Heaven-relying Sword And Dragon-slaying Sabre

"Hold it!" Lu Zhangke and He Biweng shouted together. They raised their hands at the same time and attacked Zhou Zhiruo from left and right.

Zhou Zhiruo brandished her sword; it looked like a silver snake dancing wildly under the moonlight. The Xuan Ming Elders parried her attacks with a staff and a pair of pens.

Zhang Wuji had seen Zhou Zhiruo's whip technique. This time he saw that her sword emits a mysterious ray, moving in and out in defense and offense in the midst of two martial art masters' converging attack. Her stances irregularly varied between fake and real; it seemed like her movements were full of tricks.

After fighting for more than several dozens stances, Zhou Zhiruo's sword moves were growing even stranger. At least seven of the ten stances were swift and fierce offensive strikes. Zhang Wuji knew that she wanted to get away from the enemies, but her internal energy would actually deplete faster by fighting like this. If she were a bit careless, she would face a mortal danger. Zhang Wuji was deeply concerned. He stepped out from behind the tree and quietly walked several steps closer.

Suddenly Zhou Zhiruo let out a shout and swiftly stabbed Lu Zhangke three times. Lu Zhangke stepped sideways to evade. Right this moment, He Biweng threw his pair of pens toward her back with a full force. The pens clashing with each other midair and changed course; one flew towards the back of her head, the other flew towards the back of her waist.

Zhou Zhiruo heard the wind of the weapons behind her back and ducked; but she did not expect the pens would collide in midair and change their courses. As she ducked, one pen struck her forehead. Needless to say, she could not avoid the crane-beak pen threatening her waist.

Hastily Zhang Wuji leaped to catch the crane-beak pen, while sweeping his palm horizontally toward He Biweng. In her shock, Zhou Zhiruo was at a loss for a split second, and Lu Zhangke's palm came floating lightly toward her lower abdomen. It was not a small matter, as it was the 'xuan ming shen zhang' [black/mysterious divine palm]. Zhou Zhiruo stopped breathing and fainted at once.

Zhang Wuji was greatly shocked; throwing the crane-beak pen in his hand, he reached backward to catch Zhou Zhiruo, and then leaped more than a 'zhang' backwards.

"Xuan Ming Er Lao!" he roared, "Don't you have any face?"

Lu Zhangke laughed out loud and said, "I was wondering who dares to come and meddle with our business; turns out it is Zhang Da Jiaozhu [great cult leader]. Where is our Junzhu Niangniang [princess]? Where did you take her after kidnapping her?"

Zhao Min stepped out from behind the tree; taking Zhou Zhiruo from Zhang Wuji's arms, she softly laughed and said, "Mr. Lu, you are head over heels longing after me; aren't you afraid Father might be angry with you?"

"Little witch," Lu Zhangke angrily said, "You sowed dissension between us, brothers. We have severed any relationship with your father early on. Why would Ruyang Prince being angry or not concern me?"

Seeing how Lu Zhangku struck a vicious blow to injure Zhou Zhiruo, and then spoke rudely to Zhao Min, Zhang Wuji also recalled how these two men had caused him countless sufferings with their 'xuan ming shen zhang'when he was a child; his old hatred was rekindled. In that moment, his blood was boiling inside his chest. "Min Mei, back off," he said, "Just looking at these two old chaps is making me angry. I must fight them well today."

Seeing that Zhang Wuji was barehanded, the two elders laid down their weapons and waited with focused attention.

"On guard!" Zhang Wuji shouted and launched the 'lan qiao wei' [seizing the bird's tail] stance; his palms struck out together. This stance was part of the Taiji Fist technique, the movement was very slow, but the power behind it was from his Jiu Yang Shen Gong.

Although Taiji Fist is common for the later generations, not too many Wulin people were even aware of its existence at the time right after Zhang Sanfeng developed it. Lu Zhangke had never seen this kind of soft, seemingly powerless palm technique; naturally, he did not know what kind of trick was hidden in this palm attack. He was extremely afraid of Zhang Wuji, hence he did not dare to meet his palm and leaned sideways to evade.

Zhang Wuji turned around and with 'bai she tu yan' [white snake spitting words] his left palm struck He Biweng, while his right palm shook in and out randomly. He Biweng pointed his left hand index finger to the center of Zhang Wuji's palm, his right palm swept diagonally down toward Zhang Wuji's lower abdomen.

Zhang Wuji had fought the Xuan Ming Elders several times; he knew these two men were not his match. Compared to Du E and the other, the three monks whom he encountered in his most recent three battles, these two were a level below in terms of their depth in martial art skills. So if he wanted to defeat these two, he should have more than enough to spare. However, these two's skill was, after all, not superficial. Therefore, Zhang Wuji did not dare to be reckless. He launched Taiji Fist to its fullest potential; creating circle after circle, with Jiu Yang Shen Gong struck out from sometimes straight, sometime slanting circles.

The Xuanming Elders gradually felt the 'yang' energy burning fiercely; while the 'yin' and cold energy of their own 'Xuan Ming Shen Zhang' was frequently forced back by the opponent.

After fighting for more than a hundred stances, by chance Zhang Wuji turned around and saw two dark shadows shiver on the ground. The moon had cast its shadow on Zhao Min and Zhou Zhiruo. His heart skipped a beat. Zhao Min appeared to be shaking uncontrollably while she was fighting to keep Zhou Zhiruo in her arms.

"Not good!" Zhang Wuji was secretly alarmed, "After taking Old Lu's 'xuan ming shen zhang', I am afraid Zhou Zhiruo cannot withstand it. The energy cultivation she trained was 'yin' and cold in nature. Now that she received Xuan Ming Shen Zhang which is the world's coldest and most poisonous energy, cold on top of cold, apparently even Min Mei is not able to endure it." Thereupon he increased his effort to press Lu Zhangke.

Lu Zhangke noticed the change in Zhang Wuji's fist technique; he guessed Zhang Wuji's intentions correctly. Leaping sideways to evade, he called out, "Shidi, surround him; that woman surnamed Zhou is having a cold-poison attack. Don't let him help her."

"Certainly," He Biweng replied. Leaping out of the circle, he picked up his pair of crane-beak pens and with the 'tong tian che di' [going through the sky and penetrating the earth], his pens smashed in from top and bottom.

Zhang Wuji smiled slightly and said, "With or without weapons, it's all the same!" With a shout his palm struck; the gust of wind generated was so strong that He Biweng was gasping for breath.

Lu Zhangke reached back for his deer-antler staff and swept it toward Zhang Wuji's waist. Zhang Wuji successively changed his fist techniques; now he launched the thirty-six style (or form) 'long zhua qin na shou' [dragon claw 'grab and capture' or grappling technique] he learned from Shaolin Divine Monk Kong Xing, the 'fu qin shi' [zither playing form], 'gu se shi' [drum beating form], 'bu feng shi' [wind grasping form], and 'bao can shi' [destruction carrying form], all with very strong offensive power.

"This Dragon Claw skill is very well trained," Lu Zhangke called out, "Later on it will be very useful to dig a hole in the ground; no mistake about it."

"Shige," He Biweng replied, "Why do we need a hole in the ground?"

Lu Zhangke laughed, "That Miss Zhou is going to die; of course we need a hole to bury her!"