Eighteen Myth Realm martial artists were already really difficult to deal with. Besides, Tsao Suiyan's strength was unfathomable as well. He was even stronger than Cao Huaian and Mo Yan, and he might very well be in the dao of heaven. No matter how he looked at it, it was a certain death situation.
"Don't be hasty…"
No matter what, Phantasmal Shadow was once the leader of the strongest sect in the Chinese plains. She had faced far too many hardsh.i.p.s, and she had even managed to survive through Wild Wolves' invasion into the Chinese plains. She could already remain calm in the face of any danger. Hence, even if she faced Tsao Suiyan, she still remained calm. She coolly comforted her tower members.
"Let's see what he says.
At the same time…
Tsao Suiyan was the strongest commander of the Embroidered Uniform Guards. He had a lot of authority, and this was very prevalent with the way he managed to make the Embroidered Uniform Guards march forward like an army and easily have them leave the borders into the desert. It was clear that Tsao Suiyan had a very special position in court.
Thud thud thud thud…
Ever since Tsao Suiyan appeared with a group of Myth Realm elites, Cao Huaian and the others did not even dare breathe loudly. They drew closer to each other while remaining in formation. Then, while they focused their attention on Tsao Suiyan. The high official whose influence stretched to the whole of the imperial court raised his head, and his expression was cold and indifferent.
Once Tsao Suiyan entered the stage, the Embroidered Uniform Guard 1000-Embroidered Uniform Guard commanders slowly rode forth.
"Sir!"
"..."
Tsao Suiyan did not even look at them. He just looked at the wanted criminals in the middle of the crowd.
"Is Cao Huaian here?"
Cao Huaian frowned in the crowd. But he still smiled and took two steps forward.
"I am Cao Huaian."
Tsao Suiyan sat on his steed with an arrogant expression. He looked at Cao Huaian askance. "You're the one who interfered with the Embroidered Uniform Guards' affairs multiple times, and also the one who stole the descendants of the criminal Yu Qian from us."
"Criminal?"
Cao Huaian laughed loudly. "Yu Qian served the country and the people. He is loyal. What crime did he commit?"
"He interfered with the affairs of the imperial court and prevented the Embroidered Uniform Guards from enforcing the law. That is his crime."
"Commander Tsao, when you say someone has committed a crime, then they will have committed a crime, right?" Even when he faced Tsao Suiyan, Cao Huaian continued to maintain his bold demeanor. His words were mocking.
"How preposterous!"
No emotion could be detected on Tsao Suiyan's face, but the 1000-Embroidered Uniform Guard commanders beside him glared at Cao Huaian, and he cracked his whip against him.
The 1000-Embroidered Uniform Guard commanders were at Myth Realm. When that Embroidered Uniform Guard cracked his whip, he moved as quickly as lightning. The whip instantly appeared in front of Cao Huaian.
Clang!
Mo Yan was the one who drew his sword, and he positioned his sword horizontally to block the attack for Cao Huaian. Cao Huaian did not even blink. He just stared at Tsao Suiyan with a calm smile.
"I am just a commoner. I just don't want to see all the good officials being killed by evil people. I am really ill at ease that I wasn't able to save Yu Qian, so the only thing I can do is to save the good official's descendants from the claws and jaws of monsters."
His words finally caused Tsao Suiyan's ever indifferent expression to change slightly. His gaze froze a little.
"So, his son and daughter are both in your hands right now?" Finally, he got to the point.
"You are… right," Cao Huaian spoke with a drawl, and there was a faint smile on his face.
Cao Huaian believed that after he dragged this out for so long, his friends on the other side should have already brought Yu Qian's son and daughter three miles away.
What they needed to do was to buy even more time, because the more time they bought, the higher the chances of Yu Qian's son and daughter surviving would be.
However, Tsao Suiyan only swept his gaze coolly in the crowd, but he did not say another sentence. He just said to the person beside him, "They're stalling for time. Alright, then, send a mid-sized group over and search through every nook and cranny. Find those people and bring them to me whether dead or alive."
His final sentence was spoken coldly and firmly, and it completely shattered the last hope in Cao Huaian and his group's hearts.
"Kill them!"
"Damn it, we're going to die either way, so why are we still wasting time talking to them?!"
Before Cao Huaian took action, someone in the group was unable to hold himself back, and he was the first to charge forward.
"Kill them! Everyone, attack together!"
The person who spoke was clearly someone from Niu Dali's sect. With one shout, around eight people took action. The sand under their feet sank down, and like arrows fired from bows, they charged in all directions.
"Hmph!"
Almost at the same time, a cold snort that sounded as mighty as thunder entered the people's ears.
The eight people who charged into multiple directions froze in the air.
Clang!
Tsao Suiyan reached out to an Embroidered Uniform Guard by his side and drew the saber on his waist with a reverse grip. With his other hand, he clamped down on the saber with two fingers, and the Refined Hundredfold Saber that was created based on the standards of the imperial court was shattered to pieces.
Whoosh! Whoosh!
He flung his arm, and dozens of shards from that Refined Hundredfold Saber charged forward like fatal hidden weapons. With piercing sounds, they shot in every direction.
The entire process of him drawing the saber, crushing it, and flinging them forward was done in one breath. The entire process was completed so fast that they could not react to it on time.
Silver Wolf, Phantasmal Shadow, and the others found their visions blur. Dozens of cold, snow-white glares accurately pierced into the eight Stained Shirt Sect members' bodies.
Thud! Thud!
The eight Stained Shirt Sect members froze up in the air because of Tsao Suiyan's voice. Then, they had their bodies pierced through by multiple shards.
Thud thud…
These eight people crashed back into the crowd, and pools of blood flowed out under them. At the moment they crashed on the ground, they had already been reduced into eight lifeless corpses.
At the moment he attacked, he ended eight people's lives, and this act alone intimidated the entire crowd.
The people who were originally restless instantly stopped moving.
That included Phantasmal Shadow and her group. Their pupils shrank, and after they sent a signal, they stopped their urge to break out of the encirclement together. At the same time, the group moved their attention to Cao Huaian. Over here, only Cao Huaian and Mo Yan, who were at the peak of Myth Realm, could stand a slight chance against Tsao Suiyan, who was in the dao of heaven.
Niu Dali's face turned livid with rage.
He lost eight of his people in one go, and he only had two ineffective fighters left. He had already completely lost the right and chance to compete against the orders. Even his chances of surviving and breaking out was slim to none.
As for Tsao Suiyan, he was in the dao of heaven, and he had the power to kill countless people in the world in his hands. With just a raise of his hand, he killed eight people, and he looked as if he had just done something incredibly insignificant.
He cast an indifferent glance at Cao Huaian and the remaining people. He tossed away the saber hilt in his hands, and he quirked his grayish white eyebrows.
"Yu Qian's son and daughter will not be able to escape from my guards. Once the two children's corpses come to me, I will behead them right in front of you and bring them back to the cap
ital. I will place them next to Yu Qian's head."
When he heard this, Cao Huaian and Mo Yan had their expressions change.
Silver Wolf had been paying attention to the changes in these two people's expressions since the beginning. When he noticed the anger in their eyes, he knew that they were about to not be able to hold their anger in.
They were going to attack.
Silver Wolf discreetly sent a signal to Knife, Bar, and Thunder. Their expressions became solemn, and they nodded at each other. They knew that once swords were drawn, they would have to fight for their lives.
People in the dao of heaven were very s.e.n.s.i.t.i.v.e to qi activity.
The subtle changes in the group instantly caught Tsao Suiyan's attention. He moved his hand slightly, and the Embroidered Uniform Guards around him leisurely lifted the crossbows in their hands.
About one thousand crossbow bolts were instantly locked on Cao Huaian and his group.
At the same time, the eighteen Myth Realm guards circulated their qi. They looked down on Cao Huaian and his group, and they were murderous.
A 1000-Embroidered Uniform Guard commander strode to Tsao Suiyan's side, and he lifted an incredibly long black sword high in the air.
Clang!
A long w.h.i.n.e rose, and the sword was unsheathed.
Since they were in a hot desert, at the moment the sword was unsheathed, Cao Huaian and his group sensed a chill charging at them from Tsao Suiyan, along with an unparalleled might.
The aggressive power from a martial artist in the dao of heaven instantly crushed the fighting spirit and courage that had just risen from the players.
Their breathing froze.
Cao Huaian and his group might not have moved, but as the commander of the Embroidered Uniform Guards took action, the hostility in the air became even stronger, and it was so tense that it seemed like a fight was about to break out at any moment.
A bead of cold sweat rolled down Cao Huaian's forehead.
Drip!
Sweat fell on the yellow sand.
Then, as if some sort of strange domino effect was triggered, the sand started sinking. Soon, multiple layers of sand sank. Almost immediately afterward, it was as if the entire desert had started shaking at this moment.
Even Tsao Suiyan felt the desert under his feet swiftly falling. His steed sank down.
"Neigh!"
The originally stern situation instantly became chaotic. Thousands of horses neighed, and quite a number of horses sank into the flowing sand. The entire scene looked incredibly bizarre.
Chapter 1189 - Getting Out of Danger
"What's going on?"
"Why is there quicksand here?!"
The quicksand seemed to have started to appear right underneath Cao Huaian and his group. Then, it swiftly became bigger. In an instant, it spread under a large number of Embroidered Uniform Guards. The quicksand spread at a speed that no one could escape from, and it just continued expanding. In an instant, it caused everyone to feel uneasy.
Quite a number of people cried out in surprise as they tried to make their horses run out of the quicksand.
But they were facing the might of nature itself. While they were trapped by quicksand, even martial artists would have a hard time trying to run. Hence, normal horses would have an even harder time trying to get away.
All sorts of neighing sounds rose and fell. Many of the horses struggled, but the more they struggled, the more they sank.
As for Cao Huaian and his group, since they had no steeds, they had to execute their lightness skills, and things were easier for them.
Using this chance, Cao Huaian sent a message to them.
"Heaven itself is helping us! Slaughter our way out and be careful of Tsao Suiyan!"
"Alright!"
Phantasmal Shadow, Silver Wolf, and the others had long since been unable to wait. When they heard this, they quickly drew their weapons and followed Cao Huaian as well as Mo Yan to break out of the encirclement from the left in one go.
The group of Embroidered Uniform Guards could not care about Cao Huaian and his rebels because of the shock in their horses. At that moment, when they faced the ambush from the player party and the rebels, they could not even form any organized resistance. They were quickly swept down their horses by Mo Yan, who led the charge and attacked them with his quicksword.
"Let's go!"
Mo Yan turned his head around and shouted at them. He was just in time to see Tsao Suiyan crush another longsword in the chaos. The dancing shards shot through Cao Huaian's shoulder. At the same time, it shot down around ten players behind him. The players fell on the ground, and in an instant, they were devoured by the aggressive quicksand.
Cao Huaian and the others clearly overlooked something.
The normal Embroidered Uniform Guards were largely weakened after their horses were shocked. Their advantage in numbers turned into their greatest weakness, but the eighteen hidden guards among the Embroidered Uniform Guards and Tsao Suiyan never panicked.
During the sudden disaster, Tsao Suiyan attacked and eliminated more than twenty careless players, around ten in each attack. Among his victims were Niu Dali. All of them were shot by those fragments and fell into the quicksand.
"Take down these rebels!"
After crushing two sabers, Tsao Suiyan jumped up from his steed. His gentle voice was fused with the awe-inspiring might of a leader, which was formed over a long period of time, and it traveled into each Embroidered Uniform Guards' ears.
"Understood!"
The eighteen hidden guards shot toward Tsao Suiyan and the group like arrows fired from their bows.
The Embroidered Uniform Guards around them started giving up their steeds. They ignored everything and charged toward Cao Huaian.
"This is bad!"
Phantasmal Shadow, Silver Wolf, and his group managed to save Cao Huaian, but in an instant, they were surrounded by the Embroidered Uniform Guards. Pressure pushed down on them continuously from all sides, and their expressions changed.
"Leave me here. I'll hold Tsao Suiyan back."
At that moment, a black figure suddenly charged out of the yellow sand beneath Tsao Suiyan and shot into the air. The dazzling saber glare turned into a blinding flash under the desert sun.
The Embroidered Uniform Guards under the saber glare and Tsao Suiyan were both caught off guard. The powerful light pierced into their eyes, and they closed them.
"Protect the commander!"
The two hidden guards closest to Tsao Suiyan turned around instantly.
The black shadow who rushed out of the yellow sand was the employee who scr.a.p.ed meat out of bones from Dragon Gate Inn. In the movies, this person's slash reduced Tsao Suiyan's hands and feet into mere skeletons, and he was reduced to a cripple because of it.
But at that moment, Tsao Suiyan clearly would not let him get his way so easily.
Young Wu, the one in charge of scraping meat off bones, had to change his attack spontaneously because of the appearance of the hidden guards. Suddenly, with loud, clanging sounds, he spun like a wheel and got in between these two people's attack trajectory.
"Ah!"
"My hands!"
"My legs!"
Tsao Suiyan's fate in the movies was now divided between these two hidden guards. While pained wails rose, they were flung to the left and right of the ground.
However, Young Wu did not have an easy time either. Since he faced two Myth Realm elites, he was hit with three slashes from a saber and two slashes from a sword. He lost his balance and fell on the ground. Both sides ended up being injured badly.
At that moment, a shocking scene appeared.
This area was originally a sand hill, but now, the entire circular area of three-tenths of a mile was reduced to a huge basin. The center of the region sank by 656 feet. Countless steeds neighed in shock and pain. It seemed like they could no longer turn the tides, and no one could possibly save them.
Boom!
A b
loody shower suddenly exploded from among these thousands of war horses who were given up by the Embroidered Uniform Guards.
Short and devastated neighs rose. Countless Embroidered Uniform Guards felt a great, terrifying, aggressive, and brutal presence rose from beneath him. They stopped moving and turned their gazes to the side to look at the center of the quicksand. They were just in time to see more than one hundred war horses being cut apart by a snow-white saber glare. In an instant, it tore the horses apart into cube-shaped flesh.
A bloody shower was thrown into the air. It formed a sticky looking and terrifying bloody fog. A built, blood-red figure with an awe-inspiring figure charged into the air, and in an instant, countless pairs of eyes were trained on him.
"This is…"
In an instant, the Embroided Uniform Guards found themselves at a loss for words.
Not only had this person killed hundreds of war horses in the pit in one go, after he charged into the air, his body remained suspended in the air in a miraculous fashion. He looked down at the world, and his presence as someone who stood above all else in terms of strength caused countless people to feel their hearts tremble.
Even the commander of the Embroidered Uniform Guards, Tsao Suiyan gave up on continuing to pursue Cao Huaian and his group at that moment. He stopped and had his prideful demeanor fall away. He frowned and stared at the swordsman in black who appeared in the air.
With just one glance, Tsao Suiyan's gaze suddenly landed on the golden divine weapon in the swordsman's hands.
"Tiger Soul…"
As expected of an important official in the court. He had countless resources available to him. Naturally, he could tell with just one glance that the long weapon with a spine attached to it and was releasing a brutal as well as astonishing presence under the sun was the legendary divine weapon, Tiger Soul.
"When Tiger Soul reappears, all manner of life will be slain!
"What?"
"That's Tiger Soul?"
Cao Huaian and his group of people were also shocked by the image behind them. They stopped moving and stared in shock at the black dot who looked like a demon in the air. "Who is that person?"
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