Chapter 52: Taking You Down With Me

Chapter 52: Chapter 52: Taking You Down With Me

SHHNK!

Another sword strike. Cheng Ziqian seized an opening as Shen Dujiang stumbled. The longsword flashed like lightning, instantly slicing across Shen Dujiang’s right shoulder! Blood spurted out.

The strike had damaged his tendons. Shen Dujiang’s right arm went limp, the short blade nearly slipping from his grasp. He staggered backward until his back hit a broken wall, which was the only thing keeping him upright. Blood poured from both his left and right shoulders, and his face was as pale as gilded paper.

"Don’t... don’t fight anymore!" Shen Dujiang gasped, his voice hoarse.

"I give up! How about I join you? I’ve been around the black market for years. I know the ropes, I have connections—I can be useful to you! You’ve seen my strength. Once I recover from my injuries, I’m definitely no slouch!"

Hearing this, the corner of Cheng Ziqian’s mouth curved into a disdainful arc.

’A weathered old hustler who scrapes by at the bottom of the black market wants to join us? What a joke!’

Cheng Ziqian’s longsword didn’t pause for a moment. With an elegant flourish, the tip of the sword trembled and transformed into three cold stars, striking for Shen Dujiang’s brow, throat, and heart.

His killing intent was nakedly apparent; he was clearly going for a fatal blow!

Shen Dujiang’s pupils contracted. He tried to muster his last ounce of strength to roll aside, but his old injuries suddenly flared up. A wave of gut-wrenching pain washed over him, causing his movements to freeze.

’It’s over! I can’t dodge this!’

Despair filled Shen Dujiang’s eyes, as if he could already see the cold edge of the sword piercing his heart.

WHOOSH!

A piercing shriek tore through the air, erupting without warning from the darkness to the side. The force behind it was far greater than any ordinary hidden weapon!

Cheng Ziqian’s expression changed slightly. He abruptly retracted his forward-thrusting sword, pushed off forcefully with his feet, and leaped back and to the side like a great bird.

As he leaped, a cold glint flashed in Cheng Ziqian’s eyes, and his longsword swept toward Shen Dujiang’s neck.

PFFT!

Shen Dujiang jerked his head back, narrowly avoiding the fatal blow to his neck, but the blade still carved a gash across his left shoulder, so deep that bone was nearly visible.

The intense pain made him grunt, and his vision began to blacken.

But Shen Dujiang forced himself to stay conscious, his blurry vision turning toward the direction of the whistling sound.

He saw a gray figure wearing a wide-brimmed hat and a mask, shooting out from the shadows like an arrow released from a bow. He was moving so fast he left an afterimage in the moonlight.

In an instant, incredulous shock erupted in Shen Dujiang’s eyes, quickly morphing into an indescribably complex emotion.

’He actually came back? He didn’t run off on his own, but came back to save me?’

Cheng Ziqian also saw the newcomer clearly. It was the Alchemy Master who should have been captured by Yuan Tiansu.

’Did Yuan Tiansu get careless and let this Pill Master escape?’

Cheng Ziqian instantly suppressed his surprise and doubt. The cold light in his eyes intensified as he pushed off with his foot, intending to finish off the defenseless Shen Dujiang with one strike before the Pill Master could get close.

However, just as he moved, he saw the rapidly approaching Chen Yue wave his hands in a continuous motion, like a butterfly flitting through flowers.

WHOOSH! WHOOSH! WHOOSH!

A series of sharp whistles merged into one. A dozen pieces of gravel, shot out like bolts from a powerful crossbow, blanketed the area several feet around Cheng Ziqian with a fierce wind.

Though the stones were not true hidden weapons, their power was not to be underestimated, enhanced as they were by Chen Yue’s formidable strength and the technique of the Meridian Bone-Piercing Nail. They forced Cheng Ziqian to swing his sword to defend himself.

CLANG! CLANG! CLANG!

Sparks flew. Cheng Ziqian’s longsword danced, forming a screen of light that knocked away all the incoming stones, but his advance was momentarily halted.

Seizing the opportunity, the heavily injured Shen Dujiang pushed off with his feet and staggered toward Chen Yue.

"Don’t fight him head-on, let’s go! This bastard’s swordsmanship is insidious. We can’t beat him!"

Although he was shocked that Chen Yue had managed to escape another Bone Forging realm expert, reason told him that their chances of victory against a perfectly fine Cheng Ziqian were slim even if they fought together, especially since he himself had no strength left to fight.

"You forsook the path of life and chose to return to the path of death. In that case, I’ll grant your wish!"

Cheng Ziqian sneered. His longsword vibrated with a clear hum, and his footwork became strange and erratic. In the moonlight, his figure instantly split into three or four blurry afterimages, which attacked Chen Yue and Shen Dujiang from different angles.

This was his signature move, the Phantom Light Splitting Sword, which blended illusion and reality to deceive the eye.

"Get back. Don’t get caught in the chaos and killed," Chen Yue said to Shen Dujiang.

Before his voice had even faded, Chen Yue’s own figure blurred. Like a willow catkin in the wind, he moved with an elusive rhythm and grace, proactively meeting the swarm of illusory sword lights and afterimages.

Cheng Ziqian’s eyes narrowed slightly. His Phantom Light Splitting Sword excelled at using feints to confuse the enemy. Most opponents facing such an attack would choose to defend rigorously or temporarily avoid its edge.

To charge head-on like this without trying to distinguish illusion from reality meant one was either an idiot or had absolute confidence in themselves.

’And how much strength could an Alchemy Master possibly have, even if he’s got some skills!’

"Courting death!"

Cheng Ziqian snorted coldly in his heart. ’Since his opponent is so arrogant, then he’ll pay the price.’

In the instant their figures were about to cross, a fierce light flashed in Cheng Ziqian’s eyes. The multiple afterimages suddenly merged into one, and his longsword, moving at a speed imperceptible to the naked eye, stabbed straight for Chen Yue’s right chest.

This strike abandoned all flair, maximizing speed to its absolute limit. A cold glint pulsed from the sword’s tip, which let out a piercing shriek.

Chen Yue neither parried nor blocked, not even attempting to dodge. With the decisive momentum of the "Cleave the Waves" move from the Furious Wave Saber Technique, he brought his short saber down toward Cheng Ziqian’s head.

He had taken a desperate stance, ready to trade his life for his opponent’s in a mutually destructive blow.

"Trying to take me down with you?"

A trace of disdain and coldness flashed in Cheng Ziqian’s eyes. He was a veteran of a hundred battles; how could he be afraid of such a desperate fighting style?

The instant his longsword was about to pierce Chen Yue’s right chest, a faint "KRAK" sound came from the joint of his sword arm. His entire arm had inexplicably extended by an inch.

This was an obscure Secret Technique he cultivated, the Bone Shifting Technique, which allowed him to make minute adjustments to his joints at critical moments, subtly changing the range and angle of his attacks.

It was this one-inch difference that allowed the tip of Cheng Ziqian’s sword to be one step ahead, striking the robes on Chen Yue’s right chest.

DING!

A sound like the clashing of a golden bell and a jade chime erupted from the point of the sword. It wasn’t loud, but it was exceptionally piercing.

The sneer on Cheng Ziqian’s face froze instantly. He felt as if his sword hadn’t struck flesh and blood at all, but had instead hit a block of solid steel.

Moreover, a rebounding force traveled up the sword, making his wrist go numb.

’Gang Qi?’

’The Gang Qi that can only be condensed after cultivating a Body Refining Divine Skill to a masterful level? On an Alchemy Master?’

In the split second that Cheng Ziqian’s Heart Spirit was shaken, Chen Yue’s descending short saber, carrying the force of a thunderclap, had already reached the top of his head.

The shadow of death was like ice water poured over his head, making the hair on Cheng Ziqian’s entire body stand on end.

He let out a strange cry and pushed his Bone Shifting Technique to its absolute limit. A series of cracking sounds came from his left shoulder blade as his entire left shoulder and arm bizarrely retracted backward and sank down.

SQUELCH!

Blood sprayed. Chen Yue’s short saber grazed past Cheng Ziqian’s hastily turned head and viciously chopped into the left shoulder he hadn’t managed to fully move out of the way.

The terrifying power contained in the blade instantly tore through flesh and severed bone, completely shearing off Cheng Ziqian’s entire left shoulder and arm at the root.

The severed arm flew into the air, trailing a shower of blood!