Fu Yuqing saw Xu Cuo suddenly make a move, and was instantly both shocked and furious, shouting, "Stop!"
The people coming out behind him, including Senior Sister Wei, also let out an exclamation, followed by looks of anger all over their faces.
However, Xu Cuo did not cease his attack, folding his arms and laughing playfully, "If you defeat me, of course I’ll let them go, but if you can’t best me, then you’ll be my defeated opponent, and why would I need them?"
Fu Yuqing stared at him intently, saying heavily, "Very well! A duel between you and me, let’s not involve others — life and death, each to their own fate."
Xu Cuo chuckled lowly and, without responding, shook his body. A white light soared from behind him, aiming directly to strike down on Fu Yuqing’s head.
Upon closer inspection, this radiant light was condensed into a tangible white saber. Fu Yuqing took a step back, avoiding the blade with precision. He shouted deeply, and a mass of Xuan Guang rose behind him, forming into a massive yellowish hand, fingers outstretched, and with a muffled sound, it smashed the saber into a dissipating mass of essence qi.
However, before he could counterattack, Xu Cuo pointed with his hand, and another saber descended.
Fu Yuqing had exchanged blows with disciples from Chongyue True Temple before, so he was not flustered. With a calm demeanor, he maneuvered the large hand, using the back of it to block the saber, holding it in place.
And while he was performing this action, Xu Cuo was not idle either. He pinched a spell, and the previously dispersed white qi swirled back on the spot, recondensing into a white saber once again, slashing down overhead.
This was not all; from various directions in the air, sabers successively appeared — seven flying sabers in total, swirling around Fu Yuqing like snowflakes.
Fu Yuqing shouted, and the massive yellowish hand expanded a circle larger out of thin air, intercepting and ejecting all these flying sabers beyond its perimeter.
When Xu Cuo had just arrived, Zhang Yan was also alerted, yet he didn’t go out; he merely observed coldly from the side.
He scrutinized the cultivation techniques of these two people and noted that Fu Yuqing’s techniques were vastly different from those practiced by Guo Lie.
Although Guo Lie was the senior disciple under True Master Tao, he practiced the Nanhua Sect’s cultivation technique. It was heard that True Master Tao had left the sect and later obtained a fortuitous encounter, presumably learning the Xuan Guang Hand as a Daoist skill afterward.
Xu Cuo’s barrage of attacks was like a violent storm, full of openness and closeness, completely different from the sinister and vicious style of Beigong Hao. Moreover, Beigong Hao had only mastered five flying sabers, whereas Xu Cuo displayed seven at once, leaving unknown what other tricks he might still be hiding.
Zhang Yan pondered for a moment, then retrieved a smooth, jade-like beautiful jade from his sleeve bag, calling out, "Fellow Daoist Beigong, are you there?"
Upon hearing his voice, a wisp of primordial spirit floated from the jade. However, Uncle Beigong, being a cultivator of the Xuan Guang Third Realm, had retained much of his primordial spirit over time. After emerging, he cautiously said, "What business do you call upon me for, fellow Daoist?"
Zhang Yan pointed forward, "Do you recognize this person?"
Beigong Hao looked in the direction indicated, smiling bitterly, "Fellow Daoist, how did you get involved with this boy?"
Zhang Yan raised an eyebrow, "Oh? Could it be that this person has a background worth mentioning?"
Beigong Hao hesitated and then said, "This person is the grandson of the Sect Leader of our Chongyue True Temple, his father a Demon Sect elder. The boy’s cultivation is quite strong, but what’s more troubling is that he reportedly possesses a powerful Dharma Treasure that often causes the death of his adversaries in mysterious ways. No one has seen it, but even though he uses the Li Yuan Flying Knife as a weapon, it is not yet his true technique."
Hearing this, the words "valuable goods" surfaced in Zhang Yan’s mind. His eyes flickered as he smiled, "Given his background, he must have quite a bit of Ren Kui Water Essence on him, no?"
Beigong Hao was taken aback, pondered for a moment, and then slowly nodded in confirmation, "Quite a bit, I’d say. To be honest, fellow Daoist, although I am an elder, I am far less privileged than those in the Sect Leader’s family. Take, for instance, wielding the Yin Yang Separation Flying Saber — we need to form fog to wield it, and the number of sabers we can master is always considerably fewer than theirs."
Zhang Yan laughed heartily, "I was going to use Spiritual Shells to purchase Ren Kui Water Essence Qi at the Immortal Market, but now that this person is here, why search far and wide? Just capturing him should suffice to get what I need, no?"
Beigong Hao thought to himself, the most outstanding disciples of Chongyue True Temple hail from the Shen and Xu families, whose dominance over other families supports the entire sect. Xu Cuo’s status is not simple. If Zhang Yan proposes trading Water Essence Qi for his release, this deal might indeed go through.
He smiled wryly, realizing that thereafter, they would have to face the retaliatory storm from Chongyue True Temple, and he could only hope to escape this calamity. Otherwise, he might end up accompanying him in death.