Chapter 1194: Soul of a Bladesman
With one look, it was clear that this was a wandering bladesman who roamed about everywhere with no place to call home.
This black-robed man held up a saber as he walked over to Xiao Chen step by step. He said with a crooked smile, “This is great. My opponent is a bladesman as well. Furthermore, you are a true bladesman. I can feel your soul of a bladesman.”
Xiao Chen smiled and said, “Unfortunately, I cannot feel the soul of a bladesman from you. Aside from the sharp saber intent in your eyes and the experience of seeing through everything in the mundane world, there is a trace of unexplained confusion, a confusion that a bladesman should not have.”
Being seen through with one glance stunned the black-robed bladesman somewhat. He smiled and said, “Your eyes are really sharp. If not for you lacking the cultivation of a Consummation quasi-Emperor, I really would not dare to pick you as an opponent. However, even if I cannot defeat you, it is worth dying at the hands of a true bladesman. Make your move.”
Although this person’s mental state showed some openings, Xiao Chen did not dare to be careless. For him to catch Wu Ke’s attention, this black-robed bladesman had to have something extraordinary about him.
Xiao Chen shifted his left hand slightly, raising his Lunar Shadow Saber higher a little. Then, he took three steps, leaving an afterimage and sending out countless electric dragons with each step.
Xiao Chen arrived before the black-robed bladesman in the blink of an eye before executing the Azure Emperor’s Drawing the Saber. The instant the saber left its sheath, eighty-one different trajectories appeared.
The black-robed bladesman’s eyes lit up. Clearly, this was the first time he saw such a profound Drawing the Saber.
However, the black-robed bladesman did not panic. He quickly drew the saber that he held resting on his shoulder. Then, he gripped his saber with two hands, in no rush to make his move. He was probing Xiao Chen’s killing intent. No matter how many changes there were, there would be only one true killing intent that did not change.
Even if all eighty-one saber trajectories were real, the black-robed bladesman only needed to find the one that contained Xiao Chen’s true killing intent and break that. Then, he would be able to scatter this wave of attacks.
Just as the saber light was about to strike the black-robed bladesman, he suddenly made his move. Holding his saber with two hands, he swung it with immense force. A gushing waterfall appeared behind him, and as the saber chopped down, the waterfall landed at the same time.
“Dang!”
The two sabers clashed, and the various saber trajectories all broke. Xiao Chen’s right hand, which held the saber, felt somewhat numb.
“My Flowing Flight Chop is pretty good, right? Your eyes may be sharp. However, in regard to combat experience and skill at the saber, you are far from me. You will definitely lose this battle.”
After knocking Xiao Chen back with one saber strike, the black-robed bladesman felt that he had already seen through his strength. With boosted confidence, the black-robed bladesman quickly charged over.
Xiao Chen smiled faintly. The Azure Dragon’s Drawing the Saber was just an opening move. It was not even a killing move. The other party looked down on him too much.
Not explaining, thus letting his enemy underestimate him, was good as well. This way, Xiao Chen would have an easier time winning.
Saber images flew around as the two started fighting, sending rapid-fire moves at each other.
The entire burial ground turned chaotic as everyone fought their own battles. No one could spare any attention for the battles of others.
Both sides were roughly equal. As they fought each other, there were both merits and drawbacks; no one had too big an advantage.
A victor would not be determined within a short period of time.
After one hour, the first victor of a battle emerged. Although the fatso on Xiao Chen’s side did his best, he was not a match for the middle-aged spearman in the end.
The middle-aged spearman pierced through the fatso’s chest with one thrust, and the fatso died with his eyes opened wide, dying with a grievance.
[TL Note: In Chinese culture, dying with the eyes open means that the deceased died with something unresolved or died a wrongful death.]
This was how cruel the world of cultivators was. No matter how unresigned someone was, oftentimes, being less skilled meant death.
At this moment, the battles were very tense and fiery. Even if one wanted to withdraw, doing so would be impossible.
The middle-aged spearman laughed coldly as he pulled out his spear. Then, he looked around to check the situation of the battlefield. After that, he joined the dark-skinned Huge Elephant Race man’s battle.
The battle tilted in favor of Wu Ke’s side. However, the Venom Spider Race woman on Xiao Chen’s side soon won her battle. After killing the other party, she joined the battles of her teammates.
Xiao Chen secretly kept an eye on the battlefield situation. He was in no rush to end his own battle.
He already figured out his opponent, the black-robed bladesman. His opponent had dense Law Energy and some skill at the saber. However, he did not have a saber soul.
As long as Xiao Chen brought out his seventy-percent-comprehended saber soul without holding back, he would be able to suppress his opponent in an instant and end this fight.
However, Xiao Chen did not do so—because this battle appeared to be too much of a coincidence. No matter how he thought about it, it could not be a coincidence.
The brutal killing continued on the battlefield. The strengths of both sides were roughly on par.
The two half-step Martial Emperors, leaders of their respective teams, showed no signs of finishing their fight any time soon. This battle could only continue until one side died.
Amid the sounds of fighting, cultivators fell one after another. The middle-aged couple and the Huge Elephant Race man on Xiao Chen’s side died.
A similar number of people died on the other side as well. The long battle still showed no signs of coming to an end.
“Pu ci!”
Amid shouting, Dugu Ao and his opponent both landed a fatal blow on each other at the same time, resulting in the unfortunate situation of both sides going down together.
Watching his opponent fall to the ground, Dugu Ao revealed a bitter smile on his pale face. “Death is good as well. I’ve had enough of these days.”
After saying that, Dugu Ao collapsed to the ground.
The bald Wu Ke, who was fighting with Yang Kai, suddenly said, “It is time to end this.”
Yang Kai nodded, and then his figure flashed as he suddenly attacked the straw-caped old man, who had defeated his opponent right at this moment.
The straw-caped old man had just released his bated breath. Before he could react, Yang Kai chopped his head off with a sword.
Yang Kai unleashed his full strength as a half-step Martial Emperor as he moved quickly. He killed one person with each swing of his sword, easily slaying the Silver Shark Race woman and the Venom Spider Race woman, who were severely injured and whose Law Energy was nearly exhausted.
The two women were caught off guard and died at Yang Kai’s hand without knowing what happened.
On the other side, Wu Ke moved equally fast, killing the people of his group who still remained.
This sudden change happened without any warning. It was surprising, but also not unexpected.
“Pu ci!”
The black-robed bladesman currently fighting with Xiao Chen did not react in time before a bowl-sized hole appeared in his chest. Without needing to guess, the one who attacked was naturally the bald Wu Ke, the half-step Martial Emperor with the snake tattoo on his head.
“Subduing Dragon Profound Slash!”
The instant the two half-step Martial Emperors starting killing others, Xiao Chen, who had kept his guard up, quietly started circulating his energy for his own Profound Martial Technique.
Dragon images flew around, and a resplendent azure saber light lit up his blade.
Xiao Chen held his saber with both hands and brought out his seventy-percent-comprehended saber soul. It was like he had grown eyes at the back of his head as he sent out a saber strike with considerable force.
“Dang!”
The sound of a saber and sword clashing rang out. Xiao Chen’s saber strike, which he had been preparing for a while already, forced back Yang Kai, who had easily killed three people in quick succession, by three steps.
On the opposite side, Wu Ke was very surprised as well. After he exploded the black-robed bladesman with one punch, he glared at Xiao Chen with his left eye.
The black snake tattoo that overlapped with his eye suddenly swelled, becoming a real snake. Its body continuously enlarged as it charged over to bite Xiao Chen.
This move was extremely sinister, aiming for the moment Xiao Chen pulled back his saber and turned his back to Wu Ke. It was aimed at Xiao Chen’s blind spot to catch him off guard.
However, Wu Ke was not the only one with a tamed beast. Xiao Chen had one too.
A squawk rang out as Little Yellow Feather rushed out of Xiao Chen’s Immortal Spirit Ring. It spread its wings and flew, instantly entering into a berserk state. All its feathers flashed gold, radiating a dazzling light.
Little Yellow Feather grabbed and dug its claws deep into the flesh of this black snake, causing the black snake to cry out in pain. Then, the black snake changed targets, turning its head to try and bite Little Yellow Feather.
“Pu ci!”
Little Yellow Feather opened its beak and spat a stream of dense Solar True Flame on the black snake’s body.
The black snake immediately wailed in pain, writhing on the ground without pause, apparently in extreme agony.
Xiao Chen seized this opportunity with both arms and opened up a distance between himself and Yang Kai as well as Wu Ke. As he hovered in the air close to a wall, he eyed the two coldly.
In a mere few breaths, everyone else in this burial ground died, leaving only the three.
Such a result was truly unexpected.
That mountain-like pile of Essence Stones glittered, looking very tempting. Then, Xiao Chen looked at the bleeding corpses beside it. The saying “people died for wealth” was entirely true.
Xiao Chen said indifferently, “The two of you really played a good trick. This Xiao is truly in awe. Although the dragon grave is dangerous, in the end, it is not as dangerous as the human heart.”
By now, he had already clarified all his doubts.
Wu Ke and Yang Kai probably discovered this dragon grave together. However, due to this Eight Star dragon grave being too dangerous, they needed to find some dupes. Otherwise, they would not be able to enter the burial grounds safely.
The two of them probably had Secret Treasures that allowed them to communicate with each other. After that, the two formed two teams and made these teams “coincidentally” meet each other in the burial ground.
With the allure of so many treasures, the two teams would definitely fight a huge battle to the end.
This battle happened to give Yang Kai and Wu Ke a chance to deal with everyone easily. Naturally, the fewer people there were, the better it was for splitting the treasures.
Wu Ke eliminated the Solar True Flame from the black snake’s abdomen and stood beside Yang Kai. Then, he looked at Xiao Chen and said, “The ones that should be in awe are the two of us. Despite facing so many treasures, you can still maintain your calm. This is not something that we can accomplish.”
Yang Kai smiled and said, “Little Friend, before you die, do you have anything you want to say?”
Two half-step Martial Emperors facing one Great Perfection quasi-Emperor—no matter how they looked at this, this was a sure victory. Although they were surprised at Xiao Chen’s strength and mental state, Yang Kai did not think that Xiao Chen could do anything against two half-step Martial Emperors.
“You can do your best and try, see who benefits at the end after we go through a life-and-death struggle.”
Yang Kai’s and Wu Ke’s expressions changed at the same time. After some thought, they suddenly felt that Xiao Chen’s words had some deeper meaning.
“What do you mean?”
Xiao Chen shouted, “What do I mean? Are you still not going to come out? Or are you waiting for me to flush you out?”
There is still someone else alive!
This thought startled Yang Kai and Wu Ke. Who was it that could hide deeply enough to trick even the two of them? Or was Xiao Chen purposely trying to trick them?
“The youth of today don’t know how to respect their elders anymore. This old man just wants to lie here peacefully. Why the need to reveal me?”
A long, drawn-out sigh sounded, and a head popped out of the headless corpse of the straw-caped old man.
When the two half-step Martial Emperors looked at the head that Yang Kai chopped off earlier, they realized that it already turned into a pile of mud and returned to the ground.
The straw-caped old man stood up, startling both Yang Kai and Wu Ke. This old man was the true sly old fox.