The Nine Cauldrons
chapter-44

“Should we attack?” The Blind Swordmaster’s grey and lifeless eyes drooped down .

“Jing Yi is so ruthless!” The Blind Swordmaster suddenly opened his eyes. A fierce glow flickered in his grey-white eyes. “How dare this Jing Yi fool me? He doesn’t owe the Gui Yuan Sect a favor. I am afraid he has no relation with the Gui Yuan Sect at all. I reckon that the Gui Yuan Sect is already working with the Heavenly God Palace…”

“Martial Ancestor, do you mean…?” Gu Yong was a smart guy, so he understood immediately.

Gu Yong couldn’t help but show an expression of anger. “Martial Ancestor, Jing Yi is trying to impede our movements with this trick. He told us not to attack the Gui Yuan Sect… Yet, he is actually trying to protect a pawn of the Heavenly God Palace, the Gui Yuan Sect. In the future, when the Heavenly God Palace attacks Yangzhou, the Gui Yuan Sect will work with them. The Gui Yuan Sect will be the interior forces, while the Heavenly God Palace will be the exterior forces.

“Moreover, the Gui Yuan Sect has been in Yangzhou for over a thousand years. I am afraid that they have deployed secret forces throughout the entire Yangzhou, especially the couple of counties near Jiangning County.

“Once the war starts, the Heavenly God Palace will be able to launch their attack from the north. They will be able to charge all the way to Jiangning County and conquer half of Yangzhou!” Gu Yong couldn’t help but felt fear as he elaborated.

The scene was too daunting.

“Yes, if we conquer the entirety of Yangzhou,” the Blind Swordmaster said, “Then we can copy Hong Tian City’s trick. Divide the elite disciples into many groups. Order them to scatter all over Yangzhou and hide. This way, we will have over a thousand troops. By relying on the advantageous locations, we will be able to trap the men of the Heavenly God Palace in Yangzhou.”

Qing Hu Island wouldn’t be able to win if they relied on their Emptiness Realm Expert.

They could only rely on their advantage, which was their knowledge of Yangzhou’s geography.

“Martial Ancestor, should we attack the Gui Yuan Sect?” A cold gleam flashed in Gu Yong’s eyes.

“Attack,” the Blind Swordmaster said coldly, “And eliminate all of them. This way, we won’t have to worry about the Gui Yuan Sect collaborating with the Heavenly God Palace. Gu Yong, take out the box I asked you to bring.”

Then the Blind Swordmaster instructed the three generals, “You three, leave first. Prepare yourselves. Once I give out the command, you three shall lead your troops and attack the Gui Yuan Sect together.”

“Yes, Supreme Elder.” The three generals left respectfully and headed toward their own troops.

Gu Yong then hastily carried in the big metal box from the side.

“Open it,” the Blind Swordmaster ordered.

“Clang!”

The box was opened. Inside the metal box, there was a set of entirely silver-colored armor, as well as a pair of war boots and a helmet. The items in the box emanated a murderous aura.

“Gu Yong, put them on,” the Blind Swordmaster ordered.

Gu Yong didn’t dare to disobey, so he immediately wore the armor, war boots, and helmet. Instantly, Gu Yong’s entire body was shielded. His hands and face were the only visible body parts.

“This suit of godly armor is Qing Hu Island’s most precious asset. Three thousand years ago, in the Land of the Nine Prefectures, a Profound Emptiness Realm Expert named Qin Nan arduously forged this suit of armor.” The Blind Swordmaster stared at Gu Yong as he said, “In the past, the founder of the Qing Hu Island won it by luck during a fight against many Emptiness Realm Experts. I may fight against Jing Yi today, so stay beside me later. I will protect you.”

“Yes, Martial Ancestor.” Gu Yong had long heard that the sect possessed a godly suit of armor, and he was finally able to wear it today.

“Let’s go. Follow me, we’ll go trample the Gui Yuan Sect.” The Blind Swordmaster gripped Gu Yong’s arm with his left hand and held the thin iron rod with his right hand as he walked out of the tent.

On the wall of Jiangning County City:

Teng Qingshan and Zhuge Yuanhong stood on the city wall and stared anxiously at the army down below. They would only be at ease when the army of the Qing Hu Island retreated.

“Young Supreme, how are Qingyu and the kids? Did you arrange a safe place for them to stay?”

“Yes, I have. I hope to see my son, daughter, and Qingyu again.”

“Young Sovereign, if we can make it through this disaster, should we arrange an engagement between my son and your daughter?”

“Haha, sure. Then it’s a deal.”

Teng Qingshan cast a glance at Zhuge Yun and Teng Qinghu, who stood together nearby, and thought to himself, “Don’t worry. You two will be able to see your wives and kids, as long as nothing wrong happens.”

Then at this very moment—

“Bang!” “Bang!” “Bang!” Drumbeats suddenly rang out. The sounds banged on the hearts of everyone in the Gui Yuan Sect and also smashed on Teng Qingshan’s heart.

“What?”

Teng Qingshan’s facial expression turned grim as he looked down toward the ground. The facial expressions of Zhuge Yuanhong and the others also changed drastically.

The soldiers of Qing Hu Island were originally resting lazily on the ground. However, as soon as they heard the drumbeats, they immediately stood up.

“What happened?” Zhuge Yuanhong turned and looked at Teng Qingshan.

Teng Qingshan was staring fixedly at what was below the city wall. He could see a black-cloaked blind man and a man dressed in a silver armor striding out from a tent in the distance. With the perception of his domain, Teng Qingshan immediately knew that the person who was fully protected by the full suit of armor was Gu Yong!

“Tie Wu, what are you doing?!” Teng Qingshan said hastily with the use of the Sound Transmission Technique.

“What am I doing?” The Blind Swordmaster replied with a sneer, “Jing Yi, Qing Hu Island will obliterate the Gui Yuan Sect today. If you still decide to stop us, I will kill you too.”

The Blind Swordmaster waved his hand!

The general who saw this scene beneath the city wall then roared immediately, “Attack!”

“Attack!” “Attack!” “Attack!” …..

The orderlies of the army immediately shouted. All the soldiers of Qing Hu Island turned and looked toward the army flag at the same time. The flag was raised up high and pointed toward Jiangning County-City!

“Kill!”

“Attack!”

Shouts rang out immediately.

Then almost simultaneously, sounds of clashes rang out beneath the north wall of the Jiangning County-City. The shouts of over ten thousand people sounded like the rumbles of thunder. These rumbles could be heard throughout the entire Jiangning County. As the screams continued, it was as though the entire county was trembling.

“Why?!”

Teng Qingshan looked below the city wall and saw numerous soldiers rushing vigorously toward the city. Qing Hu Island’s army was so great in number that their troops seemed inexhaustible. Immediately, Teng Qingshan’s facial expression turned drastically grim. Even though he was now an Emptiness Realm Expert, Teng Qingshan was alone. How could he stop an army of several ten thousand soldiers?

Qing Hu, the commander of the Black Armored Army, stood near Teng Qingshan. He waved his silver long spear and roared, “Brothers… kill them! We are the Black Armored Soldiers. The most powerful Black Armored Soldiers! Let’s kill as many as we can! Kill! Kill! Kill…” Teng Qinghu’s had a menacing facial expression as he gripped his silver long spear.

“Kill!” “KIll!” “Kill!” …

The greatly numbered Black Armored Army and the numerous city guards roared. They shouted until their necks turned red, then they raised their weapons and prepared to attack.

“Qingyu,” the handsome Zhuge Yun murmured as he gently took out a jade pendant from his bosom. He kissed the jade pendant and said to himself, “Take care of our kids.” Then he placed the jade pendant back into his bosom. With a stern countenance, he grabbed his long spear and stared indifferently at the countless soldiers galloping toward the city wall.

A murderous intent which had never appeared previously now emerged in the depths of his cold eyes…

Teng Qingshan stared at the people he considered his brothers.

Could he watch Qingyu lose her husband and become a widow?

Could he watch Qinghu and Zhuge Yun die?

Could he watch the Teng Clan get eradicated by Qing Hu Island?”

……

Teng Qingshan’s eyes widened as he glared at the black-cloaked blind man who held onto Gu Yong’s arm amidst the advancing army down below.

“Tie Wu!” A voice like that of a thunder god rang out.

“Rumble!”

A figure was seen flying out of the city wall like a cannonball. There was a huge axe in one of his hands. He flew past the cascade of arrows and landed forcefully on the ground below the city walls of Jiangning County-City. The terrifying impact and the Power of the Heavens and the Earth caused the ground to undulate like the waves of the sea.

Many soldiers, who were charging toward the city wall, were torn into pieces by the aggressive force of air. As blood splattered about, a huge hole precisely ten Zhang long appeared on the ground. Dressed in a white cloak, Teng Qingshan stood in the center of the hole with the huge axe in hand. His eyes shone like beams of the radiant sunlight, and no one could look straight at him.

“Tie Wu, if you don’t retreat today, I will slaughter your men!” Teng Qingshan thundered. With an extremely indignant tone, his voice, which sounded like the rumble of thunder, spread far into the distance.

“Jing Yi?”

“Is that Jing Yi?”

The soldiers of the Gui Yuan Sect on the city wall felt elated. However, the army of the Qing Hu Island still continued charging forward. They would never stop until an order was issued.

The Blind Swordmaster stood calmly amidst the numerous soldiers. He stared at Teng Qingshan and declared with an indifferent tone, “Today, the Gui Yuan Sect will be obliterated.”

“Haha…”

Teng Qingshan was so angry that he started laughing hysterically. Suddenly, his eyes turned red, and he shouted loudly, “Aren’t you protecting Gu Yong? Then he will be the first one to die in my hands.”

“Bang!”

Teng Qingshan dashed out like a streak of lightning into Qing Hu Island’s battle formation. His extremely fast speed raised up a terrifyingly forceful gust of wind. The wavy gust of wind hurled a huge number of soldiers into the air, and screams of terror rang out immediately.

“How dare you dash toward me? You are seeking death!” The Blind Swordmaster gripped the thin rod and looked at Teng Qingshan with his grey-white eyes. Everyone knew that the Blind Swordmaster was a blind man with eyes which couldn’t see. However, even so, no one dared to look down on him. Despite not having vision, the Blind Swordmaster was more observant than the people who could see.

“Rumble~~~”

Teng Qingshan held the Splitting Mountain Axe with both of his hands, and it was as though a gigantic divine being had descended. He then struck the axe toward the black-cloaked blind man. A glow of three colors swirled around the blade of the Splitting Mountain Axe and the surrounding Power of the Heavens and the Earth surged toward Teng Qingshan’s axe. For a moment, the huge axe in Teng Qingshan’s hands was as radiant as the sun.

“Oh, no.” The Blind Swordmaster was stunned. Even before the fight, he had realized that…

Today, Jing Yi was completely different from a few days ago.

“Hah~~” Teng Qingshan’s body became a size bigger, and the veins on his face and arms were popping out. He was exhibiting his most powerful strength and controlling all the Power of the Heavens and the Earth that he could control. As he ran, he prepared himself and forcefully struck a blow forward with his explosively powerful strength. For a moment, it felt as though Teng Qingshan was about to destroy the heavens and the earth. Unexpectedly, the Blind Swordmaster actually felt there was no way he could dodge the attack. Indeed, the move Teng Qingshan performed was the move that Emperor Yu was the most proud. It wasn’t some move which could be easily dodged.

“Whew.”

The Blind Swordmaster thrust out his thin iron rod coldly, and a black beam of light rapidly flew toward Teng Qingshan.

“Bang!!!”

The Splitting Mountain Axe struck the thin rod forcefully, and the terrifying power which the axe contained threw the Blind Swordmaster backward. Astounded by what had just happened, the Blind Swordmaster thought to himself, “He can control 80% of the power of the Heavens and the Earth or 90%?” The higher the levels of the Emptiness Realm Experts were, the smaller the differences would be between them. A Novice Emptiness Realm Expert could control 20% of the Power of the Heavens and the Earth, while an Emptiness Realm Culmination Expert could control 100% of the Power of the Heavens and Earth.

At 100%, it was a Power of the Heavens and the Earth equivalent to five times of what a Novice Emptiness Realm Expert could control!

Naturally, an Emptiness Realm Culmination Expert could instantly kill a Novice Emptiness Realm Expert in a close-range battle, since the Emptiness Realm Culmination Expert was five times more powerful than the Novice Emptiness Realm Expert!

However, the current situation was involved an Emptiness Realm Expert with the control of 80% of the Power of the Heavens and the Earth and an Emptiness Realm Expert with the control of 100% of the Power of the Heavens and the Earth. What’s the proportion of 80% to 100%? The difference between 80% to 100% was only 20%, which meant that 100% was merely less than half a fold greater than 80%. Therefore, it was extremely difficult for an Emptiness Realm Culmination Expert to defeat an Emptiness Realm Expert with control of 80% of the Power of the Heavens and the Earth.

At this moment, the Blind Swordmaster had to fight against Teng Qingshan and protect Gu Yong at the same time. Hence, he couldn’t fight freely.

“Bang!” After Teng Qingshan struck with the axe, he began performing the close-range body art he had created through comprehending the 《Thirty-six Splitting Mountain Axe》. Instantly, he appeared beside the black-cloaked Blind Swordmaster.

“How is it possible for you to move so quickly?” The Blind Swordmaster remarked in shock.

Teng Qingshan gripped the Splitting Mountain Axe.

“Kill! Just kill!!!” As he heard the screams of the soldiers of the Gui Yuan Sect behind him, he glowered. The members of the Gui Yuan Sect were dying.

Teng Qingshan roared, “Tie Wu, I swear! If I don’t obliterate your Qing Hu Island, I will live as an embarrassment for the rest of my life!!!”