Starting with helping Zhao Kai ascend the throne in the snow

Just as Shen Qing was speaking, the sound of fierce fighting in the backyard rang out like thunder. This sudden loud noise quickly woke everyone in Kuaiji City from their slumber.

"One Sword Immortal kneels down."

"Lanjiao."

With a roar, Lao Jian soared into the sky, his fingers forming a sword, drawing upon countless energies to condense a phantom sword composed of countless sword energies, which slashed towards Lucci. At the same time, Lucci was not to be outdone. His leg muscles contracted and extended rapidly, generating kinetic energy, and then he kicked out at high speed, exceeding the speed of sound, which caused air compression in front of his legs, creating a vacuum and emitting a sharp slashing wave.

The next second, the sword shadow and the slashing wave collided, then broke into four pieces and flew towards the surrounding buildings. With a deafening roar, the courtyard where Shen Qing was located was instantly turned into ruins.

After this exchange, the two were evenly matched, but the old swordsman's breathing became much heavier, obviously indicating that the intense battle had consumed a lot of his internal energy. In contrast, Lu Qi only exhaled a few breaths before raising his head again with a ferocious expression.

"Huh, trying to escape? Shave." Just as Lucci was about to launch another attack, he used his Observation Haki to keenly sense that Shen Qing was running away into the distance. Immediately, he stomped his feet on the ground and used the sixth technique, Shave, to rush towards Shen Qing at high speed.

Although Lu Qi did not know where he was, he knew that all of this was related to Shen Qing, so only by capturing Shen Qing could he figure everything out.

"Where do you think you're going?" The old sword god's expression changed drastically when he saw Lucci's figure moving at high speed with afterimages. He hurriedly used his qi to rise up and chase after Lucci.

"Protect Lord Shen..." The soldiers protecting Shen Qing shouted as they turned around and saw a blur of movement approaching rapidly behind them. Immediately, more than twenty soldiers formed a simple battle formation to block Shen Qing's path.

"A bunch of ants looking for death, finger guns." Lucci sneered disdainfully when he saw the group of soldiers blocking Shen Qing's way, then activated his Armament Haki and flicked out air bullets from his right fingertip.

With a whooshing sound, the soldiers who were standing in front of Shen Qing had blood splattering from their chests and fell down like wheat being harvested.

"Oh my god, it's a monster..."

"The leopard has become a spirit..."

"A monster is eating people! A leopard monster is coming to eat people..."

As Lucci rapidly approached, his human-beast form was immediately spotted by the surviving soldiers, and this caused an uproar among them.

They had no idea what a Zoan-type Devil Fruit was. Upon seeing Lucci, a man with a leopard's head and a human body, they were all terrified, thinking they had encountered a legendary monster. The soldiers who had been fearlessly protecting Shen Qing suddenly screamed and ran away in all directions. The appearance of the monster instantly shattered their psychological defenses; now, they only thought about escaping and couldn't care about anything else.

As the fleeing soldiers shouted wildly, Kuaiji City suddenly became lively. Upon hearing that there was a monster, some martial artists perked up, and many of them ran towards the monster's location without even dressing properly.

Of course, many people, upon hearing of the monster, shut their doors tightly and trembled indoors. As rumors and unrest spread, news of the monster quickly reached the alien warrior camp in the east of the city, causing another huge uproar. Some believed it, some didn't, and everyone was discussing it animatedly.

"Finally, I'm going to catch you." Lu Qi looked at Shen Qing, who was not far away, and grinned maliciously.

Just then, Xuan Yuan Qingfeng suddenly flew forward, picked up the battle knife from the dead soldier, and slashed at Lucci's neck.

"Overestimating yourself." Lu Qi sneered disdainfully as he watched Xuan Yuan Qingfeng attack, then stood still and shouted, "Iron Block!"

However, just as the sword was about to strike, Lucci suddenly felt an extremely dangerous sensation. He hurriedly activated his Armament Haki to cover his neck, giving it a black metallic appearance.

The next second, the previously unremarkable blade was suddenly covered in orange flames, transforming into a flaming blade. The flaming blade slammed heavily into Lucci's neck, forcing him back several steps. The flying flames ignited his fur, emitting a burnt smell. Had he not used Armament Haki to cover his body, he would likely have been badly injured by the flames relying solely on his iron-clad defense.

"The power of fire... that's the Logia-type Flame-Flame Fruit." Lucci touched the area burned by the flames, looking at Xuan Yuan Qingfeng in astonishment. He recognized the power the woman before him was using—the power of the Logia-type Devil Fruit, the Flame-Flame Fruit. It was precisely because he recognized it that he felt it was unbelievable. Devil Fruits were already rare, and Logia-type Devil Fruits were among the best. The fact that the woman before him could possess the fruit that Fire Fist Ace had previously used was truly beyond his expectations.

Just after Lu Qi was stopped by Xuan Yuan Qingfeng, the old sword god also caught up and stood side by side with Xuan Yuan Qingfeng, looking at Lu Qi with a solemn expression.

In the recent exchange, the old swordsman deeply felt how difficult Lucci was to deal with. Not only did Lucci employ a series of strange moves, but his attack, defense, and speed were all top-notch in the world, and he also had super strong regenerative abilities. The wounds that he had painstakingly inflicted on Lucci stopped bleeding in less than a minute, and the wounds were still slowly healing.

“Xuanyuan girl, you and I must stop him together. His target is boy Shen, and I alone am not strong enough to handle him,” the old sword god said solemnly, watching Lu Qi with full vigilance.

"Shen Lang, the senior and I will buy you some time. You should leave immediately," Xuan Yuan Qingfeng said without turning her head. Facing a powerful figure like Lu Qi, she dared not be careless in the slightest; any distraction could lead to unpredictable consequences.

Shen Qing nodded upon hearing this. He knew this was not the time for sentimentality. Only if he could leave first and find rescue could he better help the old sword god and Xuan Yuan Qingfeng.

"You can't escape, and they can't stop me, Moonwalk." Lu Qi listened to their words and smiled coldly. Then he leaped up and ran towards Shen Qing in mid-air. At the same time, he stretched out his right index finger and launched a series of flying finger guns.

Faced with Lucci's attack, the old sword god hurriedly flew forward to block Lucci's approach, while Xuan Yuan Qingfeng wielded his battle sword and unleashed a series of sword energies, blocking all of Lucci's flying finger spears.

However, given Moonwalk's short-lived ability to run and fly freely in the air, it would be difficult for the old swordsman to completely stop Lucci alone. It's important to understand that among experts of the same level, it's very difficult for one person to completely stop another.

Cheetahs are known for their speed, and Lucci has even awakened his Devil Fruit, making him incredibly fast. He used his speed advantage to keep Shen Qing, the Old Sword God, and Xuan Yuan Qingfeng locked in combat. As time went on, the Old Sword God and Xuan Yuan Qingfeng's internal energy was greatly depleted, and the scales of victory began to tip in Lucci's favor.

Looking at the situation before him, Shen Qing suddenly turned his attention to the wooden box he had been carrying. The next second, he opened the box without hesitation and took a bite of the Door-Door Fruit.

A nauseating, stinky smell emanated from the fruit, and Shen Qing's expression immediately turned quite dramatic. He instinctively wanted to spit it out, but it took immense willpower to force the fruit down his throat. After swallowing the fruit, Shen Qing felt so disgusted that tears streamed down his face. Then, like throwing away trash, he tossed the remaining Devil Fruit onto the ground.