Chapter 28: Night Battle with the Blonde Haired Ghost

  Xiangyang's deep autumn was not cold, Chen Yunfeng sat cross-legged beside the bonfire in the suburbs, still cultivating. He wouldn't give up any moment, even with a powerful technique, he believed that only diligent cultivation would make him a true strongman.

  Simmering beside him, Sima Lingxing was unwilling to get into the horse carriage to rest. She held her small face and quietly looked at Chen Yunfeng. This young and handsome Sima family's leader of the Xianyao Sect and the respected master of the Lingjiu Palace had been waiting for hundreds of years. Her memories of the older generation's teachings were that she should study the medical arts of the Lingjiu Palace, and when the respected master appeared, she could help him roam the Jianghu.

  She was just a seventeen-year-old girl, although according to the rules of this era she could have been married and had children long ago. However, in order to study various medical classics, she stayed in her boudoir. Now that the master has appeared, she became Chen Yunfeng's personal maid, which means her identity also includes being Chen Yunfeng's concubine.

  These days of getting along, Sima Lingxiao discovered that Chen Yunfeng was still cultivating, and if she didn't speak, Chen Yunfeng would hardly take the initiative to chat with her about anything. Thinking about serving Chen Yunfeng in the future, Sima Lingxiao's face felt even hotter than before.

  Chen Yunfeng was still multi-tasking in his cultivation, on the one hand controlling his true energy to accelerate its circulation, and on the other hand deducing those techniques that he could cultivate after obtaining them. He also left a fraction of his mind to be vigilant about his surroundings, although he had arrived at Xiangyang, these places were actually becoming even more unsafe.

  "... rustling sounds" A faint sound of weeds falling to the ground came from afar, Chen Yunfeng's ears moved slightly, and his eyes slowly opened coldly towards that direction. He turned his head to glance at Sima Lingxing, who was already sitting by the fire pit, propping up his chin and sleeping, then put the heavy sword in his arms and closed his eyes again.

  "Hss." A muffled sound came from a place where the firelight couldn't reach, and a figure rushed towards their resting direction with a breaking wind sound. Hearing the sound, Sima Lingxing, who had already fallen asleep, opened his eyes and prepared to get up, but Chen Yunfeng stood up and said in a low voice:

  "Sit down and don't get up, the enemy is just a second-rate martial artist, yet he dares to come and seek death."

  He gazed at the black shadow that was jumping towards him, and his true energy changed within his body, transforming into the extremely hard and extremely yang Nine Yang True Energy and the Eight Desolations Six Harmonies Unique Supreme Ultimate Technique True Energy. These two types of yang-attributed true energies were incredibly powerful when attacking enemies, and in normal combat would unleash the strongest might of martial techniques.

  "Huh." The black figure landed less than five meters away from Chen Yunfeng. This person had a crooked brow and triangular eyes, with barely any flesh on his face. His dry yellow hair and thin build made him look like a ghost in the middle of the night. He stopped and glanced at Chen Yunfeng, who was wearing a brocade robe and holding a sword, before bursting into a strange, cackling laughter and saying:

  "Kid, you're not even afraid of me, Zhao Tong, the ghost with a scowl and yellow hair. You indeed have some courage. Now, I'll ask you, did you see any martial artists pass by on the official road today?"

  Chen Yunfeng took a closer look at this Zhao Tong, and the nickname didn't sound like a good person. Just as he was pondering, he suddenly saw that although this guy's face had thinned out a lot, it still looked somewhat similar to that bandit Zhao Meng. He smiled faintly and said:

  "On the way here today, I didn't see a single soul, but I did see a bandit who said his name was Chi Mei Ma Mian Shen Zhao Meng. You're one god and he's one devil, are you two brothers or something?"

  "Hmm... you've seen my brother, why hasn't the girl by your side been snatched away? Could it be... that my brother was killed by you?" Zhao Tong's face changed as he drew a thick-backed knife from his back and pointed it at Chen Yunfeng, interrogating him.

  "Hmph... Zhao Meng, as a martial artist, uses his skills to rob travelers. He deserves to be killed. Looking at you, you seem to be another bandit like him." Chen Yunfeng took a step forward, blocking Sima Lingxing's path and said in a low voice.

  "You little scamp, you killed my elder brother, I'll chop you into ten thousand pieces."

  Zhao Tong's eyes widened, his body swiftly moving forward with his footsteps, the knife in his hand swung fiercely, and the "Five Elements Open Mountain" move brought a gust of wind that headed straight for Chen Yunfeng's head.

  Chen Yunfeng stood in front of Sima Lingxing at this time, and it was impossible for him to give way. He didn't want to wipe out the guy all at once either. Suddenly, he thought of the Yu character seal from the Nine Yin Manual;

  He raised the heavy sword in his hand, and it leaned against Zhao Tong's knife like a wooden sword. The true energy in his hand instantly turned into Jiu Yin True Energy, and the heavy sword was like a web of silk threads moving, lightly touching and pulling. Zhao Tong felt that the knife in his hand had unknowingly chopped into the grass on one side.

  Zhao Tong thought it was his own carelessness, and with a roll he jumped up from the side, the knife in his hand chopping towards Chen Yunfeng once again.

  Chen Yunfeng had rarely found a suitable sparring partner all along, if the level was too high he would likely reveal his true abilities, if it was equivalent he couldn't fully display them, and if it was too low then there was no point. At this moment, this second-rate martial artist was just right, with barely enough attacking power, and moreover, he had a murderous aura as he launched the attack. As a sparring partner, that was perfect.

  Chen Yunfeng used his heavy sword to continuously pull Zhao Tong away from the bonfire, and when they reached a position where they could no longer affect Sima Lingxing, he began to test the techniques of the Nine Yin True Classics that involved using force to neutralize and evade attacks.

  Zhao Tong and Zhao Meng were two brothers who, in their early years, saved a seriously injured martial artist. The martial artist then taught the two brothers how to practice martial arts. Later, the martial artist died from his injuries. Without parents or anyone to discipline them, the two brothers grew up to become evil and started causing trouble for the common people.

  Although they had been doing evil deeds all the time, the two of them rarely took action against people they thought they could beat. When the government caught up with them, they fled in all directions. Recently, they came to nearby to rob merchants on official roads, but unexpectedly, Zhao Tong went to explore the financial route and found his brother's head hanging from a tree when he returned. He chased along the way and found Chen Yunfeng who killed his brother.

  Zhao Tong practiced a Black Tiger Knife technique, every knife that came out was fierce and violent, but unfortunately, this was only a second-rate martial artist's skill. Chen Yunfeng's heavy sword continuously pierced, chopped, and swept, although there were no specific moves, it seemed to be in harmony with Dugu Qiubai's concept of "no move is better than any move".

  Round after round of attacks were in vain, and Zhao Tong's forehead was already covered with a layer of sweat that kept falling. At this time, Chen Yunfeng had gained another level of understanding of the techniques in the Nine Yin Scripture.

  Seeing Zhao Tong's eyes rolling wildly, Chen Yunfeng smiled with the corner of his mouth and suddenly injected Jiu Yang True Energy into his heavy sword. With a loud "clang", Chen Yunfeng's heavy sword, imbued with powerful force and true energy, struck Zhao Tong's tiger mouth, instantly splitting it open. The rope-headed knife in his hand flew into the darkness like it had been smashed by a giant hammer.

  He silently cursed and only then realized that Chen Yunfeng had been treating him as a sparring partner all along. He endured the intense pain, turned his body and prepared to dash into the nearby woods.

  Chen Yunfeng had always been one to strike at the snake's head, annihilating his enemies without leaving any opportunity for escape. With a slight movement of his foot, his body seemed to float like a ghost as he closed in on Zhao Tong. His left hand shot out and grasped Zhao Tong's shoulder well point.

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