Chapter 134: Fang Mu's Blade

The web of blades and the black mist collided and overlapped with one another.

Amidst the mutual reflection of fiery red and deep black, the blade qi of both sides intertwined into a massive black-and-red sphere.

Nothing could be seen from the outside, save for the incessant sound of clashing metal.

Seeing this, Yu Ling took a single step forward.

The moment she took that step, the world spun before her eyes. When her vision finally cleared, she saw a long banner bearing down right at her.

"Your opponent is me!" Tie Suanxian shouted loudly. Before the long banner in his hand had even reached the halfway point in mid-air, intricate patterns began to manifest across it.

Yu Ling formed a hand seal, and three corpses materialized out of thin air, blocking Tie Suanxian's long banner.

In the span of a mere instant, a fracture already appeared on one of the corpses.

Yu Ling's face turned icy cold, and she pointed her free hand through the empty space.

Tie Suanxian, who was currently wielding the long banner, felt a jolt in his heart as an illusory Eight Trigrams projection appeared.

Beneath Tie Suanxian's feet, two hands clawed their way out of the earth and grabbed his legs.

With a subtle guidance of Yu Ling's finger, the three corpses lunged forward to attack.

The illusory Eight Trigrams appeared once more. Yu Ling felt her vision blur as she realized that her surroundings were now completely filled with illusory Eight Trigrams, enclosing her in layers from all directions.

The illusory Eight Trigrams surrounding Yu Ling began to compress, as if intending to squeeze Yu Ling into tiny fragments alive.

"Rise!"

Yu Ling uttered a silent command, and the three corpses extended their palms, propping up the illusory Eight Trigrams.

The long banner in Tie Suanxian's hand bloomed with radiance, and the illusory Eight Trigrams locked into a stalemate with Yu Ling.

...

On the other side, within the sphere formed by the black-and-red blade qi.

The sound of clashing metal rang endlessly. Fang Mu gripped his butcher's knife, continuously colliding with the goose-feather saber in Zhang Liu's hand.

Exhilarating! Absolutely exhilarating!

This was the thought echoing in Fang Mu's mind.

Ever since he had touched upon this mystical world, this was the first time he had encountered a well-matched opponent who could fight him to a complete standstill in terms of blade technique.

Within the dense web of blades, the fiery red web suddenly stuttered, revealing a single gap.

"A flaw!"

Zhang Liu, who was on the offensive, felt his brow twitch and instinctively slashed forward.

"Crack!"

The sound of an eggshell shattering echoed out, and a golden barrier surged up around Fang Mu's body.

Two layers of the Triple Golden Body Technique were cleaved open by the goose-feather saber, leaving the final layer in a precarious, crumbling state.

Fang Mu's lips curved upward as the butcher's knife in his hand swept across, aiming straight for Zhang Liu's neck.

They were evenly matched in blade technique, but blade technique was far from the only thing Fang Mu knew.

Zhang Liu felt a surge of alarm. It was already too late to withdraw his saber now.

Watching the incoming butcher's knife, Zhang Liu extended his free left hand, blocking the trajectory of the strike.

"Clang—"

A crisp sound rang out. The sleeve of Zhang Liu's left hand shattered explosively, revealing what lay hidden inside—a small crossbow gleaming with a chilling light.

*So that's how it was, no wonder his sleeve looked bulky,* Fang Mu thought to himself.

God knows what material this small crossbow was made of; it managed to forcibly block the butcher's knife.

Fights between masters of the blade often see life and death decided in a single fleeting moment.

Seizing this exact moment, Zhang Liu exerted sudden, fierce strength with the goose-feather saber in his hand.

He chose not to retract the goose-feather saber, opting instead to press the attack.

Zhang Liu was no delicate flower grown in a greenhouse; he was someone who had climbed his way up step by step through bloodshed and slaughter. In moments of peril, he trusted his own decisive instincts above all else.

If he were to withdraw his saber now, the result would simply be a return to the stalemate. On the contrary, pressing the attack while the momentum was with him was the superior choice.

In Zhang Liu's estimation, it was already too late for Fang Mu to retract his blade either.

"Crack!"

The sound of an eggshell shattering rang out once more as the final layer of golden light on Fang Mu's body broke apart.

The goose-feather saber, wreathed in boundless black Qi, thrust straight toward Fang Mu.

At this very moment of crisis, Fang Mu suddenly stopped moving.

The goose-feather saber passed effortlessly right through Fang Mu, and the motionless figure of Fang Mu gradually dissipated into nothingness.

Zhang Liu said with a gloomy expression, "I almost forgot, you still possess such a bizarre movement technique."

Not far away, another Fang Mu stood holding his butcher's knife.

This was going to be difficult—exceedingly difficult.

Not only was this Zhang Liu strong, but his combat experience was also exceptionally sublime.

"If this is all you've got, you probably won't be able to beat me." Zhang Liu took a step forward and said indifferently, "You've made an increasingly good impression on me. This level of strength is already qualified—so, can you fight above your rank?"

"Roar—"

A dragon's roar surged from Zhang Liu's body, and his aura escalated abruptly.

The goose-feather saber traced an arc through the air and then chopped down toward Fang Mu.

"Boom!"

Fang Mu hurriedly re-energized his Golden Body Technique, but this time, the Triple Golden Body Technique shattered instantly, acting as though it were made of mere paper.

A sensation of extreme peril rose within Fang Mu's heart. Executing the Twin Shadows Escape, he narrowly dodged this slash by a hair's breadth.

A slight stinging sensation came from the back of his hand. Fang Mu lifted it to look and saw a gash had appeared on the back of his hand, blood welling out from it.

"How is it?" Zhang Liu pointed the goose-feather saber at Fang Mu and said darkly, "Can you still fight?"

"A True Dragon?" Fang Mu raised his hand, licking the back of his hand with his tongue, a look of madness surfacing in his eyes. "I've never killed anyone at the True Dragon realm before. Let's give it a try this time."

This appearance looked somewhat terrifying.

For some inexplicable reason, even Zhang Liu felt a flutter of unease in his heart upon seeing Fang Mu's crazed gaze.

Fang Mu gripped the butcher's knife, leaving behind an afterimage in place.

"Clang!"

The butcher's knife and the goose-feather saber collided.

Zhang Liu shook his head and said, "While this level of strength is not bad, it is ultimately still a bit too weak."

The goose-feather saber twisted, shattering the Triple Golden Body Technique on Fang Mu's body once more.

Fang Mu activated the Twin Shadows Escape to dodge, but he ultimately failed to completely evade the strike, gaining a fresh wound on his shoulder.

Though Tie Suanxian was locked in a stalemate with Yu Ling, he had also been keeping an eye on the situation here.

Seeing Fang Mu fall into a disadvantageous position, Tie Suanxian grew somewhat anxious.

However, he could not spare a hand either, because the woman named Yu Ling in front of him was also formidable.

Tie Suanxian thought to himself, *If push comes to shove, I'll use up all my blood-stained copper coins and take Brother Fang away.*

He had one last escape technique left, but it required expending all the blood-stained copper coins on his person.

If Fang Mu truly proved unable to resist, Tie Suanxian intended to use that technique and flee with him.

...

Fang Mu came to a halt, glanced at the wound on his shoulder, and shook his head. "Not enough. Are you scraping scales here?"

With that, he once again employed the Twin Shadows Escape to launch an attack.

He pushed the Twin Shadows Escape to its absolute limit; at a quick glance, it looked as though seven or eight Fang Mus were attacking simultaneously.

No matter how many afterimages there were, Zhang Liu could easily fend them off, accurately predicting Fang Mu's next position.

Every single time he executed the Twin Shadows Escape, a blade wound would be added to Fang Mu's body. As the wounds multiplied, Fang Mu's face grew increasingly pale.

Zhang Liu thought to himself, *It's time. This person meets Director Wu's standards.*

He casually struck out toward a specific spot, precisely intercepting Fang Mu's attack. Just as he was about to voice his true objective, a terrifying sensation that made his hair stand on end washed over him...