Capítulo 20: Chapter 19 Fairy_1

In the gloomy, bluish space, a knife and a sword were confronting each other.

Wu Zaigu felt like a leopard facing a poisonous snake, clearly capable of tearing it apart with one swipe, but unsure if he could evade its dying bite.

The poison was all the more potent.

He continued to probe. The two had already exchanged five or six moves in an instant, but their knife and sword had not clashed once — in fact, as soon as there was a clash, Pei Ye would lose. Wu Zaigu dared not risk his own life to attack, precisely because he couldn't predict his opponent's sword.

If Wu Zaigu was merely feeling challenged at the moment, Pei Ye was practically walking on thin ice. To duel with such an opponent went beyond requiring his full attention, in fact, he was already mentally stretched to the brink. There were several instances where he was unable to react in time and had to rely on instinct to fend off the enemy with his sword.

The opponent was simply too fast.

Pei Ye knew he was running out of time. Because of physical strength, mental spirit, and inferiority across all aspects, he couldn't possibly hold on forever. As soon as he failed to react, he would instantly become decapitated.

Compared to his adversary, he was more eager to break the deadlock.

Wu Zaigu launched another attack, this time attempting to strike from above.

But just as he was about to leap, Pei Ye sprang up violently, his sword cutting through like flying snow, and accurately anticipating the prickly motion of his leap.

However, such anticipation proved uneventful for those filled with True Qi, Wu Zaigu shifted his stance calmly, but once again, he had no answer for this sword, hence he had no choice but dodge.

This time, Pei Ye would not relent; he took over the offensive. The subsequent sword strike came at an even faster pace, followed by the third, then the fourth. His physical strength was draining rapidly, but Pei Ye fought on more fiercely.

Pei Ye was learning fast. He felt he was about to grasp the sword style.

Pei Ye had always known, the swordsmanship used to fend off Wu Zaigu, was merely form without substance.

During the two years of practicing Grandfather Yue's "Snow Night Wild Goose Swordsmanship", he had been making progress, but he never really mastered even a single move.

Ever since he realized "he hasn't truly mastered it", every time he practices, he felt he was getting closer to really understanding it, but it always felt like a mirage.

Until today, within a hair's breadth, he drew his sword to repel that overwhelming knife strike, the sensation of death nearing his throat and retreating instantly caused him to break out in a cold sweat. At the same time, his understanding of the swordsmanship soared, giving him a feeling of sudden enlightenment.

He didn't hesitate to release his sword continuously, pursuing that glimmer of enlightenment and that sliver of lifeline.

If he could master this move, he would truly be able to pierce through his enemy's throat!

This was a gamble – whether he could seize the swordsmanship right before his eyes first, or if his opponent could devise a method against him first.

The two were moving tumultuously in the basement. As time passed, the situation began to shift disadvantageously for Pei Ye. He continued to strike with his sword, failing to capture that glimmer of enlightenment, but his physical strength and spirit were indeed being consumed rapidly.

Wu Zaigu also keenly sensed Pei Ye's increasingly slower sword strikes. Finally, after evading yet another strike, he vibrated the True Qi on his feet abruptly, leapt forward suddenly, and launched a surprise knife strike unprepared to connect Pei Ye's consecutive strike, hence Pei Ye had no choice but dodged hurriedly and retreated.

Pei Ye's heart sank.

Once the opponent attempts to strike without feeling enough deterrence, he had lost the means to hold the opponent in check.

Now he could only defend and not attack.

Pei Ye was caught in a predicament, but Wu Zaigu suddenly thought of a way to eliminate the poisonous snake in front of him.

Wu Zaigu glanced at the burning blue flames, gave Pei Ye a sinister smile, lifted his skirt of clothes, and prepared to cut it off.

A foreboding feeling surfaced in Pei Ye's heart, but before he could figure out what he wanted to do, a bizarre howl broke out in the basement, interrupting their standoff.

Pei Ye turned his head. What he saw was an unforgettable scene.

Lao Xiang, unbeknownst to all, had crawled to the altar.

The bronze cup containing the "Immortal Water" had fallen to the ground. In its mystic blue radiance, a monster was continuously twisting, transforming, and growing.

It was Lao Xiang. His body stretched unnaturally long, nearly touching the ceiling. His flesh sprouted blue scales, appearing as if his withered yellow skin was being swallowed by shadow. His clothes were torn apart by black bone spikes. Blood gushed continuously, soaking the floor as his hands and feet morphed into sharp claws.

He lifted a face of agony, peering at them through eyes gradually turning gold.

Indeed, over ten feet tall, indeed clad in armor, indeed commanding such awe.

Now, Pei Ye finally understood where the elusive "monster" came from.

Uncle Lin was killed by his beloved daughter's venomous bite.

"Pei... young master, don't be scared... I'm... becoming an immortal... I'm here... to... help you..." In his peculiar tone, as if struggling to form the words, he finished speaking and then let out a terrifying roar. He lunged straight at Wu Zaigu.

But Wu Zaigu was already prepared. The moment he saw the change, he pointed his blade towards the aberration without hesitation. The blade that couldn't touch Pei Ye finally demonstrated its true power.

Lao Xiang's outstretched arm was cleanly severed as if it were a wooden pole. His blade maintained its momentum, cleaving into his chest and throwing him back over ten feet.

Pei Ye looked at the severed arm on the ground. The flesh inside was still human-like red, but the bone was dyed in blue. Pei Ye suspected that if the transformation of the bone had been completed, the sword wouldn't have been so devastatingly effective.

Yet, Lao Xiang's chest wasn't split in half: the bones inside remained blue. Pei Ye saw that other parts of his human skin were still somewhat preserved, but his throat was already covered in scales.

...He still knew to protect his vital parts.

Although all kinds of thoughts were running wild in Pei's mind, he couldn't waste such an opportunity. He immediately brandished his sword and attacked Wu Zaigu from the side.

At this moment, Wu Zaigu had just repelled Lao Xiang, but he didn't follow through with another attack. Instead, he turned towards the altar. Suddenly, he heard the whoosh of wind from the side and was startled. Wu Zaigu hadn't expected Pei Ye to attack at this moment. He quickly leaped aside to dodge and furiously shouted, "Looking for death!"

Lao Xiang attacked again right after, even more ferociously despite losing an arm. Wu Zaigu struggled to evade in time and could only block with his blade, his arm getting slightly numb from the impact. Pei Ye did not let up either, relentlessly attacking with one quick swoop of the sword after another, maximizing the use of his remaining strength to deny Wu Zaigu any chance to catch a breath.

Wu Zaigu was sandwiched from both sides, peril everywhere. He had to make a choice - to accept the Frost ghost's claws or withstand half a strike from Pei Ye.

Dodging Pei Ye's sword, he faced Lao Xiang's sharp claws whistling through the wind. He raised his already injured left arm to block, taking the blow head-on.

At the same moment, Wu Zaigu focused his True Qi into his right-hand blade and shouted. He drew a half circle in the air that could cut through even iron.

The vicious and monstrous dark body was almost fragile before his sword. It hit the wall and fell, its body split from the right shoulder to the left waist.

Lao Xiang fell to the floor, no longer howling. His right eye had almost completely turned gold, while his left one, still human, bulged out in pain, filled with madness. Soon, scales grew over it, hiding the twitching human flesh and turning this eye gold as well.

Its expression seemed indifferent and calm. It lifted its broken arm and looked at it. The flesh at the severed part was beginning to grow slowly.

Only then did Pei Ye realize that the terrifying roar was not from the monster, but from Lao Xiang. And the Lao Xiang who knew to help him, who would scream with pain, had been completely devoured by the monster.

It tried to stand up, but its nearly paralyzed upper body couldn't provide any support.

'This monster... is not as strong as I imagined. Or was Lao Xiang originally too weak?'

Wu Zaigu paid no more attention to it, instead he slowly turned to face Pei Ye. He shook his long blade and said coldly: "Now, let's finish our fight."

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