Chapter 1042: Good Fast Sword!

The white-robed and yellow-robed figures exchanged glances, both seeing the shock in the other's eyes. They had never expected their opponent to act so decisively.

"Do you know what the consequences of this will be?" the white-robed man's voice was bone-chilling.

"The consequence is that you can now talk to me calmly," Zu An said with a smile, spreading his hands.

The white-robed figure: "..."The yellow-robed figure: "..."

Rage points from Jian Taiding +244+244+244...Rage points from Zhuang Hetong +133+133+133...

Could such an arrogant person truly exist in this world?

Zu An was amused. He had been wondering how to identify these masked, black-robed individuals, but now their identities were fully revealed. It turned out the white-robed figure was Jian Taiding, and Zhuang Hetong must be from the Zhenyuan Merchant Guild.

"You're courting death!" Jian Taiding finally couldn't hold back. He flashed forward from mid-air to stand before Zu An, a longsword now in his hand. Clearly, having just witnessed Zu An's deceptiveness, he dared not face him unarmed.

Zu An threw Yu Xuantao, who was now like a pile of mud, at Qiu Honglei's feet. "Help me keep an eye on him," he instructed.

Then he summoned Tai'a and thrust it towards his opponent.

The two instantly exchanged a dozen moves. Zu An noticed that no matter how he varied his sword strikes, his opponent seemed to anticipate them, evading swiftly before launching quick counterattacks. If not for his exquisite movement technique, he would have been struck long ago.

Was this the ability of a Grandmaster's Divine Soul?

Zu An knew that Grandmasters, in addition to being able to soar through the sky, cultivated their Divine Souls, which usually granted them the ability to foresee the future in combat. This made striking them extremely difficult.

At this moment, Jian Taiding's shock was no less than Zu An's. He could clearly sense that his opponent's cultivation had not yet reached the Grandmaster level. Previously, when encountering cultivators below Grandmaster, he could usually win with overwhelming force. Sometimes, he didn't even need to attack; his mere pressure was enough to render opponents speechless. Yet, against the person before him, he held nothing back, even unleashing several killing moves, all of which were evaded by his opponent's incredibly profound movement technique.

Where did this monstrous individual come from?

Sensing the opponent's exquisite movement technique, Jian Taiding reasoned that since Zu An's cultivation was inferior to his own, he would adopt a head-on combat strategy. To his surprise, after finally engaging in close combat and unleashing a tidal wave of elemental energy, intending to severely wound Zu An, those violent forces seemed to be sucked into a black hole, vanishing without a trace. Meanwhile, his opponent's counterattack suddenly became much more powerful than before, and that surging energy was clearly the very power he had just summoned.

"This guy can absorb my energy and use it against me?" Jian Taiding's blood and qi churned from the blow, and it took him great effort to regulate his breathing.

"Hmph, let's see how much you can absorb!" He dared not engage in close combat again and flew back into the air.

Slowly, he raised his hands, and the sword in front of him hummed, radiating a terrifying aura.

Zhuang Hetong, standing by, inwardly cursed. "This is going to destroy our merchant guild!" he thought. He quickly circulated his vital energy, protecting the buildings behind him and the guild members.

The air became intensely cold. The heavy snow, which had stopped earlier, seemed to reappear in the sky, accompanied by howling, biting winds. In the blink of an eye, the cold winds and snowflakes converged, forming two massive blizzards that assailed Zu An from left and right. Where they passed, roof tiles were torn off and sent flying, large trees that several people could barely encircle were ripped to shreds, and even the bluestone ground of the merchant guild was ripped up.

Zhuang Hetong, while using his golden brick to block the spreading aftermath of the blizzards to prevent further damage to the guild, felt a pang of doubt. This move was indeed immensely powerful, typically used on battlefields against large armies. A single blizzard could annihilate an elite army formation of a thousand men. But now there was only one target, and that villain possessed incredibly skillful movement techniques and swift evasions. This move might not even hit him.

However, his pupils quickly constricted as he saw the blizzard, which appeared to be heading for Zu An, suddenly curve and attack Qiu Honglei instead. He immediately understood Jian Taiding's plan: since the target was skilled at evasion, attack what he would surely protect, leaving him no room to dodge. This tactic was truly despicable. Not only was it an adult bullying a child, but it also used someone as a hostage. But Zhuang Hetong also knew this move was highly effective, almost an unresolvable overt scheme. However, if Qiu Honglei were truly harmed, wouldn't they fear Yun Jianyue's retaliation?

At that moment, Zu An had no time to ponder such things. Seeing that the blizzard's target was Qiu Honglei, he showed no emotional fluctuation. Opposing sides would naturally use any means to win. Even as an enemy, he secretly praised this move as extremely clever.

Qiu Honglei also reacted at this point, hastily raising her Changxin Palace Lantern to defend herself. However, the disparity in cultivation between her and Jian Taiding was too vast; it was visibly clear she couldn't withstand the attack. Zu An's figure flickered, and he was already standing in front of her. Then, holding his sword with both hands, using it as a fulcrum, a phoenix-shaped flame ascended, rushing towards the fiercely approaching blizzard.

The blizzard and the flaming phoenix collided with a loud roar. The surrounding guards were immediately sent reeling, and even Zhuang Hetong could barely withstand it, continuously retreating to avoid its force. Within a radius of several dozen feet, houses instantly collapsed under the intense shockwave. If Zhuang Hetong hadn't desperately protected it, nearly half of the entire Zhenyuan Merchant Guild would likely have been destroyed by that single strike.

At the storm's epicenter, Zu An faced even greater difficulty. After all, he was not a Grandmaster, and Jian Taiding was certainly no novice who had just entered the Grandmaster realm. How could his ultimate killing move be so easily withstood? Soon, the flaming phoenix grew smaller and smaller, eventually shrinking to a mere three feet around him. The biting sword qi contained within the blizzard had visibly inflicted countless injuries on him. Yet, he never retreated a single step, staunchly blocking the attack in front of Qiu Honglei.

"Ah Zu!" Qiu Honglei's eyes welled up with tears. She wanted to help, but quickly realized she could hardly intervene in such a battle. So, she tipped her toes, pulling Yu Xuantao, and leaped to the other side. If she could just get out of the way, Ah Zu wouldn't have to take that killing blow head-on.

Zu An also breathed a sigh of relief, about to retreat, when suddenly a cold glint appeared within the blizzard. Jian Taiding, longsword in hand, shot out from within. His vision had been obscured by the blizzard, and by the time he clearly saw his opponent, it was too late to dodge. With a *thud*, the opponent's longsword pierced directly through the flames and into Zu An's chest.

"Ah Zu!" Qiu Honglei's eyes nearly burst from their sockets at the sight. Unfortunately, she had just moved far away and had no time to rescue him.

Jian Taiding snorted coldly, "Brat, don't be so arrogant!" Halfway through his sentence, he suddenly froze, noticing that his opponent's face showed no panic. Instead, Zu An was calmly looking at him, a slight smirk playing on his lips, as if a scheme had succeeded. At that moment, his Divine Soul frantically warned him. A vision of his opponent's sword piercing him flashed in his mind. He hastily retreated, but his longsword was gripped tightly by Zu An's hand and couldn't be pulled out.

"How can this person seem completely unaffected after such a severe injury?" Jian Taiding was utterly horrified. At that moment, he couldn't care less about anything else and was about to abandon his sword and retreat when a sharp pain suddenly shot through his mind. It was as if he saw a strange, large bird rushing into his consciousness. "Ah!" Jian Taiding screamed. Although he wasn't driven to mental collapse, for a brief moment, his entire mind went blank. Knowing he was in trouble, he quickly shifted his body to the side.

How could Zu An miss such an excellent opportunity? His sword flashed instantly.

*Thwack!*

A white magical imprint flashed on Jian Taiding's body, clearly triggering some life-saving artifact. Unfortunately, it couldn't withstand Zu An's fully charged strike! With a crisp crack, the artifact on his body shattered. Immediately afterward, a large cloud of blood mist burst open on Jian Taiding's chest. The intense pain finally sobered him, and he swiftly retreated dozens of yards, using everything he had learned in his life. Faster than his first time in bed! A massive wound stretched diagonally across his body from shoulder to waist. If not for the life-saving artifact, he would likely have been cleaved in two.

Zu An didn't pause for a moment, his figure flickering as he pursued again. Strike him while he's down! He knew that he was not a Grandmaster after all. While he was confident in a head-on confrontation, his opponent's Divine Soul was complete, allowing him to foresee danger and fly for extended periods. It would be extremely difficult to wound him otherwise. Thus, he had deliberately exposed a weakness, choosing a strategy of trading injuries. His body, having been tempered multiple times by the Primordial Chaos Sutra, was already incredibly tough. Combined with his powerful regenerative ability, similar injuries had little effect on him, but for Jian Taiding, it was a major problem!

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