Chapter 47 - 45: Battle in the Wilderness! Black Gold Glovesll
From the depths of darkness, the tips of arrows flickered with a cold light, like meteors streaking across the sky, violently shooting towards Su Changkong!
Having reached the pinnacle of the Divine Strength Realm, Su Changkong had undergone a metamorphosis and further cultivated his Inner Strength, unlocking his body’s potential and making his senses exquisitely sharp. The moment he heard the sound of the crossbows, his body instinctively dodged.
“Pfft, pfft, pfft!”
Seven or eight arrows, some grazing by Su Changkong’s body, disappeared into the darkness with their inertia, flying nearly a hundred meters before falling to the ground, while others struck trees, their heads embedding into the trunks, the fletching quivering.
An ambush, an attack—it was aimed at taking his life!
“ZhaoQing!” In an instant, Su Changkong’s eyes flashed with a bone-chilling murderous intent, and a surge of anger boiled in his heart.
How could Su Changkong not understand that this was undoubtedly Zhao Qing’s doing? He had refused to join his sect, and now the man had set an ambush for him in retribution?
Zhao Qing had purchased the crafted crossbows from Su Changkong, only to turn them against him! How could this not enrage Su Changkong?
“Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh!”
Before Su Changkong could ponder any further, a series of whistling sounds rang out from the darkness on the other side, as several arrows shot towards where he was.
Su Changkong had personally crafted these crossbows, aware of their shooting speed and range.
Five Animal Frolics. Deer Play!
Employing the extremely nimble Deer Play from the Five Animal Frolics, Su Changkong’s body moved in fluid twists and turns, leaving behind afterimages as he dodged the arrows—some by a wide margin, others by mere inches.
Only because Su Changkong had reached the pinnacle of the Divine Strength Realm and his strength and speed were several times beyond those of an ordinary person, could he evade so nimbly. Had it been a Strength Refinement or Inner Strength Martial Artist, even with preparation, their speed and reaction would not have been quick enough to avoid the swift bolts!
“Go!”
Su Changkong had sold a total of 18 crossbows to Zhao Qing. He had kept an eye on the number of incoming arrows, which matched, and he knew that crossbows were easier to use than bows but had a lower range and rate of fire compared to a skilled archer.
Based on Su Changkong’s calculations, even a proficient shooter would need about five seconds to reload, which meant that the archers had fired all their arrows and were now in a firepower vacuum. With this time, Su Changkong could fully escape the ambush.
The enemy lurks in darkness, I stand in the light, escape is the best strategy!
Su Changkong sprinted in the opposite direction, knowing that ordinary people had a hard time killing someone in the Divine Strength Realm. The disparity in speed and strength was the main reason. If a Divine Strength Realm Martial Artist wanted to escape, so long as they were not surrounded, getting away was not a problem!
“Huff!”
But just as Su Changkong darted several meters away, a green figure soared towards him from the side, its speed extremely fast. Mid-flight, the figure’s right fist swung down furiously, bringing with it a whooshing sound as it cleaved through the air.
Not daring to be careless, Su Changkong gathered his strength and unleashed a heavy Divine Power punch toward the green figure.
“Bang!”
When the fists collided, the air burst with a sound like firecrackers, and Su Changkong felt a burst of pain in his fist, as if it had struck metal.
On closer inspection, the green figure wore a pair of exquisitely designed metal gauntlets.
The green figure was also shaken back a step or two. Strength, speed, they were evenly matched, both in the Divine Strength Realm!
“ZhaoQing?”
Under the guise of Ghost Face, Su Changkong’s face turned ice cold as he saw that the person blocking him was none other than Zhao Qing, wearing a pure white mask and clad in green robes.
Having just rejected Zhao Qing’s offer to join his sect, Su Changkong encountered an ambush not long after leaving, it was clear Zhao Qing had premeditated this!
Zhao Qing stared at Su Changkong and said calmly, “Ghost Face, I’ll give you one more chance. Join our sect, and you can save your life. In the future, you’ll have a bright future ahead!”
The first time Zhao Qing encountered Su Changkong, who was selling crossbows, he followed Su Changkong with ill intent. However, Su Changkong swiftly and decisively killed several martial artists of considerable strength, making Zhao Qing wary of confronting him head-on. This caused him to change his mind and purchase the crossbows from Su Changkong with money instead.
Zhao Qing’s idea was simple: buy the weapons from Su Changkong first, then try to invite him to join the sect. If the other party agreed, it would be a happy outcome for all. If not, then he would arrange for his subordinates to deal with Su Changkong using those weapons!
Today, Su Changkong had refused to join the sect, and would likely choose to not trade with him in the future. Therefore, Zhao Qing decided to take action. His money wasn’t so easy to take!
“The human heart is unpredictable!” Su Changkong silently lamented. He knew Zhao Qing was not a kind person, but to so ruthlessly kill the donkey after it finished turning the millstone was quite immoral.
“Fine, I am willing to join your sect.” Su Changkong’s mind raced, but he verbally agreed to join the other party’s sect, accepting for now, and planning to find a way out later.
Zhao Qing was no fool and naturally knew Su Changkong was just making a perfunctory promise due to the circumstances.
“Swallow this pill, and we are brothers of the same sect.”
Zhao Qing flipped his hand and tossed a pill the size of the tip of a thumb towards Su Changkong while he spoke.
Su Changkong caught it in his hand. The pill was pitch black, and he couldn’t detect any scent, but he didn’t need to guess to know it was a poison pill used for controlling people.
“Sigh…” Su Changkong sighed, looking resigned.
But suddenly, Su Changkong channeled True Qi into the pill, flicked it powerfully with his finger, and with a crisp breaking sound, propelled by both his strength and True Qi, the pill shot towards Zhao Qing’s face like a bullet!
Su Changkong would not let someone else control his destiny.
Zhao Qing too did not expect a master like Su Changkong to comply easily; his actions were only to buy time for his hidden subordinates to reload their crossbows.
Zhao Qing dodged the pill shot at his face!
Iron Cutting Blade Technique, Horizontal Chop!
With his left hand on the sword sheath and his right hand on the hilt, Su Changkong infused the Waist Strike Style Iron Cutting Blade Technique, fiercer and more violent than before. Amid a “clang” of metal friction, a semicircular, chilling flash of the blade appeared and vanished in an instant, aimed at Zhao Qing to cleave him in two!
“Good!”
Zhao Qing let out a wild laugh. Ordinary people could only brace for death against such a stunning strike from Su Changkong, but as a high-level martial artist, Zhao Qing bent his fingers and reached for the blade with both hands.
To grab a blade with bare hands was something not even a master of external strength would dare to do carelessly, but Zhao Qing’s hands were covered with a pair of black metallic gloves.
“Clang!”
Amid the sound of metal striking metal, Zhao Qing’s metallic gloves, made of some unknown material, withstood Su Changkong’s blade that could split iron and gold—it didn’t manage to cut through Zhao Qing’s gloves!
Zhao Qing clamped down on the Iron-Cutting Sword, but swiftly retreated before Su Changkong could exert his strength and break free.
“Whiz, whiz, whiz!”
In a succession of wooshing sounds, arrows shot out from the darkness in the distance. The hidden crossbowmen had already reloaded their bolts and launched an attack on Su Changkong the moment Zhao Qing drew back.
“Cling, cling, cling!”
Su Changkong, agile as a Spirit Deer, dodged while using the Iron-Cutting Sword in his hand to deflect the arrows, surviving this round of attacks!