Chapter 104: Awe-inspiring
“Pu Ci!”
A wave of blood spurted through the air. A horrifying wound appeared on the chest of the scarred man above his heart. He had never seen a Medial Grade Martial Master who could execute a saber strike as fast as this before.
He regretted caused the deaths of his brothers and himself as a result of his greed for the 1000 gold taels. However, there was no such thing as medicine for regret. When he sent his ninth brother to follow Xiao Chen, he already sealed his fate.
Xiao Chen sheathed his saber and sank his consciousness into himself. He saw that only half of his Essence was left. He sighed to himself in his heart, The expenditure is too great; it looks like I can only reserve this move to be used as a trump card.
In his usual state, if he used it twice, he would exhaust all the Essence in his body. This was Xiao Chen's first time using the Flame Origin of the Purple Thunder True Fire, combined with his Spiritual Sense, to kill someone. The effects were satisfactory but the consumption of Essence was too high.
The scarred man was carrying a bag behind his back; this was the harvest of this group of people after spending one month in Savage Forest. Xiao Chen opened it to take a look. After keeping the Rank 3 Spirit Cores and a few Rank 4 herbs, he threw the rest away.
Not long after Xiao Chen left, a team of Jiang Clan cultivators discovered the situation. They hurried and reported it to Jiang Yunze; Jiang Yunze rushed over at a mad pace. After seeing the wound on the scarred man, a look of contemplation appeared in his eyes.
“First Elder, what do you think? Was it done by that fellow?” one of the Jiang Clan cultivator to the side asked.
After a long time, Jiang Yunze spoke, “The saber wound on his chest is exactly the same as the ones on our brothers from a few days back. It should have been done by the same person.”
The Jiang Clan cultivator to the side exclaimed in joy, “This fellow finally reveals himself. From the temperature of the body, he definitely has not gone far yet.”
“Chase!” Jiang Yunze said in a deep voice as his expression turned grave.
…
As Xiao Chen headed to the exit of Savage Forest, he ran into a few groups of cultivators who were consumed by greed. He had dealt with them directly without much trouble. Some of these cultivators had recognized Xiao Chen; some of them just saw that he was alone and wanted to rob him.
Birds die seeking food, and humans die seeking wealth; the fittest survive. Within Savage Forest, the natural order of the weak becoming food for the strong was exhibited to the extreme. Even humans were not an exception.
Unfortunately for them, just based on his Rushing Thunder Saber Technique and Azure Dragon Cloud Soaring Art, Xiao Chen could be said to be unrivaled amongst Martial Masters. Not only did all these cultivators, who made a move, not get anything, but they also lost their lives.
The entrance to White Water City was already very near. Xiao Chen squinted his eyes and looked ahead. After a while, he unhesitatingly walked out of Savage Forest.
The instant Xiao Chen stepped out of Savage Forest, he felt a killing intent coming from behind him. He quickly evaded to the side.
“Chi!”
An arrow flew by Xiao Chen, accompanied by a starting wind. Xiao Chen was startled in his heart. This arrow was very fast. If he had not advanced his Purple Thunder Divine Incantation to the third layer, as well as noticed the killing intent of the archer in advance, he would have been shot.
Xiao Chen pushed off the ground with his feet and catapulted himself high into the air. When he landed, he immediately turned around to take a look behind him.
Behind Xiao Chen, Jiang Yunze led a group of Jiang Clan cultivators to chase after him. When Jiang Yunze saw Xiao Chen’s appearance, he was mildly shocked. After not seeing him for six days, Xiao Chen’s appearance had changed so drastically.
What made him so astonished was Xiao Chen had raised his cultivation level by two grades, from Superior Grade Martial Disciple to Medial Grade Martial Master. Furthermore, he had only used six days to do it.
“Xiao Chen, hand the map over and I can give you an easy death. Or else, I’ll make sure you live a life worst than death,” Jiang Yunze said in a sullen voice. Although he was astonished at Xiao Chen’s cultivation realm, he did not pay too much attention to it with his cultivation as a Martial Grand Master.
Xiao Chen looked everyone in the eye, then he extended out his Spiritual Sense. His thoughts moved as fast as lightning, quickly balancing his options; to run, or to fight.
There was a total of 31 people. Aside from Jiang Yunze, who was a Martial Grand Master, the rest of them were Martial Masters. However, most of them were Superior Grade Martial Masters.
Xiao Chen sensed through his Spiritual Sense that there were 200 Jiang Clan cultivators led by three Martial Grand Masters rushing over.
If he could quickly finish the battle before him, before the three Martial Grand Masters arrived, he would have an opportunity to escape.
Xiao Chen made his decision in his heart. He looked at Jiang Yunze and smiled faintly, “Since I’m going to die regardless whether I hand the map over or not, do you think I would give it to you?”
Jiang Yunze smiled, “Do you think you have a choice? For the past hundred years, anyone who dared to offend the Jiang Clan in White Water City has not had a good ending.”
Jiang Yunze held his steel saber and led the people behind him as he walked towards Xiao Chen, step by step. He revealed a malevolent smile. In his eyes, Xiao Chen no longer had any means of resistance.
Ten steps… Nine steps… Eight steps… Xiao Chen’s expression did not change as he counted the distance between these people and himself. When these people were only five steps away from Xiao Chen, he made his move.
“Lightning Evasion!”
There was a flash of lightning and Xiao Chen suddenly vanished from his original spot. Right in front of everybody’s surprised eyes, he appeared in the middle of the Jiang Clan cultivators.
“Flight On Wings, Disordered Dance of a Thousand Years!”
Xiao Chen shouted softly as he leaped into the air. His body constantly changing positions in midair. Saber light after saber light flashed one after another, causing the group to scream out repeatedly in misery.
“Retreat!” Jiang Yunze shouted loudly. Xiao Chen, who was rapidly and constantly changing his posture, was very fast. It was impossible for anyone to catch him.
The Jiang Clan cultivators all rushed outside of the group. However, the saber lights were too fast. Every time there was a flash of saber light, some one would get hit. Blood and amputated limbs constantly dropped to the ground.
The Disordered Dance of a Thousand Years was a Martial Technique with high lethality and a large area of effect. The more people there were, the more mighty it was. The saber lights kept flashing Xiao Chen launched more than a thousand saber lights in an instant.
After Xiao Chen landed, the number of Jiang Clan cultivators that were uninjured numbered about ten. The rest of them had been struck by the saber lights; their corpses were mutilated beyond recognition, scattered everywhere.
A large amount of blood flowed from the bodies, continuously. Amputated limbs and internal organs were scattered everywhere; it was extremely gory.
The remaining ten people became pale. Although they had killed before, even to the point where the numbers were far beyond the number that died today, they had never seen a scene this cruel and ruthless before.
If they had not run fast, the corpses on the ground would be theirs. Thinking of this, the heart of the Jiang Clan’s remnant cultivators tightened; they felt their back turn cold with sweat.
Jiang Yunze had an unsightly expression. He saw the Jiang Clan disciples lying on the ground, people who were alive moments ago then turned into corpses in the blink of an eye. He shouted angrily, “This old man will kill you!”
He brandished his saber and leaped into the air, chopping downward towards Xiao Chen’s head. There was a resplendent saber light gathering on the blade of the saber. This was a technique that only Martial Grand Masters and above can grasp — gathering Essence on the body of the saber.
The saber light that Jiang Yunze produced was 3.3 meters long; it looked extremely powerful. Xiao Chen did not dare to clash head on with him. He pushed off the ground with his feet and executed the Azure Dragon Cloud Soaring Art, flying backward quickly.
“Boom!”
The saber light struck the ground violently. Dust flew everywhere and a fine fissure appeared on the ground. Jiang Yunze quickly withdrew his saber. As he continued to raise his momentum, a resplendent glow appeared on the body of the saber.
“Kill!”
Jiang Yunze shouted loudly as he raised his saber. A surging saber Qi gathered on the saber, firing towards Xiao Chen, who had not landed yet.
Xiao Chen was astonished, This Jiang Yunze can actually use saber Qi already. Although he is not able to use it as he pleased yet, he is already at the threshold of Martial Saint. Thus, the might of the saber Qi was not drastically reduced.
Furthermore, the angle of this saber Qi which was fired was extremely tricky to deal with. Without a foothold in the air, it was difficult for Xiao Chen to dodge.
“Flight On Wings, One Line Chop!”
There was a reserved glow on the Lunar Shadow Saber. This saber may look ordinary but it contained a huge force behind it.
“Bang!”
The Lunar Shadow Saber chopped at the surging saber Qi and gave off a loud bang. Xiao Chen was not actually blasted away and landed firmly on the ground.
“Hu!” Suddenly a whirlwind appeared on the ground. It was unknown what Martial Technique Jiang Yunze used. Its speed increased and it arrived before Xiao Chen instantly.
A resplendent saber light appeared on the saber and chased after Xiao Chen, who had not caught his balance yet.
“Drawing the Saber!”
The saber flashed and the Lunar Shadow Saber clashed with Jiang Yunze’s saber light. This saber strike arrived first despite being sent later. It took the initiative and struck Jiang Yunze’s saber first.
“Bang!”
A huge force came from the saber, causing Xiao Chen to be knocked backward by five steps. Jiang Yunze tried to catch his balance but the force coming from the saber actually caused him to take two steps back.
“Is that person Xiao Chen? To think that he did not suffer a disadvantage when clashing with Jiang Yunze!”
“He managed to kill more than ten Jiang Clan cultivators earlier with one Martial Technique. That could possibly be a Superior Grade Profound Ranked Martial Technique. The background of this person is definitely not small.”
“Seems like the Jiang Clan will be mocked this time, regardless of how the situation unfolds. So many people died in order to capture one Medial Grade Martial Master.”
“I hear the map that was leaked from the Jiang Clan is on him. He defeated the final disciple of the Misty Sword Sect Master, Chu Chaoyun, the Hua Clan’s Hua Yunfei, and the Duanmu Clan’s future queen, Duanmu Qing. Given the situation, it seems like this rumor is true.”
Since this place was the location of Savage Forest, there were many cultivators that went by normally. The battle between these two had already attracted countless people. They were all discussing the battle in front of them.
The words of the crowd reached Jiang Yunze’s ears. The anger in his heart burned even fiercer. He took a large step forward and the resplendent saber light gathered on the saber again.
“Boom!”
Xiao Chen, who had just exchanged blows with him, did not hesitate and used the same move. The results were the same as before, Xiao Chen retreated five steps.
Jiang Yunze did not want to be forced back in front of everyone. He forcibly suppressed the force that was transmitted through the saber and continued to rush at Xiao Chen.
Suppressing the force in his saber was an extremely dangerous thing to do in combat. If he was not able to finish off his opponent before the force rebounded, he would receive a backlash. At that time, the force that he suppressed would rebound with multiple times the strength.
“Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!”
Jiang Yunze hacked out five times. Xiao Chen retreated backward and had already reached the boundaries of Savage Forest. His right hand, which was holding the Lunar Shadow Saber, had been jolted till it became numb. He even felt some pain in his chest.
Xiao Chen’s eyes were calm; there was no trace of panic at all. He had been enduring, accumulating energy. He did not believe that Jiang Yunze would be able to keep this up for long. It was now a competition to see who could last longer.
“Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!”
Jiang Yunze took great strides as he shouted. Four saber lights fired out from his saber. These caused Xiao Chen to be blasted backward into Savage Forest.
However, the force that Jiang Yunze been suppressing and already reached its limit. Jiang Yunze wanted to stop but, when he saw Xiao Chen’s pale face and blood trickling out from his mouth, he decided to abandon this thought.
This brat is only a Medial Grade Martial Master; there is no way he can withstand my strength. I’m sure he is doing the same thing as me, forcibly suppressing the force in his body. Let’s see who can withstand to the end; I will not give up.
Thinking of this, Jiang Yunze shouted loudly as he prepared to make his final move, to kill Xiao Chen.
Xiao Chen’s gaze was as calm as still water. He noticed that there was a small crack on Jiang Yunze’s saber. Furthermore, he also noticed that Jiang Yunze looked slightly abnormal. He knew it was time…
“Rushing Thunder Chop!”
He shouted loudly and the Lunar Shadow Saber suddenly emitted countless arcs of electricity. The Rank 6 Demonic Core was also fully unleashed. The energy he had been building up was all used in the most violent strike of the Rushing Thunder Saber Technique.
The sound of an explosion rang out behind Xiao Chen. He gracefully flew across the air, leaving behind only a shadow. He parted the air and caused two shockwaves, clashing with Jiang Yunze’s saber light.
“Bang!”
The two sabers collided and something that no one expected happened. The Superior Grade Profound Rank saber in Jiang Yunze’s hand snapped.
“Inclined Body Strike!”
Taking advantage of the instant Jiang Yunze was astonished, Xiao Chen leaned to the side and focus all the strength in his body on his shoulder. Smashing forward fiercely, his body, which was tempered to a horrifying level, smashed into the chest of Jiang Yunze.
“Pu Ci!”
Jiang Yunze vomited a mouthful of blood immediately and flew high into the air. Then, he landed violently on the ground. The force that he had been suppressing suddenly exploded out.
After he landed, he vomited nine mouthfuls of blood continuously; his complexion was pale. He looked as Xiao Chen who walked over slowly and muttered, “How could this be? How? He is just a Medial Grade Martial Master... to think he could actually beat me in terms of strength?”