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

Gu Guanqi stopped, released Xue Fuling's hand, and held the Autumn Water Sword horizontally in front of him, with the tip pointing diagonally at the ground.

Wang Changfeng also stopped, slowly raised his right hand, and placed it on the hilt of the knife at his waist.

Eyes facing each other.

Wang Changfeng slowly began to speak: "Let me introduce myself. I am Wang Changfeng, the leader of the Golden Saber Sect."

"I guessed it," Gu Guanqi said. "In Qingyang County, there are only two swordsmen with such imposing presence: one is Constable Shen Qingqiu, and the other is Golden Saber King Changfeng."

"What a pity."

Wang Changfeng sighed, slowly drawing the long sword from his waist three inches with his right hand, and said, "You are so young yet possess such skill; you should have had a bright future ahead of you. But alas, you have gone astray, and I have no choice but to harden my heart and rid the martial world of this scourge!"

Gu Guanqi threw the torch on the ground and said, "Stop saying such disgusting things. Let's get to work. Once we're done, we can deal with the aftermath!"

At this moment, the martial arts practitioners who had been hiding in the main hall rushed out, but they all tacitly chose to avoid Gu Guanqi and not pass by him, for fear that Gu Guanqi might casually strike them with his sword.

"Sect Leader Wang, kill this fiend!"

"Sect Leader Wang, please don't be careless. Although this boy is despicable, his martial arts skills are remarkable!"

"..."

This book is first published on 111k.com, providing you with a reading experience without errors or disordered chapters.

now,

All the martial arts practitioners stepped aside, some even carrying weapons, ready to help at any time.

All eyes were on Wang Changfeng and Gu Guanqi.

One is a newly emerging young master, and today's massacre has proven that he absolutely deserves the name of the Twelfth Floor.

As for Wang Changfeng, there are few people in the martial arts world of Qingyang County who do not know the name of the Golden Saber.

The newly promoted 12th floor versus the veteran 11th floor.

Such a showdown is truly exhilarating.

……

The atmosphere was very tense.

Wang Changfeng stared intently at Gu Guanqi.

Gu Guanqi also stared at Wang Changfeng.

The two were three zhang apart, and the wind passed between them, swirling up a few fallen leaves.

Wang Changfeng slightly raised his right foot and then gently stomped it.

"boom--"

A dull thud came from underground, as if something was moving underground.

Gu Guanqi clearly felt a powerful surge of true energy emanating from the swordsman's feet, flowing straight towards him along the soil beneath the bluestone slab.

Wherever the true energy passed, the floor tiles trembled slightly, emitting a fine "crackling" sound.

Gu Guanqi did not back down.

He also lifted his right foot, and his foot landed on the ground.

"boom--"

A surge of true energy shot into the ground from beneath his feet, colliding head-on with the opponent's true energy.

The two streams of true energy collided.

In that instant, it was as if an invisible giant hand had lifted the ground from below, and seven or eight bluestone slabs shattered simultaneously, sending fragments flying and dust billowing everywhere. The broken pieces of stone shot out in all directions.

When smoke and dust filled the air,

Wang Changfeng took a step, like a dragonfly skimming the water, and instantly shortened the three-zhang distance to his front.

The Golden Crow Blade rose from below, its movement slow yet heavy as a mountain. The strike was devoid of any fancy variations, a simple upward slash, yet where the blade passed, the air was torn apart, creating a visible ripple. Gravel on the ground was whipped up by the blade's force, flying in all directions.

Gu Guanqi thrust out his Autumn Water Sword diagonally, the tip of the sword not meeting the blade.

Dugu Nine Swords, Breaking Blade Style.

The moment the sword tip touched the blade, Gu Guanqi slightly twisted his wrist, and the sword slid in along with the force of the blade, trying to dissipate the power of the strike.

The tip of the sword touched the blade.

"bite--"

A very light and delicate crisp sound, like a needle tip hitting porcelain. This single sword strike completely shut down several variations in Wang Changfeng's swordsmanship.

His sword strike faltered, forcing him to sheathe his blade and change his attack.

Gu Guanqi gave him no chance. He spun around quickly, his body spinning like a top, dodging the blade. With a flick of his longsword, he slashed down at Wang Changfeng's shoulder.

With a "plop" sound,

Blood splattered on Wang Changfeng's shoulder.

He quickly retreated, putting distance between himself and Gu Guanqi.

At this moment, all the martial arts practitioners were shocked. No one expected that in just one round, Golden Saber King Changfeng would be injured by Gu Guanqi.

At this moment, Wang Changfeng quickly retreated more than ten feet to steady himself. Then, he looked at the injury on his shoulder and said, "Your swordsmanship is so superb that I have never seen anything like it in my life. There is no point in me exchanging blows with you."

He let out a long breath and said, "I only have one chance!"

Let's end it here, Gu Guanqi!

With a loud shout

Wang Changfeng's sword intent suddenly surged.

The Golden Crow Blade spun rapidly in his hand, its golden light growing ever brighter, as if it were trying to absorb the afternoon sunlight into the blade. His robes billowed without wind, and cracks spread out like a spiderweb from the bluestone slab beneath his feet.

Gu Guanqi sensed a powerful aura.

At this moment, Wang Changfeng's knife was no longer just a weapon, but an extension of a state of mind.

He seemed to be in an independent world; he could neither hear nor see anything except the knife and the enemy.

At that moment, he seemed to become one with the knife, with no distinction between them.

He took a step forward.

The Golden Crow Blade fell.

That single strike abandoned all techniques and skills; it focused solely on one state of mind: speed.

This strike was so fast that Gu Guanqi's eyes couldn't even catch the trajectory of the blade.

The glint of the sword was like the setting sun.

A broken, desolate arc of light.

It is the ultimate condensation of Wang Changfeng's decades of swordsmanship.

In Gu Guanqi's pupils, the golden knife grew larger and closer, as if it were about to cleave the heavens and the earth in two.

"That was a good strike!"

Gu Guanqi sincerely admired it.

But he was not afraid; on the contrary, he was filled with fighting spirit.

Only this one cut,

Only such a blade could allow him to unleash the pinnacle of the Dugu Nine Swords, and only such a blade could bring the Dugu Nine Swords to their full potential.

but,

At that critical moment,

"Whoosh—"

A sharp whooshing sound came from the side, so fast it was almost beyond the limits of hearing.

It was an arrow, completely black, without the slightest reflection, carrying a chilling killing intent that sent shivers down one's spine, heading straight for Gu Guanqi's neck.

This arrow was exactly the same as the one that killed Ma Meifeng in Qingyang City—the same archer, the same archery skills, the same ruthlessness and precision, and it was the same person.

The masked archer

It appeared on the roof of the side hall, four zhang away.

Although Gu Guanqi's attention was entirely focused on Wang Changfeng's knife, she still keenly noticed the fatal arrow.

The max-level Finger Flicking Divine Skill seemed to be an unconscious behavior etched into his genes. The moment he heard the sound of air being torn apart, he slightly bent his finger and instantly used the Finger Flicking Divine Skill, sending out a burst of internal force.

The best way to use the Finger Flicking Divine Skill is to infuse internal energy into small objects such as pebbles, gold needles, jade beads, and chess pieces, and then flick them out at high speed.

However, one can also concentrate internal energy at the fingertips and directly unleash refined finger force, the power of which should not be underestimated. It can strike acupoints from a distance and shatter stones and penetrate walls.

In an instant,

The arrow pierced the air and was already within three feet.

In that split second—

He flicked his finger and shot out a divine power.

"Cheng"

A clang of metal clashing rang out.

The arrow veered off course and struck the ground.

In that instant, the archer on the rooftop was shocked, his pupils wide with disbelief.

At this moment, Wang Changfeng couldn't care less about anything else or have time to think; he was completely immersed in that final strike.

In the blink of an eye, they were in front of Gu Guanqi.

Gu Guanqi channeled his inner energy to its limit, and the Autumn Water Sword met the setting sun.

Dugu Nine Swords, Breaking Blade Style.

Sword intent has no fixed form; it follows the heart.

Like flowing clouds passing over peaks, or a gentle breeze brushing a sword, it is not bound by form or style.

He could shatter all sword techniques under heaven; his sword shadows danced in the air, leaving no trace and no edge to block.

Even amidst a thousand attacks, a single, unrestrained sword intent simplifies the complex and returns to one's true self.

The instant the sword tip touched the blade—

There was no deafening clang of metal clashing, no sparks flying from the impact.

There was only a very light and delicate "ding," like a dewdrop falling from the tip of a leaf into a deep pool.

The tip of the Autumn Water Sword precisely struck the apex of that flash of light.

that moment,

In the sunlight, the golden light trembled slightly.

Then, the flash of the blade disappeared.

"Excellent swordsmanship."

Wang Changfeng felt a surge of emotion.

He felt that the sword intent he had accumulated over thirty years was like an air sac punctured by a needle under this sword strike, and all the power poured out in that instant, dissipating in all directions.

"cut!"

He let out a low growl, wanting to bring down the blade, but found that the momentum of the blade had already dissipated, and there was no way to reverse it.

Gu Guanqi's sword flowed upstream along the dissipating blade intent, its light as smooth as water, silently piercing through Wang Changfeng's defenses—

The tip of the sword pierced his right chest.

Wang Changfeng's body stiffened.

The Golden Crow Blade slipped from his hand and crashed onto the bluestone slab with a clang. The golden blade bounced twice on the ground before lying quietly on the slab.

He looked down at the sword in his chest, then looked up at Gu Guanqi, opened his mouth as if to say something, but only made a muffled sound.

Then, his knees buckled and he knelt down.

Blood gushed from the wound in his chest, spreading a large dark red stain on the bluestone slab. His gaze gradually became unfocused, his body swayed, and he fell forward, lifeless.

Just then—

"Whoosh—"

Another sharp whistling sound broke the air.

The second arrow arrived, and the internal force it carried seemed to leave a visible white trail in the air, heading straight for Gu Guanqi's heart.

In Gu Guanqi's pupils, the arrow rapidly magnified.

He did not back down.

With a flick of his wrist, the Autumn Water Sword flashed like a bolt of lightning, precisely aimed at the side of the arrowhead.

"when--"

With a crisp sound, the arrow was struck by the sword tip, flew out from the side, and embedded itself in the stone slab.

As Gu Guanqi flipped sideways, he picked up a small stone from the ground with his left hand. The stone was about the size of a thumb and had sharp edges.

He looked up, his gaze fixed on the direction from which the arrow had come.

On the roof of the side hall, a dark figure stood behind the ridge, his longbow drawn taut again, a third arrow nocked.

The archer, dressed in black and masked, had a slender figure, and his exposed eyes were as cold as a hawk's, staring intently at Gu Guanqi.

The arrow on the bowstring is poised to be released.

Gu Guanqi bowed his fingers,

The Finger Flicking Divine Power.

The pebble flicked from his fingertip silently, without making a sound.

The archer's pupils contracted slightly when he saw Gu Guanqi raise his hand.

He prepared to loosen the string.

But that pebble was too fast.

They had reached the archer.

The archer's pupils suddenly contracted; he tried to dodge, but it was too late.

The pebble hit him squarely on the forehead.

"boom--"

A dull thud, like a stone hitting wet mud.

The archer's head snapped back, as if struck by an invisible giant hammer. His body was thrown high off the roof, tracing a parabola in the air before plummeting straight down.

"boom--"

It hit the stone slab, sending dust flying.

The archer lay motionless on the ground, blood gushing from a hole in his forehead, his longbow lying beside him.

……

"Sect Leader Wang!"

"How is this possible... Sect Leader Wang has been killed!"

"How can that demon be so powerful!"

"..."

now,

The group of martial arts practitioners were thrown into a panic.

Gu Guanqi suddenly turned around and, through the chaotic crowd, saw Lin Qi and Zhou Mingyuan quietly retreating behind the crowd, trying to slip away.

Gu Guanqi quickly drew his sword and charged forward, shouting angrily, "Where do you think you're going?"

Lin Qi and Zhou Mingyuan both trembled.

Lin Qi pulled Zhou Mingyuan behind him, drew his single-edged sword, and held it horizontally in front of him, completely shielding Zhou Mingyuan behind him.

"Gu Guanqi, you're ruthless. Now that things have come to this, I have nothing to say. I admit that Zhou Mingyuan and I did this. What can you do about it? I'll fight you to the death!"

Lin Qi suddenly roared, his voice so loud that it could be heard clearly even outside the courtyard wall.

Before the roar had even faded, the single-edged sword in his hand suddenly spun—

A flash of light.

Instead of looking at Gu Guanqi, he turned his head and stabbed Zhou Mingyuan from behind.

Lin Qi's stab was extremely fast and ruthless.

Even when the tip of the knife had touched Zhou Mingyuan's chest, Zhou Mingyuan did not react.

but,

At that moment,

Gu Guanqi flicked his finger, and a pebble landed precisely on Lin Qi's wrist.

With a crisp "crack," the wrist bone shattered.

Lin Qi screamed as his single-edged sword flew out of his hand, tumbling several times in the air before crashing to the ground with a thud.

His right hand hung down at an odd angle, his entire palm limply resting on his wrist. The excruciating pain from the shattered bones caused large beads of sweat to instantly appear on his forehead.

Gu Guanqi gave him no chance to catch his breath, rushed over quickly, and with a few swings of his longsword, severed all of Lin Qi's tendons in his hands and feet.

Lin Qi screamed and collapsed to the ground.

"You are indeed loyal," Gu Guanqi said. "You are loyal to your master. Even at this time, you are still thinking about protecting his reputation."

"snort!"

Lin Qi snorted coldly, gritting his teeth and enduring the excruciating pain without uttering a sound.

Gu Guanqi pointed his longsword at Zhou Mingyuan and said coldly, "Speak, why did you frame me and Fuling?"

now,

The martial arts practitioners all realized the problem when Lin Qi suddenly attacked Zhou Mingyuan, and they all looked over, their emotions fluctuating greatly.

Zhou Mingyuan remained silent.

Xue Fuling then walked over and said, "I have a way to make him talk. Press a pressure point on him and make him stop moving."

Gu Guanqi immediately pressed a few points on Zhou Mingyuan's body, and Zhou Mingyuan was immediately immobilized by having his acupoints sealed.

Xue Fuling walked to Zhou Mingyuan's side, squatted down, and took out a silver needle from her sleeve. The silver needle was as thin as a hair, and gleamed with a cold light in the sunlight.

"You...you...Xue Fuling, what are you doing? You're a doctor, you're a kind person, you can't do things like torture to extract confessions, you..."

"Magistrate Zhou," Xue Fuling said softly, as if speaking to a patient, "I have a set of acupuncture techniques that can make people wish they were dead. Even the most vicious and notorious bandits cannot withstand it. You may have heard of it; it's a unique interrogation technique of the Six Doors, called Thousand Needles and Ten Thousand Holes!"

She gently twisted the silver needles with her fingers and quickly inserted several needles.

"what!"

Zhou Mingyuan began to scream in pain. He tried to reach out and scratch, but Gu Guanqi had acupunctured him and he couldn't move.

That pain was etched into his memory, driving him to hysteria.

Less than ten breaths later, he shouted, "Speak! I'll talk... I'll tell you everything!"

Xue Fuling finished the acupuncture.

Zhou Mingyuan slumped to the ground, as if all his strength had been drained, and looked at the group of martial arts figures and constables. He slowly said, "Yu Yuanqiao's death was a conspiracy between me and Wang Changfeng, the leader of the Golden Saber Sect, to frame Xue Yiling and Gu Guanqi!"

Upon hearing this, all the martial arts practitioners in the training ground were stunned.

Lin Qi roared, "Zhou Mingyuan, shut up! You won't survive if you talk, but if you don't..."

Gu Guanqi silenced Lin Qi by pressing his pressure point and said, "It's not your turn yet, don't be in a hurry!"

Zhou Mingyuan's gaze was unfocused, as if he were talking to himself, or as if he were speaking to everyone: "Actually, the epidemic did not occur naturally; it was artificially created by Wang Changfeng and Yu Yuanqiao."

These words immediately caused an uproar among the crowd.

"What?!"

"How is this possible?"

"Zhou Mingyuan, do you know what you're saying?!"

Zhou Mingyuan swallowed and continued, "The plague is created based on a hidden toxin in the Golden Spirit Grass. So, in fact, the Golden Spirit Grass cannot cure the plague. The reason why it is effective for patients is because the Golden Spirit Grass and the plague are from the same source, which can make the virus hide in the body and not cause symptoms for a short period of time."

He took a deep breath and continued, "Those people who eat the Golden Spirit Grass will initially feel better, but in reality, the virus is still there, and they will become increasingly dependent on the Golden Spirit Grass, requiring them to consume larger and larger amounts."

Liu Wanshan roared, "What is your purpose in doing this?"

Zhou Mingyuan said, "When the epidemic breaks out in full force, when everyone believes that the Golden Spirit Grass can cure the epidemic and starts rushing to buy it, the price of the Golden Spirit Grass will skyrocket."

Golden Spirit Grass is a specialty of Qiandeng County. There is nowhere else in the entire Qingzhou or even the Qian Kingdom where this thing grows. Even if the government wanted to plant it, it would take a long time for it to grow. By the time the government could plant it, they would have already made enough money.

Wang Changfeng, Yu Yuanqiao, and I have all stockpiled a large amount of Golden Spirit Grass. Once the price of Golden Spirit Grass rises, countless merchants will buy it in large quantities at high prices. We will then sell it in large quantities. As the quantity increases, the price will drop, and those merchants will be eager to sell. We will then buy it back at a low price and stockpile it.

At this time, the second wave of the epidemic broke out, and patients had an even greater demand for Jinlingcao (a type of medicinal herb). Jinlingcao became even more expensive, so we sold it at a high price again, and then we left the market because the limit of how well Jinlingcao could conceal toxins had been reached.

The faces of all the martial arts practitioners turned grim.

"What about Physician Xue?" someone shouted. "What's the deal with Physician Xue's pills?"

Zhou Mingyuan gave a bitter laugh: "Xue Fuling, she noticed the epidemic early on and began to develop a solution. Naturally, she is a thorn in our side. However, her prescription has already been handed over to the Six Doors for verification. Even if we kill her, it will be useless."

Therefore, we can only ruin her reputation and make everyone think she's a fraud, so that no one will believe in her anti-epidemic pills, and only then can we make the Golden Spirit Grass scam a reality.

The training ground was deathly silent.

The martial arts practitioners looked at each other, their faces filled with disbelief.

"And what about the sect leader? You said he colluded with you?" a Taoist priest from Qingfeng Temple asked in a trembling voice. "Then why did you still kill him?"

Zhou Mingyuan took a deep breath and said, "Yu Yuanqiao is too ignorant. He takes advantage of being a partner and starts to boss me and Wang Changfeng around. He also condones his junior brother Xuan Chengzi's reckless behavior. He has no bottom line."

"Wang Changfeng and I couldn't stand it anymore, so we plotted to kill Xuan Chengzi to teach him a lesson. We hadn't planned to kill Yu Yuanqiao at the time, but yesterday's plan went wrong. Xue Yiling failed to prove his innocence, and Gu Guanqi killed Nie Qingshan, which disrupted my plan."

We had no choice but to change our original plan and simply kill Yu Yuanqiao. The Yu Yuanqiao you saw today was Wang Changfeng in disguise. The real Yu Yuanqiao has been kept under control in a room in the backyard. We were just waiting for Gu Guanqi and Xue Fuling to arrive so we could kill him and frame them.

After these words were spoken, the training ground fell completely silent.

It was so quiet that you could hear the wind blowing through the courtyard wall and the birds singing in the distant mountains and forests.

All eyes were on Zhou Mingyuan, filled with shock, anger, disbelief, and a deep resentment—they had all been used.

They thought they were acting on behalf of Heaven, seeking justice for the dead, and avenging Yu Yuanqiao.

In reality, they were just a knife in someone else's hand, and even Yu Yuanqiao was a person who deserved to die.

At this moment, many people are confused and do not understand why all this was done and why so many people died.

"Zhou Mingyuan, is what you're saying true?" someone asked, trembling.

Zhou Mingyuan closed his eyes and said weakly, "Who would tell such a lie that would lead to the extermination of nine generations of their family? Besides, I have already made it very clear that we have stockpiled a large amount of Golden Spirit Grass. My Golden Spirit Grass accounts are handled through my old servant's rice shop. Qingfeng Temple and Golden Knife Sect are unaware of this, but with a specific direction, it will be easy to investigate."

No one spoke.

Only the sound of the wind and Zhou Mingyuan's faint breathing remained in the training ground.

Xue Fuling asked, "So, Wang Changfeng is the big boss?"

Zhou Mingyuan shook his head and said, "No, Wang Changfeng works for the big boss. I overheard something from a casual chat with him before. The big boss is supposedly a woman, someone Wang Changfeng admires. For years, Wang Changfeng has been making money for that woman. This epidemic is also because that woman is short of money!"

Xue Fuling and Gu Guanqi exchanged a glance.

Xue Fuling then asked, "Since the epidemic was man-made, does that mean you have a cure?"

This question raised the issue that everyone present was concerned about, and everyone stared at Zhou Mingyuan.

However, Zhou Mingyuan shook his head slightly and said, "Although this epidemic was caused by Wang Changfeng and Yu Yuanqiao, they only have preventive measures like your epidemic prevention pills, but no way to cure it."

Immediately, everyone's expression changed drastically.

Zhou Mingyuan added, "It's possible, they just didn't tell me. You can look for it yourselves."

Everyone had a different expression.

Gu Guanqi released Lin Qi's speech acupoint, and then had Xue Fuling apply acupuncture, repeating the process.

Lin Qi was quite resilient, holding out for twenty more breaths than Zhou Mingyuan, but then he couldn't take it anymore and said in a panic, "I know the same as Zhou Mingyuan, I don't know anything else... I'm just following my master's orders..."

Gu Guanqi asked, "Then, who is the big boss?"

"I don't know, I really don't know..."

"Then what's the point of you living?"

Gu Guanqi slashed Lin Qi's neck with a backhand stroke, and blood spurted out instantly.