Bombarding Cultivators with Cluster Artillery

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Yang Dongsheng's brows furrowed even deeper.

"Speak, what do you plan to do?"

"Plan?"

Lu Jingtian spoke deliberately, "Stop being cheap, fighting for peanuts. The three of us, each leading dozens of elite troops and equipped with strong bows and hard crossbows, will go straight in for the kill. No matter how high his martial skills are or how deep his cards are tucked, he will not escape with his life!"

"Once successful, we each take our families and scatter to different places. Whatever background he has will become useless!"

Yang Dongsheng hesitated: "Is it worth it?"

All these years of struggle, to just give it up like this?

"It is worth it!"

The old man in black robe sneered coldly, "As long as any of your descendants can break through to Internal Qi Perfection, these family businesses, in ten or so years, aren't they easily within grasp?"

"Besides, that Breakthrough Stage Pill is nothing but something he released, it might even aid in reaching Xiantian..."

"Heh heh."

Yang Dongsheng coldly snickered to himself.

This man from a major sect naturally does not fear retaliation. When the time comes, if he pushes the matter onto their heads, perhaps nothing will come of it, while I become the scapegoat to vent his anger.

As for aiding the attainment of Xiantian, maybe there's a chance, but he didn't believe anyone would carry such things around at all times.

And his son is still young, with opportunities to grow. Right now, he could still suppress the various factions, so there's no need to be so desperate.

Lu Jingtian and the old man in black robe exchanged glances, feeling the situation to be tricky.

In terms of strength, they were not inferior to Yang Dongsheng, but when it came to their foundation in the town, they both fell short.

Bringing a group of warriors into the city and obtaining a batch of strong bows and hard crossbows, without the local snakes to cover for us, would not work.

"If Brother Yang is unwilling, then there's nothing else we can do," Lu Jingtian said helplessly, "A single Xu-Breaking Pill is not enough for the three of us to share."

He revealed a vicious look, "I have one thing to say, if this Xu-Breaking Pill isn't mine, I'd rather burn all these butterflies, and the same goes for all the gold and silver!"

Not having successors for Yiqi Gang was the worst outcome for him.

"There's no need for that."

Yang Dongsheng frowned, "After I return, I will urge them to speed up the process, and I will ensure an outcome that will satisfy both brothers."

Having said that, he walked away briskly.

These two were not worth conspiring with.

Unfortunately, the Blue Luminous Butterflies were in their hands, and to recapture them, he couldn't bypass Fierce Tiger Village, rooted in Donglingshan Mountain, making trade unavoidable.

Perhaps, he could consider persuading the Zhendonghou Mansion to take action...

Backed by the royal family, even if that person has a profound background, there's no need to be too fearful, but how to ensure that the Marquis's mansion will eventually deliver a Xu-Breaking Pill required careful consideration.

As he pondered, he unconsciously reached the doorway.

Whoosh!

A whispering sound of air being split, as if by the buzz of a mosquito or fly.

"You..."

Yang Dongsheng was shocked, and as he suddenly looked up, he saw a youth in blue clothes thrusting a sword straight at him, silent as it cut through the air, leaving a sword shadow behind.

Clang!

Decades of combat experience, a reputation spreading far and wide across Dongling as 'Righteousness Over Clouds', and the brightly polished long knife at his waist was suddenly drawn out sweeping upward in a motion too quick for the ear to catch, reacting incredibly fast.

But it was too late!

The sword had been gathering momentum for too long, the Small Circle of Vital Energy's Inner Qi roaring and raging, all converging on the sword's edge, its speed almost invisible.

"Save me!"

Yang Dongsheng bellowed, his face turning crimson as he used a desperate move to boost his Qi. His blade's light suddenly sped up considerably.

Clang!

To Yang Dongsheng's astonished gaze, the knife's edge barely managed to clash against the sword blade, stopping it just in time.

"Still not fast enough..."

Jiang Ding sighed, his sword technique was considered decent among his peers, but against an old swordsman of the Jianghu who had honed his technique for decades, even a stealth attack was not enough to secure victory.

What a pity,

Even though it was just Small Circle, he had penetrated over twelve hundred of its subsidiary meridians.

The joy on Yang Dongsheng's face turned rigid.

Like a head-on collision with a flood, his Inner Energy crumbled upon contact with his opponent's, barely managing to resist with several times his Inner Energy against a single portion of his opponent's.

Yet, the opponent's Inner Qi was even more robust than his!

Schick!

The sword tip sliced through the layers of dull sword light, deviating slightly off the long knife, then thrust straight into Yang Dongsheng's throat. Countless thread-like strands of Inner Qi surged in, turning his internal organs to mush.

The external protective shield that should have diverted and halted it was as frail as paper mâché, utterly useless.

The lagging sword shadow arrived too late.

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"Impossible..."

Blood spilled, and the spiritual light in Yang Dongsheng's eyes gradually dimmed, his voice murmuring in disbelief even before his death.

The sixteen- or seventeen-year-old youth not only had a higher quality of inner energy than him but also a much larger quantity. This defied all common sense!

In the blink of an eye, with one thrust and one block, the leader of the famous Righteousness Over Clouds faction from Donglingshan Mountain, Yang Dongsheng, had fallen.

"Who dares to intrude on Fierce Tiger Village!"

'Dongshan Flying Tiger' Lu Jingtian bellowed, his voice shaking the air hundreds of meters around, his eyes filled with incredulous horror.

Yang Dongsheng was not much weaker than him!

The old man in a black robe suddenly rose to his feet, wielding a nine-section whip that slithered like a venomous snake, its appearance catching everyone off guard.

"Brother Jiang, everything before was a misunderstanding, a scheme by a villain. You and I can enjoy a drink and laugh over this..."

Upon seeing the face of the youth in blue clothes at the doorway, a storm surged in Lu Jingtian's heart, but he quickly put on a hearty smile like that of a warm elder.

Jiang Ding didn't speak. He flicked the blood off his sword and stepped forward deliberately.

Outside, the angry roars of 'Split-Mountain Tiger' and 'Gold-touching Tiger' could be heard faintly, along with the uniform marching of the village guards and the urgent clamor of summoning gongs from farther away.

"How dare you!"

Seeing that the youth in blue, instead of fleeing, was approaching closer after killing a man, Lu Jingtian's anger flared. "Then leave your life behind with this old man!"

"Come!"

Lu Jingtian swung his knife, unleashing five stern and majestic arcs of blade energy, with the faint sounds of roaring tigers accompanying them, capturing souls and chilling hearts.

"Five Tigers Soul Breaking Knife"!

This was a technique he had fortuitously acquired in his youth, which had served him well in his escapades. With a flash of the blade, the enemy's head, hands, and feet would be severed into five parts, thus it was also known in Jianghu as the Five Prison Knife.

Jiang Ding made no special move, just one slash—a bright arc of perfect regularity flashed by, followed by the shadow of his sword.

Expose Sword Style!

The moment the arc collided with the Five Prison Knife's energy, it easily cut through, causing the residual blade energy to scatter to both sides, gouging deep pits in the ground and nearby wooden walls.

Jiang Ding had a moment of insight.

The more he cultivated, the more he realized the profound and extensive depth of the "Eagle Taking Off Sword Technique," be it in practice or combat applications, it was pushed to the extreme.

He had learned some other sword techniques from Jianghu before, but now he had completely lost interest.

"Impossible!"

Lu Jingtian's expression wildly changed, issuing a roar similar to the now-dead Yang Dongsheng's.

In front of his opponent, his inner energy was like tofu, crumbling upon contact. Why was this happening!

One sword fell, and then another one pointed.

It was as though the stars from the sky had descended to the earth, their light growing stronger and more intense.

"Five Prison Kill!"

Lu Jingtian's inner energy surged out recklessly, forming five interlocked aggressive blade energies devouring everything in front.

This was the killing move he had perfected over fifty years of diligent knife practice, and those who had seen it were all dead!

Phut!

With repeated sounds like puncturing a drum, the starlight sword light pierced straight through, and the aggressive blade energy burst one by one. There was no detour nor roundabout, just a straight thrust to the throat.

Lu Jingtian was terrified.

He realized he could never directly face his opponent's sword!

Whoosh!

A faint sound of something tearing through the air reached his ears.

Within the sinister gaze of the old man in the black robe, a pitch-black nine-section whip suddenly lashed out, twisting into a sharp thread-like line. It aimed for the back of his head at this critical juncture when it seemed his old strength was spent, and new strength hadn't yet arisen.

The tip was sharp, dark, and carried a faint sweet scent indicating deadly poison. Contact meant certain death!

Jiang Ding's expression remained unchanged. As his sword tip was about to pierce Lu Jingtian's throat, it reversed course, tracing a bright semi-circle and tapping the sharp tip that was about to hit the back of his head, sending it flying.

Then, the sword tip, with its shadow, revolved back even faster.

"Get away!"

Lu Jingtian, overcome with fear, released a tremendous force of blade energy just in time to push back the sword tip slightly, his inner energy and blood roiling uncontrollably, his muscles and bones going numb.

He did not dare to take on another sword strike and frantically crashed towards the outside of the house.

As long as he got out and mixed into the army formation, even a Xiantian would not be able to kill him!

Chit!

Lu Jingtian's body stiffened, looking down in disbelief at the bloodstained sword blade in his chest, then he slumped to the ground listlessly.

"What kind of disaster has befallen us!"

The old man in the black robe gasped in shock, withdrawing the pitch-black nine-section whip mid-attack and fleeing headlong without looking back.

Jiang Ding glanced at the large group of village guards who had smashed into the room. As inner energy surged through the tip of his foot, his body shot up several meters, bursting through the roof and vanishing from sight.