Twin Dimension Yin-Yang Mirror: Attaining immortality through the martial path
Chapter 229 - 199: Xiao Jiu’er’s Escape from Desperation

Chapter 229: Chapter 199: Xiao Jiu’er’s Escape from Desperation

Zhou Ping’an opened his eyes, and the sun was already slanting west outside the window.

The orange sunlight streamed through the western window, illuminating the room where dust danced in the air, lending an exceptionally serene and harmonized atmosphere.

His first action was to look down at his own body.

His face lit up with pleasure.

"Finally, I didn’t come over here naked."

After piecing together the two fragments of the Broken Mirror to form the Crescent Moon Mark.

He not only gained a storage space but also, when he traveled through again, whatever he wore would come with him.

"Then, the food and supplies in that space should have come over as well."

His mind had just probed into the Broken Mirror on his wrist when he took a glance.

Zhou Ping’an suddenly took a sprinter’s lunge, bursting out through the window.

Upon his collision, the wooden window lattice shattered into countless fragments, scattering in all directions.

Down the corridor, a girl of about six or seven years old with her Tiger Head Hat askew was running unsteadily, crying and calling out, "Brother Ping’an, where did you go?"

"Little Jiu’er..."

As soon as Zhou Ping’an arrived, he heard crying and footsteps, and he was fuming with rage.

Then, he saw a brown figure swooping down like a large bird, reaching out to grab the little girl.

His mouth muttered darkly, "Ninth Miss, you are being naughty again.

Since coming to Qingyang, you have become wilder, how can this be?

It would be better to go back with me to let the Madam discipline you properly."

This man had half-white hair, deep wrinkles on his face, and his palms exuded a chilling intent.

Though he addressed her as Ninth Miss, his tone lacked any sign of respect.

His hand reached for Little Jiu’er’s neck as if an eagle were snatching a chicken.

"Bang..."

A thunderous noise suddenly erupted by his ear.

The screech of a bullet, combined with the old man’s cry of pain, rang out simultaneously.

The old man’s reaction was swift.

Just as he sensed the danger and twisted his body mid-air...

A dark red short saber emerged from under his elbow, whistling as it slashed out.

His movement technique was incredibly fast, and his sword technique even faster.

But it was only enough to hit the tail end of the bullet.

With a "pfft," the bullet struck his shoulder, piercing through the bone, blasting a hole the size of a baby’s fist in his shoulder.

The massive force of the impact sent the old fellow flying backwards for several yards, landing on the ground, while he waved his saber in one hand, creating a hazy green light.

Amidst the roaring Vigorous Qi, dirt and stones flew around, causing houses to collapse.

"Who, who is using a hidden weapon?"

"It just so happens to be me."

Zhou Ping’an’s face was cold as he walked out from behind the house.

Yet his hands did not stop, quickly firing two more shots.

One bullet aimed at the lower body, one at the head.

This time, the white-haired old man, fully focused, did not get hit by the bullets, but the power of the bullets fired from Zhou Ping’an’s Golden Eagle Pistol was too great.

Even with his best efforts to dodge and swinging his Sword Qi to form a dense sword net, he still couldn’t intercept them.

Instead, the two bullets forced him to leap back, retreating another seven or eight yards.

Behind him, the walls of houses were blasted open, creating two huge holes the size of human heads, with smoke and dust rising into the air, demonstrating the formidable power of the gun.

’Modern technology, when pushed to its limits on one aspect, ultimately has some imperfections, huh.’

After testing the lethality of the Golden Eagle Pistol in his hand, Zhou Ping’an was somewhat satisfied, yet dissatisfied.

What pleased him was that being hit by this gun would result in a bullet hole, even for grand masters in the True Qi Realm, who couldn’t escape having another blood hole opened in their bodies.

One shot, one hole, simply unbearable.

Even a True Qi Protective Membrane could be directly perforated.

Causing the opponent to suffer broken tendons and bones.

Just like the old man who brandished his Sword Qi two or three yards in front of him—the elder’s left arm was still limp and had been rendered useless.

What dissatisfied him was this:

Though this firearm was powerful, it couldn’t cope with martial arts masters.

After all, bullets can’t lock onto a target nor turn corners, traveling in a straight line lacks variability.

If danger is sensed at the moment of firing, the target can dodge ahead of time with lightning speed.

And for those with the ability to sense danger, almost every expert who fought through life and death possessed this strange perception.

Once targeted, they would instantly feel a chill down their spine, a sense of impending doom, and reflexively start to dodge.

This was precisely why experts became experts.

They were seldom caught off guard by surprise attacks.

Only continuous attacks that made it impossible for the opponent to dodge or block could kill in one strike.

Obviously, firearms still fell short in this regard.

Especially after being hit once and on guard, outright gunfire would be far less intimidating.

"Brother Ping’an."

Little Jiu’er, hearing several thunderous booms, shrank her head in fear...

But when she fixed her eyes and saw Zhou Ping’an, her squished little face immediately beamed with a big smile.

She quickened her little short legs, running up to Zhou Ping’an, clutching his leg, and pointed back at the old man saying, "That man is a villain, and so is Lin Ziqi, Sister Xiao Xue got hurt, and so did many, many others..."

As she said this, Little Jiu’er’s face turned a bit pale again.

Boom...

As the little girl’s words fell, a nearby house violently collapsed.

A girl about sixteen or seventeen years old in a white dress was thrown out, landing on the ground, tumbling as she got to her feet.

There was blood flowing steadily from her abdomen, soaking her dress.

Following behind her was a man with a saber dragging behind, lunging forward to strike.

Clearly, he was determined to kill her.

It was indeed Lin Ziqi.

"You lowly maid, you dare to block my path too? Aren’t you all relying on that Zhou character? If you’re so capable, have him come and save you."

"Very well."

Zhou Ping’an answered his request.

With a lift of his hand, a gun fired.

"Boom..."

Lin Ziqi, who was charging forward with his saber dragging, had not even reacted when a huge bloody hole appeared in his right chest.

The force of the bullet knocked him backward five or six zhang, and he fell heavily to the ground.

He barely avoided passing out, his mouth spurting out blood foam.

"You... Weren’t you supposed to have gone up the mountain with Third Miss?"

He forcefully covered his own chest, pressing down only to find his hand sinking into his chest.

Looking down, his expression turned ashen.

Half of his chest had been blown away, beyond the possibility of pressing down to stop the bleeding.

With such a wound.

Not even immortals could save him.

"That’s a funny thing to say, without pulling out all of you treacherous snakes from behind, how could I possibly leave Little Jiu’er alone at home?"

Zhou Ping’an casually retorted, mocking Lin Ziqi, his gaze might not be looking towards Cai Xu standing far away, but his consciousness enveloped his surroundings.

At the same time a "Be careful" rang in his ears,

a pale cyan brilliance already lit up around him.

The light flickered, like spring water glimmering, covering the figure drifting by his side like a leaf within.

"Ding ding dang dang..."

Like a torrential rain beating on autumn pond lilies, sabers clashed and figures flickered.

The two touched and immediately separated.

"Shhrk..."

Zhou Ping’an, holding Little Jiu’er, stood in place, while that figure withdrew another seven or eight zhang away.

"You’ve been struck by my Blood-Dripping Saber Technique; by now, you should be feeling your blood turn to ice and your breathing grow oppressive, right?

Young man, although your concealed weapons are remarkable, your experience is still a bit shallow."

The elder smiled triumphantly, his eyes harboring deep murderous intent.

He had cultivated Hanyang True Qi to the point of Minor Heavenly Cycle Completion, just one step away from entering the Great Cycle Realm.

In Jiangzhou, he was considered to be among the first-rate masters.

Unexpectedly, coming to Qingyang City for a small errand, he carelessly got injured in the shoulder, rendering his left arm useless.

The frustration in his heart was beyond words.

Now getting even, he used True Qi to boost his movement skill and struck with a sudden saber blow, confident of dominating the situation, he spoke cheerfully, waiting for Zhou Ping’an to collapse on the spot.

"Are you referring to this?"

Zhou Ping’an lightly exhaled a breath of cold air, reaching out to pull aside a piece of green fabric from his left chest.

He had used himself as bait to take a blow just now, indeed feeling the extreme chill aiming for his heart.

However, as the Impermanence Life and Death Technique began to run, the chill turned to warmth, and the deathly energy transformed into vitality.

Far from being injured, he felt as if someone had given him an excellent, immensely comfortable massage.

"It’s just a pity that your saber isn’t up to scratch, old fellow— it didn’t even manage to cut through my skin."

Zhou Ping’an spoke with a smile playing on his lips.

The white-haired elder suddenly looked down at his blood-red short saber; his facial muscles twitched.

He saw that his treasured Blood-Dripping Blade, which he valued like his own life, had now become serrated, with seven or eight deep notches as if it would break at any moment.

Zhou Ping’an was not in a rush; instead, he spoke at length.

"Have you never wondered why I allowed you to get so close for a sneak attack without any defenses?"

"Why?" Little Jiu’er clung tightly to Zhou Ping’an’s neck, not afraid at all.

Even when the saber light blossomed like raindrops before her eyes, she was not worried.

She looked up and asked.

"Because that bad man’s True Qi is very profound, and if he really started to run, I might not be able to catch him.

After all, True Qi’s enhancement of movement skill is very strong."

Zhou Ping’an might not be clear about many things, or the power hierarchy of this world, lacking a precise understanding.

But of his own strengths and weaknesses,

he was extremely clear.

Most accurately self-aware.

His strongest aspect was actually his defensive power.

The weakest was his Cultivation Realm.

As for movement and stepping skills, they improve geometrically with higher Cultivation Realms.

For instance, his practiced Ghostly Shadows Step, upon reaching Ninth Level Ascension...

In the Blood Exchange Realm, driving the Completion Movement Skill with Qi-Blood, it was indeed fast.

But if one reached the True Qi Realm, driven by True Qi, it could be three to ten times faster.

So on and so forth...

Others’ Light Body Techniques may not be as refined as his,

but with the enhancement of True Qi by three to ten times, they could be much faster than him.

He had a deep understanding of this.

Previously, Elder Guangming of the King of Light’s Temple had given him a thorough lesson.

A short-term explosive burst, pushing True Qi to its limit, even resulted in a sonic boom.

Keep in mind, that was with the Buddhist Technique, primarily focused on Body Refinement and secondarily on Qi Refinement.

What about this old man, whose True Qi was clearly powerful and whose Sword Qi could extend two or three zhang? Would he be faster if he ran?

If he really started running, could Zhou catch him?

The answer did not even need to be asked—it was obviously no.