The general was consumed by rage. "Oh, you mean those two fist-sized green gems you're holding," Teng Qingshan said, hoisting a large fishing net over his shoulder and striding forward.
The surrounding soldiers, each armed with a sharp sword, dared not move rashly, their eyes constantly flicking toward the general. After the brief exchange, everyone knew this boorish youth possessed terrifying strength.
Should a real fight break out, even if they managed to kill him, they would suffer devastating casualties. Mingyue Island hadn't suffered such widespread losses in ages.
The soldiers hesitated. "This is the General's Estate conducting business, don't cause trouble here!" The general's face darkened, and he pointed angrily at Teng Qingshan, shouting, "These gems belong to my General's Estate too!
Put them down!" Although aware the man before him was a supreme expert, the General's Estate was accustomed to dominance. Moreover, this was within the jurisdiction of Beiyan Town!
"Hmph, you refuse the honor I offer!" Teng Qingshan's expression sank. His body flickered.
"Stop him!" The general simultaneously threw two Iron Leaf Fruits onto the nearby beach and tried to draw the long sword at his waist. "Halt!" More than ten soldiers rushed forward, shouting furiously, and thrust their swords.
As Teng Qingshan engaged his 'Tianya Xing,' his form became phantom-like. In the confined space, only two of the dozen men managed to brush against him.
"Clang!" "Clang!" With two crisp sounds, both swords snapped. "Thud!" Teng Qingshan moved his right leg with such speed that the general, who had reached the Houtian Peak, had no chance to resist before being kicked soaring through the air.
"Pfft—" Blood sprayed from his mouth as he crashed heavily onto the sand. Teng Qingshan snatched the two Iron Leaf Fruits with his left hand and swiftly headed toward the Blackwood boat.
The general, sprawled in the sandpile, raised his head, blood still at the corner of his mouth. His eyes glared with rage, and he roared hoarsely, "Form ranks!
The Great Sword Formation!" "Kill!" Hundreds of soldiers, their eyes red, prepared to array themselves. Whoosh!
Whoosh! A spectral figure flashed through the crowd, then leaped upwards, soaring over twenty zhang high and nearly thirty zhang across, shrinking to a mere speck in the sky, leaving the hundreds of soldiers watching helplessly.
The figure then landed on the deck of the Blackwood boat and stowed the fishing net laden with Iron Leaf Fruits into the hold. "General, what—what do we do now?" The soldiers grew anxious.
The sword formation was formidable, but it required the opponent to be within its confines for its power to manifest. But the opponent was so fast; he was already on the boat.
How could they surround him? "Damn his mother!" The general stood up, glaring into the distance, "Brothers of the Ghost Domain Water Camp, surround that boat!
Don't let him escape!" The dozens of soldiers previously 'flicked' into the sea by Teng Qingshan immediately responded to the order, swiftly surrounding the Blackwood boat near the shore, each drawing his sharp sword. "If he tries to flee, destroy the boat!
Destroy it!" the general roared. "Yes, sir," Dozens of soldiers roared in unison.
On the Blackwood boat, Teng Qingshan stood at the bow. "Brother Teng," Li Jun’s pretty face held a trace of killing intent, "These people are relentless.
I knew we should have struck decisively from the start." Teng Qingshan frowned, then glanced at the blood-stained general on the beach, whose face was contorted in fury, and admitted the situation was troublesome: "Dozens of soldiers are surrounding the hull of the Blackwood boat. The hull is indeed tough; Blackwood is harder than steel and more resilient!
But—it still cannot withstand the tip of a sword wielded by an Neijin expert!" A single palm strike from a Neijin expert could shatter steel. When force is concentrated at a sword tip, its piercing power is even more astonishing!
While the Blackwood boat could withstand collisions with reefs, it could not endure the continuous stabbing from the swords of these soldiers! ...
On the beach, after issuing his commands, the general fixed his gaze upon the boorish youth standing at the bow. "Hahaha…" The young ruffian at the bow let out a sky-shaking laugh, "Soldiers, this boat is mine, and everything on it is mine!
On what grounds do you stop me today?" The general glared at Teng Qingshan at the bow. He had long suspected this boat belonged to this mysterious expert, but so what if it did?
"You say it's yours, so it's yours?" the general laughed mockingly, "Oh, if you claim this boat today, tomorrow another powerhouse might arrive and claim it! The day after, perhaps a Marshal will demand it.
Haha… Tell me, what am I supposed to do?" "This sea area belongs to Beiyan Town, and all ownerless things in this sea area belong to the Beiyan Town General's Estate!" the general proclaimed loudly, "I repeat my words: leave quickly, and I shall spare your life. Otherwise—on Mingyue Island, you will never escape!" Hundreds of soldiers stared intently at Teng Qingshan.
"Whoosh!" A piercing sound suddenly cut through the high sky. Teng Qingshan looked up; his incredible eyesight instantly spotted a signal arrow shooting upward.
"Signal arrow?" Teng Qingshan’s expression changed, his gaze turning cold as he looked at the general. The general smiled confidently, "In Beiyan Town, our General's Estate is Heaven!
Even if you are a Xiantian expert, you must behave here. Let me tell you… reinforcements are arriving shortly!" There was one thing he didn't say: this signal arrow was the highest grade of distress signal—the Cloud-Piercing Arrow!
Once the Cloud-Piercing Arrow is fired, all parties who see it will converge. "You refuse the respect I offer!" Teng Qingshan's face darkened, and a streak of light flashed across it.
Swoosh! He shot directly into the crowd.
"Form ranks!" A high-pitched, almost shrill cry erupted. The soldiers, already prepared, immediately split into Great Sword Formations.
As Teng Qingshan charged into the throng, he was instantly enveloped by one such formation. "This Great Sword Formation is somewhat interesting." Teng Qingshan instantly realized that this formation consisted of thirty-six soldiers arrayed in inner, middle, and outer layers.
When each layer attacked him, it was like an overwhelming tide, striking him with twelve swords simultaneously! "The power of twelve swords overlapping possesses penetration force equivalent to tens of thousands of jin!
Even a Xiantian Void Core expert would need to exert full effort." "Moreover, once the twelve men strike, they immediately retreat, and the second wave attacks. The inner, middle, and outer layers create an unending offensive!" Trapped within the formation, Teng Qingshan felt as if the thirty-six men had merged into successive waves of tide.
Their coordination was so exquisite that the attacks were continuous! A normal Xiantian Void Core expert might actually suffer a blow if careless.
If five or six more Great Sword Formations surrounded them, they could exhaust a Xiantian expert's true essence through attrition. "Haha, quite interesting!" Teng Qingshan laughed loudly, swinging both his arms as if they were iron clubs.
"Boom!" More than ten figures were smashed and sent flying. "Swoosh!" Taking advantage of the formation's disruption, Teng Qingshan leaped over twenty zhang high and landed directly toward the general’s position.
"Not good." The general barely had time to flee. Teng Qingshan seized him by the collar and lifted him up.
"Didn't you want to capture me?" Teng Qingshan looked at him. "You, you…" The general sputtered, a mix of shock and anger, "I am from the General's Estate…" Teng Qingshan delivered a knee strike directly into the general's abdomen, "Ah!" The general’s face turned deathly pale, his eyes wide open.
"What trash!" Teng Qingshan sneered and casually tossed the general aside. The general collapsed onto the sandpile, his eyes filled with horror, "My Dantian, my Dantian…" That single knee strike had shattered his Dantian.
For someone who repeatedly rejected courtesy, Teng Qingshan was not soft-hearted. He didn't care about three hundred soldiers.
He dared to kill a hundred thousand troops! What were three hundred?
"You—" The general still could not believe the other party acted so recklessly. He was wrong, terribly wrong!
The Eighteen General's Estates possessed histories spanning a thousand years, truly deeply rooted. But what did that matter to Teng Qingshan?
He was an outsider; even if a Marshal from the General's Estate arrived, Teng Qingshan would still smash him to death with a single punch. ...
In Beiyan Town, within an ancient mansion occupying a vast area. "General, General!
The South Sea Border Barracks has sent a Cloud-Piercing Arrow distress signal." A soldier reported urgently. The old man with white hair and a youthful complexion, who had been sitting cross-legged beneath a pavilion in quiet meditation, opened his eyes.
"Cloud-Piercing Arrow? Quickly go summon Master Lin." This old man immediately stood up, his face grave.
"The Cloud-Piercing Arrow is not to be fired except in the direst circumstances. Was it an attack by an overseas demonic beast?
Or a traitor?" ... In the Nine Bends Ghost Domain of Mingyue Island, in the South Sea area.
"Splash~~~" The unfathomably deep seawater surged and flowed. A reef broke the surface.
Sitting cross-legged on this dark reef was a middle-aged man wearing a loose white robe, with long, unbound hair, a pale, clean-shaven face, and narrow eyes. Slung across his back was a divine sword in a cyan scabbard.
He sat there with his eyes closed. "Hoo, hoo~~~" The strangest thing was that the seawater surrounding the reef upon which he sat respectfully parted before it could touch the rock, as if an invisible force controlled it.
"Whoosh!" A sharp sound echoed in the distant sky. "Hm?" The white-robed, clean-shaven middle-aged man opened his eyes.
His gaze was like two piercing sword lights, terrifyingly sharp. "Cloud-Piercing Arrow?
Could it be that another overseas demonic beast has come to cause trouble on Mingyue Island?" Whoosh! The middle-aged man's body flashed instantly, vanishing from the reef, transforming into a phantom white afterimage, tracing the sea surface with terrifying speed, rapidly heading toward the origin of the signal arrow.
The ocean beneath his feet seemed like solid ground. ...
After Teng Qingshan broke through the sword formation and shattered the general's Dantian, the numerous soldiers were stunned into silence. Teng Qingshan swiftly returned to the Blackwood boat.
By now, no soldiers below dared to threaten him anymore. If even the sword formation was useless, they had no recourse.
"Brother Teng, one of the anchor ropes has been cut," Li Jun said. "Forget them, don't bother with them.
Start the boat, let's go." Teng Qingshan immediately walked to the two long oars, gripping them tightly with his powerful hands, and began to row. Suddenly— "Hm?" Teng Qingshan noticed out of the corner of his eye a white shadow flashing rapidly along the beach, soon arriving where the soldiers were gathered.
Teng Qingshan secretly exclaimed, "What speed!" "Ah!" The general whose Dantian had been destroyed immediately had a strange light flash in his eyes upon seeing the newcomer, and he rasped hoarsely, "Master!" "Whoosh!" The white-robed figure moved, leaping up from twenty or thirty zhang away directly into the air, landing perfectly on the railing of the Blackwood boat, his cool gaze fixed on Teng Qingshan. Seeing the newcomer, Teng Qingshan grinned widely, "Excellent Qinggong!"