Chapter 271: Bloody Battle
Yueyang Tower was famous throughout the land, and the few top figures in the world instantly unleashed their most ferocious attacks upon each other.
The small area where Hong Qigong, Ouyang Feng, and Huo Gong Toutuo clashed had nearly transformed into a destructive vortex.
With a “bang,” Hong Qigong’s Subduing Dragon Palm force collided with Ouyang Feng’s Toad Stance, and a fan-shaped energy curtain appeared between the two.
Ouyang Feng’s body flickered, Hong Qigong was forced to take half a step forward, and Huo Gong Toutuo’s Vajra Prajna Palm landed on Hong Qigong’s abdomen in an instant.
This palm strike did not make a loud sound, yet Hong Qigong felt his muscles and bones ring out, his head buzzed as if struck by thunder, roaring incessantly. A vast, unyielding palm force surged through him, damaging his meridians and directly affecting his internal organs.
Huo Gong Toutuo continued to relentlessly push his palm force, and Hong Qigong coughed up a mouthful of blood with a “wah.” He used his left hand’s Green Bamboo Staff to execute a move called “Clubbing the Dog’s Head,” striking towards Huo Gong Toutuo’s head. The staff whistled through the air, its momentum swift. This was a high-level move from the Dog Beating Stick Method.
Huo Gong Toutuo let out a sinister laugh, his body sinking heavily downwards. His fists separated, left hand upwards and right hand downwards, his kasaya whistling as if propping up the heavens, held above his head.
The Shaolin Temple’s peerless skill, Kasaya Subduing Demon Skill.
With a “boom,” Hong Qigong’s Green Bamboo Staff tore open a massive energy void in the kasaya. The kasaya vibrated violently from the impact, and Huo Gong Toutuo below grunted.
Ouyang Feng, seeing Hong Qigong severely injured, was overjoyed internally, but he also knew that if he couldn’t kill Hong Qigong today, it would be an endless source of trouble once he recovered from his injuries.
As the saying goes, “Show no mercy when you can’t afford to, and show no mercy when you must act.”
Seizing the opportunity, he didn’t even bother to grab his Snake Staff, which stood by the carved window. He crouched slightly again, and with a “ge” sound, his Toad Stance palm force pushed towards Hong Qigong like an overwhelming tide.
In the midst of the massive dust and smoke, ripples appeared, shaking the surroundings. Yanbo Diaosou and Gongsun Zhi clashed, while Zhang Sanqiang and Yu Huacheng exchanged several powerful blows.
In the intense exchange, Zhou Yan and Qiu Qianren suddenly separated.
Zhou Yan’s current cultivation was only slightly inferior to the Iron Palm Sect Leader’s, but his combat techniques far surpassed the latter’s. Escaping was an easy matter for him.
Before Yang Miaozhen attacked Tongbai Mountain, he cultivated the Nine Yang Manual on Cuya Mountain, his internal force greatly increased. He tempered and opened his Foot Shaoyang collateral meridians, and all three main and three collateral meridians of the Foot Three Yang were unblocked, achieving mastery of the Tomb Lightness Skill.
Seeing Hong Qigong in mortal danger, Zhou Yan’s figure suddenly flickered and whistled.
He displayed the profound essence of the Tomb Lightness Skill within a range of about ten feet, moving with divine grace. His figure first swayed to the left, then whistled and violently dodged to the right, instantly evading Qiu Qianren’s subsequent palm strikes. His figure had already appeared by Hong Qigong’s side, more than twenty feet away.
“Qigong, go!” Zhou Yan declared, and his longsword erupted with a crystalline brilliance, like cold clouds and flying catkins, chilling and piercing. The sword edge sliced through the air, emitting a sharp whistle.
Ouyang Feng dared not be careless. Seeing Zhou Yan’s approach, if he didn’t retract his palm strike, even if he could kill Hong Qigong, he would undoubtedly be severely wounded by Zhou Yan’s longsword.
He roared in fury, retracted his palms, and channeled his internal energy into his sleeves, which slammed towards Zhou Yan with a rumbling sound.
Hong Qigong swept his Green Bamboo Staff horizontally, and from beneath the kasaya, Huo Gong Toutuo kicked out twice with phantom-like legs.
With consecutive “bang, bang” sounds, Huo Gong Toutuo was sent tumbling by the Dog Beating Stick, while Hong Qigong was kicked. As he retreated, he was swept by the residual force of the Toad Stance, his body flying out and smashing through a window, falling towards the outside of the tower.
The oppressive aura and energy within the entire floor spread like a tide, all the lights extinguished simultaneously. In the instant the light abruptly dimmed, the Qingfeng Sword sliced through the air, Ouyang Feng’s sleeves ripped into thousands of butterflies, swept away by the turbulent air currents, whistling and fluttering.
Zhang Sanqiang’s spear forced back Yu Huacheng, who had not yet recovered from his injuries, and he joined Zhou Yan’s battle.
“Go!” In the darkness, the Manichaeism Cult Leader urged urgently.
Qiu Qianren also charged forward. In an instant, Zhang Sanqiang and Ouyang Feng were locked in combat. Zhou Yan ran towards the window, with Qiu Qianren close behind. As Zhou Yan leaped, he struck out with his palm. At this moment, Zhou Yan turned his head, and with a wave of his hand, his longsword slashed towards Qiu Qianren’s exposed back from his palm strike.
“Chih!”
“Bang!”
Qiu Qianren’s body shifted slightly, and his palm strike aimed at Zhou Yan also veered off course. A stream of blood bloomed from the Iron Palm Sect Leader’s shoulder, while Zhou Yan was carried by the palm wind, crashing through the window and flying out.
At the same time, Zhang Sanqiang, who had taken Ouyang Feng’s palm strike head-on, retreated step by step until he reached the wall. He slapped his right hand against it.
“Boom!” The wall exploded.
Half of the Yueyang Tower facing Dongting Lake shattered into pieces. Zhou Yan landed and rolled several times, then leaped up. Following closely behind, Yanbo Diaosou and Zhang Sanqiang also descended.
“Where do you think you’re going!”
The most intense fighting within Yueyang Tower was among Zhou Yan, Hong Qigong, Ouyang Feng, Huo Gong Toutuo, and others. However, the fiercest pursuit came from Helian Chuncheng, Yin Kexi, Ni Mo Xing, and Huang He Yidao, a skilled fighter recruited by Yang Kang, who had reacted to the situation.
Seeing that Hong Qigong appeared to be severely injured and Zhou Yan also seemed to have sustained injuries from Qiu Qianren, they would not miss this opportunity.
Yin Kexi, Ni Mo Xing, and Huang He Yidao, who had not been affected by the clashes, rushed down first.
Huang He Yidao was met by Zhang Sanqiang’s turn.
Amidst the silver light and dust, the Manichaeism Cult Leader’s long spear thrust out and retracted. This was a classic Returning Spear technique.
“Ah!” A hysterical scream suddenly rang out. Huang He Yidao’s body froze in mid-air.
Zhang Sanqiang withdrew his spear, and the corpse, spewing blood, crashed to the ground.
Zhou Yan’s figure floated out, executing eighteen sword strikes in three steps. Yin Kexi and Ni Mo Xing felt as if their vision was filled with brilliant and dense sword flowers. The sword flowers rose and fell in unison, resembling flowing light, making it impossible to distinguish reality from illusion.
The two let out strange cries and retreated rapidly. One wielded a long whip, creating an impenetrable defense, while the other’s snake staff danced upwards, coiling and rolling, firmly guarding the upper, middle, and lower sections.
A dense barrage of clashing metal erupted, blood splattered everywhere, and an arm holding a long whip flew into the sky.
“Ah, my arm!”
“Brother Yin!”
Helian Chuncheng landed, his spear thrusting directly at Zhou Yan. On the Yueyang Tower, bathed in moonlight, Ouyang Feng’s figure appeared like a great bird.
“Brother Diaosou, take Qigong and go,” Zhou Yan shouted.
Yanbo Diaosou had no time to check on Hong Qigong, who had fallen into the grass, whether he was alive or dead. He suddenly swung his fishing rod, hooked Hong Qigong’s waistband, and flung him into the air.
He flicked his wrist, and the fishhook and line retracted with a swish. Yanbo Diaosou ran with all his might.
As Hong Qigong was about to fall, Yanbo Diaosou caught him.
He held Hong Qigong and ran for more than thirty feet, leaped onto a small boat, and the fishing rod plunged into the water, recoiling and pushing the boat forward several yards through the waves.
“Go!” Yanbo Diaosou shouted at Zhou Yan.
Zhou Yan evaded Helian Chuncheng’s spear thrust and retreated rapidly.
“Protect the Cult Leader.”
Under the bright moonlight, the Manichaeism’s over a hundred followers, who had gained an absolute advantage against the White Lotus Sect outside Yueyang Tower, rushed to their aid. Leading them was the person whom Zhou Yan and Huang Rong had called the Dharma King when they first ascended the tower.
“Go over there and stop those from the tower,” Zhang Sanqiang’s spear trembled like a dragon as he engaged Yu Huacheng, who had descended from the tower.
He shouted to Zhou Yan, “Go, don’t worry about me.”
Zhou Yan knew that under the current circumstances, if he were caught by any one of Ouyang Feng, Qiu Qianren, or Huo Gong Toutuo, there would be no possibility of escape.
He turned and ran towards the small boat.
Ouyang Feng, Huo Gong Toutuo, and Qiu Qianren descended, and their vision was blocked by the Manichaeism disciples who had intercepted them.
Countless shouts intertwined. Weapons and hidden weapons flew through the air.
One of Ouyang Feng’s sleeves had been shredded by Zhou Yan’s Qingfeng Sword at Yueyang Tower, revealing a bare arm. He swung his left sleeve violently, and all the hidden weapons, weapons, and people in front of him were sent flying into the air.
Seeing that he was only one step away from taking Hong Qigong and Zhou Yan’s lives, but was blocked by a group of Manichaeism followers, Ouyang Feng’s anger was imaginable.
He moved forward rapidly, like a vortex, carrying the Manichaeism disciples in front of him away. The Manichaeism Dharma King’s continuous staff shadows, like an angry dragon whirling, rushed towards Ouyang Feng.
Ouyang Feng sought a quick victory, using the Spirit Snake Fist. He exchanged only two simple moves with the Dharma King. Suddenly, a punch changed direction strangely in mid-air and struck the Dharma King. The Dharma King was lifted off the ground, flying more than ten feet before crashing heavily into a mud wall.
The mud wall collapsed, and dust billowed. The Dharma King fell silent for a moment, his fate unknown.
Ouyang Feng advanced like a charging chariot, breaking through the Manichaeism disciples’ interception in an instant. His figure transformed into a white line, chasing after Zhou Yan.
Behind the Western Venom was Huo Gong Toutuo. The monk’s movement was as if he were flying over blades of grass, leaving Qiu Qianren, renowned for his lightness skill and iron palm, far behind.
This was the peerless lightness skill, One Reed Crossing the River, rarely mastered by many in Shaolin Temple.
On the long-distance sprint, Zhou Yan employed the Golden Goose Skill. His figure was like a flying goose, rising and falling, covering over thirty feet in the blink of an eye.
Ouyang Feng used “Instant Thousand Li,” truly like lightning, shortening the distance by about ten feet in a few breaths.
Seeing Zhou Yan reach the shore and realizing he couldn’t catch up no matter what, Ouyang Feng picked up two large stones as he ran.
Zhou Yan leaped up, heading towards the small boat several yards away. Ouyang Feng hurled the stones.
“Careful, flying stones!” Yanbo Diaosou shouted.
Zhou Yan heard the sharp whistling sound of wind breaking behind him and struck back with his sword.
With a “bang,” the stones shattered into pieces, and Zhou Yan’s figure also fell towards the lake.
Ouyang Feng threw another stone.
Zhou Yan’s longsword merely stabbed into the void.
With a light “zing,” the fishhook entangled with the Qingfeng Sword. Yanbo Diaosou, standing at the bow of the boat, held the rod with both hands and swung it forcefully. Zhou Yan’s body was suddenly swung up from the lake surface, flying ten feet in the air before landing on the small boat.
The lake surface behind him was struck by the stones thrown by Ouyang Feng, creating a magnificent water curtain.
Zhou Yan landed and looked at Zhang Sanqiang. He saw the Manichaeism Cult Leader, along with dozens of followers, fighting and retreating. He let out a long sigh, turned, and checked Hong Qigong’s injuries.
