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Chapter Fifty: Great Means
writer:无罪      update:2022-07-21 15:26
  The Wei River went through all of Changling. When Fang Xiang was taking his last breath, outside Changling, beside a branch of the Wei River, there was a patch of wildflowers in bloom.

  These flowers were a natural deep purple, and very interesting when blooming in the sunlight. It was even possible to see the tender petals slowly open. The buds were very small, but had an enchanting fragrance, and during their blooming process, the pollen kept on spreading. The fine pollen was a crystal silver color in the sunlight, causing the blooming flours to look like silver powder that flashed with mysterious light under the sunlight.

  These were the magnolias, unique to Changling, but very rare. They could not be transplanted, and they would only bloom for a few minutes

  One middle-aged man was silently standing in front of this patch of flowers, and watching them bloom.

  When these flowers finally opened, he bent down to pick up the brightest. His face was very handsome. He had a strong nose, and his features were clear and fine like they were carved by a knife. His figure was up right. His light gold armor was slim and he appeared even more handsome. His fingers were covered by light gold metal armor. The coldness of the metal contrasted with the deep purple flowers.

  He had an inexplicable presence.

  Not far behind him, there was a marching camp.

  In the black camp, all the soldiers were wearing pitch black metal armor. Most of these soldiers were standing straight and not moving, like they were metal puppets. Not far behind him, there was also a cultivator in yellow robes waiting for him.

  “If I wanted to enter Changling, I would have done it long ago, why bother to do it now?”


  The cultivator dressed in the special dirt yellow robes represented Jiaodong Commandery in the Qin Dynasty. Around Changling, this color represented the mistress of the imperial palace. However, this middle aged man in the flowers did not even look at him, just saying coldly, “I have trained armies for the Qin Dynasty outside for many years. This Nether Armor Army has followed me north and south for many years, and I trained them up myself. I rarely participate in the struggle for power in Changling. Even if my son Li Xixing made a mistake when young, I exiled him to the border. But he is my son and has done very well at the borders, even making me a bit proud.”


  This middle aged man was naturally one the of thirteen marquises of the Qin,Marquis Li. He paused, turned around, and looked at the yellow robed cultivator with narrowed eyes. Then he put the flower into his mouth and chewed it. Drops of purple fluid fell from his lips, leaving behind a faint purple track on his white skin, even more startling to see than blood, and gave a strange feeling.

  “I want to train him, but not for him to die. But she set up a trap at the Wuzhi border. My son has disappeared. Based on the military intelligence, he is likely dead. Now, she wants me to lead an army back to Changling. Does she not need to give me an explanation?”


  Hearing his cold and scornful tone, the yellow-robed cultivator bowed his head deeply, appearing more suspectful. But his response was in a slow and calm voice. “The empress thinks that people like you care the most about what is left behind in the history books. She thinks that you are a person for great things and will not care about the minor things. For the great accomplishments of the dynasty, you will not care too much about these things.”


  “Really?” Marquis Li could not help but laugh.

  “Also, she has given you an explanation as well. If a sacrifice for the dynasty is needed.” The yellow-robed cultivator felt killing intent and shrank slightly, quickly saying, “She has made the same sacrifice as you.”


  Marquis Li stilled and then understood. “Fu Su?”


  The yellow-robed cultivator nodded.

  The killing intent in Marquis Li’s eyes slowly faded. But when he turned to look at the black camp, his eyebrows rose again.

  “General Bai’s God Killing Army has been killed.”


  But before he could speak, the yellow-robed cultivator continued on. “So your Nether Armor Army is the strongest army of the Qin Dynasty right now. Also, your way of making the nether armor comes from the past You dynasty, and is the best to deal with cultivators. The empress knows that this is not enough to explain to you, so she told me to tell you, after the Min Mountain Sword Sect is defeated, you can choose some of the sword manuals or the swords first. Also, she tells you that the God Killing Army and General Bai were killed when going to Donghu to get a legendary sword of Spirit Void Sword Sect. That legendary sword is likely the strongest sword in the world right now, and was fallen in the hands of the heir of the Nine Death Silkworm. If the Nine Death Silkworm heir is killed this time, then that sword will be yours.”


  “Do you know a saying among the Wuzhi tribes on the border?”


  Marquis Li coolly said, “The meat in your mouth is meth. Otherwise, even if it is meat that has been put on your plate, it does not count as meat.”


  “You do not have to go on the Min Mountain Sword Sect.” The yellow robed cultivator seemed to have predicted he would say this. Or rather, the mistress of Changling knew that Marquis Li would say this. He just faithfully described, “You just have to send the army to surround half of Min Mountain, and stop some people from leaving the mountain. Other people naturally will go up to Min Mountain Sword Sect.”


  Marquis Li’s eyes flashed and he said, “Who will go up the mountain? Who will lead the army up to surround Min Mountain Sword Sect?”


  “Marquis Dugu will be with you at the base of the mountain,” The yellow-robed cultivator said respectfully. “As to going up the mountain……I do not know, but the empress just has made arrangements.”


  Marquis Li took a deep breath and his brows furrowed deeply. He had thought of many possibilities, but not that the Dugu Marquessate establishment would take such a role at this time.

  He was silent for many breaths and then asked, “What will the Dugu Marquessate Establishment gain?”


  The yellow-robed cultivator did not hesitate and quickly answered in a soft voice, “Half of Guanzhong.”


  “Half of Guanzhong” were three simple words but caused Marquis Li’s hands to tremble imperceptibly.

  Marquis Li could not help but inhale deeply again and then said, “Such great means.”


  But when he heard his own words in the air, he thought back to each step the Jiaodong woman had taken. All of them seemed to be shocking, and each one was stunning in their greatness.

  He stopped speaking, and waved his hand impatiently at the yellow-robed cultivator. Then he walked to the black camp.

  **

  On the other end of Changling, an army was moving.

  This army was unlike the dark and black army in his sight. These were all in bright robes and had spirited horses. This army was rapidly moving to Min Mountain Sword Sect and were all dressed in bright red armor. The armor was not made from metal, but a unique kind of leather armor. There were unique seal scripts on the armor with flames and bright flowers flowing within.

  There was a carriage in the middle of the army, pulled by a dozen strange beasts.

  Sitting inside was a general dressed in red armor. His face was sickly pale, his figure thin. But he carried many swords on his back outside his armor. These swords were lined up neatly on his back like a peacock’s tail.

  Volume 4 45 - Accept the Challenge

  As the military orders were sounded and the soldiers in the ditch jumped up, an even shriller sound erupted from the front of the Wuzhi cavalry.

  A thin crimson sword flew from the back of a carriage, immediately accelerating until it was too fast to see, and fell towards the giant man who had just fired an arrow. A thin rider next to the giant ride shouted in fury. Another sword flew and knocked away the crimson sword with a clink.

  At the same time, there was a soft thud from underneath the giant rider. The stomach of the horse he was riding was penetrated like a hot water bottle. A dull earthy sword maliciously burrowed out of the soil, piercing through the horse’s stomach, then the saddle, and finally his body.

  The giant rider howled furious and reacted instantly. His enormous body jumped up, and he twisted with his azure bow. He managed to tangle up the small sword coming up from below.

  The leather armguards of this rider exploded, and energy moved on his arms in waves. The flying sword containing vital energy above realm five vibrated on his bowstring unable to break free.

  Yet at this time, an almost invisible sword light fell from the air behind the giant rider. As he sensed something and turned his head abruptly, the sword light sliced across his neck. A red line emergred on his neck, and then his head shot up with a fountain of blood.

  Countless gasps sounded.

  What had appeared in that instant were not just three flying swords. Dozens of sword energies gathered the primal energies of the universe as they sliced into the forefront of this Wuzhi cavalry.

  The Imperial Guard Army soldiers who had jumped leapt up saw the sword lights and figures who appeared from inside and behind the carriages. They were so shocked they could not believe their eyes.

  The foremost Wuzhi dozen riders of the cavalry were all powerful cultivators, even several hundred soldiers would not be able to stop their charge. Yet nearly a hundred cultivators were now in front of them!

  How did nearly a hundred cultivators come here?

  While they were too shocked to even think, Ding Ning’s upturned hand turned into a fist and reached out.

  This young figure stretched out his fist. In the eyes of all the Wuzhi soldiers and the Qin soldiers on the distant towers, the scene had a presence of blood and steel. The numerous messengers were also infected by this powerful and indescribable air. They felt their blood start to boil.

  “Fire!”


  Dozens of steely orders erupted from the mouths in unison.

  The Imperial Guard Army started to shoot.

  At this moment, many people in the army were not reacting consistently. Some archers and soldiers in charge of ordnance had not managed to keep up with orders, but this order did not require them to be in unison. The order was for them to shoot at will, to throw everything they could into the air towards the opposing cavalry!

  Currently, the charging Wuzhi cavalry had advanced three hundred paces! From this mountain slope, most of the Qin arrows, including some heavy ordnance, would perfectly land in the Wuzhi cavalry! Even more importantly, the Wuzhi cavalry’s advance was being halted by the sudden appearance of these cultivators!

  To enjoy and do at will usually meant fast! Especially in such an air of blood and steel.

  One Imperial Guard Army archer did not even sense his fingers becoming numb. Nor had he noticed the many arrows he had shot in a span of a few moments. Only now did he discover, through the abandonment of some carriages and the obstruction of baggage, these cavalry naturally took the path of the gentlest slope and the density of horses and riders were astounding.

  The sound of horses wailing in pain mixed with the explosion of flesh and blood. Bloody mist sprayed from the Wuzhi cavalry that had been giving off an unstoppable presence a few moments before.

  Horses and riders constantly fell and died, colliding with each other. Even the best rider could not control their steed in such circumstances. Victory was in the blink of an eye. Seeing this cavalry about to be destroyed instantly due to the sudden appearance of cultivators, a Wuzhi rider among the front riders dressed like a shaman gave off cryptic howls.

  These dozens of riders were at the front, and faced the swords of numerous cultivators. The arrows and seal weapons coming from above also drowned them, yet these riders incurred the least fatalities.

  As this shaman-like cultivator shouted, thick black mist spread in the air around him and these dozens of riders. This obscured the view from above, and even the arrows slowed down.

  At the same time, the other dozens of riders around this shaman suddenly accelerated, and passed through the black mist like lightning. Immediately, the sound of hoofbeats cut into the front of the Imperial Guard Army.

  “What kind of tactic is this?” Nangong Caishu could not help but ask in shock at seeing this scene.

  “Some of the shamans of Wuzhi are cultivators able to change local weather using spirit bones. The reason is that the bones of some powerful beasts on the steppes can naturally accumulate spirit energy. These cultivators can use the powdered crystal bones of these beasts with their own vital energy to create unique attacks. These Wuzhi shamans, at the start, were not cultivators who killed. They were just herders on the plains who wanted to change extreme weather. Then the herders who comprehended these tactics became shamans protecting tribes, and their methods were passed down.”


  Ding Ning explained calmly and slowly.

  As he talked in a low voice, the foremost dozen horses had turned into the sound of heavy impacts on the ground. Clearly, they had been killed by the Imperial Guard Army and the cultivators near the front. Yet the sound of howling and metal as well as flesh being cut constantly sounded. The black mist already spread to the entire Imperial Guard Army and the sounds were very close to them.

  Guo Feng stood on Ding Ning’s other side with an unusually ugly expression. These Wuzhi cultivators clearly were targeting the latter.

  Ding Ning was the true commander of the battle and became the only weakness at this time. If he were killed, he had no confidence he could win this battle.

  A heavy explosion sounded. The black mist ahead suddenly separated. What appeared was not a cultivator but a heavy esal chariot.

  Seeing this chariot vibrating after being thrown by a great force, Guo Feng’s expression grew more solemn. Yet Ding Ning’s eyes just narrowed slightly. He did not focus on the incoming heavy chariot, and turned to say to Nangong Caishu, “Just use the sword moves I told you previously.”


  Once battle started, Nangong Caishu became Ding Ning’s attendant. She knew that Ding Ning, who had killed Palace Attendant Rong, could not be measured by cultivation alone. From his soft and calm voice, she sensed that the power that had thrown the chariot was far beyond realm five. She had no confidence she could match such a level of strength. Yet she stayed beside Ding Ning and chose to listen to him.

  She attacked at full power. Her sword was not as ferocious as it usually was. A glowing flow of water appeared around her, and flew ahead like a glowing serpent.

  This was Cloud Water Palace’s sword essence.

  The Cloud Water Palace’s sword essence was extremely soft. The flow of water did not meet the flying chariot head on, and spun around it. There was a bang. No enemy was seen but this chariot gave off a toll like a bell and the crystal flow of water was scattered into droplets.

  “Wu Mountain Rain.” Ding Ning smiled slightly as he spoke.

  Nangong Caishu attacked again without hesitation and used the sword essence Ding Ning desired.

  The scattered water droplets did not fall and gently flowed upwards into the sky to fall as rain. The rain was not as sharp as the sword essence Zhang Yi had comprehended in Ink Garden. They seemed weak, but like washing dust- easily washed away the black mist in the air.

  The black mist dissipated and there was clarity.

  Volume 5 45 - Good or Bad Person

  In the next moment, blood sprayed wildly out of Hu Jingjing’s mouth. She felt that she had vomited all the blood in her body.

  The invisible wall in the sky was falling down towards the cavalry. The cultivator wearing the tiger skull mask shouted in fury. The five blood crescent moons flying around him flew upwards, and viciously struck at the falling invisible wall.

  The invisible wall split apart into tangible wild winds and sharp sword energies. There seemed to be countless transparent swords slashing viciously into the ground. The five crescent moons only won a bit of time for the cavalry.

  As the masked cultivator shouted in fury, this cavalry sank into chaos and urgently retreated.

  The scattered transparent blades fell into the scattered cavalry and immediately created waves of blood.

  These blades only killed about twenty soldiers in reality, most of those affected horses unable to dodge in time. When the riders found they could not stop this force, they had immediately left their horses.

  Yet the chaos created was shocking to see.

  Hu Jingjing felt she was about to die but even more shocked than the Wuzhi soldiers, she found power from some unknown place and shouted, “City Guarding Sword.”


  Then she fell forwards.

  Right up to the moment before she lost consciousness, she was still thinking, that was Mo Shoucheng’s sword essence.

  In her knowledge, Huang Zhenwei was the heir of the old man who had killed her master, but why had not such a sword essence appeared from Huang Zhenwei and was now appearing in Li Xixing’s hands?

  Li Xixing ignored her confusion and quickly shoved a medicinal pill into her mouth. Then he slapped roughly to force the pill from her throat into her stomach. His attention remained on the cavalry in chaos.

  The cavalry tried to maintain their formation but did not dare to advance.

  He knew that Hu Jingjing, this Changling young woman who had not heeded to his orders at all, had won her gamble. He took a deep breath, grabbed and hauled the woman onto his back. After moving through the grass for a few moments, he dug his fingers deep into the soil and pulled out a copper wire again.

  There were more copper wires connected to the end of this wire. As he pulled, the copper wires, not laid out in a straight pattern, whipped. Wavy ripples appeared on the grass next to him like many cultivators were moving quickly in the grass.

  Then he retreated. This time, he did not deliberately conceal his figure. He knew the best riddle was one that mixed true and false. If the enemy’s attention was attracted to some true scenes, they would miss some other traces.

  The three thousand cavalry retreated five hundred feet away and then reorganized.

  Seeing the waves of grass in the wilderness ahead, and the dust column where Li Xixing retreated, the mask-wearing cultivator, clearly the highest commander of the army, was silent for a moment and then produced some sounds of complex meaning.

  The riders around him sounded at the same time, as though in disagreement, but were faced with harsher rebukes.

  No one else around him dared to speak.

  The cavalry started to retreat and then disappeared in the night behind him.

  This general dismounted. His horse was taken away by the retreating cavalry. When the sound of hoofbeats almost disappeared, a curved blade from his black flew up like a blood moon.

  The crescent blade flew higher and higher. Many breaths later, there was the sound of grass snapping behind him and soon arrived next to him.

  An enormous wolf appeared next to him.

  This was a grey wolf far larger than a normal wolf. There was a saddle on its back, and even some food and thick blankets tied there.

  This general patted the giant wolf’s head and then mounted.

  The medicine power activated in Hu Jingjing’s stomach. The wild medicinal power charged into her meridians. They could not quickly make her damaged meridians recover, but they went deep into her bone marrow and stimulated the production of blood.

  The new pain caused Hu Jingjing to wake up quickly. Then she vomited a mouthful of blood.

  “It is best if you do not lift your head. Otherwise, a blade of grass may blind you in one eye.”


  As she unconsciously wanted to look up at the surroundings, Li Xixing’s voice reached her ears.

  She woke up completely and realized Li Xixing was carrying her quickly through the grass as he ran. “We succeeded?” she obeyed and did not look up as she asked weakly.

  Li Xixing was silent for many breaths and said, “The cavalry retreated.”


  Hu Jingjing was delighted and then she sensed the domineering and unimaginable medicinal power in her body. Then she paid attention to her body and became truly shocked. “What kind of pill medicine is this?”


  “White Bone Blood Birthing Pill.” Li Xixing replied simply.

  “This is Han ……” Hu Jingjing gaped in disbelief and could not speak.

  “This is the strongest healing medicine from the former Han Imperial Palace,” Li Xixing said simply. “My father was only assured that I could exist here with this kind of medicine on me.”


  Hu Jingjing was even more shocked.

  Then Li Xixing said, “But this is the last one.”


  Hu Jingjing struggled out after multiple breaths of silence. “Thanks.”


  Li Xixing said after a moment of silence, “No need for thanks. When the cavalry appeared, I also did not think of any way to achieve all aims.”


  Hu Jingjing pressed her face to his back. The back of his fur was completely soaked in blood. It was frozen in the cold like cooked leather. But as he sprinted rapidly, some heat still came off his back and caused the heavily injured Hu Jingjing to feel warmth.

  She hesitated for a long time and asked, “Why do you have Mo Shoucheng’s City Guarding Sword.”


  Li Xixing too hesitated for long. He was likely the one among the Changling young talents worst at conversing with people, yet he still felt he had to say something.

  “Do not hate Mo Shoucheng.” He said seriously after a long time, “He did not do it for himself.”


  “Do you mean if you do not act for yourself, then that person is noble?” Hu Jingjing thought of the sword light in the night and her voice grew cold.

  “No matter how you hate him, he is dead.” Li Xixing did not argue with her. He could understand her feelings. “At least to me, he is the person in Changling most skilled at keeping himself out of things and controlling Changling’s balance.”


  Hu Jingjing did not understand him and listened silently.

  “He will try to make up for some people’s mistakes.” Li Xixing continued. “Before I was exiled out of Changling, those people of similar age to me couldn’t beat me. If I aimed for Min Mountain Sword Sect, I should have entered Min Mountain Sword Sect faster than Duanmu Jingzong and the others, but I was exiled. He taught me the City Guarding Sword as compensation for my exile and a reward for what I do here.

  Hu Jingjing struggled to breath and said slowly, “I admit that he is a good person to you, but for Treasure Light Temple, he is a criminal. But he is dead so I will no longer comment on him.”


  The night grew deep. Everything returned to darkness like it had been washed.

  Li Xixing, who had been moving bent at the waist and hanging his head, stopped.

  “Where are we going next?” Hu Jingjing said.

  Li Xixing slowly turned around and said coldly, “We may have nowhere to go next.”


  Hearing his unusual tone, Hu Jingjing who was keeping her head down looked up. She looked up at him and then into the distant night.

  “Someone is coming?” She said softly to Li Xixing, “One much stronger than us?”


  Li Xixing did not answer.

  “You go.” Hu Jingjing took a deep breath and said, “You should be able to go alone.”


  “Do not speak and disrupt me from thinking,” Li Xixing said arrogantly in a cold voice.

  Hu Jingjing frowned deeply. She said nothing else and did not struggle.

  Li Xixing put her down, and gripped the handle of his long sword, but he stood motionlessly in front of her.

  In the distant dark night, an unusual sound appeared, turning to a gust of wind!

  A grey figure, carrying along a wild wind and yellowed pieces of grass, charged out of the night and into her sight!

  “Fang!”


  “You are Fang!”


  A voice with an unusual hissing sound spread in the dark night with burning black fury.

  Li Xixing’s eyes narrowed slightly.

  Seeing the grey wolf representing the Wuzhi imperial house, he started to feel cold.

  Volume 3 45 - Heaven Opening

  “From the beginning to the end, from using an army to forcibly reclaim Yangshan Commandery to challenging me at this moment, he wants to gain the initiative at all times.”


  “He not only wants to fight me and Emperor Chen of Han, but the entire world.”


  “So if there is to be an alliance, there needs to be a true alliance between you, the Yan, and the Chu.”


  Yan Ying stood up. His lips did not move, nor did anyone hear a sound, but the three sentences clearly reached the emperor of Qi’s ears.

  The Qi Emperor appeared solemn and dignified, emanating an unique light. For he knew, this unusual warning was Yan Ying’s last words.

  Yan Ying standing up was, naturally, his implicit acceptance of the challenge.

  Emperor Chen of Han nodded to him in respect.

  Yan Ying nodded in return.

  Emperor Yuanwu smiled.

  As he smiled, all of Deer Mountain suddenly bathed in a unique light.

  The blowing wind and the rippling mist were as usual. But there seemed to be many lights, that should not appear, falling down from high up on Deer Mountain.

  Every gaze was heavy.

  This was a true realm eight, Heaven Opening.

  A completely new world seemed to have opened in the sky. There were many waves of energy that other people could not feel. All of Deer Mountain was bathed in a unique light, as though it had become a transparent and bright jewel.

  Ding Ning closed his eyes. Not due to the brightness, but the pain he felt at this moment.

  Emperor Yuanwu’s cultivations had advanced much higher than he had imagined. This was something impossible, but it was happening before his very eyes.

  In the doctrine of any cultivation sect, the crux to cultivation was to detect the tracks of primal energy that flowed through one’s body and the surrounding world. Emperor Yuanwu opened the heavens, and all the cultivators on top of Deer Mountain could naturally comprehend with their entire minds in hopes that they could comprehend some crucial principals.

  Yet, unexpectedly, when their perceptions touched with the primal energies that seemed to come from another world, they only felt an enormous pressure, the kind that appeared to crush everything.

  Even the realm seven experts present were no exception.

  Under such pressure, their perceptions slowed. The perception of a cultivator was the source to controlling everything. When their perceptions slowed, everything slowed.

  At this moment, few cultivators were able to comprehend anything related to cultivation from Emperor Yuanwu. They just felt that Deer Mountain was becoming an unique little world under the control of Emperor Yuanwu’s energy.

  A world that belonged to Emperor Yuanwu.

  At the thought of fighting in this small world that belonged to their enemy, most cultivators on top of Deer Mountain paled. They felt great terror.

  They had yet to fight, but the realm sevens felt great terror. This was the enormous disparity between realm eight and seven.

  Realm eight, Heaven Opening, was not just to communicate with the world, opening new passages for the flow of primal energies of the universe, and obtaining vaster primal energies. It was also creating a world that belonged to oneself.

  Standing at the centre of this pressure, Emperor Chen of Han and Yan Ying felt this more clearly than anyone else.

  But Emperor Chen of Han, who had forgotten even his glory, shame, and death, would naturally not feel any terror.

  Instead, he wore a smile, sat down with his legs crossed. The fingers of his right hand acted as a sword as he stabbed towards Emperor Yuanwu.

  As he sat down, bursts of red pill energy appeared underneath him. These came from the Heaven Stealing Pill. The countless spirit medicines used to create the Heaven Stealing Pill were amazing condensates of primal energies of the universe. A pill medicine, that claimed the power of an entire dynasty during its creation, had enough energy to resist the energy of a Heaven Stealing Pill. It separated the emperor of Han from this small world.

  So when he sat down, it was like a red stone had been dropped into a pool. Regardless of whether he could match the world outside, he would first remain still.

  Red pill energy shot out of the index and middle fingers on his right hand, accompanied by a burning hot energy.

  This was the earthfire that he had absorbed into his body after cultivating diligently by Yin Mountain for a decade.

  This was his lifebond item.

  The pill energies themselves had been refined thousands of times by fire. With his body as the medium, the red pill energy and this ray of fire merged together into a crimson longsword.

  Boom!

  A furnace formed in the world. A terrifying wave of heat exploded in front of him, driving away all the moisture from around the peak of Deer Mountain.

  For all cultivators, a furnace forming when the sword appeared was a trait unique to the Zhao Sword Furnace. Yet at this time, Emperor Chen of Han’s sword had many times more murderousness and heat than what Zhao Zhan had displayed in his battle with Ye Celeng.

  Emperor Chen of Han sat on the ground, his two fingers gripping this pill fire sword as he stabbed it calmly and happily towards Emperor Yuanwu’s chest.

  Not far to his side, Yan Ying did not move. His black robe swelled slightly, and waves of dark wind blew.

  He stood there motionless, but in the senses of everyone around him, he seemed to have turned into transparent air and disappeared into the bright light surrounding Deer Mountain.

  Unlike Emperor Chen of Han who had turned into solid stone, the strongest grandmaster of the Qi Dynasty turned himself into a wind that hid in Emperor Yuanwu’s little world.

  Emperor Chen of Han’s pill fire sword passed through the air.

  As the sword moved, they passed by flowing lines visible to the naked eye. These were originally invisible seal lines that formed when Emperor Yuanwu used his perception to control the energies.

  Numerous seemingly minuscule bursts of energy that contained great power formed and destructed in these seal lines. They turned into a wave able to shock a realm four cultivator to death.

  This was probably the strongest sword that Emperor Yuanwu had encountered after his ascension, especially with someone like Yan Ying standing by. But Emperor Yuanwu still stood with his hands behind his back, and raised his eyes slightly at the sky.

  Boom!

  Thunder seemed to roar through the sky.

  Sound, in the world of cultivators, was something extremely slow. But when the enormous sound occurred, Emperor Chen of Han’s sword had yet to reach Emperor Yuanwu’s chest. The vibrating sound waves passed through the bright threads of light, turning into unique transparent swords that fell towards Emperor Chen of Han.

  Great Path Thunder Sound Seal Sword.

  Ding Ning closed his eyes, and took the name of Emperor Yuanwu’s sword in his mind.

  Emperor Chen of Han did not hesitate, the pill fire sword in his hand lifting upwards and swinging. It was not that he was too slow, but Emperor Yuanwu was too fast.

  If he had not changed, before his pill fire sword reached Emperor Yuanwu, his body would have been cut into countless pieces by the sound seal swords.

  The pill fire sword turned into an enormous pill cauldron that sprouted fire towards the sky.

  The transparent sword charged into this pill cauldron, making an enormous noise.

  The sound was loud and clear.

  All of Deer Mountain shook. The peaks around Deer Mountain shook.

  Many unimaginable sounds appeared in the world.

  All of the leaves on Deer Mountain’s trees left their branches and danced.

  All of the transparent swords shattered.

  In the next moment, Emperor Chen of Han appeared to have been sliced by countless pieces of glass. Tears appeared on his cloth robe, and drew lines of blood.

  Yan Ying looked quickly at Emperor Chen of Han and Emperor Yuanwu.

  Only now did the fingers on his right hand move slightly.

  Five lines of black energy burned on his fingertips like candlelights before quickly turning into five round black beads. There was a black thread connecting these five beads like they were a strange bracelet.

  The five black beads started to spin and fly, brushing against those bright lines of light. They gave off unusually violent and sharp sounds. But the thread connecting the five beads was completely still, as though the furious revolutions of the five black beads had nothing to do with it.

  There was a crack, followed by sudden silence.

  The five black beads disappeared under Yan Ying’s fingers. Five furiously spinning black lights appeared around Emperor Yuanwu.

  Because the rotation was so fast it surpassed the limits of people’s senses, these five balls of black light looked like spheres in many people’s eyes.

  But these people could sense there were five black infants in different postures within each black light.

  These five infants gave off unimaginably yin wind, spinning furiously as they revolved around Emperor Yuanwu.

  “Stone-Grinding Sword!” The emperor of Chu felt the essence and uttered in disbelief.

  Not far behind Emperor Yuanwu, Huang Zhenwei’s eyes widened in disbelief. He was almost certain that this was the true Stone-Grinding Sword Essence.

  The Stone-Grinding Sword had been one of that person’s original creations and could not have spread around. The Stone-Grinding Sword that Yan Ying was using right now was slightly different. He should have comprehended this kind of sword essence from the marks of combat that person left behind in the past, and the corpses of those he killed.

  Being able to rely on those things to comprehend such a sword essence was a matter of talent.

  Comprehending a peerless skill of another dynasty for one’s own use required humility and breadth of mind.

  Other than the Holy One, was there anyone in the Qin who could win against the grandmaster alone?

  Huang Zhenwei looked at Yan Ying’s figure with a hint of awe in his eyes.

  Emperor Yuanwu frowned slightly, as though in displeasure. His head tilted back further as though he was looking up at the stars at night.

  Numerous white flames appeared in the sky and fell down faster than those sound seal swords.

  Translator Ramblings: The way that the phenomenon is described, this should be more like “Sky Opening” than “Heaven Opening” but I guess it could be interpreted as “the opening to Heaven?”


  Volume 2 45 - Sea Clasping Slash

  This chapter has been brought to you by me, and larkspur.

  "This Lonely One wants that mountain. This Lonely One wants that mountain."

  Emperor Yuanwu’s voice was very calm, but as his voice echoed through the mountains, carried by the wild wind, it seemed to roar in everyone’s souls.

  That mountain, to the Qin lands, was behind Deer Mountain. He wanted that mountain, naturally it included Deer Mountain as well.

  Deer Mountain was to the side of Wu Mountain, a point of intersection to the various dynasties. If this place were to belong to the Qin, this was akin to the Qin expanding a hundred miles on this side of the border. Even the Wu Mountain area would land under the control of the Qin Dynasty.

  Especially when this place was an immanent strategic point. As such, if a garrison were deployed on the mountains, they could attack or retreat at will, like a dagger that could stab into the other territories at any moment.

  Yet, few on the peak of Deer Mountain had time to ponder over Emperor Yuanwu’s ambitions and the profound significance if this place were to belong to the Qin. For their eyes were still fixed on the flattened mountain, reeling in the aftermath of the power they had just witnessed.

  At times, one person’s cultivation and strength was insufficient to determine several things, yet, when one person’s cultivation and power was strong to a certain degree, all schemes were rendered meaningless.

  This was what many around Deer Mountain were considering at this time. And Ding Ning was one such.

  With a pale face, he fixated on the flattened mountain. His cultivation was far lesser than the majority of cultivators near Deer Mountain. He could not perceive some of the weaker energy vibrations during battle. But Emperor Yuanwu’s last blow was to the extreme, so he had felt it clearly.

  In his eyes, Emperor Yuanwu’s cultivation was no surprise, albeit only a minor level higher than he had expected.

  Realm eight second class was invincible cultivation.

  Looking at the mountain flattened by one sword swing, Ding Ning thought within.

  There were no more lights falling from the sky. The dragon eyes on Emperor Yuanwu’s dragon robe were dim.

  The sky also dimmed. After being twisted by the terrifying primal energies, the clouds turned grey-black and then rain started to fall.

  Cries sounded.

  These sorrowful cries came from the Qi spectators.

  While Emperor Chen of Han had completely disappeared, he did not originally belong to the Chu Dynasty. So the Chu people did not have many feelings towards him. Yan Ying was different. He usually was not present, but he had been the strongest grandmaster of the Qi Dynasty. The cultivators who knew of him and his deeds respected him greatly.

  The power in his body had been taken away by Emperor Yuanwu’s blow, and his body had been bisected, unable to even move. But his perception had not dissipated. This saddened the people of Qi even further.

  The emperor of Qi had a snow-white face. Looking at Yan Ying’s figure, his thoughts drifted back to Yan Ying’s words on their way here. He took a deep breath, about to order people to preserve Yan Ying’s body well, so it could be transported back to the Qi.

  But at this time, a faint thread of black smoke floated out of Yan Ying’s body.

  All the people on the peak of Deer Mountain stopped breathing.

  While they did not understand Yan Ying’s secret arts, everybody could sense that when this black smoke floated out of Yan Ying’s body, the last thread of humanity left Yan Ying’s body which seemed to have become two pieces of cold and hard dead wood.

  energy formed by Yan Ying’s perception?*

  All those present looked closely at this faint thread of smoke, afraid of missing any detail.

  But this thread of black smoke did not dissipate. It went along the wild wind and floated towards the flattened mountain peak. Even before it reached that mountain peak, this black smoke took shape a small black infant, and an even thinner stream of smoke floated out of its lower half.

  From a distance, it looked like a small black infant peeing on the flattened peak.

  Everybody stilled.

  For a long moment, the plaintive voices of the people of Qi remained silent, and almost every face from the Qin side evinced anger.

  That had all comprehended Yan Ying’s meaning.

  A thread of anger also appeared in Emperor Yuanwu’s eyes, but in the next moment, his gaze became absolutely cold and emotionless.

  That black infant dissipated in the wind.

  Li Caitian had died.

  Emperor Chen of Han had died.

  Yan Ying had died.

  The world lost three grandmasters.

  The three who could threaten him, had all died.

  "If you want nine more years of peace, then agree to this Lonely One’s request." Emperor Yuanwu turned coldly to look first at the emperor of Chu and spoke coldly.

  At this time, the Qin had tens of thousands of troops stationed in Yangshan Commandery. They could invade the Chu lands at any moment, conquering the Chu capital. So, he asked the emperor of Chu first.

  There were several more wrinkles on the emperor of Chu’s face. Unexpectedly, he did not look at Emperor Yuanwu with much anger. "Exchanging this place for nine years of peace is not an outrageous request."

  Li Lingjun stared in disbelief at the emperor of Chu. He felt that the emperor of Chu would at least consider the Qi and Yan. He had not expected for him to immediately agree.

  He had stayed in Changling for a long time. He knew the great humiliation the brave Qin had felt after Yangshan Commandery had been wrested from their grasp, and how much they valued the land. For the Qin, it was easy to give them such a place. But it would not be as simple to claim it back.

  The emperor of Yan narrowed his eyes and looked towards the emperor of Qi at his side.

  The emperor of Qi was silent for a moment and said, "I have no objections. You decide."

  The emperor of Yan lowered his eyes slightly and said, "If so, then we will meet again on that mountain in nine years."

  Other than these four emperors, all those on the mountain almost shook in unison.

  They all understood the emperor of Yan’s meaning. They had made an agreement to not invade for nine years. They would have a conference in nine years, but the location of the conference would not be Deer Mountain, but that flattened mountain. None of them had imagined that the three emperors would be so brisk and their opinions so similar.

  With this pact, the Qin reclaimed Yangshan Commandery, as well as pocketed the area around Wu Mountain. They had established a tactical fortress that could, at any instance, marshal troops towards the three dynasties and infiltrate a hundred miles into the foreign lands.

  The Wu Mountain area was equivalent to building an enormous and steep wall for the Qin Dynasty. The benefits of this unprecedented conference were such that not even the blood of millions of Qin swordsmen could deliver such a finale.

  Despite his opponents’ concurrence, Emperor Yuanwu did not show much joy. An imperceptible hint of disdain appeared at the corner of his lips. To him, these were just material things.

  Since ancient times, the power of agreements stemmed from reputation and trust, and not military force.

  When one of the parties to an agreement had outstanding power and could easily break the agreement, it would still lead to many unpredictable consequences. Reputation and trust seemed intangible and ethereal at ordinary times, but sometimes, in a battle, it could be the deciding factor.

  For instance the battles between small tribes; oft-times those that were united against their enemy won.

  In the world of cultivators, the result of ignoring reputation and trust would make enemies that one could not imagine.

  Emperor Yuanwu was well aware of this. His stance was not because he felt he could ignore the agreement, but in disdain for the hypocritical actions of these three emperors.

  Rain descended in a strange rhythm. The three emperors were starting to leave after the agreement was made, and there were ceremonial officials who were responsible for the dignified and complicated procedures that were to follow.

  Emperor Yuanwu stood motionlessly. He looked with slight disdain across Deer Mountain. The armies and cultivators of the Yan, Chu and Qi were still unmoving.

  Having used his own strategy and peerless cultivation to force the three dynasties into such an agreement, Emperor Yuanwu was at the strongest point in his life. But he had used up all of his vital energy, and this was also his weakest moment.

  The disdain in his eyes grew, turning into an unspeakable pride and mirth.

  As his mirth spread, he looked at the surrounding mountains and shouted scornfully. "Since you have come at this time to kill me, why hide! When have the people of Ba Mountain Sword Field been so cowardly!"

  As he shouted, many at the peak of Deer Mountain shook. They sensed something and turned to look at a mountain.

  The rain falling through the air suddenly grew heavier. Emperor Yuanwu’s golden dragons on his robe looked dimmer.

  An exceptionally sharp and enormous presence charged into the air from the mountain everyone was looking at.

  A bolt of lightning lit up the sky.

  This lightning did not go from the sky to the ground, but from the ground to the sky. When they discovered the abnormality, many at the peak of Deer Mountain realized that this was a sword light.

  Ba Mountain Sword Field!

  These four words that Emperor Yuanwu hollered and the sword light caused many people’s blood to freeze. Their ears even rang out.

  But the surprises did not stop. An exceptionally violent presence exploded from another mountain, a figure flew up, off the mountain, and dove towards Emperor Yuanwu with the presence of a meteor. All of the raindrops in the sky were attracted to this person, as though this was the immortal who caused the rains in legend!

  Two grandmasters who had taken over two different peaks revealed their killing intent at the same time, their target the weak Emperor Yuanwu.

  Some people’s hearts beat like drums. They finally understood why the three emperors had reached an agreement so easily, and that Emperor Chen of Han and Yan Ying were just the prelude to this astounding assassination.

  But this was not the end!

  The moment that figure flew into the air, another sky-piercing presence rose terrifyingly from another mountain.

  A mad, and almost oceanic killing intent swept towards Emperor Yuanwu!

  Translator Ramblings: Yan Ying might be the most amusing character in the story up until now.

  Also, courtesy of larkspur motivating me, there’s now a table of contents page.