Stranger Danger

Ye Qing and Chen Cang hadn’t tried to keep their conversation private, so everyone could hear it as clear as day.

Most people looked confused due to the lack of details, but not Chu Nianjiu. He was the only one who knew exactly what the duo were talking about. He was having trouble equating this Ye Qing to the goodie-two-shoes he encountered back at August Hill Village though.

When he met Ye Qing at August Hill Village, he was still a no-name Qi Invoker. Not even a year had passed, and the young man was now a famous hero in Luo Shui. Who would believe him even if he told them the truth?

This was the reason Chu Nianjiu thought that Ye Qing looked a bit familiar, but never put two and two together. It made him feel really stupid, so stupid that he didn’t recover even though the duo were already clashing against one another.

In the arena, Chen Cang was thrusting his sword toward Ye Qing. It was neither fast, urgent, unpredictable nor treacherous like the sword style the disciples of Blood Shadow Palace normally practiced. That wasn’t to say that Chen Cang’s attack was lacking, however. Quite the contrary, his sword qi was washing out of his body like an inferno, and they carved through the tough stone of the arena as easily as tofu.

Chen Cang’s astral qi was one of the thirty six superior grade astral qis, the Taibai Gengjin Sword Qi. It fell under Metal of the Five Elements, and it was sharp enough to cut through anything.

The Taibai Gengjin Sword Qi didn’t possess any other qualities besides unparalleled sharpness, but this alone made it one of the most suitable astral qis for a swordsman.

After all, a swordsman wielding a sharp blade was all that was needed to cut the sky and divide the earth!

Even with Ye Qing’s physique, he couldn’t help but feel chilled all over as Chen Cang’s impossibly sharp astral qi washed over him. It easily shredded his Burning Wind and left dozens of flesh wounds on his body.

The good news was that it only looked bad. None of the wounds were deep enough to impact his ability to fight.

The arena was only so big, and the sword qi was blowing everywhere. It made it impossible for Ye Qing to use “Illusionist’s Grace”. But he wasn’t planning to. Since he came to this world, he had never been afraid to engage an enemy in a battle of brute force.

While bleeding like a pig, Ye Qing threw punch after punch at Chen Cang. Strong as a dragon elephant and possessed by rock solid determination, Ye Qing kept marching forward each time his fist force shattered a swath of sword qis.

However, his momentum came to a halt when he was about three meters away from Chen Cang. From an outsider’s perspective, it looked like he was being pushed hard by a strong gale. But from Ye Qing’s perspective, it felt like he was trying to push through a mountain. The sword qis were so dense they were practically solid, and there were zero weaknesses that he could spot. The only way to continue forward… was to break through the mountain of sword qi by force.

“He’s… strong!”

At the restaurant, Chu Nianjiu, Lin Yuhuai and more were staring at the clash of sword qi and fist force with varying looks of astonishment. It felt like a disaster was taking place at the center of the arena, not a fight.

Both Ye Qing and Chen Cang were late-stage Astral Refiners, and yet their clash didn’t look like it at all. They would have believed it if their senses were blocked, and someone told them that it was a clash between Spirit Purifiers.

A short while later, Chu Nianjiu said with a frown, “Joyless is in danger.”

“Why? They’re still locked in a stalemate, aren’t they?” Wei Yueshan tore himself away from the magnificent battle and looked at Chu Nianjiu, puzzled.

Chu Nianjiu replied, “I’ve sparred with the sword maniac many times in the past, so I know exactly how strong he is.”

“Chen Cang’s vessel augmentation is perfect, so his reservoir of astral qi is greater than most. He currently cultivates a cultivation art called the ‘Five Green Peaks’ that uses the weight of five hills to nurture one’s sword qi. As a result, the thickness and volume of his sword qi is several times greater than your average Astral Refiner. It excels in prolonged fights and could supposedly keep the practitioner in tip-top shape even after three days of fighting.”

“However, Joyless just fought a terrible battle, so he is exhausted both physically and mentally. It hasn’t been long since he entered the late-stage of the Astral Refinement stage either. On the other hand, Chen Cang is an endurance-type warrior and a veteran late-stage Astral Refiner. He has spent several years honing himself at this cultivation level and could be counted as a Half-Step Spirit Purifier.”

“You can see why I say that Joyless is in danger.”

As if on cue, the flood of sword qi started pushing Ye Qing back little by little. And every time he took a step back, Chen Cang would push forward, and the sword qi would grow just a little thicker.

Three steps later, the sword qi converged into one giant cloud in the sky, and Chen Cang thrust his sword forward. Like water pouring out of a broken dam, the sword qi gushed toward Ye Qing like an unstoppable tide.

“Five Blue Peak: Rush”

After unleashing the attack, Chen Cang withdrew his sword and watched quietly as the flood of sword qi threatened to overwhelm Ye Qing. A cold glint flickered behind his eyes.

It’s over.

Honestly, he wasn’t expecting Ye Qing to be able to force out his full strength despite all the battles he had fought earlier. It would be a good death if nothing else.

Ye Qing’s eyes flickered with inspiration as he stared at the river of sword qi surging toward him. He abruptly stopped in his tracks, clenched the energies inside and outside his body, and gathered his aura. Then, he punched the ground in front of him. A whole chunk of the arena floor flipped into the air and divided the stream of sword qi at the center.

“Divide”

Then, the torrent of sword qi poured back to Chen Cang faster and more furious than before.

Boom!

Caught off guard, Chen Cang wasn’t able to defend himself before his own sword qi slammed into himself. The mountain of sword qi protecting him immediately shook unsteadily.

As soon as the flood of sword qi ended, Ye Qing ran up to Chen Cang and threw a punch.

“Break Through”

If his fist could punch through formations, then of course it could break a mountain as well.

“Break Through” only had one move, but that was enough. It emphasized on focusing all of one’s strength and spirit into one point to shatter anything and everything in its path.

If the mountain of sword qi hadn’t suffered a powerful blow earlier, then maybe it could’ve blocked this attack. As it was, Ye Qing’s fist force pierced right through and was headed straight toward Chen Cang’s chest.

To Chen Cang’s credit, his reaction speed was top-notch. He raised his sword and was able to block the fist force at the last second. Despite this, Ye Qing’s dragon elephant strength and enormous force still shook his whole body like a drum and sent him stumbling backward.

Every time he took a step, his complexion would redden just a tad. His energies were jumping all over the place, and he was steaming like a kettle.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

While Chen Cang was busy stabilizing his energies,Ye Qing rushed forward like a river and landed a powerful punch on Chen Cang’s stomach. He followed up the attack with many, many more punches until Chen Cang finally flew over the edge and crashed into the river. The wave he kicked up was just as tall as the one caused by the Bronze Tiger Head earlier, though the water evaporated into mist before it could fall back into the river.

Plop!

A few breaths later, a man jumped out of the river and landed on a nearby rooftop. He was none other than Chen Cang. Drenched, weakened, and severely injured, he looked like he needed medical attention even more than Ye Qing.

“I underestimated you, Ye Qing, so this is my loss. However, I must have revenge for my younger brother, so wait for me. I will see you again.”

With that said, Chen Cang left without looking back.

“He… lost? The Sword Gentleman lost!”

“Chen Cang actually lost to Ye Qing!”

“How is this possible?”

Everyone felt like they were dreaming. This wasn’t a random jianghu warrior they were talking about. Chen Cang was one of the four Gentlemen of Luo Shui and strongest warriors in the younger generation of Luo Shui. Despite this, Ye Qing still managed to defeat him with one decisive strike.

It wasn’t like Chen Cang was undeserving of his reputation. The fact that he managed to walk away alive proved that he was a cut above all the others who had fought Ye Qing before him.

“The sword maniac is hurt! Grievously hurt!”

At the restaurant, Chu Nianjiu was beyond astonished as well. He was in Ye Qing’s corner as a matter of course, but he never thought that Chen Cang would lose considering the circumstances. Moreover, Chen Cang was a man who would never give up on his objective unless he had no other choice. He was as stubborn as he was obsessed with the sword. The fact that he gave up and ran away proved that he was truly pushed to his limits.

“Lord Ye… what a formidable man he is!” Fang Xuanlang praised and sipped his wine, eyes burning with fighting spirit.

On the other side, Xue Shiwu was ashen-faced with anger, hatred… and wariness. Ye Qing’s prowess had exceeded everyone’s expectations.

Wen Zailai was hiding a sigh of relief even though he was the one who indirectly caused all this.

A shame. If only he is as stupid as he’s insane! Ye Qing thought in disappointment. He could have forcefully pushed through Chen Cang’s sword qi at the beginning, but he decided to play up his weakness so that the swordsman would underestimate him. He was hoping that the element of surprise would be enough to seal Chen Cang’s demise.

Unfortunately, Chen Cang was stronger than he looked. Not only did he withstand the barrage, he didn’t hesitate to book it as soon as he realized that he would not be able to win. It was almost unimaginable that this was the same guy who wanted to kill him just because he happened to be at the same place and time as his brother.

Well, his unexpected interference is helpful though, so I shan’t resent him too much.

Ye Qing’s lips curled into an evil smirk.

“So? Is there anyone else who would like to kill me?”

He wiped the blood on his mouth and bared his teeth. “You can attack me together or try and tire me out one by one. I don’t mind. Come get me!”

“No one? Well, there’s still time, so don’t hurry on my account. I need to collect my loot anyway.”

He then bent down and started looting the bodies as if there wasn’t an entire throng of crowd watching him from all sides. You could practically smell the jealousy and awkwardness as they watched him putting away the Nature’s Shell, Strange Artifacts, martial arts manuals and more.

When Ye Qing had looted all the bodies, he wiped his hand’s on a corpse’s shirt and stood up. Face arranged into an expression of abject disappointment, he asked, “Will no one give me the defeat I so sought? How disappointing!”

“Jianghu, they say… hehehe…”

“Warriors, they claim… tsk tsk…”

Ye Qing clasped his hands behind his back and slowly circled the arena as he bared his disdain for all to see.

“I suddenly feel like punching him myself,” Chu Nianjiu rolled his eyes when he saw this. His sentiment was shared by everyone at the table.

“It’s impressive though, isn’t it?” Lin Yuhuai smiled. “Didn’t we all dream of becoming a warrior like this someday?”

“To challenge it all with courage higher than the heavens,

To drink blood and wine, slay evil and end unwanted ties,

To rise to the clouds and challenge the gate of the sky,

And to be known as a warrior and a hero of the ages.

If this isn’t the dream, then what is?”

“The dream indeed! This deserves to be celebrated with a full cup of wine!” Chu Nianjiu, An Runyu and the others smiled widely as they echoed in agreement. They looked as happy as Xue Shiwu was furious.

“I can’t stand that brat. Do you wanna go teach him a lesson, Brother Zhou?”

“Yeah, Brother Zhou. That kid must be way past his limits after so many battles. If you jump in now, you might just be able to lob off the fucker’s head. When that happens, the Way of Taiping’s reward will go to you, and you’ll be known as the man who defeated the infamous Patrolman. What’s not to like?”

Inside a boat, a couple of jianghu warriors were trying to goad a man wearing dirty, tattered robes into attacking Ye Qing. He looked very youthful despite his grayish white hair, and he was dozing off on his chair right now.

“Oh really? Why don’t you guys go get him then? Do you think I’m stupid?” The dirty-looking man yawned. “Even Chen Cang, the Sword Gentleman is no match for him. Even in his current state, he could absolutely eat me for breakfast.”

“I, Zhou Mengdie, am an expert in killing someone in their sleep, not dreaming so hard that I would confuse it with reality.”

“What about you, Lei Zhao? You were cheering on your fellow idiots pretty hard just now. Why don’t you try throwing your Thunder God Bomb onto the arena. Who knows, it might just be the last straw that kills him.”

Lei Zhao was a quiet man with a square, honest-looking face. He shook his head and immediately started bullshitting, “I didn’t bring my bombs today. Why don’t you go, Ghost Whisperer? You recently reached the adept level in the ‘Ghost Whispering Sutra’, didn’t you? Just invoke a Ghost King and annihilate the brat.”

Ghost Whisperer was a small, thin man with a massive, millstone-sized head. While shaking his head from side to side, he replied in a strange voice, “Nah. I checked the calendar this morning, and it says that my luck is bad today. It would be embarrassing if I went on stage and failed to invite a Ghost King, wouldn’t it?”

“Tsk. You can’t even come up with a convincing excuse, and you think you can goad me into fighting Ye Qing? Eat shit, you fuckers.” Zhou Mengdie clicked his tongue disdainfully before shutting his eyes once more.

Meanwhile, Ye Qing was still taunting everyone in the arena, “Tian Yong is such a big place, and yet there isn’t a single person out there who can kill me? Chickens and dogs, all of you!”

“What an absurd jianghu this is! Hahaha! Just absurd!”

When the time was right, Ye Qing taunted the crowd one last time before leaping off the arena. The people subconsciously opened up a path and stayed well out of Ye Qing’s way. Not a single person dared to make so much as a squeak as the young man slowly walked toward the distance.

Ye Qing was about halfway down the road when suddenly, he turned limp and collapsed on the floor, unconscious.