Star Gate

Chapter 607: Killing Xu Qing (II)

Li Hao, however, did not make a sound. Leave? Why leave? Old Hong was here!

Indeed, Hong Yitang and Light Sword were here and had contacted him. Li Hao’s armor told him that Hong Yitang would be here soon, so why should they leave? I’m gonna kill this old fart!! He and his teacher just needed to hang on for a little while longer. Even if they were gravely wounded at the end of it, once the two Silver Moon powerhouses arrived, Xu Qing would have to die with extreme regret no matter what he did. It wouldn’t matter if he threw caution to the wind and fully unsealed himself!

Yuan Shuo seemed to guess at something as well and fell silent. Master and disciple called upon all five auras—one as the ferocious tiger, the other as a massive ape. The ape retreated with a loud boom and the tiger dispersed.

Xu Qing was indeed strong beyond belief, but he found that he couldn’t kill both of them!

Li Hao swiftly placed his back against Yuan Shuo’s and flung out a drop of Water of Life, healing the injuries on both of them. The young man then transformed into a willow tree and took root in the cloud, sending a surge of sword energy into where he was rooted.

Xu Qing struggled to follow their movements as master and disciple operated the Five Styles to the utmost. Sword energy and Water of Life continuously flowed forth. Not only that, but Li Hao reached out to grab the stone blade, tossing Stellaris into Yuan Shuo’s hand.

Yuan Shuo slashed down with the sword!

BOOM!

“You can use the divine sword too?!” Xu Qing backed away with incredulity. Why?! Yuan Shuo wasn’t of the eight families, so why could he use the weapons too?

Despite having the Windchaser Boots for so many years, Xu Qing could only study it bit by bit. He could only somewhat manipulate them and not use them. Why was Yuan Shuo an exception and able to use the heritage weapons??

The latter ignored him and was suddenly wearing two boots on his feet. Li Hao’s feet were bare now. No one knew that the Breathing Method of the Five Styles was the reason why the young man had been able to use these weapons. They all thought it was because of Li Hao’s bloodline.

Right now, the young man focused on fortifying Yuan Shuo to the best of his capabilities. He handed over his sword and shoes, crouching on his teacher’s back like a monkey. Blood qi and internal force entered Yuan Shuo’s body via the breathing method—the method of the same origin erupted!

Dual cultivation!

Yuan Shuo roared as master and disciple commenced combat in an extremely odd position. Li Hao rode on Yuan Shuo’s back, Yuan Shuo was as if a mother bearing a child. Or perhaps this was what was meant by the saying of “wolf and bei working together”.[1] The bei was on top, the wolf on the bottom. Bei was in charge of conducting their movement while the wolf was in charge of attacking.

Yuan Shuo’s presence greatly expanded! He flew upward with a roar and struck with both hands and feet. Li Hao held one hand behind his back and shoved the other forward!

The fist was as if fire, the palm as if wind. Stellaris circled through the air and the stone blade pierced through its movement!

The incomparable Xu Qing was once more suppressed by another degree. He looked on with shocked disbelief and roared with fury, almost rupturing the void when he kicked to the side!

Bam! sounded out.

There was a fist imprinted on his foot. His boot had disintegrated and revealed a bleeding right leg. Yuan Shuo’s arm seemed to be broken, but that was promptly healed when Li Hao reached forward with his hand.

Master and disciple engaged in a whirling dance of death with blade and sword! Xu Qing howled with fury again, refusing to accept the turn of matters! This wasn’t possible! Their methods stemmed from the same origin, but it was their level of coordination that was too high. Li Hao had practiced the Five Styles for several years, but his strength was too far beneath Yuan Shuo’s. They shouldn’t have had too many opportunities to fight together. Why could they work together so well?

Bam!

A crack appeared on Xu Qing’s armor and he kicked out in response. Yuan Shuo shoved Li Hao forward from his back to take the blow—the silver armor shattered with each kick it suffered. Li Hao bared his teeth ruefully. His teacher was awful!

Plainly, Yuan Shuo felt that Li Hao was stronger than him in terms of physical body, organs, and armor. It was safer for the young man to suffer the kick, but man it hurt!

Li Hao climbed upward like a monkey, as did Yuan Shuo. The two reversed directions as Yuan Shuo once more appeared in front of his opponent. He struck with his sword and connected with a leg that Xu Qing hadn’t had time to retract. Another bloody mark appeared as the man’s foot was nearly cut off.

Xu Qing took a few steps back and landed on the ground. Fresh blood scattered over the broken ground. He considered the two with a foreboding look.

“The New Book of Five Styles!” A greedy look entered Xu Qing’s eyes. “It seems to be able to combine martial dao, core origin, and point straight to the grand dao. Yuan Shuo, you really are a genius!”

He understood why master and disciple could act and fight as one! It was due to the Five Styles! Their breathing was one, their internal force and mental ripples seemed to undulate in the same pattern. This was incredible as methods from the same origin didn’t show themselves in such a manner. This was a unique characteristic of the Five Styles!

Everyone had underestimated Yuan Shuo and the Five Styles. This method that’d he’d created as a Sunderer had been perfected again and again into something wholly different.

“Heh, do you want it, Xu Qing? Keep unsealing yourself if you want it! Just two locks aren’t enough! C’mon, break three, four, five, or all of them! Break them all if you want a chance of killing me and taking everything!

“The sword of the Lis, blade of the Zhangs, and boots of the Lius will all be yours!”

Three divine weapons! Even Xu Qing was moved by the notion. He was seized by an impulse to erupt with everything he had to kill the two in front of him. They were so rich, and not just in the ordinary sense! The three heritage weapons and Five Styles were the true, ultimate treasures! Any one of them would draw attention from all sides, not to mention that the duo had so many.

Xu Qing snorted as light sparkled from his feet. They landed as if feet of heaven and earth; the look in Yuan Shuo’s eyes shifted at the sight.

He backed away with urgency before a massive footprint was left in the ground with a boom. Yuan Shuo’s expression shifted with rage!

“Deficient Leg! Did you kill him and seize his secret art?!” Yuan Shuo snarled.

Xu Qing stomped down again. “Cut the crap!” he snorted. “You’ve killed so many martial masters that those who died of the thirty-six were almost all by your hand. Look at you being so angry just because I killed one Deficient Leg!”

“You should die!” Yuan Shuo raged. “You utter bastard, how dare you ambush a Silver Moon martial master! There would be news shared if he died in a sparring match—you ambushed him!

“ROAR!” A tiger howled its fury to the heavens. Yuan Shuo was incensed, and it was a different kind of anger than would be usually present.

He’d killed more Silver Moon martial masters than he knew, but he was beyond infuriated to hear that Xu Qing had killed Deficient Leg of the thirty-six. He was more enraged than when Li Hao had almost died!

The tiger howled as Yuan Shuo advanced. His sword broke through the air like sharp tiger claws as he brought it down on the foot!

Bam!

The skies and earth collapsed when the foot landed!

“I’ve always wondered why Silver Moon martial masters were so strong.” Xu Qing was wholly unconcerned. “You guys always enjoy great fortune and possess secret arts that are either the essence of ancient martial dao or contain its greatest mysteries. Yuan Shuo, you do indeed have the right to be arrogant. How do you feel now that I use a Silver Moon secret art against you?”

Another foot slammed into the ground! One foot after another drove Yuan Shuo back. Li Hao voluntarily took a few blows—his organs felt like they were going to rupture. It was then that he knew they really couldn’t defeat their opponent!

Deficient Leg was extremely mighty. Xu Qing might have refrained from using his techniques before out of reservation or wariness that Silver Moon might seek revenge on him if he did. But now, he let loose with abandon.

He’d clearly secretly killed Deficient Leg of the Thirty-Six Heroes and claimed his secret art. Who knew if Deficient Leg had been overly confident, or if Xu Qing had used some other way to trick the method out of the martial master?

Blood trickled out of the corner of Yuan Shuo’s mouth; he was on the verge of furious madness, but there was nothing he could do! How he cursed his impotence!

He was very strong with the five auras fused together, but his first opponent after his breakthrough was the indomitable overlord of the east. How unlucky! Why couldn’t things go smoothly for him for once?

“Almost... there... hang on... a bit longer...” Li Hao’s extremely weak voice traveled into his ear.

Yuan Shuo tumbled out of the way of the next foot stomp, rolling both of them in mud. It was quite a pitiful sight.

“Hahaha!!” Xu Qing threw his back with laughter. He was delighted beyond words! His nightmare was trampled underfoot today and he used a secret art of Silver Moon to kick Yuan Shuo around like a beggar in the mud.

Xu Qing wasn’t one to make his accomplishments widely known like this, but joy truly bubbled from the bottom of his heart at the moment. However, he soon frowned.

The two martial masters rushing in from the distance seemed to realize that they couldn’t conceal their presences any longer. Typically coolly composed, Hong Yitang’s eyes glittered with a frosty look. He strode in on the backs of huge waves with cold fury!

“Deficient Leg!” he enunciated carefully.

“You killed Deficient Leg?” Light Sword also forced out through grit teeth. “No wonder that guy completely disappeared. We have news of even Tyrant Blade, but he’s the only one that we don’t hear from. We thought he was hiding somewhere to cultivate, but it was you who killed him!”

Deficient Leg might not have been among the best of the thirty-six, but he’d been an invaluable part of Silver Moon’s martial world. Everyone had their own strengths in the martial world; his was a unique method for the feet and a rare specialized martial master for Silver Moon.

Yuan Shuo had killed quite a few of the Seven Swords, but decided not to kill Deficient Leg after defeating him because Yuan Shuo knew that this secret art was too hard to pass on. Silver Moon’s martial world prided itself on never ending a heritage. As for the swordsmen he’d killed... It was Yuan Shuo’s opinion that the martial world absolutely did not lack sword methods. It didn’t matter if he killed them!

“To sever the rivers!” yelled Hong Yitang as he deployed a move that did not overturn the heavens and earth. It was one that severed the rivers and was an ultimate killing move, not his usual that carried defensive properties in it!

The rivers were broken with his stroke and a sword fell from the heavens. Instead of being magnificent in presence, it blazed with killing intent!

1. Bei is a wolf-like animal in ancient Chinese etymology that had very short forelegs. It needed to ride on a wolf in order to walk, which eventually gave rise to the saying of two parties conspiring together for a common goal. ☜