The fierce battle inside Qiuyue Nunnery was at its peak.

Zuo Qingshuang flicked her sword, and with a SWISH, a spray of blood erupted as a dark figure fell from mid-air.

A bloody leg had been severed from the body... The man was Fengli Xiao.

His Lightweight Technique was exceptionally refined, and his Concealing Breath Technique was unmatched in the Jianghu.

So much so that when the Seven Sects were holding their council, no one noticed him hiding on the roof.

His Martial Arts, however, were somewhat lacking. He relied only on his swift Lightweight Technique and his silent movements to launch sneak attacks.

This tactic was effective at first, but once his targets were on guard, it proved to be an inferior approach. Zuo Qingshuang eventually found an opening and severed his leg with her sword.

Yet as Zuo Qingshuang scanned her surroundings, her expression was anything but relaxed.

Tonight’s battle plan had been altered thanks to Fang Shuwen discovering Fengli Xiao spying on them. The Seven Righteous Sects had changed their feint into a full-blown assault.

The band of Demons at Qiuyue Nunnery, thinking it was a prime opportunity, had only used a fraction of their strength, intending to toy with the experts from the Seven Sects.

They planned to finish them off in one decisive blow when the real battle began.

Instead, this allowed the masters of the Seven Sects to shatter their defenses and storm directly into Qiuyue Nunnery.

The first part of the battle went smoothly.

They cut down several Demons one after another with unstoppable momentum.

But it was then that something unexpected happened.

King Cao, the one truly entrenched in Qiuyue Nunnery, appeared.

Fang Shuwen didn’t know what the Hundred Ghosts Hall was, but Zuo Qingshuang did.

The Hundred Ghosts Hall was a shadow of the Demon Dao looming over the Jianghu, a secret and powerful force far beyond what the Black Death Sect could compare to.

Their Martial Arts were unconventional, rumored to originate from the Hundred Ghosts Scripture.

The Master of the Hundred Ghosts Hall used it to establish his sect. He was an unfathomable figure who had never shown himself in public.

Beneath him served the Four Great Ghost Kings: the Blood, Flesh, Bone, and Life Kings.

These titles were intrinsically linked to their Martial Arts, which were derived from branches of the Hundred Ghosts Scripture.

However, the Hundred Ghosts Hall’s motives were unclear, and its Master was an enigma who had never directly clashed with the Seven Great Sects.

However, because members of the Hundred Ghosts Hall had to consume human lives to cultivate their Martial Arts, the righteous sects were still able to find traces of their activities.

This led to several clashes where both sides suffered losses, but they all ended inconclusively.

A later, more focused investigation yielded more information about the Hundred Ghosts Hall, but most of it came from the Golden Bell Tower.

She never expected to find Cao Jiuyin, the ’Flesh King’ of the Hundred Ghosts Hall, here!

The last news of him had come from the Taixu Dao three years ago.

Within the territory of the Taixu Dao Sect, a body had been discovered in a bizarre state: nothing remained at the scene but a pool of blood and a set of blood-stained bones.

All of its flesh and skin had vanished without a trace.

The Taixu Dao followed the trail and found him: Flesh King Cao Jiuyin, hiding deep in the mountains, gorging himself on raw human flesh.

In the ensuing battle, the Taixu Dao lost two Elders, and Cao Jiuyin escaped with injuries.

When they searched for him again, all trace of him was gone.

They spread the news to warn the other sects.

That was why, upon seeing him today, someone from the Taixu Dao recognized him.

At that time, the few remaining Demons at Qiuyue Nunnery joined forces with Cao Jiuyin to clash with the experts of the Seven Sects.

After several rounds of exchanges, both sides had taken casualties.

Even Zuo Qingshuang had sustained numerous injuries. Meanwhile, Fengli Xiao, with his exasperating Lightweight Technique, came and went like a ghost. At last, Zuo Qingshuang had spotted a flaw and struck him down.

She ignored Fengli Xiao, who now sat on the ground with only one leg, crying and wailing.

She spun on her heel, her Ten Thousand Words Sword Dao turning her blade into a scholar’s brush. With a flick of her sword’s tip, she intercepted Cao Jiuyin’s chubby finger, which had been aimed at the shoulder of the beautiful woman from Yuqing Pavilion.

Cao Jiuyin had put his full power into that move. His fingertip tapped against the body of the blade, making it buzz and tremble.

A burst of force exploded outward. Zuo Qingshuang felt a violent jolt in the web of her hand, as if the flesh were about to tear. 𝒇𝒓𝒆𝒆𝙬𝒆𝒃𝓷𝒐𝓿𝙚𝙡.𝒄𝓸𝒎

But she twisted her blade, tightened her grip, and slashed out diagonally with a furious shout:

"Die, Demon!"

The blade glinted. The brilliant sword-light shot up Cao Jiuyin’s arm, aiming straight for his throat.

SLICE!

The blade sliced across, but only sank halfway into his flesh.

Cao Jiuyin’s massive, fleshy face was set, his small, bean-like eyes flashing with a cold light.

As he circulated his True Qi, the flesh of his neck began to squirm and writhe, enveloping the blade.

Abandoning the woman from Yuqing Pavilion, he took a step forward and thrust a palm strike at Zuo Qingshuang.

The woman from Yuqing Pavilion didn’t just stand by and watch. Her hands moved like orchids as she jabbed and prodded, striking all the vital acupoints on Cao Jiuyin’s chest.

However, the man was too fat, and his flesh was unnaturally resilient. Her Finger Power couldn’t reach his vital points; her strikes merely caused his flesh to ripple, failing to force him back even half a step.

The palm strike finally descended.

But Zuo Qingshuang was fearless. ’To die for righteousness is to die without regret!’

With a sharp cry, she tried to free her sword with her right hand while raising her left. Fully channeling her Golden Jade Divine Technique, her palm glowed with a brilliant golden light as she suddenly met his strike.

BANG!

Zuo Qingshuang finally managed to pull her sword free from Cao Jiuyin’s neck.

But the blow sent her flying. She coughed up a mouthful of blood in mid-air, and just as she was about to crash to the ground, a hand suddenly caught her back.

Startled, she glanced back and saw Fang Shuwen!

He had placed the two Escorts on top of a wall. The power of his Muscle Strengthening Scripture Divine Technique was already flowing into Zuo Qingshuang’s body.

Zuo Qingshuang opened her eyes.

"Young... Young Hero Fang..." she stammered, "Don’t mind me... Watch out for... Cao Jiuyin..."

"Focus. Don’t speak," Fang Shuwen said in a deep voice.

Having landed a blow, Cao Jiuyin wasn’t about to let them go. His massive body flew forward with unnatural agility, and he thrust out a palm, intending to kill Zuo Qingshuang first.

As for Fang Shuwen... he was beneath Cao Jiuyin’s notice.

Fang Shuwen had to tend to Zuo Qingshuang’s injuries, so he couldn’t dare circulate his True Qi too violently.

Seeing Cao Jiuyin’s palm descending, he could only raise his own to block it. BANG!

The force of the blow pushed Fang Shuwen and Zuo Qingshuang to the ground. Cao Jiuyin shot Fang Shuwen a surprised look. ’This kid who appeared out of nowhere actually blocked my palm strike?’

He immediately followed up with a continuous barrage of attacks.

Fang Shuwen’s brow furrowed. With one hand pressed against Zuo Qingshuang’s back, cradling her in his arms and continuously pouring his Inner Breath into her, he used his other hand to fend off Cao Jiuyin’s assault.

In the blink of an eye, they had already exchanged several blows.

In those few short exchanges, Fang Shuwen, with his threefold comprehension, was already starting to grasp the knack of dividing his attention.

The Inner Strength he sent into Zuo Qingshuang was gentle, while the Inner Strength he used against Cao Jiuyin was ferocious.

At last, he sent out a palm strike that forced Cao Jiuyin to retreat several steps in a row.

At the same time, two furious shouts rang out as two Great Monks from the Nianhua Zen Temple arrived, cutting Cao Jiuyin off.

With this brief respite, Fang Shuwen pressed both his palms onto Zuo Qingshuang’s back.

The palm strike had injured her severely. Many of her meridians were severed, and her internal organs were damaged to varying degrees.

Fang Shuwen had sensed this the moment he caught her, which was why he hadn’t dared to use his full strength.

Otherwise, Zuo Qingshuang would not have survived.

Now, after using the Muscle Strengthening Scripture Divine Technique to protect her heart meridian and suppress the chaotic Inner Strength raging within her, he glanced back at the two people on the wall.

"If she dies, you’re not going to Flying Snow City, and you’re not going back to Jinghua Pavilion!"