Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
Jing Jiu used his right hand as a sword and formed a formation of the Inherited Heaven Sword style. He had done so in a very serious manner and with a grave expression on his face, indicating that he was preparing himself for a formidable foe.
Who could take the sword from his hand so easily under the circumstances?
Save for Zhao Layue, that is.
Jing Jiu had always thought that the Inherited Heaven Sword style was the weakest in his repertoire of all the sword styles of the nine peaks. He hoped that Gu Qing would be able to do a better job in the future.
But, if he tried his hardest, he would be able to contend with the Snow Girl, because the Sword of the Universe was his sword nonetheless. Jing Jiu felt clearly that she was merely interested in his sword, and more importantly, Wang Xiaoming was still holding the Sun Banner nearby, so he had to take the opportunity.
As the Snow Girl came to the battle field, the ocean of fire headed toward her diagonally from the sky; the heavenly fires in the clouds stopped falling onto the Green Sky Mirror, but instead bombarded the Snow Girl. The stream water froze into ice now and evaporated in smoke after. The red and scorching hot rocks broke into pieces instantly when the icy water washed over them. It was a hectic scene.
Something must be wrong with the Sun Banner. The Chaotic Fire disobeyed Wang Xiaoming’s command and attacked the Snow Girl on its own.
A gentle, chilly wind arose as Jing Jiu disappeared from the original spot. He arrived at a spot a few miles away, and swiped his right hand like a sword at Wang Xiaoming.
He didn’t employ the Seal of the Underworld Emperor, since it would take a longer time for it to generate its full power, and he didn’t use other secretive magic treasures either. He relied on nothing but his own right hand.
When the Green Girl told him that the Green Sky Mirror couldn’t be used for fighting, Jing Jiu was baffled, thinking that a magic treasure of the Heavenly State that couldn’t be used for fighting was no different from rubbish.
Yet, what would a magic treasure of the Heavenly State that could fight achieve?
Jing Jiu wanted to test how powerful his right hand had become after he sharpened it from spring until autumn and then until spring again.
The Sun Banner stood in front of Wang Xiaoming to protect its master.
Though all of the Chaotic Fire had been drawn to the Snow Girl, the Sun Banner was still a very powerful magic treasure. It was nonetheless not a match for his right hand.
Crack!!!
An evident fracture appeared on the surface of the banner full of black soul fires.
Wang Xiaoming was bewildered, as he didn’t think it was possible.
Since the Sun Banner was connected to his mind, his mind was acutely assaulted when the body of the banner was damaged; he spat out a mouthful of fresh blood.
With a grunt, Wang Xiaoming employed the demonic method hastily. A huge air wave created by the Sun Banner knocked Jing Jiu away, sending Wang Xiaoming to the clouds at the same time. Wang Xiaoming arrived high in the sky in the blink of an eye.
Whoosh!!!
Jing Jiu arrived in the sky as well, like a shadow of Wang Xiaoming, his cloth fluttering. His right hand whacked at Wang Xiaoming along with a flash of frightening light.
Yet, Wang Xiaoming’s demonic prowess was indeed outstanding. With a stern shout, he turned into several puffs of black smoke. He then regained control of the Sun Banner, which hurled the fires in the clouds toward Jing Jiu.
A thudding thunder blasted out in the sky.
The dark and burning clouds broke apart, scattering abruptly.
The fire walls that came up from the cracks on the ground were gradually sinking until they had vanished without a trace.
Two straight lines could be seen from where the thudding thunder occurred.
One of the lines dived into the snow in front of the snowy mountain, and the other landed further ahead.
…
…
There was a large pit in the distant on the barren plain.
Wang Xiaoming had his eyes closed, and the demonic armor was broken in half. His chest was covered in blood, and his face was as ashen as a white paper.
Enshrouded in black smoke, Wang Xiaoming suddenly opened his eyes and screamed like a wounded wild animal.
He couldn’t believe that the Sun Banner had gone wayward at a critical moment; it only focused on attacking that snowman, who came from nowhere, rather than Jing Jiu.
In order to snatch the Green Sky Mirror, he had prepared for a long time. But in the end, he was badly defeated, and the magic treasure that had saved his life was damaged; worst of all, the Sun Banner suffered a fracture in the hands of Jing Jiu.
Though this fracture wasn’t fatal for the Sun Banner, he had to kill a great many people if he wanted to re-temper it back to perfection.
The most frustrating part was that he had worked so hard but was still defeated by Jing Jiu. Wang Xiaoming was unconvinced.
He leapt out of the pit while holding the Sun Banner, and was about to jump into the sky to resume his fight with Jing Jiu.
Along with a few sounds of air breaking, Gao Ya and several elders of the Mysterious
Dark Church came over. Witnessing what had happened, they approached Wang Xiaoming hastily and stopped him.
The Church Master had suddenly disappeared from the headquarters, with the Sun Banner revealing some unusual commotions later; they knew right away that something was happening. As the cloud of fires from the Sun Banner scattered, they came over in a hurry. But, they witnessed the scene unexpectedly. Even though they were not pleased with Wang Xiaoming, they didn’t dare do anything against him. They could do nothing but beg him to leave the place as soon as possible.
This place was at the north edge of the Cold Mountain and close to White Town. The Sun Banner had made such a commotion that day, which would alert those swordsmen in the city.
If the Young Zen Master and others came and took the Sun Banner from them, the Mysterious Dark Church would be finished.
Before his departure, Wang Xiaoming glanced at the snowy mountain hatefully, thinking that he would kill that person someday.
Not long after the group of the Mysterious Dark Church left, the orthodox swordsmen had arrived.
They were the Immortal He and the Master of the Windy-Broadsword Church.
They stood on the clouds while looking down at the rubbles on the barren plain and the collapsed snowy mountain with furrowed eyebrows, wondering what had happened there.
The melted rocks should have been done by the Sun Banner of the Mysterious Dark Church; but who were the people they fought with? Why was there no trace of fighting left behind?
…
…
Earlier, the fire in front of the large snowy mountain had extinguished.
The Sun Banner was retrieved by Wang Xiaoming. The fires couldn’t start again without a source, and the underground fires went back to the earth source.
Jing Jiu stood up and wiped the ice and snow off his face, looking a bit pale. He looked at the distance while furrowing his brows slightly.
He didn’t expect Wang Xiaoming to have demonic armor protecting his body. Though the armor was sliced into pieces by his sword, it had saved Wang’s life.
Standing on the same spot, the Snow Girl lowered her head and looked at the Sword of the Universe in her hands, sensing the energy on it.
Her body had shrunk a lot. The clean water dripped to the ground off her body, turning into ice instantly. But it seemed that the Snow Girl didn’t notice that she had been wounded badly by the fires of the Sun Banner. It was either because she hadn’t had any fighting experience or because she had the memory that the human magic treasures like the Sun Banner couldn’t cause her any true harm.
As Jing Jiu got out from the snow, he neither glanced at the Snow Girl nor looked at the Sword of the Universe in her hands. He suddenly disappeared from the spot he was at, ending up a few miles away when he reappeared.
The Green Sky Mirror had returned to its original size, lying on the ground quietly. The Green Girl was flapping her wings while looking in the direction of the snowy mountain; fright and bewilderment were written all over her small face.
“Let’s go,” Jing Jiu said.
The Green Girl came to her senses and said while pointing at the snowy mountain, “Your sword is still over there.”
Jing Jiu didn’t pay her any attention. He picked up the Green Sky Mirror and used the white cloth that had been burned by the Sun Banner to tie it to his back. In an instant, he arrived at a place a few miles away.
Standing on the same spot and looking at the disappearing figure in the distance, Tong Yan wondered if Jing Jiu had just robbed him of his magic treasure.
The Green Girl didn’t even notice that Tong Yan had been left behind, as she reminded Jing Jiu, “Your beetle is also over there.”
Jing Jiu gave no response, as he thought that even if they were the Lone Sword and Ada, he had no choice but to leave them behind, and that went for the Sword of the Universe and Cold Cicada as well; what they needed to do right now was get away from here as far as possible.
Soon after, he came to a patch of snowy mountain range fifty miles away with the Green Sky Mirror on his back.
He realized that the direction was not right, meaning he should travel to the south rather than to the deep part of the snowy mountains.
Without any tree blocking it, the broken cliff was quite visible.
He landed in front of the broken cliff and remained silent for a while.
As a gust of wind whipped up, the Sword of the Universe drifted over.
The Snow Girl was sitting on the sword. Her body was small and delicate, white hair drooping down her back like a wedding gown; and she appeared rather lovely with Cold Cicada attached to her hair like a hair clip.
She gazed at Jing Jiu quietly, no emotion showing in the blackness of her profound eyes.
