"To openly attack and kill a disciple of another sect, has the Yang Water Sect already become so unscrupulous?"
Zhao Chun coldly rebuked, not expecting this Yang Water Sect disciple to admit his identity so directly. He just smiled and shook his head.
"If others know, it's called 'openly'. If others don't know, then it never happened..."
As he spoke, he extended an arm. The Giant Insect slid from his shoulder and crawled onto his arm, with half of its body still coiled around his waist. The True Spirit Sect had long ago taught them how to deal with cultivators from this sect.
If they had an externalized Life Gu, attack it first! With a flash of her sword light, Zhao Chun shot forward. Like the autumn wind sweeping away fallen leaves, she directly slashed off the Giant Insect's head!
The Yang Water Sect cultivator tried to dodge but was a step too slow. He could only watch as the sword light fell, the Giant Insect not even having time to let out a wail.
"Fellow Daoist, what skill!" he said with concealed anger, astonished that Zhao Chun was actually a Realm-Entering Sword Cultivator.
The thought of eliminating this threat to his sect grew ever firmer in his heart. Zhao Chun was also certain that this Yang Water disciple must be a Foundation Establishment Cultivator.
After she had combined two sword techniques, someone in the Qi Refining Stage would be utterly unable to withstand her previous strike and would have been cut in two along with their Life Gu! Her guess was indeed correct. This person's name was Chen Songshi, and he had only recently advanced to the Foundation Establishment stage.
He was originally one of the Qi Refining disciples from the Yang Water Sect who had come to observe the assembly. After being nurtured by the sect's fortune, his cultivation base reached perfection.
He had long since found a Foundation Establishment Item and carried it with him, so he took the opportunity to build his Spiritual Foundation in one go here on Tunqi Mountain. However, there was another matter she did not know.
The Yang Water Sect had indeed secretly dispatched disciples to assassinate geniuses of the True Spirit Sect, but this did not include those in the Qi Refining Stage. Instead, it was limited to the two geniuses of alchemy and the sword, Liu Xuan and Jiang Yun.
Today's encounter with Chen Songshi was purely because they had both emerged from their Secluded Cultivation Caves at the same time.
When Chen Songshi saw her wearing the robes of the True Spirit Sect and that her cultivation was only at the Qi Refining stage, he acted on the principle of 'eliminating one is one less', leading to this unexpected calamity for her.
"To think that while only at the Qi Refining stage, you have already glimpsed the Dao Realm. Such talent is truly the envy of others."
Chen Songshi stroked the severed part of the Giant Insect. The insect's whole body trembled nonstop, wriggling from bottom to top, and actually grew a new head where it had been cut.
"What a pity. Meeting me today is your misfortune!"
He had just entered the Foundation Establishment stage and had not yet learned the Incarnation Technique, one of the three great secret techniques of his sect. His Life Gu could not act independently as an External Avatar, so he still needed to use the Control Technique to manipulate the Giant Insect to fight his enemies.
He could not completely free himself to form hand seals and cast spells. The Giant Insect's head and upper back were covered in long needles. After they were shot out, they could regenerate in an instant.
Zhao Chun continuously dodged, but she was calculating in her heart that she could not place herself in a passive position and only defend. Regenerating a severed limb was a move that defied the heavens; it must have a massive cost and could not be used repeatedly.
At the same time, she also noticed that this person was different from Zhuo Gongqing, whom Du Fanzhi had previously fought. Zhuo Gongqing and his Venomous Spider were like two separate entities that could coordinate and fight together.
But the Yang Water disciple before her was more like Tu Mian, needing to divert his focus to control the Gu-Worm, which restricted his own movements. If it wasn't the Incarnation Technique... Zhao Chun's gaze sharpened, and the momentum of her sword changed drastically, turning to strike at Chen Songshi's head!
"Not good!"
Chen Songshi cursed inwardly. He used the arm wrapped by the Giant Insect to block in front of him and gathered True Qi in his other arm, thrusting it forward! He was a Foundation Establishment stage cultivator, after all.
The degree to which his True Qi was condensed was something a Qi Refining cultivator could hardly compare to. Zhao Chun only felt a blunt force coming towards her waist and abdomen. With a slight shift of her feet, she quickly twisted her body to dodge.
The blade of her sword spun, piercing straight through the Giant Insect and mangling Chen Songshi's arm underneath into a spray of flesh and blood! Chen Songshi was filled with great regret. The female cultivator before him was not famous, yet she was a monster capable of shaking a Foundation Establishment cultivator while only in the Qi Refining Stage.
To think that he would run into such a person, of all the luck. However, though he had regrets, he had no intention of begging for mercy. The enmity between the two sects was already deeply ingrained in their hearts.
Now that they had met, it was simply a situation of you die or I live! He threw an object out from his sleeve, which exploded with a boom between the two of them. Seizing the opportunity, he condensed his Life Gu into a small ball, swallowed it, and prepared to perform the Internal Growth Technique!
Zhao Chun did not know what had exploded. Her ears were ringing with a faint, dull pain. Lifting her eyes, she noticed Chen Songshi's actions and immediately flew forward through the smoke.
Her sword light flashed repeatedly, chopping off his other arm as well! Before Chen Songshi could use the Internal Growth Technique, Zhao Chun's sword was about to fall upon his head. But at this moment, she heard someone shout urgently, "Junior Sister, spare him!"
The tip of the sword touched Chen Songshi's glabella, a hair's breadth from piercing through. The one who spoke, Zheng Chenqing, was inwardly amazed. For such a swift and fierce sword strike to be stopped instantly, it was clear that the sword wielder's realm of control was already exceptionally refined.
"Senior Brother Zheng?"
Zhao Chun moved her sword downward, sending a stream of True Qi into Chen Songshi's lower abdomen to destroy his Dantian, completely stripping him of his ability to resist. Only then did she sheathe her sword and turn to ask.
Zheng Chenqing saw that despite having defeated a Foundation Establishment cultivator with her Qi Refining cultivation base, her face was as calm as still water. He felt admiration in his heart and explained, "Recently, cultivators from the Yang Water Sect have often been ambushing and killing our disciples around the sect. If we keep him alive, we can interrogate him.
Even if he doesn't talk, he can be kept as evidence." Before Zhao Chun could speak, Chen Songshi, who was limp on the ground, sneered, "Stop slandering my Yang Water Sect. I don't know when my sect has ever sent people to ambush the disciples of your True Spirit Sect.
Kill me or cut me to pieces as you please, but spare me the slander!" Zheng Chenqing's expression darkened, and he said angrily, "Slander? Were you not just trying to kill a disciple of my sect today?
Since when did the Yang Water Sect have cowards who dare to act but not admit it!" Caught red-handed, Chen Songshi was momentarily at a loss for how to refute. He gritted his teeth hatefully, "What I didn't do, I didn't do.
I'll admit to what happened today, but the rest... I deny all of it!" Zhao Chun stopped the two from arguing.
"It's useless to argue with him. We should take him back and see how the elders decide."
If they brought him back like this and were seen by the cultivators of the Perceptive Moon Sect, it would surely lead to a round of questioning. Zheng Chenqing summoned a small pagoda and was about to store Chen Songshi inside when Zhao Chun saw the hatred accumulating in his eyes, growing colder and colder.
She thought to herself, "This is bad!" and fiercely grabbed Zheng Chenqing's robe, pulling him far back as she shouted: "Senior Brother, be careful!" In that split second, Chen Songshi's body exploded, splattering flesh and blood everywhere!
The force of the impact was so great that even after retreating more than ten meters, the two of them still felt their Dantians tremble and their True Qi fall into temporary disarray. If they had taken the blast directly, they would likely have been severely injured or even killed!
"Junior Sister, you already shattered his Dantian. Logically speaking, it should have been impossible for him to self-detonate..."
Zheng Chenqing asked, still shaken with lingering fear. Zhao Chun pondered for a moment before answering, "The way of the Yang Water Sect's Life Gu is quite bizarre and profound. I suspect that although his Dantian was shattered, his Life Gu did not die, which allowed him to self-detonate just now."
It seemed that must be the case. Zheng Chenqing agreed with her words and nodded slightly. It was a pity they couldn't bring him back today, but then he thought about how fierce the man's temperament was.
Even if they had interrogated him, it would have been difficult to pry open his mouth. Thinking this, he felt a little consoled.
(End of this chapter)