Chapter 120: Fierce Battle with an Elixir Force Master
Page (1/3)
Wu Dali remained silent for a long while. “Junior Brother, how did you know?”
After Yang Xing arrived at Floating Cloud Mountain, he devoted himself entirely to martial training. Although he had examined the account books, they had already been tampered with, and everything appeared perfectly normal.
Yang Xing shook his head. “I don’t know.”
Wu Dali frowned. “Then you…”
“The steward’s post at Crouching Ox Ridge is a very lucrative position.”
Yang Xing’s voice was quiet and distant. “How could such a profitable post have fallen into my lap for no reason?”
Qi Ruolan had once told him that being the steward of Crouching Ox Ridge was an extremely lucrative assignment.
Yang Xing had already found it suspicious at the time.
He had never believed in the sort of good fortune that came from pies dropping from the sky or gold flowing from the ground.
There had to be something underhanded behind it all.
Wu Dali asked, “So you began investigating in secret as soon as you arrived?”
“I wasn’t exactly investigating in secret,” Yang Xing replied. “I simply kept a closer eye on things than usual.”
Wu Dali pondered for a long while. “Junior Brother Yang, why don’t you leave the mountain? Let us pretend this never happened. Once everything is settled, I’ll give you half the money.”
Yang Xing looked at Wu Dali without saying a word.
“Sixty percent?”
“Seventy percent!?”
Wu Dali’s heart pounded faster and faster, and his face grew increasingly flushed.
Yang Xing shook his head. “You should know that this isn’t about money.”
Wu Dali drew a deep breath. His voice turned cold. “It seems you have no intention of leaving your senior brother a way to live.”
Yang Xing sneered. “I’m giving you a way to live—but who will give me one?”
“In that case, don’t blame your senior brother for being ruthless.”
Wu Dali shouted, “He has only just broken through to Dan Force. The three of us will attack together. We may have a chance to kill him!”
When Cui Tianyou and Ran Ye heard this, they hardened their hearts. If they did not kill Yang Xing, they would surely die today as well. They might as well stake everything on one final struggle.
Rage clouded their minds, and evil sprang from their courage.
Shing!
Cui Tianyou drew his broadsword. Its blade flashed brilliantly, while Ran Ye gripped a long spear, its tip gleaming with a chilling light.
“Steward Yang, since you refuse to leave us a way to live, don’t blame us for being merciless.”
The two men launched themselves forward and charged at Yang Xing.
Their speed was astonishing, sweeping toward him like a gust of wind and leaving him no time to react.
Ssst!
Cui Tianyou’s blade reached him first, slashing toward Yang Xing’s waist.
Yang Xing retreated a step and flicked one finger against the blade.
Boom!
Though it seemed like a light tap, Cui Tianyou felt as if his entire arm were about to explode. Blood even began to flow from the web between his thumb and forefinger.
Before he could react, a palm strike tore through the air with a howl.
Bang!
The blow struck Cui Tianyou directly in the chest. His body flew away like a paper kite with its string cut, and when he landed, he spat blood.
Ran Ye had already closed in. His long spear darted forward like a venomous snake emerging from its lair, vicious and deadly.
Yang Xing’s eyes were as calm as still water. He seized the shaft of the spear, then brought down a whipping kick.
The kick passed without a sound, yet it carried the force of several thousand pounds.
Transforming Force unified the hidden power within the body, and when released, it usually produced a thunderous sound. To exert such power without making the slightest noise was a far more profound technique.
It was the mark of Transforming Force trained to its absolute peak.
Boom!
Ran Ye was sent flying several yards and crashed into a thick tree. He died on the spot.
In an instant, two masters of Transforming Force had fallen—one dead and one grievously wounded.
Page (2/3)
Rumble!
At that moment, a muffled thunderclap shook the air.
A penetrating-arm punch tore through the atmosphere and came hurtling forward.
The punch was powerful and heavy, its momentum terrifying. It had clearly reached the pinnacle of Transforming Force.
Yang Xing planted his feet firmly on the ground and struck out with one palm.
Boom!
The instant fist and palm collided, Yang Xing’s expression remained utterly calm. His feet did not move even an inch.
Step, step, step, step…
Wu Dali staggered backward again and again, his face deathly pale. Blood trickled from the corner of his mouth.
“So this is Dan Force?”
When Yang Xing had annihilated the Seven Wolves Stronghold, Wu Dali had not been particularly afraid. After all, he himself had killed several masters of Transforming Force.
He had never imagined that the difference between them would now be so vast.
Yang Xing moved, and in the blink of an eye he appeared before Wu Dali. He struck with an utterly ordinary move known as “Opening the Door and Seeing the Mountain.”
Boom!
A violent gale swept over. Wu Dali instinctively threw out a punch.
“Waaah!”
Wu Dali felt an overbearing force crash into him. Blood surged from his mouth, and his internal organs seemed to have been shattered.
“Stop!”
“Hm?”
Yang Xing raised his eyes and looked into the distance.
A man in black descended like a nimble swallow.
Pale blue energy swirled around his feet.
Page (3/3)
Azure Dragon energy?
Yang Xing narrowed his eyes. The newcomer was clearly a master of Dan Force—and one who had cultivated the Azure Dragon Scripture.
The man in black looked at Yang Xing. “Yang Xing, as the saying goes, cooperation benefits both sides, while conflict leaves everyone wounded. Why don’t we work together?”
Yang Xing asked, “And how do you propose we cooperate?”
The man in black pointed toward the carriage. “You can have this entire shipment. From now on, you’ll receive thirty percent of the profits from every shipment. All you need to do is turn a blind eye…”
Yang Xing cut him off. “Impossible.”
If he secretly appropriated the precious medicine, sooner or later there was a risk that the truth would be exposed. By then, it would be a grave offense. Why should Yang Xing dance on the edge of a blade?
“You refuse a toast only to be forced to drink a forfeit. Then don’t blame this old man for showing you no mercy.”
The black-clad man’s voice sank, and he immediately struck through the air with one palm.
Boom!
Energy roiled within the palm strike like waves capable of overturning mountains and seas.
Clearly, he had no intention of entangling himself with Yang Xing. He wanted to crush him outright with sheer force.
Yang Xing rotated his wrist, and the first form of the Black Tortoise Seal—“Parting the Mountain”—surged forward to meet the attack.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
The two men’s bodies never touched. Their energies collided in midair, erupting into successive thunderous explosions.
The black-clad man’s energy was extraordinarily rich and powerful. After that single exchange, Yang Xing felt his entire body tremble, while the tendons and fascia in his hand throbbed with pain.
The black-clad man stamped his foot, sending earth flying in all directions. His body transformed into a streak of lightning and vanished from where he stood.
In the blink of an eye, he reached Yang Xing, carrying with him an almost suffocating pressure.
Boom!
The black-clad man struck with both fists. The force was like collapsing mountains and roaring seas, like an army of thousands charging into battle as one.
…
That surging momentum set the blood racing, yet it also inspired a deep, instinctive dread.
Yang Xing’s body hair stood on end. It felt as though he had touched electricity. His blood immediately began to surge, and the energy within his elixir field poured forth like the waters of a broad river or vast lake.
Whoosh! Whoosh!
Confronted with the black-clad man’s fierce and overbearing attack, Yang Xing’s body trembled. His left hand clawed forward while his right hand struck like a hammer. Once again, he unleashed the most formidable move of the Black Tortoise Seal—the “Heaven-Turning Seal.”
Crack—boom!
Their forces collided once more. The air itself exploded with sharp reports, while the immense energy spread outward like a rising tide.
Any ordinary martial disciple below the level of Hidden Force who happened to be standing nearby would have suffered severe injuries upon being struck by the shock waves.
The lingering might of their clash was plain to see.
Yang Xing stared at the black mask in his hand and could not help sneering. “I never expected it to be you.”