Chapter Forty-Four: Lingyun Secret

  Sorry about that, I was typing until 4am last night, so I slept in late today... Hehe, please forgive me.

  It's still early and I haven't even washed my face or brushed my teeth yet.

  The brothers of different surnames were in a precarious situation, and the archer, who had caught his breath, naturally wouldn't just stand by and watch. He flipped his hand over, and at the same time, he swiftly drew out nine wolf-toothed arrows from the quiver on his back and shot them out in a flash of lightning. Just as Tang You was frantically swinging his sword to launch a crazy attack on the knife guest, he suddenly heard an unusual gust of wind by his ear, and in the midst of chaos, he hastily turned his head for a quick glance. He saw that the nine arrows were merged into one, with each arrow overlapping the previous one, their internal energy and momentum interconnected and stacked. Although the speed was slightly slower due to this, the power was increased ninefold compared to a normal full-strength shot of a single arrow!

  The master of the Tang Gate was shocked, he had never thought that there could be such a strange and powerful archery in the world. Although it seemed that with just a little more effort, he could defeat the knife-wielding guest, but at the same time, he would also have to pay a considerable price, which was not worth it. He immediately turned his body and raised his arm, using the "Long Song" sword wave to meet the "Nine Arrows in a Row", not engaging in a head-on confrontation, but instead using a sideways stab to split the nine arrows, rendering them useless.

  In terms of pure martial arts skills, Tang You was far superior to the archer. With the addition of the Tang Sect's Three Absolute Sword being light and agile, the "Nine Arrows in a Row" were instantly broken down into nothingness, no longer posing a threat. However, having been delayed for a moment, the knife-wielding guest had already taken advantage of the opportunity to escape from the predicament that he could not extricate himself from, stood firmly on his feet and caught his breath, and launched another attack with his long knife. The internal energy cultivated through thirty years of bitter practice was all concentrated into the long knife. Like a mountain, the shadow of the knife rose thousands of times, once again engaging in battle with "Long Song".

  Continuous fighting, "a red in a sea of green" sword moves are getting old. The enemy's continuous attack, retreating and advancing, didn't give Tang You a chance to catch his breath. But this old Jianghu wasn't some young whippersnapper who just came out of the woods. As the battle situation gradually became unfavorable, he was able to calm down and fight steadily. His left hand muscles slid, the hidden weapon Flowing Star Stab in his sleeve re-entered his hand, using all his remaining strength, five fingers snapped open, a dark light flashed, but it was silent and invisible, without shape or form.

  Tangmen's Dark Art: Violent Arrow, Starlight! Although the dark art is light in weight, once it is shot out by Tangmen's unique technique, its power is not inferior to any strong bow or crossbow in the world. In the blink of an eye, the knife mountain offensive was completely intercepted by the meteorite stabbing, and the knife guest was at a loss, watching with his eyes wide open as several dark lights flashed past him, shooting straight at the archer who couldn't even draw his bow to counterattack. His heart chilled, he hastily shouted: "Old Second, quickly dodge!"

  It's too late, the arrow hand's movement is faster than lightning, how can the small and exquisite hidden weapon be faster? With no other choice, he gritted his teeth and took a desperate gamble. At this moment, he sat on his horse, sank his waist, raised his bow without an arrow, and pulled the string to release a virtual shot. "Boom!" A loud noise shook the air, and his lifelong cultivation of power was released with the string, bursting out through the specially designed hollow bowstring, suddenly releasing a powerful and unparalleled shockwave. The five Flowing Star Stabs were struck by the invisible sonic boom, and in an instant, they paused in mid-air, actually being shaken off course, losing their accuracy completely. This is the arrow hand's lifesaving ultimate move: "Thunderous Sound Shaking the Sky"!

  Without thirty years of diligent practice and accumulation of genuine internal energy, it is impossible to use this move with ease. The arrow hand had been practicing in private, almost never succeeding. However, when faced with a life-or-death situation, one can often tap into unimaginable potential. The arrow hand exhausted all its strength, and miraculously succeeded in one go.

  Surviving the crisis does not mean that one can rest easy. The violent arrow and the confused star may not have been able to harm the enemy, but they had successfully given Tang You an opportunity to catch his breath. He "huffed" out a long, turbid breath. One of the thirty-six absolute arts of the Tang Sect, the "Heavenly Punishment Wandering Classics", was activated at will, and true energy filled his body as he walked. With his sword held horizontally across his chest, Tang You shouted loudly: "Accept your death!" The "Long Song" vibrated intensely, launching a proactive and fierce attack to take control of the situation.

  Compared to the previous "A Red in a Green Sea", this sword move is surprisingly simple and plain, slow and steady to the point of being laughable. Even a three-year-old walking slowly would be faster than his current sword speed. However, what's even more astonishing is that this slow sword move, which shouldn't be able to hit anyone, somehow splits into two illusory parts, striking towards the knife-wielding and arrow-shooting enemies who are at least 3-4 zhang (about 10-13 meters) apart. This is precisely a "residual image" created in human eyes by an already unimaginable "godly speed". Such an extremely slow and uncoordinated move is precisely the second of the Tangmen's Three Absolute Swords: "Left and Right Meet the Mysterious Void"!

  Never had they seen such a marvelous sword move, the knife guest and archer cautiously approached and retreated, simultaneously urging their inner strength to wait in formation. Like a white horse passing through a gap, in the briefest of moments, four figures brushed shoulders as they passed each other by. Suddenly, it was as if they were all frozen in place, stiffly stuck in the empty space between the trees, not moving an inch.

  Two Tang You Xu Xu recombined into one, shaking his wrist and sword, blowing away two drops of fresh blood from the top of "Long Song". A clear "ding-dong" sound came from behind, and a black long knife and a large bow broke simultaneously. The clothes of the knife guest and the archer were torn apart, revealing a terrifying wound from the chest to the abdomen. In the midst of the dull hum, the two people fell forward and fell into the blood pool at the same time, already exhaling more than inhaling.

  With a crisp and decisive move, Tang You killed the two men and sheathed his sword, standing tall with little joy on his face. "Left and Right Meet the Void" was extremely exhausting to his true energy, so he never used it lightly. Since he started practicing martial arts, he had only used this move three times, each time against a powerful enemy who shook the Jianghu world. But today, these two unknown swordsmen and archer had forced him to almost use his ultimate technique. And from their tone, they seemed to be just servants or something, with a master above them. If the servants were already this formidable, it was terrifying to think about how powerful their master must be. So... should he withdraw now?

  After a moment of contemplation, Tang You finally made up his mind and quietly hummed as he wielded the "Long Song" in reverse, continuing to charge forward. Anyway, this fierce battle had already resulted in casualties and grudges had been formed. Even if he were to withdraw now, would the master of those two assassins just pretend nothing had happened? Since that was the case, it wasn't like he had anything better to do than continue exploring for that treasure. If he could obtain the treasure by luck, then everything would be fine. Even if things didn't go smoothly, relying on his own martial arts skills, it shouldn't be difficult to retreat unscathed.

  Tang You's body technique was extremely fast, and with one breath, he rushed out for more than two miles. The surrounding trees gradually became sparse, the sound of the river slapping against the shore became clearer, and Xiaya Peak seemed to be right in front of him. Suddenly, a urgent response sounded from the forest behind him, "Whoosh!" followed by a burst of fireworks and arrows shooting up into the air, exploding violently in mid-air. Although it was still daytime, they could be seen from afar. Tang You's heart felt a chill, knowing that it must be someone from the knife guest and archer's group sending out a signal. If he let them gather together to outnumber him, it would be extremely bad.

  With this in mind, the master of the Tang Sect took a deep breath. With all his might, he sped forward like the wind, and in just one meal's time, the path ahead suddenly opened up, and the red sandstone cliffs of Qixia Peak appeared before him. Without hesitation, he leapt onto the plank road, rapidly circling around the mountain at incredible speed. In an instant, the plank road had ended, and the terrain ahead sank down, forming a vast empty space. Raising his head to look around, all he saw was the entrance to the stone cave, three zhang high and over two zhang wide, which from afar looked like the bloody mouth of a gigantic beast in the wilderness, ready to devour all living things amidst the red dust. Within a range of ten zhang outside the cave entrance, not a single blade of grass grew, and the ground seemed to have been burned by a great fire, covered entirely in black stone fragments. Before he had even truly entered, he already felt an eerie, inexplicable sensation.

  Tang You, who had always been confident in his own abilities, suddenly found himself involuntarily covered in goosebumps. However, it wasn't because he felt a chill from the ominous aura emanating from the cave that made him feel afraid. What truly instilled fear in him was the keen intuition that arose from his martial arts training, which clearly told him...

  Someone has arrived.

  I don't know who it is, nor do I know whether the other party is male or female, tall or short. Not even whether the other party has a weapon in hand is clear at all. The only thing Tang You knows is that the other party's breath has already been locked onto himself. If he doesn't move, then nothing will happen; but as soon as he makes the slightest movement, he will inevitably invite the other party's fierce and relentless attack, like a stormy rain that won't stop until one of them dies.

  Sweat the size of soybeans quickly seeped into his forehead, Tang You's muscles tensed up, and he was fully alert to the immense pressure coming from behind him. He slowly said, "Your Excellency... who exactly are you?"

  "My surname is Xicheng." The voice was low and powerful, with an air of supreme authority. "Lingyun Cave is a forbidden place. No one is allowed to trespass. Leave quickly, and I will spare your life."

  Tang You gripped "Chang Ge" tightly, not daring to relax for a moment. He said: "You... are you really willing to let me go?"

  The person who claimed to be named Xicheng said calmly: "I have never told a lie in my life."

  Tang You let out a breath of relief and said, "Good. One word... is enough!" As soon as his words fell, he suddenly leapt into the air, his sleeves fluttering behind him. In an instant, over a hundred shooting stars shot out in all directions, some straight, some curved, some fast, some slow, crisscrossing and flying wildly through the air, their cold light flashing like countless stars outside the universe, striking the enemy with incredible speed that was too fast to react to. The momentum was astonishing, but what was even stranger was that over a hundred shooting stars had collided with each other in mid-air before hitting their target, causing their flight trajectory to become even more dazzling and confusing amidst the chaos.

  The self-proclaimed Western City surname person whispered softly, seemingly slightly startled. In a brief moment of distraction, he saw that half of the hidden weapons scattered and no longer posed a threat, but the remaining half of the hidden weapons suddenly increased in power, transforming into fierce and sharp blades that struck from various impossible angles.

  Tangmen's hidden weapon, Three Extremes: "Flying Star Annihilation!" Fast as lightning and fierce as thunder, its destructive power is enough to pierce the heavens and shatter the earth. Its ferocity is something that even the self-proclaimed Western Castle surname person has never seen before in his life. However, his cultivation level is truly astonishing and shocking. If we were to consider his stage of development, he had already reached the "Transcendent Saint" or "Entering Godhood" phase. With a casual wave of his right arm, five fingers instantly conjured up a golden wheel that revolved around him at high speed, its defense absolute and unyielding like solid gold. Even with another display of "Flying Star Annihilation", it was still impossible to breach the defenses by even half a step.

  But just being blocked like this, Tang You quickly flew into the Lingyun Secret Cave like a bird flying into a forest.

  This story from over a decade ago was recounted by Tang Jiyu, the chief historian of Shu Kingdom, in vivid detail, leaving me utterly astonished and on edge. The tension was so palpable that it left one breathless. After finishing this part, he seemed to feel parched as well, paused, and poured himself another cup of wine. At the banquet, Mu Xinghe, Feng Yeru, and Yan Wangong were all completely absorbed in the story when it suddenly cut off. Even though they were all high-ranking masters in the jianghu with great prestige, they couldn't help but feel an unbearable itch in their hearts and asked in unison: "What happens next?"

  "This is what happened below... but it's gone." Instead of Tang Jie Xue answering, it was Shu King Yang Xiu. Apparently, he had known about this matter for a long time. After a pause, looking at the crowd on the seat with a mixture of incredulity and disappointment, and a hint of displeasure and anger, Yang Xiu couldn't help but smile faintly. He continued calmly: "After Tang Lao Men Zhu entered Ling Yun Cave, he never came out again. It wasn't until half a month later that the people from the Tang Sect who had come to welcome him back felt something was wrong, so they searched for him along the Min River near Ling Yun Mountain. Following the trail of clues on the road, they found their way to the outside of Ling Yun Cave and discovered Lao Men Zhu's body lying inside, only ten steps away from the entrance, with only his upper body remaining, while everything below his waist had disappeared without a trace. The precious sword 'Chang Ge' was still by his side, but it had been broken into pieces."

  Tang Jie let out a deep sigh and said, "At that time, the person didn't dare to linger, so he took the old master's body and left. When they returned to the Tang Gate, they carefully examined it and only then discovered that on both sleeves of the old master's clothes were written words in fresh blood. The left sleeve recorded his experiences before entering the cave. As for what happened after entering the cave, it was recorded on the right sleeve, but it had been torn apart by something unknown, and only a few blurry characters could be seen, which couldn't be pieced together into complete sentences no matter how hard they tried. However, in the old master's chest, they found some other things."

  Without waiting for everyone to ask questions, Tang Ju Xue took out a small wooden box from the hidden compartment of the wine table, opened the lid and pushed it towards everyone.

  At this moment, Mu Xinghe, Feng Yeru and Yan Wangujun's breathing simultaneously stagnated. Below in the secret stone room, Yang Zhao couldn't see anything but his nose had already smelled an unusual fragrance wafting over. Without a doubt, the object placed inside the box was - Blood Bodhi!