Chapter 247: The Shameless Xia Bantian
Translator: AstralGhost Editor: Kurisu
There were still a lot of people in the huge camping area, even though many of them had entered the Lido Ghost City. A great number of people had been brought here by their elders to expand their horizons and meet the various experts.
While it might be difficult to compare between different literary works, determining the superiority between martial skills was much more straightforward. With a bunch of martial artists gathered together in such a manner, how could one expect them to just sit around and do nothing?
A huge space had been cleared out in the middle of the camping area, where a battling arena over 100 meters in size was set up.
The martial practitioners of the younger generations had already begun competing on the stage. Firstly, they wished to gain some recognition from the masses, and at the same time, they could use the opportunity to exchange pointers with the other experts to improve their own inadequacies!
At this moment, two youngsters around the age of 20 stood on the stage and hugged their swords as they bowed to each other. Their hair was short and neat, and their appearances were rather plain. However, they both had an air of manliness around them.
After the salute, they both stepped back and drew their swords at the same time!
The swords the two were wielding were the classic eight sided Han swords. The eight sided Han sword could be considered the apex of the Chinese sword-making craft! The sword was so famous that records of it could be found all throughout the country's history.
The sword was popularized during the era of the Eastern Han Dynasty with the appearance of the Hundred Refinement Metal. The 'hundred refinement' was a forging method which involved a repetitive heating process. The metal was folded and hammered for a hundred times to force the impurities out, resulting in a material of extreme purity. Such forging methods were extremely time-consuming and costly. In that age, it often took several years of work just to finish three to five of these swords!
Fast-forward to the present age where technology had become more advanced, one could manufacture as many of these swords as they liked!
Despite the improvement in technology, compared to the swords made of bronze in the past, the eight sided Han swords made of steel did not have much of an edge in terms of lethality.
In fact, the steel eight sided Han swords were somewhat heavier as compared to the bronze versions. It required more materials to make as well, which resulted in it being slightly unpopular. The eight sided Han swords were already rarely seen in the market nowadays. Unless one was buying it as a decorative piece or as part of a collection, the more commonly traded swords were still the classic four sided swords.
The eight sided Han swords in the two youths' hands were bladeless. They were only exchanging pointers, not engaging in a deathmatch.
Both of them were dressed in trendy sportswear, creating a somewhat strange scene which contrasted with the current setting.
Jiang Ranran and Ji Wuxie followed the commotion and walked towards the stage curiously. What spooked them the most was that this crowd was comprised of an extremely diverse bunch of people, ranging from extremely old people to youngsters, and some were even dressed in ancient attires—they even saw a few people donning traditional Daoist robes!
Some people were walking around with hairdos like those people in the historical TV dramas. Their hair was tied up in a hair crown and combed neatly to flow down their backs.
"What's going on in front? There's so many people over there! Let's go and take a look."
Jiang Ranran and Ji Wuxie squeezed through the crowd.
"Wow! Amazing! Are they filming an action movie?"
Jiang Ranran grew excited as she saw the two swinging their swords around and clashing repeatedly with each other. Every move caused her heart to leapt with shock and excitement. There was a compelling rush of adrenaline just by watching them!
"Dang, dang!"
The loud clanging sound of the swords filled the arena. The two on the stage were exerting all their skills. It was difficult to see who was the better!
If it was a deathmatch, there would naturally be no need to exchange so many blows. But since there were no grudges between them, they would not go all out and fight with their lives.
In addition, their cultivation level was pretty much the same, so neither had any advantages in that area. After some time, the match finally ended in a draw.
"Haha, the spirit of those youngsters is truly admirable! Even this old man's hands are becoming restless for a fight! Is there any Fellow Daoist here who wants to come up for a spar as well?"
A stalwart old man strode onto the arena with a hearty laugh. A deep footprint appeared on the ground with every step he took. The old man's face was flushed like a drunk man's, but his voice was bright, clear, and powerful!
The old man was holding a huge hammer in one hand, and a wine gourd in the other. He took a swig from the gourd and looked around at the crowd. "Is there no one among you cowards who dares to come up?"
As he said that, he released his grip on the hammer and allowed it to drop to the ground, creating a heavy boom. At the same time, he narrowed his eyes and looked at the crowd with scorn.
The Evolved Jing masters sat far away from the stage, sipping on their tea, not even bothering to look at him.
Deep down though, they were gnashing their teeth with anger. That old bastard... how many people had fallen for his ploy already?!
"Grandpa, is this person very famous? Why is everyone ignoring him?" a young girl dressed in yellow standing behind an elderly man asked as she kneaded his shoulders.
"That Madman Xia is a notorious madman! This Granddaddy had exchanged blows with him before. In the end, I ended up bedridden for several months after that!"
The elderly man's lips twitched involuntarily. At the same time, he was looking at the figure on the stage with annoyance.
"Once Madman Xia gets a sip of alcohol, he won't even remember his own d*mn surname! A simple spar will be treated like a life and death match by that fellow!" another Evolved Jing master grumbled with some bitterness. From the looks of it, he had also suffered at the hands of the old man in the past as well.
When intoxicated, this Madman Xia did not know how to stop after getting excited in a fight. In addition, he was in a pretty bad mood after arriving late by one day, failing to bring his clan members into the Lido Ghost City. Now that he'd drunk so excessively, his purpose in coming onto the stage was definitely to find someone to vent his anger on.
Furthermore, it just so happened that Madman Xia was one of those top-tier Evolved Jing masters termed strongest under Xiantian. In a one on one fight, how many people among the crowd could defeat this ancient fellow?
Jiang Ranran and Ji Wuxie exchanged a glance and saw the look of shock in each other's eyes. No matter how they looked at it, this did not seem to be a show. Just the weight of that ridiculous-looking hammer did not seem like it was something that an ordinary person would be able to carry!
"Don't run around by yourselves. Otherwise, when the time comes to leave and you can't come with me, I will just leave you guys here."
A light and calm voice sounded out spookily behind them suddenly, causing them to jump like a pair of startled cats.
"Brother Bei Feng, who are these people? They seem really incredible!" Ji Wuxie asked. He could somehow sense that every single person here was somehow emanating a threatening aura, and could not be provoked.
"Oh, they're just a bunch of chefs!"
Bei Feng did not mask his voice as he laughed aloud. A playful smile lingered on his lips as he looked at Jiang Ranran.
"Please lower your voice, Big Brother Bei Feng! These people seem too frightening and malicious!"
Jiang Ranran saw a few people turning their heads over and hurriedly ran forward to pull on Bei Feng's arm.
"Don't worry, against someone like him, I can easily take on ten with an arm tied behind my back!"
Bei Feng continued smiling nonchalantly as he pointed at the drunk old man on the stage.
"Oh? Little fellow, what did you just say? You need only a single hand to beat ten of me?"
An unfriendly roar sounded out as Xia Bantian turned and looked at Bei Feng viciously. With a cold snort, he stomped towards Bei Feng.
"Eh? Which idiot provoked Madman Xia?"
The Evolved Jing masters who were complaining about and ignoring Xia Bantian raised their heads at this point and looked towards Bei Feng's corner.
"Eh?!"
That single glance caused all the Evolved Jing masters to narrow their eyes and shrink back as they gulped down a mouthful of saliva.
"Heh heh, looks like there'll be a good show to watch this time."
Many old-timers among the experts were even smiling gleefully. This Madman Xia was truly formidable. To think that he'd chosen the toughest steel board to kick against! How badly would this fellow be beaten up this time?
The drunk Madman Xia might not give a single flying f*ck about who his opponent was when he started fighting, but he still knew how to choose his opponents before going into a fight. He would not fight those with higher or similar cultivation as him.
Among the circle of Evolved Jing masters, one in ten of those with lower cultivation than Madman Xia had at least once been beaten up by him before!
Thus, many people at the the scene were rubbing their hands secretly with delight as they anticipated his demise. An overpowered old demon like him who did not do things in a logical fashion had finally encountered another madman with similar traits. 'This time, we want to see if you'll be beaten into a pulp!'