Xiang Tong’s face flushed red as he stood on the stage. He bellowed, “Spear, come!”
Sou!
A raven black spear flew out from Xiyu Establishment’s interior right into Xiang Tong’s hands. It was very long, almost ten feet long. The furious Xiang Tong’s body bulged in size, growing a foot taller in the process! His skin suffused a black glow as he stared intently at Qin Yun and pointed his spear at him. He shouted, “Meng Yiqiu, your sword arts aren’t bad! But there must be a reason that the Peerless Manor ranked you thirteenth on the Earth roll while I was ranked eighth! Etiquette requires reciprocity. Since I received a strike from you, I shall return it in the same fashion!”
Just as his voice faded—
With a tap of his feet, there was a loud boom—
Xiang Tong’s entire body transformed into a beam of light that shot upwards at a stunning speed. Instantly, he had stormed out of Xiyu Establishment, cleaving down after raising his spear high up into the sky. His mighty cleave distorted the air, producing highly-pressured blasts of wind. Even the spear’s shaft bent as a result of the formidable force. Strong winds stirred with splashing raindrops!
“Overlord Xiang.” Duan Qifeng retreated in fear. The color in his face drained.
“How terrifying.” Meng Yuxiang could not help but hide behind Qin Yun.
“Don’t worry.”
Qin Yun charged forward after assuring her.
The Frost Sword in his hand swiped forward, producing frost around him. Vortices formed wherever the sword flash passed as the sword clashed with the spear.
“Bam!”
The Frost Sword and the raven black spear produced a muffled sound upon collision. The raven black spear brought with it a dominance that could render the world asunder, while the Frost Sword seemed to bring with it the undercurrent of an infinite tidal wave. When they clashed, Xiang Tong felt a belligerent force hit him. His hands turned numb as he retreated two steps. Each step caused the ground to crack.
The street in front of Xiyu Establishment was a busy street in Sovereign Capital. It was paved with granite, but Xiang Tong left two craters as he retreated.
Qin Yun also took two steps back. The ground quaked slightly but the granite ground remained intact.
“Oh?” Xiang Tong’s pupils could not help but constrict when he saw this.
“Having skilled moves doesn’t mean you can withstand a strike!” Xiang Tong roared as he charged over like a flood dragon.
Qin Yun smiled as he immediately reciprocated.
“Kill! Kill! Kill!”
Xiang Tong fought extremely wildly. He had no concern for protecting his body and only focused on attacking! He allowed Qin Yun’s blows to strike him, clearly pressing the advantage of his strong body as he closed the gap with Qin Yun.
Qin Yun was rather interested in this world’s close combat arts. Spear arts? Sword and spear arts had many things in common. A sword could even be considered a short spear.
“This Xiang family has a long history in this world. It’s an extremely mysterious and ancient family clan. It also has a body Dharmic formulation passed down over generations. I can definitely learn something from his close combat arts.” Qin Yun slashed with his Frost Sword, emanating frost outwards that completely repressed Xiang Tong. Even though Xiang Tong ignored his own safety to press forward, he was fully repressed. Qin Yun’s blade would even occasionally slice across Xiang Tong’s body, leaving gashes on him.
Under such heavy repression, Xiang Tong turned more desperate. He used every technique he knew from his Cloud Rain Flood Dragon Spear.
This battle was like a tumultuous storm, with wind and rain as well as a layer of frost that emanated throughout.
Xiang Tong’s brandishing of his spear produced highly-pressured blasts of air that sliced through the surrounding ground. Scuffs appeared on the surrounding buildings. Instantly, all the spectators on the street retreated further and further back. The Zhou Mountain Sword Sect disciples also retreated a great distance. The guards, female attendants, and beautiful musicians inside Xiyu Establishment also hid far away as they watched.
It wasn’t just them. The busy street had many people to begin with. Although the area had been surrounded by the Zhou Mountain Sword Sect disciples, there were many passers-by watching from afar. People in the surrounding restaurants, shops, or residences were watching from the higher floors too.
“Wow, who is fighting who? I can’t make it out at all.”
“The force blasts caused stone walls a hundred feet away to crumble. That’s way too terrifying.”
“It’s Grand Elder Meng Yiqiu from one of our Chu Kingdom’s top eight sects, the Zhou Mountain Sword Sect. The other one is a presiding expert from the legendary ancient Xiang family, Overlord Spear Xiang Tong.”
“It’s Xiang Tong? Back in the East Sea, Overlord Xiang once used a single spear to scare a hundred-thousand-strong army into fleeing. He even tore apart General Pang Shan. Not only did the imperial government place no blame on Xiang Tong, it even decreed that General Pang Shan had committed nine grave crimes. Many people from the Pang family were implicated as a result.”
“That’s the Xiang family! One of the two most ancient family clans in the world.”
“The Zhou Mountain Sword Sect is also powerful. It has thousands of disciples and it reigns supreme over its territory.”
…
The people in Sovereign Capital all knew of the legendary Heaven, Earth, and Man rolls. Even commoners would learn of it from their frequent visits to storytellers; therefore, they knew the many famous and terrifying existences in their world.
However, their eyes were incapable of telling who was stronger in the street fight.
“Who holds the advantage, my brother or Xiang Tong?” Meng Yuxiang was standing beside Dong Wan and Liu Qingsha as she asked worriedly.
Dong Wan said with a smile, “Don’t worry. Elder Meng holds the absolute advantage.”
“But he still needs to be careful.” Duan Qifeng was feeling unease as he said immediately. “That Xiang family cultivates in powerful body formulations. Xiang Tong’s body is extremely strong. Even if he is at a disadvantage, it’s nothing for him to receive ten to twenty blows. In comparison, Brother Meng’s body is much weaker. If he gets struck by that spear even once, he would be in grave danger.”
Meng Yuxiang turned anxious when she heard that.
“That sounds logical,” said Dong Wan with a smile. “However, you are incapable of reading the combat situation. Elder Meng’s sword arts far exceed his opponent’s. Xiang Tong has no chance of injuring Elder Meng at all. Look, Xiang Tong is already wearing down.”
“He can’t hold out anymore.” Liu Qingsha gave a look of delight.
…
“Why is he becoming stronger? Also, the might of his sword art is increasing too.” Xiang Tong was panicking. A sword flash lacerated his body with a sharp ripping sound. His skin that suffused a raven black glow was harder than steel; yet, it had been torn apart. Qin Yun’s sword flashes brought with them an ice-cold aura that turned increasingly faster and sharper. It made Xiang Tong feel the icy-cold breath of death get closer to him.
Without realizing it, he had been forced to use his spear solely for defense.
Although his body was powerful, being stabbed in the heart or head would still rob him of his life. Most Earth roll experts would at most have their skin pricked. It was difficult to pierce their flesh, but Qin Yun’s sword flashes were clearly something else.
“Clang! Clang! Clang!”
Xiang Tong defended with all he had but Qin Yun’s attacks turned more aggressive. Xiang Tong’s limbs seemed to be thrown into confusion as a result.
“Block, keep blocking. Continue blocking.” Qin Yun’s attacks became stronger in order to force Xiang Tong to use all his moves.
“From the looks of it, these are probably all the moves the Xiang family’s Cloud Rain Flood Dragon Spear has,” Qin Yun thought to himself. “This set of spear arts is quite powerful. It’s like a flood dragon tearing through the clouds, moving in and out with great elusiveness. Its attacks pour down like a tempestuous rain while the flood dragon wreaks havoc. If I can obtain the manual of their spear arts, I could learn much by studying it carefully.”
“Pu!”
A sword beam flashed over but Xiang Tong failed to block it. His arm was cleaved off, splattering fresh blood.
“Escape!” Xiang Tong’s expression changed drastically. With a flushed face, he flew away as a beam of light. The arm also rapidly flew towards Xiang Tong, joining back to his stump. It healed rapidly.
He quickly escaped half a kilometer away and landed in a secluded alley.
Xiang Tong looked back and heaved a sigh of relief. “Thankfully, he didn’t chase after me. This Meng Yiqiu’s sword arts are too powerful. I tried to defend my vital spots with all my strength but he still managed to cleave off one of my arms. After losing an arm, my strength naturally decreases tremendously. If I continued fighting him, I might have lost my life.”
“I nearly lost my life for a plaything.” Xiang Tong’s pupils constricted before he looked back. “He’s only thirty-eight. He didn’t break through to the domain realm that long ago. Why is he so strong?”
Sou!
Xiang Tong phased away as he rapidly departed.
******
Xiang Tong escaped after losing an arm. Of course, the arm was rapidly reattached, shocking the spectators.
However, Frost Sword Meng Yiqiu was even more astonishing. After all, he was the one that cleaved off Xiang Tong’s arm, forcing him to flee.
“If this Meng Yiqiu did not show mercy and continued with a relentless pursuit, he might have even been able to kill Xiang Tong.”
“Yes, if he’s able to cleave off Xiang Tong’s arm, he has a chance of taking Xiang Tong’s life.”
“That’s not necessarily true. Perhaps Meng Yiqiu’s flying speed is inferior to Overlord Xiang’s?”
There were all sorts of discussions.
And at that moment, the person wallowing in the most despair was Xiyu Establishment’s owner, Yan Xiyu. She saw Xiang Tong’s blood splatter from his arm stump as he fled in panic. Her heart chilled.
“To Xiang Tong, I’m only a plaything. Against real trouble, he wouldn’t care about me at all.” Yan Xiyu knew this very well. Her achievements in Sovereign Capital indicated that she was very clever. She reached her present situation by relying on many benefactors. Duan Qifeng from the Quelling Duke’s family was her lover for a very long period of time.
Later, Xiang Tong arrived. Under his instruction, Yan Xiyu severed ties with all her other lovers.
After all, compared to Xiang Tong… Duan Qifeng was nothing!
Even though she had someone to rely on, what sort of identity did Xiang Tong have? Yan Xiyu did not dare to announce it publicly!
But now, even Xiang Tong had left her.
Xiang Tong was a person who had sent a hundred-thousand-strong army fleeing. He even captured their general alive and ripped him apart. And in response, all King Chu did was pin crimes on the general.
Xiang Tong had already fled. Who else was there to save her?
“Brother.” Meng Yuxiang immediately came to Qin Yun’s side. She was very worried as she whispered, “Brother, don’t implicate yourself too much for my trivial disputes.”
She was truly afraid a moment ago, afraid that her brother would be seriously injured.
Qin Yun smiled.
In this world, only the few existences that had stepped into the Dao and were in the legendary God roll would force him to fight seriously. Xiang Tong was nothing worth mentioning. The reason why he even let Xiang Tong get away with his life was that Xiang Tong had no intention of killing Qin Yun. Therefore, Qin Yun spared him.
It was normal in this world.
They were both on the Earth roll! Some occasional bouts of jealousy were fine. But there was no need to fight with their lives! A true life-and-death struggle would result in a vendetta, and even if the weaker party was no match, they would be able to escape with their lives. There were many repercussions once they fled.
“Plop!”
Yan Xiyu suddenly knelt down. The rain from before had already drenched her hair and clothes wet. She knelt there and said immediately, “Young Master Meng, Madam Duan, it was my fault for having my nose in the air in the past. I fully submit to any punishment you have for me. I have no qualms even if you kill me.” With that said, she prostrated herself, burying her head between her palms.
“Sister, I’ll leave her to you,” said Qin Yun.” He did not find Yan Xiyu pitiable at all. Such a person was very ruthless to begin with. She was ruthless to others as well as to herself.