Chapter 47: The Thunder of the Nine Heavens Stirs

The roars, screams, and curses abruptly ceased the instant Geshang stepped forward.

Geshang landed on the ground.

His landing was exceptionally light, but the moment he extended his foot to take a step forward, the ground emitted a dull, thunderous roar.

A transparent sphere of Qi exploded beneath his feet.

Puddles of blood turned into spreading ripples of liquid, which were then pulverized into a bloody mist by the surging force.

The shattered internal organs floating within the gore were likewise ground into fine powder.

Geshang did not appear to be walking fast, yet with every stride he covered the distance of six or seven ordinary paces.

He, too, wore the armor of the Demon-Slaughter Guard, but the armor on his back had been warped by the agitation of his internal Qi, the writhing folds resembling the visage of a grim ghost.

He was walking directly toward Xu Tuibei.

All the Tang soldiers in his path had already been shot down.

Xu Tuibei squinted as he watched Geshang approach. Both of his eyes were bloodshot, yet this paradoxically allowed him to perceive the surging Qi around the man even more clearly than ordinary soldiers could.

The Qi vibrating around the man’s body had already materialized. In Xu Tuibei’s vision, strands of transparent Qi coiled naturally around him, forming a gigantic ghostly visage that enveloped his entire frame.

*Behold the manifestation of the colossal phase.*

This was a unique dharma form forged through superior techniques of cultivation utilizing visualization meditation.

A high-grade-seven cultivator.

Even at his peak, Xu Tuibei would have been no match for this man.

It seemed nothing more could prevent his impending death.

Yet at that very moment, he caught sight of Gu Liubai.

Gu Liubai swept into the area.

Following closely behind him were Pei Yunqu, Li Xizhi, and the two officials from the Historiographer's Office.

The two officials had no idea what they were doing themselves.

Perhaps they still harbored the notion that this might allow them to survive?

Or perhaps, after several rounds of arrow volleys, they could no longer spot a single living Tang person within their field of view?

Knowing they were destined to die, could this possibly earn them a footnote in the history books?

Neither of them knew. Their eyes were equally bloodshot, resembling beasts consumed by a hatred that burned like fire.

Geshang’s lips curved into a faint, mocking smile as he looked upon the green-eyed youth who had placed himself as a barrier between him and Xu Tuibei.

In times like this, friendship ought to be utterly worthless.

Yet for these Tang people, such tactics invariably proved effective.

Just as the teachers in Chang'an had taught him, anything complicated became exceptionally simple once the right approach was found.

That man had taken Zanzhuo's suspicion for granted, while he himself took it for granted that this youth would not let Xu Tuibei die easily.

"None of you are to come over. Do not interfere in our battle."

He issued a cold command to the Demon-Slaughter Guards surrounding him.

He had to restore confidence to an army whose morale had plummeted to the absolute nadir.

He had to completely shatter the gloom hanging over this city.

He had to claim the heads of these people in the most formidable manner possible!

Not a soul dared to disobey his order.

At this moment, Geshang was as merciless as the ghostly visage swirling around him.

"Swish!"

He drew his sword.

It was only now that Pei Yunqu realized this Tibetan commander did not wield the long saber commonly used by his people, but rather a broad-bladed longsword.

The silver blade was covered in black forging lines that resembled layer upon layer of mountain ranges wreathed in the colors of night.

His figure suddenly accelerated, countless ghostly faces multiplying behind him.

As True Qi poured into it, the longsword in his hand hummed, and the black lines on the blade seemed to detach themselves, dancing wildly in the air before him.

Pei Yunqu felt as though her entire body had plunged into an icy abyss.

Geshang’s figure, along with his sword, was surging toward Gu Liubai, yet those black lines swept toward her with boundless, murderous intent.

Pei Yunqu was no weakling.

The newly retrieved saber in her hand instantly unleashed countless flashes of blade-light, transforming the entire weapon into a glowing river.

"A fine display of *Evening Rain Over the River and Sky*."

However, accompanied by a disdainful, light chuckle and a sharp, explosive crack, the saber in her hand was instantly shattered to pieces.

*Puff!*

She stumbled backward step after step, coughing up mouthfuls of frantic blood.

Li Xizhi’s figure materialized before her, *clink, clink, clink, clink...* Dozens of brilliant sparks instantly burst forth before him.

By the time the sparks vanished, Geshang had come to a halt, less than five paces away from Gu Liubai.

Pei Yunqu collapsed to the ground, coughing blood unceasingly.

Her entire body felt as though it had been ripped apart from within, the pain robbing her of breath, let alone the capacity to continue fighting.

"Do not step more than five paces away from her, or she will surely die."

Geshang spoke these cold words to Li Xizhi, then looked away from him entirely.

He turned his gaze upon Gu Liubai.

Gu Liubai stood rigidly before Xu Tuibei.

Wielding his diminutive verdant-celadon blade, he gazed at Geshang and the army behind him.

Geshang slowly raised the longsword in his hand.

The black lines upon the silver blade seemed to come alive once more, beginning a chaotic, flowing dance.

"You could have lived."

He smiled, looking at Gu Liubai with a mixture of admiration and bewilderment. "At a time like this, what is left in this city worth clinging to? For this fat man, who has been pierced like a hedgehog and whose survival remains uncertain even if the arrowheads are pulled out, is it truly worth it?"

Hearing Geshang speak thus, Xu Tuibei desperately wished to offer his regards to the man's ancestors, but at this moment, he felt as though he was exhaling far more than he inhaled; he truly lacked even the strength to hurl insults.

"Before I came, I struck a deal with him. I promised not to let him rot here, to at least let him return to Youzhou to enjoy some peace." Gu Liubai smiled as well. "As a businessman, I have always been very trustworthy."

"A businessman?"

This was an answer Geshang had never anticipated. The person who had driven the Tibetan army—an army that ought to have completed the slaughter of the city within hours and retreated in leisure—into such a plight, claimed to be nothing more than a businessman.

Undeniably, both the green-eyed youth and Geshang himself appeared as figures of immense charisma and dignity in the eyes of all the Tibetans present. Their current composure brought the fighting along the entire avenue to a complete standstill.

The few remaining Tang soldiers panted, dragging their wounded yet surviving comrades out from piles of corpses.

Geshang suddenly realized that his opponent and he were alike in certain respects—both possessed great cleverness, and at this moment, he even understood that the other's mindset mirrored his own.

"You, too, wish to kill me single-handedly?" A mocking smile surfaced on Geshang's face as he looked at the youth.

"Indeed." Gu Liubai nodded calmly. "You wish to use this method to reforge this army's confidence, and I happen to want to kill you to end all of this."

Though Geshang was well aware of Zanzhuo's temperament outside the city, he found himself reluctant to kill this youth immediately.

Many books in Chang'an depicted how difficult it was to meet a kindred spirit. Upon returning to the soil that had nurtured him, he had come to realize this truth all the more acutely.

Among his own people, few possessed far-reaching vision, and even fewer could read his heart.

"What is your name?" He asked Gu Liubai first, then spoke calmly, "I studied in Chang'an for many years. While there, some friends gave me a Tang name: Pan Shumo."

"The *Ghost King Scripture* of Luoyang's Baoluolu Temple, the *Great Splash of Ink* of the Ningzhen Sword Pavilion—no wonder you master such techniques and swordplay." Gu Liubai said, "My name is Gu Liubai."

Geshang nodded slowly. "On many nights, especially when gazing up at the starry sky, I deeply miss the people I met in Chang'an. They were like stars in the heavens, inherently different from ordinary mortals. You are very much like them, yet far younger than they. Therefore, if you are allowed to leave this place alive, you will become far more dangerous than them."

Gu Liubai laughed. "I have no desire to let you leave alive either. When your clansmen gaze up at the Eternal Sky, they merely pray for it to bestow upon them a shred of fortune. But what you contemplate is plucking the stars from the heavens."

For reasons unknown, Geshang felt an unprecedented sense of satisfaction.

"Please!"

His sword sliced through the chilling air, and for a fleeting moment, he felt as though he had returned to Chang'an.

Countless black patterns spread chaotically through the air, while the longsword in his hand seemed to conceal itself within mist, vanishing from sight.

A majestic surge of Qi roared wantonly around him, and a colossal ghostly face swelled outward, instantly swallowing the Gu Liubai before him into its maw.

Gu Liubai’s body vibrated with a bizarre rhythm.

Along with the sword in his hand, he rippled through the air like water in a basin.

In the span of a breath, he thrust three times in rapid succession.

*Clang!*

A crisp, resonant collision echoed across the black-tiled lane, sounding as though a great bronze bell had been struck.

The broadsword that had hidden itself within the mist reappeared, and over a dozen stray black lines grazed Gu Liubai's body, carving numerous bloody gashes.

*Screech!*

A stream of blood erupted from Geshang’s body.

Gu Liubai’s second sword had pierced his waist and abdomen.

Yet simultaneously, a clear sound of fracturing bone rang out from Gu Liubai’s wrist.

Geshang’s hilt had capitalized on the momentum to strike his wrist.

First his wrist bones shattered, followed by the cracking of the bones in his left arm.

Before his third sword could be fully executed, his blade-light dropped limply.

Gu Liubai retreated all the way in front of Xu Tuibei before arresting his momentum.

Geshang stood frozen in place, his left hand pressed against his wound as blood continuously welled out from between his fingers.

He looked at the youth still standing before Xu Tuibei, filled with boundless emotion, and even felt a sense of gratitude that he had made the correct choice.

To possess such terrifying cultivation at so tender an age—given time, such a person would not merely remain a shadow eroding Tibetan confidence, but would utterly transform into a Sumeru mountain crushing the Tibetans to dust.

It was a pity this terrifying youth was about to die.

Even though the youth had displayed extraordinary resolve by employing a mutual-destruction tactic, the sword wound inflicted upon him was not fatal.

A swordsman who could no longer tighten his grip around his own sword—what use was he?

Geshang looked at the youth's twisted bones and tendons, deciding to bring this to an end.

The wind wailed.

The cold gale around him surged violently.

Vast quantities of air condensed and warped under the agitation of True Qi.

A ghostly face, denser and far more ferocious than before, enveloped his entire form.

He soared upward!

Though blood continued to flow from his waist and abdomen, everyone could sense his formidable might.

This sword strike was even more ferocious than the last!

Resembling dissolving ink spreading through flowing water, countless black lines wrapped around Gu Liubai with biting, murderous intent.

The air around him seemed to grow viscous.

Xu Tuibei, who had already been struggling to breathe, now opened his mouth helplessly like a fish on the verge of suffocating from thirst, yet no sound escaped him.

Numerous new bloody gashes appeared on Gu Liubai’s body, yet his expression remained entirely unchanged.

The moment he was about to be cocooned by those black lines, his right hand moved.

An exceptionally dense murderous intent burst forth like a mountain torrent.

It felt precisely like the moment a sealed armory was first thrown open, releasing the distinct copper-and-iron aura unique to countless weapons all at once.

The countless black lines instantly dissipated.

With a look of utter horror, Geshang watched as Gu Liubai wielded his sword in his right hand and slashed toward him. The short sword struck like an incoming bolt of lightning, brimming with the resolve of mutual destruction.

Naturally unwilling to perish alongside Gu Liubai, Geshang shifted his intent, his body springing upward slightly as his longsword swept across the sky like a river, lunging straight for the space between Gu Liubai’s brows.

Yet at that exact instant, a sharp, excruciating pain flared deep within his waist and abdomen, feeling as though a large spike had been ruthlessly driven into his intestines.

In a state of disbelieving shock, he saw Gu Liubai curl his body, flashing past him together with the radiance of his blade.

The trace of Gu Liubai vanished from his vision in a heartbeat.

He wanted to turn around.

Instead, he heard the armor on his body bursting apart and felt his flesh and blood tearing asunder.

Lowering his head, he saw a very long crimson line appear across his torso. The line slowly widened as blood gushed out frantically, before transforming into a gaping, massive fissure.

The entire avenue fell into absolute silence.

Geshang slowly sank to his knees before Xu Tuibei, his head dropping limply.

Pei Yunqu covered her mouth with her hand.

She had believed that both she and Gu Liubai were going to die.

To perish alongside this scoundrel did not strike her as a bad outcome.

She had no regrets.

If possible, she hoped to meet him again in the next life.

Yet within her gradually dimming vision, Gu Liubai was standing there safe and sound.

Many Demon-Slaughter Guards could not believe what unfolded before their eyes; their feet unconsciously edged forward, but at that moment, a figure drifted over.

An old hunchbacked woman landed silently like a civet cat, materializing right by Gu Liubai's side.

Outside the city, Zanzhuo heard the sudden quiet fall over the interior.

For reasons unknown, his heart plummeted into an abyss.