Chapter 111: Senior Brother Xinghan
“Yu Jie, you would’ve wrecked the honored master’s affairs if I hadn’t come. You couldn’t even handle a small matter such as this, and almost caused the honored master’s hand picked disciple to lose her life. In my eyes, your t.i.tle as one of the ten great disciples was really just to fill the numbers.”
This senior brother Xinghan didn’t seem as arrogant as Yu Jie, but his faintly spoken words of censure were enough to cause Yu Jie’s forehead to be covered in sweat.
“Senior brother Xinghan, I…” Yu Jie couldn’t express himself.
“Forget it.” Senior brother Xinghan waved his sleeves, and said to Long Juxue, “Junior sister Long, I am your foolish brother Chu Xinghan, the second disciple beneath Master Shuiyue. The events of today have caused a great fright to junior sister.”
Long Juxue was a weeping beauty like a pear blossom bathed in the rain, a look that caused those who saw her to not help but love her as she said sorrowfully, “If it wasn’t for senior brother Xinghan rus.h.i.+ng here in time, I… I probably wouldn’t have been able to see the honored master again.”
Chu Xinghan nodded his head slightly, flicking a sideways glance at Yu Jie and saying nothing else.
Both of his feet stomped, as his entire being floated up in midair. A blue whirl of air blossomed beneath his feet like a lotus flower, slowly bringing him up into the air.
“You’re called Jiang Chen?” Chu Xinghan’s eyes were as deep as the Milky Way as he seized up Jiang Chen. He was different from Yu Jie. Arrogance was absent from his gaze as he looked at Jiang Chen — rather, traces of gravity were present instead.
“Indeed.”
Although this Chu Xinghan didn’t throw his weight around like Yu Jie, nor did he consider everyone beneath his notice, his simple gestures caused Jiang Chen to be in great discomfort, as if a violent beast had fixed its eyes on him.
“To think that a common pract.i.tioner could cause such a ruckus. You’re really not simple.” Chu Xinghan nodded his head. “If I wanted to kill you, your Goldwing Swordbirds wouldn’t be able to save you.”
Jiang Chen wanted to come back with a response, but said nothing after thinking for a while.
Chu Xinghan’s strength was indeed much greater than Yu Jie. They were likely not even on the same level.
If he had time to practice the “Eight Trigrams a.s.similation Formation” for three months, Jiang Chen might’ve had a thirty percent chance of standing up to Chu Xinghan. But right now, at this moment, he had nothing to reb.u.t.t against Chu Xinghan with.
However, Jiang Chen wasn’t a lamb being led to the slaughter. Although Chu Xinghan was very strong, Jiang Chen wouldn’t go down without a fight.
“How about this,” Chu Xinghan said after considering for a while. “If I use divine abilities to suppress you, I’ll inevitably gain a reputation of the strong bullying the weak. I’ll give you two options.”
Jiang Chen’s gaze was calm and aloof, and he didn’t open his mouth. He waited, acc.u.mulating his strength.
“The first choice, is that you return to the Purple Sun Sect with me. Your feud with junior sister Long will be decided upon by our high arbiter. This decision will result in a ninety percent chance of death for you, but you’ll also have a chance to live.”
“The second choice is that I kill you, right here and right now, and take your head back to the sect to fulfill my duties to the honored master.” Chu Xinghan’s aura pulsed slightly when he finished speaking.
Suddenly, a Milky Way seemed to arise around Chu Xinghan’s body. The profound and strong power and mysteries gave others a feeling of being too deep to be fathomable.
“With regards to the second choice, I trust that you don’t suspect I don’t have the power to?” Chu Xinghan’s tone had been quite calm and unhurried throughout all of this.
If it had been Yu Jie who’d proposed these two choices, Jiang Chen would have surely thumbed his nose at him.
But Chu Xinghan had a certain presence about him when he spoke these words. His strength of presence and power, forced Jiang Chen to consider him seriously.
“The first choice of returning to the sect with him looks like it’s a chance out of this, but is actually dragging out my feeble existence. I’ve traversed the wheel of life and reincarnated, how could I let others hold my fate in their hands and dictate my life or death? I might not be able to choose how I was born, but as a pract.i.tioner, I can at least decide how I’ll die.”
There wasn’t a single trace of hesitation in Jiang Chen’s mind. He might as well die fighting right now if they wanted him to bend his knee, surrender, and go docilely with them back to the Purple Sun Sect to receive his judgement. He would then suffer through crying shame and crowning humiliation, before finally being executed.
Dying in pitched battle was a glorious death.
Bending at the knee and begging for life might not result in his survival in the end.
When his thoughts traveled here, Jiang Chen smiled das.h.i.+ngly and a trace of a proud curve made its way to his lips. “Chu Xinghan, you’re different from Yu Jie. At least I see the bearing of a sect disciple on you. I respect you, but I choose none of these choices. Perhaps you can kill me, but I’ll also make you pay a hefty price.”
His tone rang out clearly.
Jiang Chen’s att.i.tude seemed to be within Chu Xinghan’s expectations. The latter’s slightly miserable eyebrows abruptly lifted.
“Alright. If there wasn’t a grudge between us, I’d quite admire you. However, the profits of the master are above all. Jiang Chen, I won’t hold back once I start.”
As Chu Xinghan spoke, the Milky Way that wavered in and out of existence behind his back became even more resplendent.
Of course, it wasn’t a real Milky Way, but an illusion formed by his personal aura. The bright Milky Way had countless stars dotted and sparkling in it like a silver sea. Each star was like a silver carp, bounding through the crystalline ripples.
This silver white light had been the terrifying strength that had slaughtered the Goldwing Swordbirds and several hundred Silverwing Swordbirds in but a second just now.
“Magnificent Xinghan, sword aura shooting to the clouds, go!”
Chu Xinghan flourished his sleeves and waved his right arm, a sword having appeared in his hand. With the glint of the sword as a guide, the Milky Way behind him abruptly roiled and churned, as the countless silvery white dots of light coalesced into a frightening silvery white sword aura, like innumerous shooting stars, as it moved towards Jiang Chen.
He had deployed an ultimate skill with his first move.
Yu Jie was watching from below and swallowed audibly twice. This level of divine ability and method was a level that he absolutely couldn’t aspire to.
When a true qi pract.i.tioner such as Long Juxue watched this terrifying and glorious attack, her heart rippled with emotion, and the gaze she looked at Chu Xinghan with became gentle and warm.
She couldn’t help but think, “I’d thought senior brother Yu Jie was strong before, but who would’ve thought that he is an utter buffoon in front of senior brother Xinghan. When I enter the sect, my worldview needs to be enhanced a bit. This Yu Jie isn’t good enough to accomplish anything, but is more than enough to spoil things.”
Unbeknownst to her, Long Juxue’s inner heart had already settled on changing her backer. Yu Jie‘s performance was a huge joke when compared to senior brother Xinghan’s.
Long Juxue was a proud young girl; she didn’t want to find a good-for-nothing backer.
As for Jiang Chen in the midst of battle, he was suffering unspeakably. Chu Xinghan’s strength was much more than he’d imagined.
The thousands of silvery white sword aura strands kept leaping at him like shooting stars. Even the highly defensive “Eight Trigrams a.s.similation Formation” found it hard to withstand the attack.
Pfft pfft pfft.
Several Goldwing Swordbirds on the outside exploded and died when they were grazed by the sword aura, with no exceptions at all.
The formation continuously tightened, protecting Jiang Chen at its core. These Goldwing Swordbirds, wild and savage as they were, were still loyal and steadfast, protecting Jiang Chen with their lives at this moment.
Strange emotions surged in Jiang Chen’s heart. He really hadn’t thought that these Goldwing Swordbirds would be fearless to this point merely because of an order from Mang Qi.
Jiang Chen had never been a heartless person. He wasn’t the sort to hide and grasp at life while the Goldwing Swordbirds fended off disaster and fought for an additional moment for him.
He suddenly gave a long whistle as a resolute light shot out from his eyes. The whistle pierced through the clouds, and the rest of the million strong Swordbird army suddenly appeared in the skies above the Second Crossing. They once again filled the entire sky.
“Chu Xinghan, since you’ve forced me, then I’ll self destruct along with you. Although you’re strong, can you kill all of this million strong army? Even if you kill me, I’ll still kill Long Juxue!”
Jiang Chen abruptly made up his mind and decided to self destruct along with his enemies.
Even if he was killed by Chu Xinghan, he’d still take Long Juxue down with him. If he died without killing Long Juxue, he’d still bring troubles to other people as well.
If he killed Long Juxue and eliminated this source of trouble, the Purple Sun Sect might not slaughter the rest of his family clan due to a consideration of face.
Chu Xinghan’s mind was also agitated momentarily when he saw this scene. As strong as one was, he was still a bit shocked when millions of lives suddenly appeared in front of him.
“Yu Jie, protect junior sister Long. I’ll finish this quickly.”
Chu Xinghan was an exemplary disciple of the sect alright. He saw straight through Jiang Chen’s intentions. Jiang Chen knew that he couldn’t fight against Chu Xinghan, and so had changed his target to Long Juxue instead.
If it hadn’t been for Master Shuiyue’s orders, Chu Xinghan actually didn’t want to kill Jiang Chen. However, this had to do with the honored master’s affairs, and as unwilling as Chu Xinghan was, he couldn’t hesitate at all.
“Jiang Chen, die!”
Chu Xinghan’s brandished his longsword, and his aura grew even stronger. The resplendent Milky Way behind him wavered and shook with him, changing into the light of countless stars — as if meteorites were descending from the heavens.
The aura of this blow was actually three to four times stronger than the blow prior.
A newly practiced “Eight Trigrams a.s.similation Formation” had no hope of blocking such aura. Jiang Chen sighed tragically in his heart and knew that life or death would be decided in this moment.
Suddenly, Jiang Chen raised the bow in his hand.
Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh, whoosh.
Four to five arrows shot out in close succession. All of them made unerringly for Long Juxue.
Jiang Chen held a mindset that he would die at this moment — he only hoped that he could kill Long Juxue. The million strong Swordbird army also dived down en ma.s.se.
Unafraid of death, unafraid of destruction.
Even Yu Jie felt the hair on his back rise in fright when he saw this scene. The attacks were so concentrated that even the scalps of spirit dao pract.i.tioners were numbed.
Not to mention that he, Yu Jie, had some grievous injuries.
Only Chu Xinghan was abnormally calm with a deep gaze in his eyes, as if the million strong Swordbird army was still insufficient to cause a great ripples of emotion within his heart.
Chu Xinghan was very calm indeed because he knew that Jiang Chen and the formation set up by the Goldwing Swordbirds would be unable to withstand this blow.
This was a blow that would make a clean sweep of things and end the battle.
The sky was murky over a dark earth, and the sun and moon without light. It was as if the sky and earth were groaning sadly from this battle, and the sun and moon were melancholic because of this battle.
Suddenly --
A beam of light shot through the clouds and sky that were covered up by the countless number of Swordbirds.
It was like a bolt of lightning had been emitted from the black clouds as it streaked across the sky.
Before the light faded, it happened to land amidst the Eight Trigrams a.s.similation Formation.
A bizarre scene occurred at this moment.
The light was as if a large sword of heaven and earth — cleaving a horizon out of thin air, and building a dam out of nothing — becoming a barrier in front of Chu Xinghan’s attacks that were coming at Jiang Chen like tidewater.
The attacks raining towards him like a meteor shower seemed to ram into an invisible wall of air, and were swallowed whole.
The breezes were gentle, and the wind calmed in the next moment.
The beam of light had disappeared, and Chu Xinghan’s devastating blow was as if a large stone had sunk into the great sea, swallowed without a trace.
This abrupt development shocked both Jiang Chen and Chu Xinghan.
“Who’s there?” Chu Xinghan roared lowly as his deep gaze roved alertly in his surroundings, attempting to search out the person who had interfered flagrantly.
At the same time, Chu Xinghan was greatly astounded internally. Chu Xinghan had almost used his trump card with that blow just now.
Whether someone on the level of even his honored master Shuiyue could easily ward off a blow like that was an unknown factor.
A faint beam of light had emerged from somewhere and had completely swallowed his blow. This power was absolutely overwhelming.