Qin Shi: I went astray in the Heavenly Sect

Chapter 228 Daoist Techniques, Joining Forces

"This will be a memorable day."

Xuan Jian's voice deepened, and his aura surged forth like ignited gunpowder.

Then, the top-tier assassin from Luo Wang narrowed his eyes, and the hesitation on his face disappeared, replaced by determination. Since he had chosen to make a move, he would not hesitate.

Xuan Jian suddenly bent down and darted over like lightning. Wu Shuang instinctively attacked him, but his body couldn't keep up with his speed.

His punch missed its mark, and then the towering man's eyes bulged as he flew backward like a sandbag.

"Although I can play with you, you'd better not get in my way right now!"

Xuan Jian glanced at Wu Shuang out of the corner of his eye, his tone becoming more impatient.

Then he looked at the girl in front of him, and she actually blocked both of his swords, one black and one white.

The Fire Spirit Hairpin, in the end, is just a hairpin. He didn't know what material the two hairpins were made of, but the two swords in his hands were rare divine weapons in the world.

Logically speaking, something like a hairpin could not possibly block one's own sword.

"These two hairpins in your hands must be extraordinary, since they were able to block my sword strike!"

As they spoke, Xuan Jian slammed his twin swords down from above, and Yan Ling Ji, being slightly weaker in strength, was forced to take two steps back under the opponent's powerful pressure.

"I don't like men who are too enthusiastic."

As Yan Lingji watched the approaching Hei family members, she raised an eyebrow, and a hint of pink flickered in her eyes as she spoke.

Xuan Jian frowned, and the force in his hand loosened for a moment. In that instant, Yan Ling Ji lowered her body and thrust two fire spirit hairpins toward the other's neck.

This change happened in an instant, but Yan Lingji acted without the slightest hesitation. By the time Xuan Jian came to his senses, he hurriedly pushed off with his feet, his body shooting backward, once again putting distance between himself and Yan Lingji.

However, the other party's action seemed to be a little too late; a touch of crimson appeared on the other party's neck.

"Fire Charm Technique!"

Xuan Jian snorted coldly, his eyes turning icy. Although his actual combat strength was above Yan Lingji's at the moment, her mysterious and unpredictable methods made her like a hedgehog covered in thorns, making it even more difficult for him to make a move.

"As expected, they are remnants of the Baiyue people!"

When the State of Chu destroyed the Baiyue, it paid a considerable price. The most significant cost was the Baiyue's Gu (poisoning) techniques and other poisons. Compared to the poison techniques of the Central Plains, the Baiyue's were insignificant.

"I've heard that assassins' blood is black, just like their hearts. But Mr. Xuan Jian's blood is a bit different."

Upon hearing Yan Lingji's words, Xuan Jian's hands involuntarily tightened.

"Provoking me will do you no good!"

Xuan Jian was too lazy to waste any more words with the girl in front of him. He moved swiftly and attacked again.

“You are indeed a difficult opponent, especially with the poison and Gu techniques of the Baiyue people, but life and death can be determined in the blink of an eye.”

Xuan Jian's twin swords moved faster and faster, one black and one white, slicing through the air alternately, the sound of air being cut rang out, their sharpness fully revealed.

Yan Lingji's expression grew increasingly grim. This top-tier assassin from the Luo Wang organization possessed immense strength, and despite repeated attacks, her power remained undiminished.

The sword energy attached to Xuan Jian was not completely blocked by the Fire Spirit Hairpin, and there were already scars on her arms.

"Ding!"

With another soft sound, a ruthless glint appeared in Xuan Jian's eyes. After trying it, he had discovered that the Fire Spirit Hairpin in Yan Ling Ji's hand was made of wood. In his opinion, no matter what kind of wood it was, its ability to withstand pressure was ultimately limited.

Therefore, he planned to cut the two small items in the other party's hand directly. Without these two hairpins, the other party would definitely not dare to confront him head-on again.

"Shh!"

A soft airburst sounded, and everyone present changed their expressions. After Xuan Jian launched his second attack, Yan Ling Ji was clearly at a disadvantage. Gai Nie's guess was correct; this man wielding two swords could indeed perform the dual-sword combination all by himself.

"Uncle, will big sister not lose?"

Inside the carriage, Tianming hesitated for a moment before asking a question.

Gai Nie's eyes shone brightly. In terms of swordsmanship, no one present was better than him, not even Xuan Jian.

Xuan Jian's swordsmanship is at a very high level. He must have put in a lot of hard work to be able to use these two swords flexibly. But even so, his left-hand sword and right-hand sword are not exactly the same.

Between moves, there are subtle openings that are imperceptible to the average person. Because the opponent changes their moves so quickly, it is very difficult to find these openings.

However, when the opponent fought Yan Lingji, whether it was because Yan Lingji was weaker than him or for some other reason, this weakness gradually became apparent. Or perhaps he didn't think Yan Lingji would be able to launch a counterattack at this time.

"break!!"

Xuan Jian suddenly roared, and the sword energy on the black sword suddenly surged. The sharpness of the sword made everyone present subconsciously take a step back, even from dozens of feet away.

"not good!"

Xiang Liang, still sitting on his horse, suddenly focused his gaze.

He guessed the other party's plan. The Fire Spirit Hairpin was Yan Lingji's only weapon at the moment. If it was cut off by the other party, she would suffer a great loss in the upcoming battle.

At the same time, Gai Nie also quietly drew his Yuanhong sword.

Looking at Yan Lingji, a cold smile flashed across Xuan Jian's eyes, but the next moment, the smile vanished without a trace.

The moment the black sword touched the Fire Spirit Hairpin, there was another "ding" sound, and the black sword was directly repelled by a strange force.

Seeing this, not only was Xuan Jian completely dumbfounded, but everyone watching was also stunned.

"Uncle, what is that hairpin made of?"

Tianming looked at the hairpin, which remained unharmed despite the heavy blow from the black sword, and his eyes burned with desire.

Seeing this scene, a strange light appeared in Gai Nie's eyes. Xuan Jian was one of the Eight Swords of Yue King, two rare divine weapons, whose sharpness was self-evident.

But the fact that these two swords repeatedly failed against the two hairpins in Yan Lingji's hands seemed very strange.

Upon hearing Tianming's words, Gai Nie said somewhat uncertainly, "Judging from the color and texture, the hairpin in Yan Lingji's hand should be made of some kind of wood, but whether it is ironwood or something else, it should not be this tough."

Upon hearing this, Xiang Liang and Fan Zeng chimed in, "Indeed, the hairpin in Miss Yan Lingji's hand is definitely not made of metal, but the way it is behaving now suggests there is something more to it."

As soon as the two finished speaking, suddenly, the hairpin in Yan Lingji's hand trembled slightly, as if some kind of mechanism had been activated.

Countless pale green characters appeared on the surface of the hairpin, and then enveloped Yan Lingji.

"This is??"

Seeing this, Xiang Liang seemed to have guessed something and subconsciously rubbed his chin.

"The Dao!"

Fan Zeng gave the answer on behalf of Xiang Liang.

However, when the words "Taoist principles" came up, the old man, who came from a military background, couldn't help but feel a bit emotional.

The Way is the method of the Great Way.

An ordinary wooden hairpin has become a weapon capable of contending with divine weapons. The most direct reason for this is the Taoist magic attached to it. Judging from the effect alone, the person who used it must be extraordinary.

Upon hearing those two words, the others couldn't help but whisper among themselves.

"Taoist methods? What are those?"

"It's naturally a Taoist secret technique!"

"Taoists have such methods? That can't be right! Those Taoist disciples who come to the martial world for training look pretty much like ordinary people!"

Hearing these sounds, Xiang Liang and Fan Zeng couldn't help but shake their heads.

Taoism has a long history and can be said to be the most deeply rooted school among the Hundred Schools of Thought. As more and more schools emerged afterward, how many schools were involved with it? Even many military strategies of the Military School have the shadow of Taoist thought.

They did not underestimate this school of thought in the slightest.

"Mr. Fan, the person who made the move is probably..."

Xiang Liang tugged at the horse's reins, his tone somewhat uncertain.

Fan Zeng stroked his goatee and sighed softly.

"No Grandmaster possesses such extraordinary abilities to seize the very essence of heaven and earth. The hairpin in this young lady's hand is likely the work of one of the two Grandmasters of the Heavenly Sect. Based on the information we have, it is more likely to be Master Qingxu."

As he said this, Fan Zeng's eyes flickered with a strange light. A Grandmaster is an existence that cannot be ignored, whether in the imperial court or in the martial arts world!

"Master Qingxu".

Xiang Liang shook his head and murmured something. When he thought of what happened back then, he felt that the boy was standing right in front of him.

Back then, the Xiang clan was at its zenith, holding a pivotal position in the entire Chu Kingdom and even the whole world. His father, General Xiang Yan, was not only high-ranking and powerful, but also a top-tier master at the Grandmaster level.

Few could remain calm in his presence; even the later King of Chu could not do so, but that young man did.

He once asked his father why Qingxu was able to do this, but the King of Chu could not.

He remembered that Xiang Yan answered in this way.

"He is strong enough to disregard most of the world's etiquette and laws, strong enough that even if an entire country were to be mobilized, he could leave whenever he wanted. For such a person, status and power are not things worth valuing."

"Strong enough."

Xiang Liang silently repeated the words to himself, clenching his fists again. In this era, there are many principles, but the greatest one is that the strong are respected. If the State of Chu had been strong enough, it would have been the State of Qin that was destroyed, not Chu. Similarly, if the Xiang clan had been powerful enough back then, the State of Chu would not have been destroyed by the State of Qin.

"Taoist secret techniques!"

Xuan Jian looked at the unexpected situation before him, and his tone became serious again. He had felt that something was wrong with the hairpin in Yan Lingji's hand from the beginning, and now he finally understood what was going on, but he couldn't be happy about it at all.

"You guessed right, but unfortunately, I don't have any reward to offer."

Yan Lingji held the hairpin, and with her aura, her long black hair danced wildly.

Xuan Jian sighed, looking at the group of people not far away. A trace of unwillingness flashed in his eyes. He had thought that he could cut Yan Lingji's weapon and end the battle quickly, but that was probably impossible now.

The longer the time drags on, the more disadvantageous it will be for him. Whether it's Gai Nie or other experts at the Innate Realm, they could all pose a threat to his exhausted state.

If he still had a few people by his side right now, whose cultivation level didn't need to be very high, just the Innate Realm would be enough, he could still try to fight them. But now, the value of those he left behind is not high.

"Om!!"

Xuan Jian's internal energy surged, and sword energy swirled on the longswords in his hands. The two swords lightly touched, and a killing intent, like a ferocious beast unleashed, spread wildly in all directions.

Then Xuan Jian raised his arms, and two sword energies avoided Yan Lingji and shot off in two different directions.

One sword aura was aimed at Wushuang, who had been knocked away at the start of the battle, while another sword aura rushed straight towards the carriage convoy.

Yan Lingji's face darkened. The thing she least wanted to see had happened. If it were just a simple battle, she was confident that she could hold off Xuan Jian, but the other party didn't play by the rules and attacked the others directly.

This left her feeling somewhat helpless; if the attacks continued like this, she would likely be overwhelmed.

She then moved swiftly and appeared in front of Wushuang, crossing her Fire Spirit Hairpins in front of her to block the attack. With a sudden upward flick, she deflected the sword energy.

Seeing Yan Lingji set off, Xuan Jian chuckled.

He seemed to see another opportunity for victory, but the next moment, his body tensed up, as if he were being watched by some ferocious beast, making him feel uneasy.

As his gaze swept across the room, he finally discovered the root cause of this change.

From another direction, a long sword came hurtling towards him, just as he was going to see Yan Lingji rescue Wushuang.

"This is the Hundred-Step Flying Sword!"

"You're not hurt?"

Under the lock of the sword's momentum, Xuan Jian felt the hairs on his body stand on end. Gai Nie was different from Yan Ling Ji; the opponent's strength was far superior to that girl's. Moreover, this sword was the ultimate killing move of the Ghost Valley Vertical Sword Technique. Even if it was just this one sword, it would probably make most Grandmaster-level experts despair.

"Whoosh!"

Then another whooshing sound rang out. Xuan Jian caught a glimpse of a streak of fire shooting towards him from the corner of his eye. This attack was very similar to the previous one, but much more powerful.

Upon seeing this, Xuan Jian's eyes twitched involuntarily. He had originally planned to ambush them halfway, but he hadn't expected such a turn of events.

However, as a top-tier assassin of the Luo Wang organization, Xuan Jian still had his own trump card. After three breaths, Xuan Jian's eyes turned blood red, and then an extremely strong wave emanated from his body.

Just before Yuanhong was about to strike him, the aura he unleashed finally broke through the lock-on of the Hundred Steps Flying Sword's momentum.

Feeling the tip of Yuanhong's sword glide past his neck, Xuan Jian couldn't help but feel a chill of fear. If he had hesitated even a moment longer, he would probably be dead by now.

To die at the hands of a wounded swordsman is hardly a glorious way for him to die!

At this moment, Gai Nie had already arrived in front of Xuan Jian. Seeing that the other party had dodged his sure-kill sword, he then grasped the hilt of Yuan Hong's sword. The long sword trembled, and sword energy was generated spontaneously.

Another incredibly heavy horizontal slash swept towards the opponent's neck, its killing intent lurking. Xuan Jian knew he was in trouble. He didn't know how many more sword strikes Gai Nie could unleash, but this one was enough to threaten him.

"clang!!"

The two swords, Yuanhong and Xuanjian, clashed violently. Xuanjian felt a tremendous force flowing through his hands along the two swords.

A hint of surprise appeared in his eyes, as if he couldn't believe that an injured Gai Nie could still unleash such a powerful sword strike.

Then he was sent flying backwards again.

"."

Just then, Yan Lingji's attack arrived. In the distance, Yan Lingji reached out and flicked her hand to the side, then pointed. The fire spirit hairpin seemed to have a mind of its own, turning in mid-air before shooting towards Xuan Jian.

Unable to gain any leverage while suspended in mid-air, Xuan Jian cursed under his breath. Just as he raised his sword to parry, a sudden thought struck him, and a sense of crisis instantly surged into his heart.

"wrong!"

He was absolutely certain that Yan Lingji's attack at this moment contained something he was unaware of.

Therefore, the assassin from the Luo Wang organization made a decisive move, changing his double swords from parrying to slashing. Two sword energies crossed out and rushed straight towards the Fire Spirit Hairpin.

The moment the sword energy collided with the Fire Spirit Hairpin, an incredibly terrifying wave of fire erupted from the Fire Spirit Hairpin.

Then came an incredibly violent explosion, the shockwave surging, and at the point where the sword energy collided with the Fire Spirit Hairpin, it was as if gunpowder had been ignited, creating a large crater on the spot.

As for Xuan Jian, he was like a kite with a broken string, blown away by the shockwave.

After a while, there was no more movement around. Yan Lingji walked over slowly, reached out and beckoned, and the Fire Spirit Hairpin returned to her hand.

Looking northwest, she glanced at Gai Nie.

"Mr. Gai, shall we continue the pursuit?"

Gai Nie stood to the side, leaning on Yuan Hong, and then gently shook his head.

"I only have the power of one sword. The opponent is a Grandmaster. If we are forced into a corner and we are destroyed together, it will be too difficult for us to escape unscathed."

Yan Lingji shrugged when she heard Gai Nie's reply.

Gai Nie's final sword strike was crucial in repelling Xuan Jian this time. Without that strike, the opponent might have detected his hidden ultimate move, which was concealed within the Fire Spirit Hairpin, much earlier.

If that's the case, it will be difficult for my attack to succeed again.

"Forget it, being able to repel Xuan Jian was just a stroke of luck. If I were to face this top-tier assassin alone, I wouldn't stand much of a chance."

At this moment, Xiang Liang and his men also came over. Seeing that Gai Nie's chest was covered in red marks again, he quickly directed his men to help Gai Nie back onto the carriage.

Tianming, who was standing nearby, quickly got off the carriage and, together with the Xiang family members, brought Gai Nie back to the carriage.

After settling Gai Nie in, Tianming said to Xiang Yu beside him, "See! I told you Uncle was amazing, now you believe me!!"

Upon hearing this, Xiang Yu gave a light snort.

“I admit Mr. Gai is very capable, but he is him and you are you. Mr. Gai hasn’t said anything, but you’re the one who jumped up first!”

Xiang Yu also admired Gai Nie's Hundred-Step Flying Sword technique. He had witnessed the previous situation and knew that if Gai Nie hadn't intervened, the battle wouldn't have ended so quickly.

It can be said that Gai Nie's sword strike ended this battle.

"Miss Yan Lingji, there is wound medicine in the carriage."

Seeing Yan Lingji return, Xiang Liang couldn't help but add, "In the battle just now, Gai Nie contributed a lot, but he also knows that if Yan Lingji hadn't been there, even if Gai Nie had swung that sword, Xuan Jian wouldn't have retreated."

Yan Lingji casually inserted the fire spirit hairpin back into her hair and waved her hand lightly.

"Just some minor injuries!"

"But you all need to be careful on the road ahead. I need to heal my injuries later, so I probably won't be able to take care of much else."

As she spoke, Yan Lingji reached out and wiped away the crimson stain from the corner of her mouth. Just now, she had secretly activated her secret technique several times before making her move; otherwise, she would not have been able to withstand the Twin Swords Xuanjian. According to her estimation, the opponent's strength with twin swords should be able to block Gai Nie and Wei Zhuang.

If she didn't use her secret techniques, she would probably be killed in less than fifty rounds against such an opponent.

Seeing Yan Lingji say this, Xiang Liang and the others quickly nodded in agreement.

"Don't worry, young lady. I'll tell my brothers to be careful on the road ahead. But on behalf of the Xiang clan, I thank you for your righteous help this time."

Yan Lingji waved her hand without saying much. Her main purpose in taking action this time was to repay the kindness of the Xiang clan in helping her find her relatives back then, and not for any other reason.

Looking at the Sword Saint, who had once again been forced into a deep sleep on the carriage, she slowly exhaled. If it weren't for this person's presence, the consequences of this trip would probably have been dire.

"Gai Nie, Wei Zhuang, these two from Guiguzi are really something."

Speaking of Gai Nie, we have to mention Wei Zhuang. Back in Xinzheng, that man was no pushover. Compared to Gai Nie, who had restrained his sharpness, Wei Zhuang was more aggressive, more unscrupulous, and more domineering.

Despite their different personalities, their skills were similar. Compared to Wei Zhuang, she felt that Gai Nie was more like a master of the Ghost Valley School.

However, matters concerning Guigu are beyond her control. As for the ultimate fate of these two fellow disciples, it is probably only up to destiny for now.

The carriage was quite spacious, so Yan Lingji sat cross-legged on the other side and began to circulate her internal energy to heal her injuries.

The technique was given to her by Qingxu. It is a kind of Taoist internal energy cultivation method. Although it contains intense heat, it is relatively gentle when circulating in the body, which is in line with the Taoist concept of the unity of man and nature.

After a brief moment of meditation, Yan Lingji seemed to have thought of something and opened her eyes again.

Previously, Gai Nie encountered two top-tier assassins from the Luo Wang organization. Now they have encountered another top-tier assassin. What exactly is the Luo Wang organization plotting, and what is its relationship with Taoism?
The sudden departure of Qingxu had given the girl a bad feeling. Although there were not many people in the world who could pose a threat to Qingxu at this time, she was still a little worried.

After a while, the girl sighed softly to herself.

"That's it!"

"We don't even know where he is now, so we can only take it one step at a time. But judging from the current situation, it seems that what he said is true, something bad is about to happen in this world."

"I hope I can meet the young master smoothly at Jinghu Medical Clinic."

(End of this chapter)