Chapter Ninety-One: The Old Are No Less Troubling

Far to the north beneath the hanging stars, the land was lush and green, ancient trees rose to the sky, and houses stretched on in long succession.

But at this moment, a great swath of those houses had already collapsed. Above the broken ruins, two figures were locked in fierce combat. Winds and clouds roiled, sword energy surged in all directions, and within a thousand paces, no one dared draw near.

"Cuo Tuo, have you gone mad? Why have you come to fight me here?" one of them cried, clearly being forced back in momentum as he retaliated.

His voice was cold and dark; it was none other than Ning Jiuyi, the Great Elder of the outer sect. His robes were torn in places, blood faintly showing through, evidently having been struck by surprise.

"Ning Jiuyi, while I was in slumber, you bullied the disciples under my care. Dare you do it, yet refuse to admit it?" Cuo Tuo Daoist roared in fury.

Like Ning Jiuyi, this old man had golden light flickering about him, with a golden skeletal frame faintly visible within his body. Clearly, he too had reached the level where the sword path had entered his very bones.

As had been mentioned before, this old fellow was in truth a man of calm and detached temperament. Under ordinary circumstances, he might not have come looking for trouble with Ning Jiuyi. But the matter of Long Jinyi had provoked him too deeply, and Ning Jiuyi, who had collided headlong with his wrath, became the unfortunate soul to bear the brunt of it.

"I challenged the status of your Unmoving Peak openly during the sect competition. What wrong have I done?" Ning Jiuyi roared back as well.

This old man had lost a challenge more than seventy years ago and had been nursing that grievance ever since. Today, he was suddenly beaten down over the same matter, so aggrieved he felt he could spit blood, and his temper had also flared.

"Do you think I don't know the filthy tricks you used?" Cuo Tuo Daoist showed no sign of retreating.

At that, a vicious light flashed in Ning Jiuyi's eyes. He said no more and launched into battle.

Boom.

Boom.

Both old men were at the early Dragon Gate stage, and both had mastered the sword path to the marrow of their bones. Once they truly began fighting, waves of force surged outward, thunderous crashes rang like rolling thunder, and countless trees and houses were shredded into dust.

Fortunately, both still retained a measure of restraint and soon shifted the battlefield higher into the sky.

Even so, many of the younger disciples who had been too close were injured, stumbling and scrambling away in all directions to avoid being caught in the crossfire.

...

"That person is... Uncle-Master Cuo Tuo from Unmoving Peak?"

"Why would he wake up all of a sudden?"

"It really is him. Though Unmoving Peak won last time, it was a miserable victory. If he has awakened, how could he possibly swallow this insult?"

...

By the time Fan Lanzhou and the other three arrived, voices were already buzzing everywhere. Above and below, there were many cultivators watching the battle, and even more were hurrying in from afar. With such a huge disturbance, how could it go unnoticed?

High in the sky, blood splashed through the air.

Once the two old men had truly grown heated, they fought as if risking their lives. Wounds soon began to appear on both sides.

Fan Lanzhou and the others wanted to intervene, but a battle at this level was not something they dared approach. They could only stand there, anxious beyond measure.

The booming continued without end.

...

"Stop!"

More than a hundred breaths later, Tianfeng Daoist of Sunlight Peak, who was nearest of all, finally rushed over. Bold as ever, he threw himself into the battle and, with a series of sword thrusts, forced the two apart.

But one man was not enough. After circling once, Cuo Tuo Daoist and Ning Jiuyi immediately clashed again.

Tianfeng Daoist had already been hot-tempered enough, but seeing these two old fellows made him feel that he was practically mild by comparison. Though he still did not understand why Cuo Tuo Daoist had suddenly awakened, this was obviously not the time to ask.

Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh.

Shrill sounds split the air. Tianzhu Daoist, Lone Star Realist, and several other elders soon arrived as well, yet even so they could not suppress the crazed Cuo Tuo Daoist and Ning Jiuyi.

Tianfeng Daoist and the others were indeed powerful, but with concerns weighing on them, they did not dare truly injure either man.

"You two bastards, what are you fighting over? Stop at once!"

A moment later, Tianhe Daoist's imposing voice finally rolled in from the horizon. Before the man even appeared, two golden, flashing flying swords shot through the air from afar, striking straight at the pair!

Though those two swords carried only the aura of ordinary superior-grade magical treasures, they seemed to be reinforced by some extraordinary power. Their momentum was like that of a mountain-splitting, earth-severing strike.

Wherever they passed, space trembled and sonic booms rumbled on and on.

"Blood-Draining Sword Dao!"

Tianfeng Daoist and the others recognized the profundity of this strike and, startled, hurriedly flashed aside.

Cuo Tuo Daoist and Ning Jiuyi were likewise shocked. Knowing that they had truly provoked Tianhe Daoist's wrath, they dared not continue fighting and also leaped away.

Yet the two swords seemed to have eyes. They pursued the pair relentlessly from behind, not only growing faster, but blazing with ever-brighter radiance that stabbed at the eyes.

It felt as though two stars were chasing after them, intent on grinding them into powder.

Closer and closer.

Feeling Tianhe Daoist's fury, Cuo Tuo Daoist and Ning Jiuyi knew this move could not be dodged. At last, they turned and thrust their own swords back to meet it.

Bang.

Bang.

In an instant, the two impacts rang out almost simultaneously.

Cries of pain followed at the same time.

Cuo Tuo Daoist and Ning Jiuyi both spewed a mouthful of blood and were sent flying backward.

...

The golden light faded. The two old fellows lay on the ground, coughing blood again and again, looking utterly miserable.

Whoosh.

Tianhe Daoist finally arrived as well. His gaze first swept over the ruins and the several injured disciples, and only then did he look down coldly upon the two of them and thunder, "The two of you think you're merely low-level Qi Refining cultivators? How dare you brawl so fiercely within the sect? Are you trying to destroy the sect?"

"Senior Brother, it was Cuo Tuo who first—" Ning Jiuyi protested indignantly.

"I don't care what reasons you have!"

Before he could finish, Tianhe Daoist cut him off coldly. "If you've violated the sect rules, then you deserve punishment. Both of you, go to the Hall of Punishment and receive your sentence yourselves."

Hearing this, both men looked grim, yet neither moved at once. They each felt aggrieved in their hearts.

"Go now!" Tianhe Daoist snapped again. "If either of you has a complaint, then get out of the Peach Blossom Sword Sect."

His gaze turned even sharper.

After a few rapid flickers of their eyes, the two old men finally struggled to their feet. Fan Lanzhou and the others hurried to help Cuo Tuo Daoist up and escorted him toward the Hall of Punishment.

Feng Wanhai, Bai Chengzhou, and the others also came forward to help Ning Jiuyi.

Tianhe Daoist watched the two groups depart, his expression filled with a headache of his own.

"The young ones are troublesome enough, and now even the old ones won't give me peace."

...

Tianfeng Daoist and the others, hearing Tianhe Daoist's words, all snickered in secret.

"Snicker at my ass! You lot aren't any better. Could you really not stop them just now? Did you have to wait until I came?"

Still in a fit of anger, Tianhe Daoist launched another round of scolding at Tianfeng Daoist and the others.

Only after he had finished did he order everyone to disperse, and then he himself headed toward the Hall of Punishment.