Chapter 496 - 417: Ambush

Chapter 496: Chapter 417: Ambush

They had traveled less than half a li, not even leaving the wharf area.

Suddenly, a bone-chilling glint of sword light flashed out from the left without any warning.

SHIING!

The gleam was impossibly fast, like a bolt of lightning tearing through the night sky. It crossed dozens of yards in an instant, striking straight for the center of the convoy.

"Watch out!"

Jian You’s expression changed drastically as he roared a warning.

But it was too late.

SHINK! SHINK! SHINK! SHINK...!

The sword light shot through them like a white rainbow piercing the sun. Its target wasn’t the three Elders, but the ordinary disciples escorting the convoy’s midsection.

A dozen or so Celestial Sword Sect disciples were pierced through before they could even react. Bowl-sized holes of blood simultaneously appeared in their chests, throats, and the center of their foreheads!

Their eyes were wide, faces frozen in astonishment, as their bodies collapsed to the ground.

Blood gushed like a fountain, instantly staining the ground crimson.

"Ambush!"

"Spread out! Quickly, spread out!"

The Celestial Sword Sect disciples instantly fell into chaos. Some drew their swords to fight, while others leaped away to the sides, trying to flee.

Jian You, Sword Fear, and Sword Fool leaped from their horses in unison. With their longswords drawn, they lunged toward the streak of light.

"What kind of rat hides in the shadows! Show yourself!"

Sword Fool roared as his longsword erupted with a Sword Gang several yards long, which he brought down viciously upon the gleam of light.

But the gleam of light was uncannily agile. It made a sharp turn in mid-air, dodging Sword Fool’s strike, and continued to weave through the convoy.

SHINK! SHINK! SHINK...

Wherever the light passed, another dozen disciples fell into pools of their own blood.

Some were decapitated, some were run through the chest, and others were sliced in half at the waist... A cacophony of agonized screams, enraged shouts, and clashing steel filled the air.

But the streak of light was simply too fast—so fast no one had time to react.

One disciple had barely flown a hundred feet, thinking he was safe for the moment, when the light caught up and cut him down in mid-air.

Agonized screams rose and fell in waves!

Wherever the light passed, severed limbs flew and heads rolled. Some disciples were pierced straight through the chest, leaving bowl-sized holes one could see right through.

Under the moonlight, the convoy had turned into a living hell in an instant. The stench of blood was overwhelming.

Some disciples, scared out of their wits, used their Lightweight Skill to flee for their lives, trying in vain to escape the slaughter.

But before that streak of light, their speed was no better than a snail’s crawl.

They would often leap no more than twenty or thirty feet before the fatal, cold light, moving with impossible speed, would catch up and strike them down in mid-air.

"Flying Sword Skill?!"

Elder Sword Fool’s eyes were practically splitting from their sockets with rage as he stared at the gleam of light reaping a bloody harvest through the crowd.

"Who in the hell are you?! Get out here!"

Jian You roared again and again as he and Elder Sword Fear desperately chased the streak of light, trying to intercept it.

But they discovered, to their despair, that their Body Techniques were clumsy in the face of the light. They could only watch helplessly as their sect’s elite disciples were cut down like wheat.

Sword Fool’s eyes were bloodshot as he let out a guttural roar.

He wanted to rescue his disciples, but the Flying Sword was too fast. He couldn’t catch it, and could only watch as his sect’s elite members fell one by one.

"Could it be... a traitor?!"

"Send the signal!"

Jian You roared.

Sword Fear hastily pulled a bamboo tube from his robes and crushed it.

FWEET...

With a sharp crack, an incredibly dazzling ball of light ignited in the sky.

The light quickly stretched and condensed in the air, forming the pattern of a small sword several feet long. It hung high against the night sky, its dazzling light clearly visible for miles around.

However, it was already too late.

In the time it took half an incense stick to burn, all one hundred of the accompanying Celestial Sword Sect disciples had fallen into pools of their own blood.

Not one was left alive.

Only then did the cyan streak of light change direction, shooting toward Jian You, Sword Fool, and Sword Fear.

"Together!"

Jian You barked the command. The three stood back to back, longswords held horizontally before them as their Sword Gang surged.

The cyan light struck the barrier, producing an ear-piercing screech of metal on metal.

The barrier trembled violently but did not break.

But Jian You’s longsword let out a CRACK! and shattered inch by inch!

He let out a muffled grunt, a trickle of blood leaking from the corner of his mouth, yet a flash of joy appeared in his eyes.

’We blocked it!’

But the joy lasted only for an instant.

Jian You roared, pouring all his life’s Power into his longsword. The blade erupted with a dazzling Gang Qi over ten yards long as he fearlessly met the incoming streak of light.

CLANG... CRACK!

An ear-piercing screech of metal echoed through the night.

The moment it made contact with the streak of light, the longsword in Jian You’s hand shattered inch by inch like glass.

The streak of light, however, was momentarily halted by the full-force blow. It then circled once, and instead of continuing the attack, it abruptly retreated and vanished into the shadows.

Just as Jian You, Sword Fool, and Sword Fear stood in stunned uncertainty, a faint sigh drifted out from the deep darkness ahead.

"The distance is still a bit too great. The power loss makes the result... less than satisfactory. I’ll have to get closer."

With the sigh, a figure in gray strode out from the shadows.

It was Chen Li.

"It’s you!"

Jian You’s pupils contracted as he gasped in shock.

He had never seen Chen Li in person, but he had memorized the man’s appearance from Hua Wuxin’s description.

"How can this be..."

Jian You murmured, his eyes filled with utter disbelief.

’Wasn’t he supposed to be at the desolate temple thirty li to the southwest, waiting for our two Grand Elders to ransom someone?’

’How could he be here?!’

Before the three could process the thought, the longswords dropped by the fallen Celestial Sword Sect disciples, scattered across the ground, suddenly flared with light. They shot up, moving even faster than before.

The three Elders had no time to react.

THWIP! THWIP! THWIP!

Three soft sounds, almost simultaneous.

Jian You was struck simultaneously in the chest, throat, and between the eyes.

A sword pierced Sword Fool’s heart.

Sword Fear was pinned to the ground, his eyes wide in death, unable to find peace.

"Ugh..."

Jian You’s mouth opened as if to speak, but his life was already draining away with his blood.

The light in their eyes faded rapidly as they collapsed to the ground, one after another.

Within their Divine Hall Acupoints, their Divine Senses struggled madly, trying to escape their dead bodies and flee.

The next moment, a finger shimmering with a faint golden light descended silently.

The three Divine Souls froze in unison before dissipating like smoke.

Soul shattered, spirit scattered!

Chen Li retracted his finger. His gaze swept over the field of corpses, his expression serene.