Chapter 170: Battle between Behemoths
Translator: chuchutrain Editor: DavidT , Rock
As though acting out of instinct, Yu ManTian flipped himself up. At the same time, the sword from his waist radiating the colors of the rainbow as it shot towards the peerless expert, the man in black. While this sword was cast out in haste, the strength behind it was no laughing matter.
This old man finally got a chance to come out and even had the chance to enjoy a joyous occasion. With everyone in such a good mood, how could I allow the bridegroom to get killed? If I did then what am I serving as an overseer for?
Did anyone even invite him to be an overseer?
In addition, Third Master Yu ManTian felt an adrenaline rush, because the sword moves that Ling Jian displayed were definitely out of the ordinary. Such an opponent wasn't easy to find except by a chance encounter. While his family possessed many experts, none of them were willing to put their lives on the line, so how could Yu ManTian let go of this chance? He even had a good reason not to let it go!
Wipe out all the injustice along my path! Hahaha, what a hero I am! Yu ManTian's ego was suddenly significantly inflated. Too bad my brother isn't here to see this!
Hidden behind a black mask, Ling Jian’s eyes could not help but narrow. To think that this fatty had someone of such caliber beside him! Thank god he didn't call over Ling Chi and the rest. Just based on the first movement of his sword, Ling Jian could see that the man surpassed him in most if not all aspects! If Ling Chi and the rest were here, they would only be sacrificial lambs and fall under his sword. If anything untoward happened to his underlings, he and the young noble would definitely die of heartbreak!
The sword in Ling Jian’s hands twirled, meeting head-on with the other incoming sword. His eyes remained expressionless, and in his heart he thought, Be it the ugly fatty Zhang DeShuai or an expert, there’s no difference! Be it commoners, experts or even Buddha, those who stand against me are my enemies!
The lust for battle soared high inside Yu ManTian, and he hollered out, "Well met!" as he further increased the strength behind his sword.
"Clang!"
An ear-splitting noise reverberated as the two swords met!
The violent forces from the two swords spilled out over all their surroundings, causing strong winds to blow everywhere. Those leading the bridal procession were only commoners, so how could they withstand this blow? All of them were blown off in a heap, and even the bridegroom Zhang DeShuai was knocked off his horse, bouncing off the ground like a ball when he landed!
A series of alarmed cries sounded. Whether it was the bridegroom’s relatives or the bride’s relatives, the drums and gongs which were beating had long been dropped to the ground as their faces turned white with shock.
Yu ManTian only felt a burst of numbness overcome his hands, an immense force pushing against him. He couldn't help but frown a little, hurriedly retreating three steps before he stabilized himself.
As for Ling Jian, who had attacked from the skies like a meteor dropping down, he continuously somersaulted in the air a good seven to eight times before he dissipated Yu ManTian’s force and gently landed on the ground. His face had already turned pale.
"Awesome!" Yu ManTian laughed out boldly. "It has been too long since I could exchange swords equally with someone. To actually have strength close to the white jade stage, your foundations are good, kid! Please state your name, so that this Third Master knows who you are!"
Ling Jian, however, remained silent. As though he disdained from speaking, his body suddenly flashed forward like a specter, covering the eight hundred odd feet of distance between them in the blink of an eye. His speed was so fast that afterimages actually appeared behind him! While the audience was gazing dumbfoundedly, Ling Jian’s sword had already appeared in front of Yu ManTian, striking him from all angles like a torrential downpour! It was as though he had not heard what Yu ManTian had said.
Third Master? Laughable! Other than showing respects to my young noble, I, Ling Jian, have never even addressed anyone with the name of Master! What kind of thing are you, to order me to call you a master? Tell that to King Yama! [1]
"Dingdingdingdingding…." The relentless sounds of metal striking metal seemed to have been chained into a continuous stream of noise. Yu ManTian was at full attention, countering every move with his body revolving around the spot as he followed Ling Jian’s constantly moving sword. He didn't even get the chance to be angry over Ling Jian’s lack of an answer to him!
In the eyes of the onlookers, Yu ManTian seemed like a breakwater resisting solidly against the violent waves, standing firm without any weakness. In his surroundings was a black shadow constantly in quick motion — now near then far, now left then right, unpredictable and untraceable like an apparition.
A faint shadow shot up towards the clouds, climbing up at least forty feet into the air. That was precisely the shadow of Ling Jian, and at the apex he flipped himself upside down, sword facing the ground as he dropped straight down.
On its way down, the sword in Ling Jian’s hands underwent several transformations. From one to two, two to three, three giving rise to nine; the swords multiplied rapidly, quickly filling up the sky and all pointing in the same direction. The swords then rotated faster and faster, looking like a thousand-armed demon as they plunged down from the heavens!
What insane sword skills! To think that such miraculous skills exist in this world! It was one thing to have good internal energy, but to actually have such a set of sword skills, how frightening! Yu ManTian’s eyes lit up with a savage light. However, he did not dare underestimate his opponent. With a stomp of his foot, the internal energy in his body was gathered onto his sword, and at the same time, a snow white lotus blossomed beneath him. The tips of the lotus were as sharp as swords and revolved constantly, turning to face the threat above!
Compressed sounds of metal against metal rang out, just like the sound of popcorn popping as the two of them made contact. Droplets of fresh blood dripped slowly onto the ground.
Yu ManTian had the eyes of a hawk as he stared down the opponent in front of him, his breathing heavy. A faint trail of blood could be seen above his eyebrows, and his sleeve had been torn at the shoulder, with fresh blood slowly seeping out.
On the other side, Ling Jian’s skinny body stood ramrod straight even as a profuse flow of blood came from his left shoulder and right arm. His eyes were cold, almost to the point of being crazed. An intense killing intent was radiating from him.
Three confrontations in a row! Ling Jian was well aware that this straightforward bearded man possessed martial skills that were far above his own. In fact, he might even be on par with the young noble! If they were to continue sparring, so long as enough time passed, he would definitely be at a disadvantage, and could potentially lose his life! No, in his current situation, he might not even get a proper chance to escape. This man was the strongest expert he had come across so far, an enemy that could not be shaken off. Unless he could ignore the outcome of his mission and head back immediately, he would not be able to guarantee his life!
He had prepared a surefire way to success and suddenly attacked. But for the first time, someone had actually managed to repel all his attacks, making him retreat with no gains! Even though the man was at a disadvantage for the first round, it was negligible, and didn't affect him in the slightest!
Shortly after, Ling Jian made use of the exquisite footwork his young noble had taught him to quickly launch his second attack. As before, the man was put at a disadvantage, but the end result was still the same! If not for the young noble’s ingenious movement skills, Ling Jian would have ended up at a disadvantage instead.
However, in the third round, both of them started on an equal footing. Then, even though he was the one to initiate the attack, he was the one who suffered a heavier injury. Thus, strictly speaking, he was the one who had lost the match! Furthermore, the purity and volume of the man’s internal energy were miles above his. He had only used a few sneaky moves to gain a small advantage. His moves were exchanged in a manner such that he was sacrificing his life to obtain victory, and yet his opponent actually had zero intention to kill! He completely treated his duel as a friendly competition, and from this, the disparity between them could really be seen.
This sort of opponent was definitely out of his league. How was he supposed to continue fighting?
Despite that, Ling Jian didn't have a shred of thought about retreating. The name of ‘The First Pavilion’ definitely could not be destroyed in his hands! The First Pavilion had yet to face a task that they could not complete, neither had they faced a target which they could not kill. Even if the guy in front of him was a tier stronger than him, able to silence him in an instant, he still had to silence Zhang DeShuai! There was no room for compromise!
"The lives of all humans are in my hands, the winds and rains heed the first pavilion!" This was the name the noble had personally bestowed upon them, 'The First Pavilion', and the meaning was obvious. To be the young noble’s personal aide as well as his brother-in-arms, he was his sword as well as the pavilion head of The First Pavilion! Ling Jian felt the blood boiling within him, as a sense of pride could be felt rushing from the depths of his heart. His originally expressionless eyes suddenly turned bloodshot, and endless waves of killing intent madly rushed out from within him.
"Kill!"
An earth-shattering scream sounded!
This was the first time Ling Jian spoke, and only this one word. This was also the only word Ling Jian had spoken in the past two days. While it was only a word, this represented his internal will to fight!
Facing the masked man, Yu ManTian suddenly felt his heart palpitating. The cold sweat trickling off his back was enough to actually form a continuous stream. What a fearsome killer, what fearsome killing intent!
In these three exchanges, Yu ManTian had felt the very real possibility of death at least eight different times! The scariest thing was that after the series of confrontations, Yu ManTian had determined that his opponent was only of the lower white jade stage, at least two levels below him!
He himself was of XianTian cultivation, at the peak of lower gold jade stage. Based on the calculations of the Yu Family, this put him three tiers higher than his opponent. Furthermore, he was confident that those who outranked him in the world could be counted on his two hands.
However, this black-robed man before him, without a XianTian realm cultivation as well as being at the lower white jade stage, could actually use his eccentric movement skills, vicious swordplay, and billowing killing intent to make up for the differences between their cultivation. The thought that this assassin was actually able to stand against him was unimaginable!
Yu ManTian fully believed that if he made a single mistake, it would be enough to prevent him from seeing the sunset ever again!
[1] Buddhist god of death and judge of the dead.