Proud Sword Soaring Clouds-Chapter 47 - 46: Battle of the Dense Forest (Part 2)
Swept aside by a blast of Sword Qi, branches fell to the ground. The Great Sword Master charged toward Ling Xiao without hesitation, his clothes whipping wildly in the wind.
Ye Wen Ni was still hesitating. Ling Xiao calmly watched the blade speeding toward him, a disdainful smirk playing on his lips. Before his journey to the Great Snow Mountain, an attack of this level might have given him some trouble. But after the life-and-death trials there, he had broken through the rank of Sword Attendant to become a Sword Master. His reflexes and power were now on par with a Tier Three or Tier Four Sword Master. With the Nine Swords of Dugu at his command, this Great Sword Master’s attack was no threat at all.
But Ling Xiao didn’t move. He was waiting for Ye Wen Ni, who stood beside him, to make a move.
That’s right. He was training her.
Ling Xiao knew perfectly well that her claim about her little knife having seen plenty of blood was a complete lie. She was just a timid little thief, nothing more.
Ye Wen Ni’s heart was in turmoil. ’Only now do I realize it... The Jade Maiden Swordsmanship Ling Xiao taught me... even if it isn’t a Celestial-level Sword Skill, it’s definitely not far from it!’
’With a single glance, I can see more than ten openings in this Tier Two or Three Great Sword Master’s attack! If I were a ruthless person, I could take his life with just one strike!’
Just as the tip of the enemy’s sword was about to pierce Ling Xiao’s face, the other men burst into laughter. To them, the dark-skinned boy looked completely frozen in fear, too scared to even move. Not all Adventurers had kind hearts; these crude and vicious men thought nothing of killing a few people.
The Great Sword Master had a disdainful sneer on his face. He had killed men before, but it was rare to see someone as pathetic as this dark-skinned boy.
"Die!" With the Great Sword Master’s roar, the Sword Qi on his blade suddenly flared, extending a little further.
The men behind him erupted in cheers. The young man called Wulan Jiang let a smirk play on his lips. In his mind, the shapely young woman was already his.
With a SHING, Ye Wen Ni finally drew the shortsword from her waist. A crisp CLANG rang out as she parried the longsword just as its Sword Qi was about to touch the spot between Ling Xiao’s eyebrows. Pulling Ling Xiao behind her, she asked, her face deathly pale, "Are... are you crazy? Why didn’t you dodge?"
Ling Xiao simply smiled faintly at Ye Wen Ni and touched the spot between his eyebrows, which felt cool from the near-miss. ’That was close. I almost couldn’t stop myself from making a move.’ He had been starting to feel disappointed, but unexpectedly, she had finally overcome her fear. ’However... she still hasn’t met my expectations.’
’If you don’t kill... you can never truly grow!’
No matter how powerful your sword skills or how advanced your swordsmanship, you’re still just a coward. People like that were not uncommon on the Canglan Continent.
The enemy Great Sword Master was startled and eyed Ye Wen Ni with suspicion. He couldn’t see through her true strength. Her parry just now had shown everyone that her cultivation was at least at the Great Sword Master level, but they were still confident they could take her down.
She was just one woman, after all. And they had several Great Sword Masters here.
Wulan Jiang shouted from the back, "Zhao Xing, kill that kid, and this young master will give you a Tier One Crystal Core! And this Tier Two Snow Mountain Brown Bear Magical Beast is a gift to your Adventurer’s Guild!"
"Do you really mean that?" The Great Sword Master named Zhao Xing’s eyes lit up with a strange glint. He then shot Ling Xiao a chilling look and cackled, "Sorry, kid. For the sake of our fortunes, you’ll have to die!" Then he roared at the men behind him, "What the fuck are you still gawking for? Careful, or I won’t give you a cut of the money!"
Upon hearing this, the men’s eyes turned red with greed. They were all Adventurers from the Western Province. They weren’t a temporary Adventurer’s Guild but a small Mercenary Corps—the smallest kind, of course. Permanently employed by the Wulan Clan to protect Young Master Wulan Jiang, they were practically Household Generals, despite technically being freemen.
They received rewards for the Magical Beasts they hunted, but any Crystal Cores they found had to be turned over to the Wulan Clan. So when they heard Wulan Jiang promise a Tier One Crystal Core *and* gift them the entire Tier Two Magical Beast, they grew ecstatic. Selling that beast could earn them as much as ten years’ income!
"Kill the boy first!" Zhao Xing commanded his men with practiced ease. It seemed this wasn’t the first time they had done something like this; they were very skilled at it.
Ling Xiao glanced at Ye Wen Ni. Her brow was furrowed in anger; she was clearly provoked. She wasn’t a complete rookie in the martial world. She could feel the killing intent radiating from the men and recognized the look in their eyes. It was the same look she got when she spotted a "fat sheep."
"Damn it!" Ye Wen Ni cursed under her breath. Then she heard Ling Xiao say beside her, "You take care of the lead Great Sword Master. I’ll handle the rest."
Ye Wen Ni nodded, deciding to teach this Great Sword Master named Zhao Xing a lesson.
Several of the men drew their weapons and cautiously approached the pair. As veteran Adventurers, they wouldn’t make any rookie mistakes. Even though their two opponents didn’t look particularly strong, it was always better to be safe than sorry.
"Go!" With a proud smile, Ling Xiao drew his Fine Willow Sword. He pressed the Crystal Core on its hilt, and with a HISS, a thin stream of Sword Qi shot from the blade, lancing toward an approaching Great Sword Master.
"Ah! He’s a Great Sword Master!" the man cried out in shock. But his attack didn’t falter. His own sword flared with Sword Qi as he viciously slashed at Ling Xiao’s Fine Willow Sword.
The sword looked so flimsy; he was sure he could snap it in one blow.
But his hopes were far from reality. Ling Xiao’s Fine Willow Sword moved like a Spiritual Snake, winding around the man’s blade. Ling Xiao himself dropped unpredictably to the ground, dodging the strike. With a soft SQUELCH, his Fine Willow Sword pierced the man’s abdomen, running him clean through!
One strike! Everyone was stunned!
It looked as if the Great Sword Master had voluntarily thrown himself onto the blade. With a cold expression, Ling Xiao withdrew his Fine Willow Sword and immediately slashed at the second man.
"He’s using an Enchanted Sword!" another Great Sword Master screamed. The words had barely left his mouth before Ling Xiao’s Fine Willow Sword pierced his throat.
"AARGH!" Their leader, Zhao Xing, let out a grief-stricken roar. "Kid, I’ll fight you to the death!" Two of his sworn brothers, men he’d fought alongside for years, had been killed in the blink of an eye. Hatred blinded him. He didn’t even stop to consider why his two brothers, both Great Sword Masters, had been so easily defeated. The Sword Qi on his longsword erupted as he slashed viciously at Ling Xiao.
Having relied on sheer physical stamina to kill two Great Sword Masters, Ling Xiao had taken out the enemy’s finest. Sweat poured down his forehead, drenching his dark face, and his eyes were filled with exhaustion.
This was the price of killing opponents of a higher rank. Though the Nine Swords of Dugu were formidable, they were not invincible against foes who far out-leveled him.
Seeing that Ling Xiao’s stamina was failing, Ye Wen Ni hesitated no longer. She might be too timid to kill, but that didn’t mean she was indecisive!
With a flourish of her longsword, she executed a Jade Maiden Sword Skill. Her form was as graceful as a celestial fairy as she leaped into the air like an elegant butterfly, lunging straight for Zhao Xing. But just as the long stream of Sword Qi from her blade was about to pierce his back, Ye Wen Ni instinctively shifted her aim slightly to the side.
But how could a mere Tier Three Great Sword Master like Zhao Xing possibly withstand the fierce Sword Qi of a Tier Six Great Sword Master? As he ran, he felt a sharp pain in his chest. Looking down, he saw hot blood gush forth. The Sword Qi had pierced straight through his body!
With a blood-curdling scream, Zhao Xing collapsed onto the forest floor. His body twitched a few times, then went still.
"Ugh..." Ye Wen Ni’s legs went weak, and she dropped her longsword with a clatter. Collapsing to her knees, she began to vomit violently, her vision blurring with tears and snot as she retched uncontrollably.
Everything had happened in a flash. Ling Xiao looked coldly at the few remaining Adventurers, who were scared out of their wits. He growled, "What are you waiting for? Get lost!"
The men snapped back to their senses and looked for their master, Wulan Jiang, only to find he was long gone. The remaining few cursed loudly as they scattered in different directions, terrified the powerful duo would change their minds and hunt them down.
After everyone had left, the forest returned to its tranquil state. The birds that had flown away in fright returned, perching on the high branches and filling the air with a chorus of chirps.
Ling Xiao plopped onto the ground and wiped the sweat from his face. If not for his darkened skin, he would surely look deathly pale right now. He smiled bitterly to himself. ’I’m pathetic. Getting this exhausted just from killing two small-fries.’
If anyone else heard that, they would have cursed him out. A Low-tier Sword Master had just killed two Great Sword Masters in the blink of an eye, and he was still complaining? How could someone be so shameless!
’If those men hadn’t been scared witless and had instead fought to the death to avenge their comrades, we would’ve been in real trouble. Look at Vini—she dropped her sword and is just squatting there, crying and vomiting. And I’m completely spent. We would have been sitting ducks.’
’Good thing they all ran!’ Ling Xiao let out a long sigh of relief. Then he said to Ye Wen Ni, "It’s alright. You’ll get used to it."
Ye Wen Ni looked up at Ling Xiao, her eyes swimming with tears. "I killed someone... I killed someone!"
"Yes. If you didn’t kill them, they would have killed you. In this jungle, we’re no different from beasts," Ling Xiao comforted her gently.
"But I didn’t want to kill anyone..." Ye Wen Ni said weakly. She glanced at Zhao Xing’s motionless body, and a new wave of nausea hit her. Her stomach was already empty, and she started dry-heaving.
Ling Xiao stopped paying attention to her. After catching his breath, he stood up and walked over to where the Snow Mountain Brown Bear had fallen. In a huge pit filled with sharp wooden stakes, the bear was still alive, but just barely.
There was a rustling sound behind him. Ye Wen Ni, her face still pale, had followed him. She couldn’t bear to look at the dead man any longer. ’It feels like he’s not really dead,’ she thought, ’like he’s going to jump up at any moment and come after me.’
"Ah... How brutal!" Although she had seen the corpses of two Tier Five Magical Beasts before, those had simply fallen from a cliff. This bloody, gruesome scene in front of her was different. It made her begin to truly understand the law of the jungle.
The weak are prey for the strong.
