His opponent's power was inferior to his own; the flame poison from that claw strike could not penetrate deeper into his body. Although he had roughly guessed his opponent's realm from the way he had snuck in, after clashing and discerning his identity, Cui Feng's brows furrowed slightly.
'I know of about twelve Transformation Realm masters in the world today. Although Zhong Wusi was rumored to have died long ago, if compared to those twelve, he would definitely rank in the top six. His Ghost Flame is said to be cultivated from the ghost fire of a dead bone mud pool. If my power weren't superior to his, that poison gas would have already spread throughout my entire body…'
Standing on the tree branch, the black-clad night-prowler's eyes flashed repeatedly.
"Cui the Invincible's reputation is well-deserved. You recognized me in a single move and easily forced out the poison with your internal energy. Seeing you today, you truly live up to your name. As for why I'm here, I came to invite General Cui to be a guest for a few days. I have no other intention than to purely exchange insights on martial arts. For people like us, finding a worthy opponent is rare. We should spar more often and not be selfish with our knowledge!"
As the two conversed, Lin Yuxing and the Shi Ning couple had already dashed into the back courtyard. However, they stopped and did not immediately advance. At the same time, in the distance, figures flashed out of various rooms in the Duke's Manor, but no one made a sound, nor did anyone light any lamps.
Zhong Wusi couldn't help but praise them inwardly. "Strong generals have no weak soldiers. Even those servants didn't light any fires. It seems these servants are undoubtedly retired veterans." When attacked at night, the greatest fear is being exposed in the light of a candle, which makes one an easy target for archers.
"Invite me as a guest? To exchange martial arts insights? Hehehe, you finally couldn't hold back any longer. Seeing that the throne is about to be passed to the Crown Prince and announced to the world, you've decided on a last-ditch effort?"
Cui Feng said, sizing up the night-prowler with a look of ridicule. Zhong Wusi, however, wore a sincere expression, as if his intentions were genuine.
"What is General Cui talking about? I truly just want to invite you as a guest for a few days. How many masters of your caliber are there in this world? If we spar, it would be of immeasurable benefit to both of us!"
"Is that so? Very well. Why don't you, Brother Zhong, stay in my manor for a few days to discuss it?"
"This place won't do. The environment is too noisy. We can't focus on discussing martial arts. It would be more suitable to find a place in the wilderness."
"That works too! How about this: four days from now, I will wait for you, Brother Zhong, outside the city. You can choose a place, and I will be there as promised. What do you think?" Cui Feng's eyes lit up with a strange light, as if he were tempted.
"Four days from now? I can't stay in your Imperial Dynasty for too long. It wouldn't be good to cause unnecessary trouble. General Cui, you're not planning to inform my enemies, are you?" Zhong Wusi shook his head, a look of doubt in his eyes, as if he suspected Cui Feng of ulterior motives.
"Then there's nothing more to say. Brother Zhong, you should leave the way you came!" Cui Feng also shook his head, sneering inwardly. Both of them knew what this pointless talk was for—to observe each other's hidden deployments.
"Since it has come to this, I can only experience General Cui's prowess right now!" Zhong Wusi had also been testing Cui Feng's attitude. This old fellow was indeed the pillar of the Crown Prince's faction. Reliable news had come from the palace that the old emperor would announce the succession to the Crown Prince within four days. They could wait no longer.
"Experience my prowess? I think you're mistaken, Brother Zhong. I'm just a man who leads troops into battle. What prowess do I have to speak of? Yisheng, there's no need for you to stand by. Let's all spar with Brother Zhong together and witness the style of this foreign peerless master!"
Cui Feng shook his head with a smile, but his words held none of the so-called demeanor of a peerless master of the martial world. He called out to Lin Yuxing and the Shi Ning couple who were nearby.
As the words left his mouth, he stomped on the roof. A flash of light appeared in his hand as the longsword at his waist came out of its scabbard with a "clang!" Leaping into the air, a cold point of light shot towards Zhong Wusi's face. At the same time, Lin Yuxing and the other two, who had been watching like tigers from the side, pounced at Zhong Wusi on the tree.
A cold glint appeared in Zhong Wusi's eyes. He hadn't expected the world-renowned top expert, Cui Feng, to be so shameless as to not only call for a group attack but also be the first to draw his weapon. This was a first among all the famous heroes he had encountered in the past.
"You…" Zhong Wusi was momentarily speechless with anger.
Cui Feng didn't care. So what if his martial arts were superior? He had earned it through bitter cultivation. When facing an enemy, a quick victory was all that mattered. On the battlefield, there was no room for face.
Just now, Zhong Wusi had been sent flying, and Cui Feng had also been forced back. The tree Zhong Wusi was on was not far from the courtyard wall, and in fact, it was closer to Lin Yuxing and the other two.
Lin Yuxing, with a single motion of his hand at his waist—a lift, a buckle, a draw—a soft sword wrapped around his waist shot out like a venomous snake, stabbing upward from below towards Zhong Wusi's groin. The sword's body traced an irregular arc as it moved, its angle extremely difficult to track, a truly devious strike.
At the same time, two black glints shot out, one high and one low, aiming for Zhong Wusi's glabella and chest, flashing and disappearing in the night.
The Shi Ning couple also dashed to the base of the tree. They did not leap up, but instead sealed off Zhong Wusi's middle path, creating a three-pronged assault with Cui Feng's attack from above and Lin Yuxing's from below.
All four were figures who had long been famous in the martial world. With a single move, they had sealed all of Zhong Wusi's escape routes. He now had no choice but to face them head-on.
Although Zhong Wusi's own martial arts had reached the Transformation Realm, his strength was still a fair bit less than Cui Feng's alone. His reaction was incredibly swift. His hands reached back left and right. Then, pushing off the tree trunk with his feet, he brandished his hands in a blur of silver light before him and crashed backward toward the courtyard wall.
With two "clinks," the hidden weapons shot by the Shi Ning couple collided with the silver light, creating two sparks in the darkness. At the same time, Lin Yuxing's soft sword followed like a shadow, relentlessly pursuing Zhong Wusi's retreating body, stabbing toward his lower body without losing speed. The tip of the sword had already touched the cloth of his thigh.
Above Zhong Wusi's head, a fierce wind descended. The cold point of light was about to touch the top of his celestial crown. At this moment, his own weapon had just deflected the two hidden weapons, leaving him no time to block the other two attacks. The Shi Ning couple's power was only a notch below his. Zhong Wusi felt two powerful forces strike his arms, causing his body to momentarily falter. It was now half a beat too late to use his weapon to block the attacks from Cui Feng and Lin Yuxing.
If it were just Lin Yuxing's attack, he could have forcibly used the momentum from blocking the hidden weapon to lean back slightly and evade it. But his main enemy was not these three, but Cui Feng.
Cui Feng descended from above. Although his sword was aimed at his Baihui acupoint, Zhong Wusi could clearly feel that the entire ten-foot radius around him was enveloped by the sword's tip.
"Get down!" Cui Feng shouted. Just as his sword was about to touch the hairline on Zhong Wusi's head, he clearly saw that there was not a trace of panic in Zhong Wusi's eyes.
A sudden alarm blared in Cui Feng's mind. The descending sword abruptly changed direction, flicking diagonally backward.
With a crisp "ding!", Cui Feng felt a massive force transmit through the sword. Even with his strength, he felt a numbing ache in his sword arm. The longsword in his hand buzzed, and for a moment, he felt he might lose his grip. But Cui Feng's combat experience was immense. He used the force of the impact to plummet toward the ground.
At the same time, Lin Yuxing's attacking sword hit something with a "thwack," instantly changing the direction of his soft sword's attack.
Zhong Wusi, using the momentum from blocking the hidden weapons, crashed his back against the courtyard wall behind him. With a "BOOM!", bricks and stones flew as he unexpectedly escaped the four-man encirclement.
Lin Yuxing was stunned. His soft sword had struck a tree branch. It was clearly a branch that someone had casually snapped off and thrown, yet it had altered his attack path.
When Cui Feng landed, he slid several tens of feet before whirling around. At the spot where he had just landed, another "BOOM!" erupted. The hard stone pavement shattered, and countless small pebbles flew in all directions. A figure landed with a "thud."
In the moonlight, a person in a red cape stood, holding a large golden pestle with both hands, having just smashed it into the ground with incredible force. That person also looked up at Cui Feng and let out a soft "Yi?" He hadn't expected his sneak attack to fail. With Zhong Wusi completely drawing the enemy's attention, he had used all his power to sneak within fifteen feet of his target, yet it had still been ineffective.
What he didn't know was that it was Zhong Wusi's excessive calmness that had backfired.
The red-caped person's face was mostly hidden under the cape, making it impossible to see his features. The surprise in his eyes was not just from the failed sneak attack. He had attacked with the pestle held in both hands, while Cui Feng had only a single sword. And in his haste, Cui Feng had sensed the attack and only blocked it at an angle. Even with eighty percent of his power, he had failed to knock the longsword from his opponent's hand.
'This old fellow's power is so profound! He's even stronger than the intelligence reports suggested. He's been hiding his strength all this time. What an old fox!'
Cui Feng's aged eyes were fixed on the golden pestle. A searing heat was still rampaging through the meridians in his arm, which his profound art was rapidly suppressing.
'This is… the Profound Yellow Crimson Dragon Art! It's really him!'
As he carefully sensed that power, he had already guessed the opponent's identity. This was the person he had been waiting for, the one who was rumored to have been dead for forty years.
"Why hide your face any longer, Prince of the South!"
Although his opponent had disguised his martial art, Cui Feng's discerning eye could still see that his internal energy was the "Profound Yellow Crimson Dragon Art," which could only be cultivated by the imperial family. Even though his opponent had changed his weapon and mixed in other cultivation methods, making it seem like just a supreme yang internal art, it could not escape his perception.
"General Cui, you must have mistaken me for someone else!" an extremely hoarse voice came from under the red cape. Cui Feng had never heard this voice before; the person was deliberately concealing it.
Just then, with a rustle of clothes, Zhong Wusi flew back and landed not far from the red-caped person. He was holding a pair of ten-foot-long "Ghost Claws" forged from ebony steel.
"Kill!"
The red-caped person had no intention of wasting words. He swung the pestle horizontally and swept it directly at Cui Feng. Zhong Wusi also took a side step, his figure blurring as he circled to Cui Feng's side, a pair of Ghost Claws clawing at his back. They knew time was precious. After a brief pause, they launched their attack, completely ignoring Lin Yuxing and the Shi Ning couple as if they didn't exist.
Just as Lin Yuxing and the Shi Ning couple were about to step forward to help, several strange, owl-like cackles suddenly echoed in the night sky. The sound of something tearing through the air came from the front of the Duke's Manor. At the same time, the shouts of Song Duan and Tong Buyou were heard.
"Dastardly thief, where do you think you're going!"