A Visitor from Afar
“Here he comes.”
Shen Yiren’s sword qi scattered as it met Jiang Chen’s wall of sword qi, resembling silver sparks flying about. The billowing gale brushed her hair backwards, but she remained unshakable mentally and physically. She lined her hand up along Yujing and then propelled herself upward on an angle to avoid the forward force of Jiang Chen’s sword qi. Suddenly, the wall of sword qi split into small qi blades that chased her into the air.
Since the tactic change rendered her into the state of a leaf in the wind, Shen Yiren used her thin sword as a sledgehammer and slammed downwards, shattering two qi blades. The reciprocal force almost knocked blood out of her nose, but she focused on leveraging the new force trajectory that was introduced to reposition herself. As the qi blades exploded, the dispersion of qi knocked her back down.
“You have displayed a most pure heart and spirit, Miss Shen. That is the first time this one is seeing that discipline. Is that something you created?”
Praise for an opponent was never a sign of mercy. If anything, it was a sign that the one giving adulation was comfortable.
Shen Yiren back tucked and landed without a speck of dust on her, but she had to wipe blood off her face. The grades of her successive injuries were progressively worsening with each exchange, yet she hadn’t managed to see any chance of closing the distance. Not only was he more technically sound with a sword, but even his internal energy was levels above her own. Even if he wasn’t fast, that much internal energy would easily make him the superior qinggong user. If nothing else, there was the undebatable fact that he had evaded capture from elites for a century. Though she had met her fair share of adepts, it was her first time facing someone so complete – potent internal energy, unbelievable perceptiveness, refined swordplay and an immeasurable depth of knowledge. While time was Jiang Chen’s enemy, it also provided him with more opportunities than anyone to develop every facet of being a martial artist.
Jiang Chen chose to crush Shen Yiren through the pure might of sword qi because he was aware that Luo Ming’s style was highly sophisticated. He was confident he could beat Shen Yiren, but it’d have taken more effort to out-skill her than to just crush her through physical prowess. Unless his opponent had reached Divine Realm, they were going to have a hard time when he had an answer for everything.
A seemingly unbeatable foe stood before her. A group of assassins were waiting to jump them at the back. And, she had to escape with Mountain Monster. Success never felt so impossible before.
“Do you still wish to continue, Miss?”
He obviously wasn’t in her head, yet Shen Yiren heard his voice as though he was in there.
“He who knows what’s best for him is a true warrior. The gap between us is no small one. Even if you try your best, it is unlikely it will go beyond ten exchanges. For as long as you live, you can fight another day. Why waste your efforts for nothing?”
“We already established we serve different masters. All the necessary talking has been said. Any more yapping is only going to make me think less of you.”
Jiang Chen slotted his sword into the ground. “You are a very perceptive lady. Howbeit, you have forgotten something, the most important thing.” Jiang Chen’s gaze suddenly became piercing. “You have forgotten who you are. You are strong, smart and fearless. There is nothing wrong with being willing to sacrifice yourself. However, you have forgotten how many other people care about you, and they are all people who matter.”
“You want to take me hostage to blackmail His Majesty? He is a monarch; he won’t forsake the bigger picture to quell his personal emotions.”
Jiang Chen shook his head. “Although Li Yong can forsake his children, he won’t forsake you as he feels he owes your family. If I were to take your brother hostage, he may very well immediately bestow the throne upon me.”
“Fk off.” Shen Yiren pointed her sword diagonally toward the blue dome and started emanating white smoke around herself. “That’s the longest version of saying ‘blackmail’ that I’ve ever heard. Shen Clan may have a daughter who died in battle but never a daughter who surrendered.”
Jiang Chen bitterly smiled. “What a shame.”
“Come forth!”
If she was inferior in every way, then there was only trying. If defeat was the only possible outcome, then it just meant dying.
As Shen Yiren churned out every ounce of energy she had, dust rose and swirled until nothing but dust was visible. Only rays of sunlight could stream through the gaps, creating a shiny sandstorm. The combination further obstructed Jiang Chen’s vision whilst hiding Shen Yiren.
For the first time in their match, Jiang Chen pulled his sword out of the ground to prepare for the maiden’s ultimate attack, the absolute best she had to offer from her lifetime of accumulation.
Shen Yiren manifested the spirit of Black-White Hair into the realm of man to execute a strike that couldn’t be stopped with brute force alone.
Growing up with a sword in hand, creating countless techniques for Confucianism swordplay, it was impossible for Jiang Chen to have no passion for swordplay even though he carried the burden of revenge.
From the moment he saw the strike, Jiang Chen began thinking of a counter. In the end, he determined that it wasn’t an attack that he could technically dismantle. Thus, he thrust straight forward, running his sword tip into Shen Yiren’s.
Shen Yiren could taste blood in her mouth and from her nose. Despite her best efforts, she was still repelled. Unable to disseminate the force imposed upon her, she crashed straight into the sandstorm she whipped up and deep into the ground.
Jiang Chen weakly lowered his extended up and smiled bitterly. “… That was a nice one.”
Everything stopped moving. Had it not been for a random snoring sequence that the airborne dirt transported around, it would’ve been dead silent. The snore came from the same person who was snoring in the tavern before. In spite of how weird it was, nobody laughed when the snoring came from the ruins of the tavern. Quite to the contrary, Jiang Chen was more focused than ever before.
Having received their orders, the assassins abandoned the encirclement to head to the ruins. Meanwhile, Mountain Monster crawled over and pulled Shen Yiren out of the hole. Shen Yiren was hurt bad, but she still had enough strength to move her own weight, and her spirit was unbroken. Mountain Monster gulped and then shook Shen Yiren by the shoulders, “Hey, hey, Lass Shen, are you thinking what I’m thinking?”
Shen Yiren raised her chin, turned it off to the side and aggressively spat out the dirt in her mouth while looking absolutely frightening. “… If you’re thinking, ‘Fking son of a fking b****, I’m going to get buried,’ then, yes.”
“Damn, you sound hot when you’re pissed off.”
“One more time and I’ll bury you alive!”
Despite how loud Shen Yiren raised her voice, the snoring volume was still louder. As a matter of fact, it kept getting louder and louder until the leaves in the trees started trembling.
“Show yourself!” thundered an assassin. “Otherwise, I’ll kill you where you stand!”
The people standing beside the assassin didn’t even hear him yelling because of the snoring.
Jiang Chen voiced, “If you have come all the way here, why not show yourself instead of playing tricks?”
At long last, the snoring ceased. A while later, the snorer, in a groggy tone, bemoaned, “Who woke me up? Hmm? Why is it dark? Why did this place fall apart? Proprietor, your place was built poorly. I’ll repair it for you.”
They heard a folding paper fan snap open, and then they saw the broken building flying back to where it was supposed to be. Pillars, bricks, rails and furniture, were hurled back into their original spots one after another. The four big pillars that Jiang Chen sliced looked as good as new – though they weren’t actually as good as new. In an unbelievably short amount of time, the tavern was restored, albeit dangerous unstably.
If the waiter had comments or remarks for commentary, he had none left after what he witnessed. The proprietor saluted the person who repaired his tavern and expressed, “Thank you for your help, Young Master.”
“No need to stand on ceremony. Your wine is great. I’ll take some for my master. He might promote me a few ranks. If anything, I should be thanking you.”
The young man stretched out his upper body and sat up, fanning himself with his paper fan. Leaning on the railing, he casually conveyed, “Wow, so many unfamiliar faces. Hey, my name’s Tianhu. Nice to meet y’all.”
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