Chapter Fifteen: Accidentally Killing a Young Master

Chen Xuan had always adhered to the principle of being soft when softness was needed, and hard when hardness was required.

One must not stubbornly confront with force when gentleness is called for, lest one ends up harming oneself.

Take the present moment, for example.

The instant he was pierced by seven or eight arrow feathers, he decided to lie motionless on the ground and feign death, waiting to see how things unfolded.

The night grew darker, and the cries of battle thundered across the sky.

Countless righteous masters had surged forth from the surrounding dense forest.

Though the Five Poisons Sect had sent their elite warriors, these righteous masters were no pushovers. Their attacks were merciless and ruthless; they would use any means necessary to kill.

Chen Xuan witnessed a righteous cultivator raise his hand, shooting countless poisonous needles in a dense volley that instantly shredded a disciple of the Five Poisons Sect.

Several righteous warriors then joined forces to encircle another disciple, tearing him apart with no more than a dozen moves, blood spraying everywhere.

Some were even more vicious, striking from behind with underhanded tactics.

Chen Xuan was inwardly shocked.

At this rate, the elite of the Five Poisons Sect would not be enough to withstand the onslaught.

They would all be wiped out within less than an hour.

Even the three elders were being held back.

Though the Second Elder’s palm strikes were venomous and terrifying, each blow accompanied by a fierce wind and surging power, the opponents were equally formidable. Two of them attacked the Second Elder simultaneously, the battle fiercely contested with no clear victor.

“No good—best to retreat according to the Thirty-Six Stratagems,” Chen Xuan resolved, hastily crawling to one side amidst the chaos.

...

Clang clang clang...

From one side came the sound of swords clashing, sparks flying.

Cui Zhengqing, accompanied by three powerful members of the Cui clan from Yunzhou, surrounded a disciple of the Five Poisons Sect, pressing him relentlessly. The disciple bore many wounds, blood streaming down his body as he defended himself again and again.

The disciple shouted curses, “Cowardly! Using numbers to bully the few! Do you dare to fight me one-on-one?”

“Demonic cultists deserve extermination! One-on-one? Dream on. Prepare to die!” Cui Zhengqing sneered, leading the charge.

Cui Zhengqing was a prodigy of the Yunzhou Cui family, only eighteen years old but already a formidable cultivator at the fourth level of Qi accumulation. Having mastered the family’s treasured technique, the “Vast Righteous Qi Fist” to a rudimentary degree, his inner strength was profound. Combined with his Sun-Chasing Sword Technique, he was truly terrifying.

With three family experts assisting him, taking down this Five Poisons disciple was a mere formality.

The reason they had not killed him outright was that the three family experts wanted to use this disciple to hone Cui Zhengqing’s swordsmanship.

Though highly skilled, Cui Zhengqing was still inexperienced in the world. In life-or-death combat, he could not unleash even sixty percent of his power. Only through continuous trials could he deepen his understanding of his family’s ultimate skill.

Hence the current scene.

Clang clang clang!

Cui Zhengqing struck swiftly, discovering an opening and thrusting his sword through the disciple’s left shoulder.

The disciple, knowing death was certain, scowled fiercely and stopped dodging. Instead, he lunged at Cui Zhengqing, delivering a vicious “Spider Palm” strike.

Cui Zhengqing’s expression changed. He failed to retract his sword in time and hastily summoned inner power to meet the attack with the family’s “Heavenly Palm.”

Bang!

The force of their palms collided heavily, the sound muffled, winds howling fiercely.

...

Ultimately, Cui Zhengqing’s inner strength proved superior. Both the Heavenly Palm and the Vast Righteous Qi Fist were pure and righteous arts, far more refined and stable than the Five Poisons Sect’s inner skill. Moreover, the disciple was severely wounded and could not exert much inner power.

With one clash, the disciple spat blood and was sent flying backward, crashing heavily in the distance. The poison within the Spider Palm rebounded, invading his vital meridians. His face turned pale blue in an instant, and he died on the spot.

Cui Zhengqing staggered back two steps, his body shaking as he looked anxiously at his palm.

There, a patch of bluish-purple skin emitted a foul stench.

“Young master, quickly take the antidote pill! The Five Poisons Sect’s palm techniques contain deadly poison that invades the entire body through the inner energy!” one of the men beside him urged.

Cui Zhengqing hurriedly took a white porcelain bottle from his bosom, poured out a pill emitting a refreshing fragrance, swallowed it, then circulated his inner Qi to expel the poison from his palm.

Rustle rustle rustle...

At that moment, his ears twitched. Hearing a faint sound nearby, he turned sharply.

Not far away, a bald figure lay prone on the ground with several arrows lodged in his back, quietly crawling away.

Cui Zhengqing sneered, “Still playing dead? I’ll send you to meet Buddha!”

He kicked the ground, sending a steel blade flying with terrifying force toward Chen Xuan.

Chen Xuan had been quietly crawling away when a sudden warning signal arose in his mind. Hearing the sharp whistling sound, he quickly turned.

A steel blade came flying, piercing through his clothes and striking his chest with a sharp “puff.”

However, the blade failed to pierce his skin completely, only causing a sting.

He immediately knew he had been discovered and hastily rose to flee.

“Where do you think you’re going? Surrender your life!” Cui Zhengqing shouted, leaping into the air with a flash of his profound footwork. He appeared above Chen Xuan and brought down a crushing “Mountain-Splitting Strike” upon the back of Chen’s head.

Chen Xuan turned swiftly, facing Cui Zhengqing’s sword technique without dodging, reaching out to seize his body.

Cui Zhengqing grinned fiercely, accelerating his downward strike.

He was already envisioning Chen Xuan cleaved in two by his sword.

Yet—

Clang!

The sword descended as if striking a mountain of iron and stone, leaving only a red mark. The impact numbed Cui Zhengqing’s hand, sending a sharp pain through his tiger’s mouth.

His expression changed, sensing danger.

At that moment, Chen Xuan’s large hand shot upward and grasped tightly.

Puff!

A sharp scream echoed.

Cui Zhengqing let out a piercing wail, his body plummeting violently from the high air.

Chen Xuan withdrew his hand and delivered a punch to Cui Zhengqing’s forehead. With a loud crack, the nose bone shattered. The punch sent him flying seven or eight meters, crashing far away, blood gushing from his orifices—the death was absolute.

Chen Xuan cursed under his breath and turned to run.

His scalp burned with pain.

He touched it and felt sticky, the stench of blood pungent in the air. He knew his scalp had been split open, though the severity of the wound was unknown.

“Young master!”

The three Cui family retainers’ eyes reddened as they shouted hoarsely.

...

One of them lunged toward Cui Zhengqing while the other two fixed their bloodshot eyes on Chen Xuan, recklessly pursuing him.

“The young master is in trouble! Kill him quickly!”

“That thief injured the young master! Don’t let him escape!”

They shouted fiercely as they gave chase.

“What?”

A Cui family expert fighting the Second and Fourth Elders changed expression and hurriedly turned back.

The Second and Fourth Elders had been trying to slip away, but the fierce combat had prevented it. Now seeing the pursuers distracted, they immediately unleashed a flurry of palm strikes and fled madly into the distance.

But the pursuers were unwilling to give up easily. After a brief distraction, they roared and resumed their pursuit of the elders.

Meanwhile, other Five Poisons disciples seized the opportunity to break through.

All the attackers had been drawn to Chen Xuan.

Clearly, the person Chen Xuan had just killed was no ordinary individual.

At this moment, Chen Xuan cursed internally and dashed madly into the forest, feeling as if he had stirred a hornet’s nest.

The two Cui family retainers who pursued him most closely were bloodshot-eyed, gripping their long swords and leaping repeatedly to thrust at Chen Xuan.

To shake them off quickly, Chen Xuan unleashed his most ferocious technique, pushing his Iron Cloth Body Technique to the extreme. He turned swiftly, facing the incoming sword strikes without evasion, and unleashed rapid punches.

Bang! Bang!

The blows landed heavily.

The two Cui retainers screamed in agony, spitting blood as they were sent flying backward like the young master, their noses collapsed and bodies crushed by the shock to death.

Their long swords only left red marks on Chen Xuan’s body.

Chen Xuan swiftly grabbed a long sword and continued running toward the distance.

At that moment, one of the Cui retainers behind finally realized their young master was dead and shouted even more mournfully, “Young master is dead! Killed by that man! Kill him now!”

The pursuers, enraged beyond belief, roared and charged after Chen Xuan.

The remaining pursuers hastily abandoned the remaining Five Poisons disciples to join the chase.

They had only thought the young master was wounded; now that he was dead, they were frantic.

“Thief! Where are you running?”

Suddenly, a furious shout came from behind.

A disciple of the Cui family leapt past Chen Xuan and slammed a “Monument-Breaking Palm” fiercely into his forehead.

Chen Xuan’s expression changed. He hastily looked up but before he could react, the palm force struck him heavily.

Bang!

With a dull thud, Chen Xuan was sent flying seven or eight meters, crashing hard with a raging pain in his head.

He scrambled to his feet and continued fleeing.

The Cui disciple who had struck him changed expression and shouted sharply, “He has the Horizontal Training technique! Everyone be careful!”

They resumed their pursuit.