Wan Hao and Wei Dandong both looked a little uncomfortable. Chu Xin said with a chuckle: “What’s shameful or not shameful about doing business.” He fiddled with the iron abacus in his hands, producing crashing sounds.
Lu Tingrui pulled out a thin sword sparkling with spiritual light and said, “Take out the spirit ginseng and we’ll leave at once!”
Feng Zhang had promised each of them would have their equal share of the spirit ginseng when he’d made them come. Hall master Wu wasn’t very satisfied with this result, but how could he say any nonsense after seeing Feng Zhang’s ashen face.
Li Qingshan didn’t say a word. He fished out the spirit ginseng from the gourd, threw it inside his mouth, chewed it to pieces and swallowed it down. He patted his hands: “No more!”
The masters’ eyes had brightened up but then immediately dimmed down in a heartbeat. They showed different expressions on their faces, perhaps despair, perhaps wrath, perhaps disappointment, but they indeed lost the desire to act.
Li Qingshan’s move of pulling the rug from under their feet was truly sharp and resolute.
Feng Zhang said, “I have spirit pills even more useful than the spirit ginseng. They will definitely accomplish your desires as long as you act, but whoever doesn’t act will be this Feng Zhang’s mortal enemy starting today. I’ll take my revenge on your families and sect members one by one.”
The expressions on the several masters’ faces all changed greatly. Li Qingshan laughed coldly and said, “Are you just going to believe those words that threaten your families at the slightest pretext? Better we band together and destroy him, see if there are spiritual pills on him. We’ll just split them. Now he’s not an Eagle Wolf guard anymore in any case, no need to worry about retaliation.”
The several masters were all tempted. Feng Zhang drew out his wind-st.i.tching blade with a whoosh. “Who dares!” He saw his blind threat of strength had caused the opposite result than intended and added, “The spirit pills aren’t on my person anyway.”
Li Qingshan might truly have succeeded in inciting their desertion if his strength were a little higher, but the masters could obviously distinguish who was easier to kill out of the two, so they made their decision.
Li Qingshan thought as he saw the crowd press forward step by step, after splashing blood on Suncheer House like Wu Song, was he going to be taking shelter from the snowstorm in the mountain temple like Lin Chong1?
No one could know whether the heavens had followed mortal will, but snowflakes truly floated down from the sky once more.
He didn’t plan on escaping! This battle would be very difficult, but it was precisely an opportunity to make a breakthrough in the [Tiger Demon Bone Refining Fist]. There wasn’t only wealth to be found amidst danger, divine skills and martial abilities were also to be found amidst danger. There were only masters forged from battles, there was no master forged from escapes.
“Great Sanction Wind Blade!” Feng Zhang lifted his wind-st.i.tching blade high and attacked at the same time.
Li Qingshan widened the stance of his legs and spread his arms open as he sent a long hiss at the sky. It wasn’t a human voice, but the roar of a fierce tiger. “Awoo!”
The entire spirit ginseng started to produce its effects in his belly. The true qi madly bubbled forth like a tide as it poured into the hiss. He was using a move from the [Tiger Demon Bone Refining Fist] he’d never genuinely used previously.
Tiger Demon Wild Hiss!
All the falling snow was swept away until there was only emptiness left within three hundred feet. From high above, one could have seen a half-sphere rise from the ground.
Feng Zhang bore the blunt of it, and the Great Sanction Wind Blade was immediately scattered off. The five great masters stopped their steps and retreated back all at the same time. They felt as if there was an iron hammer knocking on their brain.
They looked at Li Qingshan with disbelief, intimidated by the violent energy covering his entire body. Was he truly a mere first-grade master?
The rest of the second or third-grade masters were even less able to endure. They clutched their ears and rolled on the ground, two threads of blood flowing out as their eardrums were directly shattered. A few of them whose martial arts were among the weakest even directly died on the spot from the roar.
The tiger hisses in the mountain forest, and the packs of beasts withdraw. Li Qingshan faced a hundred enemies by himself, but he stood upwind instead.
The sound of the hiss extended uninterrupted forever in the distance, shaking even the mountain temple into a slight tremble. No more snowflake was able to fall down.
Feng Zhang pushed back against the hiss as he roared loudly, “What are you still waiting for?” The blade rotated in his hand and once again fired out a wind blade.
Li Qingshan stopped the hiss. H didn’t retreat nor did he dodge. He mobilized his true qi and moved it toward his palm. His five fingers spit out tip-shaped qi resembling a tiger’s claws as he ruthlessly grabbed the wind blade.
The wind blade broke and set off a wild gale. Li Qingshan threw a glance at his palm. A faint b.l.o.o.d.y trace was left behind. He stuck out his tongue and licked it, exposing a sinister smile. He bent his body like a bow, looking very much like a fierce humanoid tiger.
Killing intent blazed wildly. Demonic nature surged forth.
The five great masters’ killing moves all landed at the same time.
Wei Dandong’s longsword, Lu Tingrui’s thin sword, Wan Hao’s steel blade, hall master Wu’s iron fist, every weapon overflowed with spiritual light. Even hall master Wu was wearing a spiritual fist glove. Front back left and right, they sealed off every path of retreat from Li Qingshan.
Eighteen abacus beads shot forth fiercely like crossbow bolts, thoroughly severing Li Qingshan’s final lifeline. Chu Xin was no longer smiling.
Five great masters banded up and dealt a certain-kill blow. They didn’t even need Feng Zhang to act.
Li Qingshan simply disregarded anything else. He moved one step forward and clawed toward Wei Dandong’s shoulder, fighting a life for a life.
The hiss of the claws pierced the ears before the claws even landed. Wei Dandong cherished his life so much, how would he be willing to be buried here. He immediately withdrew his sword and retreated backward.
But Li Qingshan inched even closer even after his retreat, causing Wei Dandong to lose all his guts. The sword in his hand danced and created an air-tight barrier as he merely sought a short delay to let the others kill Li Qingshan.
A spiritual sword broke through the air and a.s.saulted forth. Little An who’d been hiding so far finally showed himself. He saw Li Qingshan in a deeply perilous situation so he used his strongest sword aura as soon as he acted, shrouding the three persons inside.
A blade cut off the sword aura against all expectations. Feng Zhang brandished the wind-st.i.tching blade and blocked Little An.
The blood flames burned violently in Little An’s eyes. He stared on helplessly as a blade and a sword fell on Li Qingshan’s body. Blood splashed in blooms. He wished nothing better than to tear Feng Zhang to pieces in his heart.
Wan Hao’s long blade hacked on Li Qingshan’s shoulder, and Lu Tingrui’s thin sword pierced into Li Qingshan’s body. They’d been scared by Little An’s appearance, but all of them were still first-grade masters. Their resolutions were incomparably firm and they weren’t perturbed in the least.
Li Qingshan had long mobilized the true qi in his entire body already. The two treasured spiritual weapons that nothing could stop were unexpectedly unable to run Li Qingshan through or cut him off. But he was also immediately injured, even if his skin were made of copper and his bones of iron. He paid absolutely no attention to that however and went forward invariably, as if he’d bitten into Wei Dandong and wouldn’t let go of him.
Eighteen iron abacus beads landed on his body. Li Qingshan’s stature merely stiffened a brief moment, not disturbed in the least. Chu Xin widened his eyes round in disbelief.
Hall master Wu was the most cautious of them all. He attacked Li Qingshan from the back. He saw him wide open and was delighted inside. He sent a punch with all his strength, bombing it in the middle of his back.
Li Qingshan thought many thanks. The one I’m least afraid of here is you. He borrowed the strength from the blow and charged forward, his arms rising explosively and clasping down in one move, capturing Wei Dandong’s shoulders. He focused his strength left and right, tearing while roaring in a low voice, “Tiger Demon Sheep Tear!”
Wei Dandong hadn’t even used his unique abilities or his many secret skills that he’d already been torn apart into two halves, his blood and viscera splashing on the ground. One truly didn’t fear a tiger-like opponent, one only feared pig-like teammates.
Li Qingshan had forcibly struck one master dead while facing a pincer attack from five great masters. It was truly incomparably violent, making everyone terrified.
Li Qingshan grabbed the two incomplete corpse parts and flung them toward w.a.n.g Hao and Lu Tingrui. The two of them were afraid of being injured by Li Qingshan’s counterattack as the latter stood at death’s door. They didn’t want to follow in Wei Dandong’s steps on his last journey, so they immediately withdrew backward.
Martial abilities were only one part of a confrontation between masters. The most important thing was their momentum.
As soon as his enemies’ momentum weakened, Li Qingshan’s momentum burst out in turn like the great Yangtze river bursting through its dikes. It couldn’t be reined in once it exploded out. He completely ignored those few people behind his back and charged forward, his atmosphere like a mad tiger as he killed his way toward those second or third-grade masters.
Brandished fists, probing claws, headb.u.t.ts, none of them could resist one move of his. Someone would be injured or dead every time he moved as he killed his way until corpses lay everywhere across the ground.
1. This is the same Water Margin reference that cropped earlier in the story already. Blood slashing refers to Wu Song taking revenge on those who plotted against him and splashing their blood on Mandarin Ducks Tower, while taking refuge from the snowstorm in the temple refers to Lin Chong charging out after hearing people talking about their plot to kill him, and then killing them.