Chapter 70: Four Routes of Horse and Man

  On the sandy ground.

  A boy in blue clothes, a two-zhang-long double-headed sand snake.

  Judging from its appearance, this two-headed sand boa looks too domineering.

  The double-headed sand snake suddenly darted towards the blue-clothed youth, its sliding speed on the sandy ground reaching an extreme. But it was fast, and the blue-clothed youth was even faster, almost instantly drawing his sword from its scabbard, the red copper long knife producing not one, but three rays of light.

  A flash of sword light.

  Wow!

  Two snakes fell to the ground head-first.

  The blue-clothed youth swung his long knife and cut off the horn of the sand snake, then muttered to himself: "Another one taken care of."

  The blue-clothed youth Gu Chao himself couldn't count clearly how many sand snakes he had solved.

  Right next to it, less than 500 meters away, there are several blue-brick four-sided wall houses. This kind of blue-brick four-sided wall house is quite high-end in rural areas, and whoever builds one is envied by others. The house looks very new, the color of the bricks is very new, but the people inside have long since left, with monsters invading, no land to harvest, and places that are all desertified, there's nothing to stay for.

  Gu Chao flipped over and landed on the roof of the house, took out his binoculars, and began to observe in all directions.

  Starting from a 45-degree angle in the southeast direction, Gu Chao carefully observed and did not see a single sand snake until he reached a 45-degree angle in the northeast direction.

  Can't see any sand boas in the direction that can be seen with binoculars? Now sand boas are indeed getting fewer and fewer.

  Gu Chao began to look towards the north. The northern direction was defined as being between northeast forty-five degrees and northwest forty-five degrees, Gu Chao looked carefully in that direction, but there were no sand snakes there either.

  Looking southward, from southeast 45 degrees to southwest 45 degrees, Gu Chao continued to observe. Hiss, there was a three-headed sand snake-like creature, and it seemed much larger than the average three-headed sand snake. Moreover, there were many figures surrounding that large three-headed sand snake, seemingly attacking it.

  Gu Chao determined the direction, the battlefield should be in a southeast fifteen-degree angle from his current position. He walked about seven miles in that direction.

  Gu Chao changed direction again and observed the west. In the range that could be seen with binoculars, there was no sand snake in the west either.

  So it seems that there are sand snakes only at 15 degrees southeast, let's set off.

  Gu Chao put away the telescope in his box, tucked it into his bosom, and carried a long knife behind him, rushing straight to the southeast 15-degree angle direction.

  Finally arrived at the battlefield seven miles away.

  This is indeed a fairly large three-headed sand snake. The three-headed sand snakes Gu Chao saw before were only about three zhang in size, while this three-headed sand snake was three and a half zhang in size. Other three-headed sand snakes are pitch black, but this one has a faint blue color. Gu Chao sees that there seem to be several teams of people here, and Mu Rongying is also standing coldly on the side, and can't help but walk over to ask: "What's going on?"

  Murong Ying furrowed his brow, he originally didn't like to talk much, but considering they were from the same Tenth Mountain Villa, Murong Ying still replied: "This is a postnatal ninth-layer peak strength three-headed sand snake, it's quite troublesome. Now our group has formed a team of people, preparing to fight this three-headed sand snake."

  Gu Chao listened to Murong Ying's words and combined them with the situation in the arena, finally understanding what was going on.

  There are four teams on the field now.

  This is the first team, led by Zhuang Feihe, who ranks third in the Ninth Mountain Villa. There are four people in total, including Zhuang Feihe, who has a strength of nine layers in the acquired realm. A team of three to four people is actually a standard configuration in the Jianghu. Whether inside or outside Tai Shan, this configuration is popular, with two people responsible for attacking, one person responsible for defending, and one person responsible for healing. With three people, you can reduce one attacker or one healer. Such a team has both combat power and mobility.

  The second team is led by Lin Yi, who ranks fourth in the Ninth Mountain Villa and has a strength of nine layers in the later stage.

  The third team was Mu Rong Ying alone, Mu Rong Ying had the strength of a late-stage eighth layer Heaven.

  The fourth team was naturally Gu Chao alone, and Gu Chao had a strength of seven layers in the Post-Heavenly realm.

  Zhuang Feihe said, "This is a three-headed sand snake of the Post-Heaven Realm's ninth layer. I saw it first, so according to the rules, I should be the one to make the first move." He wanted to fight for the right to make the first move. Lin Yi, who was ranked fourth among the disciples, naturally didn't agree and coldly said, "Why should you be the one to make the first move?" Zhuang Feihe, who was ranked third, and Lin Yi, who was ranked fourth, had always been quarreling in the Ninth Mountain's Residual Snow Mountain Villa, and now they were just having another argument.

  Finally, they have managed to argue out a result.

  This time, to deal with the three-headed sand snake of the ninth layer of the Post-Heaven Realm, let Zhuang Feihe's team take action first. If Zhuang Feihe's team can't do it, then Lin Yi's team will take action. If Lin Yi's team still can't solve the problem, then Murong Ying's team will take action. If Murong Ying's team still can't solve the problem, finally Gu Chao's team will take action to solve it.

  The order of their moves was thus decided.

  Actually, at the beginning, both teams from the Ninth Mountain Villa treated Murong Ying and Gu Chao as one team. In their opinion, these two were people of the Tenth Mountain Villa and not considered top-notch experts, so they were naturally treated as one team. Who would have thought that Murong Ying and Gu Chao would insist on being two teams? It's ridiculous! How could Murong Ying possibly collaborate with Gu Chao when both had been trying to get rid of each other for a long time?

  ……

  Zhuang Feihe's team made the first move, this team has Zhuang Feihe who is ranked third in the Ninth Mountain Villa, Hong Qian who is ranked sixth, and two other experts.

  Zhuang Feihe smiled and said: "Since we made the first move, you guys don't have a chance anymore."

  Zhuang Feihe immediately said: "Hong Qian, the two of us will attack, pay attention to dodging. Wang Le, Zhang Pai, you two are in charge of defense and can also attack, but prioritize defense." Originally, there should have been someone responsible for healing, but it wasn't necessary this time, as they had already distributed antidotes earlier, so everyone was responsible for their own medical care.

  Previously, the ones I dealt with were mostly sixth and seventh layer dual-headed sand snakes in the Acquired Realm, as well as eighth-layer triple-headed sand snakes. This is still the first ninth-layer peak triple-headed sand snake in the Acquired Realm. The more heads a sand snake has, the more terrifying it is; supposedly, there's even a mountain in the Great Qi Empire where a nine-headed sand snake resides, and no one can eliminate it.

  Zhuang Feihe swiftly drew out his crimson copper long knife, and he was also a nimble and agile person. He used the Gale Knife Technique, with extremely fast knife movements. Of course, Zhuang Feihe's Gale Knife Technique had not yet reached the level of minor completion.

  A first-class martial skill like the 72 Routes of Knife Technique, Mu Rongying, who was known as a child prodigy, took only five months to reach small success, while a normal person would need about one and a half years. A normal person's mastery would take even longer, three or four years to master a first-class martial skill is really very normal.

  But second-class martial arts are even more troublesome than first-class martial arts. If someone like Murong Ying were to practice, it would take about eight months to achieve small success, while a normal person would need around two years to achieve small success. As for achieving great success, the time required is even longer, and six or seven years is also very normal.

  Zhuang Feihe was just an ordinary person, his natural talent couldn't compare with Murong Ying's.

  He spent a total of two years and eight months, practicing both the 72 Routes Knife Method and the Gust Knife Method, so he hasn't even reached the small success stage with the Gust Knife Method. Of course, despite this, his practice of the second-tier martial skill Gust Knife Method is quite good, his inner strength is at the ninth level of the Post-Heaven Realm.

  Hong Qian is the backbone of the Overbearing Sect, he practices the second-level martial skill Nanshan Knife Method, which has not reached the level of minor completion, but also has considerable power. His internal strength is at the 8th layer of the Post-Heavenly Realm's later stage.

  The other two, one named Wang Le, was a tyrannical sect's foundation, practicing the Nanshan knife method, with internal strength at the seventh layer of acquired boundary.

  That person named Zhang Pai is the backbone of the reconnaissance department, practicing the second-order knife technique of the illusory martial art, Fog Concealing Knife Technique. This set of Fog Concealing Knife Technique has a knife light that seems to be hidden but not hidden, and if you're not careful, you won't see his knife light at all. His cultivation is also at the seventh layer of the acquired realm.

  The Tyrant's South Mountain Knife Method, the Bewildering Mist Concealment Knife Method, and the Agile Gale Knife Method are the three most common second-tier martial techniques of the Mount Tai Sect. Of course, there are also some other second-tier martial techniques.

  The four of them charged towards the three-headed sand snake, a demon beast at the ninth level of the Back Heaven Realm.

  This time, the strongest among the sand snakes in Linhe County is the three-headed sand snake in front of them, and they want to take down this battle achievement.

  It must never fall into the hands of the people from Xue Shan Zhuang in the tenth mountain village.

  (Update 2 is out, la la la, seeking recommendations.)