Chapter - 334 Hundred-feet Tall Tower Prevents Passage (11)

Zhang Wuji nodded; he understood his intention. They had only a few people on their side; if they failed to rescue the masters of the Six Major Sects in a short period of time, the enemy might send more reinforcement. With the Green-winged Bat King went to set the Ruyang Palace on fire, the enemy would be forced, first and foremost, to protect the Prince. It was an excellent 'luring the tiger out of the mountain' or 'removing firewood from under the pot' plan.

Wei Yixiao's dark green shadow flashed by and flew over the tall wall surrounding the Temple. Zhang Wuji looked around him to assess the situation. "Fan Youshi," he called out loudly, "How are you?"

"It's bad!" Fan Yao called back, "The escape route is completely on fire; we are trapped here."

By this time, fourteen out of the eighteen foreign monks under Wang Baobao's command had spread our and surrounded Zhang Wuji. Zhang Wuji thought that to defeat the enemy he had to capture the leader first; thereupon he turned his attention to that young Tartar prince wearing a golden helmet. If he could capture him, than he could force the Prince to order his people to put off the fire and release the prisoners. Immediately he leaned sideways and slipped from among the foreign monks; he went straight to Wang Baobao fast and fluid like a fish swimming in the water.

Suddenly out of the blue a sword came from his left side, the blade carried a cold gust of wind; in a flash the sword tip was moving toward his chest. Hastily Zhang Wuji drew a step backward, only to hear a woman's voice said, "Zhang Gongzi, this is my brother. Don't hurt him."

The sword in her hand moved in graceful and elegant way; the blade was colder than water. It was the Yitian sword; a sword as beautiful as a flower. The bearer was of course Zhao Min. She hastily followed Zhang Wuji, it was just that she was a bit slower.

Zhang Wuji said, "Please order your people to put out the fire and let the people go; otherwise I will not be polite toward the two of you."

Zhao Min called out, "Shiba Jin Gang, this man's martial art is high; all Jin Gang are to fight him together."

Those eighteen foreign monks had just suffered under Zhang Wuji's hand; they did not need their Junzhu [Princess] to remind them. They knew their opponent was fierce. 'Bang! Bang!' the eight copper cymbals in the Four-Cymbal Buddha Warriors' hands crashed together. Eighteen foreign monks moved together in front of Wang Baobao and Zhao Min, separating them from Zhang Wuji.

Zhang Wuji took a glance; he saw eighteen foreign monks walked in circle around him. Their footwork was strange, eighteen people formed a human wall; apparently their movement contained many changes. His interest was piqued; he wanted to see if he could break this 'Jin Gang Zhen' [Buddha Warrior Formation]. But right at that moment a loud bang was heard, one of the big pillars on the Pagoda broke and fell down. Turning his head around he saw the fire had reached the seventh floor. Amidst the blood-red flickering tongues of fire two people were engaged in an intense battle; they were Miejue Shitai and He Biweng.

Looking further up he saw the corridor by the railings of the tenth floor was full of people; they were the masters from Shaolin, Wudang, and the other Sects. Their martial arts were not recovered yet; but even if they were, the Pagoda was over ten 'zhang's tall [over 100 feet tall], even if their internal energy and qing gong [lightness skill] were not the slightest bit lost, they would certainly plunge to their deaths if they jumped down.

An idea came into Zhang Wuji's mind; he pondered over it for a moment, "I can't possibly break this Jin Gang Zhen in a short period of time. Even if I did, the other warriors are certainly going to attack me. It won't be easy to capture Miss Zhao's brother. Miejue Shitai has been fighting He Biweng all this time without showing any sign of defeat. It appears that her internal energy has already been restored. Then Da Shibo [first martial (older) uncle] and the others must also be recovered. Only the Pagoda is too high, they are unable to jump down."

As soon as his mind was made, he moved around the courtyard in lightning fast speed; his hands struck and snatched, slapped and grabbed the Eight Divine Archers and the warriors around the Pagoda. He either knocked down the bows and arrows from their hands, or sealed their acupoints. In a short moment there was no one standing with neither bow nor arrow around the Pagoda. "Seniors on the Pagoda!" he called out, "Please jump down! I will catch you down here."

The people on the Pagoda were stunned; they thought, 'This Pagoda was over ten 'zhang's tall, the force of their bodies falling down would be tremendous, although you have thousand catties strength, how could you catch us?' Immediately some people from Kongtong, Kunlun and some other Sects blurted out, "Surely we cannot jump down; don't listen to this kid! He wants to deceive us so that we will meet our cruel deaths."

Zhang Wuji saw the smoke and fire filled the air, it almost reached near the place where those masters were standing. If they did not jump soon, they would inevitably become barbequed meat. Raising his voice he shouted, "Yu Erbo [second martial (older) uncle], your kindness to me is like a mountain, do you think Xiao Zhi [little nephew] would deliberately harm you? Why don't you jump first?"

Yu Lianzhou trusted ZhangWuji completely; besides, he thought that although his martial art skill was stronger, he would still not be able to save himself. Therefore, rather than being burned to death, wouldn't it be better to plunge to death? "All right!" he called out, "I'll jump down!" Without hesitation he jumped from the Pagoda down to the ground.

Zhang Wuji's eyes followed his uncle closely; he waited until they were about five feet apart before his palm gently patted his uncle's waist. In this one palm he had unleashed the ultimate power of the 'qian kun da nuo yi' [the great shifting and moving of the universe]; by absorbing and releasing energy he dispersed the falling down momentum from top to bottom to from left to right, and thus sending Yu Lianzhou flying horizontally several feet to the side. By that time his internal energy had been recovered 70, 80%; flipping his body midair he landed steadily on the ground. In one fluid motion his palm struck a Mongolian warrior that he spurted blood from his mouth.

"Da Shige [first martial (older) brother], Si Shidi! [fourth martial (younger) brother]," he loudly called out, "Jump down!"

The people on the Pagoda cheered as they saw Yu Lianzhou land safely on the ground. Out of his deep love toward his son, Song Yuanqiao wanted him to jump down first. "Qingshu," he said, "You jump down!"

Ever since they came out of their prisons, Song Qingshu had always been standing up next to Zhou Zhiruo. "Miss Zhou," he said, "Quickly jump down."

Zhou Zhiruo's internal strength had not been recovered yet; she was unable to help her master, yet she was unwilling to escape alone. Hearing Song Qingshu, she shook her head and said, "I am going to wait for Shifu!"

By this time He Taichong, Ban Shuxian, and the others had jumped down one after another; they were all intercepted by Zhang Wuji using the marvelous power of the 'qian kun da nuo yi' to the fullest; breaking the vertical force of the drop, turning it horizontally, delivering them all one by one from danger.

These people's internal energy had not been fully recovered yet, but although their strength was only 50, 60% of their normal level, they had already given the foreign monks and the warriors a lot of trouble. Yu Lianzhou and the others snatched some weapons and they formed a fence around Zhang Wuji.