Qin Xun was bound tightly and brought to a spacious clearing. Hundreds of torches surrounded the area, and ten priests, led by Chan Master Longyue, performed a disheveled shamanistic dance, chanting incantations.
This was the "Xian Rite," continuously passed down and improved by the Hui Chun Sect!
"Where did this bald donkey learn these bizarre incantations?"
Facing death, Qin Xun knew resistance was futile. He remained absolutely calm, beginning to ponder.
He had been to the Peacock Dynasty and was certain this language did not originate from there.
"Bloodletting—"
Chan Master Longyue drew out the last syllable. Qin Xun's heart pounded with an inexplicable dread.
He had been associating with heretics and evildoers. Demons, through these absurd and peculiar methods, constantly screened their most loyal followers!
At this moment, Qin Xun only regretted not being able to avenge his birth mother, and that he had to die so ignominiously.
Chan Master Longyue unlocked the head of his staff, finally revealing its true form.
The top was a sharp, long blade, glinting silver in the moonlight, with the same luster as Liang Xiao's Tianlong Pocheng Halberd and Cangsheng Sword!
The blade lightly grazed Qin Xun's wrist. Qin Xun's blood flowed profusely into a wooden bucket placed below.
Qin Xun swallowed, smiling at the receding Chan Master Longyue, then looked back at his bound hands. Terror gripped his heart.
"This is the highest ritual I've specially chosen for you. In a quarter of an hour, I will draw more blood from you, and you will see your mother and the gods of the heavens. Led by the gods, you will enter the pure land and live without worry!!" Chan Master Longyue cried out to the sky.
"Disciple thanks Master for guidance!" Qin Xun trembled.
After Chan Master Longyue walked away, the surrounding priests also dispersed.
Everyone waited.
"As expected of the Vice Sect Master, his disciple has such unwavering faith!" the Hui Chun Sect members praised.
Chan Master Longyue laughed heartily, "That is because from..."
Before Chan Master Longyue could finish, the neighing of warhorses suddenly echoed from afar.
The crowd reacted, and saw Ling Jianxing, Ren Changfeng, and Du Pingling charging forward on horseback, their eyes blazing with ferocity. Three sharp swords were hurled towards them.
"Swish! Swish! Swish!"
The three blades cut through the air with a faint whistling sound. Ling Jianxing's flying sword instantly killed a priest.
"Take him down!!"
Chan Master Longyue's face contorted with rage, and he immediately lunged towards Qin Xun.
The three riders were faster. Ling Jianxing reached Qin Xun first, casually severed the ropes binding him with a sword, and then pulled him onto his horse before turning.
"You are a traitor?!"
Chan Master Longyue instantly understood the cause and effect.
How was this hidden valley found!
Qin Xun, on horseback, laughed heartily, "You bald donkey, your end is near!!"
Ling Jianxing had already noticed the bleeding on Qin Xun's wrist. He reined in his horse on the spot, pressing on the distal end of Qin Xun's wound. "Hold it tight!"
After Qin Xun applied pressure to the wound, Ling Jianxing turned his horse, warily eyeing the enraged Hui Chun Sect members in the distance, fearing they might unleash crossbow bolts and attack.
"Let's retreat first!"
The Hui Chun Sect's horses were still at the foot of the mountain. Chan Master Longyue knew it was too late to pursue and decisively led his men away.
Before the Hui Chun Sect members could turn, a roar and the urgent neighing of warhorses sounded from behind.
Everyone looked closely and saw Yue Qingtian leading all the Tianshan knights and shadow guards, charging forward on horseback!
Hundreds of crossbow bolts whistled through the air. In an instant, more than half of the Hui Chun Sect members were killed or injured. Only Longyue, wielding his long blade, fought and retreated towards the dense forest.
"Reinforcements have arrived?" Qin Xun was surprised and delighted, then shouted, "That bald donkey is the Vice Sect Master of the Hui Chun Sect, Chan Master Longyue!"
"What?!" Yue Qingtian's eyes widened, and he spurred his horse forward. "This monk will capture him alive!!"
The shadow guards understood and changed the aim of their crossbows, focusing only on killing Longyue's subordinates.
In a flash, most of the Hui Chun Sect members were shot dead. The remaining ones were cut down by the arriving Tianshan knights, leaving only Chan Master Longyue to flee into the dense forest.
Yue Qingtian rushed to the entrance of the forest and found it filled with short trees and thorny bushes. He dismounted and, carrying his ancestral twin iron halberds, pursued like a ferocious tiger.
The shadow guards followed closely behind, but were a beat slower than Chan Master Longyue and Yue Qingtian.
"How can that brute run so fast?"
Chan Master Longyue looked back at Yue Qingtian's imposing momentum and was startled.
In his youth, he wouldn't have feared this race, but now, past seventy, his stamina was no match for Yue Qingtian's.
In a moment of desperation, Chan Master Longyue's eyes sharpened. Listening to the sounds and discerning the movement, as Yue Qingtian drew near, he turned and struck with his blade!
Yue Qingtian unhesitatingly swung his twin iron halberds to block. A low metallic clang echoed.
Yue Qingtian looked at the broken halberd head, his face a mixture of shock and anger. "Damn it!"
His ancestral twin iron halberds, though not as good as Liang Xiao's Tianlong Pocheng Halberd, were superior to ordinary steel and approached the newly developed water-patterned steel.
In the brief exchange, Yue Qingtian understood.
The material of the opponent's weapon was likely the same as Tianlong Pocheng Halberd's; he couldn't be careless!
If he could capture this blade, wouldn't he also possess a divine weapon superior to water-patterned steel long blades in the future!
In the dense forest, Yue Qingtian wielded his twin iron halberds, unleashing a whirlwind upon Chan Master Longyue.
Chan Master Longyue desperately defended himself, relying on the advantage of his weapon, barely holding his ground.
Even with his remaining strength, facing a brute like Yue Qingtian, Chan Master Longyue felt he was being overwhelmed.
The shadow guards, fearing for Yue Qingtian's safety, drew their long sabers and advanced to assist.
"All of you, fall back!!"
Yue Qingtian was startled, and it was too late to warn them.
"Clang!"
Chan Master Longyue's full-powered strike met a shadow guard's water-patterned steel sabre and, in a destructive manner, cut it in two.
The shadow guard was clearly caught off guard by the sudden turn of events. He quickly retreated, leaving a shocking wound from his shoulder to his waist.
Chan Master Longyue sneered and retreated, then narrowed his eyes. "Nice weapon..."
With ordinary weapons, he would have cleaved both the man and his weapon in half long ago; it was truly capable of "cutting iron like mud"!
But this long blade managed to block his full-strength blow and slow his attack, allowing the opponent to escape?
In the Honglu Temple, Liang Xiao received Ye Chengxiu.
Ye Chengxiu said anxiously, "We found a coded message in Qin Xun's former residence. It reads: The top experts in the Hui Chun Sect use weapons forged from a material called 'Silver Dragon Gold,' which can cut iron like mud. That bald donkey's ancestral home is the Yun Kingdom. He uses Longyue as his surname and Chan Master as his title, later changing Longyue to his Buddhist name. In his youth, he possessed immense strength and must also have a divine weapon!"
"Silver Dragon Gold?" Liang Xiao's expression changed, and he immediately dispatched someone to inform the Southwest.
In the dense forest, everyone found Chan Master Longyue's divine artifact, capable of cutting iron like mud, to be quite troublesome.
Despite this, the shadow guards quickly completed their encirclement.
"General Yue, perhaps we should just shoot him..." the shadow guard captain said reluctantly.
They were not afraid of sacrifice, but Liang Xiao had reminded them when they came to Daliang to prioritize the preservation of their members' lives and not to insist on capturing alive.
Yue Qingtian waved his hand impatiently. "You all hold the line. This monk will capture him alive for the Marquis, no matter what!!"