Entering the Spirit Realm 133: A Fierce Battle

Luo Mingyuan’s martial arts were truly extraordinary. With both hands resembling the wings of a giant roc, he could simultaneously unleash fierce palm force while suspended in the air. The toxic liquid was blasted away without a trace, and he landed lightly a few feet away without a single hair harmed.

Suddenly, a cold flash cut through the air as two swords thrust toward him from the left and right, their speed beyond all comparison.

Luo Mingyuan was startled and stepped back hurriedly. Glancing left and right, he saw two thin, short figures with their heads wrapped in black cloth. He let out a deep shout and demanded, "Are you men or ghosts?"

The two masked, diminutive figures replied in unison, "We are little ghosts."

The two swords struck out again from left and right like lightning and flint. Their stances were ingenious, capable of both offense and defense, and the tips of the swords pointed directly at vital points on the human body.

Luo Mingyuan angrily shouted, "Even as little ghosts, do you dare to make a mockery of this old monk?" With that, he swept his leg toward the one on the right.

The two masked little ghosts nimbly leapt away, one attacking from the front and the other from the rear. The one attacking from the front executed a move called "Swift Wind Bending the Grass," slashing horizontally at Luo Mingyuan's thigh. The one launching a pincer attack from behind used "Twin-Splitting Sword Strike," the sword light plunging down from behind Luo Mingyuan like a shooting star.

Luo Mingyuan felt that the masked dwarfs were somewhat bizarre. Their swordsmanship was fierce and their coordination tight, though their training still lacked seasoning. He extended a finger to flick away the sword momentum of the person in front, simultaneously bowing forward to take half a step, and abruptly spun around to deliver a palm strike. He shouted, "You two dwarfs have fine swordsmanship, yet the Central Plains has never heard of such figures as you. Where do you come from? Speak quickly!"

The two masked individuals replied in unison, "We are not dwarfs. If our ages were even a tenth of yours, we would probably be taller and larger than you. We are not outsiders."

Even as they spoke, the two of them pressed the attack without letup. Their swordsmanship shifted rapidly with an array of unpredictable, vicious moves, bearing no resemblance to the traditional swordsmanship of any known school.

Luo Mingyuan asked in astonishment, "Strange, such figures exist in the Central Plains? What grievances do you have against me that you attack me?"

The two answered readily, "None."

The two masked figures were agile and flexible in their leaps, and their offensive moves were vicious. Every single stance and movement aimed to take Luo Mingyuan's life.

Luo Mingyuan forced them back with profound palm power, but the two immediately launched an airborne pincer thrust and a low-ground sweeping slash. This drove Luo Mingyuan into a fury, and he shouted, "At whose instigation are you acting?"

The two masked figures gave the exact same reply in unison, "None."

Luo Mingyuan angrily asked again, "What is the meaning of fighting me to the death?"

The two masked figures said together, "We heard your martial arts are formidable, so we sought you out to test our moves and examine what we have learned."

Hearing this, Luo Mingyuan was so infuriated that smoke practically billowed from his seven orifices. He thought to himself: *I truly have bad luck hovering over me; such bizarre matters have actually come to haunt me.* He shouted angrily, "Are you not afraid of death?"

The two replied with the same tone, "Without real combat, one cannot learn profound martial arts. We heard people say, 'Every bit of achievement in life is gained through hardship and adventure.' If we were afraid of death, we wouldn't study martial arts."

Luo Mingyuan angrily declared, "Fine! Then I shall fulfill your wishes." He immediately unleashed a fierce palm wind that tore the surrounding foliage into fluttering pieces, revealing two young children—one dressed in black and the other in white.

The two children did not shrink back, alternately leaping and lunging. The black-clad child leaped high to thrust downwards, while the white-clad child kept close to the ground to attack. When the black child landed, the white child soared into the air. Their coordination was seamless as they bounded, leaped, jumped, and dodged.

Children are naturally agile and flexible. These two parentless brothers of different surnames had lived like wild beasts since childhood, growing accustomed to leaping across wildernesses, mountains, and streams. After inadvertently learning martial arts, they naturally fused their movements together, perfectly mastering the finest lightness skills.

The black and white children deployed rapid swordsmanship, executing agile maneuvers, dodging, flashing, and advancing without breaking their form. It was truly a fierce struggle between dragons and tigers.

Luo Mingyuan unleashed numerous ultimate techniques, yet none could end the lives of the two children. Realizing that this entangled battle offered no advantage, he launched a full offensive, striking out with several palms in rapid succession to force the two children back. He then bounded several feet into the air and sprinted forward at top speed.

***

The black and white children were also somewhat tired and did not pursue him. Feeling that they had learned many marvelous techniques from this brawl, they felt a sense of joy within.

Luo Mingyuan came to a halt and cast his gaze outward to find the young master of Twin Pasture Fortress and his two siblings standing in a triangular formation, blocking his path. Although each of them carried a sword, they had not drawn them; instead, a length of fire rope was tied around each of their waists.

He sized them up briefly and shouted angrily, "If you have come to throw your lives away, and I refuse to grant your wish, even the heavens will not forgive me!" With that, he raised both palms and struck out toward Shuang Mengwen standing at the front. Launched in anger, the magnitude of the strike could well be imagined.

Shuang Mengwen hurriedly sidestepped to evade the blow. While dodging, he ignited a flame; with a *swish, swish*, it shot straight toward Luo Mingyuan. Shuang Mengxue and Shuang Ying also simultaneously discharged flames at Luo Mingyuan.

Luo Mingyuan had suffered a severe lesson back at Twin Pasture Fortress, leaving him bruised and battered. The mere scent of gunpowder triggered a lingering sense of terror—seeing archer's bows in every bush and snake shadows in every cup—and he immediately turned and fled.

Shuang Mengwen and his siblings continuously discharged flames at Luo Mingyuan's back. While Luo Mingyuan flew forward at great speed, the flames traveled even faster, striking his body one after another and exploding. Fortunately, his clothes were soaked through and did not catch fire, but his back burned with a stinging pain, and several fireworks struck his bald head directly.

Without even looking back, Luo Mingyuan kept running forward until his foot suddenly caught a tripwire.

Just as Luo Mingyuan was tripped and tumbled to the ground, Mo Dao and the others revealed themselves. Seeing that Luo Mingyuan's bald head and the back of his head were stained with gunpowder, Shuang Mengwen burst into hearty laughter and mocked, "It's a good thing your monk's head has no hair, otherwise it would have all been burned off."

When Li Hao saw this bitter enemy, he wished he could slash his throat to drink his blood, rip open his chest, and swallow his heart. However, his sworn elder brother had repeatedly instructed that they could not take his life just yet, so he could only kick him with his leg to vent his frustration.

Luo Mingyuan reached out an arm, grabbed Li Hao by the heel, and tossed him heavily far away.

Maiden Jie and Meng Biyu cried out in alarm simultaneously and hurriedly leapt forward to rescue Li Hao.

Gao Yunxiang smiled at Luo Mingyuan and said, "Old monk, our martial arts may be far inferior to yours, but we are small in stature yet big in mischief. Once we latch onto you, you'll have plenty of trouble to deal with!"

Luo Mingyuan abruptly straightened up, reached out an arm to clamp Gao Yunxiang under his armpit, and kicked out fiercely with his foot. The sturdy tripwire tied to the trees at both ends snapped under his divine strength, though the loop around his ankle remained attached, trailing a length of eight or nine feet.

Jie Zhenzi, Meng Biyu, and the others grew anxious upon seeing Gao Yunxiang carelessly fall into the villain's hands. Staring in dismay, they brandished their weapons to rescue him.

Luo Mingyuan swept his leg, turning the tripwire tied to his ankle into a flexible whip of formidable might. As it whistled through the air, Jie Zhenzi, Meng Biyu, and the others were forced to retreat in haste.

Gao Yunxiang felt as though his bones and joints were about to be shattered by the tight grip, and he gasped, "Do you want to take back your treasured human-skin garment?"

Luo Mingyuan coldly replied, "With just you, you think you can possess it!"

Gao Yunxiang had originally altered the human-skin treasured garment into a vest, which he was already wearing on his body while leaving the head and limbs detached unless necessary. He said, "Then you had better not choke me to death."

Fearing that Gao Yunxiang would resort to tricks and launch a surprise attack, Luo Mingyuan hurriedly jabbed a finger at his "Qi-Gathering Acupoint," forced back the remaining little ghosts, and dragged the tripwire as he sped away.

Gao Yunxiang's body shivered, his limbs instantly going rigid and hanging motionless. Feeling his breath grow obstructed, a heavy sense of oppression filled his chest. After running for a while, his body suddenly felt comfortable. He secretly circulated his internal energy, and the blocked acupoint cleared effortlessly.

In his panic, Luo Mingyuan had jabbed the acupoint without noticing that Gao Yunxiang was wearing the human-skin treasured garment. Although the strike had not been light, the barrier of the human-skin garment drastically reduced the force of the blow.

Following the violent jolting of the rapid sprint, the sealed acupoint unblocked itself. He thought to himself: *This wine-and-meat monk is formidable in martial arts and highly alert. If I wish to secretly subdue him and escape, I must be extremely cautious and wait for the right moment.*

Though Luo Mingyuan possessed exceptional lightness skills and ran like the wind, having a person clamped under his armpit and a tripwire trailing from his foot inevitably hindered his movements to some extent.

***

The black and white brothers, small and agile, caught up to Luo Mingyuan in the blink of an eye.

The black-clad child sprang up more than two zhang high, executing the move "Flying Dragon Descending from Heaven," as circles of cold light enveloped Luo Mingyuan.

Luo Mingyuan raised his leg and swung it. The tripwire wrapped around his foot snapped through the air with a sharp whistle, colliding with the black child's sword tip. With a crisp sound, a section of the tripwire was sheared off.

Meanwhile, the white-clad child attacked close to the ground, unleashing the swift move "Raging Wind Sweeping Fallen Leaves" to slash at Luo Mingyuan's legs and joints. As the sword technique was executed, cold light burst forth.

Luo Mingyuan swept his foot, turning the tripwire into a weapon to parry the attack. With a swishing sound, it whipped up a howling gust of wind, once again forcing the white child's sword tip away.

By this time, the young master and mistress of the Twin Pastures Fortress and Li Hao had all arrived, but fearing to harm the hostage, none of them knew how to rescue Gao Yunxiang from peril.

After the black and white children shortened the tripwire on Luo Mingyuan's foot, its formidable power was considerably diminished. The two children, long accustomed to seamless teamwork, closely coordinated their attacks and rapidly renewed their offensive.

Gao Yunxiang felt that the opportunity had arrived. He secretly calculated how to strike so as to succeed in one move and safely escape Luo Mingyuan's control. Since he was facing outward, striking Luo Mingyuan's acupoints required him to loop his arm backward blindly without being able to see the exact location of the target.

Fortunately, Luo Mingyuan's arm was wrapped around him, allowing him to judge the acupoint's position by instinct. Taking advantage of the split second when Luo Mingyuan was concentrating entirely on fending off the fierce attacks of the black and white brothers, Gao Yunxiang secretly channeled his internal energy into his index finger and savagely jabbed the "Quchi Acupoint" on Luo Mingyuan's arm.

The moment Gao Yunxiang landed the jab, it surprisingly succeeded. He felt the arm clamping him loosen, and his body began to drop downward.

Gao Yunxiang pressed his palm against Luo Mingyuan's leg, springing far away before landing on his feet and instantly standing upright.

Yang Yifei hurriedly rushed to his side and asked, "Are you injured?"

Gao Yunxiang shook his head and replied, "No." Taking a breath, he immediately readied his palms to counterattack Luo Mingyuan.

Luo Mingyuan's luck was truly wretched to the extreme. Gao Yunxiang's solid palm press against his leg had inadvertently struck his "Youyuan Acupoint." At that very split second, the white-clad child crouched low and swept out with a horizontal sword strike. Luo Mingyuan failed to dodge in time; the back hem of his monk's robe was sliced away, and his left leg joint was grazed by the sword tip, causing fresh blood to ooze out continuously from the wound.

This injury instantly ignited Luo Mingyuan's boundless fury, driving him to launch a tempestuous, frenzied counterattack against Gao Yunxiang and the others. He struck out with his palms continuously. To be hit by his palm power meant certain death, and even being grazed by the edge of his palm wind was enough to cause severe injury.

Gao Yunxiang let out a deep shout, "Everyone scatter, stay away from him!" Then he added, "Want to run? It won't be that easy!"

Luo Mingyuan demanded, "Who is running? Today, I'll make you old monk taste my Seven-Star Palms!" As he spoke, he slapped out with his palms repeatedly at astonishing speed.

Luo Mingyuan frowned and asked, "Are you the legendary 'Seven-Star Young Master Who Dispenses Wealth and Upholds Justice' in the pugilistic world?" He executed the move "Sweeping Snow Before the Door" to neutralize Gao Yunxiang's offensive.

Gao Yunxiang replied, "I am indeed that humble person, though such lavish praise is undeserved. Old monk, tonight you are a dog in the water—you're bound to take a beating!" Shifting his feet, he launched a continuous stream of palm strikes.

Luo Mingyuan angrily retorted, "With just your meager parlor tricks, you dare to boast before this old monk! You are truly too arrogant." Raising both palms, the newly gathered force surged forth like boiling water bubbling out of a pot, refusing to relent.