Chapter 455: Second Attempt to Climb the Qilin Mountain
Translator: Exodus Tales Editor: Exodus Tales
Going up the Qilin Mountain for the second time!?
Has.h.i.+moto Nagas.h.i.+ro wondered if there was something wrong with his ears; his eyes staring at the shrinking back of Qin Fen as he climbed up the Qilin Mountain slowly. He shook his head, again and again, his heart filled with nothing but admiration.
Not just any martial dao master would still have the guts to go up the mountain after seeing Qilin express his att.i.tude with his fists.
As Qin Fen went up the Qilin Mountain that was a few thousand kilometers above the sea level, he could feel the hostility and blood l.u.s.t looming in the forest from time to time. But now, he no longer felt that p.r.i.c.king sensation on his skin. On the contrary, he was enjoying the scenery around the mountain at leisure. Suddenly, he found that he had missed many breath-taking and beautiful views last time.
Carved on the ridges on either side of the mountain road were various poems expressing one’s feelings and thoughts. Looking at the poems from a distance, he could even sense the poets’ emotions when they carved the poems. Furthermore, he could sense a bit of their martial arts style hidden in the characters.
They were completely unlike the Wu(武) character of the Sacred Martial Hall, which could guide the martial artists on their martial dao; rather than martial arts experience, these words carried the soul of the poets when they had written these poems.
Vigorous and forceful, wild and unrestrained, lofty aspirations… all kinds of emotions were overflowing out of these words. Having been on this mountain for so many years, these emotions were faintly connected to the soul of the mountain already.
Qin Fen walked all the way to the hall at the top of the Qilin Mountain. Steward Hou was sitting on a rattan chair just outside the entrance, rocking it as he enjoyed the sunlight through his narrowed eyes.
Qin Fen came up to him and bowed lightly with his fists cupped. Nonetheless, Steward Hou’s eyes remained narrowed but a slight smile of satisfaction rose on his dry lips as he pointed at the stone house further ahead of the lobby with his skinny fingers.
Steward Hou may have remained silent but just that simple gesture was enough for Qin Fen to clearly understand that it meant that he could go up on his own.
Entering the lobby, Qin Fen slowed down his pace as he swiftly circulated the World Martial Arts Master Outline true energy in his body and pushed it to the extreme in the blink of an eye. Next, simulating the Origin Suppressing Vahra Art, he began to compress his true energy by a magnitude of two, bit by bit.
This time, he was up against someone who was rumored to be the strongest martial artist of Earth. Qin Fen didn’t plan on using the biochemical beast or any drug to enhance his strength. Doing so would only incur the disdain of the other party.
Using the three-point-five times Origin Suppressing Vajra Art, Qin Fen took a deep breath as he regulated the flow of his in his body. Owing to which, his surging blood was slowly compressed to a calm stream; the calm before the storm.
In a flash, Qin Fen’s spirit, true energy, and his body had reached an unprecedented state of harmony. Next, as he lifted his leg off the last step of the peak, he said, “I am here for…”
The words had not even exited his mouth when a powerful roar like that of a dragon but not like a dragon at the same time resounded throughout the peak of Qilin Mountain. In the blink of an eye, the air around the peaceful Qilin Mountain changed; an awe-inspiring stream of energy suddenly erupted from the tiny little stone house like a nuclear bomb explosion.
The breath-taking energy broke through the stone wall between the two instantly. In the blink of an eye, the solid stones were crushed into nothing and the remaining dust flew out with the immense stream of aura of power.
Qin Fen felt a strong tremor under his feet as if his rooted feet were about to come off the ground. He knew that his feet weren’t uprooted for real but the might of Qilin’s feet was so tremendous that it gave him an illusion that his footing had become unstable.
The immense stream of energy took the form of the mythical Qilin in the blink of an eye; an overwhelming aura of king pressed on Qin Fen instantly.
Nonetheless, this blow was the same as the last attack. And the moment before the attack, Qin Fen was still unable to sense the moment the opposite side took action.
Only this time, Qin Fen had made all the mental preparations in advance. He didn’t want to be knocked unconscious, as such, he could care less about the destruction of flora and fauna at the top of the Qilin Mountain. After having compressed his fifteen-star true energy by three-point-five times, he let it all out, he didn’t repress even the slightest bit of it.
At the same moment, Qin Fen’s true energy gushed out his body at full speed, forming a halo around him under the sunlight, giving the impression of a small sun. Immediately after, two visible streams of dragon-shaped true energy gushed out of his nostrils, circling around his body at high speed, sweeping the weeds and gravels in his vicinity off the ground along with.
Owing to the high-speed flow of true energy, Qin Fen’s cells were extremely active. In a flash, Qin Fen’s skin turned as smooth as jade. And in the brilliance of sunlight refracting through his true energy, it became glossier and more transparent. Even the skin of a newborn baby would lose before his. Once again, his figure resembled a statue carved from jade just like the one during the battle of Hallasan.
Qin Fen played all his cards in a short and ultimate upsurge! The two streams of dragon-shaped true energy circling around Qin Fen coiled around Qin Fen’s arm and transformed into eighteen streams of small roaring dragon-shaped true energy, his legs bent to the fierce shock. Immediately, the rocks under his feet flew everywhere with a sudden explosion, whereas Qin Fen’s figure had already disappeared, leaving a trail of afterimages; Thunder Steps!
“Interesting…” Steward Hou, watching the extremely rare battle lying on the rattan chair, pursed the corner of his lips lightly. “However, if you think you can avoid Qilin’s Fists with this, then you’re deluding yourself.”
Qin Fen’s Thunder Steps were fast but Qilin’s Fists were faster. The monstrous fist momentum had shrouded Qin Fen’s figure, nonetheless. The roaring Qilin’s Fist, leaving a several inches deep trough on the ground, was before Qin Fen in the blink of an eye.
“So fast!?”
After the Battle of Hallasan, Qin Fen’s Thunder Steps were better than ever. Qin Fen’s shoulder muscles quivered the same time he employed Thunder Steps as eighteen streams of dragon-shaped true energy coiled around Qin Fen’s arm hard like a real coiled dragon pillar; the air around his arm crackled as if a piece of cotton cloth was torn apart. All the while, Qin Fen’s eyes never left that unavoidable Qilin’s Fist.
At first, Qin Fen was planning on avoiding it using Thunder Steps and give a huge gift to this Earth Martial G.o.d upon seeing Song Wendong’s appearance clearly. But since he was unable to avoid it, he had decided to break this Qilin’s fist energy!
With all of his true energy compressed by the magnitude of three-point-five, his right arm tore through the air as eighteen streams of radiating true energy gathered and took the form of a huge dragon-shaped true energy, hiding Qin Fen’s arm inside. In a flash, it was hard to tell whether it was a human’s arm or a flying dragon!
“This punch is better than the one at Hallasan…”
G.o.d knows when Song Zhenting had appeared by Steward Hou’s side, his eyes radiating a glimmer filled with inexplicable shock and admiration. Although the fights with the two martial dao masters at Hallasan would have provided a major boost to his progress in martial dao for sure, Qin Fen’s speed of progress was still too fast!
Very soon, Song Zhenting began to wonder whether Qin Fen even needed to digest before absorbing everything, or whether he only needed to swallow to be absorbed quickly.
At the same time, Song Zhenting gasped in admiration, Qin Fen’s feet fiercely shook with the ground. His cervical vertebra moved up and down like the billowing Huanghe river. His blood roared non-stop as his bones crackled like firecrackers; the momentum of Eighteen Dragons Gathering Wind and Clouds changed again!
Qin fen was quite clear that there was a huge gap between Qilin and him. It would rather be stupid to hide his strength and show his little cleverness before an expert. As such, the punch which had absorbed the soul of Sahara was completely unleashed at this moment.
In the blink of an eye, the aloof atmosphere, mixed in with a sliver of pleasantly cold air, atop the Qilin Mountain changed in the blink of an eye. A hot, dry, and ancient aura suddenly soared through the sky! At this moment, it was as if the entire Qilin Mountain was covered by this ancient heatwave. The sudden change in the air carried the dryness of the desert.
The soul of Sahara that had existed for millions of years was integrated into Qin Fen’s ultimate skill of G.o.dly Fists, the Invest.i.ture of G.o.ds. Its goal happened to be Qilin’s Fist!
Suddenly, two beams of brilliance shot out from the dim and old eyes of Steward Hou, who had been sitting on the rattan chair all the while. His shriveled pair of hands clenched the armrest fiercely as his body shot back up like a corpse suddenly coming back to life. “Outstanding!”
At the same time, two sharp gleams also burst out from the black hole in the stone house.
BOOM! BOOM!
A series of deafening explosions rang atop the Qilin Mountain. The teacups placed on the table in the lobby directly flew off the table from shock as the immense blast of true energy scattered all the clouds in the sky.
Steward Hou waved his hand before him, sweeping away the flying pieces of rocks and dust with the true energy. He didn’t want to miss a single moment.
“Burst!”
Qin Fen’s feet were light; the way his body flew back into the air while the top of the Qilin Mountain was shocking. He felt extremely relaxed looking at the Qilin’s true energy blown up by his punch; blood in his entire body seemed to be boiling. Earth Martial G.o.d’s punch was really strong. Had Qin Fen not integrated the soul of millions of years old Sahara’s soul into his punch, Qin Fen believed that even his Invest.i.ture of G.o.ds would have been unable to invest.i.ture Qilin’s Fist.
Right then, a fierce finger sword energy flew out from the dark stone house, piercing through the boiling true energy.
The Formless Finger of Disaster! Qin Fen immediately identified the art from listening to the wind. This was a finger art recorded in the Secret Art Pavillion of the Sacred Martial Hall. At its highest, it could be colorless and formless; one could not even heart its sound, yet its might was comparable to the sharpest sword in the world!
Obviously, Qilin hadn’t employed his entire strength for this finger art. Otherwise, even if Qilin could not make it colorless and formless or truly soundless, Qin Fen believed that it would not be difficult for Qilin to conceal its sound using the true energy explosion as a cover.
In the air, Qin Fen drew a circle before him as his arm muscles turned stiff in the next moment, taking the oncoming finger energy head-on.
Not good! Qin Fen was terrified, once more, just as his arms came in contact with the Formless Finger of Disaster. To his surprise, the finger energy suddenly burst into three streams of finger sword energy, which attacked him from three different directions.
The Formless Finger of Disaster was truly formless and colorless! Only at this moment realization dawn upon Qin Fen as to why Qilin had allowed Qin Fen to hear the sound of Formless Finger of Disaster. Qilin didn’t mean to test him fairly, rather, he was deliberately making the sound to lure him into blocking. And then, he made a change to defeat him forcefully as to tell him that even if others knew what martial arts he was going to use, he could still defeat them as before.
The super-close distance and sudden change into three streams of true energy had caught Qin Fen off guard. Qin Fen immediately turned his waist hard using true energy as Qin Fen’s muscles of his hands twisted at high speed. Immediately, the true energy around his arm formed visible ma.s.ses of energy that flew towards either side as he clawed toward the Formless Finger of Disaster.
Heart Excising Hand vs Formless Finger of Disaster!
A series of firecrackers exploded in the air, again and again. The moment the two streams of Formless Fingers of Disaster were broken into pieces, a second bout of Formless Finger of Disaster was already upon Qin Fen’s chest from the stone house!
No way!? I lost again!? Immediately, this thought flashed in Qin Fen’s mind. Qin Fen’s body was no longer able to catch up with Qilin; as such, he was unable to block Qilin’s overwhelming attacks. Two streams of finger sword aura landed on Qin Fen’s chest and forehead. In the next moment, everything went black before Qin Fen’s eyes as he was knocked unconscious again.
Hmph…
Just a moment before fainting, Qin Fen heart that strict and disdainful snort from the small stone house, once again.
…
So painful! Qin Fen felt that his head might explode from pain.
Qin Fen sat back up and shook his head hard, pus.h.i.+ng the ground with his hand. Immediately, he found Has.h.i.+moto and Mysterious Daughter of Nine Skies sitting before his eyes. Judging by the environment, he was at the foot of the Qilin Mountain again.
As Qin Fen lightly moved his shoulders, Qin Fen felt every strand of his muscles screaming in pain.
How is this possible? Qin Fen found it a bit strange. Wasn’t I only hit by the finger swords twice? How come my entire body is aching?
Unrobing his upper body and looking down, Qin Fen found his entire body black and blue, his skin cracked in many places as well.
Has.h.i.+moto, seeing Qin Fen’s confused expression, explained immediately, “You rolled down the mountain this time, you weren’t carried down.”
As expected of a martial dao master. As long as a martial dao master hadn’t suffered a fatal injury, his true energy would protect his body to a certain extent even if he or she was in a coma.
Qin Fen already felt that he was very lucky to have not broken anything while rolling several thousand meters down the mountain.
Qin Fen heaved a helpless sigh looking up the towering Qilin Mountain. He might have made great improvements over the first time after having broken Qilin’s Fist energy the second time he went up the mountain, but he was still nevertheless knocked unconscious by two fingers.
More importantly, Qin Fen realized that he still hadn’t said that he was here to ask for Song Jia’s hand in marriage, these eleven important words.
Qin Fen sat with his legs crossed as he recalled the battles before he was knocked unconscious. Suddenly, he realized an even more depressing thing.
Having gone up the mountain, facing the stone house, and Qilin’s fists twice, he had never gotten to see Qilin, from the beginning to the end.
“This…” Qin Fen pressed his hands on his crossed knees, straightening his spine as he looked up the Qilin Mountain. He might have gone up the mountain to meet Qilin twice, but he never got to see him. Although it couldn’t be considered as losing face, it was indeed wrong.
“Just that finger… if I had the Wukong Technique…”
As Qin Fen rested his chin on one hand, lost in thought, he discovered that the nearby Has.h.i.+moto seemed to have something to say.
“Brother Has.h.i.+moto, do you have something to say?”
“What he wants to say, he’s been thinking it for a long while.” The Mysterious Daughter of Nine Skies said with a bit of ridicule in her tone. “It’s already been a day and night since you were rolled down the mountain.”
Has.h.i.+moto nodded his big head lightly. “Brother Qin, you have been unconscious for a day already. I think it’s better to leave this place…”
“No, I haven’t felt any murderous intention from Qilin.” Qin Fen shook his head. “I want to know why he hasn’t killed me for the time being. There is only a sense of detestation for me in his aura.”
Wukong Technique! Qin Fen took out the Wukong Technique which he had brought with him from the Sacred Martial Hall and flipped it over. He discovered that even if he knew the Wukong Technique last time he went up the mountain, he would have been unable to use it in an extremely flexible manner because of his star-cla.s.s. Nonetheless, no matter how unfamiliar he was, he could have been able to make evasions and even make certain counterattacks in the air.
Looking at Qin Fen seriously reading, Has.h.i.+moto asked, “You would not be planning to go up the Qilin Mountain again, would you?”
“Yes.” Qin Fen closed the book and nodded lightly. “I want to go up the Qilin Mountain for the third time! This time, I want to see the true appearance of Qin Fen and talk to him about to marriage proposal.”