Chapter 539: Chapter 145: The Great Battle

The middle-aged Hermit’s expression sank.

So what if this man had tricked a few words out of him?

With just a single command from him, within the time it took to drink a cup of tea, he could bathe this entire passenger ship in blood, leaving not even a chicken or dog alive!

With the Cultivation and methods of the Hermits he had brought, even if someone jumped into the Xiajiang River, they would still find it hard to escape death.

Among this group of people, only that Jade Flute Fairy had not been poisoned by Moon Shadow Frost.

But this woman was only Third Grade, nothing to fear.

As for the others, they were nothing but fish on the chopping board, to be butchered at will!

The middle-aged Hermit snorted coldly and said, "A bunch of people about to die—so what if they know some secrets, what does it matter."

He admitted that he had indeed spoken a bit too much today.

But he was not stupid!

Chen Tang smiled faintly and said, "Let me guess. Your Dongyi Race’s Elder Feng, as one of the Four Great Elders, crossing the East Sea this time and setting foot in Nanxia, must have a more important task."

"Hermits, after all, are best at nothing but assassination. Who is his target?"

The middle-aged Hermit sneered and said, "Don’t waste your efforts. You could never guess it."

Chen Tang raised his brows and said, "Oh? So you really have come to carry out an assassination."

The corners of the middle-aged Hermit’s mouth twitched, and he shut his mouth.

Chen Tang continued, "The Martial Arts Assembly is about to convene. Elder Feng bringing people over at this time must be for the Martial Arts Assembly, right?"

The middle-aged Hermit suppressed the urge to mock, the words reached his lips, but he forcibly swallowed them back down.

He had already made up his mind.

No matter what Chen Tang said, he would no longer respond.

He must not fall for it again.

Seeing a trace of ridicule flash in the middle-aged Hermit’s eyes, Chen Tang could not help feeling suspicious.

Could it be that this had nothing to do with the Martial Arts Assembly?

Chen Tang said, "This Martial Arts Assembly is mainly to choose a Martial Arts Alliance Leader, but this person is secretly colluding with your Dongyi Race. Over these years, all the power shifts among the various forces in the Jianghu and the great Sects are actually related to you."

"If anyone refuses to join the alliance, you make a move to assassinate them and replace them, and this also throws all the various forces into a state of constant fear and panic.

"That way, you can more smoothly push for the Martial World alliance, letting this person take over the entire Martial World."

Aside from Chen Tang, only Jian Qiuchi had ever heard Ye Yushi mention this matter.

Everyone else, hearing this suddenly, had their minds shaken and their faces changed in uproar!

These past years, throughout the Jianghu, among the various forces and great Sects, indeed some people had died.

Some Sects had even changed Sect Leaders.

So behind all this, it had actually been done by Hermits of the Dongyi Race?

And the Dongyi Race actually wanted to dip their hands into the entire Nanxia Martial World?

"You actually know of this?"

The middle-aged Hermit’s expression grew increasingly grave.

Even within the Dongyi Race, this matter was an absolute secret, known to very few.

At this moment, Wang Xiang and the other members of the Boat Gang were deathly pale, scared silly.

What in the world had they gotten into.

It had originally been just a business transaction, yet they ended up learning such earth-shattering secrets.

The Dongyi Race could not possibly let them go and would definitely silence them.

Even their last sliver of hope had been completely cut off!

"Commander, it’s time to act!"

One Upper Concealment could no longer bear watching and could not help giving a reminder.

Chen Tang drained the fish soup at the bottom of his bowl in one gulp, smacked his lips, and said, "Honestly, this fish soup really is very fresh."

At the same time, Ye Yushi also rose with her sword in hand.

"How long can you hold out?"

Chen Tang asked.

Ye Yushi said indifferently, "I should be able to hold out for a hundred rounds."

During this period, although she still had not opened her Ren and Du Meridians, her Sword Heart was already formed, and her battle power had increased again.

She might not be able to defeat a Second Grade Innate Hermit, but she could still tangle with him for a while.

Chen Tang nodded and said, "That’s enough."

"I’ll be counting on you."

Ye Yushi said.

This exchange between the two sounded rather baffling to the others.

Hold out for how long?

What did "that’s enough" and "I’ll be counting on you" mean?

Only Jian Qiuchi could guess the general idea, thinking Ye Yushi was going to pin down that Celestial Concealment assassin to buy her some time.

Thinking this, Jian Qiuchi grew anxious and quickly said, "Jade Flute, don’t worry about us, just run for your life! A hundred rounds is nowhere near enough, your teacher can’t help you!"

The cold poison in their bodies would take an hour to dissolve.

A hundred rounds was only about the time it took to drink a cup of tea.

Ye Yushi fell silent for a moment, not having the heart to expose her and softly said, "Master, you don’t need to act, just watch."

Jian Qiuchi frowned and said, "Then what’s the point of you holding out another hundred rounds?"

"To wait for him to come help me."

Ye Yushi jerked her chin toward Chen Tang’s side.

The tacit understanding between her and Chen Tang was too strong.

At times they did not even need to speak; a single glance was enough to know what the other was thinking.

Back when they escaped the Hermit Continent, the two had already executed a similar cooperation.

Ye Yushi would hold off that Celestial Concealment.

Chen Tang would deal with everyone else, then come to her aid.

It was just that today, aside from that Celestial Concealment, there were over a hundred Hermits.

That "I’ll be counting on you" from Ye Yushi was actually asking Chen Tang to pay more attention during the fight, to look after Jian Qiuchi and the disciples of the Ba Mountain Sword Sect.

Jian Qiuchi was stunned.

The rest were also utterly bewildered.

Just now Chen Tang had been drinking fish soup with the greatest relish, draining bowl after bowl.

They themselves were filled with cold poison, shivering from the chill; how could this man possibly be in any better condition?

It was just that now they were somewhat regretful that they had not listened to this man earlier.

"Be careful."

Chen Tang stood up and gave a brief warning.

Guo Heng shivered again.

This time, it was not the cold poison, but the killing intent he sensed in Chen Tang’s eyes!

He had seen such killing intent once before, on the arena platform of Da Kong Temple.

"Brother Chen, you..."

Guo Heng’s expression was filled with doubt and shock, and he instinctively opened his mouth.

Swish!

The figure before his eyes blurred; Chen Tang had already vanished!

Bang! Bang! Bang!

The next moment, a series of sounds of flesh and blood colliding came from the side.

The three Hermits had not even reacted before Chen Tang’s three punches crushed their chests. They were knocked off the passenger ship, fell into the middle of the river, and disappeared without a trace.

Hiss!

Everyone sucked in a breath of cold air and could not help staring wide-eyed.

This man was actually fine?

Moreover, he moved like thunder; the instant he acted, it was three lives taken!

"Hm?"

The middle-aged Hermit’s expression changed. He immediately waved his hand to give the order and shouted, "Kill!"

Buzz!

The sound of sword singing rang out.

The Autumn Water Sword left its sheath.

Ye Yushi’s figure was like a roaming dragon, as light as a startling swan; she stepped onto the air, and with a flick of her wrist, Sword Qi burst forth, instantly transforming into countless streaks of sword-light rain in midair, shrouding the middle-aged Hermit within.

This battle was a cross-realm clash and would undoubtedly be perilous to the extreme.

But the attention of everyone on board was focused on their surroundings.

After all, once the middle-aged Hermit gave the order, the many Hermits had already charged forward!

One Upper Concealment rushed toward Jian Qiuchi to kill her.

Another Upper Concealment intercepted Chen Tang.

Jian Qiuchi forced herself to raise the Long Sword in her hand, held it horizontally before her chest, and let out a long roar: "Disciples of the Ba Mountain Sword Sect, fight to the death!"

Their bodies were filled with cold poison, their Inner Qi was gone, their bodies drenched in sweat, weak to the extreme, and their battle strength greatly reduced, but after all, their Martial Arts foundation remained; they could still hold out for a few moves.

Clang!

The Long Sword in Jian Qiuchi’s hand had just thrust out when it collided with the opponent’s Hidden Saber and was knocked from her grip.

Without Inner Qi, the difference in strength was far too great.

Jian Qiuchi sighed inwardly, her expression filled with despair.

The Long Saber in the Upper Concealment’s hand stabbed toward her from an extremely tricky angle. Her legs went weak, and she saw that she would not be able to dodge in time.

A figure suddenly appeared, blocking in front of her.