The assassin, whose face was covered by a lead-colored mask and whose temples were already streaked with white hair, immediately sensed that something was amiss.
At this moment, he had already distanced himself from the area where Yue Qianfeng had sealed his qi.
Clenching his weapon, a blood-colored aura rose from his body.
The cultivation technique, modeled after the Dharma form, transformed into a blood-colored, ferocious wolf that prowled beside him, its gaze scanning the surroundings with a chilling intensity. "Good, what a wonderful sound of the zither. I didn't expect there to be an expert here."
"Those with profound internal strength can kill with a mere leaf or falling flower."
"The Daoist's so-called supreme primordial spirit can also kill with the sound of the zither. The strings are like swords, cleaving mountains and separating seas, all within a single melody. But I wonder, which esteemed gentleman has come today?! I, unworthy as I am, wish to learn from you."
As he spoke, he paced back and forth, a majestic aura circulating within him, his gaze icy and alert.
He planted his right foot beside a massive stone, the wind blowing gently, causing the branches to sway slightly.
Suddenly, the sound of the zither stirred.
The trees to his left trembled violently, branches falling flat.
Leaves drifted down, landing beside the massive stone. In an instant, the assassin sprang into action, his speed surging like lightning. The stone shattered, and three pale yellow flowers of spring beside it were crushed into the earth. The assassin charged toward the direction of the zither's sound.
He raised his hand to block, the sound of the sword ringing mournfully.
It was as if he had touched blades.
He swung his sword in response, the murderous aura transforming into a blade of light that tore through the sky, but it was interrupted in an instant.
The blood-colored Greedy Wolf Blade light melted in the air, its cutting edge smooth. The qi blades stirred up by the zither's sound continued unabated, causing pain to the assassin's cheek, blood gushing forth, his gaze cold yet filled with intense killing intent.
He had lived long enough as an assassin.
This meant he had faced all kinds of opponents.
Naturally, this included those so-called eminent scholars who were neither martial nor Daoist, neither Confucian nor Buddhist.
"I've found you."
He stepped into the air, the void trembling, his body drawing closer.
Compared to martial artists like Xue Daoyong and Yue Qianfeng, he was inferior.
But compared to those who practiced the arts of the zither, chess, calligraphy, and painting, he was extremely strong!
His foundation belonged to one of the Hundred Schools, adept at concealing his form and qi, then erupting to ambush his opponents. He understood that if the four arts were cultivated to an extremely high level, combined with primordial spirit power, they could unleash various marvelous uses.
But such experts also had a weakness.
Close combat!
Within a three-foot circle, martial artists had no restrictions.
The man wielding the blade slashed madly, cleaving through the relentless qi blades, the shattered remnants of qi scattering, splitting the surrounding trees, stones, and earth into chaos, charging several miles away. His eyes brightened.
He finally spotted a woman's figure, sitting on a blue stone. The assassin's blood surged, and he directly used a forbidden technique.
His speed surged again, ignoring the numerous qi blades aimed at him.
The woman raised the zither in her hand to block a strike.
The assassin's right hand held the blade, while his left pressed down hard on the back of the blade.
The qi surged once more.
"You've lost!!!"
Blood light erupted.
A head flew up, then fell to the ground.
The headless assassin seemed to have committed suicide, using his own blade to sever his neck.
He stood there, swaying slightly.
His head fell to the ground, a smile still on his face. The leaves he had just seen finally drifted down, landing on him. Then his body fell heavily, kneeling beside the massive stone. The flowers that should have been crushed beside the stone were stained red with blood.
The wind rustled the leaves, their sound like the melody of the zither, harmonious and distant.
The first segment of the melody had not yet ended, but it had already come to a calm conclusion.
Surrounding him were traces of blades and swords, and in his perception, the trees and earth that had been shattered remained intact, while his weapon was stained with his own blood. He had never stepped out of this clearing enveloped by the forest.
The zither's sound was melodious, gradually fading away, until it disappeared completely.
The first segment of the zither's melody concluded.
The seventy-third assassin of the Southern Chen Kingdom.
Died by self-inflicted injury.
……………………
Li Guanyi crashed into the encirclement of five men, his body bending low to evade the intersecting sword lights. He then stomped the ground, twisting his body to leap up with force, the handle of his blade crashing heavily into one man's abdomen, twisting his face in pain. Li Guanyi then swung his blade, forcing several men back.
The blade's edge was domineering.
The five assassins initially believed that with their strength, they would surely overpower this youth.
However, when they faced him in battle, they realized that without their proud entry techniques, they could not unleash their myriad mysterious moves. They found themselves somewhat unaccustomed to this close-quarters combat. Their bodies had undergone the refinement of qi, surpassing this youth, which was a source of their confidence.
But at this moment, they discovered it was not so.
The strength of a fierce tiger or a giant elephant is greater than that of a human, yet they are not the opponents of humans.
Strength alone cannot determine victory or defeat.
The heavy blade swept through with the technique of Breaking the Army's Eight Blades, stirring up a whirlwind of blade wind that forced the others' weapons aside. Then, like a butterfly, he leaped, the heavy blade, though heavy, moved as lightly as a curved blade. With each step, the blade's edge kissed a killer's throat, blood spraying forth.
The assassin, capable of cleaving through blade light, clutched his throat and staggered backward.
Immediately, he sealed his meridians with internal qi, then pulled out a silver needle to seal his qi on his neck, managing to save his life. However, his qi weakened, making it difficult to exert strength. If he were to explode with power again, blood would likely surge forth in an instant, leading to his demise.
He suddenly recalled the first lesson his teacher had taught him.
Martial arts is the skill of using minimal force to defeat the enemy.
It is the way of the weak overcoming the strong.
Li Guanyi relaxed his grip on the blade, his muscles loosening.
"The first."
Break the formation, diminish their might!
To bolster my own prestige—"The Art of War: On the Battlefield."
Li Guanyi cast aside the military tactics taught by General Xue from his mind.
He did not know why, at this moment, this phrase appeared in his mind, prompting him to choose to exert all his strength to eliminate one person first.
He stood there, and in that instant, the remaining four assassins dared not approach. That feeling of having experienced countless battles, tempered through life and death, gave these assassins a sense of illusion.
It was as if they were not facing a youth, but rather a renowned general who had rolled back from the battlefield after experiencing countless life-and-death situations.
The assassin skilled in concealing his qi was exposed under the sunlight.
Facing off against a general with no restrictions.
A sense of fear inexplicably surged forth. The leader dispelled this emotion, whispering harshly, "Form up and attack! Even if he is a born general, he cannot kill all five of us without paying a price."
They stepped forward with agile footwork, launching their assault. Even if Li Guanyi immediately incapacitated one opponent, he soon found himself in a bitter struggle. In this moment, with both sides able to exert similar strength, the advantage of numbers was indeed significant.
The opposing side changed their strategy, no longer underestimating him as they had at the beginning. Instead, they paired up, relying on their superior lightness skills to strike and then swiftly retreat. This was highly effective; Li Guanyi could only use his combat footwork, while the assassins excelled in lightness and brief bursts of attack.
Gradually, Li Guanyi's body bore more and more wounds, blood staining his blue robe.
But for some reason.
Perhaps it was due to the suppressed entry qi within him, or perhaps it was the star power that had been continuously merging into his body during this time. The qi that had stagnated in the areas where he was struck began to disperse, and the unabsorbed star power surged forth once more.
Li Guanyi felt no pain, only a tingling itch at the wounds, combined with the sensation of qi stagnating within him, giving him an instinctual urge to destroy something.
The assassins felt a slight sense of calm as they once again advanced with their lightness skills.
The seemingly sluggish youth suddenly erupted.
The heavy blade swung in a wide arc, the timing of the strike so exquisite that it seemed as if the assassin had willingly offered his waist to the blade's edge. The two opposing forces collided on the three-hundred-refined heavy blade, and in an instant, the blade cleaved the assassin in half.
A trace of astonishment lingered in the assassin's eyes, his final thought being.
"Has he seen through our attack rhythm?!"
Impossible?!
The youth swept his blade backward, forcing back the incoming enemies, wiped the blood from his body, and slightly raised his brow.
He smiled like General Xue: "The second."
General Xue would use the second and third "correct" to disrupt Li Guanyi's mindset, and now he unconsciously spoke in the same manner.
The bisected assassin crawled on the ground, wailing in pain.
The youth thrust his blade through the assassin's throat.
With one hand resting on the blade's handle, he gazed at his enemy, using stillness to counter the enemy. Perhaps having seen too many opponents in the secret realm, this method of killing resonated with Li Guanyi, reminiscent of the masters from the Mo family branch, who had fallen from the path of chivalry to become pure assassins.
Li Guanyi had dealt with their ancestors, the assassins who had once attempted to kill General Xue.
The myriad changes do not stray from their essence.
As the remaining three assassins appeared to be stunned, Li Guanyi flicked his wrist, the heavy blade suddenly spinning and flying out. At that moment, abandoning his weapon, everyone was momentarily stunned. The next moment, the leader suddenly felt a chill run down his spine and exclaimed, "Spear! He wants to seize the spear!!!"
Li Guanyi's training with General Xue bore fruit once again. He seized the abandoned spear in an instant, his wrist flicking, the spear's blade sweeping out a wide arc of light. As the youth grasped the long weapon, he felt a sense of relief.
This thing was much easier to use than a blade.
No wonder the court wanted to ban it.
He charged forward with the spear, sweeping it out with a menacing aura, instinctively mimicking General Xue's techniques, sweeping to force the others back. Then, twisting his body, he raised the spear high, striking down like a blade. This move was extremely taxing, yet Li Guanyi felt invigorated.
One assassin was cleaved to his knees.
Li Guanyi twisted the spear's tail, thrusting it forward like a drill, piercing into the assassin's throat.
Then, gripping the tail of the spear with both hands, he tensed his body.
The spear's shaft had elasticity, and the spearhead tore open half of the assassin's neck. As that assassin fell, he had already enveloped the other two within the range of his attack, forcing them back. The upper and lower limits of the long weapon were both exceedingly high, and in this situation where qi could not exert its effects, he was invincible in close combat.
Li Guanyi's vision blurred as a shadow flashed before him. Instinctively, he struck to block the shadow, but he could not completely stop it. His shoulder jolted as a crossbow bolt spun and embedded itself in his shoulder. Because he had instinctively used the Cang Wolf Guard, the bolt did not penetrate but merely pierced into his flesh.
The assassin, whose throat had been cut yet still clung to life, wore a dazed expression.
Li Guanyi raised his hand to grasp the crossbow bolt and snapped off the exposed end.
He tossed the crossbow body to the ground, his gaze sweeping over the area.
An imposing aura naturally erupted.
The leader felt a chill in his heart, cursing inwardly.
"What kind of thirteen-year-old boy is this?!"
"The officials have misled me!"
After about the time it takes to burn a stick of incense, the fighting here finally quieted down.
Li Guanyi's hands were covered in blood, panting heavily.
The five assassins around him had all fallen.
The first had his throat cut, the second was bisected, the third was pierced by the spear, the fourth was killed when he found an opportunity, and the fifth, clad in soft armor, was ultimately killed when Li Guanyi's spear was broken, crashing into him and stabbing him in the heart with his aunt's short sword.
Only the first, whose throat had been cut, remained alive, though he was unsure how.
He was also the one who had just shot a crossbow.
Li Guanyi broke his hands and feet, intending to interrogate him for the information he sought.
Li Guanyi exhaled, the White Tiger and Red Dragon lying quietly, numerous wounds on their bodies. He extended his hand, breaking the second and third crossbows on him. The spear was broken, and the crossbow bolts were difficult to defend against, having removed the one that had just pierced Li Guanyi's shoulder.
He had also been struck by a crossbow bolt in his leg and abdomen.
It could only be said that the Cang Wolf Guard of the Iron Prince was indeed formidable.
It had managed to block this.
Clearly, it should have been a time of pain, yet the Breaking the Formation Melody flowed rapidly. As Li Guanyi breathed, the air he exhaled carried a fiery sensation. After the battle ended, his spirit relaxed, and that feeling of internal qi swirling and stagnating surged up, causing Li Guanyi to lose strength and sit down, his meridians aching.
He could no longer suppress it.
His qi began to gather anew, about to break through.
No, he had to endure. There was still that survivor; he needed to ask about the events from ten years ago.
At this moment, a familiar figure appeared in the youth's vision. Yao Guang, wearing a hood, stepped out, kneeling before Li Guanyi, placing the hand crossbow on the ground. Her silver hair at that moment brought Li Guanyi a sense of reassurance.
Yao Guang grasped his hand, her voice calm like flowing water: "This heart is untainted, this body has fought a hundred battles."
"You are about to enter the realm."
"Please forgive me for not assisting you earlier."
"Do not worry, the life star of the one who just left has already dimmed."
Li Guanyi, with great effort, pointed at the assassin whose hands and feet he had broken. "Survivor..."
Yao Guang nodded quietly.
She put away her already prepared hand crossbow. Had Li Guanyi not won, the unique Constellation Crossbow of the Eastern Land's Star Observation School would have instantly shot out. Her voice was tranquil as she held the youth's hand, a gentle power suppressing Li Guanyi's agitated meridians, saying:
"In the secret realm, there are formations that can attract the qi of heaven and earth and the power of the stars."
"I am here, you can rest assured."
Li Guanyi closed his eyes and fainted from exhaustion.
Yao Guang, still wearing her hood, stood up, intending to pull Li Guanyi up to take him back.
Seeing the wounds on the youth's body, she decided to carry him back. However, if she did so, Li Guanyi's feet would scrape against the ground, leaving marks. The marks could be concealed, but waking up with sore feet was not ideal.
Yao Guang quietly gauged her height, realizing that if she carried Li Guanyi, not only would his feet scrape the ground, but his calves would also be affected.
Ultimately, she gave up.
She slightly bent down, one hand supporting the youth's knee, the other hand around his neck, lifting him up and quickly bringing Li Guanyi back to the secret realm. Li Guanyi's body was sturdy, and as Yao Guang carried him, her body leaned forward, her fair face, unlike any earthly creation, flushed from the effort.
Her expression remained calm and devoid of emotion as she bent down, supporting her knees, panting heavily several times.
Then she thought for a moment, turning back.
Grabbing a wooden stick used for skewering buns.
She hooked the assassin's clothing and tossed him into the stream, dragging him back.
The back of the assassin's head struck the pebbles with a thud, thud, thud.
Finally, Yao Guang ran out, using the methods of the Star Observation School to conceal the aura and traces of this place.
Thus, tranquility was restored here.
In less than the time it takes to drink a cup of tea, when Xue Daoyong and Yue Qianfeng rushed over in a frenzy.
The two had ashen faces, and in their eyes.
Only the corpses lay scattered across the ground.
The youth's warhorse lay slain.
The blood-stained ink blade was thrust into the ground, along with the broken plain rainbow bow.
(End of this chapter)