Cao Yun had decided to go to the Wubei Sect on foot. The horse or the carriage that Dun Mofan had proposed were both slower than he was and needed more rest. Moreover, many of the terrains he was going to cross were not practicable for any horse. A demonic beast would have been useful, especially a flying one, but beast tamers were extremely rare and few.
Anyway, Cao Yun was planning to use this trip to temper himself some more. After his dual cultivation with Feng Yingyue and his True Success in cultivating Yi the Earth Intent, he could feel his Eight Vessels brimming with Qi. He was almost ready to break through to 5th-grade Mortal.
With his strong intent, no blockage in his Vessels would be a problem and he could easily move his Qi through them. When finally the Qi would spill out of them, his Qi would begin to fill his Meridians. Then, he could finally advance to 5th-grade Mortal.
The Vessels were the large arteries of the body and played a major role in connecting the Three Dantian together. They also controlled the flow of Qi through the other Meridians, similar to small arteries. The Vessels were both controlling the flow of Qi through the Meridians and playing the role of reservoirs for them. The Meridians were linked to the Vessels, to the organs and also to the exterior of the body through 361 vital points. Once the Eight Extraordinary Vessels were full of Qi and devoid of any blockage, the Meridians would begin to fill up with the excess of Qi.
Cao Yun was not in a rush to break through and decided to let the Qi naturally fill up his Vessels. Only when they naturally spilled into the Meridians would he begin to circulate the Qi through them to resolve all the possible blockages.
-
It was the third day of his travel and Cao Yun just reached a small pass between the foot of the mountains and a large river. He had decided to just follow the mountains up to the north. This mountain range was known as the Nine Peaks, because it had nine prominent peaks. It was the same mountain range that he had crossed over from Baziyun City to Yinmen City with Feng Yingyue. To the south, the Nine Peaks gradually died down into a desert and to the north, they split to the east and the west, forming the natural frontier of the Hongchen Kingdom. The Wubei Sect was established upon one of the nine peaks to the north-east, Heidai Peak, the Black Turtle.
It was pretty obvious that this pass was dangerous. It could only accommodate three, maybe four men, walking alongside each other. Cao Yun was hesitant to travel through here but trying to get around the river would take way too long.
He circulated Yi the Earth Intent and focused all his senses to detect anything that would be abnormal. Either in the mountains, in the river, even on the ground before him. Atop the mountain were some trees which were moving with the wind. He also saw some traces on the ground that someone had tried to hide.
He took out his sword 'Star-Devouring Dragon' and walked slowly on the path. He was pretty sure that most brigands would not try to attack someone whose weapons were ready. Usually, they preferred to scare everyone without fighting and take some easy money. And Cao Yun was alone without much on him, a brigand would not risk a fight for a booty he could not see beforehand.
Cao Yun was right to be careful. But he was wrong about brigands. There were people in the trees, five people to be precise. Huang Longwei, Gu Ouyang and three 5th-grade Mortals. They were all waiting for Huang Longwei to give the signal. He was hesitant. Cao Yun had clearly sensed that something was amiss. Their element of surprise was gone. Huang Longwei was watching him draw near the ambush point and he was pondering whether it was worth it or not.
At first, he thought that Cao Yun would not be armed, as he wasn't when he came back from the mountains. According to what Master Hua had said, he had a strong cultivation, ready to breakthrough to 5th-grade Mortal. His three friends were probably not his match individually. He also could see from Cao Yun's posture that he really knew how to handle a sword. In the end, they would probably still win thanks to their number, but at what cost was the true question. This attempt on Cao Yun's life was really just to appease his anger and humiliation. Was it really worth it?
Still hesitant, Huang Longwei stared at Gu Ouyang's severed fingers. He could win and lose an arm, a leg, an eye, or anything. Huang Longwei was not a coward but he would not just risk his life for no benefit at all.
Gu Ouyang saw him very hesitant as Cao Yun was almost on the point of the ambush, the perfect position to attack him from front and back. The young man saw that Huang Longwei was going to fall back. However, he could not accept not to kill this Cao Yun. Before Huang Longwei could make his final decision, Gu Ouyang yelled out the signal!
The other three thinking it was Huang Longwei jumped from the tree right behind Cao Yun. And Gu Ouyang followed suit, jumping in front of him. Only one of them stayed in the tree with a bow.
Seeing this, Huang Longwei got mad. He had no choice now, he could not abandon his friends during the attack. After jumping to the side of Gu Ouyang, he sent him an angry stare and took out his weapon, a saber. The two men behind Cao Yun also took out their weapons. They both had long pikes.
An arrow whistled in the air. Cao Yun cut it in half before it could hit him. He did not hesitate at all and ran toward the men in his back. The two men with the long pikes were supposed to force him to confront Huang Longwei and Gu Ouyang who were stronger. But Cao Yun did not want to let them control the flow of the battle.
It had been a long time since he had a sword in hands. As the son of the Cao family, he had of course studied all the classical weapons. And the Cao family had a secret martial art invented by his great-grandfather, the patriarch Cao Beiwen. This art, 'Three Storms', was meant to be used with a sword, the weapon that was considered as the most noble by many martial artists.
As the name would suggest, 'Three Storms' had three variations. Cao Yun had decided not to use this secret art in public because someone could recognize its origin. But either these five men would die, or he would. Either way, there would be no witness. The secret art was contained within a poem: 'The Wind rises in the East. The Thunder rumbles in the West. The Ice hails in the South. The Three Storms unite in the North. All is gone in the world.'
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Seeing Cao Yun rush toward the back, Gu Ouyang ran after him. "Lay down your life, demon!"
'The Wind rises in the East.' As the long pikes tried to stab him, Cao Yun moved his sword with finesse and blocked all the attacks. He was moving like the wind and two more slashes cut the long pikes in half. This sword was really as incredible as Dun Mofan had advertised. The shafts of these pikes were made of metal and yet, they were cut as if they were nothing, with little effort from Cao Yun.
The two men were afraid and let go of their pikes to take out their swords. Several arrows targeted Cao Yun but he was moving way too fast. And as soon as he engaged the two men, the archer could not shoot anymore without endangering his comrades.
The two men were 5th-grade Mortals, almost the same level as Cao Yun. They had almost the same strength and speed. The only difference was their talent. Cao Yun did not even use his second variation. With supple stabs he pierced both their hearts. Even Cao Yun was amazed by this weapon, he had exerted almost all of his strength in each stab and the sword pierced through the armor of the two guys without any problem.
Huang Longwei was watching in horror. He was right, they should have canceled the attack. Nonetheless, it was too late now. He had to see this through to the end. If Cao Yun stayed alive and testified to the City Lord, their family would be in danger. Worse, with his talent, he had real chances to enter the Wubei Sect and soar through its ranks. Then, he would not even need the City Lord to execute them.
Huang Longwei was a 6th-grade Mortal. Contrary to Gu Ouyang, he had earned his cultivation through work and actual battles. The Qi flowed in his Meridians, strengthening his body. Pushing with all his strength through his legs, he ran way faster than Gu Ouyang. He was upon Cao Yun almost at the same time. As he launched his attack, he yelled at Gu Ouyang. "Do not play with him! Kill him!"
And as his blade descended on Cao Yun's head, he yelled some more. "Keep shooting!"
The archer obeyed and kept shooting arrows to hinder Cao Yun. He had to avoid the arrows while fending off Huang Longwei and Gu Ouyang. Huang Longwei's sword was of great quality and it did not get cut by 'Star-Devouring Dragon'. But to his horror, he could see that the blade was chipped everywhere it collided with Cao Yun's sword.
Gu Ouyang was using very crude moves, mainly trying to stab, pierce or slash using his weapons. Unlike Huang Longwei's saber, 'Star-Devouring Dragon' cut the blades of his claw bracers one after the other. As the blades were cut apart from his bracers, Gu Ouyang had the illusion that his fingers were cut off again and became absolutely crazy. His attacks became frantic and he did not care about his surroundings.
An arrow pierced his shoulder and, using the distraction, Cao Yun cut off his head in one clean swing.
Dun Mofan had been right. He should not have spared his life back then. He should never feel pity for someone who tried to kill him or someone he cared about.
Huang Longwei was at a disadvantage now. His cultivation was higher than Cao Yun but it only gave him a bit more speed and strength. Between the minor grades of the Mortal realm, the difference was not that big. The higher the realm, the bigger the disparity between each grade was. Right now, all the benefits of his cultivation could be balanced out by skill and weaponry. Cao Yun's weapon was obviously better. And, although Huang Longwei hated to admit it, his skill with the sword was better as well. Even his martial art was intrinsically better.
The arrows had stopped and Cao Yun did not want the last guy to flee. He used the second variation of his secret art. 'The Thunder rumbles in the West.' With a sudden change of his moves, Huang Longwei lost the rhythm of the battle. His saber was thrown from his hand. As the sword approached his head, he tried to plead.
"Wait, wait..."
But Cao Yun's sword already stabbed him through the neck. He fell on the ground and died in a matter of seconds.
With Yi the Earth Intent, Cao Yun's senses were sharp enough to make out the shape of the archer running through the trees. He took one of the long pikes' extremities and threw it toward his target. He had had Feng Yingyue teach him this move. As a martial art fan, he had really liked her 'Bladeless Eternity'. As it happened, he was missing a technique to strike at a distance. Now, he had one. He only learned one move from her martial art, a throwing move, as he did not want to take too many things from her.
After Cao Yun made sure that everyone was dead, he ran like hell. A boy like Huang Longwei was probably protected by powerful bodyguards. Apparently he had come alone, but they could be searching for him right now.
-
The day before, Huang Cixi had heard about her brother disappearing from the Huang mansion. She called for her own bodyguard.
"Find my brother!"
"But, Young mistress..."
"Do not doubt me. What do you think could happen to me while Dun Mofan is still in town? Find my brother! And no matter what he's doing, stop him and bring him back. I fear he went to kill the little boy, so go north. If he were to kill him, who knows what the City Lord would do to us. What an idiot!"
As she said that, a sudden thought crossed her mind. What if the 'little boy' killed her brother? What if the 'little boy' had already killed another of her brothers?
Huang Cixi could not leave as she was attending to her weakened father. He was barely conscious now, and mumbled incoherent thoughts about his wife and his youngest son as if they were still alive.
-
Four days later, an envoy interrupted Huang Cixi.
"Young mistress, I just came back from the mountains. I..."
"What?! What did you find?" In her heart, Huang Cixi knew but she refused to admit it until she saw it with her very own eyes.
Two men carried a coffin inside the chamber. Huang Lixin was lying, dead.
"Someone buried him in the mountains. There was a small altar so we were able to dig him up."
Huang Cixi stopped breathing for a moment and her father lifted his head.
He saw his youngest son and ran to him. He took him in his arm and yelled like a dying animal.
"My son! My son!"
Another person arrived just at this moment.
"Patriarch, Young Mistress."
It was Huang Cixi's personal bodyguard, the one she had sent after her brother, coming back without her brother. She knew that her worst fears had become reality.
"Young Master Huang Longwei is dead."
Another coffin was brought inside the chamber. Huang Mingze lifted his head again and watched the corpse of his older son. Right then, his heart stopped beating and he fell down on the floor.
Huang Cixi rushed to him but he was already dead.
"Father! Father!" She cried and screamed for a very long time as every servant around her was silent.
Her face covered in tears and distorted by hatred, she only uttered two words with a guttural voice. "Chen Guo!"