Amputated arm

  Zheng Zhicheng did not mix with the horse thieves, he carried his treasured sword and swiftly darted through the forest, searching for Wu Xiaogongzhu and others' tracks.

  "One of them is a 7th layer Body Refiner, and three are at the 6th layer. They're actually hiding in this unremarkable thicket in Blackwater Swamp. If we didn't have the help of these bandits to search for them, it would be quite troublesome to find them!"

  Suddenly, Zheng Zicheng caught sight of a red-clad figure by the distant stream, "Princess Lingxiang!", his eyes lit up, and he abruptly stopped in his tracks, using his lightness skill to leap several times, landing on the creek bank.

  "Zheng Zicheng, how did you end up here?!"

  The little princess Wu had just finished washing her face by the stream when she heard a loud whooshing sound behind her, and as she turned around, she was startled and tightly grasped the horse whip in her hand.

  "Horse thief! Are you in cahoots with horse thieves?"

  She heard from afar in the dense forest, faintly came the bandits' chaotic killing sounds, and her face suddenly changed greatly.

  "Hehe, I'm worried about the princess's safety, so I rushed over to escort her. Don't worry, it's just a group of over a hundred horse bandits. With Ye Chen and his two companions' strength at the sixth level of body refinement, they should be able to withstand the bandits' siege for half an hour. This half hour is enough time for us two to have a good chat by this stream, Princess Ling Xiang."

  Zheng Zhicheng saw Xiaowu Little Princess walking away, revealing a strange smile.

  "Get out!"

  The princess's face turned white with rage, she cracked her whip and lashed out at him.

  Wow!

  The whip transformed into a circle of sharp whip shadows, whistling as it mercilessly lashed towards Zheng Zicheng. She infused the horse whip with her inner energy, enough to shatter stone and hardwood. An ordinary person who received one lash would likely lose their life.

  "Hey, you want to hit me again, don't you?!"

  Zheng Zicheng was well-prepared, his body agile and nimble, constantly dodging the whirling whip shadows.

  "I, Zheng Zicheng, became a national-level martial artist at the age of twenty and am also a direct disciple of the National Master. One day, I may even have the hope of becoming an immortal cultivator. What makes me not worthy of you?"

  Zheng Zhicheng said with some annoyance.

  "Phooey, you're also worthy! Who do you think you are? You're just the illegitimate son of Zheng Yuan and his sister-in-law. After the affair was exposed, he even killed his own brother to cover up the shameful matter. But he didn't dare to openly acknowledge you as his son, instead taking you in as a disciple. Everyone in the palace knows about this scandal, if not for Zheng Yuan being the designated national teacher of the Golden Cauldron Sect, no one in the palace would look up to you! Zheng Yuan is afraid that the scandal will spread to the sect, so he doesn't dare take you to the Golden Cauldron Sect. Otherwise, he would have sent you there to cultivate long ago! Even if you become a celestial master, you'll still have no status and can only show off your identity as the national teacher's disciple in the Wu Kingdom."

  The little princess was furious.

  "You!... If you don't drink the toast, you'll be punished with a penalty drink!"

  Zheng Zicheng's face suddenly turned iron-green, this was his greatest shame, most taboo for someone to mention. He finally revealed a flustered and defeated look, with a faint red scar on his face, which looked particularly eye-catching at the moment.

  He suddenly stretched out his hand and grabbed the whip, his wrist was hit by a shadow of the whip, almost numb. However, with his 900 jin of strength, this whip contained less than 700 jin of force, which couldn't do anything to him.

  Zheng Zhicheng grabbed the reins and gave them a sudden tug, pulling Wu Xiaogongzhu over.

  The little princess Wu shouted and was unable to shake off the horse whip, being pulled away.

  "Ling Xiang princess, I really like you, just give in to me! Once I become a cultivator, I'll be the one ruling Wu Kingdom, which country would dare to invade!" Zheng Zhi Cheng stretched out his hand and ripped off Wu Xiao Princess's skirt with a 'zip' sound. In his haste, he pressed his lips onto Wu Xiao Princess's face, attempting to force himself on her.

  "Get out!"

  The little princess was in a great hurry, turned her head to dodge, and struggled desperately.

  A swift horse's hooves sounded urgent as it burst out of the thicket.

  "Cut!"

  With a loud shout, a sword flashed out from horseback, instantly transforming into three almost overlapping sword shadows.

  Zheng Zicheng felt a tyrannical knife aura approaching from behind, and didn't expect the reinforcements sent by Wu Xiaogong to arrive so quickly. He was shocked, and immediately flipped over and rolled away, avoiding the powerful Tiger Leaping Triple Slash.

  He then stood up and took a closer look, only to find that it was Ye Chen who had galloped past on his horse, almost cutting him down with his sword.

  "Zheng Zicheng's dodging speed is extremely fast! The power of Tiger Leaping Triple Slash is fierce, with a force of 2,400 catties enough to split him in two with one slash, but this knife technique lacks sufficient variation. His footwork is excellent, agile and nimble, only fearing that he can't be hit."

  Ye Chen's sword failed to hit its mark, and he let out a soft sigh of regret. He was worried that he might have accidentally injured Wu Xiaogongzhu, so he didn't use the more expansive Arc Moon Slash, which might have given him another chance to heavily injure Zheng Zicheng.

  Ye Chen turned his head and took a glance at Wu Xiaogongzhu.

  The little princess Wu was unharmed, her torn clothes barely covering her heaving chest. She clutched at her chest with both hands, her furious gaze almost tearing Zheng Zicheng in two. "Ye Chen, kill him for me, tear him to pieces!"

  Almost at the same time, Yan Han and Wei Xunyu rushed out of the forest one after another.

  Over a hundred horse bandits have been killed, more than half of them dead or wounded, and the rest have scattered and escaped to the other side of the small forest, shouting in terror, "Great leader, brothers are almost all dead!"

  The scar-faced big man who was watching the battle outside the forest was anxiously waiting, and his hands and feet were icy cold when he heard the words.

  Hei Feng Village has robbed many merchant caravans in recent years, but the casualties have never been so severe. The sword guest's opponent was too strong. "Let's go!" said the scar-faced leader, leading dozens of remaining horse bandits to flee and disappear into the already dark wilderness.

  Ye Chen and Yan Han each held a treasured sword, Wei Xun wore fist guards, forming a small triangle cautiously facing Zheng Zhi Cheng, this 9th layer Body Refining stage martial artist.

  Ye Chen performed a crescent moon slash with a joint hand gesture in the severe cold morning. Zheng Zhicheng's body method was quite fierce, and three consecutive slashes of Tiger Leap couldn't hit him. To deal with Zheng Zhicheng, there was no other way except for the wide-range semi-circular attack of Crescent Moon Slash. Moreover, it had to be a joint effort by two people; otherwise, it would still end in failure.

  Han nodded slightly in the cold.

  Both of them have already entered the late stage of refining their bodies and can now perform the Arc Moon Slash which requires internal energy to support.

  "How did they come out so quickly...... The rumors of the horse thieves on Heishuiyuan are not very fierce and good at fighting, how can they be defeated in one blow?"

  Zheng Zhicheng was somewhat perplexed in his heart.

  But thinking that Ye Chen and the other two were all at the sixth layer of the Refining Body stage, Zheng Zicheng was relieved. The gap in their cultivation strength was too great, and even if they added up, they weren't his opponents.

  "You three, just out of the academy, mere sixth-level Body Refining cultivators, dare to be arrogant and oppose me? Today, I'll let you witness what a national-level warrior looks like!"

  Zheng Zicheng burst out laughing, unsheathing his treasured sword. With a single kick, he charged towards Ye Chen, the strongest among the three from Beimiao Academy's Northern Mountain. Taking down Ye Chen first would make dealing with the remaining two merely a matter of time.

  Ye Chen and Yan Han, one on each side of the horse's belly, flanked left and right, rushed towards Zheng Zicheng.

  "Crescent Moon Slash!"

  With a swift and cold slash of his sword, a circular arc of light appeared. However, his Arc Moon Slash could only release three sword energies, which could simultaneously attack three points within a radius of one zhang in front of him. The middle sword energy attacked Zheng Zicheng, while the front and back sword energies sealed off Zheng Zicheng's retreat route.

  "Crescent Moon Slash!"

  Ye Chen simultaneously swung out with one knife, and the curved blade's edge shot out, five paths of knife energy completely covering the space in front of him. The range covered was even wider than Yan Han's Arc Moon Slash.

  Two men, one on the left and one on the right, eight intersecting knife auras overlapped and covered the space around Zheng Zicheng's sides, leaving him no room to dodge. Even if Zheng Zicheng's footwork was extremely agile, he could not avoid it.

  "Blade aura! Both of them have broken through the seventh layer of the Refining Body Stage!"

  Zheng Zhicheng was shocked and frightened.

  "Thirteen Swords of Qimen!"

  With a swift motion, Zheng Zicheng's face twisted in a fierce expression as he rapidly swung his treasured sword, unleashing a sharp and piercing sword aura that shot out in a continuous circle, attacking the oncoming Yan Han and Ye Chen. If the knife aura came from one direction, he could completely block it.

  However, with both of them attacking him from left and right, his swordsmanship speed was still not fast enough.

  "Hmph!"

  "Hmph!"

  "Hmph!"

  Ye Chen and Yan Han rode their horses quickly, passing by Zheng Zhicheng in a flash. The three of them almost simultaneously fell to the ground, having been knocked unconscious.

  Zheng Zicheng swung his sword to block the first wave of cold air, but was struck by Ye Chen's knife aura on his arm. Even as a ninth-level martial artist in the Refining Body stage, his flesh and blood couldn't withstand the sharp and overbearing knife aura, causing his arm to be severed, his treasured sword flying out of his hand and falling into the creek.

  "Ah!"

  Zheng Zicheng let out a mournful cry, his left hand covering the stump of his severed right arm, as he executed a series of swift and agile footwork, taking several leaps before disappearing into the distance.

  Wei Xunyu wanted to pursue and kill, but seeing Ye Chen and Yan Han lying on the ground injured, she hesitated for a moment. Her strength was much weaker than theirs, and she didn't even have any aura, let alone Zheng Zhicheng who had lost an arm, she was probably not his match either.

  Ye Chen was struck by a sword energy in his abdomen, and under the impact of the violent force, he fell off his horse. He rolled over and jumped onto his horse to chase after him, but Zheng Zicheng had already escaped far away, riding a fast horse and fleeing wildly.

  "You detestable thing, Ye Chen! You dare to cut off one of my arms? I will definitely kill you!"

  In the dim vast wilderness, Zheng Zicheng's reluctant and mournful voice echoed from afar.

  "You think you can run fast? Next time we meet, I'll show you who's boss!"

  Ye Chen's gaze was fiercely fixed on the receding shadow, and he reined in his horse.

  The sky had already darkened, and once he ran far away, he would lose his direction in this unfamiliar black waterside and find it difficult to reunite with Wu Xiaogong. The most important thing was that Zheng Zicheng temporarily no longer posed a threat to him. By the time Zheng Zicheng recovered from his injuries and came after him again, he would probably have already become a ninth-level martial artist in the Refining Body stage and mastered the sixth move of the Tiger Leaping Knife Technique.

  "Next time is next time, who's afraid of whom!"

  Ye Chen thought to himself, turned his head and took a glance back, only to see Yan Han also struggling to get up from the ground, panting heavily. A sword aura had struck him in the chest, and inside his clothes, a shiny golden silk armor was revealed, almost torn apart by the sword aura.

  Ye Chen was taken aback.

  "It's okay! If I hadn't worn this inner armor, I'm afraid it would have been at least a serious injury, and it would have taken several months to recover."

  He touched the golden brooch on his chest, a sword wound an inch deep, and his heart still had lingering fears. He looked at Ye Chen in surprise, "How come you're not injured?"

  "These few rocks are quite hard, the sword energy was blocked by these few rocks, no big deal."

  Ye Chen took out a few broken jade pendants and stones from his bosom and muttered something.

  "I have a Blood Oath Ring. Zheng Zicheng's one, who wants it?!"

  Ye Chen's gaze fell to the ground, and Zheng Zicheng's severed arm still had a shiny Blood Jade Ring on it. He changed the subject and asked. In his heart, he was somewhat regretful that he hadn't been able to kill Zheng Zicheng, or else he might have found something even better.

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  Tonight at 0 o'clock, the list will be updated in a rush.