Chapter 15: Breakthrough, Shooting and Killing Ji Ling

  Ji Ling drew her sword and stood tall on horseback, exuding an aura of fearlessness in the face of death.

  Zhou Cang's dark face broke into a cold smile, revealing a row of pearly white teeth. He raised his golden-backed knife in his right hand and held it horizontally across his chest, exuding an aura as still and imposing as a mountain range. His eyes gleaming with intensity, Zhou Cang gazed at Ji Ling, his eyes burning with an unyielding fighting spirit.

  Pei Yuanshao brandished his wolf-tooth club, and in an instant he was like a ferocious lone wolf, staring at Ji Ling as if ready to tear him to shreds at any moment.

  Wang Can saw the three people standing opposite each other, and his tongue licked his dry, cracked lips.

  Damn it, these three guys are really not easy to deal with. I'd better retreat first. Wang Can's footsteps shifted slightly, and his body retreated out of the combat circle, standing twenty meters away.

  Ji Ling's three-pointed, two-edged knife was extraordinary, with a blade that split into three branches in the shape of a mountain character. The middle branch was slightly higher and shaped like a sword, while the two wing branches were slightly lower. Both sides had blades, and they were extremely sharp. At the back end of the handle, there was a triangular iron pommel. The knife body was eight feet seven inches long, over two meters in length. If Ji Ling swung his knife with all his might, everything within five meters around him would be within his attack range. Adding to that, Pei Yuanshao used wolf-tooth clubs and Zhou Cang used golden-backed great knives; the three of them took turns fighting fiercely. Wang Can had to stand far away, or else he wouldn't just affect Zhou Cang and Pei Yuanshao, but also be threatened by Ji Ling.

  "Kill"

  Ji Ling's right foot stepped forward fiercely, grasping the three-pointed double-edged knife, and swung his battle knife towards Zhou Cang.

  Zhou Cang and Pei Yuanshao exchanged a glance, nodded in unison, and charged towards Ji Ling with their weapons at the ready. Zhou Cang wielded his golden-backed great blade, slashing through the air with a sharp whistling sound, while Pei Yuanshao swung his wolf-tooth club, unleashing a powerful strike that cleaved through the air and bore down on Ji Ling.

  "Ding~Ding~~Ding~~~~"

  Ji Ling, however, was a master of the art, with a bold and daring spirit. With his three-pointed twin-bladed knife, he first stabbed at Zhou Cang's golden broadsword, then suddenly pulled it to the side, causing Zhou Cang's sword to lose its aim. Ji Ling's knife did not stop there, immediately stabbing towards Pei Yuanshao's wolf-tooth club. The tip of the three-pointed twin-bladed knife pierced through the wolf-tooth club's wolf-shaped spike, instantly changing the club's trajectory. With a whistling sound, the wolf-tooth club flashed past Ji Ling's side, barely missing him.

  Zhou Cang let out a cold snort, his hand holding the golden-backed great blade thrust forward, then instantly drew back, the golden-backed great blade spinning around in a flash. The blade tip aimed at Ji Ling, a streak of knife light flashed by, and shot straight towards Ji Ling's chest.

  "Hum, a group of shameless people, I will slaughter you like killing chickens and cows!"

  Ji Ling's nose flared with a low hum, and her eyes revealed endless killing intent.

  He wielded the trident dagger with swift and deadly precision, its blades flashing up and down like a dragon soaring through the sea or a venomous snake spitting its venom. The cold glint of steel emanated from the dagger as Zhou Cang and Pei Yuanshao took turns engaging Ji Ling in an unrelenting battle.

  Wang Can stood in the distance, his eyes gleaming.

  After a long time, Wang Cai saw that the situation between the two sides had become stalemate. He calmly took out a black bow and arrow from his quiver behind his back, strung it on the bowstring, and aimed at Ji Ling. In an instant, Wang Cai's whole demeanor changed, like a hawk hiding in the dark, ready to pounce on its prey at any moment. His bow and arrow were aimed at Ji Ling, his eyes narrowed slightly, waiting for the best opportunity.

  "Hmm~~~"

  The bowstring vibrated, Wang Can grabbed Zhou Cang and Pei Yuanshao stood on one side, Ji Ling stood on the other side for an instant, decisively released the bow and arrow in his hand, the bow and arrow pierced through the air, instantly rushing towards Ji Ling's chest.

  Ji Ling's three-pointed, double-edged knife was about to chop towards Pei Yuanshao when he suddenly felt a sense of danger rising in his heart. He raised his head and saw a black arrow shooting straight at him from the front. His eyebrows furrowed, these despicable mountain bandits were actually firing sneak shots! A cold glint flashed across Ji Ling's eyes as he swung his three-pointed, double-edged knife into a semicircle. The war knife accurately chopped down on the arrow, splitting it in two in an instant.

  Ji Ling's bow and arrow were cut off, but her face suddenly changed color.

  Because the bow and arrow were split in two, but the arrowhead continued to fly towards his chest. Although it was slightly off target, the enormous force of the arrowhead still managed to severely injure Ji Ling after hitting him.

  Ji Ling suddenly retreated backward, his war knife chopping forward once again, instantly knocking the arrowhead flying.

  Zhou Cang and Pei Yuanshao were both masters of the battlefield, with a precise grasp of opportunity. Seeing Ji Ling being affected by Wang Can's bow and arrow in an instant, they simultaneously took action. Zhou Cang's golden-backed great knife slowly chopped forward, its momentum slow but releasing a fierce and sharp blade aura from the war knife. To Zhou Cang's left, Pei Yuanshao's dark face sneered with laughter as his wolf-toothed club struck out in tandem, wrapped around the momentum of Mount Tai, like Mount Tai pressing down on Ji Ling's head.

  "Despicable~~"

  Ji Ling cursed under his breath, barely dodging the sneak attack of arrows from the shadows. He then encountered Zhou Cang's golden-backed great knife slashing towards his chest, while a wolf-toothed club wrapped in immense power came crashing down on him from above. His expression turned grave as he shifted his body to one side and retreated, narrowly avoiding Pei Yuanshao's wolf-toothed club. Although retreating backwards allowed him to dodge the golden-backed great knife, Zhou Cang was relentless, pressing forward with his body, swinging the golden-backed great knife upwards in a sweeping motion.

  Pei Yuanshao also swung his wolf-toothed club and struck Ji Ling.

  Ji Ling's body was unstable, and he had no choice but to continue retreating while also dodging Pei Yuanshao's wolf-tooth club.

  "Hmph!"

  The golden-backed great sword cut through Ji Ling's armor, tearing apart the clothes he wore on his body, and left a bloody mark on his left shoulder.

  Ji Ling's body jerked, facing the consecutive attacks of Zhou Cang and Pei Yuanshao. Although he successfully dodged Pei Yuanshao's wolf-tooth club, he was cut by Zhou Cang's golden-backed knife, but fortunately, his reaction was extremely fast, and only a slight touch of the blade touched his skin, without causing too much harm.

  "You despicable people! I swear I won't be a human being if I don't kill you!"

  Ji Ling was enraged, with flames of anger shooting out from his eyes. He was thoroughly infuriated by the three despicable mountain bandits. With a swing of his hand, he launched a fierce attack on Zhou Cang with his trident dagger. As the blade flashed in the light, a series of whirring sounds erupted from beside Ji Ling, especially as the trident dagger created a whirlwind of blades that shrieked and howled, growing increasingly ferocious.

  Zhou Cang and Pei Yuanshao's faces were grave, with a hint of fear in their eyes.

  Wang Can, standing far away, also felt a surge of pressure coming his way. His expression was solemn, and his entire being concentrated together as he drew his bow and shot an arrow. The whole process was smooth and uninterrupted, the bowstring humming with a buzzing sound, the arrow shooting out in response, heading straight for Ji Ling's face.

  "Despicable thief!"

  After the bow and arrow were shot out, Ji Ling's loud roar echoed through the mountains.

  At the same time, Ji Ling was even more ferocious, with every knife strike being a desperate one, completely disregarding his own safety. Suddenly, Zhou Cang and Pei Yuanshao found themselves in a predicament.

  Wang Can, however, was oblivious to all of this. At this moment, he had already become fully immersed in the world of archery. The first set of illustrations from the True Martial Secret Manual flashed through his mind, and the movements of the nine small figures flowed through his heart one by one, instantly forming a continuous cycle. He had been practicing the first set of illustrations for some time now, and the movements of the nine small figures in his mind were already smooth and connected, giving Wang Can an urge to throw his head back and let out a long howl. He finally understood the secret of the first set of illustrations - it wasn't just the individual movements of each small figure, but rather all the movements linked together in a continuous flow. At the same time, the red dots on the first small figure's body, representing the acupoints and meridians, were also connected in a single thread.

  Wang Canshen's heart was extremely excited, and he felt a warm current slowly rising from within his body.

  That warm current flows slowly from one acupoint to another, completing a cycle and then flowing slowly along this cycle.

  "Kill"

  Wang Can raised his bow and arrow, aiming at Ji Ling. The bow and arrow shot out with a loud noise, carrying an unstoppable momentum straight towards Ji Ling's face. In an instant, the arrow had already reached Ji Ling's body. Before Ji Ling could even react, the arrow had pierced through his forehead. After piercing Ji Ling's forehead, the arrow did not stop, shooting forward into a nearby tree trunk. The arrowhead stuck in the tree with a loud thud, buzzing loudly.

  "Huff... huff..."

  Wang Cang let out a long breath, his heart was amazed at the effect of practicing the first group of paintings, and the power of the first cycle developed in his body was so great. The bow and arrow shot out quickly, with great speed and power. Moreover, his vision and arm strength had increased a lot, and his body had a kind of unified feeling.