The falling snow was rustling…
In mid-air, a man, whose age could not be discerned, curbed his aura without releasing even the slightest fluctuation. He wore a black robe and had a mask of an evil ghost on his face, making him look extremely hideous.
After hearing what Ou Yangming said, the black-robed man’s pupils shrunk inward. He was appalled as if monstrous waves were surging in his heart. ‘I’m a Venerable One. How could a little Spiritualist have noticed me?’
Even though that was what he was thinking, he still assimilated his aura into the universe without moving an inch.
A red light flickered in Multi-armed King Kong’s eyes while its solid momentum was released from its body. While strong wind gathered out of thin air and kept spinning around it, its muscles bulged like horned dragons and were filled with explosive powers. Instead of looking good-natured like before, it was suddenly full of killing intent. It stared at the sky and was ready to go all out as long as it noticed that something was off.
The goshawk had a grim look on its face as well. It subconsciously moved closer to Ou Yangming.
“Are you not going to get out here on your own?” Ou Yangming sneered.
He lowered his center of gravity and lifted his right hand. The spiritual Qi inside his dantian gathered like an ocean, whereas his arm turned completely red. Once the young fellow’s Qi momentum burst out, it rose into the sky while he aimed a punch at the black-robed man’s spot.
A spiritual Qi storm that was as wide as a bucket went against the current and soared into the sky. It carried the long mirror’s momentum and stirred up the blizzard as though a furious dragon was drawing up water from the river. The black-robed man knew he had been spotted, hence he stopped hiding and slowly showed himself. When he rolled his sleeves, wind and snow fell, where everything became calm again. He remarked with a smile, “Not bad—you noticed me. Looks like I found the right person.”
Ou Yangming’s face darkened, and he asked coldly, “Who are you?”
A deep light flickered on the black-robed man as he took a deep breath and answered, “You don’t need to know—I was only passing by!”
“Hmph, passing by? Would a passerby purposely wear a mask that can block off mental power from probing further? This is the Beast King Sect’s territory. Given how stealthy you’re acting, you must have another motive.” The young fellow could not stop sneering. His voice rumbled, then he looked at the king kong and ordered, “King Kong, catch him!” This time, he had left with King Kong. Since the newly advanced Venerable One was by his side, what did he need to worry about?
“Do you think I’m afraid of you!” The black-robed man sneered. He adjusted the Qi momentum inside his body, then his violence burst out.
At this time, Multi-armed King Kong had moved. It charged forward and swung its right arm, where it slashed as if it was a giant sky-splitting saber. It seized the timing so well that it was when the black-robed man was adjusting his Qi momentum, and it attacked from an incredibly tricky and ruthless angle. The king kong’s 3-meters-tall body was very agile, where it swept across the space and appeared out of the blue like a lightning arc.
The black-robed man did not expect Multi-armed King Kong to go all-out right away. He was taken aback, but he did not react slowly at all. While making gestures with his left hand, he withdrew his saber with his right hand and lifted it. Next, he pushed the saber outward and barely managed to block the tricky hand saber. The king kong’s cutting edge was blocked, but the light in its eyes grew brighter. It had its pride—in a close combat within a small space, through its overbearing physical power, it met a rare equal-ranked opponent.
By taking advantage of the rebound, Multi-armed King Kong drew a stunning arc in the air. It slid backward and immediately slashed with its arm for the second time.
The black-robed man looked solemn. He spun his saber as though it was a spinning windmill, then it chopped such that he was being defensive yet offensive at the same time.
When the hand saber and the saber clashed, an enormous power traveled from the latter’s blade to the handle until it shocked the black-robed man, causing the spot between his thumb and index finger to be cut. He almost threw his saber away because of this, and he wondered, ‘How can its power be so forceful?’ Even so, the man was still unwilling to retreat. In a fight between powerhouses, one’s momentum was exceptionally important. Once one’s momentum was suppressed by one’s opponent, one would end up being passive for the rest of the fight. With that, the black-robed man initiated another attack.
Nevertheless, Multi-armed King Kong, which grew in strength when it was 6 and became a mischievous beast that turned the 10,000 Beasts Ridge upside-down since it was 8, knew this very well. A saber was cast to be tough, where it was swung like a ferocious tiger leaving the mountain and stabbed like a dragon going out to the sea. The king kong did not stop, and it could not stop, where it gathered its Qis at the blade. The Qis then surged down hastily, and they were airtight like surging monstrous waves in a river. While the king kong’s Qi momentum was agitated, it launched its attacks in one go.
Each time Multi-armed King Kong slashed, the black-robed man was constantly on the run, but he was already swept into the saber force. Similar to the bamboo leaves on the river, he could not stop at all, and it would be wishful thinking for him to withdraw himself from the situation. As such, the man could only confront his opponent head-on, and he only managed to block the attacks by acting fast as well. In the sky, the 2 figures eventually made faster attacks such that only afterimages could be seen. As the falling snow was stirred up by their spiritual powers, they kept spinning around them. It was a beautiful thing to see, but killing intents filled the air. Blood kept dripping from the black-robed man’s wound, and his arm kept shaking until he could almost not have a firm grip on his saber anymore.
The black-robed man was frightened. ‘Where did this monster come from? It has just stabilized his boundary as a Venerable One, and yet it’s forcing me to this point already?’ He could naturally sense that Multi-armed King Kong was a newly advanced Venerable One, but the spiritual power in its dantian was so rich that it was not outdone by the rudimentary top-grade Venerable One.
Ou Yangming looked quietly and strangely at the sky. ‘This is King Kong’s first time gathering Qis into a saber. Is this a combat skill that has just been passed on to him by the 10,000 Beasts Venerable One?’
On the other hand, the goshawk had an even more complicated look in its eyes. It sighed deeply.
The black-robed man waved his sleeves. He made swift gestures with his left hand while he used his right hand to spin his saber in a circle to protect his body. While forcing back the surging Qi and blood in his body, the man kept backing away while he wielded his saber. At this point, his clothes were already drenched by his cold sweat.
He gritted his teeth and sped up his saber force. A resolute and fierce intent could be sensed, and it was clear that he wanted to utilize the savage saber force to force Multi-armed King Kong to retreat for the time being so that he could leave. Concurrently, the man had prepared a red jade in his left hand. He secretly operated a controlling technique to turn it into a stone lion, which came down straight in oppression to block the king kong’s path.
The red light in Multi-armed King Kong’s eyes flickered. It roared. “Trying to escape? How can it be so easy? Stay!”
Following that, Multi-armed King Kong swung its arm like a saber. It attacked continuously, where the attacks were always unusual and were made from tricky angles. As a result, its opponent was not left with any leeway. Without warning, a click was heard coming from the king kong’s wrist as it stabbed diagonally to break the stone lion into powder. At the same time, a light flashed in its left hand as it adopted a wonderful Tai Chi push, by which it struck outward and easily disintegrated the black-robed man’s aggressive attack.
Instead of stopping, Multi-armed King Kong further pushed its saber forward and raised it.
“Slash…” The sound of flesh being torn was heard. A 3-fingers-deep wound was seen on the black-robed man’s shoulder, where blood flowed out and his white bone became visible. He took advantage of this time to draw his distance away from the king kong.
Ou Yangming stared with bright eyes at the sky. He knew although the man and the beast made seemingly mediocre attacks without making sand and stones flying everywhere nor was there a majestic scene, such close combat was the most dangerous. Every move they made could communicate with the universe, thus their powers could reach extreme points. If either of them was slightly careless, they would be killed.
The young fellow looked deeply at the black-robed man and somehow had an odd feeling. ‘Why does this black-robed Venerable One make me feel like my hands are tied…’
At the spur of the moment, the black-robed man’s interspatial bag made a sound as he put his saber away.
Right after that, he was seen holding a white sword pouch.
When he pressed the pouch with his left middle finger, a scorching white light was emitted while a clear ring spread in the air.
1, 2… Numerous white lights followed, and a mighty sword Qi soared into the clouds.
The black-robed man pointed at the white light in the sky and shouted, “The Imperial Sword Art!”
Subsequently, the flying swords that flew out from the sword pouch began to spin orderly. The 36 flying swords were connected from end to end; the second sword’s tip was linked to the first sword’s handle, the third sword’s tip was attached to the second sword’s handle, so on and so forth. They flew in the sky like a silver snake, then they overlapped with each after once their positions were adjusted.
From Multi-armed King Kong’s perspective, he could only see the first sword as the rest were blocked by it.
“Quick!” The black-robed man quickly made gestures with both hands, then he bent his fingers and pointed to drive the swords using his spiritual power.
The king kong’s face changed, and it exclaimed, “The Return Sword Sect’s Imperial Sword Art?” It then answered itself, “No, the Qi momentum doesn’t seem right; it doesn’t match the Return Sword Sect’s awe-inspiring feeling. Who exactly are you?”
Instead of answering the question, the black-robed man simply drove the swords with his spiritual power.
Consequently, the 36 flying swords sped up abruptly and flickered like a round silver light spot. When they moved forward and were lifted, a cold arc-shaped sword Qi appeared out of thin air. As for the 36 flying swords, they exploded and split such that each of them turned into 10 swords, then the 10 swords turned into 100 swords. Accordingly, the whole universe turned into an ocean of swords. The sword-lights were cold and had an exalted momentum similar to the waterfall from the Wanzhang Precipice.
The sword Qis were in front while the flying swords were behind as they zoomed toward Multi-armed King Kong.
“Hmph, naive!” The king kong smirked. Its aura was exceedingly solid as it took half a step forward with its right leg.
A red veined pattern on its back flashed. As it lowered its body, green veins burst out on its arm. It extended its hand forward and simply crushed the surging sword Qis barehanded.
“Sway!” Multi-armed King Kong let out an abnormal roar. It lifted its right arm to point its middle finger at the sky, and a weird look could be seen on its face. Quickly after, when the king kong pressed down, the sky within roughly 333 meters from it started to sway intensely. Cold winds cried in the air while the illusory image of an ancient ape appeared behind it. The ape looked exactly like it, and its image covered the universe at once while its eyes were shut.
Ou Yangming’s face changed. “This was the secret technique used by 10,000 Beasts Venerable One when it went against Li Xin.”
The goshawk nodded but did not fully understand it. It was in awe and dazed.
In the sky, the flying swords were as closely packed and as hurried as splashed water. A sword tide fell like the rain and surrounded Multi-armed King Kong right away.
“Disperse!” Multi-armed King Kong’s voice was no longer good-natured as it only sounded overbearing at this time. The second its voice spread, the universe fell silent. The illusory image of an ancient ape behind it opened its right eye out of the blue, where countless oval green lights overlapped at the bottom of its eyes, causing one to be dazzled. At the same time, a blood light burst out.
Gravel, the sky, the ground, the plants…
It seemed like everything was painted light right. The peculiar feeling gave the black-robed man a tingling sensation on his scalp, by which he felt like he had fallen into a cold pond without any temperature, and he was having goosebumps.
