Chapter 581 - 577: Mysterious Grandmaster
Chapter 581: Chapter 577: Mysterious Grandmaster
BOOM—!!!
The Sword Light and the Palm Seal collided, erupting with a world-shaking boom.
Gu Changqing’s body was thrown back several dozen feet, a tingling numbness spreading through the palm of his sword hand.
Yan Wuji, who had attacked in haste, hadn’t retreated a single step. He had used an incredibly vicious Demon Cultivation Secret Technique.
’They’re here...’
Sensing a familiar aura rapidly approaching, a twisted smile crept onto Yan Wuji’s lips.
If he could just hold on for a few more breaths, he would survive.
He knew better than anyone how powerful his rescuer was.
Even with seven Grandmasters present, he was confident that person could save him.
From Yan Wuji’s expression, it wasn’t hard to guess that the approaching stranger was an incredibly powerful Grandmaster.
Not daring to give Yan Wuji a moment’s rest, Hui Ming, Bai Yujing, Li Hanjiang, Liu Meiniang, and Shen Mo followed right behind Gu Changqing, launching a ferocious assault.
Because their attacks came immediately after Gu Changqing’s, Yan Wuji, having just blocked the first strike, had no time to defend. He could only rely on his Protective Qi Shield.
CRACK—
Even though Yan Wuji had used the Demon Cultivation Secret Technique to temporarily boost his strength, his blood-red Inner Qi Shield couldn’t withstand the continuous barrage of Grandmaster Level attacks and shattered.
Without the protection of the blood-red shield, the subsequent attacks landed squarely on Yan Wuji’s body.
Yan Wuji was wounded in multiple places. The most severe injury was from Shen Mo’s sword, a gash so deep his bones were visible.
"Haha—"
Blood sprayed from Yan Wuji’s mouth, but a smile appeared on his face.
He had held on. In the distance, he could already see the crimson figure rushing to his aid.
However, at that very moment—a sudden hum rang out.
Wielding his colossal Black Saber, Lei Lie unleashed a horizontal slash, carrying with it a terrifying Momentum that seemed capable of tearing everything apart.
After charging his Momentum for so long, the Sword Gang on the great saber was condensed to the point of being tangible, emitting an incredibly dreadful fluctuation.
The body of the saber could barely withstand the power; faint cracks were even beginning to appear within the blade.
This slash was faster than thought.
This slash was more vicious than any before it.
Before this slash, everything seemed as fragile as paper.
SCHLICK—!
The great saber sliced through Yan Wuji’s waist with a dull, wet sound.
Yan Wuji’s body suddenly went rigid.
He looked down at the red line rapidly widening across his waist.
His eyes filled with unwillingness.
’But... I was so close...’
His lips moved as if to say something, but blood welling up in his throat choked his words.
In the next instant, his body split cleanly in two along the red line.
His upper torso slid to the ground with a dull thud.
Blood and viscera spilled from the wound, spreading across the ground in a shocking pool of dark red.
His eyes were wide open, his pupils holding the last vestiges of his unwillingness and a trace of fear.
—And so, the Grandmaster who cultivated a Demon Skill and brought bloody slaughter to Qingyang County was dead.
"Hahh..."
Lei Lie let out a long, turbid breath. The hand gripping his saber trembled slightly from overexertion.
That last slash was one he had been charging for a long time. The buildup had been so great that after unleashing it, he even experienced a moment of complete exhaustion.
With no time to worry about his own condition, he looked in a certain direction—
The unknown Grandmaster had arrived.
She had stopped less than a hundred zhang from the battlefield.
The gazes of the other six Grandmasters also fell upon the suddenly appeared figure.
The air seemed to freeze in that moment.
It was a woman.
Her clothes were the color of blood, gleaming with a dark luster in the evening light.
Her face was hidden behind an exquisite silver mask, revealing only her eyes.
Those eyes were utterly devoid of warmth, carrying a heart-stopping chill.
Right now, those eyes were fixed on Yan Wuji’s bisected corpse.
There was no anger, no sadness, not even a ripple of emotion.
It was as if she were looking at a corpse that had nothing to do with her.
But this very calmness stirred an even deeper sense of dread in the hearts of the seven Grandmasters.
"Who are you?"
Gu Changqing spoke, his voice carrying an intangible pressure.
His cyan longsword was pointed at the woman, a drop of blood slowly sliding from its tip.
The woman did not answer.
She slowly retracted her gaze, and her icy eyes swept over the seven Grandmasters.
Her gaze was placid, yet it made every Grandmaster present feel an indescribable unease.
It was like a predator sizing up its prey.
"She must be his accomplice... another one who cultivates a Demon Skill."
Hui Ming placed his palms together and quietly chanted a Buddhist mantra. A grave look appeared in his half-closed eyes.
"This woman’s aura is identical to Yan Wuji’s. It must be a Demon Skill."
Li Hanjiang’s expression was wary as he said in a low voice,
"To think that a Grandmaster like you was hiding in Qingyang County. You’ve certainly hidden yourself well."
Gu Changqing raised his sword tip slightly. The cyan blade glinted coldly in the evening light as his voice, heavy as iron, rang out:
"Capture her! We’ll interrogate her thoroughly!"
Before his voice had even faded, he was the first to move.
The Cyan Sword Light transformed into a bolt of silk tearing through the sky, aimed straight for the woman’s face.
The sword strike was astonishingly fast. Where its edge passed, a fine rift was cut into the air, lingering without dissipating.
At almost the same instant, Hui Ming put his palms together, his body erupting in a brilliant golden light.
A golden Palm Seal, so condensed it seemed tangible, shot out from his right. As the Palm Wind passed, rubble on the ground leaped into the air, only to be pulverized into dust by the Qi Force.
Lei Lie let out a furious roar, his colossal black saber slashing out horizontally with Mountain-Splitting Stone-Shattering Momentum. The Sword Gang carved a deep trench in the ground as it shot toward the woman’s midsection.
Bai Yujing’s longsword left its sheath, its light like a rainbow, charging forward with unstoppable force.
Liu Meiniang’s figure flickered, her pink sword light flowing like quicksilver as she stabbed toward the woman’s back from a tricky angle.
Shen Mo’s figure flickered silently in the shadows, his simple, ancient longsword aimed straight for an opening under the woman’s ribs.
Li Hanjiang struck with both claws. The black claw attacks carried a bone-chillingly frigid wind, sealing off the woman’s escape to the left.
The seven attacks converged, blanketing every vital point on the woman’s body.
The woman’s eyes remained calm, as if the overwhelming assault was nothing more than a gentle breeze on her face.
She slowly raised her right hand.
Her five fingers curled slightly into a claw.
There was no weapon in her hand, but the moment her five long, pale fingers curled, a heart-stopping chill suddenly spread through the air.
The air seemed to freeze solid.
The next instant, she moved.
Her right hand shot out with a speed that seemed slow but was in fact faster than thought.
Seven blood-red claw attacks erupted from her fingertips. They were so condensed they seemed tangible, carrying an aura that could tear anything apart as they met the seven Grandmasters’ attacks.
SHRRRIIIP—!
The seven blood-red claw attacks collided with the seven assaults, not with a world-shaking boom, but with a sharp sound like tearing cloth.
The golden Palm Seal was torn in half, the black Sword Gang crumbled inch by inch, and the Cyan Sword Light trembled violently as if struck by a heavy blow. The pink sword light, the ancient longsword, the black claw attacks—every attack that touched the blood-red claws was torn apart, disintegrated, and annihilated in an instant.
The seven Grandmasters retreated several steps in unison, their expressions changing.
"A Late Stage Grandmaster!"
Gu Changqing’s voice was heavy with unconcealable gravity.
The strongest among their group of seven was only a Mid-stage Grandmaster. For their combined attack to be torn apart by a single claw strike, this level of power could only belong to a Late Stage Grandmaster.
The woman said nothing, simply raising her hand again.
The blood-red claw attacks coalesced once more, even sharper and more substantial than before.
The seven blood-red claw attacks swept toward the seven Grandmasters, carrying an edge sharp enough to tear through anything.
Not daring to be careless, the seven Grandmasters each mustered their full strength to defend.
Amidst a deafening roar, Qi Force erupted in all directions, carving a crisscrossing web of deep gashes into the ground.
When the dust settled slightly, the woman had already used the force of the impact to retreat.
Her figure was like a red leaf caught in the wind, receding rapidly through the dust with astonishing speed.
However, a small tear had appeared on the red robe at her right shoulder, from which fresh blood was seeping.
Even with her power as a Late Stage Grandmaster, she had been injured while facing the combined assault of seven Grandmasters.
But the wound was clearly not severe—a minor injury that didn’t affect her in the slightest.
"After her!"
Lei Lie roared, his voice like muffled thunder exploding through the forest, kicking up the still-settling dust into another rolling cloud.
He stomped hard on the ground. The already-cracked earth beneath his feet could no longer withstand the immense force and collapsed, forming a crater several feet deep as rubble and dirt shot outward.
Using the recoil, his towering figure shot forward like a cannonball.
He carried the door-sized Black Saber in one hand, Sword Gang surging over its blade. With a momentum that could tear through anything, he gave chase to the rapidly retreating crimson figure.
Behind him, Gu Changqing remained silent. With a single flicker of his body, he had already drifted several dozen zhang away.
His steps seemed unhurried, but with each one, an invisible current of air buoyed him from below.
He moved as if pushed by the wind, his speed astonishing as he stayed hot on the heels of the crimson figure.
Hui Ming kept his palms together, his golden kasaya whipping loudly in the rushing wind.
He didn’t charge forward with the same ferocity as Lei Lie. Instead, with every step he took, the faint illusion of a golden lotus bloomed and vanished beneath his feet. His form flickered between solid and ethereal, and his speed was no slower for it.
Bai Yujing’s posture was as straight as a sword, his moon-white robes pulled into a straight line as he darted forward.
He seemed to have transformed into an unsheathed sword, carrying a sharp, indomitable will as he pursued relentlessly.
Liu Meiniang’s figure was as elusive as a butterfly, her pink dress fluttering in the wind.
Her Body Technique was different from the others. She wasn’t chasing in a straight line, but weaving lightly between the trees and rocks.
It seemed like a roundabout path, but her speed was not the least bit slow.
Shen Mo’s movements were the strangest of all—he had practically merged with the shadows.
He shuttled silently between the shadows of trees and boulders, at one moment appearing several dozen zhang ahead to the left, the next emerging from the shadows on the right, like a phantom.
Though he didn’t make a show of it, his pursuit speed was in no way inferior to the others.
As for Li Hanjiang, he was like a bat flitting through the night, his wide black robes billowing in the wind, moving so fast he was just a series of dark afterimages.