Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
“You’ve never even fought me before! How should I trust that you’re truly stronger than I am?”
“What if you’re only bluffing? Do you think that I came by my Ethereal Amethysts easily, thinking to take them away like that? That single condition of yours truly demonstrates your generosity and good faith!”
Shi Wuchen became incensed. “I, Shi Wuchen, am a real man! Why would I cheat you with lies? Go around and ask about me — about what kind of man Shi Wuchen of the Tri-Autumn Swordsmen is, and when has he ever gone back on his word!”
Yun Yang simply said, “Wouldn’t a real man lie? There are way too many liars in this world after all, and furthermore, are you even famous? Why haven’t I heard of this man called Shi Wuchen? Oh, oh, are you even Shi Wuchen?”
Shi Wuchen was furious to the point where his hair was practically standing. His eyes flared up with wrath. “It seems that you’re adamant in picking a fight, aren’t you?”
Yun Yang loosened his hands. “You haven’t even accepted my invitation for a gamble, what’s the good in picking a fight with you right now? I’m only concerned about the gamble, I don’t really care about who you are, your terms, or anything about you!”
Shi Wuchen was itching to fight, yet he did not want to start one, and walking away from this seemed too much of a nuisance. Furthermore, the words of this brat before him was pushing him off the edge. Shi Wuchen was at the verge of breaking down. Grinding his jaw, he growled, “Just tell me, what the hell do you want now?”
When those words left his lips, Shi Wuchen suddenly felt that the situation had been turned around.
Wasn’t he here to demand for answers?
How had the situation turned out this way?
“Lose, and you’ll be my underling. Win, and I’ll give you whatever you want,” replied Yun Yang. “Did it take you so long to understand a simple gamble contract like this?”
With a whoosh, Shi Wuchen had his longsword in his grasp. “Fine! It’s on!”
“Wait, wait, is it on when you say it’s on? What about your wager? I’m here, the sect is here, even if I run away, the school of thought is still here, but how about you? What happens if you lose and you can’t pay up? There was this swordsman called Liao Youyan who cheated me last time — apparently, swordsmen can’t be trusted either…”
Shi Wuchen took a deep breath. “The terms of a gamble have always been regulated by the laws of heaven — victory or defeat shall be witnessed by the very heavens itself. If one dares to place a bet, one shall have the guts to admit defeat — this is a law no one would dare to break. You’re spouting too much nonsense and deliberately being a nuisance — are you toying around with me?”
“Alright, alright. You said it, and now it’s too late to retract them.” Yun Yang took out his saber slowly. “Shi Wuchen, you will soon be part of the Residence of Nine Supremes — you’ll be my first underling!”
Shi Wuchen sneered with wrath. “I was going to be kind and merciful, for I don’t intend to hurt you at all, but since you’ve said it, I’ll give you a lesson you’ll never forget for life. There’s no such thing as luck in the path of cultivation, and it’s absolutely preposterous for you to spout more bullshit.”
The torrent of sharp-tongued remarks they launched at each other ended there and then. Without further ado, wielding their weapons in hand, the two men stood fifty feet apart as they faced each other, the fight commencing at any moment now.
Shi Wuchen mustered the spiritual Qi inside his body, feeling it surge with the force of a massive river. Although was not as powerful and boundless as what he had when he was his fully restored self, he was extremely confident that he still had the strength for a fight — at least, his wounds would not relapse in the middle of it if the fight went like how he had predicted it to.
As long as he does not activate any powers exceeding Honor Level Four in this fight, nothing would go wrong. Upon this thought, he grew even more self-assured.
Through his powerful deific abilities that had already attained Saint Level, he could easily and quickly tell that Yun Yang’s true cultivation base was barely at third-level Honor. Although he was quite surprised at the level of his cultivation base, judging by Yun Yang’s young age, which was a pretty rare and unusual circumstance, he would not allow Yun Yang to triumph over him in this fight, no matter what!
If cultivation base was part of the discussion, although he was unable to unleash his full potential, he was still at the fourth-level Honor, which largely trumped his opponent. When it came to deific consciousness, he had already attained the level of a Saint, and he could easily gauge if his opponent’s responses were the real deal. Besides, there was still personal experience and knowledge accumulated to talk about — judging by his opponent’s young age, how could they even be mentioned on the same page!
No matter which angle he analyzed this from, he would be the winner of this fight!
Shi Wuchen had already thought it through. After beating and conquering Yun Yang, he would definitely give this young man a good lesson. The terms agreed upon earlier would still be honored, of course — after all, he would have given up the Ethereal Amethyst by then. It would definitely not reflect too well on him if he took the treasure and finished his opponent off — after all, swordsmen have their own dignity and principles as well…
Shi Wuchen’s form straightened up suddenly, the sword in his grasp producing a crystalline hum. At this moment, he seemed to have grown taller by at least two heads, looking sharp and deadly, shrouded by flashes of iciness!
His eyes gazed at his opponent intently, formidable to the point as if it had physically manifested, the tip of the sword spitting out a gleam at least three feet long.
At this moment, his being, his heart, his mind, and his sword had merged as one — there were no other impurities within!
I am the sword, the sword is me!
Yun Yang’s heart jerked violently as he faced Shi Wuchen’s brief demonstration, a rather fuzzy thought taking over his mind peculiarly as if something important had just flashed across his train of thought. He came close to grasping it, but it was still out of reach. Yun Yang intended to recall it thoroughly to make use of this sudden opportunity that struck him, but the moment did not allow him to delve deeper into his thoughts.
The opponent’s sword had already transformed into an earth-splitting gleam of light, coming towards him in an impossible speed.
Within a quick flash, the glint from the sword had reached the point between his eyebrows.
The speed of Shi Wuchen’s attack was the fastest Yun Yang had ever encountered in his life — there was none other that could even compare!
Even Ling Xiaozui, the ultimate master of the sword whom he had met at Tianxuan Continent, did not wield a sword as fast as this man!
This slash was incredibly swift, to the point where Yun Yang had no time to do anything to evade it — he could only endure it head-on!
At that fateful moment where the strike seemed to be at the brink of fatally wounding Yun Yang, his body burst into a mass of clouds and fog with a loud poof.
That sword glinted, whizzing through the air with the speed of lightning, seemingly reaching its target, but in truth, it had cut nothing!
Shi Wuchen reeled back in shock.
What just happened?
What sort of odd, secret technique was this — how much more bizarre could it get!
Before his shock could wear off, Shi Wuchen felt the sharp rustle of air that came from the saber, which was plowing down mercilessly from behind with an incredibly unstoppable force!
In the path of that impending strike of doom, Shi Wuchen’s surprise quickly vanished. However, he simply twisted his body without even looking back. Suddenly three flashes of after-images whizzed out in an electrifying speed, followed swiftly by three streaks of sword light, ambushing Yun Yang in a reversed direction.
Seeing the way Shi Wuchen countered his attack, Yun Yang was astounded.
This swordsman of the Tri-Autumn Swords truly lived up to his word. Not only was he a man of integrity that abided by the rules, he had the look of an honest man, but when it boiled down to actual combat, his reactions were incredibly fast. Be it his intuitive response, his attacks, his counters, his transformation — he interchanged these moves like the back of his hand.
This was clearly a type of combat instinct — the kind that had been deeply ingrained into the bones!
This… this was something that stemmed from the combat experience of countless attempts at refining and practicing.
With a turn of his body, Yun Yang morphed into a light breeze. The saber in his hand descended, plowing down without an inch of mercy, charging towards Shi Wuchen once more!
He did not activate Saber Truth: Destiny Blade.
Shi Wuchen was yet again surprised at the way Yun Yang countered his attack. However, he did not lose his cool — he landed quickly on the ground with a spin before launching himself outwards, followed quickly by a fold of his body as he faced up and returned the strike. Whoosh— The glint of the sword formed a curtain of light, plummeting downward like an endless waterfall.
He understood now; his opponent practiced some sort of strange, mystical method. It would be hard to strike at him effectively with a basic slash, so he decided to change his strategy, shifting into a similar form of attack but one that covered a larger area of effect to probe the limitations of Yun Yang’s mystical methods!
Yun Yang’s physique had just come together, yet under his watchful eyes, it morphed unexpectedly into a mass of clouds once more, completely unfazed and unhurt by the attacks. Through the accumulation of cloud and fog, Yun Yang swung and struck the saber towards the direction of his head!
Shi Wuchen had predicted this move incorrectly. He was nearly struck although he was well-experienced in facing an enemy. He quickly stepped back and got out of the way; although it was not too graceful, at least he wasn’t hurt. “Insolent brat, facing your opponent with such a lowly distraction — shameless!” He roared furiously.
A sense of resentment quickly flew into his head.
Is this little brat some kind of ghost?
His form keeps on changing — how do I defeat him?
