It didn't matter if Bai Lian, Tang Ye, the Emperor at four of the Seventeen Hidden Dragons were focused and ready. As soon as Long Cheng struck, the qi from his swing covered everyone despite him not budging from where he stood. His output and true qi were equally impressive. That being said, he didn't inflict any physical damage. His positioning and broadsword techniques didn't match. He locked his hips down and swung; as a result, his feet didn't move.
Everyone present saw Long Cheng seemingly disintegrate and restructured himself again. He was comparable to a haze; the only thing they could get a clear visual on was his eyes. The black mist soon dispersed, revealing him. Visual-wise, nothing had changed.
Tang Ye thought something was odd but couldn't put his finger on it. The Emperor commanded, "Enough with the trickery. Apprehend him!"
Two of the Seventeen Hidden Dragons charged toward Long Cheng with a team of guards. Bai Lian exclaimed, "Stop! He already struck! Come back!"
"Move recklessly and you'll bleed out," remarked Long Cheng, sounding bored as he calmly sheathed the broadsword. "I've already caught you."
Like a geyser, blood sprayed vertically into the sky. Those who charged toward Long Cheng tripped over. Everyone on the scene suddenly bled from a cut he opened. The four from the Seventeen Hidden Dragons suffered the deepest wounds at lethal locations. The cuts weren't deep, but Long Cheng's qi on the blade travelled to their meridians and stopped their true qi, triggering profuse bleeding. They tried to shut their meridians to stop the bleeding; however, that resulted in an enormous reduction of their usual combat abilities.
Long Cheng slashed the guards' necks, as it would be difficult to pierce their golden armour. Hence, roughly ten of them died on the spot. Lord Zi and the Emperor had blood coursing down their chest. Fortunately for them, their wounds were minor in comparison to the wounds the others suffered.
Among all those present, Long Cheng wanted to slash and gash the Emperor most, followed by Bai Lian and Tang Ye, who insulted the Demon Sect. He didn't finish the Emperor, for something held him back mentally. Lord Zi survived purely thanks to a stroke of luck; the slash's force wasn't enough to finish Lord Zi by the time it reached him. If he targeted the father and son pair first, the two would already be dead on the ground.
Long Cheng caught Bai Lian and Tang Ye on the shoulder. He attacked them seriously, which was why he intended to amputate their shoulders with the slash. Bai Lian's style honed sensory skills. Hence, when the blow closed in, on her shoulder, she jerked her arm back in time. Her reaction was purely instinctual; she only felt a graze. As for Tang Ye, he was using Iron Palm. That was why Long Cheng's ordinary blade wasn't able to slice all the way through Tang Ye's shoulder.
Long Cheng's swing astonished everyone present. The Emperor's overconfidence came back to bite him. He tried moulding his true qi to find it was fine. Relieved of that much, he questioned, "Wh-What skill was that?"
Long Cheng gripped a blade's handle and calmly responded, "Ye are too foolish to understand Blade Demon's skill's intricacies. Cursed Emperor, I swore I would sunder you if I ever caught you. I can spare you, but I have a condition…"
"Insolence!" brayed Bai Lian.
The Seventeen Hidden Dragons watched as the alluring beauty with captivating eyes walked through the crowd of people. Her movements were smooth and delicate. Once she reached Long Cheng, she immediately mounted an attack. She threw a palm strike, generating a gale. The abrupt and fearless attack startled Long Cheng and forced him to retreat a step. She pressed the attack again straight away.
Bai Lian was a heavy hitter unlike her appearance suggested. Her palm style emphasised gentleness and refinement, yet was swift, precise, technical and ruthless. Her barrage of attacks, eventually numbering over forty moves, was strung together too closely for anyone to intervene. By the same token, she prevented Long Cheng from drawing his blade, robbing him of his best tool. The moment he drew his blades, nobody would be able to subdue him.
Long Cheng wasn't a match for Bai Lian when it came to hand-to-hand combat, gradually leading to her pushing him into a position where he was surrounded. Annoyed, he churned internal energy for a hard-hitting palm to force a contest of strength.
Instead of dancing to Long Cheng's rhythm, Bai Lian evaded his palm strike dexterously. She had no idea her tight attire gave every male there a visual treat to feast their eyes on. Once she was out of his attack trajectory, she threw a teep at his belly. He hurriedly shifted off her trajectory, allowing her to kick his long broadsword off his belt. Evidently, she discerned he needed his long broadsword to use his moves; thus, her aim was to prevent him from using it.
Long Cheng hastily retreated; however, the four Seventeen Hidden Dragons immediately intercepted him. They were considerably weaker than they could be; nevertheless, they were still enough to trouble him when combined.
Bai Lian: "How dare you hurt His Majesty and His Highness, you brute!"
Whilst gazing at his out-of-reach broadsword, Long Cheng reassessed his opponent's abilities. In his deep voice, he calmly stated, "I can still use Wind of Death with my bare hands."
"Try it. Your attack clearly has a flaw, or I'd be dead already. I won't give you another chance to use it."
Bai Lian vigilantly watched Long Cheng. She was totally oblivious to how mesmerising her focused look was. Tang Ye was the least unlikely to be interested, but even he glanced over a second time.
Bai Lian: "Either you or I are going down the next time you strike."
Long Cheng shrugged: "I admit I'm not confident I'll hit you. Having said that, I'm certain I can hit the others. You can certainly kill me, but over half of you here will come with me. One of them might be your Emperor. You want to give it a try?"
Bai Lian fell silent. She had no right to make the call in the Emperor's presence. He resolutely stated, "General Manager Bai, do as you see fit. Nobody will threaten me. If he wants to kill me, it'll depend on his skills!"
Bai Lian was still hesitant, as Lord Zi was present. She couldn't decisively take the risk when he was already hurt once. Suddenly, they heard, "Long Cheng! Save me!"
Everyone stopped for a second, thinking, "Isn't that Kong Duan's voice?"
Glossary
*Teep – (The kick the fighter in blue throws). It's a straight kick with the force travelling straight forward. The kicker aims to kick their target with the ball of their feet. There are no restrictions to what you can target with it. For example, you could harass their front leg with it instead of going straight to the body.