Chapter 399: Giving Setbacks
Translator: Transn Editor: Transn
Mi Zijing gasped in surprise and turned to look at Meng Qi, Wang Zai, and the others to ask them for their opinion.
Although they had agreed to only judge and occasionally give pointers and not compete, Ying Shaozhuo’s challenge had lit the enthusiasm within the people of Jianghu. After all, most of them had never seen someone from the top 20 of the Ranking List of Young Masters and would naturally want to see them in action for themselves. It was especially so when a “nobody” was challenging a “somebody”, where the crowd watching did not mind if things blew up. As long as both sides were willing, it would be the icing on the cake for that martial arts battle.
After Wang Zai exchanged glances with Meng Qi, Yan Chong, and Chu Yunyu, he smiled and said, “I can’t call it ‘teaching’, but I have no problem with giving advice for one or two strokes. However, today’s martial arts affairs are not focused on us, so if you all try to challenge us, you’d lose the original point of sparring with each other. After my challenge with Young Master Ying, those who wish to spar with us should try to beat him first.”
He was currently at the level of Nine Apertures. Although he had not reached the level where he could enter imperceptibility and he had only begun practicing Primal Aperture at Mid-brows, his righteousness was somewhat similar to that of the Book of the Chaos. He could use a bit of the Noble Spirit even though he had only enlightened the Apertures. It could not attack from afar, but it surpassed his attack of the same level when it came to observing the enemy. Hence, it was also evident that Ying Shaozhuo had decent strength despite his appearance and lack of fame. With him as a benchmark, they could deter most of the other challengers.
Upon hearing such a proposal from Wang Zai, the expressions of Yuehua Sect’s disciples changed. They seemed to be scrutinizing Ying Shaozhuo a bit more than before, all of them uncertain.
“Thank you, young masters.” Ying Shaozhuo cupped one hand in the other before his chest and said.
Wang Zai looked like he was smiling. “I wonder which one of us you’d like to challenge?”
Ying Shaozhuo had already decided on his opponent before. He looked right at Meng Qi and answered, “If Young Master Su would be so kind as to instruct me.”
He had previously received pointers from his own Master and knew that Yan Chong had consummated his Oneness of Heaven and Men and was beginning to explore his own path. Yan Chong’s realm was much higher than his own, and the man could possibly defeat him with a single stroke. “Moving Stars and Moon” Chu Yunyu had attained the Heaven-man Connection and was good at borrowing strength to counter the opponent’s attacking force as well as divert attacks. It was the worst possible matchup with his bladesmanship. “Right-guarding Sword” Wang Zai had just opened his Nine Apertures, but he had noble righteousness in his body. He grew stronger with every powerful opponent he met, and never weakened even against weaker opponents. Thus he was also an unsuitable candidate to challenge.
On the other hand, while “Killing Blade” Su Meng had an outstanding battle record, his level was similar to his own. He was only around the level of Seven or Eight Apertures and therefore did not have an advantage in terms of realms.
As for his Hard Kung such as the Golden Bell Shield, it was difficult to use them while sparring. It would at most allow the advantage of his sword art and Lightness Skill to be displayed. Even if he used bladesmanship, he was still a real master, and Ying Shaozhuo was not a weakling either. If he could hold out till Meng Qi used his Exterior-level move, it would be seen as a “tie” in the bystanders’ eyes.
If he could even force Meng Qi to use the Golden Bell Shield to heal his injuries, then he would have won and would be able to immediately gain fame.
Meng Qi had just been frustrated that he had not had an opportunity to steal the limelight. He laughed and raised his knife as he left his seat, moving like a light leaf that was slowly falling thanks to the cold wind.
The demonstration of his Lightness Skill immediately attracted cheering voices. Compared to the people who had fought before, he was even more outstanding, almost to the point where his movements seemed to defy logic.
“Since Young Master Ying is a disciple of Yuehua Sect, why aren’t you well-known? At twenty-three or four years old, and with a level of Eight Apertures, you should be a highly anticipated fledgling, even in mainstream martial arts.” Meng Qi did not directly strike, but got his bearings and complimented his opponent a bit like senior legends did.
Eight Apertures? The Yuehua Sect disciples blankly stared at one another. Since when had the general affairs disciple in charge of cleaning the medicinal herbs garden reached the Eight Apertures level? He could practically join the top ten disciples in their generation!
Ying Shaozhuo was carrying an ordinary steel long sword. He lightly replied, “While I was guarding the medicinal herb garden, I was fortunate enough to have been noticed by the elders in my sect. They secretly imparted supreme arts to me and I underwent hard training for many years without slacking to finally get where I am today.”
“Noticed by the sect’s Elders? Why don’t we know about that?” The Yuehua Sect disciples were even more suspicious. “Wait, could it be the odious old man who often sneaks around the medicinal herbs garden? He, he’s an Elder from our sect?”
Meng Qi ‘kindly’ nodded. “I see. Why don’t you begin, Young Master Ying.”
As a talented individual ranked sixth on the Ranking List of Young Masters, he of course had to let his opponent begin first.
Ying Shaozhuo graciously accepted and pulled out his long sword. He had already battled once as a form of respect. Then he displayed his Body Movements and seemed to turn it into a green cloud that was erratic and difficult to fathom. It often changed position, not giving Meng Qi an opportunity to lock on to it.
As soon as a connoisseur struck, they would know whether they had landed their attack or not. There was a wave of exclamations as Ying Shaozhuo’s Body Movements was revealed.
He was much stronger than those who had just sparred with one another or demonstrated their skills!
The Yuehua Sect disciples were already nearly numb from the shock. All they could think about was how Ying Shaozhuo, who had always been average and was thus sent to tend to the medicinal herb garden, could raise his skills to such a level even with the impartation from an elder. They wondered if he had had other fruitful encounters and had consumed some precious material that enabled him to get rid of his weaker body in exchange for a stronger, more powerful one.
Meng Qi quietly stood there with his long knife dangling by his side. He immersed himself in the atmosphere and combined it with his vision, sight, and hearing to quickly draw everything around him in his heart.
He was in no hurry to perform any moves and ignored the rapidly-changing Ying Shaozhuo next to him.
There was no problem with Ying Shaozhuo’s style of attacking. It was a choice he had made when he had sparred with the Half-step Exterior Scenery-level “Green-blood Dragon King” back then. He avoided his opponent’s strengths and guarded against his own weaknesses while waiting for an opportunity to strike.
From the looks of it, he was not one who did not practice what he preached.
The practicing field was covered in yellow-brown soil and there was cold wind blowing in the air. Ying Shaozhuo, who was floating like a cloud, as well as his left hand that was forming patterns with his fingers and his ever-changing long sword, appeared one after another in Meng Qi’s heart. Even the flow of genuine Qi and response of his muscles appeared clear.
His overall strength should be close to the Meng Qi’s level when he had first entered Yedu, at around the thirtieth place on the Ranking List of Young Masters. That should have ushered in a good start of his Jianghu life, but unfortunately, his opponent during his first time challenging someone in front of an audience was Meng Qi. The difference in their levels was simply too huge. It was akin to encountering the Devil Lord during one’s first time hunting for evil spirits.
When he had first entered Yedu, there had still been a gap between his and Wang Zai’s strength back then. He had only managed to catch up half a year later. If he had directly challenged Jiang Hengchuan, Yan Chong or the other top ten masters who were at the realm of Heaven-man Connection then, he would probably have badly lost and been completely embarrassed. That was because they had been in a totally different league!
From that, it could be seen that demoness Gu had never shown her real strength in front of him. The only time she had done so was when she had killed the Successor of Mystic Fairy, but he had not witnessed that himself.
Meng Qi felt Ying Shaozhuo getting closer and closer, eager to try a move on him. The tip of his sword jittered, and his line of sight constantly wandered around his flaws and openings. Meng Qi lightly sucked in his breath and tightly held the knife in his right hand.
“It’d be good to give him some setbacks lest he becomes too full of himself and throws his life away for nothing…” Meng Qi suddenly moved. His long saber shone with a silvery-white light as it swung towards Ying Shaozhuo.
Under the draw of Qi, Ying Shaozhuo moved following the momentum. His Body Movements changed and his long sword stabbed outwards as if it were about to dodge Meng Qi’s knife and pierce his left waist.
Halfway through, the knife suddenly accelerated and sliced through the air with tremendous strength, creating surrounding gusts of wind. It was like the airflow had been squashed by the hills and was sent flying everywhere, and it felt somewhat like the void had constricted.
At Meng Qi’s level of Knife Dao, one no longer had to rigidly stick to one stroke or one pattern to display its essence. Everything was at his fingertips and could be used in any way as long as it was close to the Dharma and Logos. His sword art essence could be applied to his knife, fist style or palm style. Others would not have the slightest clue. It was just like how Jiang Zhiwei had exchanged so many sets of sword art, but rarely used them apart from Twenty-three Swords Skill because she had incorporated the essence of variations and swordsmanship into herself. She had obtained the spirit of it without being confined to a particular form of it!
His knife followed up at just the right speed, at the very instant when Ying Shaozhuo was about to change his Body Movements. It suddenly sped up and appeared right before him, too close for him to dodge.
Ying Shaozhuo stared at the knife that had no tricks nor variations to it. There was only speed and strength. He felt the wind blasting towards his face. If he tried to dodge, he would definitely be hit in the back or his side. Hence, he had no choice but to clench his teeth and raise his sword, and use a skill he had immersed himself in for a long time– “Sending off Visitors”.
With a swing of his long sword, he blocked Heaven Inflicted Pain.
There were a crisp clashing sound and the long sword bent. Ying Shaozhuo’s right hand was trembling, and he involuntarily dropped into a horse stance.
What a heavy blade!
Meng Qi pressed his long saber down and Ying Shaozhuo’s face turned red. All his strength pressed against the blade, making it impossible for him to even remove himself from the situation.
Heaven Inflicted Pain pressed downward some more. The long sword emitted a grating sound as if it were about to break. Ying Shaozhuo’s feet began sinking into the mud by half an inch, bit by bit!
It was pure strength, overbearing strength!
Then the long saber retracted. Ying Shaozhuo tried to get up again, but his legs were trembling and his hands were shaking. He could not pull his feet out for a moment.
“Thank you for letting me win.” Meng Qi sheathed his long saber as he smiled and said.
It was dead silent– there was not a single comment or exclamation. Nobody had thought that Su Meng could defeat the seemingly strong Ying Shaozhuo with a single stroke.
Wang Zai got up and exhaled. “Young Master Ying’s Lightness Skill and Body Movements allow him to drift like a cloud, showing that he has already obtained its essence of Yuehua Sect’s ‘Pointing Clouds and Drawing Shadows’. His sword art’s virtual move has been perfected with every move aimed at his opponent’s flaws. However, it is unfortunate that he met the ‘Killing Blade’, because no matter how he changes, he cannot escape his eyes. A simple blade with no tricks attacked at the instant when he was about to change, and defeated him with its speed and strength. In the words of sword art, this means that one’s sword skills are dependent not on the sharpness of his blade, but his cultivation.”
The crowd could be heard exhaling. There was a certain degree of the feeling of revelation. To think that such a short fight held such knowledge in it. Competition between masters was indeed extraordinary, and “Killing Blade” Su Meng was as strong as his reputation suggested. He really did live up to his name of “Killing”!
Yan Chong gently nodded, appearing to be deep in thought. Such an opponent was worth waiting for!
Ying Shaozhuo’s face was ashen. He had never expected to be unable to block even a single blow. When he heard Wang Zai’s comment, he seemed to be a little more at ease. It turned out that he had the strength of someone on the Ranking List of Young Masters, but there was no way to cope with a monster like “Killing Blade” Su Meng.
After he cupped one hand in the other before his chest and left, loud cheers broke out in celebration of Meng Qi’s victory. Meng Qi smiled and returned to his seat to observe the remaining matches.
The matches went on and on after the other, during which they all gave a few comments. At the end of it all, the winners were either well-known members on the Ranking List of Young Masters, or individuals who had already been famous for many years. It seemed that there were few of them who were previously unknown like Ying Shaozhuo.
Just as they were deciding who had won and who would challenge Meng Qi and the others, a figure suddenly descended from above into the arena.
It was a woman around forty years of age. She was dressed in pale green robes that outlined her beautiful figure, and her looks were slightly above average but had a strong charm to them.
As soon as he saw the woman, Mi Zijing’s face suddenly changed. He gave a bitter laugh and said, “Seventh Aunt, how come you’re here to join in the fun as well?”
The woman glared at him. “Why can’t I, Aunt Bai, come and watch?”
“This is a gathering for young talents,” explained Mi Zijing with a pained smile.
Aunt Bai gave a snort and retorted, “Am I not young? I’m only 43. To people like me who practice Kung Fu, this is our prime! If I open the Hidden Latch at this age, reach the Half-step level, and then converge my inner and outer worlds, who wouldn’t praise me for reaching the Exterior level at a young age?”
She seemed to be making trouble, but Meng Qi, Yan Chong, and the others had grave expressions on their faces. It felt like Aunt Bai was already near He Jiu’s level!