Sure enough, someone in the crowd responded.
Walking out of the crowd was an old man with a hunched back and burn marks on half of his face.
Only half of the old man's face was left, but his one eye was gleaming with energy:
"My strength is not that strong. I am at the peak of Qi Refining and have not yet established my foundation. Jian Zexian, do you need me for anything?"
The old man in the library is Li Changge's younger brother. His face was destroyed by the Bone-Eroding Fire Talisman, but he managed to cut off half of his face in time and escape with his life.
He is a generation older than the old soldiers like Captain Hai, and was one of the generals in the army in the past. However, he could no longer go to the battlefield. Usually, he just guarded the armory and retired. However, no one would have thought that he was also practicing Taoism in secret.
"I'll leave the troublesome task of capturing the old man from Gucheng to you." Jian Zexian said calmly:
"Although the magic power is weak, it should be possible to simply control this stone city."
The stone city in his hand floated up and flew into the hands of the old man in the library.
The old man in the library bowed, thanked him and left.
"So now..." He turned around and looked at Qiao Mu, Hai Duwei and others who were still standing in the yard.
"So now, it's time for you to tell the truth, Jian Zexian." Qiao Mu, who had been listening silently, suddenly spoke up.
"The truth? What do you mean, Third Brother?" Jian Zexian looked surprised.
Captain Hai also looked puzzled. Although he and Qiao Ruosen were new acquaintances, based on the good impression established by the previous members of the Qiao family, he subconsciously thought that Jian Zexian was doing something secretly, and called on several old soldiers around him to quietly surround Jian Zexian.
"Your words may be enough to fool your own brother." Qiao Mu pondered:
"Thirty years ago, you were no match for the Taoist Qingzhuo of the Da Dao Sect, and he captured you and brought you to this isolated city."
"Since you have been playing slack for forty years, your energy and blood have been depleted in your old age, and your internal strength has even declined. Can you really be stronger in martial arts than you were thirty years ago?"
"As for the cultivation of the immortal way, you said it yourself. Relying on the means of the immortal way to compete with the Taoist Qingzhuo is tantamount to showing off one's skills in front of an expert. There is no possibility of winning."
"Thirty years have passed, and your immortal skills are no longer enough to fight against him, and your martial arts skills have also declined. So where did you get the 20% confidence you mentioned just now?"
Jian Zexian remained silent and glanced at Qiao Mu with a little surprise.
"Third brother has a keen eye..."
The way he was bragging just now was actually for Lu Yanbei to see.
If he doesn't speak more confidently, how can he try his best to send Lu Yanbei out of the city
If he wasn't afraid of exaggerating too much, he would have just said he was 80% sure instead of 20%.
But Lu Yanbei is not a stupid man. After all, he is an 87-year-old martial arts master with a lot of experience.
However, as Jian Zexian's elder brother, he has always had an almost blind trust in Jian Zexian and believes whatever he says.
"The 20% chance I mentioned is actually the chance that my brother will survive."
Jian Zexian looked straight into Qiao Mu's eyes, as if he wanted to see the slightest fluctuation of emotion in the old man's eyes:
"Third brother, if I told you that in order to have a better chance of success, I need your life, what would you do?"
"There is such a good thing?" Qiao Mu blurted out, with a look of joy in his eyes that Jian Zexian could not understand at all.
He has seen many people who are not afraid of death in the past thirty years.
But he had already seen the hope of survival, yet he resolutely chose the path of death, and was so happy... It really made him confused.
"Jian Zexian, although we just met, you should know... There is no one in my Qiao family who is afraid of death." Qiao Mu smiled and touched his neck, saying proudly:
"If you want my head as a sacrifice to the sword, you can take it!"
Jian Zexian silently watched Qiao Mu's expression, and his face showed slight ups and downs.
This was actually the first time he and Chauceron met.
The person who had been with him day and night for more than a month was Qiao Shuangsen, the first person to enter the isolated city.
Because Qiao Ruosen is not Qiao Shuangsen, he asked this question.
Because Qiao Ruosen is also a member of the Qiao family, he asked this question.
And now he had the answer in his heart.
"I haven't been out of the Jiuzhou martial arts world for thirty years, and there is actually a Qiao family in the martial arts world? It seems that in the past thirty or forty years, the martial arts world has finally undergone some unprecedented changes." Jian Zexian nodded:
"Third brother, you are worrying too much. I am not using your life to sacrifice the sword."
"I practice swordsmanship, not magic."
Speaking of this, Jian Zexian also felt a little desolate in his heart.
These thirty years, after all, have been wasted.
His skills have stagnated or even regressed, and there must be some reasons for that.
"But do you need my help?" Qiao Mu asked again.
Apart from the banished sword immortal, he had already been the person with the highest martial arts skills in this isolated city.
Although I am no match for the Immortal Sect's elders, I may still be able to contribute in some small way.
Seeing Jian Zexian nod, Qiao Mu took the initiative to propose:
"In that case, let's just leave it like this."
"You and I will stay in this city and fight. Even if we are defeated, you can serve as bait."
"And my brother from the clan..." Qiao Mu looked at his silent corpse behind him, and thought for a long time before remembering the name he had just casually given:
"Qiao Xiaoming's Qinggong is also quite good. He can lead this stone city to hide in the dark and wait for the opportunity to go out into battle."
At this point, Qiao Mu remembered something and picked up the little cat that was sucking him crazily:
"The name of this demon cat is Wuchang. He can hide in my shadow, and even the immortal masters may not be able to find him. If he holds the stone city in his mouth and hides in my shadow, I think Lu Yanbei's chances of survival will be improved a bit."
Qiao Mu prepared to split his troops into two groups.
It was him one way and it was him the other way.
As they were talking, the streets outside the Taoist temple had become quiet.
The old man in the library held a floating stone city in his hand and sent all the disabled, old, women and children in the city into the stone city in his hand.
If Jian Zexian were to do this kind of thing, he would definitely not gain the trust of the disabled old people in the city, and it would probably take a lot of effort to convince them.
As for Li Changge's younger brother, this half-faced old man who walked down from the battlefield, the disabled old people in the city naturally trusted him.
Taoist Qingzhuo was about to arrive at this time, and they were racing against time. There was not much time to explain, but there was no doubt either, and they entered the Stone City at a very fast speed.
Soon, the lonely city became quiet and there was no sound on the streets.
In the surrounding area, only Qiao Mu, Jian Zexian, Hai Duwei and other old soldiers were left.
"Sword Exiled Immortal..." Captain Hai also spoke at this time:
"Is there anything we can do?"
"You guys?" Jian Zexian glanced at him:
"Just you guys?"
He and Captain Hai have never been on good terms with each other, and now they just happen to be on the same side.
"Oh, although that old man Qingzhuo's target is me, if the whole city is empty, he might also become suspicious."
"Let's do this." Jian Zexian pointed to the dozens of stone statues in the Taoist temple.
"You old soldiers, drop your blood on the stone statues. These stone statues are made by me using the methods of the immortal sect. Although they are too crude to be used in the battlefield, if they have your martial arts blood, they may be able to disguise themselves as soldiers."
“… ..will this work?”
Captain Hai was a little skeptical, but since he didn't know much about the way of immortals, he could only nod.
After all, almost all of these old soldiers were injured in the battlefield just now, and they actually didn't have much strength to fight again. Now that a little blood can be used, it can be regarded as their best effort.
But when Captain Hai looked at the stone statues carefully, his expression became gradually embarrassed.
These stone statues were all women without exception, and they were extremely charming and attractive. In particular, the statue that Jian Zexian pointed out to him was a mature woman with a beautiful figure and a broad mind...
Captain Hai suspected that Jian Zexian was targeting him, but he had no evidence.
But this was a critical moment after all, and Captain Hai had no time to be pretentious. He raised his knife and cut a small wound on his wrist, letting the blood drip onto the stone statue.
After finishing, the old man who was in charge of the library in the stone city had returned and asked these old soldiers to enter the stone city one after another.
By this time.
In this huge lonely city, there is no sound of people anymore. The whole city is empty and silent.
There are only a few people left in this Taoist temple.
"The magic weapon refined by the immortals is indeed strange..." Qiao Mu carefully picked up the stone city, only to find that it was quite heavy, but not so heavy that he could not lift it.
He casually pressed the stone city on the head of the demon cat Wuchang, but the demon cat was unaware of the heavy object on its head and continued to lie at Qiao Mu's feet with its tongue hanging out.
“The people who are in the way are gone.”
"Then, let's talk about our plan to fight against Qingzhuo before he arrives." Jianzhexian casually picked up a stone sword that was slanted in the corner.
"Forty years ago, I was number one in the world. I could kill anyone in the world."
"But even so, it's not enough."
"My sword can kill all the heroes in the world, but it is not enough to kill the immortals."
The exiled swordsman held the stone sword in his hand, his expression as if he was in another world.
The sword in his hand is made of stone, but it can still be considered a sword.
This was the first time in thirty years that this exiled sword immortal had picked up a sword.
Thirty years passed in a flash.
When his brother Lu Yanbei was about to die, he finally saw the confusion in his heart and roughly understood why the old soldier in this city died for others... .
But it was too late.
Jian Zexian is eighty-seven years old this year.
Forty years ago, he was already the most powerful martial artist in the world, known as the banished immortal in the mortal world. He was a genius selected from countless warriors in the nine provinces, and dominated the martial arts world of an era.
But the time he wasted was as long as thirty years.
In the mind of Jian Zexian at that time, although giving up was self-destructive, in a sense, it was also a form of resistance.
Although Jian Zexian does not care about the lives of soldiers and civilians, this hundred-mile desert has the immortal sect's soul-binding formation. If he takes action and dies at the hands of Taoist Qingzhuo who comes after hearing the news, the soul of the dead will probably fall into Taoist Qingzhuo's hands as well.
He did not fight to the death, because it was better to live a miserable life than to die, and his own life was the most important.
But there is always a price to pay for giving up.
Practicing martial arts is like rowing against the current, if you don't advance, you will retreat. He has grown old, and his skills have declined. Although his level is still there, he has ultimately regressed.
If he still has time, perhaps he can practice martial arts again. I think it won't be too difficult to spend some time to get back on his feet, after all, the foundation is still there.
But he didn't have time.
The Exiled Sword Immortal held up the stone sword in his hand and looked at the tree beside him.
"The swords of mortal warriors are not strong enough to slay immortals."
"Extraordinary times call for extraordinary measures. I just don't know how aware Third Brother is of this?" he asked.
"Tell me, how do you want me to die?" Qiao Mu was very straightforward, even a little eager to try.
"Have you ever heard of... the Heaven-Slaying Sword Technique?" The Exiled Sword Immortal looked up at the sky.
The sky of the lonely city is always gray and shrouded by the great formation. Looking up, one can only see a scorching sun and endless yellow sand.
Chapter 212: Sword of Immortal (4k
"This Heaven-Slaying Sword Technique only has one move. Once the sword is out, there is no return. I am invincible..."
"The first level, I call it Kill Me."
"First, you must cut off your own path to survival, and have the thought that there is no return and that you are invincible. Only then can you concentrate all your strength and be invincible..."
The exiled swordsman demonstrated a few moves to Qiao Mu in the dilapidated Taoist temple.
Before Taoist Qingzhuo arrived, he planned to teach him the essence of his swordsmanship.