[V7C018 – In Life and In Eternal Rest]
Qianye grabbed at the heavy sword with one hand while ignoring the blade coming for his chest. With a raise of his hand, East Peak shot in the direction of the a.s.sailant’s chest!
The Broken-Winged Angel champion was shocked out of his wits. He had clearly seen how powerful Qianye’s body was just now. It wasn’t a certainty if he could even wound Qianye in such an exchange, but there was no doubt that the other party"s blade would reap his life.
The elite champion ultimately valued his own life, drawing his sword back in an attempt to parry East Peak. The sword was bent entirely out of shape, almost as though it had been struck by lightning, while he himself was flung away. Even then, East Peak moved swiftly and managed to tap his chest before pulling back and slas.h.i.+ng at the Red Scorpion soldier.
The Broken-Winged Angel champion cried wretchedly as an arrow of blood flew out of his back. That light tap from the heavy sword had left a penetrating wound through his chest.
Qianye had grabbed the Red Scorpion general’s heavy sword with his left hand. Despite the blood flowing out from his fingertips, the latter couldn’t move his blade a single inch no matter how he circulated his origin power—it was as though the weapon had been welded permanently to the hand. However, the dauntless man ignored East Peak and focused on driving his origin power, determined to thrust the blade into the enemy at all costs.
Qianye’s expression was calm as East Peak slashed down like a mountain. Just as the Red Scorpion general was about to be slashed into two, he twisted the blade with a shake of his hand. The slash turned into a slap which sent the Red Scorpion general flying. With how powerful East Peak was, the swat duly shattered the man’s origin defenses and rendered him incapable of further combat.
Qianye had defeated two elite-corp champions in just a few moves, but the soldiers in the courtyard didn’t move a single inch. None of them were intimidated.
He halted his steps, scanned the soldiers before him, and said in a deep voice, “Move aside! Do not throw away your lives!”
A series of claps rang out at this moment. The soldiers moved to either side as a fully armored Xu Lang walked into the courtyard. “So you do know how to spare soldiers. Who would believe that a famous Twin Star of the Empire would be colluding with the vampires, and even forced his way into the military stronghold?”
Xu Lang arrived in front of Qianye and slowly drew a pair of daggers from his waist. “I hear you were also from Yellow Springs. Just as well, I shall let you see how inferior you are to the first-ranked graduate of the training camp.”
The blades danced in Xu Lang’s hands as though they had a life of their own. The handsome smile on his face gradually became twisted as he stared at Qianye, suffused with indescribable madness and malice.
Qianye only had one word for him: “Scram!”
Xu Lang’s smile froze instantly and his eyes were filled with killing intent. Following a shrill cry, one of his daggers came for Qianye’s throat while the other went for his abdomen!
Just as before, Qianye made no attempt to evade. East Peak shot toward Xu Lang’s chest in a move of mutual destruction.
With a loud cry, Xu Lang retracted his blades and parried the incoming sword, borrowing the force to leap ten meters back and draw away from Qianye.
However, he had misjudged Qianye entirely. A weapon as heavy as East Peak was actually as light as a feather in the latter’s hands. The blade only flickered once before arriving in the man’s face and was actually no slower than his daggers!
Xu Lang was greatly astonished. Subconsciously, he used one blade to defend while thrusting the other at Qianye’s heart, hoping to force the latter to defend. However, he regretted this decision immediately. Qianye had fought his way through all obstructions in a mutually destructive manner, and no one had seen him defend. Despite holding grade-seven daggers, Xu Lang wasn’t confident about taking down the enemy and his unbelievably strong body in one stroke. On the other hand, Qianye’s sword strike was sure to take his life.
As expected, Qianye didn’t even spare a glance for the incoming attack. East Peak deflected Xu Lang’s dagger with relative ease and thrust at his chest.
The fellow alumnus twisted his body and barely managed to evade the attack. He then pounced at Qianye like a leopard, his two daggers each going for the vitals. The latter, however, slashed backward without even looking and easily pushed the man back once more.
Xu Lang’s advance and retreat were as quick as lightning, and his blade had turned into streams of flowing light. Apparently, he had pushed his movement arts to the extreme. Every time, he would launch attacks at Qianye’s vitals from unimaginable angles, yet he would always be pushed back with a single strike. In the occasional meeting of blades, the ma.s.sive impact would force Xu Lang to retreat and reform his attack momentum. In the blink of an eye, the man was reduced to a battered and exhausted mess.
Qianye had made no defensive move since the very beginning, choosing instead to adopt mutually destructive stances. East Peak was as heavy as a mountain and as swift as lightning. How could the human flesh withstand a blow from it? Not to mention a direct stab, Xu Lang might not even be able to take a graze from it.
The battle between the two lasted for mere moments, but those with good eyesight could already see that Xu Lang was at a disadvantage. He could still hold out by virtue of his movement skill, but just barely. Having spoken so big just now, the man was rather embarra.s.sed at the current state of affairs. Yet, Qianye simply wouldn’t compete in movement or combat arts with him. He instead opted to trade injuries with every blow, which seized Xu Lang by his Achilles’ heel.
In the end, Xu Lang couldn’t help but take a gamble. Instead of parrying Qianye’s incoming sword, he stabbed at the latter’s wrist with one dagger while thrusting the other at his abdomen.
The strike to Qianye’s wrist caused East Peak to drop abruptly. Xu Lang brushed past the sword at this moment and sunk half a dagger into Qianye’s belly.
A sinister smile appeared on his face as he twisted the blade with all his might, hoping to expand the wound. Only at this point in the battle did he manage to sigh in satisfaction. But he suddenly noticed Qianye’s expression—it was just as calm and even contained a fair bit of mockery.
Qianye loosened his grip and allowed East Peak to fall to the ground. Then he formed a fist and swung it squarely into Xu Lang’s face!
At that moment, the man finally understood what pure power meant.
Xu Lang’s entire face caved in, sending a mixture of tears, snot, and blood flying in all directions. His vision lit up with different colors, but he could no longer see clearly as the entire world spun around and upside down. He soon crashed into something, and finally, the combination of pain and dizziness caused him to black out.
Qianye’s face was somewhat pale after pus.h.i.+ng Xu Lang back. He extracted the dagger stuck in his abdomen and tossed it casually to the ground. Then, he picked up East Peak once more.
The defeat of three consecutive officers still wasn’t enough to affect the morale of the elite corps. They unleashed a loud roar and stepped forward, effectively reducing Qianye’s movement s.p.a.ce. Then, numerous spears shot out like venomous serpents and stabbed into Qianye’s body. These spears were specially made to pierce through origin defenses, and the tips contained black t.i.tanium. This was a weapon made to fight humans and not the dark races.
The arrival of the spears caused Qianye to stagger and his aura to weaken a bit.
The faint whistle of the ocean began to echo in the air, filling all hearts with the terror of life and death. Even the most resolute soldiers of the elite corps couldn’t help but feel a sense of dread.
However, the whistling vanished in the blink of an eye. Qianye scanned everyone at the scene and shouted, “Scram!”
He stomped down at almost the same time, causing the entire street block to tremble. The soldiers nearby stumbled from the impact, and the weaker ones were flung away immediately. The walls and buildings in the courtyard fell apart immediately, and even the ground itself caved in to reveal the underground chambers below.
Bricks and debris flew out from the rubble as several figures rushed out from the ground and landed in front of Qianye. One of them was indeed Nighteye. She looked completely exhausted at the moment—her hands hung limply beside her body with long nails running through her arms, wrists, and ankles. If it wasn’t for a fat, burly man holding onto her, there was no way she could even stand up.
Nighteye looked up and finally saw Qianye. She stared blankly for a good while before saying, “Qianye?”
Qianye’s eyes turned blue as he operated the Eye of Truth and looked at Nighteye. He immediately felt as though he had fallen into an icy cavern and even his blood core was frozen.
Nighteye’s blood energy was scattered and fragmented. It was still flowing, but much like a torn cloth, it seemed difficult to repair. Moreover, that feeling she was giving off was as though something was missing. She was lacking in spirit, much like a vivid painting that had lost its colors.
Comparatively, the damage from the six stakes didn’t count for much.
“Qianye, why are you here? Leave, leave quickly!” Seemingly recovering her memories, Nighteye grew anxious.
Qianye said in a trembling voice, “Why did you become like this? What did they do to you?”
Nighteye thought hard and said hesitantly, “I think it’s called the Chaos Millstone?”
It was at this time that a cold, gentle voice rang out nearby. “General Qianye is indeed peerless and valiant, as expected of someone who had gained the elder monarch’s praise. I’m full of admiration.”
Only at this point did Qianye notice that there was another middle-aged man nearby. He was fair, well-groomed, and gave off an aura of icy darkness. He was like a venomous snake, difficult to notice when laying still but definitely lethal.
Li Fengshui squinted his eyes. “But has General Qianye thought of the consequences of causing such a huge fuss? This is the imperial military. Attacking us is tantamount to treason! In the end, though, General Qianye is an extremely rare talent. If you’re willing to join the imperial military, I’ll guarantee today’s incident will be glossed over and no one will look into it. What say you?”
The blue in Qianye’s eyes faded away and was soon replaced by a scarlet red. He let out a burst of mournful laughter and said, “Gloss over and not look into today’s incident? You guys might not follow up on this matter, but I most certainly will!”
A barely discernible thread of blood connected Qianye on one end and circled Nighteye and the fat man on the other.
Li Fengshui realized something was wrong—he raised his palm and chopped at the thread like a blade, but he was one step too slow. His vision blurred as Qianye shot past and flew around the two targets.
The burly man let out a miserable cry as his arms flew into the air. Qianye sent the man flying with a sideways ram and reached out to grab Nighteye. But a slender, white hand appeared at this moment and slapped his hand away. The moment their palms came into contact, Qianye trembled all over—the frigid origin power was like a sharp needle, which traveled through his body and a.s.saulted his blood core. During the split second of pause, Li Fengshui appeared and dragged Nighteye away.
In his anxiety, Qianye’s blood core pulsed madly. His blood energy and origin power mixed together to erupt like a volcano, effectively destroying this invasive origin power.
Qianye pushed on instead of retreating, unleas.h.i.+ng a violent palm strike to meet Li Fengshui’s own. The latter felt as though a stream of molten lava had poured into his body. This indefensible power caused his half-healed injuries to flare up—his face flushed red for a brief moment but quickly became as pale as a sheet.
He pointed a finger at Qianye and said in a trembling voice, “Y-You, you’re also…” He hadn’t even finished speaking when a mouthful of blood gushed out of his mouth.