Showdown
"Catch him!" Chi Lian shouted loudly, and eleven silver-armored figures moved in response. The cold light crossed each other to block all retreat routes, and instantly surrounded Tiao Tiao and Su Baiwei.
Tiao Tiao leaned slightly to the side and slipped a humble cloth bag into Su Baiwei's hands. Su Baiwei immediately took it in and quietly slipped it into her sleeve. It was her Nine Needle Bag and several medicinal powders and pills.
Their backs pressed together. Tiaotiao's blade gleamed like frost. Every block and provocation deftly diverted the incoming blade to a specific angle, either colliding with a companion's weapon, causing chaos, or deflecting an opponent into a shadowy corner. Each collision tore at his wounds, blood seeping through the cracks in his silver armor, staining the lining of his blue shirt. His grip on the blade remained steady as a rock, forging a blood-stained iron wall in the tiny space behind him.
Tiaotiao once again parried the heavy knife aimed at Su Baiwei's head. The moment the knife-wielding man deflected, she swiftly raised her bare hands and sprinkled a handful of firefly powder onto the chaotic area Tiaotiao had just created.
Swish——
The dark blue flames suddenly entwined with the firefly powder, instantly igniting. The cold flames devoured the unsuspecting guards, illuminating the silver-armored guards' masks like a ghostly specter. The air was filled with the pungent smell of scorched flesh mixed with firefly powder.
With the cover of the light and shadow of the surging cold flame, Su Baiwei spun slightly, and five cold stars shot out from between her fingers, pointing directly at the minions outside who were frightened by the cold flame.
Five short, muffled groans rang out almost simultaneously, mingled with the subtle hissing of the silver needles of Ma Fei San piercing flesh. Five minions, pierced by the needles, fell limply. Their falling bodies knocked over a nearby bronze brazier, sending scorching coals and sparks flying everywhere, causing even greater commotion among the panicked crowd.
The eyes beneath the red-skinned mask suddenly narrowed, fixed on the instantly limp bodies, his knuckles squeaking through his suede gloves. This lowly servant had actually turned the altar's phosphorescent flames, carefully arranged by him, into a deadly weapon to backfire on its master.
Their eyes met and they both nodded at the same time.
Tiaotiao twisted his body suddenly, and the broken silver armor on his body suddenly burst apart. Countless armor pieces turned into silver streams and shot out, revealing a green shirt that had long been soaked in blood. He reached back and reached out -
clang!
A clear sword sound rang out, tearing silk and piercing the clouds.
The green sword is unsheathed.
In an instant, the wind and clouds reversed.
Above the nine heavens, dark clouds swirled and boiled, pale lightning ripped through the sky, and mountain-shaking thunder rolled over the earth. The destructive, earth-shattering force was unexpectedly captured by an invisible vortex, flowing like rivers into the sea, into the longsword in Tiao Tiao's hand, surging with a radiant green light. Dazzling lightning coiled around the sword's spine, flowing and exploding around him, emitting a heart-shaking crackling sound.
This force was like a torture to the wounded body. Blood gushed from the shattered left shoulder blade, ripped by the energy. The deep wound beneath his ribs pierced his bones with excruciating pain, as if thousands of red-hot steel needles were churning through his meridians. His left arm drooped limply, only his right arm, wielding the sword, tensed its muscles under the infusion of lightning, erupting with a destructive force beyond the mortal realm.
At this moment, he was like a demon god stepping out from the sea of blood and thunder, his blue shirt soaked in blood, his sword pointing to the sky.
In the distance, Rainbow Cat and Blue Rabbit, galloping wildly on their horses, reined in their horses simultaneously. They stared in horror at the lightning and thunderstorm tearing through the sky and earth. Their faces changed drastically, and they shouted in unison, "Jump, jump!"
The whip was swung down, the horse neighed in pain, and its four hooves crushed the dust and rushed towards the center of the thunder.
Outside the granary, Mu Jin gazed up at the apocalyptic sky, her eyes shrouded in worry, replaced by a resolute determination. She gripped the bronze key tightly in her hand and inserted it into the massive lock.
Click!
The rusted mechanism groaned harshly, and the massive bronze door trembled open. Darkness surged in like a tide.
The tinder cut through the darkness, drew an arc in the air, and fell onto the kerosene scattered in the corner.
boom!
The flames roared and rose up, the flames licked the grain pile and climbed up to the beams in an instant.
On the altar, Chi Lian's mask trembled violently, and the last shred of composure in his eyes finally shattered. He roared, "Holy Fire, spread the prairie fire! Form the formation!" The five fingers of his right hand suddenly tightened, and the crimson token at his waist shattered in his palm.
Crack! Red crystal fragments splattered.
The sound of the command and the shattering tokens, like some forbidden curse, instantly pierced the minds of all the silver-armored guards. Eleven assassins sprang into action, their figures transformed into pale afterimages. With uncanny tacit understanding, they disengaged from the fray and slipped behind Chi Lian. They linked like iron chains, forming a chain of flesh and blood, their palms pressed against the backs of those before them, unleashing a lifetime of cultivation without reservation. The periphery's minions also rushed forward, piling up layer upon layer, squeezing and converging their tangled internal energy. Like a river bursting its banks, the mighty torrent of internal energy finally poured into Chi Lian's body.
His body swelled under the impact of the power, and his palms were as red as branding. He gathered the strength of all the guards behind him, bursting out with a dazzling blood light, and rushed towards the thunder that fell from the sky.
As early as when Tiao Tiao attracted the thunder from the sky, Su Baiwei had already flashed behind the giant blood and marrow cauldron like a civet cat, curled up and hid in the deepest shadow, avoiding the core of the storm.
"The Azure Dragon subdues the demon!"
Tiao Tiao's roar resonated with the sound of thunder. The Qingguang Sword transformed into a thunder dragon wrapped in the power of heaven, tearing through the air and stabbing at Chi Lian fiercely.
The muscles in Chi Lian's arms bulged, and the red light in his palms surged, as if holding up a burning blood sun, holding back the thunder dragon's head.
boom!
Two destructive forces collided.
The lightning dragon and the bloody light strangled and devoured it, a blazing white light erupting from its core. The entire altar trembled violently, and the ground cracked like a spiderweb. The violent turbulence transformed into a tangible shockwave, sweeping across the surrounding area with devastating force. The giant cauldron where Su Baiwei was hiding was shaken to a humming sound, and the surrounding debris was swept away into nothingness by the wind.
The stone walls of the reservoir, on the verge of collapse, cracked and ruptured amidst the violent tremors. A turbid flood surged out, but was blocked by the heavy stone door at the innermost chamber's exit. Water gushed violently through the cracks in the door, converging into a torrent within the central, mechanical corridor.
The accumulated force of the torrent continued to crash against the second stone gate at the end of the corridor. Muddy sewage continuously seeped out from the cracks at the bottom of the stone gate, soon flooding over the ankles of the guards outside. The guards looked down at the rapidly rising muddy water below their feet, their faces instantly turning pale.
The tightly knit power transmission chain behind Chi Lian shattered like glass struck by a mighty hammer, shattering piece by piece. Figures were thrown back by the violent blast, their cries mingling with the sounds of cracking bones. Chi Lian bore the brunt of the impact, his palms shimmering with blood, his protective Qi shattering. He flew backward like a kite with a broken string, slamming heavily onto the cold stone ground. His mask askew, blood pouring from his mouth and nose, a horrible sight.
The light faded and smoke and dust filled the air.
His body plummeted from mid-air. His blue shirt was stained dark red by the blood gushing from his left shoulder and ribs. Just as he was about to hit the ground, a crimson figure darted out from behind the giant cauldron. Su Baiwei opened her arms and caught the falling body. The immense force of the impact caused her to stumble several steps, leaving a salty taste in her throat and blood oozing from the corners of her mouth. With her right hand, she quickly tapped his Jianjing and Zhangmen acupoints, stemming the gushing wounds.
Chi Lian struggled to get up, but a sharp edge, carrying the lingering aura of lightning, silently pressed against his throat.
Tiaotiao half-leaned in Su Baiwei's arms, his face pale as gold, his chest heaving violently, every breath a piercing pain. His right arm trembled uncontrollably, but the tip of his sword remained motionless, piercing Chi Lian's throat. The cold blade instantly froze all of Chi Lian's movements.
"Blue Light Sword Master?" Chi Lian's voice was hoarse and trembling, his eyes fixed on that face as pale as paper but filled with murderous intent, "You...are not dead?"
Tiao Tiao's lips curled up in a frosty sneer. "How dare I go ahead of you when you're still alive?"
Chi Lian's pupils suddenly shrank as he stared intently at Su Baiwei behind him. Those clear eyes, were there any traces of being corroded by the poison?
"Impossible!" he roared, "I clearly felt her meridians with my own hands..."
"It's just an illusion." Tiao Tiao's voice was so cold that it could condense into ice.
Chi Lian's gaze roamed over Tiao Tiao's face, as if he wanted to peel back the layers and see through all his calculations. Suddenly, a few broken laughs escaped his throat, which gradually grew and finally turned into a shrill howl: "Brilliant! Brilliant!"
He suddenly raised his head, his eyes filled with madness and despair. "Those silver needles and medicine bottles we found? They were all a cover. The real antidote has been hidden in you for a long time! The Qingxin Pill... Ha! The Qingxin Pill that can suppress the seven emotions was a deliberate hint she gave you. No wonder she was so 'obedient' when she surrendered. It was because you took advantage of the time when she was bathing and changing clothes to slip the antidote into her. As for the medicine to destroy the Gu? It's fake! The real killer move is hidden in that inconspicuous silver hairpin! Even the pulse I felt was faked by you using your internal force while you were holding me hostage. What a...perfect drama!" With every word he spoke, his breathing became faster, and the skin exposed by the crooked part of the mask turned purple with excitement, as if he was using up his last bit of strength to tear open this carefully woven deception.
"Good guess." Tiao Tiao's voice was as cold as black ice. "Guess again, have we ever used the hundred-year-old dragon blood that you painstakingly prepared?" The tip of the sword moved forward slightly, piercing the skin and oozing out blood.
Chi Lian's pupils suddenly shrank.
"Impossible!" he screamed, "Without dragon blood, how could she recover so quickly..." He looked at Su Baiwei suddenly, and the world in his eyes seemed to be collapsing.
Su Baiwei supported the weak Tiao Tiao, and her cold voice carried a hint of sarcasm: "Hasn't my father ever told you?" She looked directly at Chi Lian, "The Secret of Returning to the Origin with the Same Breath, the mutual assistance of true qi, is far more effective in healing wounds than external objects. It just makes up for the deficiency of your Dragon Blood. If time were not so tight, you could have made further progress." The words were like the final blow, completely shattering Chi Lian's last hope.
The madness on Chi Lian's face gradually solidified, turning to ashes. After a moment of dead silence, a bitter laugh escaped his throat. "Ha... ha ha... I, Chi Lian, have been planning this for half my life, and today... I've fallen into the hands of you two youngsters." He suddenly looked up, a final glimmer of poisonous fire in his eyes. "If the mother Gu dies, three thousand medicine men will be buried with her! If you are infected with the child Gu, you will also suffer the backlash, and your chances of survival will be cut off!"
"Whether I live or die is none of your business!" Tiaotiao's eyes flashed with coldness, and without hesitation, he forced himself to stand up, pouring his last bit of strength into the sword. The sword suddenly burst out with a piercing cold light:
"Today--" The sword tip hummed, and the cold light went straight to the throat.
"For the hundreds of dead souls of Qinglong Sect!" The sword moved forward again, and the sharp sword energy had drawn a line of blood on Chi Lian's neck.
"For Senior Su Yuanshan!" Su Baiwei's hand, supporting Tiao Tiao, suddenly froze, her knuckles pale. The name, like a sharp blade, pierced the deepest wound in her heart.
"And..." Tiao Tiao glanced at Su Baiwei's swollen cheek, and her voice was as deep as cold iron, "For the humiliation she suffered today!" Su Baiwei trembled all over, and her teeth suddenly clenched. The memory of humiliation burned like a branding iron, and a fishy and sweet taste spread across her lips.
"Revenge! Die—"
The moment when the sword is about to pierce the throat!
jingle--
A shrill ringing sound suddenly rang!
Su Baiwei's face turned pale in an instant, and her pupils suddenly constricted.
Tiao Tiao's determined thrust was frozen in place, frozen in mid-air. He seemed to be under a spell, his entire body choking, his breath choking, only his sword-gripping hand trembling violently.
Chi Lian's eyes flashed with ecstasy at having escaped a desperate situation. The hand that was close to the ground suddenly reached into its sleeve and pulled out a blood-red bell covered with strange spells.
His five fingers gripped the bell tightly, and every shake felt like tugging at invisible, pulsating threads. The runes on the bell trembled, emitting a strange, blood-like glow.
Under the piercing ringing, Tiao Tiao's eyes suddenly blurred. A strange green light emanated from the depths of his pupils, quickly devouring all clarity. His body, which had been leaning against Su Baiwei, suddenly tensed, as if being forcibly pulled away by an invisible string. His limp left hand suddenly struck Su Baiwei's chest. The green sword that was supposed to pierce Chi Lian instead drew a strange arc in mid-air, the blade pointing directly at Su Baiwei's throat!
"Miss Su!" Chi Lian swung the bell frantically, her voice filled with twisted delight. "Your father taught you the Tongqi Guiyuan Jue, but did he ever teach you...how to deal with a lover who is being manipulated?"
The ringing sound became more and more rapid, and the veins on Tiao Tiao's sword-holding wrist bulged.
"After this sword strike, do you think he's awake..." Chi Lian sneered, the blood light on the bell growing brighter and brighter, "Or does he not even know what he's doing?"
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