Chapter 59 Showing its edge Ⅸ

　　Zhou Ge's ascent onto the arena surprised many.

　　The local townspeople recognized him and wondered, "Isn't he the Inquisitor of the Prefecture, Inquisitor Zhou? Could Inquisitor Zhou be a martial arts master?"

　　Qian Geng, Teng Yang, and Zeng Gang were also taken aback. While Qian Geng had his own thoughts, the other two believed Zhou Ge was just filling in.

　　He Muxian had heard about Zhou Ge's techniques from her sister. His skills were great for investigations, but he had no combat experience. That's why he was appointed as the Inquisitor. Could his techniques have a combat application? She doubted it.

　　Geng Tianbao and Dong Tianzhen had never seen him before and had no idea what his capabilities were.

　　Qing Hu also had doubts. Master Hao had arranged spies in the Inquisitor's office for days, but they had never heard of his martial arts prowess. They had only learned of his average knife skills, inferior to those within the prefecture. He couldn't fathom why Zhou Ge would ascend the arena.

　　Cautious, Qing Hu smiled and said, "Aren't you Inquisitor Zhou? Do you also want to marry the Miss?"

　　"Hmm...I haven't thought about that. I just can't stand you," Zhou Ge replied.

　　"I see, you're here to defend justice," Qing Hu said.

　　"You could say that," Zhou Ge said as he warmed up with a round of knife practice.

　　To the discerning eye, Zhou Ge's martial arts were far inferior to Qing Hu's, leaving them puzzled as to what his trump card could be.

　　Qing Hu remained cautious. "Inquisitor Zhou. Shall we begin?"

　　Zhou Ge took out a bronze mirror and held it in his hand. "Let's start," he said.

　　Qing Hu thought the mirror might be a concealed weapon, so he was extra careful. He swayed his body and swung his arms, looking for an opportunity.

　　After observing for a while and realizing Zhou Ge didn't seem to have any intention to attack first, Qing Hu decided to take the initiative.

　　Zhou Ge threw the bronze mirror on the ground and chanted the incantation for summoning spirits. In an instant, two spectral wolves and an eagle appeared. The wolves attacked Qing Hu's lower body while the eagle pecked at his left eye.

　　Zeng Gang exclaimed in admiration, "So it's a transformation technique using talismans! Impressive, truly powerful."

　　Qing Hu took several steps backward, startled. "What are these things?"

　　The audience was also puzzled about the nature of this technique.

　　Dong Tianzhen asked, "Elder Brothers, have either of you seen this before?"

　　Both of them shook their heads, indicating they hadn't.

　　Xing Tong, true to his master's teachings, explained, "I've heard of four types: a talisman technique that binds spirits, a possession technique using special Gu wormss, a summoning technique that calls forth living beings, and a long-lost witchcraft that commands spirits. I'm not sure which one this is. Since he has a mirror as a medium, it's likely a combination of talisman and summoning techniques."

　　After his explanation, the people around him nodded in agreement.

　　Qing Hu was completely baffled. He only felt a sense of urgency. He wondered if the summoned creatures were physical and could harm him.

　　He quickly took out a crossbow bolt and threw it at Zhou Ge's face.

　　The spectral eagle was swift and blocked the bolt with its claws.

　　The sound of the impact convinced Qing Hu that the summoned creatures could indeed harm him.

　　He took a few steps back and said, "Impressive, Zhou. You have some tricks up your sleeve." He then took out three more crossbow bolts, throwing two at the spectral wolves and one at Zhou Ge himself.

　　The spectral wolves dodged the bolts, and the eagle blocked another one.

　　Seeing an opportunity, Qing Hu quickly approached Zhou Ge. Raising his hand, he shouted, "There you go, Zhou!"

　　Just as his palm was about to descend, two spectral snakes suddenly appeared, their mouths agape, ready to bite Qing Hu's throat.

　　Qing Hu retreated in fright.

　　"Can you summon five of them?" he asked.

　　"Not that few," Zhou Ge replied.

　　Qing Hu pondered. He realized that his only option was to use the Green Smoke Formation to disrupt the line of sight of the spectral creatures.

　　Making a decision, he activated the formation and swayed his palms, ready to engage the spectral creatures again. To better protect himself, he chose a suitable broadsword from the arena.

　　His swordsmanship was average, but it was enough to deal with the spectral creatures.

　　After some time, half of the arena was filled with green smoke.

　　He retreated into the smoke with a smile. "Zhou , can your creatures see through this?"

　　Shen Huan thought to himself, "This isn't good." He turned to Zhou Ge and said, " Zhou, use all your techniques now."

　　Zhou Ge also sensed trouble. He looked down at Qian Geng and the others and hesitated. This time, he summoned two spectral copies of himself and used the Flying Swallow Sword Technique.

　　At first, Qing Hu was frightened, but after a few exchanges, he realized that their moves were predictable. Within a dozen rounds, he had defeated both of them.

　　"Zhou , is the strength of your summoned creatures proportional to your own? How strong they are depends on how strong you are, right? The same goes for the wolves?" he asked.

　　He had guessed correctly. In witchcraft, the summoned creatures' strength was indeed proportional to that of their summoner.

　　As Qing Hu spoke, several crossbow bolts flew through the smoke, heading straight for Zhou Ge.

　　The spectral creatures in the green smoke were blinded and couldn't see clearly. If not for the protection of the spectral snakes, they would have been hit by the bolts.

　　Soon after, the eagle and wolves in the green smoke disappeared.

　　Qing Hu was elated and continued to expand the range of the smoke, this time targeting Zhou Ge himself.

　　He Muyu was anxious. "Shen, didn't you give him the wind-stirring herb?"

　　"Miss He, I've used it all up," Shen Huan replied.

　　"What are we going to do? If this continues, he'll die. I'm the one who asked him to get on the arena. It'll be my fault if he dies. But my sister... Shen, Ji, please think of something," she begged.

　　Both men were at a loss and remained silent.

　　The others also shared the same thought.

　　Someone shouted, "Zhou , get down from there, quickly!"

　　Zhou Ge had a strong sense of purpose. If he gave up now, it would be tantamount to admitting defeat. Even if Miss He couldn't handle the green smoke, given her character, she would never marry Qing Hu. The outcome would be predictable, and she might even commit suicide in front of everyone.

　　Looking down at the thickening green smoke, Zhou Ge realized that the later arrivals, including the three martial artists, couldn't see through it. This gave him an opportunity to use his ultimate technique.

　　He chanted the incantation for summoning and called forth the Spectral Blade Warrior, Dao Ji, from the He ethnic group..

　　As Qing Hu was about to throw another crossbow bolt, he heard a "clang" sound. Before he could react, he felt a cold breeze behind his neck. He turned around quickly and swung his broadsword, only to collide with another blade, producing another "clang" sound.

　　The spectral woman's face was blurred, with a floating ribbon in her hair and a long-sleeved robe with a rice pattern that reached below her knees. She wore boots embedded with jewels, and behind her robe was a symbol of a fire torch driving away wolves, with the flame flickering as if it were real.

　　On her left wrist was a bracelet with a bird carving, and in her right hand, she held a broadsword with a rice pattern.

　　Qing Hu was startled. "Who are you?"

　　"You're not worthy to know," the woman said coldly.

　　"Huh...you can speak?" he asked, but she didn't respond to any of his subsequent questions.

　　Zhou Ge quickly jumped out of the smoke, breathing heavily.

　　Qing Hu was experienced in battle and knew that to catch the enemy, he must first catch the commander. After engaging the spectral warrior for a while, he suddenly turned around and swung his broadsword at Zhou Ge, trying to attack him by surprise.

　　Zhou Ge had just exited the smoke and couldn't dodge in time. He was cut on his thigh.

　　Dao Ji drew two talismans with her left hand and threw them at Zhou Ge.

　　The two talismans were "Stop" and "Heal," which immediately stopped the bleeding and healed the wound. Both were simple witchcraft talismans for treating external injuries. It was said that witchcraft originated from medical practices but was later distorted by people with ulterior motives, The prohibition of witchcraft in Xiyue stemmed from this.

　　The Swordswoman of the Battle also possesses a third type of witchcraft talisman called "Yanchang." The Yanchang talisman can cause plants to grow rapidly for a day or two, but it has no effect on humans and is useless in the current battle, so there is no need to use it.

　　With the arrival of the two talismans, the wound healed instantaneously, and Zhou Ge drew his saber to continue the battle despite the pain.

　　His swordsmanship was average, but he was fighting against opponentswith superb swordsmanship, Dao Ji. Qing Hu quickly fell into a disadvantageous position.

　　Seeing an opportunity, Zhou Ge summoned two wolves and an eagle.

　　At this point, Qing Hu knew that he had lost the battle and felt extremely unwilling.

　　He thought to himself, "All of you at the He mansion forced us into this. Fifth Junior Brother, I'm sorry, but if something doesn't happen to you, the blame will fall on me."

　　He turned to the crowd and shouted, "What are you waiting for?"

　　Instantly, the leaders of the Twin Water Fortresses, Qi Xiang and Long Ming, drew their weapons and jumped onto the stage, followed closely Jia Yong. They surrounded Zhou Ge, and soon after, Wang Zu and Xing Tong also joined the battle.