Chapter 151: As Guests to the State Minister’s Mansion (I)
Translator: Storm in a Teacup
At that very moment, the colliding sound of the blades reached their ears.
Operating his Spiritual Sense, Luo Jianqing saw the coachman sitting in the front unsheathed a sword and threw himself into the fight. The driver had long lost his youth. Unintentionally checking his Bone Age, Luo Jianqing realized that this man was already more than two hundred years old. The life-span of a Foundation Establishment Period cultivator was three hundred years. The man only achieved the middle-stage Foundation Establishment Period so far, so he had little time left.
Nonetheless, the coachman was quite tough. He managed to fight with one late-stage Foundation Establishment Period cultivator and three early-stage ones at the same time. Still, the rest twelve of Qi Condensation Period cultivators dashed to the carriage.
Mrs. Lin drew out a soft sword from its scabbard and joined the scuffle, fighting against these Qi Condensation Period cultivators. Without a single trace of Spiritual Power, surprisingly, Mrs. Lin didn’t let her opponents get too many advantages. Brandishing her sword with superior techniques, she attacked the cultivators’ weak points with deadly accuracy. Though gradually backing up, she clearly had the ability to resist them for a while.
Suddenly, Mrs. Lin drew back to the carriage after successfully dodging her rival’s another attack. She lowered her voice and said, “Mr. Luo, Mr. Wu, please leave this place as quickly as possible. Mr. Wang and I can handle this. I only ask one favor – please, please take Rongrong with you and take care of her in the future when… I am not by her side. Here are some Spiritual Stones. Everything she needs is in this Interspatial Ring. You have all of my gratitude!”
With her words still wafting in the air, Mrs. Lin unsheathed her sword once again and joined the scuffle, leaving the Interspatial Ring to those in the carriage.
Though still young, Rongrong immediately understood the meaning in her mother’s words. Tears filled her eyes, but the girl bit her lips, trying everything she could to hold back the cry. She didn’t let out a slightest sobbing sound. Sitting on the other side of the carriage, facing Xuan Lingzi and Luo Jianqing, Rongrong didn’t beg him to help her mother or anything; she just sat there, head hanging low, hands clenching the corner of her dress.
Luo Jianqing never knew that a girl six years old could be this tough. Gazing at her red eyes for a long time, finally, he chuckled softly. Luo Jianqing reached out his hand to stroke the girl’s head and patted her gently.
That’s the moment Rongrong gave it in. Tears flooded out, rushing down her chubby cheeks, but she still didn’t make any sound.
Standing up, Luo Jianqing tilted his head to look at Xuan Lingzi, then the latter nodded with consent.
Luo Jianqing knew the reason why Xuan Lingzi restricted his Cultivation Base to the early-stage of Foundation Establishment Period – his Master didn’t want him to handle this easily. He needed to gain experience, especially that from fighting with a higher-level opponent. Though none of these cultivators had anything to do with “high-level”, given that Luo Jianqing’s Cultivation Base was set at a level much lower than theirs, they could be counted as challenging rivals.
Raising the curtain of the carriage, Luo Jianqing flew out and landed at the edge of the battle field. “A gang of rogues bullying a woman and her daughter? Can’t believe you even call yourselves ‘men’.”
The killers were shocked by the sudden presence of Luo Jianqing – they didn’t even realize there were others in the carriage for the whole time! The gang’s leader stopped to size up Luo Jianqing suspiciously. He detected Luo Jianqing’s early-stage Foundation Establishment Period cultivation and scorned, “If you still care about your life, bugger off, now!”
Hearing this, Luo Jianqing didn’t even draw his sword. The elegant cultivator smiled, “How to bugger? Would you demonstrate it with your comrades, please?”
The man was provoked, raised his blade and dashed toward Luo Jianqing. The carriage driver wanted to protect Luo Jianqing, but he was too far away from him. Mrs. Lin shouted in astonishment, “Mr. Luo, why didn’t you leave! Why waste your life on saving us! If you didn’t stay here, there might still be a chance for you guys to survive!”
In a blink, the gigantic blade was right in front of Luo Jianqing, several inches away.
With overwhelming coercion, the Blade Wind violently stirred up the air of the valley. Dispersing greyish Spiritual Power, the black storm overcast the sky and devoured the last trace of sun light. The blade itself wasn’t that intimidating, but the coercion of a late-stage Foundation Establishment Period cultivator forced every cultivator in the valley to reel back at least a half step. Without any cultivation base, Mrs. Lin staggered four or five steps until she held the ground.
The blade pushed forward, about to chop Luo Jianqing’s head in the next millisecond. Gritting her teeth tightly, Mrs. Lin took out a piece of jade from her pocket. Holding it in her palm, she clenched her fist tightly until the jade stone was broken.
Boom!
A white ray of light dashed out from the jade stone and collide with that colossal Blade Wind, creating a deafening sound. The next moment, both of them disappeared in the sky.
Luo Jianqing was just curious about the power of this late-stage Foundation Establishment Period cultivator, so he had no intention to dodge from his attack or anything. Nonetheless, he was shocked by the energy ray that Mrs. Lin released. Then he heard Mrs. Lin shouted to him, “Mr. Luo, that jade stone is my last defending item. Take Rongrong with you and go! Go!”
Her words reached the carriage, from which the girl rushed out and cried, “No, Rongrong will not leave you behind! I’m not leaving! No!”
Luo Jianqing was stunned – he never expected Mrs. Lin would use her last chance of survival to protect him. Watching the mother and daughter embracing each other and weeping together, he felt a warm spring streaming down his heart. Turning back, Luo Jianqing saw Xuan Lingzi stepping out of the carriage.
After they exchanged a look, Luo Jianqing reproached, “Master, you didn’t keep a close eye on Rongrong.”
Curling his mouth up, Xuan Lingzi replied, “Yes, indeed, it’s my fault. There won’t be any danger after you clear the field.”
Luo Jianqing shook his head at first, and then nodded, “Though she can come out whenever she wants after I finish the enemies, you should still keep her close by your side in case of any danger. You failed the mission of taking care of her.”
Xuan Lingzi was intrigued by Luo Jianqing’s words. He smiled and sighed, “I admit it. That is my fault, letting her get off the carriage.”
Luo Jianqing was finally content with this answer. “We will talk about this after I finish them.”
Chatting casually on the battle field, Xuan Lingzi and Luo Jianqing paid little attention to all these killers, treating them like air. The leader shouted in anger, “Now that you have no more magic item to protect you guys, why are you still pretending everything’s alright? What for? Finished your last words? Continue your chat in the hell!”
Once again, the man raised his blade, eyes fixed on Luo Jianqing. He roared and forged his Spiritual Power into the blade, creating immense Blade Shadow, hacking toward Luo Jianqing’s head.
The ghost-like colossal Blade Shadow scared Rongrong. Face turning pale, the girl even stopped crying.
However, the instant when that Blade Shadow about to slash Luo Jianqing’s skin, a ray of bice sword light broke the air and pieced through the killer’s forehead in a millisecond, not even a single droplet of blood splashed out. A clean shot. The man stopped moving immediately.
Still holding that blade up high in the air, he stood where he was, seized with terror. Panic was imprinted in his eyes permanently. Then, like a statue, the man fell on the ground.
Everything happened so fast. None of the killers was prepared for this, and they never would be. Out of nowhere, the bice sword light revealed itself and then vanished in the air, playing a game of hide and seek with its enemies, reaping their lives with a certain degree of gentleness. One by one, they collapsed and hit the ground. A few seconds later, these once merciless killers were turned into lifeless corpses.
Xuan Lingzi sighed, “If your cultivation is lower than Eighth Grade Qi Condensation Period, maybe you could gain some experience today.”
Luo Jianqing approached his Master and said, “Are you saying that any battle without a life-threatening danger is meaningless to me?”
Meeting his disciple’s disgruntled gaze, Xuan Lingzi shut up his mouth and didn’t say one more word.
None of them realized how astonished Mrs. Lin and the coachman were. Bang, the coachman suddenly knelt before them and saluted, “Thank you for saving our lives! Without you, young lady and Mrs. Lin might not be able to get out of this trouble safe and sound. Thank you!”
Luo Jianqing didn’t have the heart to see an old man kneel down before him, so he immediately used his Spiritual Power to help the coachman stand up and smiled, “Never mind. I’m glad to help. Mrs. Lin helped us a lot on the way, and we shall repay her kindness.”
They got on the carriage, and the coachman marched the draft horses. They resumed their journey toward the Sha Du City.