The frightening sound of weapon tearing through flesh could be heard. The silver spear pierced into Wu Qi"s left shoulder and came out from the back. Blood sprayed out wildly, stained the silver spear and dripped down from its tip, turning the once silver body completely blood red. Wu Qi kept howling painfully, using his right hand to clench firmly on the silver spear while he staggered many steps back.
On the other side, Yue Xiao had his abdomen kicked heavily by Wu Qi. The powerful kick caused a few cracks on his dantian, making his energies that nearly formed into a Gold Core burst out from those cracks. With just one kick from Wu Qi, fifty percent of his cultivation base vanished. Not able to even let out a snort, a big mouthful of blood was coughed out by Yue Xiao. Then, he was knocked flying back several hundred feet away like a scarecrow. He slammed and broke a few bamboo trees, then rolled down the hill through the bamboo forest in the most tragic state.
Princess Zhang Le narrowed her eyes, as two tiger teeth of hers poked through her lips while a smile bloomed on her face.
A dozen captains clad in silver war robes dashed out from behind Princess Zhang Le, while giving out a loud cry at the same time, "Nasty a.s.sa.s.sin, how dare you hurt our young master?!"
Wu Qi clenched his palm tightly on the silver spear stabbed into his shoulder while breaking out into a loud cry, "Somebody, I am a.s.saulted by an a.s.sa.s.sin! There is an a.s.sa.s.sin trying to kill me! Kill all these a.s.sa.s.sins who dare to hurt the Duke!! Kill them all! And capture alive the culprit. Send him to the Imperial Palace so he could be punished!"
Two strong winds suddenly sprung out from the abode behind, as Xiong Jin and Xiong Yin brothers thrust out aggressively while being enveloped in a surging demon wind. Amidst the pitch-black demon wind, one could only see four big bear palms, gleaming with a dazzling golden glow and smas.h.i.+ng into the group of captains. They slapped them all into meat paste, with shrill shrieks filling the air. They had turned into a real meat paste, without containing any single drop of blood, as all the blood was squeezed out from their bodies by the tremendous forces. Blood shot out to several hundred feet away, leaving only a thin sheet of human skin that stuck to the ground.
Then, a perfect silence prevailed. Everybody had their eyes gone wide, all staring shockingly at Wu Qi, who kept howling painfully, and Xiong Jin and Xiong Yin, who had their bodies fully bathed in fresh blood.
At last, a white-robed middle-aged scholar stood out from behind Princess Zhang Le"s back. With his body s.h.i.+vering from top to toe, he pointed his finger at Wu Qi and snapped, "How dare you! Our young master, Yue Xiao, is the grandson of Chief General, Yue Yi. They... they are the captains who served Chief General"s clan for generations!"
Xiong Jin rolled his eyes, turned to the middle-aged scholar and gave him a ferocious roar. "What bulls.h.i.+t are you talking about? Grandson of Chief General? What we saw was the Duke of Tianyun, who we are supposed to protect under the Imperial Decree of His Majesty, severely injured by you! My brother and I are the Golden Sinecures from Cloud Swallow Pavilion, Xiong Jin and Xiong Yin. No matter what you say, we will win in this! Xiong Qing, take this group of b*stards down and tie them up!"
Xiong Qing and his brothers immediately dashed out while roaring crazily, bringing together with them a bundle of ropes made from cow tendons. They came before Princess Zhang Le and bowed respectfully, then grabbed the middle-aged scholar and gave him a round of brutal beating. After that, they tied him up like a dumpling using cow tendons. Even Yue Xiao, who had already gone into a coma after being kicked by Wu Qi, was captured and tied up. Xiong Qing and his brothers pulled the string and jumped up onto a demon cloud, enveloping themselves in a strong demon wind as they began rus.h.i.+ng back to the Imperial Palace.
Xiong Jin and Xiong Yin coldly glared at a few young men standing closely behind Princess Zhang Le. Then, they said in a cold voice, "His Majesty had personally conferred Duke of Tianyun last night. That young lad just now had openly injured Duke of Tianyun. Let"s not talk about how he was being disrespectful to His Majesty"s dignity, but what he did has brought shame to my brother and me! He is the grandson of Yue Yi? What is the big deal about that? We, the clan of Black Wind Mountain in Meng Mountain, will never be bothered by that!"
Initially, the few young men standing behind Princess Zhang Le had their faces stacked with anger, while some even had a joyful expression over the misfortune of others. But when they heard the unexpected roaring of Xiong Jin and Xiong Yin, their faces immediately fell. Obviously, they were dreading upon hearing the name of Black Wind Mountain in Meng Mountains. They exchanged glances with each other, then bowed their heads together and dared not gave a second look in Wu Qi"s direction.
Swaying and staggering, Wu Qi pulled the silver spear out from his shoulder. A few Scouting Officers hurried up and helped to apply some medicine to his wound and bundle it up neatly with bandages. The severe pain made Wu Qi contort his face in agony and keep howling miserably, his face turning pale-green. Actually, he never expected that after he owned the dharma body of an Earth Immortal, it would be so painful when he broke his own muscle with a mystic technique. It was as if his shoulder was forcibly hacked by several hundred heavy axes at the same time.
Yes, it was he himself who ripped his own muscle, causing a wound that was slighter larger than the diameter of the silver spear. With Yue Xiao"s overall strength before even forming a Gold core, how could he make a hole on Wu Qi"s body with just a spear the quality of upper-grade magical item? Yet, many people around the scene had seen that it was indeed Yue Xiao who pierced through Wu Qi"s shoulder with a silver spear. So, he would have to bear the responsibility!
Wu Qi weighed the Coiling-Flood-Dragons Silver Spear in his hand, then let out a cold smile. The spear weighed 180 kilograms, and although it was only an upper-grade magical item, apparently during the making of it, the craftsman had referred to some techniques of crafting a lower-grade magical treasure. The silver spear was cold to touch, and once it was wielded, it could unleash a jet of cold energy to injure the enemies. If it were used on a battlefield, the silver spear was capable of freezing all the enemies in a large area. Although it was merely an upper-grade magical item, it could be considered a rare and finely made weapon, and must be costing quite a large sum of money to buy.
He turned and nodded at Yan Bugui, who was standing not far behind, then said with a sneer, "I believe everybody saw what happened. This is the weapon used by the a.s.sa.s.sin who tried to kill me, and naturally, I"ll have to confiscate it." Then, he casually shoved the silver spear into his storage ring. With his body covered in blood, Wu Qi then walked rather jerkily towards Princess Zhang Le. "Your Highness, Wu Qi just returned to Ji City today. Originally, I thought of visiting you in the Garden of Zhang Le, but someone told me that you"re here partic.i.p.ating in the Rare Treasures Conference. Thus, I came straight here hoping to see you. But, why is there a murderer following right beside you?" said Wu Qi with a perplexed expression.
Princess Zhang Le stared at the wound on Wu Qi"s left shoulder with a frown, her face dark and gloomy. "That Yue Xiao is the grandson of Chief General Yue Yi. During these days, he had been following Zi Xuan around, but I never know that he was such a vicious and cruel man. Bai Zhu"er, don"t ever let that Yue Xiao step into Garden of Zhang Le and Imperial Palace again. If he dares to show up, break his legs immediately! Aye, how do you feel now?"
Princess Zhang Le came beside Wu Qi, pulled up his sleeve and began interrogating him with a fierce voice, asking him where had he gone during this period of time.
Wu Qi was honest with her, and told her everything he went through during these days. Of course, he did not tell her anything about his secret hideouts, and just told her how he was fighting with the Qin army, how he brought Wanying Dragon King and besieged their field headquarter. He also told her how he plotted and helped Lu Chengfeng in "wiping out" the seventy thousand elite soldiers from Brotherhood of Mountains, and the entire process of how the Gao Ling Kingdom, who colluded with barbarians, was annihilated.
Wu Qi"s narration made Princess Zhang Le lose her mind in wonder. As she never left Ji City before, she never encountered such exciting and adventurous events. The ma.s.sive water body of Longyuan River, the mythical flood dragons, the formidable Qin army, and the legendary Item of Virtue - Universal Water Spirits Divine Cauldron of Yu the Great, everything was so mystical and magical! The anger that Princess Zhang Le was brewing for not able to see Wu Qi after a prolonged period of time had vanished instantly. She kept pulling on Wu Qi"s sleeve, her body nearly pressed against Wu Qi"s, while asking him "What happened after that? Is that Ying Zheng really that strong?’, and some other similar questions.
The few young men following behind her had their faces turned extremely unsightly. They kept looking at each other, and from time to time, throwing an aggressive look at Wu Qi, as if he was their greatest enemy in life.
Wu Qi felt the hostility in the visions of these people. He turned his head and gave them a gaze, shook his head mockingly, and simply gave them a big middle finger. But actually, he felt it was a waste to show them this powerful gesture, because these guys should have no idea what the profound meaning hiding behind this big middle finger was!
Wu Qi and Princess Zhang Le walked shoulder to shoulder for a distance. Suddenly, two Scouting Officers came hastily and whispered to Yan Bugui. Yan Bugui hesitated, then he strode forward and interrupted Wu Qi, who was in the middle of describing the look of catfish-flood-dragon to Princess Zhang Le. "The Patriarch of Heaven Breaking Sword Sect, Nie Yaonu, and Sect Leader Nie Baihong are here too." He whispered in Wu Qi"s ears.
Wu Qi was surprised to hear that. He looked at Princess Zhang Le, smiled and pulled her little hands while saying, "Let"s go meet my Grand Elder and Patriarch."
Princess Zhang Le narrowed her eyes, then a naughty smile emerged on her face as she said, "Let"s go meet my old sister and nephew!"
Wu Qi"s face fell instantly and gave Princess Zhang Le a grumpy glare.
Guided by two Scouting Officers, both of them brought a large group of men and quickly walked towards an abode located on the highest peak of a mountain westward of the venue. This little mountain to the west was occupied by the thirteen Immortal Dao sects of Great Yan Dynasty, and all the well-arranged abodes on the mountains belonged to different sects. Nie Yaonu was ranked the strongest among all the Gold Core cultivators in thirteen Immortal Dao Sects, and using her sword alone, she made Heaven Breaking Sword Sect sit loftily on top of all the other sects. Thus, their abode was located on the tallest peak of the mountain.
After the group went away, a ball of soft white light suddenly emerged from within the bamboo forest, then faded and revealed Yu Wende and his daughter, Yu Qianqian. Yu Wende looked at the traces of blood on the ground, shook and said, "So, that is the Silver Flood Dragon Yue Xiao... Pathetic! He does not deserve Princess Zhang Le."
In an indifferent voice, Yu Qianqian said, "What I am concerned about is not who deserves Princess Zhang Le. I merely want to make them unhappy."
Yu Wende frowned while shaking his head and sighed. "This kind of trifling plots and schemes are after all, unorthodox tricks, not worthy in the eyes of experts. You are my only daughter, and I will have to rely on you to compete with other people in the future. So, I"ll never allow you to mess around this time. I shall prevent you from putting your hand in their relations.h.i.+p anymore. Just let these young people prove themselves."
Yu Qianqian knitted her brows in a tight frown, then smiled and said, "Well, I"ll not interfere anymore then. But, he had severely wounded Yue Xiao with a kick. What would Yue Yi do to him? Yue Xiao is the youngest grandson of Yue Yi, and the genius in his clan who has the highest possibility to form a Gold Core. That kick from Wu Qi just now was rather… heavy." She burst out into laugher, filled with an obvious joy on the misfortune of others.
Yu Wende frowned, looking at his daughter who indulged herself in a pleasing enjoyment. He shook his head lightly and said, "You"ve picked the wrong guy. If they were the juniors from Qin Wuyang or Fan Yuqi"s clans, both old men would definitely jump out when Wu Qi hurt their offspring. But Yue Yi is a senior general with great talents. He is calm and impartial, tolerant in bearing. He will never interfere in this matter, which merely is a storm of jealousy between little ones. Just you wait, that Yue Xiao will be seriously punished by Yue Yi, then Yue Yi will personally write an apology letter to Duke of Tianyun. That is how the whole thing will be settled."
Yu Qianqian opened her mouth, stared at Yu Wende and said in a cold voice, "I don"t believe that."
Yu Wende gazed back at his daughter indifferently, sneered and said, "Your experience is too insufficient to judge the matter precisely! It has been so many years, yet you don"t seem to gain experience or knowledge. It looks like I, as your father, have to find a way to marry you to someone." Upon hearing what Yu Wende said, Yu Qianqian;s face fell instantly.
Right at this moment, Wu Qi and Princess Zhang Le had arrived at the abode that was occupied by Heaven Breaking Sword Sect, and were paying a formal visit to Nie Yaonu and Nie Baihong.
After greeting both seniors with lavish hospitality, Wu Qi smilingly came closer before both of them and showed them a palm-sized jade tablet.
"Grand Elder, Master, your disciple, I, wish to use this jade tablet to exchange for the mystic technique of Unity of Sword Energies Script."
Noticing that Nie Yaonu and Nie Baihong were both shocked by his words, Wu Qi smiled and hastily added, "I can swear a vow with my prime soul that I"ll be the one and only one who cultivates this Unity of Sword Energies Script, and not a single word from the script will be leaked out from my mouth."