The Qingfeng Gang and the Duan Blade Sect discovered traces of Liu Yan by the Flowing Water River. The rogue was heading toward Soul Prayer Mountain with a dozen or so youths, likely having been separated from Tang Lichen and now preparing to return to the Drifting Eyebrow Manor to reclaim power.
Seeing Liu Yan covered in scars, hobbling along with a cane, the Qingfeng Gang and Duan Blade Sect conspired to dispatch over thirty disciples to surround and kill him. Success in this endeavor would surely be a feat remembered for generations!
Liu Yan and Yu Tuan'er had escaped from the Jiang Family Garden, parting ways with the three hundred disciples who had risked their lives under Shui Duopo's leadership at the foot of Ox Head Mountain. Most of these disciples were Tang Lichen's subordinates, having learned the antidote method for the Nine Hearts Pill. Following the secret arrangements previously made by the Myriad Tricks Studio, they dispersed in different directions. A few young disciples, secretly sent from renowned orthodox sects like the Bihua Palace, volunteered to escort Liu Yan to Soul Prayer Mountain. Though they had once harbored deep hatred for the "former demon leader of the Fengliu Shop," they had endured humiliation to learn the antidote method. After receiving Shui Duopo's life-saving grace in the Jiang Family Garden's secret tunnels and realizing Liu Yan's critical role before the Nine Hearts Pill's Poison Affliction was resolved, they were willing to do their utmost.
The two groups met by the Flowing Water River and immediately clashed.
"You fools, meddling in matters you don’t understand! We’re delivering the antidote to the Central Plains Sword Conference! If you kill Liu Yan here and the Nine Hearts Pill’s poison remains unsolved, you’ll be the villains of the martial world!" A young disciple, barely sixteen, parried a strike from a Duan Blade Sect member, his voice trembling with indignation.
"You’re all clearly Fengliu Shop lackeys pretending to be benevolent antidote deliverers! The Nine Hearts Pill is utterly vile—there is no antidote! My junior brother died from the poison, and now I’ll make Liu Yan pay with his life!" The Duan Blade Sect’s senior disciple sneered. "If you’re not his subordinates, why protect him?"
The young disciple nearly burst into tears. "You’re being utterly unreasonable!"
The senior disciple swung his long blade. "Evil demons and heretics deserve death by all." His martial skills far surpassed those of the teenagers. With a single, mighty strike, he shattered the young disciple’s sword. Another youth stepped in to help but was slashed across the arm by the senior disciple’s left-hand blade.
The senior disciple wielded dual blades.
Yu Tuan'er, engaged in combat nearby, turned at the commotion. "Little Brother Bai!"
The nearly tearful youth was named Bai Yuan, the junior disciple of Gu Xitan.
As Gu Xitan’s junior disciple teetered on the brink of death at the hands of the Duan Blade Sect, a cane suddenly intervened, blocking the blade.
Bai Yuan froze—it was Liu Yan who had stepped in to save him. He knew full well that Liu Yan’s martial arts were crippled, his legs broken, leaving him hobbled. That this demon would risk his life to save him was unbelievable, even if Liu Yan had never seemed much like a demon to begin with.
The senior disciple hesitated briefly upon seeing Liu Yan act, but the moment their weapons clashed, he sensed the emptiness of Liu Yan’s inner energy. His heart burned with triumph.
If not now, when? Once Liu Yan returned to the Drifting Eyebrow Manor and healed, who in the world could kill him? Channeling all his strength, he unleashed the technique "Beacon Fire Illuminates Sweet Springs," aiming straight for Liu Yan’s skull.
Liu Yan’s cane flicked lightly, deflecting the strike by three inches. But the senior disciple had another blade—this one aimed at Liu Yan’s dantian.
Yu Tuan'er screamed, turning just as a Qingfeng Gang disciple seized the opening to slash her back. Blood gushed forth.Liu Yan slapped his palm against the broken blade of the Severed Blade Sect. His heart had been as still as water, but upon seeing Yu Tuan'er turn around wounded, he was startled, and the force in his hand faltered. The blade indeed sliced a wound into him as well.
The chief disciple of the Severed Blade Sect let out a loud laugh and swung his blade down toward Liu Yan's head.
With a crisp "clang," a figure flickered in the distance, and a sword suddenly appeared, blocking the blade. The newcomer grabbed Liu Yan and threw him backward, frowning as he said, "The Central Plains Sword Assembly is here. Who dares to act so recklessly?"
The chief disciple of the Severed Blade Sect roared in anger, "Meng Qinglei! You disgrace the righteous path of the Martial Arts World by colluding with evil heretics? How can you face the innocent souls who died under the Nine Hearts Pill?"
Meng Qinglei's expression darkened. "Liu Yan deserves death a thousand times over, but for now, he must be taken back to the Central Plains Sword Assembly. Once the poison of the Nine Hearts Pill is neutralized, we will surely cut him to pieces and invite all of you to bear witness. The Central Plains Sword Assembly is here fighting to the death against the Frivolous Shop—how many heroes have sacrificed themselves for the cause? I, Meng, am also prepared to do so. How dare you tarnish our Sword Assembly's resolve with the words 'colluding with evil'? Do you have no shame before the martial comrades who died in the Drifting Brow Garden?"
Under Meng Qinglei's glare, the chief disciple's arrogance diminished by three parts. "The Central Plains Sword Assembly may have a grand reputation, but even you couldn't eradicate the Frivolous Shop... Who knows if you're just putting on a show here or truly working to avenge the dead?"
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