Chapter 8: Sword and Fist

The youth’s words made many people’s expressions turn grave.

The Prison Suppressing Emissaries atop the Fiery Steeds also began discussing animatedly.

“This kid is out of the ordinary,” said a hunchbacked old man wearing a bamboo hat atop a Fiery Steed, stroking his beard.

“In the killings of the jianghu, those who can show mercy are no more than two kinds. One is when the difference in strength is too vast, like a tiger playing with a lamb,” said a sword-bearing man whose eyes were covered with a black cloth strip.

“The other kind is two cowards constantly testing each other, searching for an opportunity, neither daring to go all out,” said a youth with a longsword at his waist.

“Interesting.” Yun Zhenbian rubbed the beard on his chin, looking like he was watching a good show.

Seeing his smiling face, the expressions of many Prison Suppressing Emissaries turned strange.

The sword-bearing man with black cloth covering his eyes said, “General Yun, aren’t you…”

“Let me wait and see first.”

Yun Zhenbian chuckled and looked on with great interest, causing the surrounding Prison Suppressing Emissaries to shift their expressions.

In the field, Jiang Chong heard Gu Shiyi’s words. After his expression flickered for a moment, he suddenly grinned and laughed loudly.

Major “Now I want to fight you even more!”

He uttered a low roar, and a wild gust of wind actually surged from his body, blowing his clothes so that they snapped loudly.

Veins bulged across his arms and face, and his feet sank slightly into the ground. At a glance, he looked like an indestructible stone lion crouching on the earth.

Lu Jianjia noticed something unusual and hurriedly asked the old man, “Grandpa Yang, what on earth happened? What do his words mean? I’m completely baffled.”

Old Yang said solemnly, “Jianjia, I misjudged him. This kid… I’m afraid only Great Xia’s Ten Quasi-Martial Saints can be mentioned in the same breath as him!”

Lu Jianjia showed a shocked expression. The Ten Quasi-Martial Saints were cultivated by powerful factions of Great Xia using countless heavenly materials, earthly treasures, and the painstaking effort of several famous masters. Every single one of them was terrifyingly strong to an inhuman degree.

The Ten Quasi-Martial Saints were just as their name implied. Not only their realm, but even their profound arts and combat power far surpassed their peers, reaching a terrifying level.

Although this youth was a Sixth-Grade Martial Master, could he really compare to those monsters?

At this moment, Jiang Chong suddenly moved.

He shouted “Halt!”, his body darting out with an afterimage as the terrifying airwaves beneath his feet completely shattered the rocks on the ground.

“Indeed a Sixth-Grade Martial Master, True Qi Origin Stream!” Old Yang nodded, his expression turning solemn.

Under the endless True Qi, a Martial Master could shatter rocks underfoot and bend cold iron.

When True Qi was circulating, a Martial Master’s speed and power would experience a leap forward, breaking metal and severing jade as easily as flipping a hand.

This Jiang Chong was by no means ordinary; just the simple steps he took at this moment could easily trample Iron Foot Lu flat along with his iron shoes!

With a “boom,” Jiang Chong raised his sword.

The giant sword was raised high, and an airwave rose from the ground. The dozens of onlookers nearby were actually blown every which way by the wild wind!

It was as if the moment the giant sword was raised, even this piece of heaven and earth had been upturned!

Even Old Yang couldn’t help shouting in praise, “Fine sword momentum!”

The shadow of the giant sword enveloped the youth, like a towering mountain ready at any moment to smash him into minced meat!

“Stone Lion Sea-Suppressing Sword Technique, open—”

Jiang Chong roared, his voice like thunder!

Majestic True Qi surged into both his arms and then flowed into the giant sword. People seemed to hear rumbles, like ocean waves washing over rocks, or like a lion king roaring, striking terror into ten thousand beasts.

A gust of wild wind surged from the giant sword, wrapping around the blade.

Old Yang said gravely, “Sword Gang Qi! This is the terrifying manifestation of True Qi exiting the body that only occurs after the Seventh-Grade, where flying flowers become throwing knives, killing invisibly.

Jiang Chong’s sword momentum has already touched the threshold of the Seventh-Grade. With such powerful True Qi combined with such a heavy giant sword, its power is beyond imagination!”

Everyone stared intently at the youth, utterly unable to imagine how he would respond.

Yet Lu Jianjia’s heart suddenly tightened for reasons unknown to her.

On that snowy night, the youth’s wolf-like eyes had left far too deep an impression on her.

Was that youth really going to fall here?

As the giant sword descended, the youth suddenly raised his head, and Lu Jianjia saw his eyes.

Those eyes were just as they were back then, like dawn in the dark night, bright and dazzling.

Chilly, transparent, decisive… devoid of fear alone!

The youth’s clothes exploded with a “bang,” and countless veins bulged across his body. Each vein was like a venomous dragon, constantly throbbing.

He bent over, flexed his knees, pulled back his arm, and as he moved, his veins contracted and expanded section by section before he violently threw a fist.

Everything happened in a flash of lightning, smooth as flowing clouds and water, completed in one breath.

“Boom!”

A sound like a thunderclap suddenly exploded from within the youth’s body.

Truly deafening!

Upon hearing this sound, several women watching behind him actually rolled their eyes simultaneously, their bodies turning soft as they fainted to the ground.

Old Yang’s expression changed, and he gasped in cold air.

“Boom~ Bang… Thud…”

That was the sound of a person being blasted backward, shattering a wooden cart by the street, and finally crashing into and collapsing a wall.

Silence fell all around. Blood and half of a broadsword lay scattered on the ground.

“Hoo~ Hoo~ Hoo~”

The youth panted heavily, while Jiang Chong had long vanished without a trace!

The scene was dead silent.

Even the Prison Suppressing Emissaries in the air looked at each other in blank dismay, no one making a sound.

Yun Zhenbian grinned, revealing a mouthful of large white teeth.

Lu Jianjia covered her mouth, her beautiful eyes wide with shock.

In that soundless world, she saw the youth’s fist shatter the giant sword, then slam heavily onto that Jiang Chong!

What kind of terrifying power was that?

It could simply destroy everything!

Bare-chested, the wild wind blew over the youth, revealing an extremely hideous scar on his chest, like a massive flower covering half his body.

A saber wound? A sword wound?

Neither.

That bizarre wound looked as if a fist had forcibly punched straight through his chest!

Aside from that, various sword wounds and saber wounds were too numerous to count.

“Clatter…”

Everyone looked toward the sound. Among the rubble, Jiang Chong with great difficulty raised his head. Bleeding from all seven orifices, he looked at Gu Shiyi and gave a bloody smile.

“Jiang Chong… is… full of admiration…”

Having spoken, his head tilted to the side, and he lay in the pile of rubble, no longer breathing.

Lu Jianjia reached out to cover her small mouth, her small face turning snow-white.

A powerfully strong Sixth-Grade Martial Master was actually beaten to death with a single fist, just like that?

Looking back at the youth, his breathing was already calm as usual, his face expressionless, his eyes bright.

He said nothing, nor did he laugh out loud.

Yet quiet as he was, he resembled a bloodthirsty Shura!

The more Lu Jianjia looked, the more terrified she became, as if the entire world was filled with blood and slaughter!

An aged palm suddenly fell heavily on Jianjia’s shoulder, and Lu Jianjia snapped awake.

A gentle breeze blew past, making her feel cold all over. Without realizing it, she had broken into a cold sweat.

“Little Jianjia, don’t be frightened by blood. The jianghu is like this: if you don’t die, he dies. But between life and death, there are still many things. Do you remember what he said just now? He was advising Jiang Chong not to throw his life away.”

Lu Jianjia said, somewhat puzzled, “Then why did Jiang Chong still want to fight him?”

“There are two reasons. First, everyone has aspirations. Scholars aspire to be saints, Martial Masters aspire to be Martial Saints, soldiers aspire to be generals—everyone has their own pursuit. Jiang Chong is a man of the jianghu; the peak of martial arts is his pursuit.”

Grandpa Yang sighed, casually tossing a pouch of silver onto Jiang Chong’s body, and said to the pale waiter, “Please give him a proper burial. The rest counts as compensation.”

Then Grandpa Yang added, “Second, that Jiang Chong was stuck as a Sixth-Grade Martial Master, and judging by his strength, he had likely encountered a bottleneck for many years. I’m afraid the biggest reason it was difficult for him to break through was that he was once defeated by Wu Feng of the Ten Quasi-Martial Saints.

Now that he encountered this youth, whose talent and realm were like another Wu Feng, if he turned a blind eye to it, his inner demon would not die, and it would be impossible for him to break through in this lifetime.”

Lu Jianjia gazed at the youth in the field, an indescribable feeling in her heart.

She could never have imagined that the scrawny youth she met on that snowy day was actually… so terrifying.

Grandpa Yang saw through her thoughts and smiled, “Little Jianjia, the jianghu is just like this. It’s like a tranquil lake, but no one knows what kind of monsters are hidden beneath its surface.”

“What is your relationship with Thousand-Slayer Shen Juezhuo?!”

An angry shout suddenly came. Everyone looked up to see a youth clad in a black dragon robe jumping down from a Fiery Steed.

His expression was ice-cold as he drew the jet-black longsword from his waist and casually swung it.

With a swish, a wave of air cut through the crowd, and a carriage parked outside the crowd actually exploded into pieces with a “boom”!

“Sword Gang Qi! A Seventh-Grade Martial Master!” someone cried out in alarm, gasping in cold air.

“Brother Gu—let go of me!”

A voice suddenly came from outside the crowd. Gu Shiyi’s expression shifted, and he looked back to see a white-haired, long-bearded old man holding a horsetail whisk, spanning ten zhang with every step as he approached.

That small whisk had actually extended by several zhang at this moment, wrapping Nie Nie up tightly like a zongzi.