This kind of sword is usually forged from dark iron, making the blade exceptionally hard. If your incoming attack happens to get caught inside its hollow center, even if you were a supreme immortal, your weapon would only face two outcomes: it would either snap in half or be stripped from your hands, with absolutely no third possibility. This was precisely what made the hollow centered sword so extraordinary.

Of course, a hollow blade served another purpose, which was to reduce the weight of the sword, allowing the user to strike much faster while consuming less physical energy. Such swords were extremely rare in the martial arts world. First, the materials required for this kind of sword were scarce and the manufacturing cost was expensive. Second, wielding such a weapon placed exceptionally high demands on the swordsman. An ordinary swordsman could absolutely never control a divine weapon of this caliber.

Su Mohan was someone who used and understood swords, so he naturally grasped these principles. Ning Bufan was also a swordsman, so he understood them just as clearly.

Su Mohan instantly saw through the situation. Ning Bufan had chosen a weaker opponent for himself, planning to have Su Mohan hold off the powerful figure right next to that weaker one. That way, Ning Bufan could easily claim a pillar while Su Mohan would be forced to face a brutal battle.

Su Mohan could not help but admire Ning Bufan’s cunning mind, but it was not appropriate to expose him since the man was his superior after all. Thus, he could only reluctantly agree. Thinking to himself that Ning Bufan would surely help him once he finished off his own opponent, Su Mohan took the lead and rushed forward.

A triumphant smile appeared at the corner of Ning Bufan’s mouth, and he followed closely behind Su Mohan.

Su Mohan shot toward the weak scholar like a beam of setting sun.

The hollow sword in the weak scholar’s hand did not have a scabbard to begin with, making his movements incredibly swift. With a sharp, fierce flash of the blade, he met the attack directly in the blink of an eye. The weak scholar blocked with the edge of his hollow sword, using the deflection to send Su Mohan flying backward from the heavy impact.

“Another one seeking death,” the weak scholar said coldly. He leaped straight into the air from the wooden pillar and dove down, his momentum like an eagle as the tip of his hollow sword drew a rainbow like afterimage in the air.

Su Mohan felt a blast of hot air rushing toward his face and hurriedly brought his sword across to defend. Suddenly, hearing the sound of incoming hidden weapons from behind, he quickly darted to the right.

Three short steel knives abruptly thudded into the wooden pillar. He never expected that there was another expert wielding flying daggers behind him.

He turned his head to look and saw a young man dressed in white, looking dashing and heroic with spiritual energy flashing in his eyes. He was actually the person on the sixth pillar.

Before Su Mohan could figure out why the young man in white had suddenly attacked him, the weak scholar thrust his sword at him yet again, forcing him to hurriedly parry the strike. Suddenly, he noticed a faint glint flashing on his left. Focusing his eyes, he saw a brute wielding a giant axe chopping down toward him. Catching a glimpse out of the corner of his eye to his right, he saw a filthy beggar and a middle aged woman in a colorful dress also pressing down on him with combined force. The situation had become extremely critical.

Su Mohan also came to a sudden realization. It turned out that the fourth, fifth, sixth, seventh, and eighth people on the pillars were actually part of the same crew. He was just not sure whether Ning Bufan knew this or not. If Ning Bufan could recognize the identities of these five people beforehand, it would be truly terrifying, and a chill could not help but rise in his heart.

In fact, these five individuals were the somewhat famous Five Heroes of Jiangnan in the martial arts world. The axe wielding brute was the eldest brother, Song Guang; the beggar was the second brother, Ma Quan; the middle aged woman was the third sister, Madam Hua; the weak scholar was the fourth brother, Jin Qianzhi; and the young man in white was the fifth brother, Gu Chenshu.

By this time, the three people from the left and right had closed in on Su Mohan with their combined strength. He suddenly flew upward, flipping his body to land right behind the axe wielding brute, Song Guang.

Just as he found his footing, Jin Qianzhi of the hollow sword swung his blade at him. He dodged in a panic, only to see Song Guang turn around and swing his battleaxe again. Left with no choice, Su Mohan gave up on attacking and utilized his lightness kung fu to weave between the four of his opponents. Wielding his sword to slash, thrust, defend, and block by turns, he managed to trap all four of them in the center.

Gu Chenshu, the flying dagger expert who had remained on the outer edge of the battlefield, held his flying daggers while feeling completely helpless. When opponents were locked in such a chaotic scuffle, there was absolutely nothing a hidden weapons expert could do.

However, as a bystander on the outside, he could see the situation inside the combat circle perfectly clearly. By utilizing his lightness kung fu, Su Mohan not only dodged the combined onslaught of the four individuals but also turned his passive defense into an active offense, surrounding the very people who had surrounded him.

Su Mohan’s use of lightness kung fu in this spot, combined with simple sword moves, actually managed to trap four powerful heroes. Even his enemy, Gu Chenshu, had to admit that Su Mohan’s handling of the situation was absolutely brilliant.

Seeing that things were turning sour, Jin Qianzhi of the hollow sword realized that Su Mohan was slowly tightening the circle. Once they were trapped in the middle and could no longer unfold their moves, they would probably be left at his mercy. Thus, he shouted loudly, “Second brother, third sister, cover us! Eldest brother and I will break out! Do not get dragged into this fight anymore, move fast!”

After finishing his words, Jin Qianzhi directed his sword technique sideways and turned his blade back, thrusting directly at Su Mohan’s afterimage. Although the sword struck empty air, he managed to break out of the circle.

Song Guang kept drawing circles with his left and right hands. Under the force of his hands, the giant axe began to spin in the air, its massive blade whipping up howling gusts of wind. The wind grew stronger and stronger, suddenly kicking up dust from the ground. Taking advantage of this powerful sweeping momentum, Song Guang also broke out of the circle.

Jin Qianzhi and Song Guang were so focused on breaking out that they did not seem to notice that Su Mohan had already been tangled up by Madam Hua and Ma Quan. If they had directed those moves toward Su Mohan just now, this brutal battle would probably be over by now.

At this moment, Madam Hua and Ma Quan attacked Su Mohan fiercely from the left and right, one striking with a palm and the other with a claw. Su Mohan dodged gracefully, his sword tip quivering as his wrist twisted slightly. He swept his sword upward with irresistible force, meeting the attack with two swift slashes. Following that, he bent his left leg slightly and kicked off with his right foot, using the momentum to unleash a sword strike. Suddenly, he felt the weight in his hand grow heavy. Focusing his mind, he saw the beggar, Ma Quan, staring at him with a fierce expression. The man’s left claw had clenched into a fist, while the thumb, index finger, and middle finger of his right hand had actually gripped the tip of the sword!

Su Mohan frowned and pulled hard to retract his sword, but for some reason, it would not budge at all. The beggar, Ma Quan, then threw a heavy punch with his left hand straight at Su Mohan’s chest. Startled, Su Mohan quickly let go of his sword and crossed his arms to protect his chest. He felt that this punch carried immense force, and the gust from the fist shook him so much that he had to take two steps back before standing firm.

“Beggar, I did not expect that your claw techniques were just a cover, and your real talent lies in your fists!” Su Mohan re evaluated the beggar. It seemed there was good reason for the saying that you cannot judge a book by its cover.

“Hehe, isn’t it a bit too late for you to find out, little brother? Now that your sword is gone…” As the beggar spoke, he saw Su Mohan pick up another sword that had been buried in the sand, and his face instantly darkened, forcing him to swallow the rest of his words deep down.

“Since you like that broken sword so much, I will do you a favor and give it to you,” Su Mohan said, wiping the sword in his hand. In his eyes, a sword was merely a tool, and the thing that truly brought out the killing power was the sword style itself. With the Nine Sun Series he created, he could bring out its power no matter what kind of sword he used, though the level of power would differ. However, to deal with the people in front of him, this level of power was already more than enough.