3. INTENSE DUEL

Zhi Zhu took the initiative to attack first. She took the wind step to conserve his energy. She immediately poured a large amount of internal energy into his sword. Even though his sword was not an heirloom, but with such a huge amount of internal energy, his sword was at least on par with a first-class warrior.

Not to be outdone by Zhi Zhu. Tang Xiu also poured inner energy into his sword, to be able to keep up with Zhi Zhu's attack later.

Cling...

The two swords met each other, shockwaves were created from the friction of Tang Xiu and Zhi Zhu's swords.

This time the attack didn't come from just one person, Xiao Yuan threw the poisonous needles that came out of his fan towards Zhi Zhu. Zhi Zhu reflexively twisted his body along with a quick sword swing to deflect the needles.

The thrown needles stuck into the tree trunks. Immediately, many trees were burned afterwards.

"Damn! If the needles hit my skin, they'll burn everything. Then I have to be careful with those poisonous needles!" Zhi Zhu spoke in his heart and looked seriously at the burnt trees over there.

Zhi Zhu further increased his vigilance. After seeing Xiao Yuan's ability and his poisonous needles, surely that young man was not just any Swordsman.

"I must be vigilant. They will definitely counterattack with attacks that I can't possibly deal with simultaneously." Zhi Zhu thought hard to find a way to end the fight without getting seriously injured?

As well as defeating the three warriors in front of him now. Fighting warriors who are at the same level, will certainly drain a lot of energy. Zhi Zhu was not in his prime right now. His battle with Tang Xiu earlier, as well as flying for days on end had certainly drained his stamina.

It was known that Zhi Zhu had just returned from the Wei Empire, the southern part of the present Yuan Empire. On his journey, Zhi Zhu continued to use his inner strength to stay in the air for days.

"Why is he silent?" whispered Lin Yan without lowering her guard. Tang Xiu stared intently, while reading Zhi Zhu's next move.

When focused on watching, Zhi Zhu suddenly released a murderous aura accompanied by a more intense fighter aura. "Get down!" ordered Tang Xiu as a sword swiftly shot toward the trio.

Xiao Yuan's body twisted around to dodge the sword strike. While Lin Yan used his body lightening knowledge to dodge the sword that turned out to be able to split into three. Meanwhile, Tang Xiu rode one of the swords that was targeting him.

Besides being called the Black Spider Goddess, it turns out that Zhi Zhu also has the ability to control swords. Unbeknownst to Tang Xiu, Zhi Zhu's proficiency in swordsmanship was so high, that Zhi Zhu could turn one sword into three swords. A move that only high-level Swordsmen could master.

This is where Tang Xiu both thought and wondered. What level is this Zhi Zhu at? In the Yuan Empire, one could count on one's fingers the swordsmen who had the ability to control a sword.

Each sword also had the same ability, which was at the Expert Swordsman level. Tang Xiu and the others had to be careful because what they were facing was not only Zhi Zhu, but his swords as well. Moreover, Zhi Zhu's poison knowledge had not been fully utilized.

"Be careful! His sword has a sword spirit. Once it hits you, then you won't be able to escape it!" exclaimed Tang Xiu, from the air because he had a deeper understanding of swords than the others. Hence Tang Xiu's warning.

He had been struggling from the air. Zhi Zhu's sword turned out to have the ability to fight in the air as well.

Hearing Tang Xiu's exclamation, made Xiao Yuan and Lin Yan even more vigilant. Lin Yan with his fan and poisonous needles continued to fend off any attacks from Zhi Zhu's sword.

It turns out that balancing a sword with a spirit is not as easy as one might think. Xiao Yuan had to retreat many times to avoid the sword attacks that seemed to have no energy limit.

Cling...

Clang...

The sword and fan clashed against each other. Xiao Yuan cursed in frustration as part of his fan was torn off by Zhi Zhu's sword strike.

Seeing Xiao Yuan getting overwhelmed made Zhi Zhu smile triumphantly. "They won't be able to deal with my sword attacks," Zhi Zhu muttered, feeling like he had the upper hand.

Even though he seemed to be silent and just watching. However, Zhi Zhu was actually controlling his three swords with his inner energy.

Zhi Zhu was so concentrated on the battle happening before his eyes. On his body, there were four other pairs of eyes, which were useful for watching every incoming attack.

In a sense, every pair of eyes was watching the fight, whether it was from Tang Xiu, Xiao Yuan or Lin Yan. This was why, Zhi Zhu remained calm despite being under great pressure. However, the longer the fight went on, the more internal energy was expended.

Gradually, the power of his swords began to decline. Tang Xiu was the first to notice it. He smacked his lips, happy that he could finally figure out the weakness of the spider woman.

Without waiting any longer, Tang Xiu immediately poured a large amount of inner power into his sword. A purplish glow came out from his sword, just then Xiao Yuan and Lin Yan realized something.

Yaaaachhh!!!!

Tang Xiu swung his sword, a single slash of Zhi Zhu's sword was finally cut into two pieces.

Knowing that his sword was shattered, made Zhi Zhu bounce back slightly. She lost his balance as the sword exploded in the air.

"Shit! You son of a bitch!" Zhi Zhu cursed in annoyance as Tang Xiu managed to keep up with his sword attack. Even the man was able to crush him.

Now Zhi Zhu's focus was split in two as one of his swords had been destroyed. She had to face Tang Xiu after this.

Not to be outdone by Tang Xiu, Xiao Yuan gave up almost all of his strength to make a final attack.

Not just poisonous needles, but his fan could also emit ice energy. Of course, those who were hit by his attacks would freeze.

As much as possible, Xiao Yuan deployed his attacks on Zhi Zhu's sword. As if it had a mind and eyes, the sword was able to evade every attack.

Xiao Yuan cursed in his heart. Not only was Zhi Zhu troublesome, but his sword was just as troublesome as Zhi Zhu.

Meanwhile Lin Yan seemed to still have quite a lot of internal energy. His iron hands were able to keep up with every incoming attack.

Clang...

Crunch...

Zhi Zhu's sword clashed with Lin Yan's iron fist. He didn't need to expend much internal energy, because his iron hands were able to repel the sword that was about to aim for his life.

Among the others, only Lin Yan was still in top condition. Even so, Lin Yan was still unable to destroy Zhi Zhu's sword.

Cling...

Two swords clashed against each other. Now Tang Xiu came to help. "What are you doing?" asked Lin Yan without lowering his guard.

His caution in taking every action, made Lin Yan survive this far. Tang Xiu grinned. His faint smile meant many things. However, under these circumstances Lin Yan could not understand the meaning of the smile.

Really, his focus was only one. That was Zhi Zhu's sword which was really troublesome. Tang Xiu kept swinging his sword to fend off every move of the sword that Zhi Zhu was controlling from afar.

Lin Yan didn't remain silent either. He matched his moves with Tang Xiu's, creating an incredible combination of moves.

Dwarrrrr!!!

Another one of Zhi Zhu's swords exploded in the air. Now he began to lose his balance. His inner strength dropped so drastically that his body was no longer able to pull out the moves.