Chapter 353 176: A Word of Great Weight!

As the cold, stern voice faded, a succession of whooshing sounds cut through the air.

Black pellets could be seen whistling in from all directions.

"Celestial Thunder Pearls!!"

Xuanyuan One Slash's gaze hardened.

"Fall back!!!"

The moment he spoke, he spun the Qianjun Saber in his hand. Using immense weight with a gentle touch, he flicked the body of the blade.

The two oncoming Celestial Thunder Pearls were sent flying.

At the same time, Dao Wuming took a deep breath, flipped his palms, and pushed forward.

With a HUM, a powerful wave of Gang Qi suddenly surged forth, enveloping everyone.

When the black pellets struck it, they were instantly blown away by this Gang Qi.

In an instant, the entire post station was filled with the violent sounds of BOOM, BOOM, BOOM, BOOM, BOOM, BOOM.

Gunpowder smoke filled the air as mud, water, sand, and stone flew about endlessly.

Screams of agony echoed ceaselessly, but they all came from the Blood Saber Hall.

The ordinary disciples of the Blood Saber Hall had neither Xuanyuan One Slash's defensive saber techniques nor Dao Wuming's protective Gang Qi.

Caught off guard, how could they possibly defend against this sudden onslaught of Celestial Thunder Pearls?

In a single exchange, their losses were devastating.

Xuanyuan One Slash flew into a rage.

"You damn pups from the Thunderbolt Hall! How dare you ambush your Grandpa Xuanyuan!!"

As he finished speaking, he suddenly seemed to think of something.

He whipped his head toward Jiang Ran and cried out in alarm.

"My dear disciple!!"

His gaze fell upon a black-clad figure who had descended from above and was now standing right in front of Jiang Ran.

The figure's back was cold, sharp, and radiating killing intent.

Xuanyuan One Slash's heart sank. 'This is bad,' he thought. 'Am I doomed to never have a disciple in this lifetime? One perfectly good disciple was killed by Jiang Ran. And now, just when I see that Jiang Ran is promising material and I'm about to take him in, is he going to be killed by someone else?'

In that moment, his fury was incandescent.

"Thunderbolt Hall, I'll fight you to the death!!!"

His enraged roar was, for a moment, even louder than the explosions of the Celestial Thunder Pearls.

His figure blurred as he rushed toward the black-clad man.

He wanted to first avenge his 'dear disciple' and deal with the rest later.

But unexpectedly, when he was only halfway there, the black-clad man's head wobbled slightly, and then with a soft THUD, it rolled onto the ground.

He froze mid-stride, his face a mask of utter astonishment.

He saw Jiang Ran, his brow slightly furrowed, reach out, pick up the head, and pull off the black mask, sighing.

"I thought the Third Hall Master had come himself, but it turns out to be some nobody.

"To have prepared such a grand scene, yet not act personally at the crucial moment... the Third Hall Master is far too cautious.

"Still, since you've all come, you might as well stay."

As his voice fell, Dao Wuming, Ruan Yuqing, Tang Huayi, Luo Qingyi, Scholar Jingtan, and the others all leaped into action.

They had discussed it briefly last night. There had to be some people in the know.

Otherwise, it would have been a one-man show for Jiang Ran, and he might have ended up letting the people from Thunderbolt Hall escape.

But not too many people could know.

Their own side was a mixed bag, and there was no guarantee a spy from the Thunderbolt Hall wasn't hiding among them.

To prevent any slip-ups, the performance had already begun last night.

Now that they had finally lured out the members of the Thunderbolt Hall, there was no reason to let them go.

In an instant, everyone attacked at once. The men from Thunderbolt Hall had just unleashed one volley of Celestial Thunder Pearls, but before they could fire a second, Jiang Ran's group had already charged out to kill.

It was like tigers pouncing on a flock of sheep!

Luo Qingyi's Elephant Divine Fist.

Ruan Yuqing's Gentle Water Sword.

Tang Huayi's Great Transformation Divine Saber.

Scholar Jingtan's Celestial Profound Wishing Palm.

Dao Wuming's Gang Qi.

How could the common disciples of the mere Thunderbolt Hall possibly withstand such a variety of divine techniques?

In just a single exchange, more than a dozen bodies were scattered across the ground.

The members of the Thunderbolt Hall were dumbfounded.

They mainly hadn't expected Jiang Ran's people to react so quickly.

They still didn't realize Jiang Ran had lured them into a trap. Their original plan was to wait for Jiang Ran and Xuanyuan One Slash to fight. Regardless of who lost, or even if both were grievously injured, they would immediately make their move. First, they would seize the Jiaowei zither; second, they would use Celestial Thunder Pearls to kill everyone present.

It didn't matter what results this first wave of attacks achieved.

As long as they got Jiaowei, they would turn and leave immediately, without a moment's hesitation.

But they hadn't expected the first thing to go wrong would be the plan for Jiaowei.

They didn't get the zither, and the man sent to get it lost his head.

As for the first volley of Celestial Thunder Pearls, aside from killing a few members of the Blood Saber Hall and firmly drawing the hatred of Xuanyuan One Slash, it had achieved nothing else.

With the charge from Dao Wuming and the others, their entire formation was thrown into chaos.

In this situation, they were in no better shape than the Blood Saber Hall.

A deep voice was heard speaking gravely.

"Withdraw! Stay on the ground!"

Although the situation had unfolded in a flash, the leader of the Thunderbolt Hall contingent saw clearly that the tide had turned against them.

Staying here meant certain death.

With a wave of his hand, he turned to flee without even confronting Jiang Ran.

And before leaving, he even added the instruction: stay on the ground!

This was, naturally, a lesson learned from a past event.

Back in Death Town, when the Assassins from the Death Building fled, they had been too conspicuous. One by one, they used their Lightweight Techniques to fly away, only for Jiang Ran to cut down most of them with his saber.

They had seen it clearly back then. How could they dare to run like that now?

Each of them wished they could stuff their heads between their legs, running with their backs hunched and with incredible speed.

Jiang Ran almost laughed out loud at the sight. Executing the Celestial Nine Steps, his figure passed through the crowd. With another step, the Hidden Shadow Enchanting God Step made his form flicker between real and illusory, and he was already in front of them all.