302 The Roused Snake King

Force could be borrowed and dispelled, but a concealed weapon was no different from a child's toy if there wasn't any strength put in it.

The poison coating the weapon didn't affect Meng Qi in any way. After all, he had already begun training in the Golden Bell Shield's Seventh barrier and had not sustained wounds from weapons of the enlightened level. They didn't use rare poisons or poisonous mists either. How could they possibly poison him?

If the Poisonous Arhat's concealed weapons could threaten his life, then using genuine Qi and mental energy to investigate the enemy wouldn't have been just for show. He didn't practice the type of Peerless Godly Kungfu like the Heavenly Emperor's Scripts, nor was he powerful like Fire Lord, who was nearly capable of the Heaven-man Connection.

Poisonous Arhat collapsed face-first on the ground with a dull thud. Meng Qi leaped over him and dashed into the winding corridor.

He had to stop Snake King before he realized what had happened and escape!

Meng Qi went all out with his movements and vanished from the sight of the survivor Yue Gu as quickly as a residual shadow, flashing by like an illusion. Jiang Hengchuan seemed to keep a neutral pace as if he had blended in with his surroundings. He borrowed the momentum of the changing environment and shortened the distance between him and the corridor with a single step.

The hall was silent, leaving Yue Gu alone surrounded by fallen corpses.

Just a split moment ago, there were two Guardians and almost 10 assassins there! How fierce it had been!

The night wind blew and carried a sense of gloominess with it. Yue Gu involuntarily shuddered. Did he just witness the Evil Ghosts Soliciting Life?

That sword art truly appeared supernatural in nature!

The winding corridor passed a pond full of aggressive fish, leading to the small tower where Snake King lived. They couldn't see a single flame in the pitch black darkness of the night, suggesting that he was already asleep.

Meng Qi and Jiang Hengchuan each occupied one side of the corridor as they ran forth at top speed.

Meng Qi guarded his intentions and projected his will outwards. They either merged with his long sword or integrated with his surroundings. His soul was clear and pure, without any notion of stopping.

He felt his long sword suddenly tugged downward without any warning after taking a few steps forward.

On the outer side of the corridor, an assassin had been hiding using the waves and shadows as cover. He was armed with a knife as he waited for the swordsman clothed in white to approach.

A chance! When Meng Qi brushed past him, he leaped out all of a sudden. He pressed his body close to the floorboard and was about to swing his blade at Meng Qi's Dantian.

Just then, the shadow of another blade flashed before his eyes and it was somehow already right in front of his face!

He was impaled in the throat with a sickening sound. Clutching his throat, he dropped into the pond below. Wisps of red spread with the ripples in the water as the vicious fish rapidly closed in on him, tearing at his flesh.

After Meng Qi stabbed the assassin with his long sword, he heard a cracking sound from above. The top of the corridor shattered and a man in black fell from overhead. He held a blade with both hands and aimed it at the left side of Meng Qi's neck.

He had cruelly watched his comrade die for this chance!

Since the swordsman's sword had just stabbed his comrade, he had no means of defending himself!

Then the assassin saw a flash of lightning.

The lighting was blindingly bright.

Awaiting him wasn't Meng Qi's neck, but a long saber.

The blade was extremely swift. The man in black only managed to get a clear look at it right before it was sheathed. It had a strange shape and resembled a large, gaping wound with the silvery lightning.

A crackle rang out as he was ripped apart from the middle. His heart, liver, spleen, lung, and kidney hit the ground, all soft and sticky.

Meng Qi held his sword in his left hand and his saber in his right. He didn't even spare the assassins a glance as he zipped past. His white robes fluttered in the wind, not a single trace of dirt or speck of blood on them.

The small tower was within view when he suddenly stopped.

Right then, shadows leaped out from beyond the railings beneath the corridor. Their knife energy swung out like the unraveling of a bolt of white silk. Working together, they sealed off any chance of survival!

Yet nobody had been caught in their net of blades!

Meng Qi stopped just in time, standing right outside the boundary of their attack range, not a millimeter more or less.

With a flash of sword light, the three shadows fell back while clutching their throats. They either slowly slumped against the pillar or plunged clumsily into the pond. There was a loud splash as water sprayed everywhere. The water lotuses were crushed and ripples spread in the water. Blood leaked from the bodies like many small, squirming snakes.

The fish attacked, munching away in large chunks.

On the other side, Jiang Hengchuan made vigorous strides. He suddenly projected his genuine Qi outward through his extended palm, creating a violent airflow. He then quickly pushed his left palm out, combining the force with the airflow he had just created.

Whoosh!

A fierce wind howled as the genuine Qi transformed into a ferocious Qi dragon, whistling as it bolted ahead of Jiang Hengchuan.

Splash! Splash! The corridor shook as shadow after shadow was forced out. Their chests caved in and their bones were broken. They fell into the pond as well, feeding the fish with their bodies.

Simple and brutal, but also at an exceptional speed, Jiang Hengchuan was close behind Meng Qi as they arrived at the entrance to the small tower.

Neither of them used the door. Instead, they stomped downward and lifted themselves into the air like rocs spreading their wings. They leaped onto the first floor where Snake King's room was.

Out of the blue, a dark figure jumped out from the first floor. The figure charged at them while they were still midair and couldn't borrow any force. He violently swung the swords in his two hands at the duo.

Meng Qi raised his long saber. There was a resounding clash of metal against metal as he managed to block one of the swords. He felt the pull of gravity and began falling downward.

Humph! The figure was pleased with his ambush. With all these noise and delay, it would alert his master and buy him enough time to escape through the secret passage!

At that point in time, the two of them were midair and couldn't gather enough force to attack him. He would be able to successfully escape as long as he seized the opportunity.

Out of the blue, a flash of sword light blinded him. It cleaved toward his neck in an unimaginable manner, the tip piercing a few inches deep into his skin a single stroke.

"How could he have drawn his sword?"

Right before everything went black, the scene that had just transpired briefly appeared in his mind. The swordsman in white had tossed his long sword into the air and tapped it with his finger. Then the sword had immediately flown out like a concealed weapon...

How could the swordsman use his sword like this...

Meng Qi could feel himself falling to the ground faster and faster. He wielded his long saber and struck the area above the assassin's Meridian.

Relying on this force, he managed to push himself up by a bit. He held the sword hilt in his hand and pulled hard, using the force to leap even higher up. He soared upward like a giant white bird and landed on the first floor.

The dark figure plummeted to the ground with a thud in front of the entrance of the small tower. His limbs were sticking out at awkward angles, but he could no longer feel any pain.

Everything happened in the blink of an eye. Since Jiang Hengchuan had been a tad slower in leaping upward, he had yet to take action when the black figure brushed past him in the opposite direction. The long saber that had been aimed at him weakly clattered on the floor of the corridor.

It was only then that the bones of the first assassin that had fallen into the pond began to show.

...

Snake King was truly old. His skin was wrinkled and his face shriveled. Even his seemingly steady hands trembled whenever people weren't looking. Moreover, he increasingly felt a constant exhaustion as if he never had enough mental energy. He went to bed and woke up early, as well as slept several times a day.

He was originally an assassin and grew up amidst the backdrop of betrayal and slaughter. He had laid his foundation step by step and later escaped the shackles of the Snake-style Fist with the aid of others. The Mystic Art of Life and Death was successfully opened and he became one of the most eminent characters in Maoling.

However, precisely because of such a history, he developed an excessively doubtful nature. Even his most trusted Four Big Protectors weren't allowed within three feet of him. When he slept, nobody was allowed inside his tower. There would be, at most, a man guarding the door but the rest had to leave the small tower. Anyone who came near him would be killed!

This wasn't a joke. He had once pretended to be asleep to sound out any traitors. He had ended up killing a few trusted subordinates who tried to get near him without his permission, striking fear in the rest of his underlings.

The sounds of splashes, thuds, as well metal collisions traveled to his ears and roused him from his light sleep.

The sounds seemed almost non-existent like an auditory hallucination.

Due to his frail constitution resulting from old age, he spent a little more time than usual to shake off his sleepiness. After confirming that the noise was really coming from outside, he got up in alarm. He listened closely for the sound and projected his will outwards, trying to sense the activity outside.

Seconds later, he headed for the entrance to the secret passage. As he pushed open the secret door, he called out to someone.

"What happened? Go and investigate and report back to me!"

"Yes." An answer came out of nowhere. Snake King's gaze froze when the door to his room creaked open. A swordsman dressed in pristine, white robes strode in with a sword in hand.

His five features were beautiful and the contour of his cheeks and facial structures were distinct. A cold aloofness peeked out from within his elegant attitude. His entire appearance was akin to the sword in his hand: aloof, confident, sharp, and cold. There were no friends, only enemies.

His robes were untouched by any hint of dust or dirt, allowing its whiteness to stand out. It was like an unsheathed sword, sharp and with the need for any sort of decoration.

Snake King was startled. The noise had just roused him and the swordsman was already at his door?

Was he that fast?

How could he be that fast!

With their mental energies clashing and the draw of Qi, Snake King didn't dare to directly slip into the secret passage. That would be incredibly dangerous as it meant exposing his back to the opponent.

His heart began to race. He was in utter shock at how quick the attacker was. The defensive measures he had painstakingly placed to buy himself enough time to rouse from his sleep and escape had been rendered useless. He felt as vulnerable as the white tofu he had had for dinner!

Even if the attacker had only enlightened his Acupores, he couldn't be underestimated!

"If you seal your own acupoints, I won't hurt you." Meng Qi pointed at him with his long sword, appearing as cold as ice.

Rage began to bubble within Snake King. He hadn't heard such a statement in a while since mastering his kungfu! Worse, from a junior who had only enlightened his Acupores!

His shriveled face darkened. "Who are you? Why did you barge into..."

Before he finished his sentence, he was already charging at Meng Qi with a fist aiming high and another aiming low. His form was like that of a snake and his force kept within, impossible to perceive from the outside.

Dark shadows danced about in the room as if they had suddenly come to life. They distorted reality and attacked Meng Qi from all sides.

Snake King blended into the shadows. It was difficult to tell him apart. Any of those shadows could be him.

He had just pounced forward when he saw a flash of sword light. Beyond his expectations, his opponent used the same tactic as him. The swordsman was also talking to distract him and suddenly attacked mid-sentence!

Lightning flashed at an unthinkable speed. Meng Qi had barely raised his sword when it had reached the pile of shadows near him.

Though Snake King was old and frail and couldn't unleash much of his strength, he was still a Half-step Exterior Scenery master. His realm prevented Meng Qi from using his mental energy to sense where his Real Body was amidst all the shadows. Furthermore, all of Snake King's force had been concealed within, the same way a venomous snake would quietly wait to bite its victim. It was impossible to differentiate him from the shadows. Meng Qi could only rely on his instincts and believe in his blade as he swung it at the shadows!

His saber cleaved the dark shadows, cutting through it like air. All of a sudden, something hit him and he swung the blade horizontally.

Snake King's silhouette reappeared. He seemed to have no skeleton, like a slick and venomous snake, as he dodged Meng Qi's saber and glided past him toward the door.

He didn't have the intention to go all out right from the start. Under such nebulous circumstances where he didn't even know who his attacker was, he only wanted to escape.

The more time he spent in Jianghu, the more cowardly he became.