Chapter 1308: The Power of the Golden Core Ranking's Number-One Expert

Bowstrings snapped loose. Arrows hissed out, then disintegrated in midair into countless ox-hair needles.

Boom! The earth beneath Ximen Qingkong's feet heaved like a storm-tossed sea. Soil erupted upward, coiled like a tornado, then blasted in every direction.

The countless specially made ox-hair needles could pierce invisible protective qi, but they could not withstand an assault from solid matter. The violent spray of earth and stone instantly swept them away.

With her sword still at Hao Cheng's throat, Xuan Wei's heart clenched. She had heard of Xiaoyue Pavilion's Heavenly Mechanism Aura-Breaking Arrows and knew they could pierce a cultivator's defenses. The moment she saw Xiaoyue Pavilion's people bring out bows, she had become worried for Ximen Qingkong. That was why she had risked coming outside.

She did not know that a cultivator had already closed in behind her. The man flashed forward, intending to seize her.

Xiaoyue Pavilion did indeed intend to kill Xuan Wei, but it was also quite interested in what she controlled. With the Spirit-Torment Pill at its disposal, Xiaoyue Pavilion naturally wanted to try taking her alive.

A streak of blue light burst from the exploding earth and stone. A cultivator outside the encirclement swung his sword down at it.

Clang! His sword went flying. The blue light swept past, and his entire body was split cleanly in two.

The blue sword-shadow flashed over Xuan Wei's head. The cultivator who had tried to ambush her did not even have time to scream before he too was cut in half and sent flying, blood bursting through the air.

Xuan Wei looked back. Ximen Qingkong, his body transformed into a blue sword-aura, had already appeared beside her. One hand clamped around the back of Hao Cheng's neck as he shouted, "Anyone who moves dies with him!"

Dugu Jing burst out of the flying debris and landed atop a roof. Looking down at the scene, he frowned.

In the blink of an eye, two Golden Core cultivators had died at Ximen Qingkong's hands. Faced with such strength, Dugu Jing had to admit inwardly that the number-one expert on the Golden Core Ranking had earned his reputation.

His gaze shifted back to the hostage Hao Cheng, and his heart grew heavy.

For Xuan Wei to think she could hold a hostage in front of a group of cultivators had been somewhat laughable. But once Ximen Qingkong took over, matters were entirely different. Trying to succeed with a surprise attack under Ximen Qingkong's nose was nearly impossible.

More than a hundred Xiaoyue Pavilion cultivators were now scattered around the area, enclosing the scene.

"Mr. Dugu, save me! Save me!" Hao Cheng's face had gone white with terror. He had not been so frightened in Xuan Wei's hands, believing she still had scruples. But once he fell into Ximen Qingkong's grasp, he was genuinely afraid.

Especially after seeing Ximen Qingkong kill two men before his eyes in the blink of an eye.

Dugu Jing's expression shifted unpredictably. Then he abruptly gritted his teeth and declared, "Prince Hao Cheng was killed by Ximen Qingkong!"

Xuan Wei's face immediately filled with anger. She understood what he meant. They were going to disregard the hostage's safety and simply pin Hao Cheng's death on them.

The Xiaoyue Pavilion cultivators understood as well. Dugu Jing was telling them to act without restraint and stop worrying whether Hao Cheng lived or died.

But someone else moved even faster. Xuan Wei drew back the sword in her hand, then suddenly thrust it forward. The blade entered Hao Cheng's back and punched through his heart.

Hao Cheng looked down at the sword point jutting from his chest and at the blood welling around it. His lips trembled, but no words came.

Dugu Jing froze.

Even Ximen Qingkong looked at Xuan Wei in surprise. Ever since the upheaval in Wei, this woman had been plagued by hesitation and anxiety, and after Wei's defeat she had remained trapped in self-reproach. Yet in this instant, she seemed to have recovered the decisiveness she once possessed.

"Go!" Xuan Wei released the sword and shouted.

Ximen Qingkong did not hesitate. He swept an arm around her waist and shot into the sky.

Xiaoyue Pavilion cultivators rose into the air from every direction. Ten archers drew their bows in midair, firing in an alternating pattern so that the barrage would remain continuous.

Arrows hissed in from all sides. Mid-flight, they disintegrated into ox-hair needles that swarmed toward Ximen Qingkong and Xuan Wei.

Ximen Qingkong sheathed his sword. With one hand, moving faster than the eye could follow, he tore Xuan Wei's outer robe from her body. He swept it beneath their feet, spinning it like an umbrella-shaped disk. Rapid pattering sounds filled the air as it blocked the countless ox-hair needles shooting diagonally upward from below, at least those aimed at the two of them.

But Xiaoyue Pavilion had extensive experience with assassination, and its people worked together with practiced precision. The five archers in the ring who had not fired borrowed force from the others and accelerated upward again, drawing level with their targets. All five loosed arrows simultaneously from different directions.

Countless ox-hair needles closed in from all around. This was nothing like the upward barrage from below, where blocking one side had been enough. Ximen Qingkong whipped the outer robe around to shield Xuan Wei's back while spinning rapidly with her in his arms, using his own back to cover the opposite side.

His clothing inflated like a bladder, then burst apart with a bang, the exploding cloth fragments intercepting the dense storm of needles.

Even so, there were simply too many needles. They found every gap. Dozens still struck his back.

The instant the archers' volley ended, Ximen Qingkong swung one arm and hurled Xuan Wei high into the air.

Her limbs flailed as she spun upward, entirely beyond her own control.

Ximen Qingkong's hand swept behind him. His sword left its sheath. Man and sword became one, transforming into an enormous blue sword-shadow that flashed through the air like lightning.

"Ah!" A scream rang out overhead as a body fell amid a shower of blood.

The streak of blue lightning seemed alive, flashing irregularly back and forth across the sky. Every flash ended at another person, and every endpoint brought another scream.

Anyone examining the scene closely with a Dharma Eye could discern how it was done. Each time Ximen Qingkong killed someone and reappeared in human form, he planted a hand against the victim and pushed off, borrowing the force to become one with his sword again and race toward the next target.

He was as fast as lightning. Not one of those he struck could block him.

In the blink of an eye, all ten archers who had risen to different heights were dead, every one slain by Ximen Qingkong.

Watching from below as Ximen Qingkong cut loose, Dugu Jing drew a sharp breath. Not a single person had been able to withstand even one blow from him. This level of strength was probably far beyond that of Dugu Jing's own master, Mr. Yucang.

So this was the strength of the number-one expert on the Golden Core Ranking? It was Dugu Jing's first time seeing it with his own eyes. His expression turned grave as he too shot into the air.

He had no choice but to intervene. Once Ximen Qingkong began killing, the others in the air lost their nerve. They scattered and avoided him, none daring to approach. Going near him meant seeking death. They were not blocks of wood; who would not be afraid?

After killing the last man, Ximen Qingkong rose higher as well. He sheathed his sword and caught the falling Xuan Wei neatly in both arms.

Settling into his embrace, Xuan Wei gazed at him and gave a faint smile. He really was still the peerless hero of her heart.

Ximen Qingkong had no mind for tender feelings. Powerful energy was already surging below as the oncoming Dugu Jing activated a Heavenly Sword Talisman.

Holding Xuan Wei with one arm, Ximen Qingkong flicked out a Heavenly Sword Talisman of his own with the other hand.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

A dense succession of explosions shook the sky. Enormous sword-aura shadows collided with one another again and again, canceling each other out.

After one round of Heavenly Sword Talismans had clashed, Ximen Qingkong flipped his hand and produced another. Not merely one: he drew out five at once.

They were all protective trump cards Xuan Wei had procured for him over the years.

Dugu Jing, below, was startled. He abruptly veered downward.

Ximen Qingkong had no intention of continuing the fight. Holding Xuan Wei close, he shot away into the distance.

"Chase them!" Dugu Jing roared after landing.

He truly was furious. They had brought so many people, Heavenly Mechanism Aura-Breaking Arrows, Heavenly Sword Talismans, and overwhelming numbers, yet Ximen Qingkong had still escaped with a burden in his arms as though it were nothing. If he returned like this, he would have no way to answer to Yucang.

The group scattered into the air and raced after Ximen Qingkong.

One man, however, slipped around a corner instead of joining the pursuit. Only after the others were gone did he begin rapidly searching the estate.

He found a survivor, forced out the location of Xuan Wei's quarters, then cut the man's throat to silence him. Any living person who saw him was killed on the spot.

The man went straight to Xuan Wei's room and found her dressing table. With a clear target in mind, he reached for the standing bronze dressing mirror she carried with her.

He tore the mirror from its stand, then struck the center with his palm and knocked the reflective surface free, leaving only a ring in his hand.

Using spiritual power, he stripped away the metal ornaments around the ring, then shook it several times until the lacquer came off. An exquisite circular ring carved in relief with cloud patterns revealed its true appearance.

He turned, tore off a piece of cloth, wrapped the ring, and quickly withdrew...

Ximen Qingkong landed and launched himself into the air again, flying at great speed. With his method of wielding qi like a sword, even while carrying another person he gradually widened the distance between himself and his pursuers.

"Send word! Have flying mounts come meet us!" Dugu Jing shouted furiously from behind.

Xuan Wei ran one hand over Ximen Qingkong's body and back. "I heard the Heavenly Mechanism Aura-Breaking Arrows can pierce a cultivator's protective qi and that their needles are poisoned. You weren't hit, were you?"

Ximen Qingkong understood what she was feeling for. He had been hit, but he had already used spiritual power to force the needles back out. He answered, "No. Everything happened too quickly just now. None of those poisoned needles slipped through and hit you, did they?"

Xuan Wei said, "I'm fine. With you there, no."

In truth, three ox-hair needles were still lodged just above the ankle of one foot. They were too fine, and because of where they had struck, Ximen Qingkong had not noticed them.

She could already feel numbness slowly spreading upward from her ankle.

She wrapped both arms around Ximen Qingkong's neck and rested her own neck against his shoulder, their necks pressed together. It seemed like tenderness, almost as though she were savoring the moment. "Ximen, I've wronged you. I've always known I was wrong. I should have left with you long ago. But he was my younger brother, and Wei was my home. My brother was immature, and before my father died, he entrusted him to me. He told me to take good care of my brother and protect our home. I couldn't abandon everything for private love and simply walk away. I truly wasn't clinging to power."

Ximen Qingkong said, "You don't have to explain. I understand."

Xuan Wei continued, "I didn't want to come to the Qi capital and endure Hao Cheng's coercion either. But if I didn't come here, where could we go? Wei's court ministers are all here. What would it mean if I abandoned them and fled? Once I left this place, unless I handed over the Mist Bureau roster, we would be hunted wherever we went. Those people are the last foundation of such a great house. I truly could not bear to hand them over to someone else. If I gave up hope in Qi, there would truly be no hope left. I would spend the rest of my life hiding from place to place... And it really was only a fantasy. Hao Yuntu sold me out in the end. Wei, the home that bore me and raised me, lies to the south. Day and night, I have looked toward her from afar. Now, even if I cannot bear to leave her, I have no choice but to go."

The instant she had seen Dugu Jing coming to kill her, she had awakened from the dream. Every last illusion was gone. That was why she had decisively driven a sword through Hao Cheng, the man who had violated her.

[End of Chapter 1308]