The three rogue cultivators were now entirely focused on silencing their witness, their gazes locked dead on the panicked daughter of the City Lord.
Bent on instantly eliminating future trouble, they were completely oblivious to the hidden danger lurking around them.
Now was the time.
Inside the Water Curtain Cave, Ye Ling's eyes sharpened, and she ceased her waiting.
Tapping her toes lightly, she executed the light and elusive Flowing Cloud Movement Technique. Her figure blurred into a faint afterimage as she silently slipped out of the cave.
Moving with effortless grace, her feet made no sound as she landed, perfectly concealing her aura. The three Houtian Ninth Layer rogue cultivators did not notice a thing.
In the blink of an eye, Ye Ling had already closed in on the battlefield. With a flick of her wrist, the steel sword at her waist unsheathed with a sharp ring, cold light suddenly bursting forth.
She pointed her blade directly at the leading rogue cultivator, cleanly executing the Shaoshang Sword Technique.
The sword strikes were fierce and swift, carrying an unstoppable sharpness, while her clear shout suddenly echoed through the forest.
“Hold your blade!”
As her voice fell, her sword arrived. The biting sword light thrust straight at the bandit's vital points, forcefully interrupting their fatal strike and instantly turning the deadly situation around.
The leader of the rogue cultivators, having spent half his life in combat, was highly experienced.
The moment the sword light neared, his scalp tingled. Almost instinctively, he twisted his body and retreated rapidly.
This extremely dangerous, fatal strike ultimately failed to take his life.
With a sharp tearing sound, the sharp blade grazed his shoulder, slicing through his flesh and tearing his robe, leaving a deep, bloody gash.
Crimson blood instantly soaked his clothes, dripping down his arm.
The leader stumbled back two steps, the bone-deep pain in his shoulder searing. With a face full of shock and rage, he whipped his head around, staring fixedly at the figure who had suddenly intervened.
The other two rogue cultivators also stopped their hands immediately, their bodies tensing as they looked warily at the newcomer.
Beside them, Qin Fuyue, the City Lord's daughter who had been on the brink of despair, looked up blankly and was instantly dazed.
A gentle breeze blew. A young girl stood quietly upon a massive boulder, her figure slender, elegant, and upright.
She looked to be only fourteen or fifteen years old, with skin as white as snow and eyes that were cool and indifferent.
Her dark eyes were crystal clear, and her black hair was tied back simply, with a few stray strands framing her cheeks, looking clean and sharp.
She wore a form-fitting set of green martial attire. The green steel sword in her hand gleamed coldly, held in her slender palm but steady as a rock, exuding an imposing and sharp presence.
Though clearly very young and slender, she showed not a hint of fear standing before three murderous Houtian Ninth Layer rogue cultivators. Her entire presence was cool, collected, and powerful.
Qin Fuyue's legs had already gone soft from fear, and she had thought she was a goner.
Both of her guards were dead, and she was supposed to be next.
At that moment, someone had suddenly appeared, like a ray of light cutting through the darkness.
She stared blankly at Ye Ling, her heart filled with shock and gratitude.
At such a young age, with such a cool and ethereal beauty, just who was she?
The rogue cultivator leader, his shoulder dripping with blood, glared at the girl. Beneath his shock and anger lay a deep sense of wariness.
The girl before him looked no more than fourteen or fifteen, youthful and slender, seemingly fragile.
Anyone looking at her for the first time would think she was just a low-cultivation, greenhorn junior.
Yet, the aura radiating from Ye Ling was terrifyingly oppressive.
She stood quietly in the forest, uttering not a word and making not a move, yet she naturally exuded a chilling aura of slaughter, her breathing deep and steady.
She was far more composed than any cultivator her age should be, and she was even more intimidating than rogue cultivators like them, who lived their lives on the edge of a blade.
All three were seasoned Houtian Ninth Layer veterans with countless battles under their belts. They could clearly sense that the girl before them was by no means simple, and her background was likely unfathomable.
Right now, they only wanted to silence Qin Fuyue and escape quickly. They had absolutely no desire to provoke an unknown, powerful enemy for no reason.
Exchanging glances, the three reached a tacit understanding. Instead of attacking immediately, they wanted to convince her to back off.
Enduring the sharp pain in his shoulder, the leader spoke with a mix of caution and warning.
“Little girl, you are young, and cultivation is no easy feat. This matter has nothing to do with you. There is no need to throw away your life. Leave now.”
Another chimed in, “This is our private business. Do not poke your nose where it does not belong. You do not look like an ordinary person either; there is no need to muddy these waters for a stranger.”
Though they sounded tough, they were already feeling apprehensive.
They only wanted to convince Ye Ling to leave so they could finish their business, hoping to avoid a fight.
Ye Ling stood atop the boulder, her back straight as a spear, completely unmoved.
Her tone was calm, yet unyielding.
“I am protecting this person. If you want to kill her, you must defeat me first.”
Her words left absolutely no room for negotiation.
The faces of the three rogue cultivators darkened completely. Their last shred of patience evaporated.
Since she refused to listen to reason, they had no choice but to fight.
They would kill this meddlesome girl first.
“Stubborn fool! Since you seek death, we shall grant it!”
As soon as the words left his mouth, the three struck simultaneously.
Three surges of Houtian Ninth Layer spiritual energy erupted, the violent winds whipping up dead branches and sending them flying.
Having worked together for years, the three attacked with fierce and seamless coordination.
The two on the flanks attacked from both sides, their palm strikes vicious and aiming directly for her vital points. Meanwhile, the leader, ignoring his shoulder injury, lunged forward with his sword, executing a swift and ruthless frontal slash.
Lethal attacks closed in from three directions, sealing off all of Ye Ling's paths of retreat.
Watching from the side, Qin Fuyue's heart leaped into her throat. She gripped her skirt tightly with both hands, too tense to even breathe.
When three Houtian Ninth Layer cultivators joined forces, almost no one in the outer regions of the Baiyun Mountain Range could withstand them.
Yet the cool and aloof girl before her did not even bat an eye, standing as steady as a mountain.
The very instant the deadly attacks were about to hit her, Ye Ling moved.
Her footwork shifted, pushing her Flowing Cloud Movement Technique to its absolute limit.
She became like a gust of wind, elusive and moving without leaving a single trace.
A dense barrage of palm winds and sword glints rained down, yet they could not even touch the hem of her clothes.
Every single attack missed its mark, doing nothing but blasting deep craters into the ground and sending grass and wood flying everywhere.
Before the three rogue cultivators could even react, the sword in Ye Ling's hand had already swept outward.
Executing the Shaoshang Sword Technique, her sword shadows became dense and fragmented, swift as lightning.
Every strike landed precisely on the flaws of her opponents' moves. Though they looked light, they carried a lethal intent.
Her movement never faltered. Amid the joint assault of the three men, she dodged and maneuvered with calm elegance, advancing and retreating at will.
At times she twisted her body to evade a fatal blow; at other times, she countered with a backhand thrust. Every movement was clean and precise—deflecting, parrying, and counterattacking in one seamless, flowing motion.
The three Houtian Ninth Layer rogue cultivators pressed their attack fiercely, yet far from suppressing her, they found themselves completely pinned down by her elusive movement and sharp swordplay.
The more they fought, the more alarmed they became.
This girl was so young, and her cultivation was only at the Houtian Seventh Layer. Yet, her movement and swordplay were incredibly formidable. Just what was her background?
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