Translator: Henyee Translations Editor: Henyee Translations
Shangguan Ru was more surprised than anyone else. “Me?” she asked in disbelief.
Shangguan Fei had learned from the past that he couldn’t show his loyalty by being indecisive in front of the Dragon King; he firmly nodded and said, “Yes, sister. The Dragon King is talking about you. You are the only ‘instructor’ here.”
Gu Shenwei also nodded slightly, explaining more by saying, “Your lightness skill is not rusty at all, and it is even better than before.”
“Not only that. My sister has learned the Heart Stopping Finger technique from Old Man Mu, so she’s very powerful.” Shangguan Fei was really worried that his sister would refuse to fight because she had a readily available excuse that she couldn’t and didn’t want to kill.
Red Bat despised Shangguan Fei’s behavior and snorted lightly. “Coward, do you think that everyone is as mortally afraid of death as you are?”
The Red Bat’s trust in the instructor was justified. Shangguan Ru was surprised but not timid. She was even a bit excited. But she had a word to say before the duel, “You know that I can’t… Not even as an accomplice.”
This meant that she would not use the Seven Circles Seven Apertures Heart Stopping Finger in the duel.
“Can you guarantee that I won’t be killed from behind?” This was all that Gu Shenwei needed.
“Yes.” Shangguan Ru was very confident in this. Then she casually drew her wooden saber.
The six of them faced off against each other in pairs, occupying the three corners of an equilateral triangle.
Dog Butcher coughed as if he wanted to say something, but Tu Pianpian was already eager to fight. Fearing that her junior brother would come up with more nonsense, she snapped at him in a low voice, “Shut up and fight.”
Since it was a duel of life and death, it was superfluous to consider the etiquette between seniors and juniors. Tu Pianpian’s first move didn’t seem flashy or special, but her stout body abruptly rocketed at Deng Yuanlei and Liu Fangsheng as her cane dragged behind. When she was within five steps of the two, she suddenly drew her cane as fast as lightning to stab at the two.
At almost the exact same moment, Dog Butcher abandoned his crutch and faced the Dragon King with his bare fists. He still remembered their previous agreement to have their competition purely in fist and foot techniques rather than weapon skills.
The two elders of the Kongtong Sect considered themselves highly skilled in martial arts. They had actually each launched a separate speed attack against two different teams.
Gu Shenwei used the Formless Prajna Palm he had just learned to face his enemy.
“Good palm technique,” Dog Butcher praised. Instead of fighting the Dragon King fiercely like his senior sister, his style was more tentative and laced with caution.
The two weren’t engaged in a furious fight, so Shangguan Ru had almost nothing to do.
On the other side, Tu Pianpian was making many murderous moves and swinging her crutch like a whirlwind, appearing very aggressive and the nickname Rolling Thunder seemed to fit her more than Deng Yuanlei.
Deng Yuanlei was called ‘Flashing Lightning Rolling Thunder,’ but what his actual weapon was a soft long sword and he focused more on defense than offense. As he fought, he said to the son of the sect leader, “Brother Liu, we can’t bully seniors, so you should pick another opponent.”
Liu Fangsheng also used a long sword. He replied, “I dare not challenge the elders,” then leapt at the Dragon King.
Tu Pianpian took it as a mark of shame and turned her crutch to lunge straight at Liu Fangsheng as she shouted, “You wanna run…”
Before she could finish her words, Liu Fangsheng had really run away, jumping high and vaulting over the thrusting attack. Deng Yuanlei immediately came forward to face Tu Pianpian so the latter had no way to chase him. Grim-faced, Tu Pianpian no longer spoke and concentrated on furiously attacking Deng Yuanlei.
Shangguan Ru’s competitive personality hadn’t changed much. After seeing the Dragon King fight with Dog Butcher, she was itching to join the fight. Now that Liu Fangsheng had come over, she immediately ran over to meet him with her wooden saber.
Liu Fangsheng seemed unwilling to deal with Shangguan Ru. He twisted and turned, trying to avoid the wooden saber and directing join in on the melee between Dragon King and Dog Butcher. But he was blocked by his opponent every time. Although it was a wooden saber, it made a strong whooshing sound as it cut through the wind.
Liu Fangsheng was finally taking Shangguan Ru seriously, but he still focused more on defending than attacking, slowly moving toward the Dragon King.
Since coming to the Royal Court, Shangguan Fei had met many kung fu practitioners of the Central Plains and even had fought against some of them but he had never seen a ‘life-and-death duel’ like this. “Is it me or is the fight not fierce at all. Everyone is hiding their real abilities and is unwilling to show their unique skills.”
Long Fanyun and Red Bat also felt it was a below-par performance, but they were not familiar with the martial arts of the Central Plains and couldn’t make any comments. Doctor Sun used to travel around the world and once stayed in the Central Plains for many years, and therefore, took the authoritative lead at this time. He nodded and commented, “Competitions among masters are always like this. In the beginning, everyone is trying to feel each other out, and no one will not use their unique skill until they see an opening.”
“Oh, really? Does it mean that everybody I’ve met from the Central Plains up till now wasn’t an expert?” Shangguan Fei wasn’t fully convinced. But he had fought with Dog Butcher and lost in three moves and from that he qualified Dog Butcher as much more formidable than the five elders of the Jade Pure Sect. “Dog Butcher wasn’t Old Man Mu’s match before so he similarly won’t be able to beat the Dragon King today.”
Doctor Sun hummed and hawed at this comment, which annoyed Shangguan Fei to no end. “Don’t you believe in the Dragon King? Oh, I suppose that you won’t be in danger no matter who you follow. You must have always been ready to switch sides, weren’t you?”
“We are all from the Western Regions, so of course I’ll support the Dragon King, but…”
“But what?”
“But the Dragon King is using his weak points to attack the other’s strong points. His sabersmanship is advanced and his speed attacks are strong, but right now he’s fighting a battle of attrition against his opponent. He’s… he’s being a bit too careless.”
Shangguan Fei actually had the same thoughts, but what he said was, “What do you know? The Dragon King has his own way of fighting. As for you, an average kung fu practitioner… Humph, just focus on curing patients.”
Doctor Sun was very proud of his talent. Besides the Waning Moon Hall, no one had turned a cold shoulder to him. Even the Unique King had to be polite to him at least on the surface. But this Shangguan Fei had opposed him several times for no reason, he couldn’t help losing his temper. All of a sudden, he struck out with his palm and slapped Shangguan Fei.
Shangguan Fei blocked the unexpected blow. “What? You wanna betray the Dragon King?”
Doctor Sun drew back as soon as his palm touched Shangguan Fei’s fist. Ignoring the other side’s accusation, he curled his mouth, shook his head, and continued to watch the fight silently between the Dragon King and Dog Butcher.
Heart thumping, Shangguan Fei secretly scolded how foolish he was. His Qi deviation hadn’t been fixed yet, so how could he be disrespectful to the divine doctor? It was all because of Long Fanyun and Red Bat, who were flirting with each other and had made him feel ill at ease. So he put on a smile and said, “Divine doctor, what have you found?”
“Hmm, the Dragon King’s palm technique is more subtle and powerful than I expected. He must have learned it from the Four Noble Truths Temple, right? And your sister’s lightness skill is also not bad. Both of them can fight against the masters of the Central Plains, so now I am confident in their victory.”
With an ingratiating smile, Shangguan Fei said, “Since the divine doctor is optimistic about the result, I can feel at ease now. But what I want to ask is, what have you noticed about me?”
“You?” Doctor Sun looked at him impatiently. “You look like your sister.”
Shangguan Fei grabbed Doctor Sun’s arm and begged, “Divine Doctor Sun, please. Please save me. Although I’m no longer the ninth young master, the Dragon King… The Dragon King trusts me very much and I can put in a good word for you in front of him.”
Doctor Sun broke free from Shangguan Fei’s grip and continued watching the contest carefully. After a long while, he said, “You have the same illness as the Dragon King but it’s not as serious as his.”
Shangguan Fei was nearly on his knees at this point. “Divine doctor, you really are a divine doctor. I was forced to… Uh, I volunteered to practice the Three-in-One Power for the Dragon King and in turn this problem arose.”
The six people on the field were gradually starting to use their real kung fu and the scene was growing fiercer. The disciples of the two sects couldn’t take their eyes off the scene but Doctor Sun seemed to be more interested in Shangguan Fei’s rare affliction. Although his eyes didn’t leave the duel, he held out three fingers. Shangguan Fei immediately stuck out his wrist tacitly.
“The Dragon King and your sister cooperate very well. Although their kung fu skills are different, they can make up for each other’s shortcomings. Strange, it’s really strange.”
Doctor Sun was a little distracted. Shangguan Fei was dissatisfied with his attitude but dared not speak out. Instead, he squeezed out a smile and said, “The divine doctor may not know this, but the Dragon King and my sister used to play together every day in the castle. They competed a lot and caused lots of trouble… Ehh, no wonder the Dragon King chose my sister as his helper. It makes sense now. The divine doctor really has sharp eyes and even noticed this.”
Gu Shenwei, Shangguan Ru, Dog Butcher, and Liu Fangsheng were already entangled in a fierce fight but everyone could see that the first two’s moves were becoming more and more smoothly while the other two seemed to be getting more awkward and cumbersome, even starting to block the other’s attacks instead of dodging.
This was also out of Gu Shenwei’s expectation. He had wanted to use her lightness skills to counter the skills of the Qingcheng Sect and hadn’t expected that his cooperation with her would be so smooth it was as if they had rehearsed it in advance.
Indeed, they did ‘rehearsed’ it before. Back in the castle, the two had chased each other all over, covering almost every nook and cranny. And at Giant Boulder Cliff, they had practiced sabersmanship together and gotten to know each other’s thoughts very well. The only difference was that Shangguan Yushi had still been around at that time.
At this moment, Gu Shenwei was using his Three-in-One Power and the Formless Prajna Palm while Shangguan Ru was using the internal energy from Fayan which she hadn’t fully absorbed yet and the lightness skills taught by Old Man Mu, which were all different from the old days. But synergistic martial art skills are not the only factor that count towards a good cooperation. After a short period of refamiliarizing themselves with each other, the two of them were getting better and better at making up for each other’s flaws.
Liu Fangsheng’s contempt for Shangguan Ru had completely disappeared and he was brandishing his longsword faster and faster. But Dog Butcher was also his enemy. He had to split some of his attention to guard against him, and therefore couldn’t exert his full power.
Dog Butcher was entangled with the Dragon King and occasionally had to face Liu Fangsheng and Shangguan Ru. He was also surprised by the two’s seamless cooperation. “Aiya, I was too careless,” Dog Butcher lamented, but his hands weren’t idle, not showing the slightest sign of giving up. “Senior sister, I’m having some difficulty fighting against the three of them. The Dragon King’s palm technique is very strange, so I’m a little…”
Tu Pianpian had the upper hand in her battle now but she wasn’t in the mood to care about her junior brother at all. “Use your weapon,” she snapped.
Dog Butcher attacked three times in quick succession before leaping back to his crutch, and he didn’t forget to remind the other side. “Dragon King, draw your saber, please. I won’t be able to stand getting hit two more times by your frosty Qi.”
Gu Shenwei, who had also suffered a lot from the backlash, didn’t want to use the frosty Qi too much. He relented, drew his Five Peaks Saber, and instantly changed his position with Shangguan Ru, stabbing at Liu Fangsheng seven times in a row.
The seven blows were a modified form of the Death Sutra Swordsmanship. This attack was not a safe or a probing move. Rather, it poured down on the enemy like a violent storm.
Liu Fangsheng was caught unprepared and barely dodged with his advanced lightness skill, though immediately forced him into a losing position.
Shangguan Fei was fascinated and for a moment he even forgot about his Qi deviation, shouting, “Divine doctor, look. This is the Dragon King’s true ability. As long as the Five Peaks Saber is unsheathed, who is his match?”
But Doctor Sun was already absorbed in analyzing the internal injury. He squeezed Shangguan Fei’s wrist and shouted back, “Do not move.”
“Yes, I won’t move.”
“Hmm, the Dragon King’s internal Qi is too chaotic and not as clear as yours. Now I understand. Shangguan Fei, you used to practice the Daoless Divine Power, right?”
“Yes, but when I practiced the Three-in-One Power, I also practiced the Sumeru Mustard Divine Power along with it.”
“Congratulations. Your Daoless Divine Power is disappearing and as soon as it fully converts to the internal energy of the Four Truths Temple, your Qi deviation will also disappear.”
It was hard to tell whether Shangguan Fei was sad or happy. Actually, he didn’t quite understand what Doctor Sun had said.
Gu Shenwei, who was still dueling on the field, however, was taken aback at what he heard, and it even caused his attack speed to slow down a bit. Liu Fangsheng seized the moment to extricate himself from his troublesome situation while Dog Butcher, who had taken up his crutch, joined the chaotic melee again.
