Translator: Henyee Translations Editor: Henyee Translations
The moment Lotus showed herself and made her move, Gu Shenwei understood her intentions.
The Death Scripture had its own unique way of improving the user’s strength – they had to kill high-caliber kung fu experts at least once a year. Otherwise, there was a high probability that the swordsmanship would backlash and kill its user. The swordsmanship and its user were like two mad horses sprinting towards a cliff – they clearly knew what lay before them, and yet, not only could they not stop, but they also felt the need to accelerate even faster.
There used to be a time when Gu Shenwei thought that Lotus had rid herself of this restriction, yet now he could see that he had been wrong.
Lotus had always used a sword, but she had integrated the Waning Moon Hall’s kung fu into her swordsmanship, while Gu Shenwei had integrated the swordsmanship into his sabersmanship. The two different paths still had the same goal – to defer the backlash. Yet no matter what, they still needed to land that lethal sword attack.
Both of the two had encountered many kung fu experts, and yet none of them possessed kung fu prowess as great as that of Luo Qibai, who tempted the two Death Scripture users like a priceless treasure. The one who killed this person would make enormous strides in their swordsmanship.
Lotus’s partner was Wild Horse, in whose sabersmanship Gu Shenwei had found some signs of the Death Scripture. Obviously, Lotus hadn’t imparted the whole manual to him.
The men from the Central Plains and the Heavenly Mountain Sect had been tricked. With their numerical superiority, they had recklessly pursued the men who had ambushed them, and on their way someone had yelled, “Hurry! Don’t let the Dragon King escape!” and they then mistook Lotus, who was wearing a night outfit, for the Dragon King.
Gu Shenwei, who had been following these men at that time, finally realized that the reason why this kung fu competition had attracted so much attention was because the target of the two forces in Jade City were not Old Man Mu and Dog Butcher but rather him – nobody believed that the Dragon King was in closed-door cultivation.
As the main bait, Lotus had quickly rushed ahead of all the others. Wild Horse occasionally paused to fight back, and he always killed someone in two or three moves at the most. Luo Qibai and Li Tongsheng were focused on pursuing the “Dragon King” and they didn’t try to stop Wild Horse from killing their men.
After running through half of the city, Lotus had led her pursuers to Reincarnation Hill in the wilderness to the south of the city. This hill was home to mounds of unidentified bodies from Jade City and was also a feasting ground for the crows. And it was also the place where Gu Shenwei had decided to use the image of a blood-red crow as the symbol of the Dragon Army’s flag.
Gu Shenwei had never told anyone about this, yet Lotus had nonetheless designated this hill as the place for the final showdown.
Lotus maneuvered through the crowd like a ghost and she seldom made a move. It was Wild Horse who had done the majority of the killing, but he always tried to stay away from Luo Qibai and Li Tongsheng – these two kung fu experts were the Master Commander’s exclusive prey, and he was not qualified to approach them.
Gu Shenwei whipped out his saber and joined the fight. This was a golden opportunity. He could kill Lotus and rid himself of the hindrance and threat that the Waning Moon Hall represented once and for all. At the least, he could stop Lotus from improving her swordsmanship.
Gu Shenwei also wanted to test out the theories he had comprehended from the general principles of the Daoless Scroll, and nobody was more suitable than Lotus to be the subject of his tests.
When Old Man Mu and Dog Butcher arrived, Gu Shenwei had just stabbed out for the third time.
With these three saber attacks, he had restricted Lotus, leaving her unable to maneuver through the other people, and forcing her to fight back against him.
All the moves they made were deadly blows, but neither of them used the Death Scripture swordsmanship – both of them were waiting for the perfect opportunity.
Luo Qibai and Li Tongsheng had recovered from the intense chase and they immediately started organizing their men into an encirclement. Their first priority was to kill Wild Horse.
Wild Horse had leaped out of the battlefield and was standing on a slope about a dozen steps away from the others, watching the fight down below, and ready to flee at any time.
Luo Qibai watched Li Tongsheng who was on the opposite side of the ring. Both of them were able to kill Wild Horse, but neither of them was willing to give up on the two targets before them – they had discovered that the latecomer was the real Dragon King.
They both made the same decision.
Five men from the Central Plains and four men of the Heavenly Mountain Sect gathered into a formation on the periphery. They had only one task, to keep Wild Horse from interfering with the main battle.
Luo Qibai unsheathed the sword fastened to his waist, while Li Tongsheng’s weapon was still his own bare hands. Together, they joined the master-level fight.
It was at this moment that Dog Butcher raised his question, “Who is fighting with whom exactly?”
Old Man Mu watched on, fascinated, half of his body stretching out above the rock. “The Dragon King’s against three… No, Lotus’s helping him… No, they’re fighting more intensely… No, White Ghost and Rock Monster are plotting against each other… Holy shit! These four people are all fighting on their own, trying to kill the other three. Terrific! Fucking Terrific!”
The nine men on the periphery had discovered the existence of the two old men, yet they maintained their formation and none of them approached to attack the two.
Dog Butcher straightened his body and asked, “Who’s the other guy? His swordsmanship’s also pretty good.”
“Lotus, who’s even crazier than all of the disciples of the Waning Moon Hall combined.”
Dog Butcher had been hearing her name come up for awhile now, so he nodded and commented, “She’s good, but… it seems as if there are plenty of flaws in her moves too.”
“You can see her flaws?” Old Man Mu didn’t believe him at all.
The crows in the sky gradually scattered. Under the bright moonlight, Dog Butcher could see more clearly, “Don’t you think so? The killing aura in Lotus’s swordsmanship is too dense. Her blows are too heavy, and she is barely able to defend herself. If it weren’t for her excellent lightness skills, I don’t think she could’ve survived this long. The Dragon King’s saber attacks are restrained and steady, moderate in both offense and defense. I think that the Dragon King’s better.”
“Ha, the idiom ‘become a laughing stock for the skilled people’ literally can’t be any more suitable for you. They’re performing the same kung fu. The only difference is that the Dragon King has substituted the sword for a saber, and he’s defending himself with palm techniques. The essence of his sabersmanship is the same as Lotus’s swordsmanship – all lethal blows.”
During their discussion, the state of the battle had changed yet again.
Luo Qibai and Li Tongsheng finally reached some kind of tacit agreement – they put aside their differences and joined hands to attack the masked men. The former’s swordsmanship was both ethereal and ferocious, while the latter’s palm strikes generated wind as solid as a wall. With one of them specializing in offence and the other in defense, they forged a perfect partnership.
On the other hand, Gu Shenwei and Lotus couldn’t fight side by side. They were risking their lives trying to kill the other first.
Both of the two were somehow surprised. Gu Shenwei thought that he had gained a deeper comprehension of the Death Scripture, yet he couldn’t maintain any obvious advantage over Lotus. While Lotus had also done some research and had managed to find a new approach of practicing the swordsmanship after the battle in Royal Court, but she still couldn’t considerably surpass the Dragon King.
The Death Scripture swordsmanship required the user to make every move with their full strength. Yet after mastering yin and yang energy, Gu Shenwei was able to spare some yin energy to perform palm techniques, which enabled him to strengthen his defense, so he took the brunt of Li Tongsheng’s palm attacks.
However, Luo Qibai was the more threatening one; his swordsmanship was like a tangle of silk and spiderwebs. Even though it didn’t seem very powerful at first, it would entangle its targets over time and grow tighter and tighter. When Gu Shenwei and Lotus realized this, they were unable to get rid of it. Gradually, they focused on each other less and less, and had to spare attention to deal with the other sword.
Old Man Mu frowned in confusion as he mumbled, “What’s wrong? The Death Scripture should be far more powerful than this.”
Yet Dog Butcher’s eyes lit up. Though he was serving the Dragon King, he still had a certain amount of pride as someone from the Central Plains. “The Tangled Silk Swordsmanship of the Luo family is a top-notch kung fu in the Central Plains. Even among the members of the Luo family, there are very few people who have succeeded in mastering it. Ah, it’s been more than ten years. Back then he was just a teenager. I didn’t expect that he would make such huge progress so quickly. What he’s achieved is much better than what I’ve achieved in my closed-door cultivation. Old Man Mu, when it comes to advanced martial arts, the Western Regions and the Norland are no match for the Central Plains even if the two were combined together. The reason why the Dragon King is undefeated throughout the Western Regions so far is because he’s never met a true kung fu master of the Central Plains.”
“Blah, blah, blah,” Old Man Mu snorted out several “Blahs” consecutively. “Stop spouting that shit already. You Kongtong Sect guys are also from the Central Plains, but I don’t see any such kung fu experts in your sect.”
Dog Butcher didn’t take offence. With a smiling face, he said, “We do have our own kung fu experts. It’s just that they’re not here. You and the Dragon King have never met them.”
Old Man Mu peered at Dog Butcher from his head to his feet, “Why are you so happy? Are you going to betray Dragon King?”
Dog Butcher suddenly recalled his current identity, “Right, let me go talk to them. Maybe Luo Qibai will stop for my sake.”
Old Man Mu placed his sword before Dog Butcher and blocked his way. “Stay put. You can keep your ‘sake’ and have it for dinner. Who told you that the Dragon King’s going to lose? Seeking opportunities in dangerous situation, and seeking victory in adversity – this is the Dragon King’s strategy. And you have even seen it in action before.”
But something else attracted Dog Butcher’s attention at that moment. “The one-handed man’s coming to us. What’re his intentions?”
Old Man Mu was startled, yet he gave off an air of hospitality as he said, “Hey, younger brother Wild Horse! It’s been a long time! How are you doing? Look, the Master Commander’s about to lose. Aren’t you going to give her a hand? I just saw your sabersmanship. You must have learned a lot of new moves, haven’t you? So fast, so cool. You’ve already surpassed me… Old Dog!”
Old Man Mu suddenly gave out a wild yell. Dog Butcher was astounded and subconsciously unsheathed his saber.
Wild Horse’s saber also arrived.
A narrow saber and a broad saber clashed and began their fight. Old Man Mu was jumping here and there on the periphery of their battle. The longer he watched, the more astonished he became. “Come on, Old Dog! Don’t be defeated by a junior. This little mute’s kung fu is just so-so. He’s no match for you.”
Although he said this, Old Man Mu could see clearly that Wild Horse had learned not only part of the Death Scripture, but also some other bizarre kung fu skills. His overall kung fu had improved exponentially, which unexpectedly left him neck and neck with a Kongdong Sect’s elder.
Dog Butcher didn’t know Wild Horse, but he also felt this young man’s sabersmanship was exceptional and warned, “I’m going to use my unique skills.”
“If you’ve got it, just use it already! Stop this nonsense!” Old Man Mu yelled.
Dog Butcher used to wield the saber, but after Old Man Mu had defeated him, he had switched to the crutch. However, he had never given up on his sabersmanship. Now, he was taking part in a ferocious sabersmanship competition and fighting with Wild Horse on speed and ferocity. With each clash of the two sabers, the shriek of metal could be heard from far away, and glowing sparks were flying everywhere – the fight between them seemed even more intense than the one taking place between the four people a dozen steps away.
Holding his sword, Old Man Mu was jumping around constantly, trying to find a chance to make his move. But he was also watching the Dragon King and the others at the same time. “Dragon King, bad girl, is the Death Scripture powerful? I’m betting on your victory.”
Gu Shenwei and Lotus were restrained by each other, since they were both surprised by the other’s progress. Also, they were under the continuous onslaught of two strong enemies, so neither of them dared to use the pure form of the Death Scripture kung fu, fearing that the instantaneous pause after their move would become a fatal flaw.
Dawn was about to break. Flocks of crows woke up and watched from their rocks on high like a malicious audience, apathetically waiting for more killing and blood. Occasionally, some bold ones flew onto some fresh corpses and pecked around.
Those men from the Central Plains and those of the Heavenly Mountain Sect were getting more and more nervous. They kept turning their heads to check on the battle situation, while they wielded their sabers to chase away the crows and protect their companions’ bodies.
Two pairs of eyes which were colder than that of the crows suddenly looked into each other – there was no understanding, nor any warmth. The two twisted and evaded each other as well as the wind generated by Li Tongsheng’s palms. Then the saber and the sword stabbed out at Luo Qibai simultaneously.
Luo Qibai took a step backwards.
This was a very common scene in the battle. Those men who were looking back over their shoulders didn’t notice anything different. Yet Old Man Mu, who was far away, shouted in delight, “Saber-sword cooperation! Saber-sword cooperation!”
Stimulated by the Dragon King and Lotus, Old Man Mu finally made his move at Wild Horse, planning to also have a “saber-sword cooperation” with Dog Butcher.
