Starting with a blind date with a female constable, you acquire the Nine Swords of Dugu.

Chapter Thirty-Three: The Siege

"I think you've just lived a little longer than expected!"

Gu Guanqi shot out like an arrow. The Autumn Water Sword left a cold afterimage in the moonlight, its tip pointing directly at Zhuque's throat.

Zhuque neither dodged nor evaded; with a swift movement of his right hand, he seized the spear from the hand of an assassin behind him.

The spear was eight feet long, entirely black, with a chilling gleam at its tip and a dark red tassel like blood. With a flick of his wrist, the spear emerged from the sea like a dragon, carrying an extremely sharp and powerful gust of wind, and thrust towards Gu Guanqi.

Before their spears and swords even clashed, the air between them was already distorted.

"bite--"

A clear, resonant clang of metal rang out, sparks flying everywhere.

The sword tips and spear tips clashed precisely, and a visible ripple spread outwards from the point of impact. Wherever the ripple passed, the bluestone slabs on the ground shattered.

The two of them stepped back at the same time.

Gu Guanqi swung his sword, close to the spear shaft, and charged towards Zhuque.

Zhuque used the momentum to float backward more than ten feet, twirling her spear in her hand. The spear hummed, and the tip drew three arcs in the air, aiming for Gu Guanqi's throat, chest, and abdomen. The three spears were thrust out almost simultaneously, creating a blur of motion, making it difficult to distinguish between real and feint.

Gu Guanqi neither dodged nor avoided, but instead thrust out his Autumn Water Sword diagonally.

Dugu Nine Swords, Spear-Breaking Style.

The sword tip precisely struck the point where the force turned in the middle of the spear shaft. With a "ding," the three spear shadows vanished instantly, and the real spear was struck by the sword tip, causing the spear shaft to veer sharply to the side.

However, Zhuque's martial arts realm had reached the point where he could control the spear at will, and he immediately put away the spear and changed his move.

He gripped the gun with both hands and suddenly swept it horizontally, the shaft lashing out like an iron whip towards Gu Guanqi's waist and ribs. The strike was powerful and heavy, the wind whistling through the air, sending pebbles flying to both sides.

Gu Guanqi leaped aside, and the spear swept past, striking a blue brick wall behind him. With a loud "boom," the wall collapsed, scattering broken bricks and stones all over the ground, raising clouds of dust.

Gu Guanqi twisted his body in mid-air and thrust his sword downwards. The sword flashed like a startled swan, aiming straight for the top of the Vermilion Bird's head.

Zhuque raised his head, his spear rising from below, the tip of the spear meeting the sword's edge.

"when--"

Another loud bang.

The two clashed weapons, their inner energy surging.

Gu Guanqi used the momentum to somersault in the air, landing more than three zhang away. The bluestone slab beneath Zhuque's feet shattered, and his feet sank more than an inch into the ground.

Just as the two were exchanging blows, the assassins around them made their move.

Seven top assassins charged out first. The one in the lead wielded a pair of judge's pens, the tips pointing towards the back of Gu Guanqi's head; the one on the left wielded a thick-backed single-edged sword, the blade sweeping across Gu Guanqi's waist and ribs; the one on the right wielded a soft whip, the tip of which flicked like a venomous snake, wrapping around Gu Guanqi's ankles; the four behind him each held weapons, blocking all of Gu Guanqi's escape routes.

The seven worked together seamlessly, their movements precise and measured, clearly seasoned veterans of many battles. Although their martial arts skills were far inferior to Gu Guanqi's, their combined efforts subtly formed an impenetrable killing net.

Without turning his head, Gu Guanqi swung his Autumn Water Sword in a backhand motion. A flash of light, and the top assassin wielding the Judge's Pen felt a chill on his wrist. Looking down, he saw both his hands severed at the wrists, blood gushing out. He screamed and staggered backward.

Gu Guanqi's swordplay didn't stop; the tip of his sword turned and struck the blade of the gold-medal assassin wielding a single-edged sword on his left. With a clang, the sword snapped in two, half of the blade flying into the air. The remaining force of the sword tip pierced the man's shoulder, and blood splattered everywhere.

The soft whip on the right was already upon him. Gu Guanqi reached out with his left hand, his five fingers like iron clamps, and grabbed the tip of the whip. The top assassin's expression changed drastically. He tried to pull back the whip, but felt an overwhelming force surge from the whip, pulling him forward and causing him to fall.

Gu Guanqi kicked out, striking the man squarely in the chest. The crisp sound of breaking ribs could be clearly heard in the night. The man spat out a mouthful of blood and flew backward, crashing into the three silver-ranked assassins behind him. The four of them rolled around in a heap.

In the blink of an eye, one of the seven top assassins was dead and two were injured, but their offensive did not diminish. More assassins formed a killing formation and attacked from all directions, with flashing blades and cold light.

Gu Guanqi's sword light danced like snowflakes, weaving an impenetrable sword curtain around him.

The clanging of metal against metal was as dense as popping beans. With each sword strike, someone would lose their weapon, be struck in the wrist, or be stabbed in the shoulder.

On the other side, Ding Yue and An Yi were also locked in a fierce battle.

A large number of assassins surrounded them.

With his heavy sword in hand, Ding Yue's every strike carried the power to split mountains and shatter rocks, but his complexion grew increasingly worse, and cold sweat poured down his forehead. The poison he had been poisoned was taking effect, and the flow of true qi in his dantian was sluggish. Each attempt to circulate his qi felt like pushing a boulder through his meridians.

An Yi's longsword danced with exquisite skill and agile movements. However, her strength had not yet fully recovered, and facing the siege of seven or eight assassins, she gradually became overwhelmed and could only barely hold on.

While Gu Guanqi was handling the situation with ease, he still had to guard against a sneak attack from the strongest Vermilion Bird.

Fortunately, the assassins' martial arts level had not yet reached the point of being able to break free from their techniques. In the face of the Dugu Nine Swords, the assassins were unable to have a significant impact on Gu Guanqi. However, the coordinated killing formations and various strange and unusual methods were indeed quite troublesome.

Just as Gu Guanqi was cleaving through a pile of hidden weapons, Zhuque finally made his move once again.

He gripped the gun with both hands, the tips pointing downwards, and stomped down suddenly.

"boom--"

The spear pierced the ground, and a terrifying force surged from its tip into the earth, rushing straight towards Gu Guanqi along the soil. Where the force passed, the entire bluestone slab was lifted up and shattered into countless fragments in mid-air, shooting out in all directions like hidden weapons.

Gu Guanqi lightly touched the ground with his foot, his figure rising gracefully to avoid the spear force that shot up from the ground.

Zhuque gave him no chance to catch his breath, drew his spear, and leaped into the air like a roc spreading its wings. The spear came crashing down from above.

This shot had no fancy variations; it was just a simple smash. Yet, wherever the gun passed, the air was compressed into a visible ripple, and the pebbles on the ground were whipped up by the strong wind and crushed into dust in mid-air.

Gu Guanqi raised his sword to parry.

"boom--"

A loud bang, like a thunderclap.

Gu Guanqi felt an overwhelming force surge from the sword. Under the immense pressure, the Autumn Water Sword suddenly bent, forming an astonishing arc.

At the same time, assassins from all directions seized the opportunity to swarm in.

More than twenty people attacked simultaneously, their blades flashing and swords flashing as they came at him from all directions. Front, back, left, right, up, down—weapons were everywhere, and killing intent was everywhere.

Gu Guanqi suddenly pushed off with his foot.

He used the Lingbo Weibu (a martial arts technique) to...

The pale white figure left afterimages under the moonlight, and in the blink of an eye, it rushed into the killing formation of the assassins, with the wind whistling.

this moment,

He brought the ultimate essence of the Fifteen Deadly Swords to its fullest potential.

A flash of sword light appeared, its chilling aura slicing through the night.

At that moment, amidst the flashing sword shadows,

A murderous intent surged, and the moonlight vanished.

The murderous intent of Sword One through Sword Thirteen is fully revealed.

The sword light pierced through the heavens and earth, its energy as thin as a spider's thread, yet wherever it passed, the moonlight was sliced ​​apart, the night wind was sliced ​​apart, and even the darkness itself was sliced ​​apart.

The sword energy was silent, breathless, shadowless, and formless.

At this moment, Gu Guanqi only wanted to kill!

It leaves only a faint, fleeting ripple in the air, like the ripples that spread when a pebble is thrown into a deep pool.

It was impossible to tell whether it was the light of a sword or the afterimage of Gu Guanqi. Wherever it passed, blood splattered. The assassins had deep, bone-revealing wounds slashed into their chests, waists, abdomens, and necks by the sword energy. Blood gushed from the wounds, gleaming with a dark red luster under the moonlight.

Some people's weapons broke in two, while others were blasted away by the sword energy, crashing into the wall, spitting out blood, and then dying.

The killing techniques of the first thirteen swords were displayed to their fullest extent at this moment!

"Such intense killing intent!"

Zhuque sighed and hurled her spear at Gu Guanqi. The spear seemed to shatter space itself.

The moment the spear left the hand, the friction between the spear shaft and the air produced a sharp whistling sound, and visible ripples appeared at the tip of the spear, caused by the extreme speed that compressed the air to its limit.

In Gu Guanqi's pupils, the long spear rapidly magnified.

He did not back down.

The Autumn Water Sword was raised from bottom to top and touched the side of the spear tip.

"bite--"

With a crisp, clear sound, sparks flew between the sword tip and the spear tip. The spear was deflected by the sword and shot diagonally into the ground behind Gu Guanqi. With a "boom," the bluestone slab shattered, and pebbles flew everywhere. The spear shaft was mostly buried in the ground, leaving only the spearhead vibrating outside.

Gu Guanqi kept moving, his figure like an arrow released from a bow, rushing straight towards Zhuque.

The sword light flashed like a bolt of lightning, the Autumn Water Sword drawing a cold arc in the air, its tip pointing directly at the Vermilion Bird's throat.

however--

Just as he closed in on Suzaku to within three feet of him, a sudden pang of fear surged into his heart.

But it wasn't fear, it wasn't tension, but a nameless, overwhelming sadness.

The sadness came without reason, as if it welled up from the deepest part of his heart, like emotions that had been suppressed for a long time finally finding an outlet and pouring out like a torrent.

Gu Guanqi's sword strike faltered slightly.

In that instant, Zhuque thrust out a palm strike.

The movements were fast, yet they appeared slow, as slow as waving an arm in water.

But this slow push made Gu Guanqi feel as if the surrounding air had frozen.

Seven Soul-Stealing Palm Techniques.

A surge of powerful true energy erupted from the Vermilion Bird's palm.

But Gu Guanqi felt that his mind had been shaken.

In that instant,

The force of the palm spread out, as if forming an invisible and unique space between the two.

In that space, the air became heavy, the moonlight dimmed, and the night wind howled, as if the whole world was shrouded in an inescapable sorrow.

Two scenes inexplicably appeared in Gu Guanqi's mind.

He saw Jiang Baili standing under the plum tree in Forget-Worry Valley, her plain white dress fluttering in the wind. Her once clear eyes were now devoid of light, filled only with endless emptiness. In her hand she held a short sword, the tip pressed against her heart.

He saw Xue Fuling emerge from the Four Symbols Cave, her once black hair now white, her face haggard, her eyes unfocused, staring blankly into the distance.

but,

In an instant,

Gu Guanqi remained focused and determined.

Within the dantian, the three internal energy cultivation methods were simultaneously activated.

Baoyuan Jin, Zixia Shen Gong, Xiantian Gong.

Three streams of true energy erupted.

The sword hummed.

A flash of sword light appeared.

The sadness, guilt, reluctance, and longing that lingered in his mind vanished completely under this sword strike.

The moonlight fell on him, as if he were being held up by a thin layer of mist, forming a faint halo around his shoulders.

The sword is drawn, and a celestial being descends from the heavens!

His figure was like a cloud blown by the wind, untouched by any dust.

With a gentle turn in his hand, the Autumn Water Sword gleamed with a lustrous sheen. This gleam was not the cold light of metal, but the warm luster of jade, the translucency of morning dew, and the water formed from condensed moonlight.

The sword is drawn.

That sword strike was so beautiful it seemed otherworldly.

When the sword light first appeared, it was like the first ray of dawn piercing the night sky, both cool and gentle. As the sword light intensified, it was like moonlight pouring down, enveloping the area within several feet in a hazy silvery-white light.

Gu Guanqi's sword light spread through the night, like a bright moon falling to earth.

The light was cool and gentle, yet it carried an indescribable sharpness.

Wherever the sword energy passed, the air seemed to transform into water, stirred by the sword light, creating visible ripples. Those ripples spread in all directions, dispersing, peeling away, and dissolving the Vermilion Bird's enchanting aura layer by layer.

The sword flashed, but vanished in an instant.

The sky full of silvery white light, at its most dazzling moment, suddenly subsided, and all the brilliance, all the sword energy, and all the killing intent vanished.

Eventually, things settle into a routine.

The ecstasy has dissipated.

The celestial being descended from the heavens, but did not dissipate.

A sword was thrust into the palm of the Vermilion Bird.

A semi-transparent wall of true energy suddenly appeared in Zhuque's palm. The wall of true energy was solid, with flowing light rotating on its surface. However, Gu Guanqi's sword easily broke through it, instantly piercing through Zhuque's palm. Then it continued to pierce into Zhuque's chest.

Zhuque staggered, spitting out a mouthful of blood. He gripped the sword blade with his other hand and said in a deep voice, "So this is the Celestial Immortal? Impressive, truly impressive!"

Gu Guanqi stared into Zhuque's eyes and said in a deep voice, "It's a pity you're not the real Zhuque either. I've experienced Zhuque's Soul-Sealing True Qi; it's much purer than yours!"

"But I'm not much weaker than him!"

Zhuque's pupils contracted, and he took a step back. His pierced palm gripped the Autumn Water Sword tightly, while his other hand released, transforming into a palm strike. The palm wind was terrifying, and seven sinister and unpredictable true energies surged from his palm, like seven invisible venomous snakes, coiling towards Gu Guanqi.

Gu Guanqi neither dodged nor avoided, but met the attack with his left palm.

Thousand-Hand Buddha Palm.

The palm shadows were numerous, one after another, one palm becoming two, two palms becoming four, four palms becoming eight... The palm shadows covered the sky and collided head-on with the Vermilion Bird's palm force.

"Bang bang bang bang——"

A series of muffled thuds exploded like popping beans as palm shadows and palm forces collided in the air, creating visible ripples of energy.

The seven streams of soul-stirring true energy, like a bone-deep infection, quietly wrapped around Gu Guanqi's arm following the impact of the palm strikes, spreading upwards along his meridians. The true energy was subtle and unpredictable, like silk threads, penetrating every crevice, directly attacking his mind and spirit.

The two engaged in a battle of internal energy.

Gu Guanqi remained calm and composed, fully activating his Innate Skill. The true energy in his dantian surged like the tide, wave after wave, flowing out continuously with his palm force to directly confront the true energy of the Vermilion Bird.

Zhuque spat out another mouthful of blood, and blood spurted from his chest. But in that instant, he seemed to have no regard for his life, and he used all his strength to release all his true energy to entangle Gu Guanqi.

And at that very moment,

A figure suddenly rushed out from the side.

The heavy sword pierced the air, carrying a sharp gust of wind, and slashed straight at Gu Guanqi's back.

It's Ding Yue.

His attack was sudden and swift, like lightning, carrying a scorching, fiery aura as it aimed directly at Gu Guanqi's back.

Gu Guanqi's pupils suddenly contracted.

This move was indeed beyond his expectations.

At this moment, Ding Yue was still suffering from severe poisoning, but his sword strike was incredibly powerful.

His movements were incredibly fast; the sound of his heavy sword cutting through the air was sharp and piercing, and a dark red luster faintly emanated from the blade.

This sword strike had been brewing for a long time, and the timing was perfect—just when Gu Guanqi was locked in a fierce battle with the Vermilion Bird's true energy and had no time to spare.

The sword thrust forward with the force of thunder.

A violent sword aura descended!

however,

Just as Gu Guanqi was about to discard his sword and switch to palm strikes to meet Ding Yue,

Ding Yue, who was rushing over at high speed, suddenly froze.

"puff--"

A mouthful of black blood spurted from his mouth, drawing a crimson arc in the moonlight.

His face turned from red to white, then from white to green in an instant. It was as if his spine had been removed. The heavy sword flew out of his hand, tumbled twice in the air, and landed on the ground with a clatter.

He fell forward, crashing heavily to the ground, kicking up a cloud of dust. His eyes widened in shock as he looked at An Yi, who was locked in fierce combat on the other side. Blood trickled from his mouth as he stammered, "It's you..."

At this moment, Zhuque's expression changed drastically.

He was already at the point where he had to fight tooth and nail for a chance, and Ding Yue's move was his last chance to turn the tide.

But at that moment, Ding Yue suddenly collapsed to the ground, plunging him into despair.

Opportunities are fleeting.

Taking advantage of the momentum, Gu Guanqi simultaneously activated his three internal skills: Innate Skill, Purple Cloud Divine Skill, and Embracing Yuan Strength. The true qi in his dantian surged out like a river bursting its banks, bursting forth with the force of his palm.

Zhuque felt an overwhelming force surging from the opponent's palm. The force was so strong that it shattered his long-accumulated Soul-Stealing True Qi.

He immediately flew backward, trying to use the momentum to create distance.

Gu Guanqi immediately raised his left hand.

A white palm strike was unleashed, its force tracing a strange arc in the air before curving straight toward the Vermilion Bird's back.

The palm strike came without warning. The Vermilion Bird, suspended in mid-air with nowhere to gain leverage, could only take the blow head-on.

"boom--"

With a muffled thud, Zhuque took a solid blow to the back. He groaned, spitting out a mouthful of blood that dispersed into a mist in the moonlight. He lost his balance and staggered forward a few steps.

With a light tap of his foot, Gu Guanqi shot forward like an arrow.

The Autumn Water Sword was drawn.

A celestial being descends from the heavens.

A flash of sword light appeared, like a silver lightning bolt slicing through the sky. The sword light was pure and otherworldly, without a trace of worldly dust. The clear light of heaven and earth was contained within a single sword strike, ethereal and otherworldly, with a lofty and profound artistic conception.

This sword strike was swift, beautiful, and deadly.

The sword rapidly magnified in Zhuque's pupils.

He tried to dodge, but he was still staggering and unsteady, so he couldn't evade in time. He tried to block, but his palms had just been knocked away and hadn't had time to retract.

He could only watch helplessly as the sword came hurtling towards him.

"puff--"

The sword tip pierced his chest once again.

The Autumn Water Sword pierced through Zhuque's chest and emerged from his body. Fresh blood gushed from the wound, flowing down the blade and dripping onto the bluestone slab, spreading a small patch of crimson.

Suzaku's body stiffened abruptly.

He lowered his head, looking at the long sword that had pierced through his chest, at the blood flowing down the blade, his eyes filled with resentment.

Gu Guanqi twisted his wrist, the sword spun half a circle around Zhuque's chest, and then suddenly pulled it out.

Blood splattered.

Zhuque's body went limp, and he collapsed to his knees. He clutched the wound in his chest, blood gushing from between his fingers, staining his robes crimson. His face was ashen, devoid of life.