Chapter Fifty-Seven: Shooting the Moon Cult and Training Hua Wudu

Knowing he had already lost, Peng Sanzhi swayed as if about to fall. In a daze, with bitter resentment, he muttered, "Decades of relentless effort, yet you achieve fame overnight. By what right?" Instantly, his vision plunged into absolute darkness, his eyelids rolled back, and he collapsed unconscious.

Meng Xiaoli looked down and retorted, "How could you know the lonely years I spent enduring day after day? Did you think my martial arts came from nowhere?"

Down below, upon seeing Peng Sanzhi fall, his young disciples leaped onto the stage and crowded around him, calling out his name. Finding that he could not be revived by shaking, several of them glared viciously at Meng Xiaoli and angrily shouted, "In martial arts bouts, a contest ends at the touch of a blade! How could you murder our master?"

Hearing the accusation, Meng Xiaoli straightened her sleeves and smiled, "Are you all really that eager for your master to die? I merely wounded him severely; he is still alive."

Hearing this, a few of the disciples lowered their heads to listen to Peng Sanzhi's heartbeat. Though faint, it was clearly pulsing. Hastily, they hoisted him onto their shoulders and leaped off the stage, shouting, "Hurry! Take master to the Divine Wood Sect immediately, there is still hope."

While Peng Sanzhi, the successor of the Soul-Reaping Hook, was being carried away, the spectators had yet to recover from the fierce combat they had just witnessed. Liang Keyong, who had consistently favored Peng Sanzhi, maintained an outward appearance of effortless calm, though his heart was filled with profound shock. Gazing at Meng Xiaoli upon the stage, he inwardly praised, "This woman truly cannot be underestimated."

With Peng Sanzhi's defeat, martial artists whose skills fell short of his gained self-awareness and abandoned the idea of challenging her. This unfortunately granted yet another batch of incompetent clowns an opportunity to make a fool of themselves. Since they had climbed onto the stage, Meng Xiaoli had no choice but to face them one by one. It was merely a matter of expending some physical stamina as she sent them flying off the stage the exact same way they had climbed up.

Sweeping her sleeves wide, Meng Xiaoli turned and stood at the center of the ring, radiating a heroic aura that rivaled any man. Spreading her arms wide, she called out in a clear voice, "Who else?"

"We are!" Following these words, a chorus of female voices echoed from multiple directions. Meng Xiaoli looked left and right to see five gaudily dressed women fluttering through mid-air like falling petals. They landed in five distinct positions surrounding her. The five women were heavily painted with cosmetic powder and veiled in sheer gauze, obscuring their true appearances and creating a bizarre, vulgar yet captivating beauty. Colorful silk ribbons draped over their shoulders fluttered in the breeze, and bound beneath the forearms of each woman were fine, diamond-shaped soft barbs.

Upon seeing this, the crowd below shook their heads and turned to one another, whispering in inquiry, "What? Has the Moon-Shooting Cult arrived as well?" With that, people began scanning the sea of spectators.

The five women offered a formal, ritualistic bow toward Meng Xiaoli. The leading woman announced their affiliation, declaring, "We are the Five Venoms of the Moon-Shooting Cult. My name is Leng Die." Immediately after, the second chimed in, "Xue Die!" Following her, the third continued, "Wu Die!" The fourth followed up, "Qing Die!" And the fifth completed the sequence, "Xin Die!"

Leng Die, as the leader, spoke first: "Though we of the Five Venoms harbor no personal grudge against you, your reputation precedes you, and you are deemed an enemy to all. Countless people view the eradication of you, the Demonic Ghost concubine, as their sacred mission. Today, we Five Venoms have come to test your prowess. If we defeat you, it is the victory of the Moon-Shooting Cult; if we are defeated by you, we Five Venoms acknowledge our inferiority, concede our defeat from this moment on, and hold you in our hearts with deep respect."

Meng Xiaoli recalled when she first entered the martial arts world, how she had been ruthlessly bullied by the sisters Jinxiu and Lingluo of the Moon-Shooting Cult over a snake gu. Not only had they poisoned her internal organs, but they had also subjected her to the sisters' infamous Scorching Fire Palm and Freezing Ice Palm. She had been left in a dilapidated temple, at death's door, and would have perished had she not been rescued by her master, the solitary Dugu Laoda, who channeled his internal energy to purge the poison and save her life.

Meng Xiaoli inquired, "May I ask what relation you bear to the sisters Jinxiu and Lingluo of the Moon-Shooting Cult?" Leng Die readily replied, "They are our junior sisters. How does Sect Leader Meng come to know them?" Meng Xiaoli smiled faintly, lowering her gaze as she answered, "Their great names are simply known to me by repute."

Hearing this, Leng Die and the other four women raised their hands to assume offensive postures. Their jade-like hands were tender and gentle, graceful and fluid, bearing no resemblance whatsoever to a stance intended for taking lives. Leng Die spoke first: "Then let us not waste any time. Let us begin. Receive my move!"

With a loud cry, Leng Die leaped gracefully toward Meng Xiaoli, manipulating the sheer ribbons beneath her arms in mid-air. As she waved them gently, a faint, wispy haze began to spread. Meng Xiaoli knew that regardless of the form their martial arts took, the ultimate goal of the Moon-Shooting Cult was always the deployment of poison; venom was the core and foundation of their arts.

Meng Xiaoli instantly drew a silk handkerchief from her sleeve. While retreating and dodging, she tied the handkerchief around her nose and mouth. Knowing that the poisons of the Moon-Shooting Cult were pervasive and capable of infiltrating through any opening—with certain venoms causing infection upon mere contact with the skin—she swept her sleeves to counter the five martial sister disciples of the Five Venoms.

When exchanging blows with Meng Xiaoli, the Five Venoms were not only vibrant and colorful in their attire, but their martial arts movements were also graceful and light, completely differing from the broad, sweeping styles of male opponents. To the onlookers in the audience, it was nothing short of a visual feast. It felt as though, immediately following a tense and thrilling combat, they were now being treated to an exquisite, ethereal, and dreamlike dance performed by otherworldly enchantresses.

The spectators gathered close to the edge of the stage were unaware that the poisonous powder flying from the bodies of the Five Venoms was dispersing everywhere. While Meng Xiaoli focused entirely on self-defense, the crowd remained absorbed in the spectacle, oblivious to the fact that they had already inhaled the hallucinatory poison floating in the air. Each of them wore a dazed expression, as if they had been transported to a celestial realm, drinking wine with divine deities and making merry with fairy maidens while admiring the swirling, eerie, and magical immortal dance upon the stage.

Those in the back rows noticed the situation and stepped forward to pat the poisoned individuals, but the victims were so deeply entranced that no amount of stimulation could rouse them. Seeing that none of them appeared to be in mortal danger, the onlookers simply let them be and turned their attention back to the stage. Before long, the toxins within the bodies of the affected individuals were expelled through perspiration, and they gradually returned to normal.

Meng Xiaoli remained entangled with the five sisters of the Five Venoms. Their movements were relaxed and unhurried, continuously circling and launching wave after wave of attacks without ever resorting to overwhelming force. Furthermore, the soft barbs beneath their arms were rarely utilized directly, serving primarily as supplementary controls during close-quarters combat.

This particular style of martial arts, if it failed to poison the opponent quickly, served primarily to exhaust the opponent's physical stamina. For reasons unknown, compared to facing heavy sabers and swift swords, this kind of engagement left Meng Xiaoli feeling far more fatigued. While the exchanges appeared loose, effortless, and casual for the Five Venoms, Meng Xiaoli had to maintain a state of constant vigilance in all directions, her muscles perpetually tensed, knowing that a single moment of distraction would allow the Five Venoms to immediately exploit the opening.

Suddenly, Wu Die executed a flip behind Meng Xiaoli, flicking a dense ball of fog from her sleeves. The spherical mist lunged directly toward the back of Meng Xiaoli's head. Shifting her focus away from Qing Die in front of her, Meng Xiaoli immediately spun around to meet the attack. Just as she turned, the thick fog expanded right before her eyes. Leaping backward, Meng Xiaoli swept her arms through the air, using her sleeves to disperse the vapor.

At the same time, Xin Die spun upward into the air, gliding over Meng Xiaoli's head and scattering several droplets of moisture downward. Meng Xiaoli executed the "Rippling Water Waves" technique, spinning her legs to evade them.

Watching Meng Xiaoli struggle to maneuver amidst the Five Venoms, Liang Keyong slumped back into his chair and declared decisively, "Once the Five Venoms reveal themselves, whether you are a novice in the first or second layer, or a master of the seventh or eighth, there is no one who can avoid being poisoned. The phrase 'what is targeted is inevitably struck, treating everyone equally' refers precisely to them."

By this point, Meng Xiaoli had already exchanged dozens of blows with the Five Venoms, increasingly feeling her physical strength wane as a fine layer of perspiration coated her entire body. In contrast, the five sisters of the Five Venoms remained composed and at ease, as if they had only just stepped onto the stage. Meng Xiaoli still could not find a vulnerable gap in their defense, and she knew that if the fight dragged on much longer, she would likely collapse from sheer exhaustion and become entirely defenseless.

Beads of hot sweat rolled down Meng Xiaoli's face as she suddenly recalled when her master, Dugu Laoda, had taught her martial arts, forcing her to train while carrying heavy weights. Every day she would practice until she was drenched in foul-smelling sweat, her limbs heavy and weak, and whenever her willpower wavered, she would entertain the thought of stopping and quitting altogether. At such times, her master would stand nearby and scold her fiercely: "If someone were right behind you holding a sword to kill you, would you put down your sword and wait for death, or would you pick it up and fight your final battle even if you were exhausted to the point of dying?" Back then, Meng Xiaoli would brace her body with her sword, shake the sweat from her face, and reply, "I have no choice. I cannot die. I must stand up and fight; I must stand up and kill." Even speaking those words had been an enormous drain on her physical energy.

Now, drenched in sweat once again, Meng Xiaoli faced these five persistent and difficult sisters, and she realized she still had no choice. Wiping the sweat from her forehead, she steadied the breathing in her chest and listened carefully to the movements around her.

Leng Die launched an attack from the rear while Xue Die closed in from the front. Feigning an attack against Xue Die ahead, Meng Xiaoli executed the "Blind Man Pointing the Way" technique. As Xue Die countered and spun around to scatter a plume of cyan smoke, Meng Xiaoli instantly shifted from offense to defense, leaping backward with lightning speed. Xue Die's poisonous powder instantly drifted toward Leng Die behind Meng Xiaoli. Caught completely off guard, Leng Die was struck by the toxin; though she threw up her sleeve, the toxic powder had already settled upon her skin.

Meanwhile, Wu Die rapidly moved in to intercept Meng Xiaoli. Striking out with a palm attack, the soft barb beneath her wrist brushed right past Meng Xiaoli's cheek. At the same time, Wu Die used her other hand to flick a cloud of powdered mist toward Meng Xiaoli's face. Executing a rapid spin that grazed Wu Die's back, Meng Xiaoli finally seized a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. Reaching backward with a reverse-claw technique, she grabbed Wu Die's lower back. Wu Die let out a cry of pain as blood gushed from her waist, and she stumbled backward to the rear.

Seeing this, Qing Die rushed forward to intercept Meng Xiaoli, sweeping her sleeve to unleash a cloud of white smoke. Meng Xiaoli arched her back far backward while simultaneously kicking forward toward Qing Die. Employing the "Spring Floating Ice" technique, she caught Qing Die squarely with a kick, sending the woman flying. Qing Die slid across the ground for several meters before tumbling off the stage. She was safely caught in the arms of Tao Zui, the flower-picker who had been waiting below, and who brazenly pinched Qing Die's buttocks with a grin. Nursing her injuries, Qing Die endured the pain and leaped away.

Observing the white mist descending from above, Meng Xiaoli spun mid-air to evade it. Xin Die, already waiting on the flank, threw a handful of toxic powder directly toward Meng Xiaoli, who had just landed and was not yet fully stabilized. Knowing she had no time to dodge, Meng Xiaoli chose to take the blow. Enduring the smoke of the toxic powder, she thrust her claws directly toward Xin Die's wrist. Meng Xiaoli understood that the Five Venoms had no weaknesses except for the single instant when they deployed their poison—a moment when every opponent would normally instinctively dodge. Yet, in order to win, Meng Xiaoli was willing to risk the poison entering her body just to expose a vulnerability in the Five Venoms. This was truly a maneuver of seeking survival by walking through the gates of death.

With one hand gripping Xin Die's wrist in an iron-tight hold, Meng Xiaoli's other hand swept horizontally with her claws aiming straight for Xin Die's heart. Her Golden Scale Blood Armor grazed Xin Die's chest, piercing the skin. Acting on a surge of willpower, Meng Xiaoli relaxed her claw-tips and flattened her hand into a palm strike. This split-second transition gave Xin Die a brief window to react; realizing the danger was critical, Xin Die desperately lashed out with the soft barb beneath her arm, aiming it at Meng Xiaoli. Although the distance fell just short, the tip of Xin Die's barb still grazed Meng Xiaoli's arm, leaving a scratch. Simultaneously, Meng Xiaoli unleashed a surge of palm wind that blasted Xin Die away. Xin Die's chest was stained a deep, vibrant crimson, while Meng Xiaoli dropped to one knee, breathing heavily and drenched in sweat, a thin line of blood trickling down her injured arm.

Seeing Meng Xiaoli pull off such a move, Liang Keyong could not help but exclaim in admiration, "What a magnificent move of mutual destruction! Even if others could think of such a strategy, none would possess the Demonic Ghost Concubine's sheer audacity to actually execute it. Yet, had she not done so, she likely would never have been able to turn the tide."

At that moment, the poison coursing through Meng Xiaoli's body began to take effect, causing an intense itching sensation across her entire frame. Ignoring the discomfort, she rose to her feet just as Xue Die and Leng Die—whose toxins had fully settled—flew in from behind to launch a coordinated assault.

Spinning around, Meng Xiaoli stood her ground. Completely disregarding the two clouds of toxic powder rushing directly toward her face, she lunged straight at the descending pair. Seeing that Meng Xiaoli made no attempt to evade, the two women felt a chill run through their hearts. In a breathless instant, Meng Xiaoli wrapped her arms around each of their limbs and drove both palms straight into their chests, channeling her internal qi to push forward. Leng Die and Xue Die absorbed the full impact, flying backward through mid-air as they plummeted directly down into the crowd of spectators below.