Chapter Twenty-One: Nighttime Ambush
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After a moment of silence, Lord Liu forced a smile.
“Qinghe, this time it was the return of the Everlasting Tower, one of the Seven Sects of the Demonic Path, which caught our Demon-Slaying Bureau off guard. But you need not worry too much. Qi Xuan is preparing a way to break the formation, and there should be results soon.”
Although he was already a Gold Demon Slayer with a distinguished record of service, he had little confidence in front of Xia Qinghe. In terms of merit, Xia Qinghe had accomplished countless feats over the years as well. As for her background, she had a Senior Brother who served as a Guardian Envoy to support her. The only advantage he possessed was that he was somewhat stronger than her.
Had Xia Qinghe’s master not deliberately held her back, this young girl who was not yet twenty might already have become the youngest Gold Demon Slayer since the founding of the Demon-Slaying Bureau.
Thus, among everyone present, he could afford to disregard anyone else—but Xia Qinghe was the exception.
After he finished speaking, silence once again descended over the tent.
Soon, several people rose and walked out. Before long, Gu Xian also left the tent.
He raised his head and looked toward Fengyang City. Faintly, he could hear waves of miserable wailing, like the howls of vengeful spirits. The sound made one’s heart and spirit tremble.
He frowned. According to what the Silver Demon Slayer had just said, the entire city of Fengyang was now enveloped by a vast formation.
That formation was like a gigantic furnace, with the vital essence of every commoner within the city serving as its fuel. Once all their vital essence had been drained, the formation would be completely activated.
The entire city would then become a living hell.
After a while, Gu Xian withdrew his gaze.
There was no use in becoming anxious now. He was merely at the peak of the Breath-Nurturing Realm, and he simply lacked the strength to change anything before him.
After crossing into this world of immortal cultivation and successfully embarking on the path of cultivation, with a supreme treasure like the Heavenless Immortal Mirror in his possession, he had always believed that his Dao heart was firm and that he would never concern himself with the lives or deaths of ordinary people.
But after descending the mountain, he had encountered so many things along the way. The first time he had met Little Yu and her mother at the Liu residence in Nanyang City, the eldest daughter of the Qi family, the innocent villagers of Yu Family Village...
Scene after scene surfaced in his mind.
Only now did Gu Xian suddenly realize that although he claimed not to care, deep down he still could not truly become hard-hearted and utterly indifferent.
With a sigh, he walked out of the encampment, intending to take a stroll and ease the gloom weighing on his mind.
A little less than half an hour later, he had already traveled a considerable distance from the camp.
The woods here were lush and dense. Pale moonlight filtered through the gaps between the branches, scattering mottled shadows across the ground.
Just as he passed a massive locust tree, a ring of radiance suddenly lit up on the ground with him at its center.
In an instant, the radiance surged upward, enveloping him in a curtain of light.
Two flying swords suddenly tore through the air from opposite directions, striking toward his brow and heart.
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Gu Xian’s brows drew together slightly. The aura around him erupted, and a layer of faint golden protective radiance condensed over his body.
The next moment, the two flying swords stabbed down. They produced only a grating, ear-piercing sound and failed to pierce the protective radiance circulating around him. Instead, they were deflected and shot away, vanishing into the ink-black night as they awaited another opportunity to strike.
The man in blue robes understood at once. This had certainly been the work of the people behind Chen Kai.
A cold, sinister smile appeared on his face.
Gu Xian suddenly drove his foot into the ground. In an instant, the earth shook for dozens of yards in every direction, and the circular curtain of light surrounding him trembled faintly.
His divine sense instantly locked onto the sword at his waist. The flying sword leaped from its sheath, swift as a streak of light.
It stabbed repeatedly toward several points of the curtain. The curtain shook more and more violently, already teetering on the verge of collapse.
Before long, the entire curtain of light split apart like torn silk.
Everything happened in the blink of an eye. Before the ambushers hidden in the darkness could make another move, he had already shattered the formation.
Gu Xian took two steps forward and called out in a clear voice, “What rats are lurking there, daring to attack from the shadows? Why not show yourselves and fight?”
The only answer was the shriek of two fierce flying swords.
Gu Xian likewise sent his sword flying. It traced a mysterious arc through the air before colliding abruptly with one of the swords attacking him. Sparks flew in all directions, dazzling beneath the night sky.
After a brief stalemate, the opposing flying sword was defeated. Gu Xian’s sword severed the spiritual connection between it and its master, and it fell like a kite with its string cut, finally lodging at an angle in the ground.
At the same time, the other flying sword had already reached Gu Xian.
The man in blue robes remained utterly calm. With a mere pull of his mind, his own flying sword transformed into a streak of light and arrived before him in an instant.
Though both were flying swords, there were differences in quality. Gu Xian’s sword had been exchanged for within the Heavenless Immortal Mirror and had been nurtured with secret arts for many years.
Naturally, it was beyond comparison with ordinary weapons.
The two remaining swords faced off, their tips colliding as fierce sword energy scraped against sword energy, producing a shrill and piercing sound.
Gu Xian suddenly leaped into the air. A thread of lightning arced across his palm, and he abruptly pressed his hand down upon the opposing flying sword.
Brilliant azure lightning illuminated the night.
The opposing flying sword instantly plunged to the ground.
At the same time, not far from there, three figures with their faces concealed were secretly observing the scene.
The moment the flying sword struck the ground, one of them turned deathly pale and suddenly spat out a mouthful of blood.
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Gu Xian’s divine sense was extraordinarily powerful. He abruptly turned his head and looked in their direction.
One of them said in a low voice, “This is bad. He’s spotted us. Leave, quickly.”
Gu Xian’s expression remained impassive. His figure shot forward, leaving behind a series of afterimages as the spiritual energy within him circulated at its peak.
The others had taken only four or five steps when Gu Xian caught up to them like a shadow.
His eerie voice drifted through the forest.
“Gentlemen, where do you think you’re going?”
In the next instant, he grasped the flying sword in his hand and swept it diagonally toward the three men before him. A fierce sword aura carved a silver arc through the darkness and descended upon them.
“Ah...!”
A dreadful scream rang out beneath the night sky.
One of them collapsed with a thud.
This was the sword technique he had just learned from the Heavenless Immortal Mirror—the ultimate art of slaughter.
If cultivated to its highest level, it offered the possibility of reaching the supreme realm in which all things could be severed.
The other two exchanged a glance, and both saw deep shock in the other’s eyes.
The next moment, they unleashed the fastest speed they could achieve in their entire lives and fled in opposite directions.
Gu Xian shook his head. His figure shot forward as he pursued one of them.
At the same time, he guided the flying sword with his mind and sent it after the other.
Driven with all his strength, the flying sword moved with astonishing speed. In the blink of an eye, it had caught up to its target, and a fierce flash of sword light swept past.
The man crashed heavily to the ground, sending dust billowing into the air. Yet his eyes remained wide open, refusing to close even in death.
At the same time, Gu Xian had caught up to the other man.
Lightning flickered across his palm, and he abruptly thrust it forward.
The instant his palm struck the man’s back, the man’s body stiffened. Violent pain coursed through him, and the aura that had previously circulated freely within his body suddenly ground to a halt.
He pitched forward and collapsed to the ground.
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