Chapter 49: Dissecting the Ox

Though it appeared effortless, in pursuit of perfection, this sword strike had nearly drained Song Yan completely. His body faltered, and he immediately sat down, took out a pill, and swallowed it, slowly regulating his breath.

The commotion was significant, drawing the attention of everyone present. Jiang Xiao cursed under his breath, “What a useless waste!” Li Qingfeng’s eyes revealed a trace of awe, truly startled by his senior brother’s swordsmanship. He was so taken aback that he nearly got skewered by a disciple from Hanging Sword Mountain.

“Huh? Isn’t this man supposed to be under an illusion spell?” If he were controlled by illusion, then now that Bai Yulu had been sent off to the Western Heaven by his own senior brother, the spell ought to be broken. Li Qingfeng thought to himself, “Damn it, Senior Brother Song’s skills are astonishing.”

“Fatty Li, you’d better show some real ability too! Otherwise, you’re going to be looked down upon!” He no longer hesitated, and a white pill floated in his hand. Upon closer inspection, it was formed by binding together many grains of spiritual rice. He swallowed the spiritual rice pellet, chewed it thoroughly, and gulped it down.

“Hm?” Song Yan slowly opened his eyes, looking at Li Qingfeng with a hint of confusion. “Junior Brother Li’s spiritual power…” He sensed correctly—Li Qingfeng, entangled with the Hanging Sword Mountain disciple, was gradually rising in cultivation. Within a few breaths, Li Qingfeng’s spiritual aura had climbed from the fourth to the fifth layer of the Qi Refining Realm, and was even reaching for the sixth!

The kitchen knife in his hand suddenly began to whirl around him. Li Qingfeng opened his eyes, and the iron pot he had used for defense shrank and returned to his waist.

“Brother, this is also for your peace in the afterlife… Don’t blame your little brother for being rough.” He gripped the kitchen knife and charged straight at the Hanging Sword Mountain disciple.

Song Yan was dumbfounded. Li Qingfeng’s form burst forth like a wild bull charging into battle, his kitchen knife flashing with a cold blue-grey glint. The disciple instinctively raised his sword to block, but a strange scene unfolded: the kitchen knife suddenly slid to the side, its blade angled along the sword’s spine, slicing down with the precision of a butcher separating bone and muscle.

With a flick of his wrist, the kitchen knife’s edge grazed the thinnest layer of the opponent’s protective spiritual energy. The disciple staggered back, but Li Qingfeng pressed his advantage, spinning close within three inches, and slapped the knife’s back onto the acupoint at the left shoulder, causing the entire arm to hang limp.

The man instinctively manipulated his flying sword, and spiritual light surged.

Li Qingfeng formed a hand seal, causing spiritual energy to condense into fine serrated teeth along the surface of the kitchen knife. As the Hanging Sword Mountain disciple formed his sword seal, the dull kitchen knife sliced into him, following the meridian patterns like a butcher dissecting an ox. Li Qingfeng’s sleeve was torn by sword energy, but the knife traced the key acupoints around the opponent’s body, each stroke precisely severing the flow of spiritual power.

The final cut swept across the dantian.

With a sputter, the disciple, still holding his sword aloft, collapsed with a crash. Blood gushed from him like an animal being butchered.

Song Yan swallowed hard, but soon, Li Qingfeng, like a deflated ball, lost his spiritual energy rapidly and collapsed to the ground. “Ah… damn, this wore out Fatty.”

Such a strange secret art…

Song Yan was shaken by the precision and ruthlessness of the blade technique. Thinking carefully, if he were to face Junior Brother Li in a life-and-death duel, he was far from certain of victory. However, this technique must have some limitations.

Li Qingfeng sprawled out in a star shape, gasping for breath, his spiritual energy unstable.

By now, Song Yan had recovered somewhat. “Junior Brother Li, I’m going to rescue Sister Gu.”

“Alright!” Li Qingfeng shouted with all his remaining strength.

Song Yan hurried forward. He saw that the blood cocoon, partially sliced by Qin Ying, was writhing in an eerie fashion, slowly repairing itself. He summoned his flying sword, sword energy surged. Swiftly, he cut and severed the blood threads clinging to the blue-white spiritual light.

He sheathed his sword, lifted Gu Qingqing in his arms, and leaped away from the battlefield of the two Foundation Establishment cultivators.

Scanning with his spiritual sense, he found he could not assess Gu Qingqing’s injuries. Though she was clearly in his arms, his spiritual sense detected nothing—the condensed spiritual light was truly miraculous.

Li Qingfeng, having regained a bit of strength, crawled and stumbled to Song Yan’s side. “Senior Brother, should we go help Sister Qin?”

“What?” Song Yan’s face was full of disbelief, and for the first time, he uttered a curse in front of someone not from Shiliang Village. “They’re immortal masters fighting—if we survive in one piece, we should count ourselves lucky!”

“Sister Qin’s strength is unfathomable; defeating that little demon cultivator is just a matter of time…” Li Qingfeng hesitated, glanced at the sky, then at Song Yan, and finally spoke, “But, I can’t shake the feeling that Sister Qin’s aura… is getting weaker.”

Above Peach Blossom Cove, blood mist swirled. Qin Ying hovered in midair, her robes fluttering amidst the blood fog and icy wind. Frost gathered at her fingertips, and dozens of ice shards condensed, shooting toward Jiang Xiao with piercing speed.

Her brows were deeply furrowed, gaze lowered. Along the edge of her arm, tiny crimson spots slowly spread across her pale skin. Strangely, her protective spiritual energy showed no reaction.

“Fellow Daoist, within my Blood Refining Array, no matter how you wield your spiritual power, it’s all useless. Here, I am the master…”

Jiang Xiao grinned viciously, raising a hand. Filthy waves of blood rose from the ancient well, morphing into ferocious ghostly faces in midair.

“Hahaha… what damned sects and immortal mountains!” His gaze was cruel and determined. “Whoever attains the Dao, whoever achieves immortality… only then do they deserve the title ‘Immortal’!”

The moment the ice shards pierced the blood waves, the dark red liquid boiled violently, devouring the ice completely and releasing foul, white fumes.

The flying sword beside him, burning with black flames, suddenly trembled, bursting with blinding black light, lunging straight for Qin Ying’s throat.

Clang!

A mirror appeared before Qin Ying, radiating faint ripples of cold.

She could no longer conceal her exhaustion, breathing softly now. The crimson corruption had climbed onto her pale shoulder.

“So many treasures… Well, once I kill you, they’ll all be mine… It’s a pity your body won’t get to be properly savored…”

Jiang Xiao’s eyes brimmed with regret as he formed a strange seal.

Suddenly, the blood array roared. The kneeling villagers all convulsed, crimson streams seeping from their seven orifices, drifting upward, gathering around Jiang Xiao, enveloping him in a brilliant blood light.

“Only under the Blood Refining Array do I have the chance to wield this immortal sword…”

Jiang Xiao was utterly lost in the ecstasy of newfound power, reluctant to let it go.

Clang!

Qin Ying’s pupils contracted sharply. “So fast!”

Her protective spirit mirror, barely catching the second sword strike, was already faltering.

The flying sword hovered mere inches from her face; raising her eyes, she saw the black demonic flames surging toward her!