Chapter 57: Strong Battle with the Sect Leader

The branch leader's expression shifted slightly. He decisively abandoned his attack on Jiang Fan, and as he lunged sideways, he executed a reverse golden hook kick towards Xu Yining's wrist.

Caught off guard, Xu Yining quickly pulled back her sword to prevent injury to her arm. However, this move played right into the branch leader's hands!

He braced himself with one hand on the ground, then suddenly sprang up into a handstand, scissoring his legs towards her neck. The shift from defense to offense happened in mere breaths. With her limited combat experience, how could Xu Yining possibly defend herself?

She was about to have her neck caught and then twisted.

Suddenly, the branch leader cried out in sharp pain! Jiang Fan had appeared, coming from behind and jumping even higher than him, stabbing a sword into the branch leader's armpit from an unexpected angle.

The intense pain forced the branch leader to abandon Xu Yining and switch to defense. "Boy, you're looking for death!"

The branch leader dismissed the wound, his eyes growing even more ferocious. A cold glint flashed in Jiang Fan's eyes: "You're the one who deserves to die!"

He unhesitatingly activated the lightning strike effect of his wooden sword.

*Sizzle*—

A powerful crackle of electricity rang out. The current instantly surged through the branch leader's limbs, causing his body to stiffen.

He plunged headfirst to the ground. This scene left Xu Yining wide-eyed in astonishment.

It left Chen Yuqiu equally dumbfounded. Jiang Fan had actually taken down the branch leader with a single sword strike?

But Jiang Fan showed no intention of stopping. Gripping the hilt with both hands, he heavily knelt on the rigid body of the branch leader.

The wooden sword in his hand plunged fiercely into the branch leader's left chest.

Instantly, blood gushed out like a spring, impossible to stop. Seeing this, Xu Yining's eyes widened in shock: "You... you killed the branch leader?"

She felt a moment of bewilderment. Shadow Guard Number One could actually kill this person head-on?

Jiang Fan nodded slightly. Then his ears twitched, and his expression subtly changed!

"Get back!" He didn't even dare to pull out the wooden sword, instead flipping backward and leaping away.

The branch leader, whose heart should have been pierced, suddenly sprang up without warning. Chasing after the retreating Jiang Fan, he furiously hammered his fists, his face contorted in a sneer: "You little bastard! You deserve to die!!!"

"If my heart wasn't naturally on the right side, you would have gotten me!!" It turned out Jiang Fan had realized something was wrong because he heard a heartbeat.

His sword strike should have precisely pierced the opponent's heart. Yet, the branch leader's heartbeat was still normal!

Fortunately, he reacted quickly! Otherwise, he might have been in serious trouble just now.

However, he no longer had his sword, making it impossible to use his swordsmanship! Just then, outside the Chen family residence, roars of anger echoed.

"Remnants of the Blood Bat Palace, your day of reckoning has come!"

Whose powerful and commanding voice could it be, if not Gu Zhou City's strongest expert? The branch leader's face drastically changed.

He decisively abandoned Jiang Fan and suddenly attacked Xu Yining, who was nearby. Xu Yining's expression hardened, and she immediately used her sword to attack, attempting to stall him.

She was waiting for Ye Jifeng to make his move. But how could she be a match for the branch leader?

In just three or five rounds, he found an opening, snatched the sword from her hand, and pressed it against her neck. Then, he swiftly took her hostage.

"Everyone step back! If anyone dares to follow, I'll kill her!" Facing Ye Jifeng and the other experts from Gu Zhou City who had burst in, the branch leader held the cold sword tightly against Xu Yining's neck.

The sharp blade cut a vivid red line on her neck. Jiang Fan, having his concerns, dared not step forward easily.

Xu Yining, seeing Shadow Guard Number One's anxious expression, felt ashamed of her own incompetence. With a hardened resolve, she grasped the wooden sword in the branch leader's chest, pulled it out, and threw it to Jiang Fan.

"Shadow Guard Number One, don't mind me, don't let him escape!" However, Ye Jifeng's face showed apprehension, and he said, "Don't act!"

"Xu Yining is a designated disciple of the Azure Cloud Sect; no mishaps can be allowed." Otherwise, if the Azure Cloud Sect held him accountable, he, as the city lord, couldn't bear the responsibility.

The branch leader sneered, then cautiously holding Xu Yining hostage, he slowly left the Chen family residence. He then mounted a horse and galloped rapidly out of Gu Zhou City, heading towards the deep mountains and ancient forests.

Ye Jifeng's jaw muscles twitched as he commanded, "Pursue! We cannot let anything happen to Xu Yining!" Jiang Fan also blended into the crowd.

The group followed the branch leader's blood trail deep into the mountains. However, at a fork in the road, they halted.

Both paths were rugged mountain trails, making it impossible to determine which way the branch leader had gone. Given the extreme viciousness of their target, they dared not split their forces, fearing being picked off one by one.

At this moment, the cavalry captain found traces of sweeping at one of the forks. "City Lord, there are signs that pine needles have been swept here."

Everyone's eyes lit up. It seemed the branch leader had also realized his blood trail might attract pursuers.

So he had cunningly covered it up. "Pursue!" A glint appeared in the City Lord's eyes, and he led the group in a swift chase.

Jiang Fan also raced along with them. But then, he slowly came to a stop.

Having fought the branch leader twice, Jiang Fan's most striking impression was his cunning and experience.

How could such a person, intent on covering his tracks, leave anything behind? Unless he intentionally left a slight clue to divert his pursuers.

Jiang Fan wanted to call out to the City Lord and the others. But then he reconsidered: What if he was wrong?

So be it if they split up. If they encountered him, with their superior numbers, defeating the branch leader wouldn't be difficult.

If he encountered him alone, he would kill him if possible, or at least try to stall him, trusting that the City Lord would realize their mistake and come as reinforcement. With this thought, he immediately left the group and pursued along the other fork in the path.

Within the group, Zhu Jianshen's eyes flickered. He also quietly chose the other fork and discreetly followed.

After pursuing for half an hour, Jiang Fan suddenly noticed a few drops of fresh blood on the leaves by the side of the path.

His heart pounded; he had guessed correctly. This was the branch leader's true escape route.

Moreover, the blood drops along the way grew more frequent, and a flicker of excitement appeared in Jiang Fan's eyes. "It seems my sword strike wasn't as harmless as the branch leader claimed."

"Although it didn't pierce his heart, it must have injured a vital organ, otherwise he wouldn't be bleeding so profusely." "At this moment, his strength should be significantly diminished from before."

As expected! He followed the blood trail to the entrance of a cave.

The characters "Floating Cloud Cave" were distinctly carved above the cave entrance. Beside the cave, an abandoned horse was calmly grazing on the roadside weeds.

"The Blood Bat Palace's lair?" Jiang Fan was slightly startled.

He recalled the jade bead from Xu Yining's birth. The expert had left a message in the bead, stating that he had left something for her in the Floating Cloud Cave in Mount Xiangtian.

And Floating Cloud Cave later became the Blood Bat Palace's lair. "Could the Blood Bat Palace's occupation of this place be a coincidence?"

He held his breath, concentrating, and carefully slipped into the cave. After the Azure Cloud Sect's encirclement and suppression, the cave had been torched, and ashes were everywhere. And he also heard the branch leader's voice.

"Damn it! Why still won't it open?" Jiang Fan stealthily crept closer, hiding in the darkness.

He focused his gaze. Inside the cave, there was a vast plaza.

A statue stood there. Xu Yining was tied up and discarded to one side, her life not in danger.

The branch leader, still bleeding profusely, knelt before the statue, fumbling with its base, trying to unlock something. A glint appeared in Jiang Fan's eyes.

Could it be that what the expert left behind was beneath the base? Was the Blood Bat Palace entrenched here precisely to unlock this secret?

Suddenly, a series of hurried footsteps echoed from outside the cave. This immediately startled the branch leader.

"Who's there?"