Chapter 95: The Mightiness
Translator: StackThatCoin Editor: AntiGod
The Sword of Greedy Wolf was made from neither gold nor iron, but using a wondrous material 'Spinning Ice Jade', that came from the sky, mixed together with forty-eight other materials which also did not belong to the five metals[1]. It was forged together with the flame of extreme Yin[2]. The length of the sword was four feet and two inches, and the blade was as wide as an adult's palm. The thickest part was as thick as a man's finger. It weighed 360 Jin[3], matching exactly with the degree of a perfect circle.
The blade had a pitch black color, feeling like wood or stone upon touch. Strange patterns were carved on the surface of the blade, winding and twisting, interweaving into countless profound runes. When all the runes and lines were looked as a whole, they formed into forty-nine howling wolf heads. The number of the wolf heads matched with the total number Dayan [4], and by carving the true form of the Greedy Wolf on the blade, it could attract the murderous and greedy energy in the universe, which eventually supplied this lower tier magical treasure flying sword with more power.
Undoubtedly, the person who crafted this sword was an expert in the art of crafting. In Wu Qi's opinion, the materials of this longsword were merely considered decent, yet the method used in crafting it was seasoned. As a matter of fact, the quality of the material wasn't good enough for the crafting method. According to Wu Qi's estimation, judging from the technique used in crafting this longsword, the person could at least produce upper tier Spirit Weapons. However, he only used the Spinning Ice Jade to produce a lower tier magical treasure. Nevertheless, because of the instinct of an expert in the art of crafting, the person had poured in a great amount of thought into making the Sword of Greedy Wolf, making it into a near perfect lower tier magical treasure.
There were a total of forty-nine Hasten Arrays in this sword. It also contained arrays used to improve sharpness and flexibility, forty-nine arrays each as well. Meanwhile, the core of all these arrays was a grand array called "The Grand Array of Greedy Wolf Swallowing Moon and Soul'. Usually, such an array would only be found on a Spirit Item. However, the person who crafted this sword had built this powerful array into the Sword of Greedy Wolf, which eventually gave this lower tier magical treasure the power close to a Spirit Item.
This grand array only served one purpose. After the Sword of Greedy Wolf slew an opponent, it could absorb the blood essence and soul of the enemy, merging them into the sword itself. With it, the quality and sentience of the sword would be strengthened endlessly, allowing the Sword of Greedy Wolf to keep evolving in the future. With the miraculous techniques found in Scroll of Stealing, as long as Wu Qi could find some supreme quality materials, he would be able to keep upgrading it after the sword absorbed sufficient blood essence and soul.
While riding on a single-horned deer, Wu Qi was playing with the heavy Sword of Greedy Wolf, and kept nodding his head in satisfaction. Compared to this sword, the Autumn Water Sword given to him by Nie Baihong was just rubbish. If not because Nie Baihong was riding on a flying sword and following him, Wu Qi would have taken out the Autumn Water Sword and given it to the Scouting Officer, who was leading the way in front.
After fiddling with the newly obtained sword for a while, Wu Qi finally made up his mind. He bit forcefully on his tongue, squeezed out nine drops of blood essence and merged them with the sword. After that, he sent out a thread of divine sense and injected into it. With that, he had established an initial spiritual connection with the Sword of Greedy Wolf. With his current cultivation base, before he could cultivate the Fire of Samadhi in his body, it was impossible for him to truly own this lower tier magical treasure. However, by relying on the secret technique in Scroll of Stealing, he had other means that could control a lower tier magic treasure at his will. Now, by owning this powerful sword, Wu Qi's ability to wreak havoc and fleeing had taken a huge leap.
At a high altitude above Wu Qi, behind a thick cloud hanging in the sky, Nie Baihong was seen riding on a white beam, following him closely. As Nie Yaonu had decided to accept Lu Chengfeng into Heaven Breaking Sword Sect, so he could inherit the legacy of the Arts of Heaven Patching Formation, Nie Baihong had no choice but to attend the order personally. At the same time, he could also provide protection to Wu Qi, just in case a random Human Immortal of Gold Core realm attacked Wu Qi on the way back.
While flying aloft in the sky, Nie Baihong saw how Wu Qi spat out nine drops of blood essence onto the Sword of Greedy Wolf. His lips twitched. For any cultivators, their blood essence was the foundation and root of their cultivation. With Nie Baihong's current cultivation, whenever he wanted to take control of a new magical treasure, he would at most spent one and a half drop of his blood essence, and that would make his heart ache. Thus, when he found out that Wu Qi had spent nine drops of blood essence at once, he thought it was insane and beyond his understanding.
He shook his head. Nie Baihong thought Wu Qi must be too happy on obtaining a lower tier magical item, and didn't think of other reasons for this seemingly crazy behavior. If he knew that the source of blood essence was not an issue for Wu Qi, perhaps his jaw would be have dropped with shock.
The single-horned deer moved with incredible speed. Not long into their journey Wu Qi had arrived at the city gate of Ji City. He thanked the guide, and was about to enter the gate when all of a sudden, a large crowd of men barged out from inside of the city, messily rushing towards Wu Qi. Before Wu Qi could see who these people were, a cold, penetrating breeze suddenly pierced toward his thigh. A middle-aged man with a wretched appearance and a skinny body was seen holding a dagger, stabbing it aggressively toward Wu Qi's thigh.
This middle-aged man didn't seem to know any martial arts or cultivation. Wu Qi sneered, thrust his leg and kicked the man, knocking him flying back from where he came.
A shrill cry rang out. Wu Qi suddenly realized something was amiss. Why was the body of this man so light? Right when Wu Qi's toe touched the man's body, the man was instantly knocked flying at least eighty feet away, like a feather blown away by a strong wind. His head slammed right into the city wall as half of it was crushed, his brain and blood bursting out and smearing the ground. A great clamor broke out from the group of people. They immediately rushed towards Wu Qi and made a circle around him.
"This guy has just killed someone in broad daylight! Have you all seen this? Officers, this fellow has just killed someone in public!"
Wu Qi was startled. He saw a group of men walking out from the guarding room adjoining the city entrance. They were clad in a black uniform, wearing a tall square hat on their head with a blood red feather mounted on the left side. A broadsword was seen hanging on their waists. Apparently, they were the patrolling officers from the department of Criminal and Justice, responsible of hunting and arresting thieves, and maintaining the public security of Great Yan Dynasty.
More than a hundred of patrolling officers were coming out from the guarding room. When they saw how Wu Qi 'killed' the middle-aged man with a kick, they immediately stormed up towards him. A few long chains made from alloy were thrust and whipped onto Wu Qi's face. These alloy chains had the diameter of a chicken egg, and were wielded with full force by a few patrolling officers who possessed a pretty strong cultivation. If they hit right onto the target, even a pillar made from steel would have broken, let alone a human body. With Wu Qi's current cultivation, he would not dare to let these chains hit onto his body.
Luckily, the Sword of Greedy Wolf was still in his hand. Wu Qi swung it forward, as a dark trail of light flashed through with an indistinct wolf cry. The few chains were sliced and broken into pieces. Those patrolling officers felt the chain in their hand suddenly became lighter. As they were exerting full force, they couldn't hold their step and the strong force pushed them forward and caused them to trip on their own feet. They ended up throwing themselves onto the ground and rolling in a messy state. Gripping his sword tightly, Wu Qi snapped, "Hold on! What are you doing? That man is trying to kill me. You can't blame me for defending myself!"
A middle-aged patrolling officer with dark rings under his eyes and a gloomy expression strode out from the group. He pointed at Wu Qi with his finger and shouted, "Bullshit! Clearly, that man was an innocent civilian! You've killed an innocent man, yet you still try to justify your wrongdoing? You said he was trying to kill you, then tell me, what weapon was he using in killing you? Where is the weapon?"
Wu Qi quickly turned around and looked at the dead middle-aged man. The dagger held tightly in his hand was now gone. Wu Qi's heart sunk, as he knew he had walked into a trap. As he had joined the Underhand Sect for a few years, together with all the experiences of Wu Wang, Wu Qi knew that the target of these patrolling officers was him. They had just used a life to set a deadly trap for him.
Giving no time for Wu Qi to think for a solution, the middle-aged patrolling officer sneered and continued to shout out loud, "It looks like you have nothing else to say. I need someone to capture him and bring him to the Court of Criminal and Justice. I want to torture him and make him speak. Find out who is supporting him that eventually gave him the courage to kill an innocent man in the public! That man was alive just now, but because of a kick from this guy, he is now dead! Obviously, the murderer is a vicious and ferocious fellow. If he is not punished by the law, we can't answer the Heaven and the Earth, and we also can't answer the ordinary civilians. Do you guys agree?"
The entrance Wu Qi used to enter the city was a busy place, and many civilians were traveling in and out in every second. At this point in time, a large crowd of civilians had clustered on both sides of the entrance. When the patrolling officer asked out the question, someone hiding in the crowd suddenly shouted out 'agreed!', and it immediately attracted the applause from nearly a thousand civilians. There were even some rangers who carried weapons and appeared to be really angry at what Wu Qi did, pushing through the crowd and wanting to help capture Wu Qi. A few of them with the strongest cultivation and the most courage had drawn out their swords, approaching Wu Qi quickly.
A menacing and winning smile emerged on the face of those patrolling officers. They had tied Wu Qi with the death of a man, and unless he wanted to flee from this place and never come back again, he would have to follow them back to the Court of Criminal and Justice. Once Wu Qi was brought to that place, his life would be in their control.
Clattering of hooves came into the scene. Two teams of scouting officers clad in green body armor were seen blocking the city entrance from both sides. Among these scouting officers, Wu Qi saw the long horse face of Qin Qingshui. Standing beside him was the man beaten by Lu Chengfeng before, Haoying Fenglong. His face was now melting in a joyful smile, staring at Wu Qi with a pleased look in his eyes. Also, behind these two men was Taba Haofeng. A greenish-purple color could be seen on his skin. Obviously, he hadn't fully recovered from the frost damage. He too was smiling ferociously at Wu Qi.
Well, it seemed all the enemies Wu Qi offended after he came to Ji City had arrived. The department of Criminal and Justice had sent their patrolling officers in capturing him, while the scouting officers had blocked the entrance, preventing Wu Qi from escaping. Perhaps, Taba Haofeng's subordinates had also brought some ballistas or similar restricted weapons of army, hiding in ambush somewhere nearby. They were really well prepared!
Wu Qi breathed out a long sigh, then he suddenly raised his head and shouted furiously into the sky, "Master, please bring justice to your disciple! Someone is trying to frame your disciple, that means they are not respecting you!"
A strong white light flashed by. Clad in a white cloth, Nie Baihong suddenly appeared beside Wu Qi. His face was dark and gloomy like a fierce ghost. Upon his arrival, Nie Baihong immediately gave Qin Qingshui a cold gaze. It struck Qin Qingshui and made him shudder and shiver, rolling off from his mount and falling onto the ground. Although it was a hard fall, Qin Qingshui didn't make any noise, but bowed and kowtowed three times toward Nie Baihong. After that, he simply turned around and ran away.
Both Haoying Fenglong and Taba Haofeng were struck dumb. They sprung up and threw themselves onto the ground, hands and legs spread wide, and kowtowed a few times as well. They didn't bother to check their bleeding forehead from the kowtow, and just leaped up and scurried away in top speed.
Nie Baihong sneered, turning his sight over to those patrolling officers, who were now shivering violently with fear. "You have brought a false charge against my disciple. Is it because you simply have no respect for my Heaven Breaking Sword Sect?" Cries rang out from the bystanders as they broke out and ran away from the scene. In just the blink of an eye, the place was emptied. Even those few rangers who wielded their swords aggressively just now were nowhere to be found.
*kok* *kok* Muffled knocking sounds kept ringing through the air. Nearly one hundred patrolling officers brought their knees to the ground, yet no one dared to say a word.
Nie Baihong smiled arrogantly, then he said with a deep voice, "I want thirty men who led this incident to kill themselves, then I'll not take any action against your family."
Before Wu Qi could stop them, led by the middle-aged patrolling officer, he saw thirty patrolling officers drawn out their broadsword together and cry out 'Thank you for the mercy, old Immortal!', then forcefully chopped on their own neck with the broadsword. Thirty human heads flew up into the sky as warm blood splashed and smeared on the ground.
Wu Qi was startled once again. However, Nie Baihong only gave him an indifferent gaze, then shouted out with a low voice, "What are you waiting for? Lead the way to Duke Yan Le!"
Wu Qi threw his glance over at thirty dead bodies, not saying anything and continued riding forward.
[1] Five metals - Gold, silver, copper, iron and tin.
[2] Yin - As the Yin in 'Yin and Yang'.
[3] 1 Jin = 500 grams.
[4] The total number of Dayan - This is a term from I-Ching (易经), a complicated ideology with many explanations. I assumed it as the total number it takes to evolve the entire Universe.