Chapter 213: Sword Cultivation, Sword Form

Under the moonlight, on the roof ridge.

Chen Ji looked at the Emei thorn in his hand, then at the Emei thorn in the black-clothed assassin's hand.

Earlier, when Yun Yang and Jiao Mian wanted to kill him, they mentioned that there was a Jianghu hero skilled in the Emei thorn, who wholeheartedly wanted to avenge King Jing.

Chen Ji kept this in mind, planning to pin the death of General Wang on the owner of the Emei thorn. Who would have thought, the other side actually came.

The black-clothed assassin did not cover their face, and the black hat they wore had also fallen off during the struggle. Unexpectedly, it was a woman.

Chen Ji held his breath and observed, seeing that the black-clothed assassin was about thirty-six or seven years old, with a beautiful appearance but already showing signs of hardship, like a peony stone bridge on the Luo River, having endured decades of wind and rain.

Her eye sockets were red like blood, as if she had cried many times, crying herself to sleep and crying herself awake.

On the bluestone long street, the black-clothed assassin faced off against more than ten Qian Sui Army armored soldiers. As the assassin moved left, the armored soldiers also moved left together, forming a net. Their qi movements pulled at each other, seeking flaws.

Under the eaves, General Wang gritted his teeth and propped himself up. He didn't pull out the Emei thorn in his shoulder socket, but drew the sword from his waist and said coldly: "Su Zhou, I understand your desire to avenge King Wang, but how can you be so sure that I betrayed King Wang? These years I have been loyal to King Wang, where have I gone wrong?"

The female assassin, named Su Zhou, held the Emei thorn with one hand, her blood-red eyes slowly sweeping over every Qian Sui Army soldier. "King Wang taught me, to judge a person, don't look at what they say, only look at what they do. The Qian Sui Army is King Wang's direct lineage. King Wang is gone, yet you are all still alive and well. Isn't this enough to prove you are traitors?"

General Wang's face turned stern, and he gripped the sword hilt tightly.

Su Zhou's Emei thorn in hand slightly reversed, and she bent at the waist, raising it in front of her like the hook on a praying mantis's arm.

She laughed coldly: "Wang Chongli, back then outside Liuzhou city, you were shot through the thigh by an arrow. It was King Wang who carried you into the city, and then begged for the immortal medicine from the Laojun Mountain Taoist court, and searched Jianghu for your cultivation path Qingyang sword technique. The sword in your hand, it was he who gave you when you were promoted to deputy general. King Wang sought people to cast this sword, exhausted efforts to find meteorite iron from the inner court, and visited the thatched hut three times to invite the Cangzhou sword master. Have you forgotten all this?"

"Wu Yong, back then when you were just a foot soldier, your family sent a letter saying your old mother was seriously ill. You deserted to go home, but were caught back by the Constitutional Office. It was King Wang who remembered your filial piety and spared your life, also invited a doctor for your old mother, and passed down the cultivation path to you."

"Jian Lintao, back then you were just an unknown small fry in Jianghu. Your father's cultivation path was coveted, and he was poisoned to death. King Wang avenged you, and seized back the cultivation path, yet you now repay kindness with enmity."

On the bluestone slab road, Su Zhou's words landed with a thud, each word as hard as iron.

She and these Qian Sui Army confidants were actually all acquaintances, naming them one by one, knowing their backgrounds like a treasure.

An armored soldier was silent for a long time before speaking: "Aunt Su, we didn't harm King Wang."

Su Zhou's voice deepened as she asked: "I told you to kneel in the City God Temple, drip blood, and swear by your parents, that if you betrayed King Wang, then the City God Lord would take them to the underworld. Do you dare?"

The armored soldiers unconsciously gripped the knives in their hands, but none dared to agree.

Chen Ji lay on the roof ridge, listening with surprise and uncertainty. Was it because people in the Ning Dynasty were superstitious and thus dared not swear, or did the City God Temple blood oath really work?

At this moment, General Wang slowly said: "The reason we are still alive and well is also to keep our useful bodies to avenge him, waiting for an opportunity to execute the eunuch party. We did not betray King Wang, it was that Chen family bastard son named Chen Ji who betrayed King Wang."

Su Zhou laughed coldly: "You really think by splashing dirty water on a little scholar, I will believe you? No harm, you also have to die, he also has to die. After killing you, I will go kill him, kill everyone!"

General Wang gritted his teeth and said: "Mad woman, are you crazy?"

Su Zhou's eyes were like a deep abyss: "I am indeed crazy."

General Wang lowered his head to look at the Emei thorn in his left shoulder socket, then his right wrist trembled slightly, and the long sword in his hand actually emitted a clanging sound of vibration: "You really think you can kill so many of us? You're overestimating yourself. In the past, for King Wang's sake, we let you. You really think you're some great hero."

Su Zhou's voice was squeezed out from between her teeth: "Try and see."

As her words fell, she charged into the armored soldiers.

An armored soldier swung his knife, but before the knife reached her body, her shadow was gone from in front of him.

A sharp pain shot through the armored soldier's leg. He turned his head to look and saw that the back of his thigh had already been pierced by an Emei thorn, and blood flowed like a fountain.

Su Zhou used the Emei thorn to press against his neck, pulling him back from behind, separating him from the encirclement. For a time, the other armored soldiers didn't dare to act, like throwing the rat.

The next moment, Su Zhou's Emei thorn in hand, like lightning, stabbed several times on the armored soldier's chest. Blood sprayed out, dyeing her hand red.

The armored soldier slowly fell, his eyes lifeless, saying: "Aunt Su, I'm sorry..."

Su Zhou's eyes flickered for an instant: "Go say sorry to King Wang, why say it to me."

Saying so, she actually charged forward again, her every move appearing elusive and unpredictable. As the saying goes, the body moves with the waist first, the body follows the steps, the palms follow the body's changes, the steps follow the palms, up and down connected, the whole body as one entity.

The Emei thorn in her hand matched her figure, like a floating and unpredictable leaf, actually having the appearance of being shadowless and traceless.

Gradually, an invisible wind appeared by Su Zhou's side, causing the armored soldiers beside her to sway unpredictably. The fallen leaves on the ground were rolled up by the airflow, slowly forming a Yin-Yang fish pattern.

However, just as this Yin-Yang fish was about to form, General Wang seized the opportunity to deliver a sword strike, cutting Su Zhou's right arm and also breaking that Yin-Yang fish formation.

General Wang did not linger after his successful strike, quickly retreating from the battle circle: "King Wang actually really begged Cheng Tinghua, that old thing, and passed down the Eight Trigrams Embracing Origin technique to you."

Saying so, he lightly waved his hand, signaling all the armored soldiers to surround her.

An armored soldier passed by his side, and he pulled the other's arm armor, saying in a low voice: "I don't know what realm her Eight Trigrams Embracing Origin is now. You and I may not be her match. Go to the south city gate and call the Luo City Military Office to come and surround her! Hurry!"

That armored soldier nodded, and taking advantage of the moment when Su Zhou was surrounded and fighting, he flipped onto a horse and galloped towards the south city gate.

General Wang was about to lift his sword to fight back, but he felt his left arm slightly numb.

His face changed, and he lowered his head to tear open the clothes at his shoulder. The place where the Emei thorn was embedded in his shoulder socket had already turned black and purple, and black patterns followed the blood flow, terrifying like a spider web.

General Wang used his finger to dip in the blood and brought it to his nose to smell. In his eyes was a slight coldness of "see blood seal throat".

He lifted the long sword and ran towards Anxi Street, but after only two steps, he remembered that the Taiping Medical Hall had also been sealed along with King Jing's mansion.

General Wang thought for two breaths, wanting to flip onto a horse.

But he clearly felt that his body's strength was being drained away bit by bit. In just the short time of half an incense stick, even the strength to mount a horse was gone.

General Wang said hoarsely: "Su Zhou, the antidote for see blood seal throat poison."

Su Zhou, while dealing with the armored soldiers' siege, said coldly: "Today either you die or I perish. Do you think I would bring the antidote?"

General Wang begged in a low voice: "Su Zhou, for King Wang's sake, give me the antidote. I will avenge King Wang with you! How can you avenge that poisonous minister alone? He has the Twelve Zodiacs, what do you have?"

Su Zhou's heart was as hard as iron: "No need! This see blood seal throat poison, in Luo City, only Imperial Doctor Yao can solve it. I cannot solve it either!"

General Wang turned around, staggering towards the dark alley behind him.

Su Zhou wanted to chase after him, but she was heavily surrounded by armored soldiers and couldn't move for a time.

In the dim alley, only General Wang Chongli's footsteps and breathing could be heard. Black blood flowed from his shoulder socket, down his arm and robe, dropping onto the ground.

Bluestone bricks, gray tiles, white walls. The alley was like a maze. In a trance, he seemed to return to Liuzhou city, the still young King Jing carrying him through the streets and alleys, shouting loudly: "Is there a doctor? Is there a doctor? My brother is injured by an arrow. If there is a doctor who can treat him, I will reward one hundred taels of silver!"

General Wang Chongli seemed to hear the Qian Sui Army's war song again: "Ten thousand men of one heart, Xi, Tai Shan can be shaken. Only loyalty and righteousness, Xi, Qi rushes to Dou Niu. Report to the emperor, Xi, save the common people below. Kill all thieves, Xi, seek a marquis..."

He seemed to see his former comrades one by one emerge from the alley, passing by his side. Someone patted his shoulder: "Go, kill the thieves!" And then, those comrades disappeared one by one at the end of the alley.

General Wang Chongli shook his head, rubbing his eyes hard to make the double images in his eyes less, and the fantasies in his mind less.

He didn't know how long he walked, until he could no longer hear the sounds of fighting behind him.

He leaned heavily against the white wall of the alley, breathing heavily. He gritted his teeth and tried to pull out the Emei thorn, but just as he pulled it out halfway, a black shadow fell from the roof. One hand pressed on the handle of the Emei thorn, pushing it back in!

General Wang Chongli cried out in pain, roaring in a low voice.

He lifted his head to look at the suddenly descended Chen Ji, just about to get angry, but suddenly cried out: "King Wang!"

Chen Ji was startled.

General Wang Chongli leaned against the wall and slowly sat down, snot and tears flowing down: "King Wang, this general is sorry for you, this general has no face to see you again!"

Chen Ji remained silent, quietly looking at him.

General Wang Chongli tremblingly wiped away his tears with his sleeve: "But I also had no choice, ah. That poisonous minister sent Jiao Mian and Yun Yang to capture my whole family, and chopped off ten fingers of my old mother. I couldn't watch her die, ah. If I didn't agree to them, who knows how many people in the Qian Sui Army would have died. King Wang, forgive us, ba. This general will be your cow and horse in the next life..." Before he finished speaking, General Wang Chongli's eyes suddenly regained clarity.

He lowered his head and looked at himself, then lifted his head and looked at Chen Ji. His right hand suddenly shook, and the Qingyang sword in his hand straightened its body and stabbed towards Chen Ji.

But Chen Ji only lightly sidestepped, easily avoiding the sword.

In an instant, before General Wang Chongli could change his sword moves, Chen Ji already gripped his right wrist and closed in.

In a flash of lightning, Chen Ji pulled out the Emei thorn from General Wang Chongli's shoulder socket and stabbed several times. The last strike entered from the ribs into the heart, and already blackened blood flowed out.

General Wang Chongli spat out a mouthful of blood, already having more breath going out than in.

Chen Ji said softly: "Everyone makes mistakes. It's good to correct them in the next life."

"It makes sense, ah," General Wang Chongli smiled bitterly, his eyes again scattering.

He no longer looked at Chen Ji. His gaze crossed over Chen Ji's shoulder, looking towards the white wall behind Chen Ji, as if he really saw something.

After a few breaths, he muttered: "Kill all thieves, seek a marquis... You promised we would all be marquises, but these thieves always can't be killed..."

Chen Ji squatted in front of General Wang Chongli, quietly observing the changes in his pupils, until his pupils completely dilated. A stream of icy flow surged out from General Wang Chongli's heart and merged into his dantian.

Just as he stood up to leave, he suddenly turned back in astonishment to look.

In the alley, General Wang Chongli's Qingyang sword burned up, decaying inch by inch in the intense firelight.

The Qingyang sword burned into ashes like wood, leaving behind only a fierce, sun-like pure sword intent that burst out, flying into Chen Ji's heart, merging with the grand sword qi he had nurtured for a long time.

That grand sword qi, which had never taken shape no matter what, finally had a black sword shape!

Chen Ji recalled Xuanyuan's words. The sword is the king of all weapons. The sword seed path is all about seizing the world's sword intent to complete oneself.

This was Chen Ji's first seized sword!

So, cultivating the sword seed path really required killing people and seizing their swords!

On the roof, the dark cloud lightly meowed at his head. He hurriedly blew away the traces left by the Qingyang sword and then disappeared at the end of the alley.

After a while, Su Zhou, her face covered in blood and bearing injuries, silently approached. She squatted down to examine General Wang Chongli's wounds and suddenly discovered that every one of General Wang Chongli's wounds was exactly in the same position as the stabs she had previously inflicted on the armored soldier.

She frowned and looked around, wondering who had come to finish off General Wang Chongli. While thinking, dense sounds of horse hooves came from afar. The Luo City Military Office had arrived. Su Zhou lightly leaped onto the roof and jumped towards the city to escape.