Chapter 235: Chapter 93 New Residence
“Who’s there?”
Min Jiangtao’s expression immediately grew stern when he had not expected to be attacked at the Mo Blade Sect headquarters, nearly meeting his death. He raised the Mo Dao in his hand, and a river formed by glint of the saber appeared before him, slicing through the air.
Clang clang clang clang!
Caught off guard by his sudden assault, the ambusher seemed somewhat flustered. After parrying four consecutive strikes, they were finally able to keep the river at bay and let out a surprised grunt.
“Huh?”
Min Jiangtao was taken aback for a moment and looked forward in confusion, indeed seeing a familiar figure.
“Elder brother?”
It was the very senior brother he had been seeking.
At this moment, Mo Hong held the Mo Dao, his eyes sharp as an eagle’s, glaring fiercely with an intimidating aura.
“It’s been a while since we’ve sparred. Let me test if your strength has improved!”
With a faint voice, the Mo Dao in his hand swung again towards Min Jiangtao.
In an instant, the saber qi crisscrossed fiercely, causing the skin to tingle as if bared to a cold wind.
Min Jiangtao’s face immediately turned solemn again.
His opponent’s strike was clearly made with full force, not at all like a sparring session but rather as if intending to cut him down on the spot.
Knowing that any carelessness could lead to his actual death, Min Jiangtao did not dare waste words and lifted his Mo Dao to counteract it.
The light of the sabers spilled in all directions. When the two great experts of the Mo Blade Sect employed their full power in their techniques, the shockwaves created by their energy carved deep furrows into the ground, and the buildings and walkways in the courtyard were also destroyed, one by one tumbling down.
“Not bad. Your strength has improved quite a bit?”
Mo Hong’s eyes narrowed.
Before leaving, his junior brother’s strength was only at the 2-dan pinnacle of the Galaxy Realm, and Mo Hong could defeat him in three moves. Yet, after just a few days of not seeing each other, not only had Min Jiangtao broken through to the 3-dan Divine Clarity Realm, but his comprehension of the saber art had also deepened.
Even though he had reached the pinnacle of the Divine Clarity Realm, it seemed it wouldn’t be so easy to defeat his junior in a short period.
“It seems teacher was right; there’s indeed something peculiar about this fella… Let’s try the final move!”
Knowing that the sibling-like familiarity between them made victory with ordinary techniques nearly impossible, Mo Hong’s thought flashed, and he drew a semi-circle with his Mo Dao, tearing through the air.
It was the move he had practiced arduously. Once unleashed, its saber qi crisscrossed, and within tens of meters, all were enveloped by the formidable strength, severing even fate itself.
“Elder brother…”
Min Jiangtao’s face turned ashen when he had not expected his brother to use that move.
In a friendly spar between brothers, it should be enough to reach the point without extreme measures. However, this move gathered all the strength in the blade, aiming for a full-powered slash, which could lead to an immediate fall with the slightest mishap.
Knowing he could no longer hold back, he turned his body and performed the newly learned move “Red Cherry” from Zhang Xuan, and in an instant, the two sharp saber qi clashed.
Crack!
The saber qi of “Red Cherry” cut through like steel slicing through tofu, effortlessly splitting Mo Hong’s ultimate move in half in the blink of an eye.
“What?”
Mo Hong had not anticipated that with the same saber qi, his opponent’s technique was so powerful. Not having time to react, he felt a painful sting between his eyebrows as his junior brother’s Mo Dao had already stopped at his forehead.
“Elder brother…”
It was hard for both Mo Hong and Min Jiangtao to believe.
The saber art taught by Lord Zhang Xuan was indeed fast and powerful. In his view, it could at best be on par with his older brother’s ultimate move, yet he never dreamt it would split the other’s attack in one go, without any comparison.
This was a true dimensional assault.
Doesn’t this indicate that the teacher’s ultimate move is laughably feeble before Lord Zhang Xuan’s technique?
No wonder he was a mighty figure from the headquarters of the Heaven Mandate Hall, even though his primary focus wasn’t the Mo Dao Destiny. Just a glance from him was enough to create a move far surpassing that of the teacher.
Hastily sheathing his saber, Min Jiangtao looked embarrassed, “Elder brother, I’m sorry. I didn’t pull back in time…”
By now, Mo Hong could feel a wetness at his brow. Upon touching it, he found that despite his opponent retracting the blow in time, the sharp saber qi had still pierced his forehead.
Meaning if the other party had not held back, his head might have been cleaved open on the spot.
“You…”
With shrinking pupils, Mo Hong’s body trembled slightly.
He, at the pinnacle of the 3-dan Galaxy Realm, had lost!
How could his junior have improved so greatly after only a few days apart? And that move… clearly wasn’t one taught by their teacher!
This meant the teacher’s concerns were right; this fella might have already betrayed their sect.
“Injuries during sparring are inevitable. I just didn’t expect you to have improved this much…”
Mo Hong didn’t voice his suspicion but instead gave an awkward smile, “You’ve come a long way. Rest for a while. The teacher happens to be away right now. Once he returns, I’ll have someone inform you to come over!”
“Yes!”
Seeing that his elder brother didn’t take offense, Min Jiangtao breathed a sigh of relief and turned to walk away.
Mo Hong turned toward his room, but before he could reach it, the door opened and Mo Baiye walked out.
“Teacher!”
Mo Baiye nodded, “You should have realized by now that the move he used just now wasn’t one of the martial skills I taught…”
Having witnessed the entire spar, Mo Baiye naturally perceived the terrifying nature of that move.
Not to mention Mo Hong, the eldest disciple, even I might struggle to resist if suddenly faced with such a situation.
Mo Hong nodded with a grave expression, “Could it be that… Junior Brother Min has practiced other heavenly fragments?”
Under normal circumstances, once heavenly fragments are chosen, it’s difficult to change them, but it’s still possible if they are of the same type.
For example, if you are practicing the saber art heavenly fragments, even though you’ve made a choice, you can still switch to another type of saber art.
Of course, this would be from an ordinary division to an advanced one.
Mo Dao Destiny is a grade-7 heavenly fragment, with limited achievements. If one truly cannot progress any further, switching to the grade-6 Plain Blade Destiny is also achievable.
There’s also Zheng Yang’s Flowing Light Spear Technique, which is a speed attribute of spearmanship. Naturally, if there is a complete spearmanship heavenly fragment to learn from, the same goes without a problem.
If you compare advanced heavenly fragments to the Yangtze River, these are its tributaries. The tributaries merging into the main river is not a big issue, but merging main channels can be quite difficult.
In Mo Hong’s view, the fact that Min Jiangtao could unleash such a powerful battle technique obviously meant he had learned a higher-level saber art heavenly fragment.
Mo Baiye shook his head: “The move he just used is still derived from the Mo Dao Destiny, there’s no mistaking it, it’s just that its power has increased a bit! If I’m not mistaken, it should be based on the improvements made to my techniques… Go and check if he has had any contact with someone recently, and who that person is.”
“Yes!” Mo Hong saluted with his fist and nodded.
Mo Baiye said with a solemn expression, “As soon as you gather some information, come back immediately to report, and do not act rashly!”
Mo Hong nodded and turned to walk out.
While the investigation was underway here, Min Jiangtao, who had returned to his residence, finally understood how formidable the “Red Cherry” technique was and did not dare to slack off in the slightest, practicing desperately to fully master it.
With only about twenty or thirty percent of its power, he had easily cut off his senior brother’s attack and nearly killed him. Wouldn’t mastering it in full allow him to defeat foes beyond his level?
In his room, Zhang Xuan, who was practicing, looked in puzzlement at the bits of Heavenly Mandate Vitality drifting down around him, accompanying him into the Library of Heaven’s Path, quickly converging into the Mo Blade Water Flow.
It seemed Mo Hong was practicing the ultimate move he had taught, and this was how he was benefiting from it.
No wonder those who realized powerful heavenly fragments wanted to establish their own sects and train disciples; this kind of passive enjoyment was indeed quite thrilling.
The effect is not very apparent with just one person, but with ten people, a hundred, or even thousands, it becomes extremely significant.
“Young master, the mansion has been purchased…”
The second day after arriving in Zouyi City, Sun Qiang came forward, cupping his hands and saluting.
The mansion wasn’t too far from the tavern where he was currently staying, and it didn’t take long to reach it.
According to Sun Qiang’s introduction, this place used to be a kingdom prince’s residence, who was killed in a gambling fight, and the place fell into neglect. The later generation squandered much wealth in gambling and had to sell off their ancestral property.
“As it has just been sold, there’s no need for renovation. Even the subordinates have not been changed, so you can use it right away…”
Sun Qiang said with a smile.
He knew the young master’s purpose; coming to the Zhou Yi Dynasty was to save Empyrean Kong shi, so even if they bought a luxury mansion, they might not stay long.
With this in mind, there was no need for too much fuss.
Stepping into the courtyard, Zhang Xuan nodded in satisfaction.
True to being a prince’s mansion, it wasn’t just expansive, but most importantly, several defensive formations were still in place. With some repair, they could be put back into operation.
“Young master, this was where the prince lived, so I’ll leave it for you…”
Soon, Sun Qiang led Zhang Xuan to a courtyard.
There was a guest hall, bedroom, artificial hill, garden, and rooms for the subordinates, all readily available.
“Once you are done dealing with the mansion’s matters, go and find out how to become a Fate Master…”
Zhang Xuan waved his hand.
Though he had comprehended several heavenly fragments, he hadn’t undergone any heavenly fragment evaluations and lacked an official identity.
Even if he didn’t care about it, people like Sun Qiang and Luo Ruoxin needed it.
“Yes!” Sun Qiang nodded and left.
After he left, Zhang Xuan toured the small courtyard, repaired the damaged formations completely, and with a stomp of his foot, activated them smoothly.
The formations instantly enveloped the courtyard, shielding everything around it.
After completing these steps, Zhang Xuan returned to his room.
Now that he had arrived in the Zhou Yi Dynasty, it was time to contact Empyrean Kong shi to see how he could find him.
Thinking so, he flipped his wrist and the Cold Nether Sword appeared in his palm. He executed the Pathos of Heaven sword art and thrust into the void.
Whoosh!
The space twisted, and a mist appeared before him, followed by the slightly surprised voice of Empyrean Kong shi.
“Teacher Zhang, contacting me at this time—did you arrive in Zouyi City?”
“Yes!” Zhang Xuan nodded.
“Great. It seems your strength has also improved significantly lately. I’ve found some methods to forge Zhilan Valley, but it’s difficult to do alone. You should enhance your cultivation as soon as possible. If you reach 3-dan in the Galaxy Realm, then come find me…”
Empyrean Kong shi’s voice rang out.
“Galaxy Realm third dan?” Zhang Xuan was startled.
Are there restrictions on cultivation in this Heaven Mandate Domain?
“Yes, if your cultivation is not sufficient, rashly entering the Heaven Mandate Domain can easily lead to danger…”
As if knowing what he was thinking, Empyrean Kong shi explained.