Chapter 43

Zhu Yi's life force was gradually fading away.

Huang San's fat face still wore a cheerful smile, but a cruel light shone in his small eyes. He was torturing Zhu Yi slowly and methodically. Suddenly, his expression changed, and he looked behind him.

At the entrance of a tunnel stood a young man in a snow-white robe, wearing a green bamboo hat.

The young man lifted his head, revealing his face beneath the hat. He had a fairly decent appearance, very pale skin, and a few white spots on his face.

The most striking feature about him was the long sword at his waist, with a sheath intricately carved with ancient and solemn mountain and water patterns.

Everyone present, except for Zhu Yi who was gradually losing consciousness, saw the sword and their pupils constricted. "A disciple of the Shushan Sword Sect?"

Although he was looking up at Huang San in the air, his expression was completely condescending. He grinned and said, "Fatty, have you seen a young Taoist in a white robe and star-crowned attire, accompanied by a child?"

The young man's tone was frivolous and disrespectful. Although Huang San still had a smile on his face, his gaze had turned cold.

In front of Marquis Xuanji, Huang San was a servant, but no one else dared to underestimate him, the trusted confidant of Marquis Xuanji.

Not to mention the Marquis Xuanji's residence, but in the entire Great Zhou territory, the vast majority of people would respectfully address him as "Mr. Huang San."

Several Foundation Establishment cultivators showed signs of dissatisfaction. One of them, who had not yet taken action, thought it was unacceptable not to have performed and wanted to curry favor with Huang San. He scolded, "This is the third master of the Marquis Xuanji's residence. Be respectful, or even the Shushan Sword Sect won't be able to protect you!"

The young man in the bamboo hat only smiled silently, not even turning his gaze.

But the long sword at his waist suddenly burst out, transforming into a cold light and shooting towards the Foundation Establishment cultivator.

Huang San's face darkened. "Impudent!" He summoned a wave of cold air to freeze the young man's sword.

However, just as the sword light was about to touch Huang San's cold air, it suddenly disappeared.

Huang San was taken aback, and the next moment his expression changed drastically. "Be careful!"

The attacked Foundation Establishment cultivator had no time to react. The sword light, which had disappeared, suddenly reappeared right in front of him, mere inches away!

The sword light pierced through his head and flew back into the young man's sheath.

At this moment, the Foundation Establishment cultivator finally reacted, opening his mouth to speak, but no sound came out. A bloodstain slowly appeared between his eyebrows, and the next moment, it exploded, splattering blood into the air.

"Bold indeed!" Huang San's face turned ashen. He threw Zhu Yi to one of his subordinates. Without the suppression of his magical power, Zhu Yi finally regained consciousness, spitting out a large mouthful of blood, his face pale as if he had just recovered from a serious illness.

Huang San, however, was no longer concerned with him. His fat face was full of coldness. "The Shushan Sword Sect's Zhanxu Pokesky Sword is indeed well-known, but you are showing off in the wrong place. This is the Great Zhou territory, and the person you killed is from the Marquis Xuanji's residence!"

The young man in the bamboo hat grinned. "I'm asking you, have you seen a young Taoist in a white robe and star-crowned attire, accompanied by a child?"

Huang San laughed in anger. "The Shushan Sword Sect is truly arrogant, daring to kill someone from the Marquis Xuanji's residence. You won't leave the Great Zhou territory alive!"

The young man in the bamboo hat smiled. "It seems you don't intend to answer my question. Then you're no longer useful." With that, the sword light emerged again.

"Ice Seal, Ten Thousand Miles of Frost!" Huang San laughed in anger, forming a magical seal with both hands. Instantly, the entire underground palace was filled with wind and snow, countless cold auras converging, turning the air white.

The remaining Foundation Establishment cultivators and Zhu Yi, though not the targets of Huang San, were almost frozen by the aftermath.

Not only were their bodies frozen, but their thoughts also slowed down, unable to function properly.

This was a sign that even their souls were about to be frozen!

To guard against the opponent's flying sword that could teleport, Huang San pushed his magical power to the limit, surrounding himself with cold auras. No matter where the flying sword appeared, he could defend against it.

"The Shushan Sword Sect's Zhanxu Pokesky Sword is indeed unpredictable, but it is a sword that takes a skewed path, lacking direct killing power. It's easy for a Golden Core sword cultivator to kill a Foundation Establishment, but to deal with me, you're mistaken!" Huang San thought.

Suddenly, a voice came from the cold auras. "Great Zhou? Marquis Xuanji? Indeed, they are strong, but the problem is that you are weak. The words 'you won't leave the Great Zhou territory alive' can be said by Zhu Hongwu, but not by you. Moreover, even Zhu Hongwu, I will surpass one day."

The cold auras in the underground palace suddenly fluctuated violently. A domineering and icy sword light burst through the cold auras, slashing directly at Huang San.

This sword light was dazzling, with cold light flashing. Each ray of light it emitted was a powerful and domineering sword light.

This single sword was like thousands of sword lights merged into one, invincible and unstoppable!

Unlike the Zhanxu Pokesky Sword, which could teleport, this sword had no tricks, only the ultimate power.

Huang San was shocked. "Not the Zhanxu Pokesky Sword, but the Shushan Sword Sect's most powerful and domineering Shaoshang Sword? He actually mastered two sword techniques?!" In a panic, Huang San condensed his magical power, forming a black ice shield in front of him.

This was Huang San's strongest defensive technique, which he had not used even against Golden Core talismans, but now he used it without hesitation.

But it was all in vain. Facing the young man's heaven-splitting sword, the cold mist and the black ice shield were both shattered!

Seeing the sword light approaching, Huang San roared in despair, "Ten Thousand Years of Ice Seal, Unshakable!"

A layer of ice appeared on Huang San's body, making him look like a block of ice, hard, stubborn, and indestructible! At the same time, he looked ancient and heavy!

But it was still useless!

In Huang San's terrified gaze, the sword light completely ignored his defense, slicing through his body like a knife through tofu, then exploding inside him, instantly shooting out tens of thousands of sword lights from his body.

Huang San's fat body exploded like a burst balloon, turning into a cloud of blood mist.

The sword lights continued to spread, directly shattering the ice walls around, leaving them riddled with holes like a beehive.

Zhu Yi stared dumbfounded at the young man in the bamboo hat, who sheathed his sword. The Foundation Establishment cultivators from the Marquis Xuanji's residence were also stunned.

With just one sword, the young man in the bamboo hat had killed Huang San, who was also at the Golden Core stage.

Huang San had many techniques left unused, and even a Golden Core self-explosion was impossible, yet he was killed by his opponent.

Zhu Yi suddenly felt an urge to laugh. Huang San's words, "Even among Golden Core cultivators, there are differences in cultivation," still echoed in his ears, but now he himself had become the best example of this.

"Wait, a young Taoist in a white robe and star-crowned attire, he looks very much like the person I met in the temple that day. Could it be...?" Zhu Yi's heart suddenly stirred, and he lowered his head, silent. "I wonder which one is stronger, him or this Shushan sword cultivator?"

The young man in the bamboo hat looked at them and grinned. "Remember my name, Liu Yang. I will be the one to kill Zhu Hongwu."

Looking at the stunned crowd, Liu Yang pressed down his bamboo hat and turned to leave. "Boring, too uninteresting. I'll continue looking for that young Taoist who insulted the Li Huo Sword Sect."

He licked his lips and chuckled. "He should be in this underground palace. I hope he can give me more fun."

...

Lin Feng's mood was extremely bad.

"Rumble—Rumble—" A blood-red river roared and surged in front of him, dark and foul-smelling, making Lin Feng's magical power difficult to circulate just from the smell.

Suddenly, a powerful magical impact erupted in the underground palace, affecting the spatial changes. Lin Feng and his two disciples, who were walking halfway, were sucked into a spatial rift and directly teleported to the depths of the underground palace.

Fortunately, the three of them did not get separated, but Lin Feng never expected that they would be teleported to the edge of the underground netherworld blood river.

Looking at the most evil and filthy water in the world, Lin Feng felt like crying. On the surface, he had to maintain a calm and composed demeanor for his two disciples, explaining the blood river's true water and warning them to stay away from this filthy thing.

Hearing about the power of the netherworld blood river, Xiao Yan and Xiao Budian both turned pale, nodding quickly and closely following Lin Feng, trying to avoid the blood river as much as possible.

As they walked, Lin Feng pondered, "The black cloud banner is a good magical tool, but it's not crucial. Gaining it is a stroke of luck, losing it is a matter of fate. On the contrary, Zhu Yi, after all this effort, I must get this disciple."

Just as he was thinking, Xiao Budian suddenly tugged at Lin Feng's sleeve. "Master, look over there."

Lin Feng came to his senses and followed Xiao Budian's finger, seeing a short-haired man in gray clothes sitting by the netherworld blood river, covered in blood, looking miserable. It was none other than the previous monk Huiku.

Huiku's face was full of pain and distress, with a faint golden Buddhist light surrounding him. On the surface of the Buddhist light, green flames and red blood were entangled.

Lin Feng understood. "This monk must have somehow been contaminated by the blood river's true water. Now he is using the Buddhist light to protect himself and the green flames to expel the filthy blood."

Seeing this, Lin Feng's face naturally showed a warm and gentle smile, like the sun in spring.

(PS: It's already May. First, I bow to thank those who supported the book in April: Yifan Duan, Ye Xue Ming, Tian Bian Xiazi, Liudu Feiming, Wei Yinghuo, and Xingkong Shangchen, as well as every reader, collector, voter, and commenter. You are my greatest motivation for writing. Thank you all, thank you for supporting this book. Thank you!

The plot will become more exciting. I hope for your continued support. Thank you all!)