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Just now he had exchange one move with Yuwen Huaji. He could see very clearly that the opponent’s ‘Mysterious Ice Energy’ was indeed some kind of fantastic, matchless swirling, cyclone-like force. Compared to common straight [orig. ‘there and back without delay’] force, it was a lot more difficult to fathom, a lot more difficult to defend. But even though he knew that he knew, he still could not think of a way to break it. Shi Long was a well-known character in Jianghu. In this instant he suddenly hardened his heart, determined that even if he had to lose his life, he would not let this treasured book fall into Yang Guang’s hand. Otherwise, due to the horde of talents under Yang Guang’s command, he might really be able to decipher the oracle bone script in the book and grasp the secret to long life, and then he would become an immortal tyrant. If that really happened, even ten thousand deaths would not absolve Shi Long from the blame. Shi Long threw his head back and laughed aloud. After laughing twice, he shook his head and said with a sigh, “This book is not brought together by karma, obtaining it only bring bad luck and harm. If Yuwen Xiong has the ability, you may take the book back to that muddled ruler and let him read. If he died from reading it, don’t blame me, Shi Long, for not giving you a fair warning.” While speaking, he circulated and gathered all the strength in his body. Immediately his ears could hear all faint noises within ten zhang circumference around him, even the sound of ants walking could not escape his hearing. Right away he could also hear the long, slow breathing of a dozen of people. Evidently the martial art experts surrounding him had deep cultivation both internally and externally. Yuwen Huaji looked up at the main beam in the middle of the hall; he sighed grimly and said, “Not only Shi Xiong is not a discreet person who understands the situation, you are pigheaded as well. Only, remembering that it was not easy for Shi Xiong to make your name, I, Yuwen Huaji, am willing to let you gather your power, so that you can strike with all your strength, Shi Xiong may die with your eyes closed.” Shi Long suddenly flew up from his seat; without his feet even touching the ground, he flitted across about a zhang of empty space, and in a blink of an eye he was already in front of Yuwen Huaji. Both palms pushed forward, like a typhoon his qi shot forward, immediately a tidal wave force surged toward the opponent. At the same instant, the chair he was sitting in a moment ago suddenly disintegrated and crumbled to the floor, a proof that when the two of them exchanged blows just now, Shi Long had already suffered defeat; he was unable to block Yuwen Huaji’s ‘Mysterious Ice Energy’ so that the chair bore the consequences instead. Yuwen Huaji’s eyes shot lightning, but at the same time he was greatly stunned. Shi Long knew perfectly well that the strength of his own qi could not match the opponent’s ‘Mysterious Ice Energy’; why did he strike with such a direct force without leaving any leeway for himself?

But right now he had no time to ponder about this question. When martial art experts exchange blows, victory and defeat were only a hair’s breadth apart. Although he had confidence in himself that he could beat Shi Long easily, but if he lose this decisive opportunity, turning the table around would still be extremely difficult; on the contrary, he would face the danger of losing or even dying. Not daring to hesitate, he floated back three steps first, and then pushed forward again. His two fists separately shot toward the hollow of Shi Long’s palms. ‘Bang!’ Two streams of qi collided again; this time the resultant force shot upward, sending the tiles flying away, opening up a large hole on the roof. With Yuwen Huaji’s ability, he was still forced to floated backward and thus neutralized the incredible pressure from Shi Long’s ‘Mountain-Pushing Palm’ with which he criss-crossed the Jianghu unhindered. Shi Long’s situation was even worse; he was jolted backward. window.pubfuturetag = window.pubfuturetag || [];window.pubfuturetag.push({unit: "618befb240ce5b0028261626", id: "pf-878-1"}) Without his feet touching the ground, Yuwen Huaji spun around in a small circle, abruptly and swiftly, he suddenly arrived in front of the wall where Shi Long’s back was crashing onto; like a bolt of lightning clapped in an empty space a burst of energy wrapped around Shi Long’s body, aiming toward his back. It came from a very clever angle that one could not help but gasped in amazement. Shi Long opened his mouth and a stream of blood shot out like an arrow toward the pit of Yuwen Huaji’s stomach; while at the same time he arched his back to receive Yuwen Huaji’s Mysterious Ice Energy strike directly. Yuwen Huaji was surprised that Shi Long would resort to such a strange tactic of destroying himself to launch an attack; hurriedly he stopped his body and bent his waist backward, dangerously missed the blood arrow by a hair’s width. Shi Long groaned inwardly for the missed attack, but his whole body was jolted severely, the qi protecting his body was shattered, dozens of extremely cold Mysterious Ice Energy entered his back and invaded his inner core. Shi Long knew that it was the decisive moment whether he would be able to protect ‘The Secret to Long Life’ or not; giving everything he had, he roared wildly while resolutely resist the powerful qi that was pulling him forward, and then rapidly he withdrew toward the wall behind him. As soon as Yuwen Huaji saw this, he knew something was amiss; quickly he straightened up his body. Gathering up all his strength, he sent out a punch through the air. But he was still one step too late. As soon as Shi Long’s back bumped against the wall, a revolving trapdoor opened, carrying him into the other side. ‘Crash!’ The trapdoor disintegrated, revealing another small room behind it, but there was no trace of Shi Long. Yuwen Huaji stayed calm; throwing himself to the floor, he pressed his ear against the ground. The sound of Shi Long’s wild escape in the underground tunnel, which was also quickly fading away, entered his ear. [3] Between Han and Sui, c. 220-589. [4] The 12th of the 24 solar terms, 23rd of July to 6th of August. Check out Wikipedia if you want to know more, keyword ‘solar term’.