Stranger Danger

Chapter 438: Sword Qi Rains From The Nine Heavens

“Hmm? Where is Wei Bulao?”

After declaring the start of the quarter finals, the participants stepped forward to draw lots. However, Wei Bulao was nowhere to be seen. His absence was noticed and discussed immediately.

“Where’s Wei Bulao?” Hong Jianglong asked while sweeping his gaze across his fellow colleagues. It looked like he was asking them where Wei Bulao was, but his question was specifically directed at Lei Xiaodan.

The Intelligence Department was the one who wrapped up the matter regarding the assault on Wei Bulao. In fact, Lei Xiaodan had personally taken Wei Bulao back to the Intelligence Department. Naturally, he had to know how the warrior was doing.

“Young Wei’s mind took some damage during yesterday’s incident, and he still hadn’t recovered from his injuries. Unfortunately, he won’t be able to participate in today’s match,” Lei Xiaodan answered with a genial smile on his face.

Young Wei? Ye Qing’s mouth twitched when he heard this. For whatever reason, Lei Xiaodan loved adding the word “young” in front of their surnames and addressing them that way. It can’t be because his name had a Xiao (Young) in it, right? Who am I kidding, of course it is.

“Very well. As per the rules of the Hidden Dragon Meet, Wei Bulao has forfeited this tournament.”

Hong Jianglong slapped the brazier beside him, and beams of light flew into the eight participants’ hands.

“Please enter the platform as shown by the number on your token…”

Ye Qing glanced at his token before turning to look at Zhao Lan. It so happened that the warrior was looking at him as well.

Zhao Lan cracked a demented grin before swiping a finger across his neck.

Ye Qing merely smiled and headed toward the second platform.

His surroundings warped after he entered the second platform. A moment later, Ye Qing found himself standing on a bamboo raft that was flowing downstream.

Another bamboo raft flowed out of the mist from the opposite side, and standing on top of it was a silhouette who stood as straight as a sword. His face wasn’t visible yet, but the sky of sword qi above him already revealed who he was.

“A shame…”

Ye Qing was a little disappointed. He was hoping to fight Zhao Lan, but alas, his opponent was Jian Wusheng.

The bamboo raft stopped about thirty meters away from Ye Qing’s. His blade pointed toward the bottom, Jian Wusheng clasped his fist and greeted him cordially, “Hail, Brother Ye.”

“Well met, Brother Wusheng.” Ye Qing returned the salute. He didn’t address Jian Wusheng as Brother Jian because the word Jian (Sword) could be read as Jian (Scum). He could be overthinking this, but he would rather not offend Jian Wusheng if he could.

“I’ve heard a lot about you, Brother Wusheng, and I can tell that you more than deserve your reputation. Please go easy on me.”

Jian Wusheng replied calmly, “You flatter me, Brother Ye. I have heard a lot about you as well. It is my honor to be able to fight against you.”

“I look forward to your instructions.”

“And I you.”

After the two men were done paying each other their respect, the rafts abruptly sped toward each other. Every time they traveled a third of a meter, Ye Qing’s energies would thicken, and Jian Wusheng’s sword qi would grow a little sharper.

When the two rafts were ten meters away from each other, Jian Wusheng thrust his sword in Ye Qing’s direction and summoned seventy-two sword qi from the river. Each sword qi looked sharp enough to cut through flesh and blood like nothing.

Ye Qing stomped his bamboo raft and caused it to sink a little. A wall of water flew into the air and slammed into the seventy two sword qi.

The seventy two sword qi sliced and diced the wall of water into droplets, but the wall of water also crushed many of their numbers.

Before the water droplets could fall back into the river, Jian Wusheng crouched a little and leaned forward. A fearless, unyielding, lifeless, deathless, egoless and invincible sword intent immediately permeated the air.

The next moment, Jian Wusheng’s sword sliced through the air.

“I Do Not Stand In A Sea Of Death”

The water in the sky was split into two. The bamboo raft Ye Qing was standing on was split into two. Even the river itself was split into two.

Jian Wusheng frowned, however. It was because his attack had missed.

“I do not stand in a sea of death; a sea of death lies where I am not.” One of the ultimate moves in “No Life, No I”, “I Do Not Stand In A Sea Of Death” was a deadly, one-move technique that demanded sword-and-body unity, fearlessness, speed, accuracy, and ruthlessness from its wielder. It should not need to be said, but few people possessed the skill to dodge his killer move.

The reason he used “I Do Not Stand In A Sea Of Death” right from the get go was because he wanted to end the match as quickly as possible. Ye Qing deeply worried him even though he was inferior to him in both cultivation level and reputation.

He had watched Ye Qing and Chu Qingge’s match from the start until the end, and while he was confident in his strength, he didn’t think he would’ve been able to defeat Chu Qingge’s “Son of Heaven Qi Observing Art”. But not only did Ye Qing do what he believed to be impossible, his Chaos Demon Ape Body had left a deep impression on him.

The Chaos Demon Ape Body was famed for its enormous strength and ridiculous resilience. Although “No Life, No I” was a hyper-offensive martial art, he wasn’t confident that he could beat Ye Qing immediately if the young man managed to close the distance. He might even lose if Ye Qing managed to drag out the fight like he did with Chu Qingge.

That was why he kicked off the match with one of his strongest moves, “I Do Not Stand In A Sea Of Death” immediately. Best case scenario, he could end the match immediately.

Unfortunately, he missed. Not only that, Ye Qing had somehow disappeared from his senses.

Jian Wusheng remained as cool as a golem, however. He tightened his grip and executed a horizontal sweep that summoned a ball of sword qi to rise from the river like the moon. The water surface was alight with sword qi as well.

“The Moon Illuminates The Western River”

“The Moon Illuminates The Western River” wasn’t a technique in “No Light, No I”, but that didn’t mean that it was inferior. On the contrary, it was a powerful attack that, as its name implied, covered an insane range rivaling that of moonlight.

Since Ye Qing was nowhere to be seen, he must be hiding somewhere in the shadows and waiting for an opportunity to act. Jian Wusheng decided not to give him the chance and used “The Moon Illuminates The Western River” to force him out into the open.

However, his ploy failed. The sword qi swept every inch of the river surface and dispelled the surrounding mist completely, but Ye Qing was still nowhere to be seen.

“He’s underneath the river!”

Realization struck Jian Wusheng then. If Ye Qing was on the river surface, then “The Moon Illuminates The Western River” would’ve hit him. Since it hadn’t, the young man could only be hiding under the water!

Ye Qing wasn’t one to let such an opportunity slip through his grasp. By the time Jian Wusheng recognized the danger, Ye Qing had soundlessly poked his fist out of the water until it touched the sole of Jian Wusheng’s right foot.

The gesture looked completely harmless, but everything within ten meters of Jian Wusheng abruptly exploded like a bomb. The protective sword qi Jian Wusheng wrapped himself in ripped into shreds, and his bones and muscles popped ominously as he was thrown into the sky.

At the same time, Ye Qing burst out of the water and charged toward Jian Wusheng.

Jian Wusheng was wary of Ye Qing, but Ye Qing was just as wary of him. After all, he was a named warrior on the Human Champions Ranking and the man who defeated Luo Zhan. He would have to be crazy to underestimate one such as him.

That was why Ye Qing had long since researched Jian Wusheng’s techniques and imagined what he would do if Jian Wusheng was his opponent. He was sure that Jian Wusheng had researched him as well.

[1]

He tried placing himself in Jian Wusheng’s position. What would he do if he was Jian Wusheng? He concluded that he would try to end the fight as quickly as possible and avoid being pulled into a war of attrition. He also concluded that he would probably use “I Do Not Stand In A Sea Of Death” to achieve this goal.

Thanks to his preparations, Ye Qing was able to avoid the killer move. Despite this, he failed to get away unscathed, Jian Wusheng’s sword qi and sword intent dealing some damage to his mind. He was lucky that his spirit was as strong as it was, or the consequences would be unimaginable.

After dodging the surprise attack, Ye Qing decided to hide inside the water and wait for an opportunity to give Jian Wusheng a taste of his own medicine. He succeeded. Since his force was carefully contained within his fist, his attack seemed perfectly harmless until the moment he made contact with Jian Wusheng’s sole. Not even the swordsman could walk away from this without suffering some injuries!

The best time to press the advantage was after the enemy was caught by surprise, so Ye Qing didn’t hesitate to go after Jian Wusheng. However, he had just crossed ten meters of distance when Jian Wusheng raised his scabbard high with his left hand, spun sideways, and discharged a blast of force upward.

His force surged, and the air vibrated like thunder. Jian Wusheng was able to correct his posture with his efforts and face toward Ye Qing. Gripping his sword with both hands, he slowly thrust his sword at him.

Sword qi washed out of Jian Wusheng and sealed the space surrounding him and his target. Every time his sword traveled an inch, the surrounding sword qi would solidify a little more. By the time his sword had traveled a meter, it was like the sky itself was pressing down on Ye Qing.

His energies suppressed, Ye Qing was pushed back where he came from. Even before he hit the river, the patch of water directly below Ye Qing depressed bit by bit as if a gigantic, invisible hand was pressing down on it.

“What a ‘Sword Qi Rains From The Nine Heavens’! It’s not a sword technique in ‘No Life, No I’, but it still embodies its force and intent! In fact, it’s no weaker than any existing technique in ‘No Life, No I’!”

Lei Xiaodan couldn’t help but voice a compliment when he saw Jian Wusheng’s sword qi raining ceaselessly from above like the judgment of heavens. “His talent in the way of the sword is truly outstanding!”

“Sometimes, the student surpasses the master. It certainly looks like Jian Wusheng’s achievements is going to surpass Gentleman Wusheng’s.” Hong Jianglong nodded in agreement before looking in Song Xilai’s direction. “Are you interested, Brother Song?”

Song Xilai hailed from Purity Sword, and Purity Sword was famous for their sword arts. They also had extremely strict requirements—so strict, in fact, that they only recruited those who were exceptionally gifted or talented with the sword only. Hong Jianglong was sure that Song Xilai would be interested in Jian Wusheng.

Song Xilai replied calmly, “One of my elders has already taken Jian Wusheng as a family disciple[2].”

“Damn! You guys sure work fast!” Hong Jianglong teased with a sliver of regret.

Purity Sword had three elders named “Cleansed Sword”, “Tempered Sword”, and “Sword Executor”. They were the highest authority in the sect besides the head himself. Song Xilai was the Sword Executor, and Jian Wusheng was taken in by the Cleansed Sword. It showed just how much they valued the young warrior.

“The early bird gets the worm.” Song Xilai shot Hong Jianglong and Lei Xiaodan a glance before cracking a rare joke. “The rest of you should make your move as quickly as possible as well. With Brother Hong and Brother Lei around, it’s only a matter of time all the talents worth recruiting are taken.”

“Hahahaha…” Everyone laughed when they heard that.

“Brother Song, I can see that Purity Sword values Jian Wusheng highly. Do you think he can become the champion of this Hidden Dragon Meet?” Someone asked.

Song Xilai thought for a moment before answering seriously, “That depends on whether he can defeat Qing Emperor Junior.”

“In that case, Jian Wusheng is definitely going to be the champion.” Someone laughed. “Jian Wusheng has already seized the upper hand. It won’t be long before he takes the match.”

“How can you say that? Qing Emperor Junior may have fallen into a disadvantage, but he’s still full of energy. The match can still go either way,” someone retorted.

“You’re wrong. Qing Emperor Junior is definitely a formidable warrior, but Jian Wusheng is a named warrior on the Human Champions Ranking, and his cultivation level is higher. It’s one thing if Qing Emperor Junior still holds the advantage, but now that the tables have turned, it would be very difficult for him to turn things around.”

“Indeed. Not only that, they’re fighting on a river right now. Qing Emperor Junior’s Chaos Demon Ape Body wouldn’t be able to unleash its full power on such a terrain. I just can’t see how he might win against Jian Wusheng.”

“No, I disagree. A battle between warriors can swing in any direction in an instant. It might look like Jian Wusheng is holding the advantage right now, but that can easily change in the next moment. That is why it’s so hard to predict the outcome of a battle!”

The bigshots in the kiosks weren’t the only ones who were talking about the match. The spectators standing beneath the platform were in deep discussion as well.

Xu Rulin and Yang Zhao were fighting on the first platform, Ye Qing and Jian Wusheng were fighting on the second platform, Zhuo Henshui and Wen Xiaonuan were fighting on the third platform, and Zhao Lan and Zhao Bu’er were fighting on the fourth platform.

Although each and every participant on the platform was a genius in their own right, and the fact that they were evenly-matched made the battles even more interesting than usual, most of them were still sounding out their opponents and holding back their strength. On the other hand, Ye Qing and Jian Wusheng had jumped straight to the climax since the match kicked off, and it didn’t look like it was going to end anytime soon. Naturally, everyone’s eyes were set on their battle.

1. Completely unrelated, but it’s truly a shame Jian Wusheng didn’t have a skill that says, “I Am The Storm That Is Approaching”. ☜

2. Literally what it means. The master takes the disciple and treats him like his own son, which is why there is the idiom, “A master for a day, a father for a lifetime”. ☜