As Wu Tie and Lao Tie rushed towards Niu Yingxiong, Shi Lingqing also wanted to catch up.
However, Luo Lins didn't give her a chance. Despite Shi Lingqing's persuasive words, Luo Lins remained unmoved. With a swift and powerful waist cut, he blocked Shi Lingqing's path, leaving her frightened and shocked.
Shi Dian grunted and swung his wooden staff, causing three short staves to shoot out from his sleeve. The dim electricity transformed into an electric net, attacking Luo Lins.
But before the net could touch the ground, Ding had already moved over, carrying Boss Wu on his back.
With one arm, Boss Wu propelled the stone pillar, causing several short stone spears to burst out from the ground. They directly aimed at Shi Dian and rushed towards him.
Helpless, Shi Dian had to abandon attacking Luo Lins and instead used the electric net to face the stone spears.
The dim electric net and the small stone spears collided gently, causing the net to shatter and the spears to break. Shi Dian and Boss Wu both gasped for breath, the former taking several steps back while the latter couldn't help but vomit blood.
Both of them were already exhausted and had no strength left to fight.
Qiao swung his chained knives, creating a sharp piercing sound, and the long iron chains swung about. The sharp sickles tore through the air, emitting a chilling glare, and aimed at Luo Lins' body.
Luo Lins swung his single arm and paid no attention to the chained knives attacking his body. He simply focused on relentlessly attacking Qiao's vital points.
Angry and exasperated, Qiao shouted. Even Shi Lingqing, who had three triangular nails nailed to her face, couldn't escape his anger. Moreover, she had been inexplicably poisoned. Only Qiao remained completely unharmed, untouched even by a speck of dust on his clothes.
But he was afraid of death.
Luo Lins assumed a desperate stance while Qiao didn't dare to confront him head-on. Faced with Luo Lins' sharp blade, he could only step back repeatedly, continuously trying to persuade Luo Lins to "let go of his hatred" and "join forces to seize the treasure."
"Have you seen the body of the ancient saint? There must be treasures on him... No, the body of the ancient saint is the ultimate treasure." Qiao angrily shouted, "Perhaps, this is our chance... This is an opportunity for all of us."
"Luo Lins, you may not cherish your own life... But do you want to bring Big Boss Wu and Ding to die here with you?" Qiao reprimanded with a sorrowful tone, "You are too selfish... Luo Lins, you are too selfish!"
Ding coughed and his right leg swelled and shone brightly, with black blood seeping out from his pores.
Licking his dry lips, Ding muttered to himself, "Qiao's words make sense... I don't have anything to say."
Boss Wu grabbed the stone pillar in his hand and cruelly hit Ding on the head, saying, "So, do you want to make amends with him?"
Ding shook his head and sighed, "Third Brother originally planned to take revenge alone... It's our brothers who took the initiative to help him. If we want to blame someone, it should be Qiao, right?"
Qiao swung his chained knives and dodged Luo Lins' heavy strike. The chain knives created a sinister arc and left a deep wound on Luo Lins' face. Upon hearing Ding's words, Qiao angrily exclaimed, "Blame me? Blame me? Is this my fault?"
"I'm not to blame... I just want a better future!" Qiao shouted loudly, "Not to mention, Lingqing and I truly love each other..."
Luo Lins, Boss Wu, and Ding all spat out in disgust. Luo Lins let out a hoarse roar, swayed his body, and two figures rushed towards Qiao from the left and right.
Qiao narrowed his eyes, and his pupils shrank to the size of a needle.
With a strange smile on his lips, Qiao fiercely patted his waist. His belt was half a foot wide and made of half-inch thick animal hide, with a palm-sized black metal component in the center adorned with a decorative animal head. As he pressed down with his palm, the metal component exploded, transforming into dozens of faint cold glows that struck Luo Lins.
"Luo Lins... Third Brother... Let you die more cleanly." Qiao quickly laughed with satisfaction.
A figure suddenly appeared in front of Luo Lins, and with a deep shout, the air in front of him vibrated violently like water ripples. When the dozens of extremely thin cold glows were three feet away from the figure, they collided as if hitting a copper wall or an iron wall, shattering into pieces.
Qiao let out an extremely horrified scream, dropping his chained knives and falling to his knees with a loud thud. He slammed his head against the ground.
The figure grabbed Qiao by the back of his neck and lifted him up.
"Tell me..." the figure coldly laughed, but before he could finish his sentence, Qiao suddenly made a strange sound. He kicked his feet fiercely at the figure's lower abdomen, and two half-foot-long daggers popped out from the tip of his boots, with the black blades clearly coated with a strong poison.
"Ding! Ding!" Two crisp sounds rang out, and the daggers broke just half a foot away from the figure's body. An invisible barrier enveloped the figure, and the intense recoil force caused Qiao's boots to explode into pieces. Both his feet were distorted and shattered, with his foot bones crushed like tofu residue.
"Commander, spare me!" Qiao screamed in panic, tears streaming from his eyes.
"How about you talk...?" the figure coldly laughed, but as soon as he spoke, Qiao suddenly emitted a strange scream. The figure's hand suddenly seized Qiao's neck, lifting him up forcefully.
"You have something to say..." the figure sneered.
Before he could finish his sentence, Qiao, with trembling legs, kicked the figure's lower abdomen continuously. Two feet had twisted daggers stuck in them, and his boots, shattered and crumbled, mixed with his fragmented foot bones, ending up similar to tofu dregs.
"Shut up!" the figure loudly commanded.
Qiao, in severe pain, immediately closed his mouth. His teeth clenched tightly together, enduring the excruciating pain throughout his body, not daring to make a sound.
Luo Lins and Ding stood up, standing at a distance and staring at the figure in a complicated manner.
A gust of wind blew by as six figures dressed in black armor quietly appeared behind the figure. Then, their figures flashed, and they surrounded Shi Lingqing and Shi Dian.
"Do you really believe in 'true love'?" the figure asked Shi Lingqing, sneering, "Lin Qiao, I want to hear the truth from you."
Qiao trembled as he looked at the figure, frantically saying, "Shi Lingqing told me that she is a disciple of Changsheng Sect, and Qianyu City is a branch of Changsheng Sect... She said that Changsheng Sect is powerful, and I am just a hired assassin in Wudao. If I join Changsheng Sect, my future will naturally be more prosperous than being an assassin."
Qiao looked at the figure, urgently saying, "I know my sins. I am willing to redeem myself through my actions. I am willing to infiltrate Changsheng Sect... for Wudao..."
The figure coldly snorted.
Qiao immediately closed his mouth, not daring to make a sound.
"You're not honest," the figure pointed a finger at Qiao, forcefully knocking on his forehead. He laughed coldly and said, "Not honest... There must be another reason. Among the people in Wu Yan's team, you, Lin Qiao, are the smartest and also the most afraid of death."
"You know the methods of Wudao, so you dare not easily betray them." The figure walked in front of Shi Lingqing, grabbing her chin and lifting her face, saying, "Changsheng Sect? We, Wudao, have had some contact with Changsheng Sect in recent years... but the interaction hasn't been much."
"Tell me, what exactly is Changsheng Sect? Even my elite assassins who were nurtured by Wudao, have been tempted and betrayed by you?"
The figure clenched their five fingers tightly, distorting Shi Lingqing's chin. However, she sweetly smiled, gently saying, "Profound Commander, you hurt me... hehe, Lingqing looks quite bad now. Wouldn't it be nice if Profound Commander could give me an antidote to restore Lingqing's appearance? Then Lingqing can explain the ins and outs of Changsheng Sect to you properly."
Shi Lingqing was about to speak when a strong gust suddenly swept past, and a wooden boat, over twenty meters long, flew several meters above the ground.
A young-looking old woman with graying hair stood at the bow of the boat. Upon seeing Shi Lingqing in the hands of the figure, she didn't say a word. With a wave of her hand, a red silk flew out from the wide sleeve of her blood-red robe, piercing through the air with a sharp sound, aiming at the figure's back heart.
The figure hummed, released Shi Lingqing, and drew the straight sword on their back.
The sword glimmered with a cold light as it slashed, causing sparks to fly. The red silk curled back, and the straight sword was shaken up more than three feet high. The figure and the old woman both staggered.
"Cang Yan Territory, Wudao's Ninth Altar, I am the Commander Ji." The figure turned around, looked at the old woman with a smile, and coldly laughed, "Old woman... are you a member of Changsheng Sect? Changsheng Sect has someone like you, a formidable expert?"
The old woman greeted the figure with a charming smile and bowed, "Commander Ji, you know very little about Changsheng Sect. My Changsheng Sect... hehe..."
An old woman, even if she had maintained herself well and had a smooth and shiny complexion, she was still an old lady who was at least seventy or eighty years old. Even if such an old lady imitated the appearance of a young girl, her 'hehe' laughter would make even the iron-willed Ji shudder.
"Twenty years ago, I opened a trade route between Cang Yan Territory and the Outer Territory..." Ji said coldly, "Five years ago, Wudao had its initial contact with Changsheng Sect... I didn't expect that Changsheng Sect had already established a stronghold in Cang Yan Territory."
The old woman nodded with a charming smile, throwing a flirtatious look at Ji, "A remote and impoverished place like Cang Yan Territory is precisely where Changsheng Sect relies on to gather longevity energy..."
As she said half of her words, the old woman's gaze suddenly fell on Niu Yingxiong, dozens of miles away.
Shi Lingqing immediately spoke up, "Hong Laohua, that's the corpse of an ancient saint... There is one person and... an artifact that has already gone there."
Hong Laohua and Ji looked at each other, Hong Laohua waved her sleeve, and several red silks flew out, wrapping around Suigugu's waist, lifting her onto the wooden boat. She gently patted Suigugu's head and said, "Lingqing, Laohua already knows the cause and effect of the matter... hehe, your contributions this time are considerable. You must work hard in the future."
Shi Lingqing smiled modestly a few times and stood respectfully behind Hong Laohua.
The wooden boat sped forward like a gust of wind, quickly catching up to Ji.
After draining half of Wu Tie's blood, Suiyouyou slowly flew up and was about to fly out of the main hall when Ji arrived at the entrance.
Through the wide-opened doors, seeing the peculiar appearance of Suiyouyou, Ji took two steps forward in quick succession, swinging the straight sword in his hand, causing a resonating sound. He then laughed loudly, "This treasure belongs to Wudao."
Wu Tie's body felt weak, and darkness filled his vision, making it impossible for him to stand up immediately.
Lao Tie turned around, the blood light shimmering in his eyes, glancing at Ji and the rapidly approaching wooden boat. He suddenly lost strength in all four limbs and fell to the ground with a thud, saying, "Ah, this damn door has exhausted all my strength..."
Ji waved his long sword, and a sword aura fiercely struck Lao Tie, sending him flying over ten meters away. He crashed into the wall behind the altar, leaving behind a large hole as he fell out.
Hong Laohua stood at the forefront of the boat, and several red silks flew out simultaneously from her sleeves, entangling Suiyouyou with a sharp sound.
"Profound Commander, real men don't fight women. This treasure should belong to me, right?" Hong Laohua smiled brightly, puckering her rosy lips, and threw Ji a flying kiss. From between her lips, a red needle suddenly shot out, flying silently towards Ji's heart.
"Real men don't fight women, but can an old witch like you still be considered a woman?" Ji laughed loudly. He jumped up suddenly, avoiding the red needle, and grasped his long sword with both hands, emitting a loud roar.
The straight sword emitted a blade light that extended more than ten meters, ruthlessly chopping down towards the wooden boat.
Hong Laohua seemed caught off guard and stunned by the blade light. She hurriedly took a step backward, and the blade light passed by her. Among the young men and women behind her, two men and one woman were grazed by the blade light, and their bodies instantly turned into a mist of blood.
Hong Laohua exclaimed, "My poor children!" She opened her mouth wide and took a deep breath, instantly inhaling the three masses of blood mist.
The old woman's body trembled, her white hair turning black at a rapid pace, and her appearance quickly becoming younger. In the blink of an eye, she transformed into the appearance of a seventeen or eighteen-year-old girl with a breath of fresh air.
(End of this chapter)