In Emei, start by obtaining golden attributes.

Chapter 455 The situation has slipped out of my control.
With his attention slightly focused, Gu Shaoan glanced at Zhu Houzhao and the others who were slowly closing in on him within the sword domain. After a moment of thought, he seemed to have an idea.

He then gently held the Heaven-Slaying Sword horizontally in front of him.

The next moment, streaks of sword energy emerged from the void like bamboo shoots after a spring rain, continuing to rush towards Zhu Houzhao and the other six within the sword domain.

But when the sword energy was about to strike, both Xuanmie Monk and Bashiba and the others changed their expressions slightly.

This was because they could clearly sense the sword essence and power contained within the sword energy attacking them.

Amidst the gentle, misty rain of swords, two distinctly different sharpnesses and sword techniques were subtly incorporated.

One of them appears as gentle as a breeze, but it is clearly filled with a biting cold wind, like the coldest wind that comes with the chill of winter.

When the sword energy pierced the air, it was accompanied by a distinct whirlwind and howling wind.

As the sword energy swept through the air, its luster was no longer purely cold and bright, but rather like the last rays of the setting sun at dusk, golden with a hint of red, bright for a short time, yet painfully piercing to the eyes.

It is also with the addition of these two sword styles and sword momentum that the landing points of the sword energy in the sword domain no longer exhibit the previously predictable patterns; the sharpness is sometimes fast and sometimes slow, sometimes straight and sometimes bent.

The coping habits that everyone had just established were suddenly removed from their fulcrum.

Zhu Houzhao had just dodged a falling sun sword aura and hadn't even regained his footing when a gust of wind-like sword aura swept in from his side and back, brushing against his waistline. He was forced to twist his hips and body, and hastily pushed his internal energy to his side to barely deflect the sword aura.

Even so, when the sword energy grazed past him, the condensed force still tore Zhu Houzhao's clothes, leaving a fresh bloodstain on his waist.

At the same time, the Buddhist energy of Dushan and Xuanmie also showed more obvious tremors.

The tremor was no longer just a subtle ripple caused by the force of the setting sun, but a disorder caused by the continuous strikes of the startling sword energy.

Each strike felt like hitting the thinnest part of the Buddhist energy barrier, forcing the two to circulate their inner energy even faster to fill the gap.

They went from holding out to being on the defensive and being attacked.

Si Hanfei and Wang Yizhao's initial momentum was forced to stop at this moment.

Just as Si Hanfei's spear deflected a wisp of falling sword energy, a second wisp of startling sword energy slipped in through the gap in the spear's shadow, forcing him to turn his spear back to protect himself, and he had to forcibly retract the half-step he was taking.

The pressure surged.

In an instant, everyone's fighting rhythm was disrupted once again, their composure vanished, and everything seemed to have returned to square one.

Everyone clearly realized that if they continued to wear each other down like this, they would only be slowly worn down to death by the accumulating injuries and depletion of their internal energy.

Inside the arena, the Eighth Master flipped his palm, pressing down with his left palm and pushing horizontally with his right.

The next instant, the sword energy in front of him, carrying the aura of a startling sword, was forcefully shattered by his internal energy. The shattered sharpness drew a small vortex in the air, and was then pressed back to the ground by the downward force of the sword domain.

After blocking the sword energy in front of him, Ba Shiba slightly trembled his wrist and felt a stinging pain in his palm.

Looking up at Gu Shaoan, who stood as immovable as a towering mountain in the distance, Ba Shiba's gaze had lost its usual calm and certainty.

Knowing that he could not continue like this, Ba Shiba's internal energy surged. He then lowered his feet, and his robe and hair were simultaneously lifted by an invisible force. His internal energy surged out from his meridians, and his spiritual energy suddenly condensed, transforming into a cold and domineering sharpness of intent.

Immediately afterwards, he activated the "Heaven and Earth Transformation Technique," merging his aura with the power of heaven and earth, causing the surrounding air to feel as if it were being suddenly tightened.

At the same time, the palm intent of the "God-Slaying Palm" took shape.

Ba Shiba pressed his right palm forward, and although there was no fire in his palm, it was as if an invisible black curtain had been pressed down.

The moment the black curtain fell, the several gusts of sword energy that were traversing within the sword domain seemed to be held down by a giant hand. The sword light paused, and the surrounding sword energy was also suddenly frozen in the air.

At the same time, Ba Shiba said in a rapid, clear voice, "Now is the time."

Before Zhu Houzhao and the others could react, the monk Xuanmie, who was with Dushan, let out a low shout. At that moment, his powerful internal energy, spiritual energy, and blood energy surged from his body.

Noticing the aura emanating from the monk Xuanmie, Bashiba, Sihanfei, and Wang Yizhao felt a chill in their hearts.

Not only were they startled by the movement of the monk Xuanmie's "Finger of Flowers" technique, but they were also astonished by the aura emanating from the monk's body at that moment.

This is because the aura revealed within the body of the monk Xuanmie at this moment is not the aura of the Lesser Three Harmonies, but rather the aura of the Greater Three Harmonies, in which essence, energy, and spirit are perfectly intertwined.

In other words, the monk Xuanmie had been hiding his true abilities all along.

Noticing the aura emanating from the monk Xuanmie, Wang Yizhao seemed to have thought of something and glanced at Zhu Houzhao.

Zhu Houzhao's face was indeed pale at this moment, but there was not a trace of the ripples that should have appeared in his eyes when he was "surprised".

Wang Yizhao's heart sank suddenly.

This time, the experts from the Great Yuan and Great Wei joined forces with the aim of besieging and killing Gu Shaoan.

Having mobilized a full six experts at the Celestial Realm, Wang Yizhao felt there was no need to conceal from Gu Shaoan the fact that Monk Xuanmie was a Great Three Harmony Celestial Realm martial artist.

Unless, this time the concealment wasn't directed at Gu Shaoan.

Instead, they came for Ba Shiba and Sihan.

The purpose, besides protecting the emperor and ensuring that Zhu Houzhao always had a final escape route in this siege, was also to wait for an opportunity to turn against Gu Shaoan as soon as he fell, and take the opportunity to break the two sharpest pillars of the Yuan Dynasty here.

Thinking of this, Wang Yizhao felt a chill run down his spine.

He had thought this was a joint battle between experts from both countries, but in the end, the most dangerous thing was not Gu Shaoan's sword domain, but Zhu Houzhao's scheming behind the "joint battle".

This level of shrewdness was so subtle and understated that even Wang Yizhao, after figuring things out, couldn't help but be alarmed.

Compared to Wang Yizhao and the others, Gu Shaoan's reaction was equally calm.

With the omnipresent sword intent within the sword domain, Gu Shaoan could immediately perceive all the actions of Zhu Houzhao and the others within the sword domain.

Even before the battle began, Gu Shaoan had already sensed that Xuan Mie was holding back in his fight.

Sensing the aura of the Great Three Harmonies within Xuan Mie's body, Gu Shaoan quickly understood Zhu Houzhao's plan.

Just then, the monk Xuanmie, whose three flowers were resonating within his body, suddenly moved.

He suddenly accelerated, his feet converging to their limit, his whole body like an iron arrow shot from a bowstring, rushing straight forward along the gap that Bashiba had forcibly solidified.

In the blink of an eye, the monk Xuanmie, who had been nearly ten feet away from Gu Shaoan, appeared in front of him.

The two were less than five feet apart.

The moment the monk Xuanmie stood still, the dust beneath his feet seemed to be stopped by an invisible Buddhist bell. It was still for a moment, and then suddenly exploded in all directions in a thin ring of waves.

He held a flower in his right hand, gently twisting his index finger and thumb, and slowly pointed his fingertip at three inches in front of Gu Shaoan's chest.

The movements were extremely light.

It was as light as picking up a fallen petal in a temple, as light as a drop of dew falling before the lingering echo of the morning bell.

But at the very moment this finger was extended, the surging power of heaven and earth around it was forcibly pulled by this finger, as if an invisible thread extended from the fingertip of the monk Xuanmie, directly connecting the warp and weft of heaven and earth.

At that moment, a very faint and sharp "hum" suddenly rang in everyone's ears, like the slight vibration of metal, or like a fingernail gently scraping the surface of an ancient temple bell. The sound was not loud, but it pierced through the bones and went straight to the mind.

Immediately afterwards, the air in front of Monk Xuanmie's fingertips suddenly contracted, condensing into a visible gray-white bead of air.

The swirling energy bead created fine ripples, forcing the surrounding sword energy to shift to the sides, as if a purer, more domineering force had forced open a straight path.

That wasn't a brutal impact from the outward release of internal energy.

Instead, it is an ultimate condensation that blends the essence of the universe, the spirit, and the power of heaven and earth into a single line.

It is one of the 72 Shaolin Arts, the "Finger Plucking Technique".

A soft "pop" sound.

The air bead suddenly shattered in mid-air, transforming into a thin, almost invisible finger-like force that shot straight toward Gu Shaoan. Wherever the finger-like force passed, the air seemed to be sliced ​​open by an invisible blade, leaving a short, bright white trail. The dust on both sides of the white trail was all compressed into powder, which was then rolled outwards by the subsequent air wave into two low gray lines.

"boom--"

It wasn't until the finger strike was half a foot away from Gu Shaoan that everyone belatedly heard the delayed explosion.

The explosion didn't come from the fingertip force itself, but rather from the "opened" air passage, like someone pounding a muffled drum in a narrow tunnel, making one's chest tingle.

The hem of Gu Shaoan's robe was lifted by the shockwave, and the tassel of the Yitian Sword also straightened backward.

Gu Shaoan remained unmoved in the face of the monk Xuanmie's finger strike.

But the hand gripping the hilt of the Heaven-Slaying Sword suddenly tightened.

"Yan~"

As the clear, melodious sound of a sword echoed, a warm, graceful, and resolute golden light suddenly appeared in the air.

The sword light was far less intense and dazzling than the sunlight above the narrow sliver of sky at that moment. Instead, it was like the first rays of dawn breaking through the thick clouds and falling on the silent earth, its color warm and soft.

Yet, amidst this gentle sword light, the others present felt a chill run down their spines.

"Sword Ten: Dawn".

When Gu Shaoan thrust out his sword, it even gave people the illusion of being "slow".

The sword light moved steadily, like the first ray of light in the morning piercing through the clouds—gentle, calm, and carrying an undeniable sense of order.

Where the sword tip pointed, the howling wind, the falling momentum, and the twisting of the gusts within the sword domain seemed to be smoothed out by an invisible hand.

The finger strike of the monk Xuanmie's "Finger of Flowers" was so fine as to be almost invisible. When it cut through the air, it left a white mark. The moment it touched the sword light, it was enveloped, thinned, and smoothed by the warm sword energy in the sword light.

In contrast, the tip of the Yitian Sword, with its bright, shining light, was like the morning sun descending through the clouds. After breaking through the energy gathered in front of him, it continued to steadily approach the Xuanmie Monk.

With a sudden stomp of his right foot, a tremendous force propelled the monk Xuanmie's body backward like an arrow released from a bow.

However, just as Monk Xuanmie clearly heard the whistling wind in his ears and saw other receding scenery in his peripheral vision, he was astonished to find that the distance between him and the Yitian Sword in front of him, which incorporated the light of the morning sun into its tip, was not increasing but decreasing.

Then, under the watchful eyes of the monk Xuanmie, the distance between him and the Heaven-Slaying Sword grew shorter and shorter.

Until Gu Shaoan simply pushed the hand holding the Heaven-Slaying Sword forward slightly.

The warm, dim light at the tip of the sword, as calm as a candle flame pressed against paper, rapidly magnified in the pupils of Monk Xuanmie until it filled his entire field of vision.

"puff"

The next instant, a sound as soft as a needle piercing silk rang out, and the sword light, condensed from the dawn, successfully entered the throat of the monk Xuanmie and exited from the back of his neck.

The whole process was too fast.

So fast that even as Gu Shaoan's Yitian Sword pierced Xuanmie Monk's throat with its sword light, Xuanmie Monk still maintained his pose of flicking a flower.

But the "flower" she held in her hand eventually fell.

And it all ended up happening without a trace.

Blood trickled from the corner of his mouth, and the monk Xuanmie stared in astonishment at Gu Shaoan, whose face was cold.

"Playing chess and swordsmanship, what a fine game of chess and swordsmanship! You were even able to foresee this move of mine. I admire you."

Gu Shaoan's sword strike just now was too natural.

It was by no means a spur-of-the-moment decision, but rather something that had been brewing for a long time, waiting for someone to approach so that Gu Shaoan could unleash that sword strike that was like the dawn breaking through the clouds.

However, it was the monk Xuanmie who became the one to receive the sword.

Gu Shaoan remained silent in the face of what the monk Xuanmie said. He forcefully pulled out the Yitian Sword with his right hand, causing a stream of blood to fly through the air.

At the same time, a dragon's roar mixed with a powerful wave of energy burst forth from Gu Shaoan's body, sending Xuan Mie flying more than ten feet away.

"Grandmaster~"

Seeing the monk Xuanmie's throat pierced by Gu Shaoan's sword, Dushan in Shaolin Temple's expression changed drastically and he couldn't help but exclaim in shock.

As he spoke, Du Shan used his lightness skill to move forward.

Just as Du Shan leaned forward, a series of sword energies, each an inch long, fell like comets, forcing Du Shan to raise his hand to deal with them.

The expressions on the faces of Ba Shiba, Si Hanfei, and the others were extremely grave.

Previously, even the six Celestial Realm experts were forced to a standstill by Gu Shaoan.

Now that Monk Xuanmie has been killed, the pressure on the five of them facing Gu Shaoan will naturally be even greater.

Compared to Ba Shiba and Si Hanfei, the one with the most unpleasant expression at this moment was Zhu Houzhao.

Just as Wang Yizhao had guessed, the monk Xuanmie's concealment of his abilities was at the behest of Zhu Houzhao.

In Zhu Houzhao's original plan, after the group killed Gu Shaoan together today, Zhu Houzhao, Xuan Mie, Du Shan and Wang Yizhao would immediately shift their target to deal with Ba Shiba and Si Hanfei.

Little did he expect that things would develop in a direction he had never anticipated.

Gu Shaoan's strength has far exceeded the expectations of Zhu Houzhao and others.

The six martial artists at the Celestial Realm were actually at a disadvantage when facing Gu Shaoan alone.

Now, Xuanmie, whom Zhu Houzhao regarded as his trump card, has been killed by Gu Shaoan with a single sword strike.

At this moment, Zhu Houzhao could clearly feel it.

The situation has spiraled out of their control.

　With the Lunar New Year approaching, things are a bit hectic, so there will only be one update today and tomorrow! I'll resume two updates a day starting from the first day of the Lunar New Year!

　　
　
(End of this chapter)