhouette flickered, his body had already arrived—and his sword struck at the same instant.
A straight thrust of the Descending Goose Sword pierced straight through the throat, finishing off the eighth-rank martial artist on the left first.
The eighth-rank martial artist on the right reacted immediately. Paying no heed to his comrade's life or death, he adjusted his footing, raised his long saber, and swept it fiercely toward Zhou Wuji in a horizontal cleave.
Lacking the momentum to evade with footwork again, Zhou Wuji had no choice but to raise his sword vertically to parry.
Blade met sword with a resounding clash. Zhou Wuji continuously channeled his true qi, but at this moment, the qi upon the blade was not enough to knock aside the opponent's long saber, locking the two weapons in a stalemate.
Gripping the hilt with both hands, the soldier bore down with all his might. The mirror-like blade pressed right up to Zhou Wuji's face, close enough that he could see his own reflection upon the steel.
Zhou Wuji felt an intense surge of danger. Under the sharp stimulation of life and death, however, he grew exceptionally calm; brute force would not work here.
His blade vibrated slightly to deflect the incoming force, employing none other than the Verdant Mist Sword from the Xiaoxiang Sword style.
Verdant mist was the dense vapor of mountain forests, cloaking the green peaks and taking on their hue until it turned a faint verdant shade.
The Verdant Mist Sword was dense and elusive, a defensive sword technique that primarily directed the flow of true qi to dissolve an opponent's offensive layer by layer—an extraordinarily subtle and intricate transformation of sword craft.
Though the soldier's long saber was heavy and possessed crushing momentum, it relied purely on an eruption of hidden force, which held far fewer variations than true qi.
As blade locked against sword, the more violently the soldier unleashed his hidden force, the more clearly Zhou Wuji saw through his flaws.
With a twist of the Seven Stars Sword, the long goose-quill saber was guided off course. The Seven Stars Sword darted forward in the wake of the opening, its edge piercing through the gap left by the deflected saber and plunging into the soldier's throat.
With his spine severed, the soldier could not unleash his thousand jin of force no matter how he strained; he could only collapse limp to the ground, groaning feebly in agony...
Gathering his remaining strength, Zhou Wuji took two strides forward and dispatched the final two struggling soldiers.
In less than five breaths from start to finish, Zhou Wuji had slain another eight rogue soldiers.
The small courtyard was now littered with corpses.
Wuming emerged from the room, only to be greeted by a ground strewn with bodies.
In the dim gloom, she saw glistening patches upon the earth. Though she could not clearly make out the color, she could guess that it was flowing blood...
Just as Wuming was about to speak, Zhou Wuji waved his hand and said in a low, heavy voice, "Leave quickly and regroup with the others! There are more men behind us, and more soldiers outside—be careful!"
Clutching his injured arm, Wuzheng strode out. He was more composed; ignoring the corpses covering the ground, he looked directly at Zhou Wuji. "You aren't coming?"
"I'll regroup with you once I deal with this squad," Zhou Wuji said calmly.
Only at this distance did Wuming clearly see that Zhou Wuji's face and clothes were spattered with dots and streaks of dark fluid—unmistakably blood!
Yet Wuming felt no fear. Instead, she found Senior Brother Wuji at this moment so immensely powerful and captivating that she was entirely infatuated with him.
Mustering her courage, she whispered, "I'll stay behind to help you!"
Zhou Wuji sighed internally. Having Wuming stay would be nothing but an encumbrance.
Yet he could hardly speak harshly to her. After all, he was fond of her beauty, and her willingness to stay behind showed loyalty; he could not bear to chill her heart.
He gave Wuming a gentle smile. "I can't bear to let you take such risks. Go with Senior Brother Wuzheng. I can handle them."
Wuming's face flushed crimson at once, though her heart blossomed with even greater delight. *Senior Brother truly favors me!*
The mature Wuye wore a complicated expression. How could the two of them still find the time to exchange sweet words at a moment like this?
She could tell that Wuji was merely coaxing Wuming, yet Wuming had taken it completely to heart. She had no idea how to advise her junior sister; Wuji's shrewdness, methods, and martial prowess were all formidable to a terrifying degree...
Wuzheng heard it clearly as well, yet he acted as though he had heard nothing and said bluntly, "Let's go, quickly!"
He was injured and had exhausted his Yin Thunder Beads; staying behind would offer little aid to Zhou Wuji anyway.
Having witnessed Zhou Wuji's meticulous planning and ruthless efficiency, he believed that if Zhou Wuji dared to stay, he certainly had great confidence in his chances.
With that, he shot Wuye a meaningful glance, urging her to drag Wuming away at once and stop making a fool of herself here!
Her heart brimming with sweetness, Wuming did not resist Wuye's pull. The three of them hurried out the door.
Zhou Wuji, however, was in no rush to seek out the men behind the rooms. A coordinated battle array of fully armored soldiers was formidable—far stronger than he had anticipated.
Had it not been for the efficacy of Wuzheng's Yin Thunder Beads, he would never have found the chance to slay that seventh-rank martial artist, much less wipe out the entire unit.
While he still had a sliver of time, he needed to elevate his swordsmanship!
In direct, frontal combat, no spell was more practical than sword craft.
Within his sea of consciousness, Zhou Wuji opened the Northern Emperor's Book of Heavenly Punishment. The thirteen rogue soldiers he had slain were all recorded upon its pages.
The squad's leader possessed a destiny pattern of three liang and three qian; two others stood at two liang and six or seven qian, while the rest hovered around two liang.
The destiny pattern of three liang and three qian undoubtedly belonged to that seventh-rank martial artist. Without hesitation, Zhou Wuji converted the three highest destiny patterns into primordial profound spirits and poured them all into the Xiaoxiang Sword.
A purple spiritual glow shone forth as a pocket realm unfurled...
At that very moment, however, Zhou Wuji heard the clatter of armor plates echoing from behind...
Chapter 29