Wen Chaoshen's drunkenness hadn't completely worn off yet. His internal organs still bore traces of the burning liquor. Although there were no double images before his eyes, he could clearly feel his feet floating as he walked. One step into the falling snow outside, and he nearly stumbled.

  "I think in my current state, going out to fight is just asking for death."

  A Shui casually pulled a long sword from the corner of the abandoned temple and tossed it to Wen Chaoshen. He dove to the side, narrowly avoiding what could have been a fatal strike for him.

  "If you keep throwing things like that, I might not live to see those enemies."

  He clumsily got up from the ground and picked up the long sword stuck in the snow.

  He tried it out, but it didn't feel quite right.

  A Shui also stepped into the snow, her voice cold and sharp amidst the wind and snow:

  "Whether on the battlefield or in the Martial World, enemies never give you a chance to adjust your state."

  "When bdes meet, it's life or death. Everything else is impure."

  Wen Chaoshen held the sword and followed behind A Shui. As he opened his mouth, the biting snow wind rushed in:

  "I don't know martial arts, and my physical condition is poor. To them, I'm just a stray dog that can be kicked to death. Following you tonight, I probably won't see tomorrow's sun."

  A Shui replied coldly:

  "It's your own choice. I told you not to come back, didn't I?"

  As soon as she finished speaking, a murderous aura came with the snow wind from the distant white expanse, blowing their hair into disarray. A Shui's grip on the hatchet seemed more rexed. She gnced back at the embarrassed Wen Chaoshen and asked:

  "Are you scared?"

  "Do you regret it?"

  Wen Chaoshen's body trembled, unsure if it was due to the murderous aura in the snowstorm or the storm itself. The white mist of his breath rose, obscuring his eyes.

  "I'm a bit nervous."

  A Shui said:

  "Nervousness is normal. The first time I killed someone, I was nervous too."

  "Some of the people coming this time aren't Cultivators, just ordinary martial artists from the Martial World. They don't even hide their steps."

  Wen Chaoshen looked at A Shui in surprise and said:

  "You can hear that clearly?"

  A Shui replied:

  "When the wind is strong, you can hear clearly."

  Just as she finished speaking, a crossbow bolt suddenly pierced through the hazy curtain of the world in the vast wind and snow, heading straight for the two of them!

  A falling crystal snowfke was shattered by the arrow tip filled with murderous intent and coldness. In an instant, the arrow had traversed thirty meters, stopping just half a foot from Wen Chaoshen's forehead, caught firmly by a slender hand.

  The next moment, A Shui flicked her wrist, and the crossbow bolt returned the way it came, embedding itself in the distant, indistinct snowy ground. After a dull sound, a patch of crimson gradually stained the white snow.

  Wen Chaoshen hunched over, cold sweat soaking his back. The east wind, penetrating to the bone, sobered him up completely.

  Such a powerful crossbow might not pose much of a threat to A Shui in the night, but for him, it was an unavoidable death sentence.

  By the time he noticed the crossbow bolt, it would have already pierced through him.

  The best strategy was to lower his body, reducing the area exposed to enemy attacks as much as possible, so as not to distract A Shui.

  After the owner of the crossbow bolt was shot dead, silence returned to the surroundings. It was unclear if there were other powerful crossbows hidden in the snow.

  A Shui's gaze looked into the distance, her eyelids covered with a yer of frost.

  In front of her appeared many Man in Bck drawing their swords, about thirty to fifty, all masked. Their murderous aura overshadowed the fierce wind and snow, weaving a web of killing intent that completely enveloped the two of them!

  "These people are all Cultivators. My leg is crippled, dealing with them will take time."

  "Wen Chaoshen, listen to me, don't look at the crossbow bolts, listen."

  Listening to A Shui's instructions, Wen Chaoshen's hands and feet turned cold. He lowered his voice and said:

  "I haven't trained my hearing, I'm afraid my judgment won't be accurate."

  A Shui said:

  "Then make it accurate."

  With that, she limped towards the shadows in the distance, leaving Wen Chaoshen behind. He didn't call for help from A Shui, but instead tried to calm himself amidst his heavy breathing, attempting to use his ears to detect any potential crossbow bolts around him.

  For a rookie like Wen Chaoshen, this was no easy task.

  Especially when it concerned his life, with almost no second chances, the pressure between life and death was even greater.

  Whoosh—

  The fierce cold wind howled as A Shui, holding her hatchet, approached the dozens of Man in Bck step by step, saying to them:

  "Who among you wants to die first?"

  All these Man in Bck had tokens of the Wangchuan River at their waists, with varying levels of strength. Most were young, and there was a middle-aged swordsman in a bck robe, unmasked, with hair already graying, whether from age or the falling snow.

  They stood in the snow like statues, coldly staring at the woman before them.

  "That man named Lu said your head is worth a lot."

  "Killing you could get me into the Feng Banner."

  The middle-aged swordsman's tone carried a hint of provocation, showing no interest in what A Shui was saying.

  The Feng Banner of Wangchuan was hard to enter because, no matter how many strong individuals there were below, there were only twelve positions in the Feng Banner. To join, one needed not only sufficient strength but also significant contributions to Wangchuan.

  Those who entered the Feng Banner gained a share of power within Wangchuan, with the potential to enter the Ten Paces in the future.

  The Ten Paces were the core power and authority of Wangchuan, the ultimate goal for countless assassins.

  The Feng Banner was the most crucial step in realizing their ambitions.

  A Shui raised her eyes, gncing at him sideways:

  "Why don't you try and find out?"

  The middle-aged swordsman smiled slightly, waving his hand gently. The overwhelming killing intent could no longer be hidden, and the sound of countless bdes being drawn echoed around them, as killing intent blossomed like lotus flowers, scattering the flying snow!

  As the first Man in Bck approached, A Shui raised her bde and drew blood, splitting both man and weapon in two!

  It was a simple and unadorned strike, yet also an unstoppable one.

  A Shui swung her bde again and again, each strike slow to the extreme, as if coming from a century ago. Yet when the bde finally kissed the enemy's neck, they realized it wasn't a slow bde at all.

  It was a bde so fast it was impossible to defend against!

  Cold sweat poured as these people finally sensed something was wrong. By then, over a dozen corpses y scattered before A Shui!

  The middle-aged man, who had initially worn a look of indifference and madness, now had a gradually serious expression. His right thumb pressed on the sword's scabbard, lowering the bde slightly.

  This was his habitual motion when drawing his sword. Lowering the bde allowed him to hear the pleasant friction sound when drawing, which he regarded as the sound of life passing, the prelude to the sughter he was about to commence.

  Whoosh!

  As A Shui raised her bde to strike at an assassin on her right, a crossbow bolt suddenly flew out from the distant snow behind her, aiming for her back!

  A Shui's swinging motion paused, as if she had eyes on her back. She sidestepped, narrowly avoiding the bolt by a hair's breadth!

  The assassin in front of her wasn't so lucky.

  He had been preparing to block A Shui's attack, but his reaction was clearly not as swift. When A Shui suddenly withdrew her bde, he was momentarily stunned. In that moment, he lost the chance to defend against the crossbow bolt.

  The powerful crossbow, fired from a mechanism, had a penetration power that ordinary arrows cked. His protective qi clearly couldn't withstand it. The sound of the bolt piercing flesh was heavy in the air. The assassin looked down at the bolt embedded in his abdomen, frowned, and rolled to the side, reaching to pull it out.

  For people like them, as long as the heart and head weren't injured, it usually wasn't fatal.

  The power of the dantian could seal the wound, significantly slowing blood loss.

  But as soon as his hand touched the bolt, his expression changed. He spat out a mouthful of bck blood and fell to the ground, motionless.

  Clearly, these bolts were coated with deadly poison!

  The crossbowman hidden in the snow, seeing his first shot miss, aimed for a second shot at A Shui. But just as he took aim, he heard footsteps behind him. The crossbowman, ever vigint, turned and fired an arrow in the direction of the sound!

  Whoosh!

  The first arrow missed, and as he prepared to shoot at the shadow dodging to the side, the opponent seemed to be fueled by a burst of potential in this life-and-death moment. The long sword in his hand, never before wielded, suddenly thrust straight at him. The fear of death enveloped the crossbowman. He instinctively dodged, but most of his body was buried in the snow, preventing any rge movements.

  Squelch!

  The thrust was more decisive than expected. Even if he hadn't been buried in the snow, he couldn't have avoided it.

  Wen Chaoshen, holding the sword, pierced his throat. The spraying hot blood spttered around, and in that moment, he seemed to return to that drifting boat on the deep sea, surrounded by surging waves. The boat he stood on turned into a long sword.

  Wen Chaoshen, indeed, did not stand firm.

  He once again fell into the deep sea, once again saw the fmes, once again was pierced by that incredibly sharp, incredibly pure flying sword!

  The cold in his chest made Wen Chaoshen's whole body numb. The instinct to survive was pushed to the extreme at this moment. He hadn't even noticed that his hand, holding the long sword, had already struck.

  A thrust he had never practiced, never learned, was executed in a perfect manner honed by countless trials, meeting the arrowhead of the crossbow bolt coming at him!

  The next moment, the crossbow bolt's shaft let out a mournful cry, breaking into pieces.

  The opponent seemed equally surprised that Wen Chaoshen, who appeared to have no cultivation, could intercept the bolt at such close range, thinking he was a master in disguise, stunned on the spot.

  Finally, it was Wen Chaoshen who reacted first, stepping forward and bringing the long sword down like chopping wood!

  Squelch!

  kant202323