knife

Chapter 91 The Thin Line of Life and Death

The Dayong Dynasty had been extinct for hundreds of years.

The vast majority of ordinary people don't even know that such a country ever existed.

He exists only in historical records and in the oral traditions of a few people.

The dynasty that destroyed the Dayong Dynasty was none other than the present-day Qin Dynasty.

When Yong lost his deer, the whole world chased after it.

Ultimately, the powerful Li family, a prominent clan in the Guanzhong Plain, rose from among countless heroes, ending sixty years of chaos and establishing the Qin Dynasty.

However, compared to the heyday of the Dayong era, the Qin Dynasty was still far inferior.

Because the Southern Chu split off.

It should be noted that during the Dayong Dynasty, the forty-two prefectures occupied by the Southern Chu were nominally all under the Dayong Dynasty, and were subject to Dayong and paid tribute.

Now, Southern Chu is a force to be reckoned with, rivaling Great Qin.

Even if the whole world acknowledges that the Qin Dynasty inherited the legitimate succession of the Yong Dynasty.

For centuries, the Qin Dynasty had been trying to conquer the south, defeat the Southern Chu, and reunify the world.

And why wouldn't Southern Chu also want to launch a northern expedition against Great Qin, seize Great Qin, and truly become the ruler of the world?
It's just that neither of them can do anything about the other!
It was precisely because of this historical reason that the Qin court was extremely wary of Southern Chu, while paying little attention to Northern Yuan.

Southern Chu was economically developed and had a large population, with a million soldiers. After Empress Dowager Jiang Qian came to power, Southern Chu, which had been declining, was revitalized and its ambitions were almost undisguised.

In contrast, the Qin Dynasty was intensifying its internal conflicts due to the defeat at Xiangcheng. Peasant uprisings erupted one after another, powerful clans engaged in constant petty squabbles, and the Northern Yuan forces beyond the Great Wall were already showing signs of advancing, leaving the Qin in a precarious situation of being besieged on all sides. It was for this reason that people like Zhang Ruo proposed abandoning the area beyond the Great Wall and transferring elite troops from there into the Qin territory.

The royal family of the Dayong Dynasty should have been wiped out long ago!

From the moment it was destroyed, whether it was the Qin Dynasty, the Southern Chu, or those powerful clans, they all regarded the extermination of the Dayong royal family as a major task.

Blood Jade Technique is a family-inherited martial art of the Dayong royal family.

This technique is extremely wicked and bizarre, requiring human blood as a catalyst for practice. The higher and purer the catalyst is, the greater its benefit to the Blood Jade Technique.

Back when the Dayong Dynasty ruled the world, it naturally had no shortage of medicinal ingredients. Among its royal family, there were not only those with the peak Xuan Yuan level of skill, but also many with the Xiantian level.

However, having too many highly accomplished people in a family is not necessarily a good thing.

Struggles for power and profit are common even in ordinary families, let alone in a family like this.

With endless infighting and the cyclical rise and fall of a dynasty, the Great Yong Dynasty finally fell into internal strife.

First came peasant uprisings and unrest in the Jianghu (江湖, a term referring to the martial arts world), with the flames of war spreading throughout the country. Then, powerful clans and aristocratic families surged forward, plunging the entire nation into chaos.

Ultimately, this led to the downfall of the Dayong Dynasty.

No one wanted this family to have a successor, because a cultivation technique that had already been proven to produce innate masters was something that if an heir survived and achieved innate mastery, wouldn't all those who had participated in the overthrow of the Great Yong Dynasty be in trouble? Naturally, they would have to be wiped out completely.

After a century of relentless pursuit, everyone believed that the Dayong royal family was extinct and that the martial arts technique had long been lost.

But now, Li Dachui has seen the Blood Jade Skill once again.

A user of the Blood Jade Technique who has reached the innate level.

The woman in black robes hadn't expected that these two young men would know about the Dayong Dynasty and the Blood Jade Technique, but considering the techniques they practiced, she understood.

"The Great Yong Dynasty has been gone for hundreds of years, and you traitors still have your eyes on us. But it's a pity, the Great Yong Dynasty ruled the world for hundreds of years, so how could it really be wiped out?" the woman said with a sneer.

“You have lost your way, and the people have driven you away. What do you have to complain about!” Xiao Changche took a deep breath: “You think the world has exterminated your clan, but have you ever thought about how many people died because of you when you were in power?”

"Hmm, that's right!" The woman nodded seriously. "But what does that have to do with me? To me, the Great Yong Dynasty has no memory whatsoever. They had already been dead for hundreds of years when I was born. But I still have to abide by the ancestral teachings. If I encounter anyone practicing the Heaven-Slaying Technique or the Universe Qi Technique, I will kill them all!"

Li Dachui said with a wry smile, "Everyone in the world had a share in killing your Dayong royal family back then, so why does your ancestral precept specifically target these two types of people?"

"Because those who killed us the most back then were just a few innate martial artists who practiced the Heaven-Slaying and Universe-Unity techniques! If they hadn't hunted us down all over the world, even if we lost the throne, we could at least have a place in the martial arts world. It's a pity that the last few of our clan's highly skilled martial artists, even though they never cared about worldly affairs, were all killed off."

"Fatian can actually cultivate to the Innate Realm?" Xiao Changche was somewhat shocked.

The woman laughed loudly: "Of course Fatian can cultivate to the Innate Realm, but what does that have to do with you? You're about to die, so there's no chance for you."

Before he finished speaking, Li Dachui waved his hand, and several bullets fell to the ground with a loud bang, smoke rose up, and a hissing sound could be faintly heard from within the smoke.

The moment the smoke rose, Li Dachui and Xiao Changche, as if by telepathy, launched an attack simultaneously.

The smoke wasn't meant to cover their escape, but rather to cover their attack.

The two of them did everything in their power to try and survive.

Having said all that, neither of them harbored any lingering hope. There was no other way but to fight to the death.

Even if the chance is slim.

To be helpless and await death is not in line with their personalities at all.

Even if I die, I'll still splatter blood all over others.

Xiao Changche is like this, and Li Dachui, who usually seems carefree and easygoing, is actually just as stubborn.

I've seen Lao Tzu before, and I've even fought him!

Xiao Changche was promoted to the front line faster than Li Dachui.

It wasn't that Li Dachui had any ulterior motives and deliberately lagged behind, but rather it was due to the difference in the two cultivation methods he practiced.

The Heaven-Slaying Technique is extremely domineering. It leads straight ahead in any situation, with no concept of retreat or turning back. Once the battle begins, even if there are mountains of knives, seas of fire, cliffs, or precipices ahead, there is still no retreat.

The blue light flickered and shone, piercing straight towards the black-robed man amidst the smoke.

The blade flashed immediately after, slashing out and seemingly tearing a rift in space. Although they were one after the other, they seemed to have been working together in perfect harmony for countless years.

If Xiao Changche's spear could slow down the opponent's movements even slightly, the Minghong Blade could deliver a real blow.

Being born with advantages doesn't make you invincible; the key is finding his weaknesses.

Li Dachui's countless exchanges with Zhou Zhi have been verifying this point. Although he has not yet achieved it, this line of thinking is definitely correct.

Li Kaixin, his former partner, couldn't do it because when fighting Zhou Zhi, neither Li Dachui nor Li Kaixin could truly face death and charge forward without hesitation. Even if they used all their strength, they lacked the killing intent in their hearts, and their aura simply couldn't allow them to reach their peak.

But today is different.

The two faced a situation where victory or death was the only option.

Both Xiao Changche and Li Dachui unleashed their full power to the extreme, far surpassing their usual strength.

This is the will to survive in dire straits, and a desperate gamble in a situation where defeat is inevitable.

A soft exclamation of "Eh!" came from within the thick fog.

Clearly, the woman in black was also quite surprised by the desperate attack from the two men in front of her.

But it was just an accident.

Then Xiao Changche felt as if his spear had landed in a void, empty and without any force. Even though his cultivation at the ninth level of the Profound Origin Realm had given him complete control over his body, this full-force strike had no point of impact, causing him to stagger. He then felt an indescribable weakness and limpness throughout his body. The backlash from his desperate attack arrived almost instantly.

Li Dachui's desperate strike was the complete opposite of Xiao Changche's experience. This strike felt like cutting into chewing gum, tightly gripping the Minghong Blade. Every inch of downward pressure was incredibly difficult, and the Minghong Blade, known for its ability to cut through iron like mud, actually emitted a series of mournful cries.

Xiao Changche took a deep breath, and the internal energy that had just disappeared surged back with this breath, but at the same time, a palm lightly struck his chest and abdomen.

He abandoned his gun and raised his arm, but before he could even raise his arm, his palm had already landed on Xiao Changche's chest.

Xiao Changche fell backward, looking up at the sky.

Li Dachui drew his sword but couldn't move it. He immediately dropped the sword and retreated.

As the smoke cleared, the man in black took a step forward with a cold smile. In that single step, he was right in front of Li Dachui. With a swift movement, he grabbed Li Dachui by the throat and pressed him down, forcing Li Dachui to kneel involuntarily on the ground.

Just as his knees were about to hit the ground, Li Dachui managed to hold on, his face flushed red and his eyes bulging like copper bells.

"Pretty stubborn!" The man in black chuckled, increasing his strength. With a snap, one of Li Dachui's legs broke instantly, but his remaining good leg stubbornly held on, barely off the ground, and he didn't kneel down.

Seeing that Li Dachui was still staring at him with his head held high even in this state, the man in black was somewhat moved. "He really is a good man. But I like the blood of people like him the most!"

"You want to use my blood to practice your Blood Jade Technique?" Li Dachui asked, panting heavily. A chilling internal force emanated from the other party's fingers, invading his body, which slowly began to feel numb.

“Of course!” the man in black laughed. “The Qi of Heaven and Earth is a great tonic that combines Yin and Yang and balances strength and gentleness! With you, I might be able to take another step forward, and even a glimpse of divine travel might be within my reach.”

"Even if I die, you won't have peace. Zhou Zhi will come looking for you!"

Who is Zhou Zhi?

"Like you, I am also a master of innate talent, and even more powerful than you!"

The man in black sneered, "So what? He might not be able to find me, and even if he does, he might not be able to beat me!"

"Even if we can't find you, killing the Tiele won't be a problem."

"Easier said than done. If being a Xiantian (innate) cultivator meant you could do whatever you wanted, I would have gone to Chang'an and wreaked havoc long ago." The man in black grabbed Li Dachui and ripped his shirt in two pieces, which fell to the ground. "Don't tell me that this Zhou Zhi you're talking about is just a Xiantian cultivator, on the same level as me. Even if he's in the Divine Travel realm, he can't stop me from draining your blood right now!"

(End of this chapter)