Hearing these words, Duan Zhengqi's expression immediately changed as the blood in his body surged rapidly, and a layer of crystal-clear, jade-like red light appeared around his body in an instant.
His white robe fluttered without wind, and the longsword in his hand emitted a chilling radiance, transforming his aura in the blink of an eye.
The overflowing blood energy was a sign of a martial artist in the Body-Opening Ten Layers Marrow-Cleansing Realm.
Tian Honglu was abruptly pulled by her senior brother, and before she could react, she suddenly saw her senior brother's momentum fully unleashed, so well-prepared for combat, she knew something was up and immediately drew out her water-blue longsword, her expression extremely grave.
In contrast to their readiness, Hou Yuxiao's face remained calm and composed from beginning to end.
"No wonder you're confident in capturing me alive, having achieved the Body Opening Ninth Level Blood Exchange Realm at the age of seventeen or eighteen. Truly worthy of being a descendant of a major clan!"
In this martial world, most who cultivated to the Open Body Ten Layers were around thirty years old. Tian Honglu achieved the Body Opening Ninth Level at such a young age; her talent would be considered extraordinary even among first-class powers.
They are indeed from a renowned power, so strong!
A trace of envy appeared in Hou Yuxiao's eyes, but in the next second, he made his move.
He drew a meter-long black staff from the bag at the side of his saddle, and his lean figure dashed like lightning, arriving in front of both of them in an instant.
That black staff seemed to grant his slender frame immense strength, the robust blood-red light engulfing his entire body. As he swung the staff, it created layers of ghostly shadows that instantly formed a tight circular staff-shadow space around his body, impervious to water and oil.
"Black Dragon Thirteen Forms... It really is Hou Yuxiao!"
Duan Zhengqi's sword light was repelled numerous times. After muttering to himself, his face grew even more solemn.
He had originally thought that Hou Yuxiao's rise to fame in Zhaoyang County was solely due to his Facial Disguise Technique, never expecting his actual strength to be so terrifying. Both he and his junior sister Tian Honglu, despite being of Open Body Ten Layers cultivation, did not have the slightest advantage against Hou Yuxiao.
"Junior sister."
Duan Zhengqi called out urgently and gave Tian Honglu a look. Then, with a stern expression, he moved as fast as lightning, his longsword tracing arcs of cold light as he attacked Hou Yuxiao's left side. His white robe accentuated the sword light, graceful as a startled swan, elegant as a swimming dragon.
On the other side, Tian Honglu was not to be outdone. Although her cultivation was only at the Body Opening Ninth Level Blood Exchange Realm, not as high as her senior brother's, the foundation of her blood energy was incredibly solid. With a flick of her wrist, her blue longsword wielded the force of ten thousand jin from the right side.
Despite the strength of ten thousand jin being potent, it still paled in comparison to Duan Zhengqi's mid-stage Marrow-Cleansing Realm's Six Tigers Strength.
Logically, Hou Yuxiao should have tried to break through from Tian Honglu's right side.
Duan Zhengqi's eyes grew colder as his left foot silently turned to the right, preparing to move towards the direction Hou Yuxiao might break through.
However, what Hou Yuxiao did next was completely beyond his expectations.
His body, which was not even five feet tall, suddenly came to a halt, and then he leaped up high. Instead of attempting to break free and flee, he raised his black staff and swung it left and right, mercilessly cleaving nine black staff shadows towards them.
Nine black shadows, each two to three zhang long, crackled with a fearsome force against the air, like nine roaring black dragons, crashing down on the longswords in their hands.
Clang...
"Bone marrows echoing thunder, the power of Nine Tigers, he's achieved the peak of the Open Body Ten Layers Marrow-Cleansing Realm!"
The sound of metal clashing echoed all around as Duan Zhengqi and Tian Honglu heard a faint thunderous rumble emanating from Hou Yuxiao's bone marrows, their expressions changing dramatically as their will to fight instantly diminished by eighty percent.
The echoing of bone marrows like thunder was an emanation from Hou Yuxiao's marrow at that moment.
It signified that the martial artist's Marrow Cleansing was nearing its end and was on the verge of Coagulating Gang, breaking through to the realm of Gang Qi experts.
The Black Dragon Thirteen Forms was a martial arts heritage of the Hou Clan in Zhaoyang County, renowned in the neighboring counties for a long time. Although it was third-rate martial arts, in a small place like Zhaoyang County, third-rate was already the ceiling.
Duan Zhengqi had seen a description of the Black Dragon Thirteen Forms in his sect, which demanded high requirements for Qi Force and speed. One needed to reach Six Levels of Body Unsealing to execute the first shadow, and producing nine shadows meant that Hou Yuxiao had reached the realm of Great Accomplishment.
The World's martial arts correspond to the six ranks of powers, from highest to lowest: holy, sky, earth, first-class, second-rate, third-rate.
Although martial arts of different levels vary greatly in power once mastered, the essence of martial arts cannot merely be differentiated by rank but lies in personal comprehension.
Therefore, the martial predecessors of the martial world divided the cultivation of martial arts into five levels: beginner, advanced, small achievement, great accomplishment, transformative realm.
Generally, it is rare for someone to cultivate third-rate martial arts to the transformative realm. Achieving this not only increases the power when executed but also allows one to establish a school based on this martial arts.
Thus, reaching the great accomplishment stage in the cultivation of martial arts is already the peak for countless people in the martial world.
Their loss of eighty percent battle spirit wasn't without reason!
Hou Yuxiao's Open Body Ten Layers Marrow-Cleansing Realm peak cultivation already towered above theirs, and together with his greatly accomplished Black Dragon Thirteen Forms, their defeat was certain.
The nine staff shadows split five to the left and four to the right because Duan Zhengqi on the left side was stronger and thus received more attention from Hou Yuxiao.
"Junior sister, retreat first!"
Duan Zhengqi, still demonstrating some responsibility, blocked the five staff shadows before him, and without waiting to process the severe shaking of his internal organs, he leaped forward to intercept the remaining two shadows for Tian Honglu. Turning his head, he shouted loudly, signaling her to escape first.