The eastern sun peeked in the morning twilight.
The red fiery orb rose over the faraway horizon. Dawncrest, being the tallest pinnacle of the Mount of Divinity range, was the first to be swathed in a bright scarlet luster like a sword drenched in blood, gleaming vivaciously in the early red dawn.
More than a thousand meters west of Dawncrest, a field of black filled the meadows and the plains. The coalition rode forth like a dark ominous storm, all of them warriors and champions eager to witness the duel.
Due east of Dawncrest, at a thousand meters away, Lu Chuan came with a modest host of several dozen men, all of them here to provide support for Li Mu.
The combatants have yet to arrive.
But the mood was already thick with tension seeping every inch of the air in the vicinity like pervasive fumes.
For the first time in the history of Molderad, the duel between good and evil would determine the fate of the continent in the times to come. The outcome would affect virtually everyone present — their interests, their livelihood, and even their lives.
None of the higher echelons of the coalition had envisaged that this war could take such a turn.
“But where are they?”
The very same thought loomed in the minds of every single man and woman who had come to see this fight.
A golden ray of light from the rising sun filtered through the clouds and pierced all the way through the leaves of the bamboo grove on the slopes of the hill behind the Creed of Divinity stronghold.
A figure in white sitting serenely at the precipice that hung over a flowing waterfall, Li Mu calmly opened his eyes.
“Teacher,” Fang Mei and Fang Yuan greeted him. They have been standing a short distance away, quietly waiting for him. But even their demure reticence could do little to mask the apprehension they both felt.
Li Mu jovially rose to his feet. “It’ll be good to have some wine and bean-paste noodles for lunch today. Please have some ready.”
“Understood, Teacher,” Fang Mei bobbed her head profusely, “Rest assured that you’ll find the meal satisfactory.”
Fang Yuan could have sworn that his spirits were lifted.
His mentor appeared to be confident as usual and that was a good sign.
After eleven years since they were just a pair of child acolytes that enjoyed hardly any attention and care, Fang Mei and Fang Yuan had grown into two of the most feared warriors in the Northern Steppes. They grew up together in the Fang Family Village nearby the Creed of Divinity but because they were not blood relatives even though they had been close from a young age, Li Mu played the matchmaker and they became married. Everything the loving couple had would not have been possible without Li Mu and he was like a father to them.
But even with their teacher’s assurance, Fang Yuan and Fang Mei just couldn’t help feeling concerned and worried.
But one could hardly blame them.
Li Mu peered at them and smiled.
Faraway, from the direction of Dawncrest, a clear and piercing voice came rumbling like thunder, “The hour has arrived, Li Zhiyuan. Show yourself!”
…
On the tip of Dawncrest.
The one whom the heads of the Great Five, the five strongest religious orders, hailed as “the one with powers and strength unsurpassed by any” had appeared. An ordinary-looking man in his middle age with a round and wide face and unremarkable features, he looked very much like a Tom, Dick, or Harry that one could find in the streets anywhere and wouldn’t bat an eyelid at.
Many began doubting if all the praises and acclaim about him held any truth or credibility.
The adjectives of “ordinary-looking” and “middle age” just don’t scream awesome at all. Even an elderly with a flowing white beard and hair could do better.
Countless eyes gazed upon him as he suddenly opened his mouth to speak.
“The hour has arrived, Li Zhiyuan. show yourself!”
It sounded like just a normal shout at first. But the next split-second later, the voice reverberated through the air with rising loudness sonority that the human voice became as loud as a groaning thunder. All of a sudden, the entire mountain range chorused with the same voice, joining together into a loud, resounding crescendo as if the mountains were roaring as one with the stranger. Right at that instance, the entire coalition nearly fell to their knees in reverence as if a god had descended upon them.
Terrifying.
That was the same one-word description that appeared in the minds of the warriors and champions present.
Whoever this “Sage” was, he clearly was a powerful and dangerous person.
That display of his power alone was enough to make him a living legend.
Looks of exhilaration and anticipation lit up the faces of the members of the Great Five.
Meanwhile, Lu Chuan and his retinue of men remained steadfastly unfazed. But deep down inside, he was experienced and wise enough to know that this stranger’s ordinary outlook belied powers and strength beyond measure. “Would Brother Zhiyuan prevail this time?” he mused with dread.
Whoosh!
A flash of light came screaming at him from the direction of the Creed of Divinity stronghold.
No one could comprehend just how incredible and fast this blow was. All they saw was something of a flash like the reflection of light through the air and everywhere this light wheezed by, the crescendo of voices ceased and vanished.
The wide-faced “Sage” saw the energy bolt screaming straight at him. He leaped and took into the air, evading the blow.
The flash of light skimmed dangerously over the highest tip of the six-thousand-eight-hundred-and-sixty-meters-tall Dawncrest.
But no, everyone saw it wrongly. It didn’t miss. After what seemed like several seconds of still silence, the crown of Dawncrest, the top sixty-meter-or-so part of the summit, began to slide sideways. As the gargantuan hulk of granite that was Dawncrest’s crown slipped off into a deafening crash, everyone saw Li Mu’s handiwork — a sleek and smooth surface angled at twenty-five degrees. There was not even a stone or gravel that the stroke missed and the surface looked so shiny and polished that one could almost see the whites of his own teeth in the reflection on the mirror-like face of the colossal rock.
With just one blow, Dawncrest was “beheaded”.
A feat and spectacle that has left everyone flabbergasted with disbelief.
A brilliant flash of light, just like that, and a mountain was gone.
No warrior could do that. Only gods were capable of doing things like this. To say nothing about the smooth surface of the rock that was now the new crown of the newly-stunted Dawncrest. Such speed and skill did that stroke carry like a sharp knife passing through a steak.
Crash!
A deafening bang from the huge sixty-meter-long hunk of granite finally reaching the bottom of the gorge after its precipitous descent shook every awake from their momentary stupor.
When everyone looked at the new tip of Dawncrest, there was someone else standing tall and proud up there. A lean and dashing man in robes of white and hair as black as the darkest night.
Li Zhiyuan.
The Aspect of Vengeance Li Zhiyuan.
Finally.
The folds of his robes fluttered and snapped in the mountainous breeze, its strength wantonly flinging his jet-black hair about. Stern and yet divine, the world could sing paeans of praises about him and shower him with adoration and yet no amount of words could aptly do his stately presence and beauty any justice. Even the heads of the Great Five found themselves awash with admiration and envy.
More so, those — especially females — who had never seen Li Zhiyuan in real life before. Their hearts swooned at the mere sight of his otherworldly charms that some began to wonder if all the criticisms, condemnations, and reproaches hurled at him were nothing but slander.
Especially when juxta positioned against the wide-faced “Sage” who looked otherwise average and dull, Li Zhiyuan fitted every bit the semblance of the conquering and victorious hero of a fairy tale instead of him, whom some could argue suited the profile of the villain.
Looks determine personality.
Even in another world, the maxim has a ring of truth.
The Blade That Awed the World.
Li Zhiyuan the Charming.
The sight of the tall and proud Li Zhiyuan perched on the steep summit of Dawncrest would be forever etched in the minds of the warriors and champions who had come this far to witness the duel. No matter what was the outcome of the duel today, no one would ever forget that one single stroke that cut a mountain into half and that stunning and magnificent entry he made.
…
“State your name.”
Li Mu stood at the top of the twenty-five-degree slope, eyeing coldly at his foe who gradually landed with the grace of a feather at the bottom of the slope.
“Song Mian’s my name.”
The round-faced man finally spoke with a gruff voice.
“Song Mian?” Li Mu responded, “You’re that ‘Sage’ fellow, aren’t you? Well, I suppose you do have your merits, you are being able to find out about the ley lines and all that. But not without the cost of a hundred and fifty thousand lives, though. What would they call you after this? The hero or the slayer, after you sent so many innocent warriors to their deaths?”
“I see you not only have a sharp blade, but a sharp tongue as well, Li Zhiyuan,” remarked Song Mian placidly. “These are the martyrs of Molderad your crooked tongue is speaking about. The loss of their lives is the sin and burden you bear and so, you shall face the consequences.”
“Martyrs?” smirked Li Mu with frost, “Just call them what they are to you: tools and lambs for slaughter. You’re just using them in your slander, provocation, bloodshed, and carnage. That’s the usual repertoire of your lot. You played the same trick on the Cult of the Orient years ago and you’re doing an encore on us now. You and a lot of those slimy vermin that cower behind your shadow are nothing but the parasites and vampires that only bring misery to Molderad.”
“Crooked words from a crooked tongue, Li Zhiyuan,” Song Mian growled with apparent displeasure. “How dare you twist facts and distort the truth. Is this what you are, Aspect of Vengeance Li Zhiyuan? Just mere words and lies?”
“I’m only telling these pitiful fools that you led what lies they’ve been deceived into believing,” Li Mu scoffed with derision, “Enough prattle. You wanted this duel. Just get on with it then.”
“Very well then,” Song Mian sniggered vilely, “Let’s see how much you’ve progressed since you made your fame ten years ago, Li Zhiyuan! Watch this, the Draconian Thunder!”
He raised his arms and clasped his palms together. Without moving his lower half, his top half twisted at an impossible angle as his elbows swayed. A glowing ring of light appeared around his feet and its radiance intensified, its growing luminescence gradually engulfing him before he thrust his arms up into the air.
Rumble!
The cumulonimbus clouds overhead converged over him with lightning flashing intermittently.
A purplish lightning bolt in the appearance of a raging dragon materialized up high in the sky. It bared its fangs at Li Mu and streaked down at him.
“What the hell…?!”
“Heavens, what in the world is that?!”
“Is that a dragon-shaped from pure Mana?!”
All around Dawncrest, onlookers of the battle reeled with consternation and amazement.
This was no longer mere martial technique. This was power and conjuring that only gods could perform. As ordinary as he was, the “Sage’s” display of his capabilities, which had clearly outstripped the comprehension of common warriors, had managed to overturn what others thought about him by launching a terrible attack on his opponent.
Powers and strength unsurpassed by any indeed.
“Parlor tricks.”
Li Mu snorted as he slowly reached for the saber that hung from his waist. He did not even draw the weapon. All he did was place his hand on its hilt and he gripped it firmly and a flash of light screamed out of the sheath and tore up into the sky.
The wailing ray of light slashed through the dragon of lightning, dispelling it like flames bursting into fiery cinders and the dragon was gone.
“If that’s the sum of what you can do, then my second stroke will just end your life and be done with this duel,” Li Mu uttered coldly with disappointment fraught in his voice.
“You’ve achieved it!? That incredible stage which they deem as the Ultimate Invincibility?!” Song Mian’s countenance broke into that of awe and thrill. He burst into a peal of laughter, “GOOD! Very good! As expected of the demon from another world! At long last, I have found a worthy enemy! Let this be a good fight, Li Zhiyuan! Don’t disappoint!”
He arched himself. His very person emitted a strange, bright glow and he morphed into a dragon. Bathed in lightning bolts coiled around his serpentine length, he dove at Li Mu.
