Chapter 232: Chapter 120: Mist Marsh, Cyan Snake Demon, Cao Yan in Mortal Danger, Crushing Bai Nan

Furthermore, his training in the Twelve Forms Fist Eagle Form, combined with the enhanced vision from practicing the Moon Eclipse Arrow, made the feathered arrows streaking through the air seem to slow to a crawl.

The two startled horses reared up, neighing incessantly, but Cao Xingda and Li Qing gripped their reins tightly and managed to calm them.

Cao Xingda and Li Qing stared at Chu Fan’s back as he stood with his sword, utterly shocked.

’They knew they could have defended themselves in such a sudden ambush, but to so casually block every arrow, leaving both men and beasts unharmed? That was something they could never do!’

’His reflexes, his Sword Technique, and his speed... have they really reached such a level?!’

’No wonder the Gang Leader had him lead us to rescue Cao Yan!’

They exchanged a look, each seeing the same profound disbelief mirrored in the other’s eyes.

The group quickly dismounted, leading their horses behind a nearby rock for cover.

Just then, a dozen figures appeared at the head of the canyon, blocking their way.

"It’s you!"

The expressions of Cao Xingda and Li Qing changed as they recognized the newcomers.

The four in the lead were none other than Incense Masters from the former Seven Stars Gang, who had since pledged allegiance to Seven Stars Castle!

Behind them were eight skilled fighters from the Bone Tempering Realm.

An Incense Master with a scar on his face sneered, "Heh heh, reinforcements, just as we thought! A shame it’s not Cao Feng or Li Qingxue. Just two worthless grunts from the Cao and Li families at the Entering the Realm of Strength, and they even brought along a couple of wet-behind-the-ears kids..."

Cold smirks also appeared on the faces of the other three Incense Masters.

Cao Xingda and Li Qing gripped the hilts of their swords and took a step forward.

Cornered in the narrow pass, their only option was a fight to the death.

But at that moment, Chu Fan took out four Purple Bamboo Arrows from his Quiver.

He couldn’t be bothered to waste words. He simply drew his bow and nocked his arrows.

The bow bent like a full moon, and the arrows flew like shooting stars!

"Eclipse: Piercing Kill!"

Four condensed, crescent-shaped bolts of light, pulsing with the aura of death, shot forward at a speed far beyond the reaction time of any ordinary Martial Artist in the Entering the Realm of Strength, crossing the distance between them in an instant!

SHLICK!

The Purple Bamboo Arrows pierced through the hearts of all four Incense Masters from the Entering the Realm of Strength.

Their faces still frozen with a mixture of sneering and astonishment, they fell backward, stiff as boards.

Silence!

A deathly silence!

Everyone—Cao Xingda, Li Qing, and the eight remaining men of the Bone Tempering Realm—was utterly dumbstruck, their minds gone blank.

’What just happened?’

’Four formidable Incense Masters of the Entering the Realm of Strength... were just... dead?’

’An arrow through the heart!’

’Without even a chance to react?’

’Since when had the Entering the Realm of Strength become so pathetically weak?’

"Run!"

Someone’s hoarse shout finally snapped the remaining men out of their abject terror, and they scattered, utterly panic-stricken.

Like hornets from a disturbed nest, they fled in all directions!

The mission, the ambush—it was all a joke in the face of absolute power and the specter of death.

However, Chu Fan’s eyes were icy cold, and his hands didn’t pause for a second.

Zhao Tianxing’s arrows, too, became a reaper’s scythe...

The bowstrings sang again!

WHOOSH! WHOOSH! WHOOSH!

The arrows, like summons from the underworld, unerringly found every fleeing figure.

All the Bone Tempering Realm Martial Artists fell, one by one, completely powerless to resist.

From the first attack to the end of the battle, only a dozen breaths had passed.

Twelve ambushers—four from the Entering the Realm of Strength, eight from the Bone Tempering Realm—were completely annihilated.

At the canyon’s entrance, only the sound of the whistling wind remained, carrying with it the thick stench of blood.

Cao Xingda and Li Qing stood frozen, staring at Chu Fan and Zhao Tianxing, who had now lowered their bows. Their gaze shifted to the corpses littering the ground, and they felt their throats go dry as their hearts continued to pound wildly.

"It’s... it’s over already?" Li Qing muttered to himself.

Cao Xingda remained silent, taking a deep breath of the cold air to try and calm the raging storm of emotions within him.

’He knew those four Incense Masters. Their strength was not much less than his own.’

’He had been expecting a bloody battle...’

’The archery technique Chu Fan used must be the Moon Eclipse Arrow from the Moon Arrow Martial Arts Hall.’

’But could the Moon Eclipse Arrow possibly be this powerful?’

They were finally beginning to understand why the Gang Leader had put Chu Fan in charge of this operation...

"Clean up the battlefield. We need to keep moving!" Chu Fan’s calm voice rang out, shattering the dead silence.

Cao Xingda and Li Qing jolted and immediately replied, "Yes!"

The four of them quickly swept the battlefield, mounted their horses, and without further delay, galloped off again in the direction of the Mist Marsh.

After that one battle, any lingering doubt that Cao Xingda and Li Qing had about Chu Fan completely vanished.

In its place was an indescribable sense of awe, and a budding anticipation for the rest of the mission.

As for Chu Fan, he gently stroked his Meteor Bow, lost in thought.

’With the Second Limit Break of his Moon Eclipse Arrow, his archery had reached the realm of Divine Communication, allowing a mortal technique to glimpse the Mysteries of the Celestial Dao. Grass, wood, bamboo, and stone could all serve as arrows; even common iron could now pierce defenses and slay evil.’

’Killing four experts of the Entering Force realm in a single move had taken almost no effort.’

’But he had only achieved the Second Limit Break this morning. He would need more combat experience to fully grasp its mysteries and perfect his control.’

After galloping for about half an hour out of the canyon, the scenery before them changed abruptly.

A vast, seemingly endless swamp, shrouded in a gray-white miasma that looked as if it had been there since time immemorial, appeared before them.

The thick fog within the swamp roiled and flowed slowly, as if it were a living thing.

Visibility was limited to a mere thirty or forty paces. Deeper in, there was only a heart-pounding, chaotic blur.

The air was thick with the smell of dampness and decay, mingled with a faint, cloyingly sweet odor.

Each breath felt sticky and unpleasant in their lungs.

"So this is the Mist Marsh..."

Zhao Tianxing said, "This is the entrance. We still have to get through a few dangerous spots to reach the valley where Senior Brother Cao and the others are hiding."

With that, he was the first to step inside.

Chu Fan followed close behind.

Not long after he first joined the Seven Stars Gang, he and Zhao Tianxing had studied a map of the Mist Marsh, planning to enter it to hunt Exotic Beasts.

But after they wiped out the Huang Family and came into a fortune, they had shelved the idea.

He never expected that he would now be setting foot on this land, rumored to be home to a Great Demon.