The First Sword of the Universe

Chapter 462 The Dog-Beating Formation, Activate!

In the desolate forest ravaged by lightning and fire, only Xu Xingchen and Duan Yu, who had just arrived, remained.

Watching the imposing figure disappear into the distance, Duan Yu exclaimed, "This Chief Qiao's Eighteen Subduing Dragon Palms are indeed extraordinary; he was able to fight you, Brother Xu, for so long."

Xu Xingchen's gaze swept over the charred and broken trees and the scattered branches and leaves, then over the charred pits on the ground from which wisps of smoke were rising. He nodded and said, "This Chief Qiao is indeed very powerful."

Although Qiao Feng has not reached the realm of oneness with heaven and man, his fighting talent, which makes him stronger when facing stronger opponents, means that even if he were to face the Tibetan national teacher Kumārajīva, the outcome would only be known after the fight.

In Xu Xingchen's opinion, Kumārajīva's chances of winning were probably very small, and as for Murong Fu, he was definitely no match for Qiao Feng.

"Brother Xu, what should we do next? Should we follow that Chief Qiao to Xingzilin and take a look?" Duan Yu asked curiously.

Xu Xingchen nodded and said, "That's right, let's follow them and see. This Beggars' Sect gathering is likely to be very exciting and definitely not to be missed."

After extinguishing the remaining sparks on the battlefield, the two left the woods and headed towards the apricot grove.

During the few days they spent wandering around Wuxi, Xu Xingchen and Duan Yu had already scouted the area and knew which direction Xingzilin was in.

On the way to the apricot grove, Xu Xingchen recalled the story from the book.

The storyline in the book is that after Duan Yu and Qiao Feng drank together, they competed in lightness skills, and then became sworn brothers on the spot.

On his way back to Wuxi, he was found by members of the Beggars' Sect. They said that someone had stormed into the Beggars' Sect's branch in Wuxi and was causing trouble. The person was highly skilled in martial arts and the branch leader and others were no match for him, so they asked Qiao Feng to go and deal with it.

The location of the Wuxi branch was Xingzilin.

When Qiao Feng and Duan Yu arrived at Xingzilin, they met two of the Murong family's retainers: Bao Butong and Feng Bo'e, who were accompanied by Wang Yuyan, A'Zhu, and A'Bi.
Bao Butong and Feng Bo'e, because of Bei Qiao Feng, who was as famous as their young master, deliberately picked a fight with the Beggars' Sect.

When Duan Yu saw Wang Yuyan, he became infatuated again, turning into a simp.

Then, Qiao Feng took action and subdued Bao Butong and Feng Bo'e in one fell swoop.

Then, Quan Guanqing appears, the six elders gather, and Kang Min steps forward, producing a letter left by the former leader of the gang, revealing the true mystery of Qiao Feng's origins.
The information Xu Xingchen has now received is quite different from the plot in the book. The Beggars' Sect is holding a meeting in Xingzilin outside Wuxi City to discuss how to fight against the Xixia Yipintang.

Whether Bao Buhe, Feng Bo'e, and Wang Yuyan will come as they did in the book is already unknown.

However, it's likely that Quan Guanqing, Kang Min, and Bai Shijing will make an appearance.

The major turning point in the story, the revelation of Qiao Feng's background, is indispensable.

When the two arrived at Xingzilin, it was already crowded with Beggar Clan disciples, densely packed yet orderly, forming a clear formation.

These people were disheveled and dressed in rags, carrying either broken bamboo canes or chipped bowls in their hands; they also had tattered cloth bags hanging from their waists, in varying numbers.

The Beggars' Sect had over a thousand members, who surrounded the center so tightly that it was impossible for outsiders to enter.

Xu Xingchen and Duan Yu couldn't force their way into the Beggars' Sect's meeting and disrupt its order, so they could only stand at a distance and watch from afar.

Unfortunately, the crowd in front blocked the view, and the trees in the forest were too dense, so even if you jumped to the treetops, you couldn't see what was inside.

Unless you step directly on the treetops and get close enough.

However, this still involves forcibly breaking in, which is somewhat different in nature.

Xu Xingchen listened intently; the wind rustled through the trees in the distance, carrying some sounds to his ears.

An argument had already broken out inside, and during it, someone mentioned the word "barbarian".

Duan Yu's ears twitched, as if he had also heard some noise. He turned his head and asked in surprise, "Brother Xu, why do I hear several elders of the Beggars' Sect arguing with Chief Qiao? There was also a woman among those elders, who falsely accused Chief Qiao of being the son of a barbarian? Has there been internal strife within the Beggars' Sect?"

Xu Xingchen calmly said, "Do you remember what I said to Chief Qiao before?"

Duan Yu frowned at first, then his eyes widened: "Brother Xu once told Chief Qiao that Chief Qiao might soon step down as the Beggar Clan's leader."

Xu Xingchen nodded and said, "Now it seems that this matter is almost certain!"

"Why is that? Could it be that Chief Qiao is really the son of a barbarian?" Duan Yu asked in astonishment, "How could that be?"

Ignoring Duan Yu's astonishment, Xu Xingchen said quietly, "Brother Duan, I have a question for you."

Duan Yu snapped out of his daze: "Brother Xu, what do you want to ask me?"

Xu Xingchen was silent for a moment, then suddenly smiled: "Tell me, is it better for me to suddenly barge in and kill all those people who are making things difficult for Chief Qiao, or to ignore the conflict inside?"

Duan Yu was taken aback, then quickly shook his head: "Brother Xu, we don't know who is right and who is wrong in what happened inside, so I think it would be best for you to remain still and observe the situation."

Xu Xingchen nodded in agreement, saying, "You're right. Whether I try to stop it or not, that thing is inevitable. Since that's the case, why should I get involved and only cause myself more trouble?"

These were Xu Xingchen's true feelings. Qiao Feng couldn't escape this calamity today, so he could only let it happen naturally.

Amidst the gentle breeze, Qiao Feng announced his resignation as leader of the Beggars' Sect, declaring that he would no longer be a disciple of the sect.

However, a sharp-tongued middle-aged man's voice said that Qiao Feng had learned the martial arts passed down by the Beggar Clan leader: the Eighteen Subduing Dragon Palms and the Dog-Beating Staff Technique. Even if he wanted to leave, he had to retrieve these two martial arts.

Several people around echoed and agreed. Some of these people did not appear to be members of the Beggars' Sect, but rather survivors of the battle at Yanmen Pass.

Qiao Feng was furious.

A dragon's roar, high-pitched and resounding.

A burst of bluish-white lightning power blasted several figures into the sky, their screams echoing through the apricot grove.

"Activate the Dog-Beating Formation!"

Someone shouted loudly, and thousands of Beggars' Sect disciples immediately moved and struck the ground with their bamboo staffs, making a noisy "papapa" sound.

The cacophony of slapping sounds merged together, amplified dozens of times, echoing and reverberating throughout the apricot grove, causing people's ears to ring, and making them dizzy and nauseous.

At the same time, the combined auras of thousands of Beggars' Sect disciples coalesced into a magnificent momentum that soared into the sky.

Of these Beggar Clan disciples, 99% originally only possessed internal strength and did not know any special techniques.

But the moment their breaths merged, their internal forces actually communicated with each other, then burst out of their bodies, transforming into streams of multicolored air that flowed from all directions toward the people in the innermost circle of the Dog-Beating Formation.

Streams of air flowed through the apricot grove, converging towards the center, surging like a river, creating a magnificent and spectacular scene.

Duan Yu did not expect that the changes at the Beggars' Sect gathering would come so suddenly, with the conflict arising in an instant and turning into a full-blown fight.

Xu Xingchen also did not expect that the situation would suddenly turn around and a battle would break out.

Compared to the story in the book, the battle before us was intense and violent.

Whether it's the heroic Qiao Feng, the cunning Quan Guanqing, or the decisions of the six elders of the Beggars' Sect.

All of these factors have led to today's situation becoming increasingly confrontational.

The bluish-white lightning illuminated the apricot grove, accompanied by the deep, thunderous roars of dragons, majestic and domineering.

The barking of the dogs was loud and clear, revealing endless ferocity.

"Hurry up and climb the tree, let's go see what's going on!"

As Xu Xingchen spoke, his figure rose from the ground and landed lightly on the top of the three-zhang-tall apricot tree. His feet swayed on the treetops as he looked out into the distance.

Duan Yu failed to control his internal energy properly, jumping twice on the tree trunk and branches before finally managing to stand on a thicker branch below.

Although the dense foliage in the distant woods obscured the view, some of the fighting could still be glimpsed through gaps in the branches.

Within the Dog-Beating Formation formed by a thousand Beggars' Sect disciples, streaks of multicolored light connected to a dozen or so agile figures within.

Those figures wielded heavy weapons such as iron staffs, iron maces, cloth bags, and broadswords, fiercely attacking a burly figure in the center whose body was flashing with lightning.

The burly figure shrouded in lightning was none other than Qiao Feng, the former leader of the Beggars' Sect.

The dozen or so figures surrounding them should be the elders of the Beggars' Sect, but there seemed to be many more than Xu Xingchen remembered.

If we were to describe Qiao Feng's display of the Eighteen Subduing Dragon Palms as a series of thunderous and lightning-streaked dragon shadows...

Therefore, the extraordinary skill performed by the dozen or so Beggar Clan elders under the blessing of the Dog-Beating Formation was to summon fighting dogs as strong as oxen.

There are as many fighting dogs as there are elders of the Beggars' Sect.

A dozen or so dogs, some yellow, some black, some white, and some spotted.
They are solid in form, agile in physique, have the imposing presence of a tiger, and their cries are ferocious.

Facing the powerful and domineering lightning dragon shadow in the center, they were fearless, rushing forward like the wind from all directions, biting and tearing, only to be knocked away by the power of lightning time and time again.

The dog shadow that was knocked away would become illusory and unreal, but with the support of the formation of thousands of Beggar Clan disciples, it would quickly recover and pounce on the dog again to bite and fight.

Extremely ferocious and vicious!

For a while.

In the apricot grove, the roar of an angry dragon, the shrill barking of dogs, and the continuous explosions of energy from the battle echoed through the air.

Click! Click! Click!

Before long, the large trees that had blocked Xu Xingchen and Duan Yu's view broke, shattered, and disintegrated in the fierce battle, scattering like rain.

"Qiao Feng, you can't escape. Today, at the Beggars' Sect gathering, we specially gathered a thousand disciples and set up this Dog-Beating Formation to keep you here."

"That's right, Chief. I'll call you Chief one last time. As long as you surrender and let us cripple your martial arts, we guarantee we won't harm you."

"Qiao Feng, don't be so stubborn! We will never allow a barbarian's son to bring the Beggar Clan's Eighteen Subduing Dragon Palms and Dog-Beating Staff Technique to the Liao Kingdom."

(End of this chapter)