Yang Wen and Yang Wu were struck with horror, and they immediately drew their sabers to charge forward. But suddenly, both felt a chill sweep across their necks. An icy, hard hand had clamped down on each of their throats, and it felt as if all they could sense was bone. “No rush... it’ll be your turn soon enough,” the gaunt young man’s raspy, bone-dry voice echoed chillingly. Yang Wen and Yang Wu were instantly paralyzed. Their mouths were agape, and their eyes were bulging, yet not a single sound could escape their throats. Boss Yang rolled sharply to the side and managed to shove Shen Liang off of him with sheer brute force. But his own chest bore four bloody holes, from which blood was pouring uncontrollably. A wave of dread surged within Boss Yang. He had been wearing a soft inner armor, yet even so, this frail scholar, under the influence of some dark curse, had nearly ripped his heart out. Boss Yang quickly pulled a wine pouch from his belt, crushed it in his hand, and flung its contents. Again, he spilled black dog’s blood, a potent substance for warding off evil. Shen Liang twisted to the side and bent in an inhuman, contorted motion no normal person could perform to dodge the splash of blood. Then he lunged to kill! Boss Yang drew a yellow talisman from his robes and slapped it forward. White smoke burst from Shen Liang’s forehead. He screamed in agony while staggering backward several steps and wailing miserably. A fierce light surged in Boss Yang’s chest. Without hesitation, he swung his saber straight at Miss Wen! But her body suddenly vanished, like a ghost fading into the shadows. A cold wind whipped past Boss Yang’s back, and his spine went numb with chill. He spun around and slashed behind him with all his strength! But the saber met nothing. Miss Wen’s movements were beyond unnatural; she was so fast that the naked eye couldn’t even begin to track her. She then suddenly extended a single finger and jabbed straight at Boss Yang’s heart! Her nail lengthened into a saber, and it became bright crimson like fresh blood. A blast of icy, malevolent qi flooded into Boss Yang’s body, and he couldn’t move at all. He was forced to watch helplessly as Miss Wen’s finger drove toward him. The sensation was sheer torment. Ordinary folk had no way to resist such evil forces. Suddenly, the wall behind them burst apart, revealing a man-sized palm-print of shattered stone. A vast, domineering power swept over Miss Wen in an instant. Her face changed; she tried to dart back, but the incoming palm carried not only overwhelming qi and blood, it was lightning-fast! Bang! Read full story at novel•fire.net Just moments ago shrouded in eerie, ghostly qi, Miss Wen was instantly sent flying by that palm strike. “Impudence!” a frosty shout as loud as lightning exploded beside the three men. Before the echo died, a figure streaked through the gap in the wall. Using his hand like a saber, the newcomer slashed at the gaunt youth, as though to cut him clean in two. Feeling that searing, savage blood and qi, the skeletal youth was struck with dread. He managed only half a step back before the hand-knife smashed into his shoulder. The youth’s frame had always been little more than skin and bone, like a living skeleton. With that single blow his shoulder and arm were shattered, and gleaming white bone stabbed grotesquely through the flesh. A look of intense pain twisted across the gaunt young man’s face. Only now did everyone in the ruined temple clearly see who had arrived. It was a young Daoist. His features were sharply defined, his eyes exceptionally bright, and there was a faint, cold smile on his lips. “All you heretical fiends are gathered in one place, what a coincidence.” “It’s you!?” The gaunt youth clutched his shattered arm, his eyes filled with hatred. Li Yanchu glanced at him. “That infant spirit, it was yours, wasn’t it? I killed it.” “What!?” The gaunt youth’s eyes widened in shock, a deep venomous fury spreading across his face. Yet he didn’t dare make any reckless moves. That one strike from the Daoist had already destroyed his arm. His strength was terrifying beyond belief! All three of them felt the same. They’d been completely overwhelmed by Li Yanchu's presence just now. Just then, Miss Wen’s mind stirred. She quickly animated the corpse of Shen Liang, making it pounce forward in a frenzied assault. But Li Yanchu merely gave it a single glance, and Shen Liang abruptly froze in place. The eerie, demonic expression vanished from his face, and his body dropped to its knees and then slowly collapsed to the ground. With the Five-Lightning Spell, his gaze was vast and majestic. It was not something a lowly animated corpse, controlled by such crude demonic arts, could even comprehend, let alone resist! Just then, Boss Yang’s eyes widened in disbelief! That scholar who had caused him so much trouble was taken down by nothing but a glance from this Daoist!? In the next instant, Li Yanchu charged straight toward the gaunt youth! The youth swiftly pulled out a dagger from his belt, carved from some unknown bone and thrust it fiercely toward Li Yanchu’s eye! Li Yanchu used an exceptionally refined technique to effortlessly intercept the strike, lightly diverting the gaunt youth’s arm. Bang! His elbow smashed into the youth’s chest. The gaunt youth’s body was instantly shattered by the tyrannical Six Yang Force and torn apart on the spot. The blow caused Miss Wen and the old woman in the burial shroud to pale in shock once more. He’s unstoppable. That thought instinctively surged through their minds. The old woman moved with incredible speed, vanishing in an instant as if she had disappeared into thin air. “Stay!” Li Yanchu shouted, slamming his palm forward. Divine Astral Hands! Void-Splitting Palm! A surge of massive, righteous force erupted from his palm. It was pure and unyielding yang. A figure tumbled from the void above and crashed heavily to the ground. It was the cat-faced old woman in the burial shroud. At that moment, her body had been completely pulverized by a devastating force, reduced to a puddle of mangled flesh. All signs of life were extinguished. Miss Wen was utterly terrified, and her courage shattered. Then, she turned and fled for her life. How could this young Daoist from Wei City be so strong!? At the desolate mountain on this rainy night, a beautiful woman in soaked, clinging robes was now running in blind panic. She was a member of the Bare Body Sect. Over the years, she had secretly slain quite a few monks and Daoists, and she was well-versed in the methods of both Buddhist and Daoist sects. And yet, Li Yanchu’s display tonight had shaken her to the core! This kind of fierce and overbearing fighting style was nothing like the methods of a Daoist, it was more like that of a rough-and-tumble wanderer of the jianghu! “Since when could a mere martial man be this powerful?!” Miss Wen's heart was in chaos, and emotions surged like a storm-tossed sea. No wonder so many members of the Bare Body Sect had perished here! Her figure, like a wisp of smoke, darted swiftly through the rainy night, moving at incredible speed. In the blink of an eye, she had swept dozens of zhang away, vanishing into the vast and desolate mountains. Seeing that no one was chasing after her, Miss Wen felt a slight sense of relief. Her name was Wen Jin. She was the daughter of a noble family from Jiangnan. Because she eloped with someone, she was caught by her clan and sentenced to be drowned in a pig cage. She had a brutal death by drowning. In some places, clan punishment was exceedingly harsh and wouldn’t involve the authorities at all. Her father, heartbroken and unwilling to see his daughter die, tried to shield her, claiming that she had been abducted by the scholar. But the very man who had once sworn eternal love to her insisted again and again that Wen Jin had seduced him, all in the hope that he’d be spared. Wen Jin had run away with him fully prepared to die together if caught, and she had no regrets. Even when her father tried to protect her, she had no intention of surviving alone. But that scholar, desperate to save himself, was the first to betray her and accused Wen Jin of seducing him.