Chapter 32: This Finger Brought me Humiliation, Today, I Cripple it!
Meng Hao’s flying swords and Wang Tengfei’s special magic techniques left the surrounding Cultivators awestruck. No longer did they look down on Meng Hao, but rather were stunned by his vast array of magical items.
It wasn’t just them. Shangguan Xiu, Grand Elder Ouyang, and even Sect Leader He Luohua stared in amazement.
Wang Tengfei was strong, able to inspire fear into his Cultivator peers. Everyone knew this, so to see Meng Hao go toe to toe with Wang Tengfei caused everyone watching to feel shocked.
At the moment, forty flying swords descended upon him from multiple directions, a Sword Tempest that seemed as if it could rip apart any living thing that stood in its path. An ordinary Qi condensation sixth-level opponent would have difficulty standing up against it.
Meng Hao coughed up more blood. The only way to force himself to remain upright was to continuously consume Demonic Cores.
A booming sound erupted as Meng Hao’s forty flying swords collided with the power of Wang Tengfei’s second finger attack. More than half of them were destroyed, but the finger attack could do nothing to Meng Hao other than force him to cough up a bit of blood.
Anyone else would be cautious in their approach to dealing with Meng Hao, but Wang Tengfei was as dismissive as ever. He stepped forward and waved his finger a third time.
Meng Hao’s spiritual energy was almost completely exhausted. But he had a lot of Demonic Cores available to replenish himself. During this entire time, he had managed to keep his spiritual energy at roughly an even level. As he watched Wang Tengfei make his third movement, he could not help but recall the same finger attack taking away the gourd bottle. The killing intent in his eyes grew stronger. He didn’t retreat, and in fact took a step forward, flingers flickering in incantation movements. Three or four of his bags of holding began to tremble, and then suddenly a succession of sword auras appeared, to the astonishment of all the onlookers.
Waving his sleeve, he sent forth one wave, two waves, three waves of flying swords. They transformed into a dazzling sword rain. One sword, ten, twenty, thirty swords… Seventy swords in four waves, an unbelievable sword aura. They shot toward Wang Tengfei.
Meng Hao constantly coughed up blood, then consumed medicinal pills. His eyes were completely bloodshot, but the killing intent in them was as strong as ever. Even if he ran out of spiritual power, he would spare nothing!
Wang Tengfei gave a cold harrumph. With so many people looking on, he didn’t want to dodge the attack, but there were just too many flying swords. They appeared to be approaching in a direct line, and yet something about the attack looked off. He had a dark premonition that if he attempted to dodge the attack, he would still be walking into death.
For the first time, something flickered within Wang Tengfei’s eyes. Lifting his finger, he immediately moved into the fourth finger attack. A ripple appeared in front of him, and even as it began to spread out, Meng Hao’s fingers stopped moving and he clasped his palms together flat in front of him.
“Wind-construct Sword!” As soon as the words came out of Meng Hao’s mouth, the seventy flying swords suddenly began to combine together.
The onlookers gaped in shock as the fourth wave of swords picked up speed, slamming into the third wave, which then swept into the sword rain of the second wave, and then finally smacked into the back of the first wave. Then a sweeping wind pressed in from multiple directions to form them into the solid shape! From a distance, it appeared as if they had formed a gigantic flying sword.
This was Meng Hao’s Flying Sword Matrix, created along with the issuance of his Wind Blade. It was a sword technique he had developed after his time on the black mountain. It shot toward Wang Tengfei with irresistible force. Popping sounds filled the air as the ripple in front of Wang Tengfei began to warp as if it were being pushed against by a massive force. This in turn caused Wang Tengfei, for the first time ever, to take a step backward.
“How arrogant of you to force me to take a step back.” This was the first time he had spoken to Meng Hao during the entire battle. His left hand slapped his bag of holding and a glittering, crystal statue appeared. It was a statue of a horse, vivid and lifelike, seemingly full of energy and spirit.
A neighing sound filled the air, and the crystal statue seemed to come to life, leaping out of Wang Tengfei’s palm and flying straight toward Meng Hao’s giant sword. As soon as they collided, the giant sword began to collapse, starting from its tip. Layer after layer of swords peeled away, torn apart by the crystal horse. Within an instant, a huge portion of the giant sword had been destroyed, and the only thing left was the hilt. Flying swords scattered about in all directions.
Seeing this, the onlookers’ hearts raced, and they had little time to even process in their minds what was happening. They appeared shocked beyond belief.
And then, just as the giant sword was broken down into a mere hilt, a new sword flew out from the midst of the other swords. A sword made of wood. It shot toward the crystal horse, and when the two hit each other, a sound boomed out louder than any sound which had been heard so far during the battle. It echoed out multiple times.
As of now, the wooden sword was the only sword under Meng Hao’s control. Everything up to this point had been a ruse to keep it concealed, then use it in a surprise move.
The sword, once meant for Wang Tengfei, was now in Meng Hao’s hands. To Wang Tengfei, it was a treasure, but to Meng Hao, it was worth two thousand Spirit Stones. Regardless of how powerful it was, it was the most powerful weapon he had, so of course he would use it.
Amidst the deafening boom, the crystal horse began to shake, and a multitude of cracks appeared on its surface. Then, it simply collapsed into pieces.
Wang Tengfei’s expression changed instantly. Carrying with it the remaining flying swords, the wooden sword shot toward him. As it neared, he reflexively lifted his arm, focused his Cultivation base on his finger and shot out an explosive force. The force sent all the flying swords spinning, but not the wooden sword. It continued on, stabbing into his finger and shredding it to bloody pieces. Then it spun back to hover next to Meng Hao.
“That finger brought me humiliation,” Meng Hao said slowly. “Today, I cripple it!” He spat out a mass of blood, staggering back several paces. Blood dripped from the corners of his mouth.
Wang Tengfei took several heavy steps back, ignoring the pain of his finger, eyes filled with disbelief. He stared at the wooden sword floating next to Meng Hao. The words Meng Hao had just uttered rang in his ears. And then, an unspeakable rage welled up within him.
He recognized this sword!
The moment Wang Tengfei’s finger was shredded to pieces, all the Cultivators in the square were shocked. The buzz of conversation again arose.
“Meng Hao destroyed Elder Brother Wang’s finger. This… this can’t be!”
“Elder Brother Wang is injured. He’s a Chosen, but Meng Hao decimated his finger… Meng Hao…”
“It’s scary that he has so many flying swords. And he used seventy of them to make a giant sword. How astonishing!”
Shangguan Xiu sucked in a deep breath. Everything that was happening seemed unimaginable. He wasn’t the only one surprised. Grand Elder Ouyang had stood up and was looking at Meng Hao, his eyes filled with deep admiration and intense anticipation.
Even He Luohua, standing atop the East Mountain, stared down at Meng Hao, his eyes glittering.
The buzz of conversation reached Wang Tengfei’s ears, but he paid it no heed, as if he hadn’t heard it at all. Fury burned in his eyes, and he stared murderously at the wooden sword circling Meng Hao.
“So it was you!” Wang Tengfei didn’t even bother to stop the blood from gushing out of where finger had once been. He had only been furious once before in his life, and that was the day in the cave when he realized the treasure he had hunted for years had been snatched away. His inner humiliation and madness, and his hatred toward that unknown person, had seeped into his very bones.
This matter was his biggest regret. His shrill screams that day still seemed to echo in his ears. Often, he was shaken from meditation deep in the quiet of night, his heart dripping with blood, feeling like a fool. Every time he thought about it, he fought the urge to go crazy.
Today was the second time in his life that he was furious. He recognised the sword. In his eyes, it belonged to him, his own treasure with which control heaven and earth. And today… here it was in Meng Hao’s hands.
“So it was you!” Wang Tengfei’s eyes overflowed with murder. His desire to kill Meng Hao could not be any stronger. This look was so different from his usual calm visage that the surrounding Cultivators could not help but murmur to each other about it.
“It was you who stole away my treasure!” Wang Tengfei stared at the wooden sword, murder roiling in his eyes. He felt an impulsive desire to rip Meng Hao to pieces. He suddenly laughed, and as the laughter rolled out across the square, he seemed to grow even more awe-inspiring.
“I have no idea what Elder Brother Wang is talking about,” said Meng Hao coldly, wiping the blood off of his mouth. “This sword is yours? Are you sure you haven’t made a mistake?” He consumed several Demonic Cores.
“I planned for years to get that sword. It is one-of-a-kind, the only like it in the world. The gold lines on its surface were etched by Heaven itself. Of course I haven’t made a mistake.” Wang Tengfei looked up to the skies and laughed. It was a grim laugh, a laugh that seemed to make everything around it grow cold.