Chapter 146: Innumerable Shadow, Made Blade, A Man’s Accountability
Translator: Udong Editor: Waffles
In an instant, the audience felt that Cage, who was standing in the middle of the duel, turned into a ferocious Demon Beast who kept the human form!
Roar! It was like the angry roar of a leopard that came from the mountains. Cage straightened his neck and raised his head as his fingers grasped onto the hilt of the blade tightly after he roared. His arms slightly bulged, and he lifted his right leg off of the ground and then stomped down forcefully. As the concrete tile under his feet broke into pieces, he leaped into the air! At the moment when he was in the air, his right hand that had the battle blade in it slightly twisted and the wind that arose from the chop struck downwards at Qian Jin’s face!
Cage was like a Leopard that was raiding and hunting for its prey. One of his hands was hiding behind his waist and not shown; it could be used to attack or defend. The other hand struck the blade downward at Qian Jin’s neck.
Bloodline Battle Form! Leopard Fighting Technique - [Smash Rock Nine Attacks]!
After Cage used his Bloodline Battle Form, his appearance was not the only thing that changed; his body’s function and ability changed a lot too. When he breathed naturally, it sounded similar to a leopard’s thunder-like growl.
Bloodline warriors weren’t named the strongest warriors for nothing.
Qian Jin was still silent. He moved one of his legs forward and slightly bent his body like a bow. The same level 5 Demon Fighter Warrior Power cycled in his body rapidly, and his back bones crackled and his back muscles bulged and filled up his s.h.i.+rt. With both of his hands on the Zhanmadao, he stuck upwards at Cage aiming at his body’s center line, and the Zhanmadao smashed onto Cage’s battle blade.
Penetrate Armor! One of the strikes from [Seven b.l.o.o.d.y Combat Strikes] met Open Mountain! One of the attacks from [Smash Rock Nine Attacks].
When Cage was in the air, his muscles still had some strength in them as he didn’t bet his all into this one attack. When he saw Qian Jin strike at him with the Zhanmadao, his wrist suddenly applied more force to the blade in his hands with his warrior power empowering his wrist, elbow, and shoulder. The three joints applied the most force they could on the blade, and these bones and joints make cracking noises under the stress.
With the help from the sequential warrior power empowerment from these three joints, Cage’s blade struck towards Qian Jin even faster and more ferocious; Cage was very confident that his blade could chop a war horse in half easily. With this mentality, his blade collided with Qian Jin’s Zhanmadao.
Tink! The loud ear-piercing noise of metal colliding sounded. It was followed by more bone crackling noises coming from Cage’s arms and joints.
All the concrete floors within a three-meter radius of the collision all shook and jumped into the air a little. All the dust on the floor was sent into the air and floated at a level below Qian Jin’s knee.
"This strong? Is he a level 5 Demon Fighter as well? How is this possible?" Cage was very surprised. One of bloodline warrior’s advantage was their Bloodline Battle Form! It was never for the purpose of changing their appearance to make them look more ferocious, and its main purpose was not to simulate the bloodline power in their bodies so their warrior power could become more explosive. The most important effect of Bloodline Battle Form was strengthening the bloodline warrior’s physical body! So the amount of force that they could use and bear would increase drastically.
After the two blades smashed into each other, Cage didn’t knock Qian Jin away through the explosiveness of his warrior power. On the other hand, he was injured a little by the warrior power and strength from Qian Jin; his joints and arms crackled under the collision, his hand that was holding the blade felt like it tore apart, he experienced a ton of pain, and his legs that were rooting to the ground felt weak and soft.
"Back off!"
Qian Jin shouted. However, he didn’t increase the strength that he was using from a level 5 Demon Fighter to a level 6 Demon Fighter. With his torso and legs in perfect coordination, and with the level 5 Demon Fighter Warrior Power rotating in his body speedily, he smashed down with his Zhanmadao again! The force that was enough to move mountains and seas was conducted through the blades to Cage’s body. Cage’s legs couldn’t help but back off repeatedly. He backed off for five steps, and for every step he took, some of the force that was conducted to his body was unloaded through his torso and legs onto the ground. Therefore, every concrete tile that Cage stepped onto exploded and shattered to pieces.
However, Qian Jin on the other hand didn’t give him the time to breathe and followed up as he struck down and pressed at Cage with his Zhanmadao. That made Cage back off continuously while placing his battle blade in front of his chest to prevent the Zhanmadao from piercing through his body. The two blades made more high-pitched ear-piercing metal gliding noises as they rubbed on each other; it sounded like two beasts were biting and tearing each other’s flesh off while growling.
"This is all you got?" as Qian Jin pressed at Cage and caused him to back off, he felt the advantage of high explosive force that arose from his warrior power cycling at a rapid speed for the first time. Both of them were level 5 Demon Fighters, but he was able to get the advantage in this fight that was fought purely on explosive warrior power and brutal physical strength.
Back! Back! Back! Back! Back!
Cage was backing off so fast that he was getting used to it. However, in his mind, anger and shock mixed together and gave him a strange feeling. "A level 5 Demon Fighter who is using Thunder Cat Bloodline Battle Form was getting pressed and oppressed by an ordinary Demon Fighter and was forced to back off non-stop!" He thought. Although Thunder Cat Bloodline wasn’t known for its strength, warriors who had woken up this bloodline should still have a big advantage over ordinary Demon Fighters.
"So this is a Bloodline Warrior?"
The Zhanmadao was pressing against Cage’s blade tightly, and Qian Jin stepped and rushed forward steady and didn’t give Cage the chance to pull back his blade and take some time to breathe.
In a blink of an eye, Cage had backed off for more than a dozen steps, and his back was getting closer and closer to the wall of the yard. When his back touches the wall, it would mean the scale of victory had totally tilt towards Qian Jin’s side.
Cage stared at Qian Jin ferociously, and blood was leaking out of the corner of his eyes. A legit Thunder Cat Bloodline Warrior was taking advantage of by an ordinary Demon Fighter! And this ordinary Demon Fighter had enough power and focus to speak so casually in this duel?
After looking back at the wall that he was getting closer and closer to, the anger in Cage’s head was doubling every second. He didn’t expect that he would be oppressed by an ordinary Demon Fighter so much that he would have to use his Special Bloodline Technique!
Cage could no longer care about his honor of being a Bloodline Warrior at such a critical and life threatening moment. His ankles started to turn as he backed off for a few more steps; he looked like he was gliding on the ground. He suddenly stepped his feet on the ground and smashed one of the tiles into pieces. That impulse made his body somehow slide magically. His movement speed was so fast that he got away from the Zhanmadao’s chop and appeared onto Qian’s side like a rapid wind.
It was the power of Thunder Cat Bloodline – Thunder Cat’s Speed! The warrior power was surging and cycling in Cage’s energy connections rapidly, and he felt like there were numerous knives cutting from the inside of the energy connections. Although it was painful, his speed had almost doubled! The battle blade in his hands didn’t hesitate and slashed down at Qian Jin’s head!
"Die!" Cage let out a roar to get the pain off of his chest and vent the anger of being pressured by Qian Jin. Thunder Cat’s Speed was a Unique Bloodline Fighting Technique that ordinary warriors couldn’t understand! When Cage chopped downward, he almost smelled Qian Jin’s blood that would gush out of Qian Jin’s neck ahead of time.
"Not really!"
Qian Jin didn’t pause his steps. Every muscle in his body shook strangely in coordination with a warrior power. Before his voice disappeared in the air, his body had turned into a phantom. Although Cage’s blade was as fast as the wind, Qian Jin’s speed was even faster; Cage’s blade was only able to strike onto an afterimage.
"So fast!"
"So fast!"
Both Fabreidis and Sabonis pressed onto the armrest on their chairs and stood up instantly. They thought as they stared at Qian Jin who was moving at an insane speed, "How could a Level 5 Demon Fighter achieve this speed?"
[Innumerable Shadow]! Like a cloud of smoke, Qian Jin’s body appeared behind Cage, and his Zhanmadao struck at Cage ferociously. At the same time, Qian Jin’s cold voice appeared in Cage’s ear, "This is all you got?"
With both of his hands on the blade, Cage twisted his body, lowered his center of gravity, and slashed his battle blade over his head to defend himself! In the loud metal colliding noise, two deep mus.h.i.+ng sounds sounded as the skin on Cage’s hands tore open and blood floated out of the wounds. Both of his hands, arms, shoulders, and even legs were bearing this huge impulse. A series of bone cracking noises sounded from every part of his body. More than ten crisp crackling noises also sounded from tiles that he was stepping on; the already chipped tiles were shot into the air from the huge pressure.
Bam! Cage kneeled to the ground with one of his knees. He felt like his chest was on fire as if he just swallowed hot charcoal. His blood pressure skyrocketed; a mouthful of hot blood instantly spurted out of his mouth, and blood was also slowly sliding down his nose and ears.
Tink! A visible crack started to appear on the location of his battle blade where the Zhanmadao was pressuring on. After the blink of an eye, a crisp metallic sound appeared as half of the blade broke off. The Zhanmadao on the other hand didn’t stop at all and went straight for Cage’s throat.
"Qian Jin!"
"Stop!"
Fabreidis and Sabonis both shouted at the same time, and Qian Jin’s Zhanmadao stopped at Cage’s neck. The sharp blade had cut open some of the skin on Cage’s neck, and blood slid off of the blade and dripped onto the ground.
At this moment, the yard was very quiet; the only sounds were Cage’s heavy breathings, and the sound of Cage’s blood and sweat dripping onto the ground.
The violent pain felt like ants biting on every part of his body. Under the impulse, quite a few pieces of his bones were dislocated, his hands were injured completely, and Qian Jin’s destructive warrior power that was conducted into his body was like an arsonist running loose in his body; all of the warrior power that he had and regenerated were chasing after this power and trying to put out the fire that it set.
However, compared to the physical pain, he was suffering a greater amount of spiritual pain.
Cage’s spirit had completely collapsed. The Bloodline Battle Form that he was very proud of was weaker than an ordinary warrior in terms of the explosiveness of warrior powers and brutal physical strength. And his Thunder Cat’s Speed that was feared by many Demon Fighters was lower than his opponent’s speed! Even the Warrior Weapon that he spent a lot of money on was chopped in half by his opponent’s big blade...
"This...this..." All the confidence and self-esteem that Cage built in the last years collapsed in less than a second. He felt like the whole world was spinning in his eyes rapidly.
Everyone on Cage’s side was shocked! Their faces paled as they all thought, "Bloodline Warrior Cage lost! If the Mayor and the guardian of the city didn’t stop Qian Jin, Cage’s head would be on the ground by now."
"The Warrior Weapon that you have is of an inferior quality." Qian Jin said calmly, but his Zhanmadao was still at Cage’s neck. "Do you think I was pressuring you just trying to kill you? No, I was trying to break your blade! The same amount of impulse placed on the spot of the flaw on your blade would definitely crack it."
Cage couldn’t hear what Qian Jin was saying at all. At the moment he lost his honor, he had locked himself into his own spiritual world and stared at his broken blade.
"Qian Jin!" Caeller, who sat on the ground, suddenly realized what was going on. He shouted, "Do you dare harm Cage? Do you know who his master is?"
Qian Jin frowned, "What? Dropping the name of the master again? What is this? The disciple f.u.c.ks up and would recover everything by dropping the master’s name?" He thought.
"Qian Jin." Fabreidis lightly waved his hands and said, "It’s ok, Cage’s master is Zene Skylar from Hanley State..."
"King of Hanley?" Qian Jin raised his eyebrows. He didn’t expect Cage to be from a relatively mysterious territory.
There were eight regions and thirty-five states, and one of the states was Hanley State. This Hanley State was on the very east side of the Empire, and it was overall less developed in terms of economy, culture, and strength. Due to this, everyone from there had very low self-esteem, and they were extra-sensitive about everything. Whenever a famous character appears from Hanley State, he or she would instantly be bragged about and exaggerated by the people in that state.
Zence Empire was established on wars and battles, so everyone at Zence put the most emphasis on a warrior’s fighting ability. Powerful warriors appeared from every state except Hanley State, and that was a part of the reason why they had a low self-esteem. When Zene Skylar appeared, people of Hanley State instantly became more proud and aggressively requested for Hanley State to become the ninth Region of Zence, Hanley Region!
Zene Skylar was also named by the people of Hanly State as the King of Hanley. Nine of the warriors who he personally instructed had now made names for themselves on the Human-Demon Battlefront.
The Yellow Land Region that contained Hanley State didn’t really like the special states under it making trouble. So the governor of that region reported it to the emperor and got praised for it.
This was a big joke in all eight regions, but people from Hanley State were very proud when they brought this matter up. When they meet people from other states, they would raise their heads and look down at them as if other people were all weak a.s.ses and couldn’t stand up for themselves.
"Qian Jin, you have already won." Fabreidis sighed, "You have protected the property of Roll Family, and Cae Family will pay a large lump sum of money for losing the bet. Why would you offend Zene Skylar? Zene Skylar and his other students are very tough to deal with and they always s.h.i.+eld the shortcomings and the fault of their own people, just don’t chop him."
Sabonis nodded as he agreed with what Fabreidis said; he couldn’t calm the shock he experienced a few moments ago. "This Qian Jin standing in front of me is already a level 5 Demon Fighter at less than nineteen years of age despite not being a bloodline warrior? d.a.m.n! He is like a monster. If he is lucky, he will have the chance to advance to a level 9 Demon Fighter in the next ten years! Glad that I didn’t engage him negatively."
"Zene Skylar?" Qian Jin frowned as he said, "King of Hanley?"
"Ok, Mr. Fabreidis. Since you have spoken, I will follow your advice and not chop him." Qian Jin said. But when everyone let go of the breath they were holding on and relaxed, Qian Jin peeked at the mourning hall filled with white silk and suddenly bent his fingers to form two fists. He was so fast and powerful that the air let out an exploding noise as he grabbed onto them. His fist directly hit Cage’s neck, and the powerful strength instantly played a fearful, chilling, and crisp melody on Cage’s bones. "I will use my hands to kill him." Qian Jin followed up and said slowly.
He grabbed onto Cage’s corpse by his broken neck and threw the corpse onto the ground, and then pointed at the coffin in the mourning hall as he glanced at everyone’s face and shouted coldly, "My friend! He is lying there! He is lying there and looking at me!"
"How did he provoke or offend? What did he do wrong? Because he inherited the entire Roll Family? Is that his fault? Is that why he desires to die? I think we all know about his death and why he died clearly!"
Qian Jin’s glances were as sharp as knives, and his stares were so ferocious that Sabonis had to turn his head around to avoid looking at Qian Jin in the eyes. People on Cae Family’s side also lowered their heads or looked away and tried not to look at Qian Jin.
"Great, so we all know!" Qian Jin’s chest moved up and down aggressively. "I, Qian Jin, don’t represent the law, and I couldn’t manage all the incidents like this one fatty. But since the fatty is my friend, his incident is in my life! No one cares? Not even the law? Ok then! I will take care of it! How dare you guys come here trying to duel and seize a family’s property after killing the family leader’s life? I don’t care if you Cage is involved in the fatty’s death; since you partic.i.p.ated in this seize, then you should have thought about the possible consequences!"
"Hehe... He is looking at me..." Qian Jin’s voice sounded sad and sorrow. As if he was talking to himself, he nodded and continued, "He is looking at me now. He is lying there and looking at me."
Various expressions appeared on people’s faces. Sabonis was silent and his face didn’t show any emotion. Fabreidis’ was not happy at first, but soon, a respecting expression took over. A real man should have this level of accountability!
Everyone from Cae Family’s faces paled, and Gomez Jane clapped her white hands as she nodded. A real man should have the courage and uprightness.
At this moment, Rosella’s sad cry resonated in the yard. She collapsed onto the ground, and she covered her face with her hands and let out all the sadness she was holding in.