Chapter 95: Stab
“If you do not want to be embarrassed, then do not seek embarrassment?”
Palace Attendant Rong slowly murmured the words that the yellow-robed middle-aged man told her. The man’s breathing deepened slightly as he thought that she would immediately erupt in range. But Palace Attendant Rong only raised her hand to indicate that he could leave.
Seeing the yellow-robed middle-aged man disappear on the mountain path, Palace Attendant Rong’s face was shadowed. Since Jin Liuli had clearly expressed such an attitude, any verbal dispute had no meaning at all.
“I sent someone to see you as a sign of respect by a guest to the host. Min Mountain Sword Sect is your home. But apologies, I am only a servant. I only care about the final result, why would I care if I would be embarrassed during the process?” Palace Attendant Rong turned to the side and lowered her head slightly to look at Jin Liuli’s figure below. She said calmly to herself, I hope that this sword trial will teach this wineshop youth a lesson, and you, as the heir to the Min Mountain Sword Sect, will also receive a lesson.
“She will not give up just because of your words,” Yantai Guanjian looked at Jin Liuli and said.
“Of course I know she will not give up,” Jin Liuli said with slight disdain. “But if she gives me an opportunity to be scolded, of course I will not miss it.”
Yantai Guanjian couldn’t help but grimace and shake his head. Regardless of what kind of genius Jin Liuli was, she was too young to have such strange tastes.
“Should we stop him?” Yantai Guanjian asked.
This was his third time asking this question.
The last two times were due to Qing Yaoyin as Qing Yaoyin’s and Jin Liuli’s opinions were completely in agreement. The question this time was due to new changes.
“No need.”
Like the two times, Jin Liuli shook her head without hesitation. “I set the rules of the sword trial. Since I did not rule that this could not be done before, there is no reason to stop it. Even more importantly, this concerns my pride. Just like how that wine shop youth knows that she will act, he still thinks that she cannot stop him from winning, I also think she cannot succeed.”
Yantai Guanjian looked at her proud face and still thought that this was a youthful bad taste.
“I scolded her just now and now there is this change. Does she have some ability to pass messages within Min Mountain Sword Sect?” Jin Liuli turned to ask him.
Yantai Guanjian smiled and said, “No outsider is able to pass messages in Min Mountain Sword Sect, especially at a time like this. The military has some special messaging equipment, like the Two Mind Worm, the Pulling Horm and other items. The Jiaodong Commandery and the overseas has Resonance Pearls. This kind of pearl is created naturally deep in the sea. Two to a pair. If one of the pearls is destroyed, the other would lose its energy and split apart. These items are usually used to pass on simple military orders, such as attack and retreat. It would be hard to pass on detailed commands.”
Jin Liuli frowned. “I know little about these things.”
Yantai Guanjian said unconcernedly, “These things cannot compare to cultivation. If you experience it and hear of it, you will know. Also, you may not need to know this.”
Jin Liuli understood Yantai Guanjian’s meaning.
The Min Mountain Sword Sect had all kinds of cultivators. She only had to become the strongest sword of Min Mountain Sword Sect. She only had to represent Min Mountain Sword Sect’s attitude and did not need to leave Min Mountain Sword Sect.
Before becoming the strongest sword of Min Mountain Sword Sect, she did not feel that it would be boring to stay in Min Mountain Sword Sect all the time. So she nodded and her gaze fell on a student passing through the deep red brambles.
This student was a dark-skinned youth. He was not very good looking; he had a protruding forehead and cheekbones and he was not very tall and even slightly hunchbacked.
In the previous events, this youth had performed ordinarily and most people hadn’t noticed when he had passed each test.
Before entering this plain, he had been one of the students near the end and still hadn’t attracted attention. And yet, this student was one of the most famous and mysterious people among the students.
He was ranked first on the Book of Talents, Lie Yinghong.
Other than knowing he came from Jiaodong Commandery by the sea, may have cultivated overseas and knew cultivation tactics of island cultivators, no cultivation place in Changling had much knowledge of him.
Previously, he had worn a coarse earthy-colored robe, and now he wore a deep red robe.
This robe was woven from threads made out of the red bamble bark here. While it was usually thick, the robe was extremely resilient and close-knit. It was like a thin armor that stopped the thorns on the brambles from penetrating.
Even more importantly, he hadn’t spent much time to complete this robe. He did not appear like a sword-using cultivator, but a masterful hand craftsman.
He was passing through the brambles directly. While he was not fast in his advance, his body was bowed and almost completely concealed in the brambles. He looked like a wary and calm lone wolf ready to hunt, or a shark swimming under shallow water.
“She wants Ding Ning to learn, the more he attempts to fight, the more he will lose. In the end, I fear he will not just lose Xue Wangxu.” Jin Liuli looked at Lie Yinghong’s figure and slowly said, “Many cultivators can ignore their own life and death, but constant pressure like this can cause a mental breakdown.”
Hearing her words, Yantai Guanjian turned to look at her and said softly with seriousness, “So do not care too much about any person, otherwise, you will have many weaknesses.”
“How about you?” Hearing Yantai Guanjian’s sincere advice as a teacher, Jin Liuli asked in response.
Yantai Guanjian smiled faintly and said, “The people I care about are stronger than me. Even if I have weaknesses, other people cannot catch them.”
Lie Yinghong was clearly a cultivator skilled in tracking. During the pair’s conversation, Lie Yinghong had locked onto a prey.
He was almost heading directly for the prey.
So while he was not moving quickly, he quickly approached his prey.
The stream water was slightly cool. While the brambles on the two sides had the annoying thorns, like almost all plants, they gave off a natural fragrance.
Shen Yi, before coming to Changling, had been like most Guanzhong youths. He had enough bravery and drive, but his personality and conduct was not very meticulous and reliable.
He cared for Xue Wangxu in Falling Parasol for half a year, living in an ordinary impoverished alley day in and out. Other than cultivation, what he did was the most menial and ordinary things. He had received Xue Wangxu’s teachings and advanced greatly in his swordsmanship, his personality had turned calmer.
So, even though he was extremely tired and in pain, still far from the green palace as though he would never reach it, he did not feel much panic and discouragement.
When he sensed the minute movements in the brambles behind him, he immediately stopped, grasped his sword and turned around.
Yet, the minuscule change disappeared from his senses. He only saw a patch of calm deep red brambles.
Shen Yi frowned deeply. He knew that he had not sensed incorrectly so he waited as calm as possible.
Time slowly passed. Shen Yi, holding his sword hilt, became a statue.
A wild storm suddenly exploded from the dark red brambles.
The deep red bramble bush he faced fell down, the branches cut into pieces that flew towards him along a wild wind.
With a hiss, Shen Yi pulled his sword. At the same time, a hint of shock flashed through his eyes.
The wild wind was coming at him from the front, but this attacker did not attack along this wild gust. Instead, a sword light appeared behind him!
His attention had all been on the storm ahead of him and he knew he was too slow when he sensed the sword attacking his back. But he didn’t panic. He still swung his sword as fast and smoothly as possible in front of him as he used his feet and waist to twist his body.
A sharp silver light was already close to his body.
At this moment, the sword light flooded out of Shen Yi’s hand.
A strange dazzling circle of light exploded in front of Shen Yi. In the next moment, Shen Yi’s surroundings were pitch black as though night had descended, with this silver sword light had also disappeared.
The master of this silver sword light could not ignore this and decisively retreated with a low shout.
Shen Yi chased after the ambusher but felt no joy. He could sense dots of coldness in the wild wind behind him.
That was the coldness of metal.
In the wild wind coming towards his back, there were the pieces of red brambles, and also other items.
These things were extremely close to his back so just by the scene of metal, he could imagine the scene of thin pieces of sword about to touch his back.
Reality was so.
Several sharp pieces of swords, like narrow fish bones, fell onto his back.
