Battle Royale
Long Zaitian looked over and smiled as if having completed a deeply needed action; expressed by the curves at his mouth’s corner and pearly whites: “Master, please forgive your humble servant for coming to your rescue late! Thankfully, your humble servant was able to rescue you from the wrath of these wretched scoundrels. Worry not, it is nothing worth mentioning.”
Emperor: “… Switch places with Ming Feizhen for the rest of the journey. He’ll join my carriage; you take on all of the miscellaneous tasks.”
Long Zaitian: “Y(es)-! Huh? Why?!”
Young Master Ling wiped the blood coming from his nose. Expression stoic, he flicked his sword and thrust it toward Long Zaitian’s face. Sensing the breeze blow harder, Long Zaitian hurriedly raised his head and rolled across the ground to avoid the sharp blade puncturing him. Young Master Ling mounted his next attack before Long Zaitian could get into position; however, a blistering arrow shot toward him, forcing him to stop and deflect the shot. After Tang Ye saved him, Long Zaitian vaulted up and engaged Young Master Ling.
“Hahaha, I said we would have to fight! Come on! Let’s roll!” exclaimed the man with the red scarf. He reached for his broadsword behind his back, freezing the air in the room, thereby indicating his skills relied on exerting his internal energy to boost the physical attacks executed. To do so, he would discharge his qi from his blade whenever he attacked. He exclaimed, “You, with the broadsword, let’s spar!”
The man with the red scarf was roughly thirty years old and carried the surname “Lie”. He was ten years older than Bai Laimu, but he didn’t care about honour. Like a man with a vengeance, he decided to attack Bai Laimu solely because the latter sported a broadsword. His broadsword with a ghost-head design was broad; nevertheless, he was able to wield it agilely. The cutting edge looked dull as if it absorbed the darkness around. It effortlessly cut through the tables and chairs impeding its swing. The most dangerous part was that he didn’t lose speed!
Bai Laimu grabbed his head and shouted, “Shit, what did I ever do to you?!”
What Bai Laimu lacked in the skill department, he made up for in the brains department. He wasted no time ducking behind Tang Ye and Long Zaitian. Next, he exclaimed, “Take this” before drawing his long broadsword and swinging at Young Master Ling. Despite being busy with two opponents already and caught of unexpectedly, Young Master Ling didn’t let his emotions take over. He reversed the direction of his swing and cut on an angle, easily deflecting Bai Laimu’s sneak attack.
Tang Ye and Long Zaitian, who switched places with Bai Laimu as a consequence of the latter’s manoeuvre, were stumped for a second until they felt the warning breeze behind them. The two reactively pivoted and launched their quickest attacks, a straight cross and a straight spear thrust. The man with the broadsword felt minimal pushback. He, however, sent Tang Ye and Long Zaitian back a step. Instead of capitalising on the opportunity to push the offence, the man stayed his ground and took a deep breath. The fact that he couldn’t finish them in one slash thrilled him.
The scholar didn’t join the fiasco but kept tabs on Dugu for whatever reason. Dugu and he exchanged a smile and nod. The girl armed with the baton didn’t get involved with the melee, either.
Worried, the Emperor called, “Ol’ Tie!”
Tie Hanyi hastily entered: “Present, Master.”
“Call everyone in to bring the situation under control.”
“Yes, Master!”
Over a dozen warriors filed in after Tie Hanyi summoned them. Pi Pixia wasn’t going to just sit idly by and watch; he turned to the window and summoned over a dozen disciples from various sects in Jiangnan to level the playing field.
Meanwhile, Young Master Ling’s speed picked up with every exchange once he was only dealing with Bai Laimu. Coming from Valley of Yearning, Bai Laimu’s broadsword style, which was reputedly Jiangnan’s best broadsword style, was easy to identify. Hence, Bai Laimu had to resort to utilising another style. Unfortunately, Young Master Ling found it a breeze easy to counter.
With no way to stop the fighting, the Emperor exclaimed, “Stop! Young Master Ling, we are also an orthodox sect!”
The Emperor’s intervention was wishful thinking. Young Master Ling laughed and thrust again. Bai Laimu had six cuts on him before he knew it, proving Young Master Ling could back up his arrogance. The Emperor recognised Milky Way Descends on the Nine Heavens, Mount Lu Sword Sanctuary’s swordplay passed down to descendants from the main clan. Therefore, the Emperor questioned if Young Master Ling was one of the descendants of the main clan.
“Hahahaha, shit, you’re pretty tough. Let’s see if you can handle these next three moves.”
Tang Ye crossed with the broadsword wielder using his spear, but the latter’s arm strength overpowered the former’s, forcing the former into defence mode. Yang Blood True Qi’s pros couldn’t be employed against devastatingly high-speed swings. That meant Tang Ye had to rely on his skills with his spear.
Tang Ye decided to switch his lead leg and pull his hips through, switching to wielding the spear with both hands. He performed a spear flower, producing a streak of fire that gradually resembled a swallow. His flurry of twirls ended the man’s combo chain, and the two returned to a stalemate.
Spear expert Patriarch Xia remarked, “Oh! Mount Tian Flying Swallow Spear Style? He must be Flying Swallowing Sect’s direct descendant!”
Patriarch Xia soon took back the thought upon recalling Tang Ye’s hand-to-hand combat skills weren’t part of Flying Swallow Sect’s syllabus. After all, the sect, like his own, focused purely on spear skills; they didn’t have their own set of hand-to-hand combat skills. The realisation puzzled him.
The Emperor eventually lost it: “Long Zaitian, this is all because of you. You stop the fight!”
Heart in pieces, Long Zaitian blindly charged in, thinking, “I thought they were also a bunch of useless punching bags like the lot outside. Man, why did they have to be so darn tough and from orthodox sects. Fuck, man.”
Upon noticing the hole in the ceiling, Long Zaitian had an idea. He called for Ye Luo. The girl in green, the scholar, elder, Dugu and Emperor stayed out of the fight. The four fighting wielded weapons in a small room. Tang Ye and the thirty year old man were trying to lop each other’s heads off. As a result, the room gradually started shaking.
“This is absurd. Why are you fighting at someone’s inn? Where are your manners? Please listen to this old one. It is easy to make enemies; friends are precious. Why are you fighting each other to the death for no reason?” said Old Shou.
Old Shou generated a gentle force in a low to high trajectory with a flick of his sleeve, ending the scraps.
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