Chapter 84: Defeating Zhang He Again
As a result of the huge soundwave, the boundless flames slowly dispersed. The sword Zhang He grasped in his hand gave off a resplendent sword light. The heavenly roc that suddenly appeared below his feet actually allowed him to float, temporarily.
The aura of the Clear Sky Holy Sword Martial Spirit kept rising. A boundless sword intent appeared in his eyes. When Xiao Chen looked into Zhang He’s eyes, he actually saw the scene of an ancient battlefield; he was nearly entranced in it before he quickly recalled his wits.
Zhang He looked at Xiao Chen, who was standing on the sword tip of the Tianwu Emperor’s sword, “Xiao Chen, actually, I have to thank you. If you had not shattered my Martial Spirit, my understanding of the clear sky would not have advanced by another level.”
Xiao Chen held onto the Lunar Shadow Saber as he stood stably on the sword residing in the hand of the Tianwu Emperor’s statue. Smiling faintly, he said, “I thought you were about to thank me for the few new hairstyles that I’ve given you. Why are you wearing a hat? I feel that your current hairstyle is very nice. There is no need to cover it up.”
Zhang He felt anger burning, and the sword intent in his eyes started to slowly dissipate. Just when the sword intent was almost completely gone, he felt that something was wrong and hurriedly closed his eyes.
When he opened his eyes again, the boundless sword intent appeared again; his state of mind had returned to its previous calm. He looked at Xiao Chen indifferently and said, “Not bad. At this moment, you are able to use words to break my sword intent. You are indeed a good opponent.”
“However, no matter how strong you are, you will eventually only be a stepping stone to my Dao of becoming a Sword Sage. For I have completely comprehended the Clear Sky Sword Intent.”
Although Xiao Chen felt it was a pity that Zhang He managed to quickly recover his sword intent, he also felt disdain for Zhang He. He was able to break his Sword Intent just by using a few words, and yet Zhang He still dared to brag about completely comprehending the Clear Sky Sword Intent.
“Hu!”
Zhang He rode on the heavenly roc and flew over. Xiao Chen pushed off with his feet gently and leaped up into the air, avoiding Zhang He’s attack. However, he discovered that Zhang He’s attack was just a feint.
Zhang He rushed to the head of the Tianwu Emperor, and the heavenly roc beneath his feet disappeared. He landed with a ‘bang’ sound and a relieved expression appeared on his face.
So he had exhausted too much of his Essence and needed to find a place to land, Xiao Chen mocked him in his heart.
“Flight On Wings, Moon Bright Like Fire.”
Zhang He stood on the head of the Tianwu Emperor statue and immediately executed the third move of Flight On Wings. A mysterious phenomenon occurred. The sky, which previously had a sun shining fiercely in it, was now covered by the darkness of night and a full moon slowly rose into the sky.
Suddenly, two human figures flew in from the horizon. One was male and the other was female; they were holding swords and appeared to be ‘deities’. They looked very elegant and graceful, as they held their swords and danced under the moonlight.
Xiao Chen was shocked in his heart, Why were there two people now? The last time Zhang He executed that Moon Bright Like Fire, there was only one human figure. To think that it actually turned into two people now.
“The Clear Sky Sword Intent is indeed formidable. To think that Zhang He was able to comprehend the true essence of Flight On Wings so quickly.”
“Indeed. Legend has it that the Sword Sage who created the Flight On Wings created it because of his longing for his dead wife.”
“I wonder how strong the might of Moon Bright Like Fire will be this time? The might it showed previously was already quite horrifying.”
“This is only the third move of Flight On Wings. Given that he comprehended it to this level, its might should be equivalent to the level of an Earth Ranked Martial Technique.”
“Let’s see how Xiao Chen will defend himself from the might of an Earth Ranked Martial Technique this time. If Zhang He can completely bring out the might of this technique, he could even kill a Martial Grand Master easily.”
There were many knowledgeable people below the arena discussing this. When the Zhang Clan and Tang Clan in the pavilion saw that Zhang He was able to execute the Flight On Wings to this level, their expressions slowly became relaxed.
However, the expressions of the people in the Xiao Clan’s pavilion turned grim. Xiao Yulan asked worriedly, “What is going on? Why does that person’s Martial Technique have such a strange mysterious phenomenon. Will Cousin Xiao Chen be all right?”
Xiao Xiong stared at the full moon that hung high in the sky, as well as the human figures that flew over. After a while, he sighed, “The appearance of the mysterious phenomenon has nothing to do with the cultivation realm. It is completely reliant on the understanding of the Dao of the Sword. I believe that amongst the younger generation of Qizi County, no one can surpass this brat from the Zhang Clan in terms of understanding the Dao of the sword.”
Xiao Chen stood on the sword tip as his Spiritual Sense extended towards the full moon in the sky. However, that moon seemed as though it was really in the sky. No matter how hard he extended his Spiritual Sense, he was unable to reach it.
Suddenly, the two human figures stopped moving in the sky and the sky immediately quieted. Xiao Chen felt as though he was being locked down by two strong Sword Intents. He could feel a dangerous sensation.
“Kill!”
Zhang He raised his sword and pointed it at Xiao Chen. A boundless Sword Intent surged over.
A heavy rumble rose in the air.
Feeling Zhang He’s killing intent, the two figures pointed their swords towards the sky and gave off two streams of resplendent sword light. After that, the two streams of sword light merged together and chopped downwards towards Xiao Chen.
Seeing the very powerful sword light, the people below the arena quickly fled in all directions. If this sword light chopped down like that, then there would be plenty of people who would be injured.
“Shua!”
Xiao Chen threw a wooden sculpture, which appeared in his hand, into the sky. The wooden sculpture instantly turned into a girl holding a golden spear.
“Boundless Azure Sea!”
A boundless sea appeared behind Yue Ying; an azure dragon leaped out from the sea. The golden spear trembled as the azure dragon roared angrily and rushed towards the sword light in the sky.
“Boom!”
There was a loud startling sound. The sword light was instantly dispersed by the azure dragon. The azure dragon roared angrily again, and continued to rush forward, clashing against the boundless ‘night sky’.
“Chi!”
A hole immediately appeared in the ‘night sky’ and a column of sunlight shone in from the hole. The hole grew larger and larger, and after a few short moments the sunlight was shining on the ground once again. The full moon and human figures completely vanished.
Xiao Chen casually waved his hands and the wooden sculpture returned to his hand. He felt extremely unfortunate; he could only use it one more time.
The ‘night sky’ disappeared and Zhang He vomited a mouthful of blood. His expression showed incredible weakness as he knelt on one knee on the head of the Tianwu Emperor.
“It’s finished. Zhang He’s mysterious phenomenon was broken. He is now unable to turn this around after suffering the backlash,” the people below the arena exclaimed.
Xiao Chen leaped lightly onto the head of the Tianwu Emperor, and ruthlessly kicked Zhang He off towards the ground without bothering to engage him in useless chatter.
The statue of the Tianwu Emperor was hundreds of meters tall. If Zhang He fell from it, he would be severely injured, even if he did not die. The Zhang Clan Head shouted out in surprise as he leaped out from the pavilion, intending to catch Zhang He.
However, Xiao Chen did not wish to give him the opportunity to do so. Leaping down, he kicked Zhang He’s chest heavily again. Zhang He cried out painfully as he vomited out another mouthful of blood.
The huge force caused Zhang He to crash onto the body of the Zhang Clan Head. Thus, the two fell towards the ground. As they were about the hit the ground, the Zhang Clan Head did a somersault and landed firmly on the ground. However, Zhang He landed heavily on the ground with a loud bang and died.
The Zhang Clan Head’s complexion was ashen as he looked at the dead Zhang He. Xiao Chen’s kick was too ruthless. He kicked him at the Dantian, crippling Zhang He’s Martial Spirit.
The Zhang Clan Head pointed a trembling finger at Xiao Chen and said lividly, “Xiao Chen! To think that you are so ruthless! You…” Towards the end, he was so angry that he could not say anything else.
Xiao Chen smiled coldly, “I am ruthless? Am I as ruthless as you? Allying with the Leng Clan and murdering more than a hundred people from my Xiao Clan. Should I show mercy to Zhang He so that he can come and hurt my family and friends in the future?”
Shifting his gaze to the referee at the side, Xiao Chen continued, “You are able to declare the victory already, right?”
That referee was stunned for a moment before coming back to his senses, “The Xiao Clan won this round. Would the Tang Clan participant please step up to the arena?”
“To think that Xiao Chen was actually able to defeat Zhang He with ease... How unimaginable.”
“What do you mean, unimaginable? His final move was clearly a Secret Treasure. It is not him who defeated Zhang He, it was his Secret Treasure.”
“A defeat is a defeat. Why look for excuses? Could it be that Secret Treasures are not part of one’s strength? Of the ten experts in the nation with the abilities to suppress the entire nation, there is one who relies on a Secret Treasure. Even so, there is no one who dares to speak out against him.”
Many people felt that it was incredulous that Xiao Chen was able to defeat Zhang He so easily. No one expected that Xiao Chen had a Secret Treasure that was so powerful.
Looking at Xiao Chen, Tang Tian frowned deeply. He said to Tang Feng, “I’m afraid he did not exhaust even half his Essence. If you find that the situation is disadvantageous for you, then immediately admit defeat. ‘While the green hills last, there'll be wood to burn.’ Do not be like Zhang He. The Returning Essence Pill is not easy to obtain.
[TL note: ‘While the green hills last, there'll be wood to burn’, this is a Chinese idiom for ‘Where there's life, there's hope.]
Tang Feng nodded his head. He grasped the Ice Fire Bow tightly as he leaped off the pavilion directly. After that, he landed firmly on the arena. When he landed on the arena, there was no sound at all; it was clear that he had an extremely brilliant Movement Technique.
“I have never heard of this Tang Feng before. I wonder how strong he is?”
“I believe he will not last even five minutes. Looks like the Xiao Clan is going to win again.”
“Indeed. Zhang He was not able to win, even with his strength. If they are going to rely on this unheard of person, they will not stand a chance.”
All these years, the people of the Tang Clan were very low key. Aside from scarce rumors, no one knew about his true strength.
Xiao Chen and Tang Feng’s expressions did not change when they heard the discussions coming from below. However, Xiao Chen did not let his guard down. Instead, he raised it.
In Gloomy Forest, Tang Feng only fired three arrows. Furthermore, he was hiding his strength. Even so, Xiao Chen defended against them with some difficulty. According to Xiao Chen’s senses, Tang Feng was now a Martial Master, so his strength would have a qualitative increase.
Under the instructions of the referee, the two of them exchanged salutations and the duel officially began.
“Shua!”
Xiao Chen did not hesitate as he stomped on the ground. His figure moved like lightning as he flew forward. When going against a long ranged opponent, naturally, one must get near and use short ranged attacks to deal a fatal blow.
Xiao Chen was fast, but Tang Feng was faster. In the instant he started moving, Tang Feng shot three ice arrows.
An electrical light was given off by the Lunar Shadow Saber. Xiao Chen generously fed his Essence into the saber as he chopped at the three ice arrows.
“Bang! Bang! Bang!”
He accurately chopped down thrice, hitting each ice arrow. The ice arrows disintegrated into fragments, but Xiao Chen's movements did not slow as he rushed at Tang Feng.
Tang Feng calmly drew his bow and continuously fired out ice arrows. His footsteps had a strange pace to them; it was as though he was taking a stroll. It felt incredibly free and at ease.
“Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!”
Xiao Chen chopped down on numerous ice arrows along the way, exhausting a large amount of Essence. After a tremendous amount of effort, he finally arrived where Tang Feng was initially standing. However, he discovered that his distance from Tang Feng was unchanged; he was still as far away as when they began.