Weng!
Wu Yu appeared on Qinghua of the East's left flank!
Drawing his dual blades, his eyes burned with roiling sword qi!
Whoosh!
Suddenly changing his trajectory towards Qinghua of the East, both Wu Yu and Qinghua burst out of the foliage into the open field in front of them at the same time!
If he wanted to take down Qinghua, it had to be now!
The moment had come!
Night Wishes for Snow arrived at the open field first, but he could vaguely sense the presence of two people hot on his heels. He could feel that one of them was Wu Yu, and he also knew that the two elders trailed behind these two. He could make a guess at what risky manoeuvre Wu Yu had in mind.
He was ready!
Sensing Wu Yu's sudden change of trajectory, Night Wishes for Snow immediately turned, executing the Explosive Dawn Snowfall Strike on the enemy behind him!
As the skill flew backwards, Qinghua was immediately engulfed by a golden blizzard the moment he entered the clearing.
"Insignificant!"
Having dealt with his old opponent's skill many times before, Qinghua of the East was unperturbed.
In addition, he felt movement from his left and guessed that the elders had caught up to him.
Right then, what appeared was an unexpected, young face.
Wu Yu!
His violet irises enlarged in surprise.
"Nascent Yin Yang Single Sword Strike!"
Not one but two sword qis shook the heavens and earth as they pierced into the heart of the icy blizzard. Night Wishes for Snow had summoned the blizzard to close off Qinghua of the East's escape routes.
"No!"
It was only then that Qinghua that realized the true fatal blow was coming from Wu Yu!
Although Wu Yu had defeated Mo Xiudao with this attack, Qinghua was under the impression that its power was far from his own level. He could never have imagined that Wu Yu could wield such a domineering power of two sword qis.
Pa, pa, pa!
As a lattice of lightning dispersed before his eyes, one of the sword qis exploded into nine parts, entering into his flesh and puncturing right through!
“Ah!"
Qinghua screamed as he was incapacitated on the spot.
By then, Wu Yu had reached Qinghua's location. In truth, it was only because he had help that he was able to injure Qinghua of the East.
"You!" bellowed Qinghua of the East as he looked at Wu Yu with a bewildered expression, the disbelief apparent in his eyes.
Wu Yu's improvements were truly terrifying.
He whipped out the Demon Subduing Staff and landed a single solid blow on the side of Qinghua's head, knocking him out cold.
Following this, Night Wishes for Snow used an immortal treasure in the form of a shimmering iron chain to completely constrict Qinghua. Pulling his senior brother onto his flying sword, Wu Yu took to the skies without a second thought!
"We did it!"
Night Wishes for Snow stood upon the flying sword as he gripped one end of the iron chain immortal treasure tightly, effectively suspending Qinghua in mid-air.
Just as the two Heavenly Sword Sect disciples flew off with their enemy in tow, the other two elders arrived on the scene. Upon seeing Wu Yu, their jaws dropped!
"Impossible!"
"What trickery has Night Wishes for Snow resorted to? To be able to capture Qinghua of the East?"
"This cannot be happening!"
"What a vexing predicament!"
They still had not realized that the main perpetrator was Wu Yu.
Although Qinghua of the East had sensed that somebody was close by, he did not think much about it as he assumed that it was just an elder.
Moreover, Wu Yu and other sword cultivators excelled at close range combat. Although the Zhongyuan Dao Sect's dao techniques were extremely powerful, they were at a disadvantage in close proximity battles.
As they were still in dangerous territory, the two Heavenly Sword Sect disciples wasted not a single breath as they hurtled straight into the 10,000 Swords Formation. In reality, Feng Xueya had already been long expecting their arrival.
Wu Yu sailed through the 10,000 Swords Formation unimpeded.
It was not long before they reached the Stone Gate of a Thousand Swords after clearing the formation. The two of them wore expressions of proud exhilaration as Night Wishes for Snow unceremoniously tossed Qinghua of the East onto the dirt, causing him to cry out in pain.
"Captive number two."
Upon seeing the sorry state that Qinghua of the East was in, the gathered crowd swelled with emotions of excitement. Even the inexorable Feng Xueya let out a tiny grin. After all, the ones who had managed to pull off this critical mission were his own two disciples.
"You guys, interrogate them for all information." Feng Xueya and the other elders were still committed to battling Jiang Xie and could not afford to divert their attention.
Although Qinghua of the East was bound tight and riddled with sword wounds that still seeped fresh blood, a truly pitiful image, he was not a fool. He knew that if he did not cooperate at this stage, his enemies would easily sever his spiritual sources, condemning him to a life of sorrow and regret.
"Fine, you have proven yourselves capable. Ask what you must, but do not lay a finger on me, or I will make sure you regret it!" announced Qinghua obstinately.
The crowd gathered around him as Night Wishes for Snow led the interrogation. Qinghua withheld nothing as he was being questioned, and their suspicions were soon confirmed. The person hailing from the East Sea was called Dark Entropic Lord, and while he was only at the ninth tier of the Qi Condensation Realm, he had amassed an entire lifetime's worth of research on spirit designs. He fully understood the inner workings of the 10,000 Swords Formation. It was rumored that he only needed three to four days to disable the 10,000 Swords Formation.
Furthermore, if he were not such an indolent character, he would have arrived by now, but it was predicted that he would arrive no later than in two days’ time. When he did, the 10,000 Swords Formation would not be able to hold out for much longer.
"Cease your futile struggle. Once the 10,000 Swords Formation falls, it will be the Heavenly Sword Sect's doomsday. If I were you, I'd flee the Bipo Mountain Range and obediently hand it over to us." Qinghua was still extremely arrogant despite his position as a captive.
"Such arrogance even though death is at hand?" Wu Yu's anger was direct, and since they had already gleaned all they needed to know, he wanted Qinghua's life.
"Junior Brother, this piece of human trash can still serve a purpose, leave him be for now," interjected Night Wishes for Snow.
At this moment, the opposition withdrew from the boundaries of the 10,000 Swords Formation as Feng Xueya and the elders gained precious time to recuperate. However, the new revelation was nothing but bad news to them.
"The Dark Entropic Lord is arriving within the next two days, and the 10,000 Swords Formation will be broken in another three to four nights!" Feng Xueya furrowed his eyebrows in frustration.
His plan was to stall for time with the 10,000 Swords Formation while searching for a lifeline. Now that the formation's dissolution was imminent, what could he do?
There was no answer to this question.
It was only a matter of time before a creeping feeling of hopelessness would spread amongst everyone.
The combination of the tripartite coalition and the Dark Entropic Lord nearly doubled the offensive capabilities of the Heavenly Sword Sect.
"Bring forth Jiang Ding and Qinghua of the East. Although they are pieces of trash, they may be able to buy us some time should the 10,000 Swords Formation fall." Feng Xueya was a little despondent. Looking back, he could bear to hand over everything he had slowly built over the years and even the Bipo Mountain Range itself. However, he could not bear to see his disciples' corpses litter the mountain, creating flowing rivers of blood...
Qinghua burst into crazed laughter, saying, "This is what you wanted to know, you cannot blame me. Feng Xueya, Lan Huayi, you can stop with the last ditch efforts. This Bipo Mountain Range belongs to the Zhongyuan Dao Sect! It is such a waste to have a group of sword-wielding mongrels like you occupying such vast amounts of spiritual qi!"
"You!"
Not many could hold back upon being humiliated so.
All of a sudden, Wu Yu shot forward, manifesting a blade from his fingertips. Using his other hand to pry open Qinghua's mouth, he rammed his fingertips into the orifice, detaching his tongue in a swift motion.
The crowd was stunned as they shifted their gazes between Wu Yu and the now bloody-mouthed Qinghua of the East...
...
"Spare your dogshit!"
Jiang Xie was in a jocular mood prior to hearing the news. Now his face was pale as he hopped up and down with thunderous rage.
"You say Qinghua was beaten by Night Wishes for Snow and brought into the 10,000 Swords Formation? Their strengths are evenly matched, how could he have lost within a couple of breaths?"
The two elders were contrite as they said, "We do not understand either, we were just behind him, but in the span of a single technique, he had been captured and taken to the skies."
"Bullshit!" Jiang Xie roared as his outstretched palm splayed across the faces of the two elders, sending them sprawling across the ground.
Not far away, the Ninth Spirit chuckled, saying, "It must be my Wu Yu becoming stronger yet again. I look forward to the day where he is unparalleled...Jiu Er's Wu Yu is indeed amazing."
Jiang Xie had already guessed it as he shot the Ninth Spirit a dirty look. However, he knew that it would be meaningless to butt heads with her now.
Ultimately, after tolerating her up to this point, it would be over soon.
At this point, the Scarlet Sea's Seven Ghosts had already gone to receive the Dark Entropic Lord earlier on. Looking up, one could see the Scarlet Sea's Seven Ghosts leading a demonic figure to where Jiang Xie and the Ninth Spirit stood.
It was an emaciated elder who barely had wisps of hair hanging onto his wrinkled skull. His face was riddled with dark spots and he only had one eye's worth of vision. As his lips parted, one could see that he had but a few teeth remaining, and his arms were gnarled like the claws of a chicken. He was hideous in all senses of the word.
However, the old man was still extremely lustful. Desire seeped from his single good eye and his tongue lay hanging the moment he caught sight of the Ninth Spirit.
Although the Ninth Spirit had been wearing a veil during this period, her allure was still unmatched.
"Jiu Er has only one person in her heart. If you continue staring, I will dig your eyeball out of its socket." Ninth Spirit's gaze grew considerably colder.
"Hehe, don't be mad, gorgeous. This old man will look no longer." The Dark Entropic Lord cackled.
Jiang Xie was anxious as he hurriedly greeted the Dark Entropic Lord, quickly establishing familiarity. The Dark Entropic Lord studied the 10,000 Swords Formation and leered, speaking, "This is simple. I will first disable the Disorienting Mist Formation before tackling the 10,000 Swords Formation. I will only need four days at most to break the Heavenly Sword Sect's lifeline. It is not a difficult task, leave it to this old man."
"Then we will leave it to the Dark Entropic Lord. After the matter is settled, I will definitely compensate the Dark Entropic Lord." Jiang Xie beamed. With four days remaining, the annihilation of the Heavenly Sword Sect was around the corner.
Right then, the Dark Entropic Lord looked at Jiang Xie and the Ninth Spirit with a sinister gleam in his eye. He spoke, "Dark Entropic Lord has a tiny condition that he hopes the two of you may satisfy."
"Ah, please speak." Jiang Xie knew that this person would not be easy to deal with.
Dark Entropic Lord chortled as he replied, "Then this elder will spare the formalities. What I want is 500 live beauties above the fifth tier of the Body Refining Realm. This should be an insignificant request for both of you."
500!
Jiang Xie's eyes darkened as he naturally knew what this old devil would do with the 500 ladies. Even amongst the shadowy dealings of the ghostly cultivators, as long as they fell into the Dark Entropic Lord's grasp, the 500 girls would know neither life nor death and exist in a hellish purgatory.
However, Jiang Xie did not mind as they were not Zhongyuan Dao Sect disciples anyway.
The problem was that according to their arrangement, the captives from the Heavenly Sword Sect belonged to the demons.
He believed that those female disciples would rather be devoured by demons than be sent to the Dark Entropic Lord.
"What does Ninth Spirit think?" asked Jiang Xie.
The Ninth Spirit looked at him before looking at the Dark Entropic Lord, smiling. "Merely 500, of course it is not a problem. Dark Entropic Lord may feel free to have them."
"Haha!"
Everyone burst out into laughter.
The deal was done.
But after the laughter subsided, the Ninth Spirit's gaze towards the Dark Entropic Lord secretly began to turn murderous.